Amy Hom and Melissa Maceyko, Directors, CA AAUW Public Policy Committee Co-chairs, publicpolicy@aauw-ca.org
(This article was written in early June so some status information may be out of date.)
Legislative Agenda Update
Nineteen of the bills on our 2025 Legislative Agenda have passed out of committee and will soon be heard on the floor of the initiating house. Of the seven bills on the Agenda that we opposed, four are now dead. See the 2025 Bill Tracker for the latest status of all the bills on our Leg Agenda.
Highlighting “A” priority bill AB 1098
We would like to take this opportunity to tell you about AB 1098 (Fong) “Pregnancy Protections for All Students Act”, sponsored by AAUW California. The author’s office agreed to amend the bill to address some of our concerns, so this bill was recently moved up on our Legislative Agenda from “B” to “A” priority.
AB 1098 provides protections for pregnant undergraduate students akin to those offered to graduate students at public institutions in California. In addition, the bill strengthens protections for both groups and requires colleges and universities to have more robust and effective means of informing students about their rights under federal and state law.
AB 1098 has passed out of committee and will be heard on the Assembly floor soon. Text SIGN PGNJCJ to 50409 to contact your Assemblymember and urge them to vote YES on AB 1098.
Upcoming Anti-LGBTQ+ Supreme Court Decision: Impacts on K-12 Education in California
During LGBTQ+ pride month, we will get a decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, a case involving the LGBTQ+ community that is currently being considered by the Supreme Court of the United States. The outcome of this case may have an impact on the important legislative and on-the-ground work that
AAUW California has been doing (via the School Board Project (SBP)) to protect historically accurate, diverse, and inclusive curricula in K-12 education and schools.
To learn more about this case and how opt-out policies stress public school systems, harm children, and may potentially open the floodgates for opt-outs on any topic, see this article: Upcoming Anti-LGBTQ+ Supreme Court Decision: Impacts on K-12 Education in California. (Note that an updated version of the article will be available after the SCOTUS decision, expected at the end of June.)
We will continue to ask you to take action by choosing one self-focused, one other-focused, and one political-focused item from the list below. This month the topic area is..
TAKE ACTION: OPPOSE PRIVATE SCHOOL VOUCHERS
Self-Focused: Education
Learn how the Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025 (ECCA), H.R. 833/S. 292, would create a tax break for the wealthy to fund private school vouchers
Other-Focused: Education & Connection
Tell a few people (2-10) about ECCA and some of the potential impacts if it passes
Share with a few people (2-10) the letter opposing ECCA that AAUW National has signed on to along with 93 other organizations
Politically Focused: Outreach to Legislators (State/Federal)
Text SIGN PUBZVZ to 50409 to contact your U.S. Senators and Representative, urging them to oppose the Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025 which would divert funds from public schools and harm the most vulnerable students, while creating a tax break for the wealthy
AAUW California Public Policy is on Bluesky
We plan to use this account to send out state-level legislative action alerts, promote Resistbot petitions, and provide real-time updates. We encourage you to create your own account, if you have not yet done so, and follow us! You can find us by clicking this link or by following us on Bluesky.
Ask your Assemblymember to vote YES on AB 1098
AB 1098 (Fong) “Pregnancy Protections for All Students Act”, sponsored by AAUW California, recently moved up on our Legislative Agenda from “B” to “A” priority. AB 1098 has passed out of committee and will be heard on the Assembly floor soon. Text SIGN PGNJCJ to 50409 to contact your Assemblymember and urge them to vote YES on AB 1098.
