All bills prioritized and supported by the CLBC meet the objective of the caucus: Equity and Social and Racial Justice
2022 Top Legislative Priorities
Criminal Justice
AB1706 - Automatic Resentencing, Dismissal, & Sealing of Past Cannabis Convictions
Author: Bonta
Summary: AB1706 ensures prior cannabis convictions, already deemed eligible for automatic sealing, are reduced, dismissed, and sealed now that cannabis is legal under state law.
Likely Support: Amazon.com, Californians for Safety and Justice, Drug Policy Alliance, Ella Baker Center, Root & Rebound, Prosecutors Alliance of California. See fact sheet for more.
SB 1304 - CDCR Gate Money Allowance Increase
Author: Kamlager
Summary: Seeks to increase the amount of money the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) gives to people upon release from state prisons to $2589.Likely Support/opposition: Criminal Justice reform organizations likely in support. Department of Finance may oppose.
K thru 12 Education
AB2774 - LCFF Lowest Performing Sub Group
Author: Weber/Holden
Sponsor: Fortune Schools
Summary: Provides continuous appropriation of $400,000,000 to the California Department of Education’s to establish the Low Performing Students Block Grant
AB2598 - Restorative Justice Practices
Author: Weber
Sponsor: Disability Rights California
Summary: Requires CDE to develop a standard model to implement restorative justice practices on a school campus Likely Support: Educational equity groups
Housing and Homelessness
AB2383 - Ban the Box on Rental Housing
Author: Jones-Sawyer
Summary: This bill prohibits a landlord from conducting a criminal background check during the initial review of housing applicants. Likely Support: Criminal justice and housing advocates
AB1816: Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program
Author: Bryan
Co-Authors: Kalra, Stern, Carrillo, L. Rivas, R. Rivas, Stone
Sponsors: CSH, Western Center, Housing CA, LARRP, PATH, REPAC
Summary: Provides competitive grants to counties, homeless COC, CBOs to fund housing, reentry services and workforce development for people recently released from incarceration and at risk of homelessness. Support: Dozens of housing and criminal legal system advocates. No registered opposition
2022 Legislative Top Support Priorities
Health and Human Services
AB 2253: Gun Violence as a Public Health Crisis
Author: Bonta
Summary: Declares it the policy of the state that gun violence be addressed as a public health crisis and establishes the State Crime and Violence Prevention Center (SCVPC) within the DOJ.
AB 2426 - Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital/ Expansion of Supplemental Funding re ER for MLKCH
Author: Gipson
Sponsor: MLK Community Hospital
Summary: Seeks to expand supplemental funding to the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital (MLKCH). The increasing volume of patients in the hospital’s emergency department accounts for loses approximately $25 million annually.
General Government and Statewide Issues
AB2296 - Reparations Task Force
Author: Jones-Sawyer
Summary: This bill extends the Reparations Task Force sunset date to July 1, 2024. Likely Support: Black and other ethnic organizations.
Infrastructure and Technology
AB 2419 - California Justice40 Act
Author: Bryan
Summary: Ensures that federal climate and infrastructure will advance California's to promote equity, enviornmental justice, and a high-road economy through targeted investments to disadvantaged and low-income communities. Likely Support: Dozens of environmental and community organizations. No registered opposition
Labor and Workforce Development
AB 1604 Upward Mobility Act of 2022
Author: Holden
Summary: Requires diversity on all state boards and commissions that have volunteers. And requires data to be provided to the Reparations Task Force for their deliberations. Likely Support: California State NAACP, African American Community Empowerment Council, Coalition for a Just and Equitable California, National Assembly of American Slavery Descendants, Los Angeles
AB2670 - CA RISE
Author: McCarty
Sponsor: REDF (Roberts Enterprise Development Fund)
Summary: Re-entry employment development program that provides comprehensive services for those formerly incarcerated.
K thru 12 Education
AB740 - Educational Rights of Students in Foster Care
Author: McCarty
Co-Sponsors: Children’s Advocacy Institute; Children’s Law Center; Legal Advocates for Children & Youth
Summary: Protects the educational rights of foster students during school disciplinary proceedings. Likely Support: Black Minds Matter Coalition
AB2498 - Freedom Schools Demonstration Project
Author: Bonta
Sponsor: Tony Thurmond, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Co-sponsor: Children's Defense Fund, California
Summary: Establishes a three-year pilot project to provide grants to local education agencies (LEAs) to create and offer full-day, culturally-relevant summer school literacy and learning loss-mitigation programs. Likely Support: This bill is currently supported by the SSPI and the Children’s Defense Fund-California. It will likely be supported by literacy-focused community-based organizations. Not aware of any opposition at this time.
Criminal Justice
AB 1621 - Ban on Ghost Guns
Author: Gipson
Sponsor: Brady Campaign, Giffords
Summary: Assembly Bill 1621 seeks to increase public safety by further restricting “ghost guns” and the parts and kits used to build them, while protecting the rights of legal gun owners in California. Likely Support - Brady Campaign, Giffords, Law Enforcement, African American crime victims
AB2632 – California Mandela Act on Solitary Confinement
Author: Holden
Sponsors: NextGen, Disability Rights, Immigrant Defense Advocates
Summary: Defines what constitutes solitary confinement, sets limits on its use, and bans the use for vulnerable populations, including those with disabilities and pregnant women. Likely Support: Immigrant Defense Advocates (Sponsor) NextGen California (Sponsor) Disability Rights California (Sponsor) Initiate Justice (Sponsor) California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (Sponsor) Prison Law Office (Sponsor)