During the week of May 11, the Assembly and Senate held appropriations hearings to review bills on the suspense files - those bills that would cost the state at least $50,000 in the Senate and $150,000 in the Assembly. Lawmakers largely halted new spending programs, with both chambers killing roughly a quarter of the bills under consideration.
Unfortunately, 14 of the bills on AAUW California’s Legislative Agenda, including some Watch bills, were held on suspense and are now dead. However, we do have some good news: all three of our A priority bills - AB 1766 (Krell), AB 1845 (Krell), and AB 1876 (Addis) - have passed out of the Assembly and are now in the Senate.
Also, because several of our priority bills were eliminated, we have taken the opportunity to move a few other bills onto our Legislative Agenda. These include AB 2540 (Stefani), which requires community colleges with student health centers to provide access to medication abortion services, and SB 934 (Wiener), which allows individuals harmed by conversion therapy to have sufficient time to pursue legal action.
Be sure to keep your eye on the Bill Tracker this fall for the most current information. You can learn more about AAUW California's Public Policy priorities and ways to get involved at https://www.aauw-ca.org/public-policy/.
