Policy Updates on Current Bills

Advocacy

Aug 10

The Consortium carefully tracks all federal, state, and local policy initiatives that affect mothers and children 0-5 years of age. This blog is intended to inform families about the current bills circulating through the California State Legislature and the positive effects they will have on children and families if they are passed.

SB 1083: Helping Families Out of Homelessness Act

Since the start of the pandemic, families living paycheck to paycheck have found it harder to afford their rent. At one point, only 38% of households in LA County felt confident that they would be able to pay the next month’s rent.[1] A family’s struggle to maintain housing stability further contributes to the disruption in children’s ability to attend school and increases the risk for significant physical and mental stress.

Soraya, a single mother of 6, reported her current housing situation to be challenging for her whole family, stating that “everything is unbalanced. How do you work? How do the kids go to school? You have that instability. You have to take it one day at a time, because [otherwise] you go crazy, or your health is going to deteriorate to a point where you’re going to die.”[2]

Fortunately, bills such as Senate Bill 1083 improve the likelihood that unhoused pregnant people and families with children successfully transition to permanent housing

Senate bill 1083 seeks to ensure that pregnant people and families who are currently on CalWORKS have housing and other critical supports. This bill will do this by (1) Expanding temporary housing benefits to low-income pregnant people and families with children (2) Expediting access to temporary housing assistance for pregnant people and their families by granting homeless assistance upon submission of their application; (3) Increasing the amount of time that families can receive temporary shelter assistance from 16 consecutive days to 40 and if a pregnant person or family would lose access to shelter if assistance ended, the human services agency is authorized to provide temporary shelter assistance for an indeterminate period; and (4) Requiring county human services agencies to refer pregnant people who qualify for CalWORKS aid to perinatal home visiting services.

The passage of this bill will positively impact home visiting by making more families eligible for the CALWORKS home visiting program, which is an evidence-based home visiting program that offers support services for (1) prenatal, infant, and toddler care, (2) infant and child nutrition, (3) child developmental screening and assessments, (4) parent education, parent and child interaction, child development, and child care, (5) job readiness and barrier removal, and (6) domestic violence and sexual assault, mental health, and substance abuse treatment.

SB 951: Paid Family Leave Wage Replacement Rate

Paid Family Leave (PFL) is an employee-funded state insurance program that provides wage replacement (a percentage of one’s income) to eligible workers when they take time off of work to care for a seriously ill family member or to bond with a new child.[3] Unfortunately, most Californians are struggling on 100% of their paychecks and are unable to take the paid time off they deserve due to the current 60% or 70% wage replacement rates. The California Budget Center reported that households with annual salaries ranging from $80,000 to $99,999 utilize paid family leave benefits at a rate four times hight than households earning less than $20,000.[4]

Senate bill 951 proposes to increase wage replacement rates, beginning in 2025, to 90 percent for lower-wage workers, those who earn up to 70 percent of the state average quarterly wage, and to 70 percent for all other workers. Currently, workers earning less than $27,213 a year (one-third of the median wage) receive a wage replacement rate of 70%, meaning that even full-time workers earning minimum wage ($15 an hour, or $30,000 a year in 2022) do not qualify for the 70% wage replacement rate. This increase in wage replacement will provide livable support to low-wage workers.

By raising the wage replacement rate, this bill will help ensure all California workers, especially pregnant and parenting workers and family caregivers – predominantly women – can access PFL and SDI and care for themselves and their loved ones when it matters most without financial concern.

AB 1918 - The CA Reproductive Health Services Corps

California continues to be a safe haven for all people seeking abortions and other reproductive health care services. Governor Newsome has recently signed Assembly Bill 1666, which protects physicians from legal and financial penalties if they travel to other states to perform abortions, and Senate Bill 245, which expands access to reproductive health care. The governor has also proposed a 125 million Reproductive Health Package that builds off of the California Blueprint, a $68 million package. Assembly Bill 1918 is the next bill that needs to be passed to ensure people can obtain reproductive health care, including abortion care, from trusted providers in their community.

Assembly Bill 1918 will improve our healthcare education pipeline by creating a California Reproductive Health Service Corps, open to those with diverse backgrounds training as physicians, nurse practitioners, registered and licensed nurses, licensed midwives, certified nurse-midwives, physician assistants, doulas, and medical assistants who provide reproductive health care services in areas of need in California.

AB 1041- Chosen Family Bill

Current California family leave laws reflect an outdated nuclear family model by only allowing workers time off to care for immediate family members. They are not reflective of modern cultural and social forces, which include loved ones who are not biologically or legally related.

California Assembly Bill 1041 would ensure that California workers are able to be there for their loved ones, including chosen family members, when it matters most. This bill would allow workers to take paid sick leave or family leave to care for a “designated person,” who does not need to be related by blood or legal relationship. This bill defines a “designated person” as a person identified by the employee at the time.

SB 114- COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave

With a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, many frontline workers are at greater risk of contracting COVID-19 without any support from the government in terms of paid sick leave. Essential workers in food, agriculture, manufacturing, and health care say “they fear losing pay just as much as they fear falling ill during the latest omicron wave. Some who get infected are taking unpaid leave or vacation days to quarantine.”[5] Many workers cannot financially afford to take unpaid sick leave.

SB 114 aims to extend COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave provisions that were included in SB 95 by reestablishing the COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave of 1 week or 40 hours for employers who have more than 25 employees.

AB 2199- Birth Equity Pilot

Various studies have shown the positive impacts Doulas have on birthing people during labor, birth, and the postpartum period, highlighting their association with improved birth outcomes. According to the author of this bill, California has taken significant steps in expanding access to doula care, but there are still underserved communities that cannot access doula services.

AB 2199 would establish the Birthing Justice for California Families Pilot Project, which would include a 3-year grant program to provide grants to specified entities, including community-based doula groups, to provide full-spectrum doula care to members of communities with high rates of negative birth outcomes who are not eligible for Medi-Cal and incarcerated people.

Next Steps:

With the state legislature re-convening from summer recess on August 1st, stakeholders are aiming to advocate for the passage of these bills before the next adjournment period, which is August 31st.

SB 1083, SB 951, AND AB 1918 have all been referred to the Appropriation Committee.

SB 1041 has been ordered to inactive file

SB 114 was chaptered by the Secretary of State.

AB 2199 was rereferred to the suspense file.

Email lawmakers to support the passage of each bill by clicking on the links below: