Jewish Caucus Announces Legislative Priorites 2023
SACRAMENTO, CA - Today, the California Legislative Jewish Caucus announced its legislative priorities for 2023. This year, the Caucus has selected important legislation for two legislative packages that further the mission of the Jewish Caucus: to advance the Jewish Community’s top priorities and uplift vulnerable Californians of all faiths and backgrounds.
In the last two years, the Jewish Caucus has secured nearly $250 million in the state budget to fund top Jewish community priorities. In addition, the Caucus has brought the voices of the Jewish community and Jewish values into the legislative process, and worked closely with allies in other communities to address issues like hate crimes, online hate and disinformation, gun safety, mental health, and housing.
The Priority Package is composed of bills directly addressing Jewish community priorities. The Tikkun Olam priority bill package uplifts Jewish values. Taken together, this priority legislation aims to protect vulnerable communities, and advance social justice.
“The Jewish Caucus is proud to serve as a voice for our community and our values,” said Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D - Woodland Hills), who serves as Co-Chair of the Jewish Caucus. “This year, we are proudly bringing our Jewish values into the policymaking process and working closely with allies in other communities to address issues like hate crimes, Holocaust education, community security, mental health, and environmental justice. Through our legislative work and budget advocacy, we are firmly committed to ensuring that the Jewish community has a seat at the table and a voice in policymaking process.”
“As Jewish legislators, our values inform our work, and that’s especially true of this package of priority legislation,” said Co-Chair Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). “By preserving religious freedom, we are preserving our traditions free from the persecution that has plagued our people for centuries. I am especially proud to have housing bills and bills that protect our LGBTQ siblings in the Jewish community included in the package. Stable and affordable housing should be a right, and no person should feel unable to live as their authentic self.”
“It is exciting to see bills reflecting the priorities of the Jewish Community recognized as such. While there is a long tradition of Jewish legislators in California whose work has been influenced by their heritage, to explicitly acknowledge it as such is relatively new,” said Senator Josh Becker, Vice Chair of the Jewish Caucus. “This package reaffirms democracy as a Jewish value and as something that is integral to the safety of the Jewish people. We have seen that in societies that do not appreciate the voice of all citizens and do not equally value their participation in civic life, Jewish welfare is more precarious and public discourse is more corrosive.”
Priority Bills
AB 331 Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan (D - Orinda)
This bill proposes a new framework to regulate the development and deployment of automated decision tools (ADT) to prevent algorithmic discrimination.
AB 1185 Assemblymember Gabriel (D - Woodland Hills)
This bill strengthens and expands access to the California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
SB 4 Senator Scott Wiener (D - San Francisco)
This bill streamlines the building process for faith-based institutions and non-profit colleges that want to build affordable, multifamily housing.
Tikkun Olam Priorities
AB 5 Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D - Santa Monica)
This bill provides public school teachers and staff, who are on the front lines of supporting California students, with the training and support they need to better serve LGBTQ+ and all students.
AB 10 Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D - Long Beach)
This bill requires Local Educational Agencies to develop policies and resources to educate teachers and faculty about the issue of body shaming, so that they are adequately equipped to address this issue with students and their parents.
AB 789 Assemblymember Marc Berman (D - Menlo Park)
This bill removes barriers that limit students’ ability to keep their financial aid by establishing a common set of satisfactory academic progress standards
AB 867 Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D - Burbank)
This bill assists foster youth in their transition to adulthood by authorizing courts to extend an enrollment in Extended Foster Care beyond age 21 until the county has fulfilled its obligations.
AB 1147 Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D - Central Coast)
This bill enacts critical reforms to the Lanterman Act, to address racial, ethnic and geographic disparities, provide greater transparency, and increase confidence in California’s developmental disability service system.
AB 1205 Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer Kahan (D - Orinda)
This bill provides that the sale, transfer, or lease of water on or below agricultural land for profit by an investment fund is not a reasonable or beneficial use of water.
SB 85 Senator Scott Wiener (D - San Francisco)
This bill provides 90 additional days of Extended case management for refugees and asylees, essentially doubling the amount of case management provided, with an option to extend for a further 180 days in cases of extreme need.
SB 474 Senator Josh Becker (D - Menlo Park)
The Basic, Affordable Supplies for Incarcerated Californians (BASIC) Act alleviates cost pressures for incarcerated people and their families by eliminating price markups on items purchased in California’s prison canteen stores.
SB 502 Senator Ben Allen (D - Santa Monica)
This bill directs the California Department of Health Care Services to establish a Health Service Initiative that would allow the state to use federal Medicaid dollars to support mobile vision services for underprivileged children in California.
SB 773 Senator Steve Glazer (D - Orinda)
This bill increases the flexibility counties have when determining whether a CalWORKs recipient qualifies for the Homeless Assistance permanent housing program.