Category: State

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AiQ Federal Legislation State

AIQ News: 2/7/24

All 2023 bills have been acted on or died for this 2-year legislative session as of last week. Some, like SB 85 (Wiener) – case management services for refugees, passed out of their house of origin last week and are therefore still moving this session. Others, like AB 259 (Lee) – wealth tax on extremely wealthy Californians, died in committee and failed to pass out of their house of origin.

The deadline for bills to be introduced in 2024 is next Friday, February 16th. We will have a better idea of what bills exist after that point.

Advocacy actions:

  • Complete the federal advocacy Action Alert on immigration.
  • Thank your legislator for signing the CalEITC Coalition Pledge for Prosperity! If your legislator hasn’t yet signed the pledge, encourage them to do so. Those who have signed the pledge so far include, Senator Wiener, Assemblymembers Santiago, Stephanie Nguyen, and Luz Rivas.

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AiQ State

AiQ News: 1/31/24

As more bills get introduced in the legislature, LOPP tracks critical bills that affect justice efforts in the state. You can follow along with what we’re tracking by checking out our bill tracker at our Resources page, ‘Bill Trackers’.

Connected to that call to do justice is CalEITC Awareness Week. The California Earned Income Tax Credit fights poverty and builds equity for low-income families by putting cash directly back into their hands. Join us in amplifying the CalEITC Awareness Week and calls to strengthen this and the Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC).

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California Ballot Measures Events Local Events State

Feb. 11th Event: Ballot Prop. Discussion

Join LOPPCA for a conversation on the California March 5th ballot proposition from a faith perspective.

When: Sunday, February 11th, 10:15 am – 11:15 am

Where: St. John’s Lutheran Church, Sacramento and on Zoom (Zoom link coming soon)

Check St. John’s website and Facebook page for more updates!

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AiQ State Updates

AiQ News: 1/17/24

AiQ resumed for the new year today. Advocates heard updates about the 2024-25 proposed state budget as well as the legislative landscape in 2024.

Key notes:

  • State Budget– While a lot of critical programs and funding continue in the Governor’s proposed budget, there is still an estimated $38 billion deficit, per the Governor’s budget team analysis (this number could be as high as $58 billion, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office). Key cuts or funding delays exist in the housing/homelessness space, CalWORKs, and climate investments.
  • Legislature- The Assembly has new leadership following the change in Speaker, so we will be monitoring how the committee changes may impact legislation this session. Additionally, 2024 is the second year of the 2-year legislative cycle. Bills from 2023 will need to advance out of their house of origin by the end of January.

Note: AiQ will NOT meet next Wednesday, January 24th. We encourage you to attend the ELCA webinar on COP28, the UN Climate Conference, happening at the same time. Register here. Join us for AiQ again on Wednesday, January 31st.

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Homelessness & Housing State

SB 4 Signed Into Law

Happy, happy news, advocates! Governor Newsom signed SB 4 (Wiener) – The Affordable Housing on Faith-Based Lands Act into law on Wednesday, October 12th. This bill is so important for advancing affordable housing efforts and enabling faith organizations to answer the call to house our neighbors.

Thank you SO much to everyone who attended AiQs and took action, those who attended Lobby Day, and those who did various other bits of advocacy this session to get SB 4 across the finish line. We could not have done this without you. Now is the time to celebrate!

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AiQ Homelessness & Housing State Updates

AiQ News: 9/13/23

Great news, advocates! SB 4 passed out of the legislature and is on its way to the Governor! This is the product of years of advocacy, and we cannot be more excited to get this important housing bill across the finish line. Please call, email, and tag the Governor’s office on social media to urge him to sign the bill.

AB 249 (Holden), another one of our Lobby Day priority bills, has just one more vote to go in the legislature before going to the Governor as well. That means 2 of the 4 Lobby Day bills have a great chance to become law! Thank you for your continued advocacy to get these and other important bills done this year.

