Many things have happened this year, and we have won almost all of our priority bills! LOPP-CA’s advocacy this session was important in making many bills into law. We take specific pride in the passing of AB 3070 and AB 3073, as we pushed and fought hard for these bills! Here is the list of our vitories:
- A law providing guidelines for the pre-enrollment of recently incarcerated persons into the statewide food assistance Calfresh Program, a bill that our office co-sponsored alongside advocacy organization Bread of the World (AB 3073)
- A law altering and strengthening anti-discrimination procedures within courts in the jury selection process. Discrimination within the jury selection process has been noticed by many, and this legislation is powerful in giving advocates the tools to address systemic racism within the justice system (AB 3070)
- A law creating a funded campaign for protections and health awareness during COVID-19 for agricultural workers, which includes thousands of migrant workers (AB 2043)
- A law establishing one of the nation’s first mandatory task forces to study the issue of Slavery’s legacy within the United States and the need for reparations for African Americans; the task force will create proposals of mechanisms that can be enacted to address the need of reparations (AB 3121)
- A law barring criminal conviction of a person based on race, ethnicity, or national origin. This law will expand a persons ability to contest cases of unlawful imprisonment on the basis of discrimination, and thus open a doorway to pursue equity within the justice system (AB 2542)
Californians also saw a monumental victory with the signing of AB 1876, expanding the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable communities, specifically immigrant workers. ITIN tax filers were previously barred from receiving refunds from their state tax claims, despite paying more than 3 million in taxes annually. LOPP-CA has fought for over 4 years with 60 organizations, making this a milestone for Lutheran advocacy in California.
Other Legislative updates:
- A bill pushing for a one-time cash-via-card food assistance stipend towards migrant workers, many of who have been left out of our government’s efforts to help during this COID-19 crisis, was vetoed by Governor Newsom. (AB 826). This bill was a priority for many of our coalition partnerships.