Important dates:

  • September 14th- Last day for each house to pass bills; legislative recess begins upon adjournment
  • AiQ is on hold until Wednesday, October 18th
  • Save the date! We will be holding a virtual legislative session wrap-up call on November 1st, at 6:30 pm PT
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AiQ Education Homelessness & Housing Hunger Issues State

AiQ News: 8/16/23

AiQ has started again now that the legislature is back in session. Some key updates following the legislative recess include:

  • Appropriations hearings are taking place the next 2 weeks. Remaining bills must get out of Appropriations before floor votes in early September.
  • SB 4 (Wiener) and AB 249 (Holden) will be in heard in their respective Appropriations committees during this time.
  • AB 712 (W. Carrillo) was signed into law by the Governor! This new law will now include hot and prepared food access for EBT users.

SB 4 (Wiener), the Affordable Housing on Faith and Higher Education Lands Act, needs our continued support as we approach a floor vote. Please reach out to your Assemblymembers to urge their support!

Other news: AiQ is cancelled next Wednesday, August 23rd. We look forward to seeing you again on Wednesday, August 30th!

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Enviroment Homelessness & Housing State

SB 4 & SB 253 Testimony

Hear Director, Regina Banks, and Hunger Advocacy Fellow, Savannah Jorgensen, give public testimony in support of SB 4 (Wiener) and SB 253 (Wiener) at the Assembly Natural Resources Committee hearing on Monday, July 10th.

Regina & Savannah Testify on SB 4 & SB 253

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Education Enviroment State Updates

Lobby Day 2023 Bill Updates (7/13)

These two bills are continuing to move forward following committee hearings this week as we approach the deadline for bills to make it out of their second house policy committees. The next step is the Appropriations Committee before a floor vote. These bills can use our continued advocacy!

  • SB 4 (Wiener): Affordable Housing on Faith-Based Lands Act. This bill would provide a streamlined process for religious institutions and nonprofit colleges to develop affordable housing on their properties, regardless of local zoning restrictions. This bill also would guarantee by-right approval of projects as long as they are consistent with all objective standards of the jurisdiction and comply with listed environmental protections.
  • AB 249 (Holden): Clean Drinking Water in Schools, Lead Testing. This bill increases the testing and disclosure requirements of school drinking water lead levels. It would additionally allocate funding for testing filters and infrastructure improvements to reduce and ultimately, eliminate, lead in water at schools. Furthermore, the bill establishes the limit on lead levels that the drinking water cannot exceed.

The following bill did not move forward from the Senate Agriculture Committee, however, Asm. Irwin has made it a two-year bill. This means that it will be worked on and considered in the next legislative session. Additionally, there is a federal level bill addressing food date labeling that is moving and can use our advocacy.

  • AB 660 (Irwin): Food Date Labeling Reform, Food Waste. This bill requires the use of uniform terms for food product date labels, i.e., removing ‘sell by’ dates visible to consumers and making ‘best by’ or ‘use by’ dates clearer for consumers. The streamlined phrasing will help consumers understand peak quality and freshness of their food, which will play a role in addressing hunger as well as methane emissions and climate change.

The following bill did not pass through the Assembly Appropriations Committee in May and is effectively a dead bill for this session. This policy idea may be pursued in the future by legislators if there is enough community support.

  • AB 1534 (Irwin): Methane Emissions Monitoring. AB 1534 would have required the utilization of remote sensing technologies to better identify methane emissions with the goal of improved regulations on those emissions from landfills.

Thank you all for your continued advocacy! Our work is not done this year and we need your support to get SB 4 and AB 249 across the finish line.

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AiQ Enviroment Federal Legislation Homelessness & Housing State

AiQ News: 7/12/23

SB 4 (Wiener): Affordable housing on faith-based lands – passed out of Assembly Natural Resources Committee with amendments on 7/10. It next heads to Appropriations.

SB 253 (Wiener): Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act – passed out of Assembly Natural Resources Committee with amendments on 7/10: It next heads to Appropriations.

**Any bills still active as of today will need to be passed out of their respective policy committees by the end of the day on Friday, July 14th to meet the legislative deadline. Bills that do make it to Appropriations will need our support in those committees. From there, we encourage you to start calling your representatives to urge them to support these and our other priority bills on the floor.

Federal advocacy: Please complete the ELCA Advocacy Action Alert on the Endangered Species Act. You can do so here.

AiQ schedule: We will NOT be meeting for AiQ until Wednesday, August 16th on account of the legislative summer recess (July 14th-August 14th).