Submit legislation for Stonewall review.
CLICK HERE.
Stonewall Democratic Club is actively tracking a number of progressive bills, motions, and council files making their way through the legislative process in Washington, DC (federal); Sacramento (state); LA County (county); and the Los Angeles City Council (city). We also make recommendations for new bills, motions, and ordinances.
Below, please find a summary of the bills we are supporting and opposing as well as one recommendation for a new bill. We invite your help in advocating for these bills and encourage you to write your elected officials and urge their support! Feel free to borrow language from our letters below.
We want to thank all of you who have engaged with us in advocating for these bills as they make their way through the legislative process. We need your voice to help continue advocating for the change that we need to see in the world.
To submit your own letter for statewide legislation, as a member of Stonewall Democratic Club, please utilize the California Legislature Position Letter Portal.
Resources
Here are some links to help you find information about legislation that is being proposed and where you can subscribe to receive emails regarding the status of those bills.
U.S. Congress Search for Legislation (H.R.)
U.S. Senate Search for Bills, Acts & Laws
California Legislative Bill Search
BELOW ARE THE CURRENT LEGISLATION WHICH IS NOW PENDING:
SUPPORT
Federal
State
ACA 5 (Low): Protecting Marriage Equality
ACA 5 is a constitutional amendment to protect marriage equality for LGBTQ+ couples and remove Proposition 8 from the state’s constitution. In 2008, Proposition 8 declared “only marriage between a man and a woman” as valid or recognized in California. If approved by the Legislature, the measure will appear before voters in the 2024 general election.
AB 5 (Zbur): Safe and Supportive Schools Program
AB 5 will specify the timeline for implementation of LGBTQ+ cultural competency training for California teachers and school staff currently under development by the Department of Education. The bill will provide teachers and staff with the tools and training they need to support LGBTQ+ students and make California schools safer and more supportive for all students.
Status: Passed the Assembly Education Committee 6-0 on April 26.
AB 783 (Ting): All-Gender Restroom Compliance
Building on previous legislation that required single-user restrooms to be designated as all gender-restrooms, AB 783 will improve compliance with existing law by requiring cities to notify all applicants for a new or renewed business license that single-user restrooms in any business, place of public accommodation, or government agency must be identified as all-gender restrooms.
Status: Passed the Assembly Business and Professions Committee 14-3 on March 28th, and the Assembly Appropriations Committee 11-4 on April 19th.
AB 957 (Wilson): TGI Youth Empowerment Act
AB 957 will update California law to clarify that affirming a child’s gender identity is in the best interests of the child for purposes of legal name change and child custody decisions. Family acceptance of LGBTQ+ youth is strongly associated with positive childhood development, mental and physical health, and overall wellbeing.
Status: Passed in the Assembly 51-13. Headed to the Senate.
AB 1432 (Carrillo): Insurance Coverage for Abortion and Gender-Affirming Care
While states across country are taking steps to ban and even criminalize abortion and gender-affirming care, AB 1432 will close loopholes in existing law to ensure that health insurance policies provided to California residents by out-of-state employers with out-of-state insurance contracts include coverage for abortion and gender-affirming care.
Status: Passed the Assembly Health Committee 11-4 on April 18th.
AB 1645 (Zbur): Protecting Access to Preventive Care
In the wake of a Texas lawsuit targeting health insurance coverage for PrEP and other preventive services, AB 1645 will close loopholes and strengthen protections in existing law to ensure that California health insurers continue to provide free coverage for preventive services like PrEP and STI testing consistent with professional standards and best practices.
SB 36 (Skinner): Safe Haven for Abortion and Gender-Affirming Care
SB 36 will strengthen California’s “safe haven” laws by making it illegal for bail agents or bounty hunters to apprehend people who have left another state to avoid criminal prosecution related to abortion or gender-affirming care. The bill will also ensure that public benefits are not denied to people who need to flee to California to access abortion or gender-affirming care.
Status: Passed the Senate Public Safety Committee 3-0 on March 14th and the Senate Judiciary Committee 8-2 on April 18th.
SB 339 (Wiener): Improving Pharmacist Delivered PrEP
Building on previous legislation that authorized pharmacists to furnish PrEP without a doctor’s prescription, SB 339 will improve the ability of pharmacists to provide PrEP without a doctor’s prescription by increasing the amount of PrEP that pharmacists are authorized to provide and requiring health plans to reimburse pharmacists for providing PrEP.
Status: Passed Senate Business, Professions, and Economic Development Committee by a 13-0 vote. Headed to Senate Health Committee.
SB 407 (Wiener): LGBTQ+ Foster Youth Protections
SB 407 will strengthen protections in existing law to ensure that LGBTQ+ foster youth in California are placed in homes that are affirming of LGBTQ+ identities. Youth who identify as LGBTQ+ are overrepresented in foster care, with multiple studies estimating about 30 percent of youth in foster care identify as LGBTQ+.
SB 729 (Menjivar): Insurance Coverage for Fertility Care
SB 729 will require health plans to provide coverage for fertility care, including treatment for infertility and in vitro fertilization, and ensure that LGBTQ+ people are not excluded from coverage. For the LGBTQ+ community, fertility care and family-building are just as important as they are for anyone.
SB 760 (Newman): All-Gender Restrooms For K-12 Students
SB 760 is first-of-its-kind legislation to require all K-12 schools in California to provide at least one accessible all-gender restroom for students to use safely and comfortably during school hours. Survey data shows that 45% of LGBTQ+ and non-binary students actively avoid using gender-segregated school restrooms because it makes them feel unsafe or uncomfortable.
Status: Passed the Senate Education Committee with a 6-0 vote. Headed to the Senate floor.
SB 857 (Laird): LGBTQ+ Student Task Force
SB 857 will require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to convene an advisory task force to identify statewide needs and make recommendations to create a safe and supportive learning environment for LGBTQ+ students. A safe and supportive school environment allows LGBTQ+ students to succeed academically and has a significant impact on their overall wellbeing.
Status: Passed the Senate Education Committee with a 6-0 vote. Headed to the Senate floor.
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles City Council
- Stonewall Democratic Club has joined 275+ advocacy organizations, worker centers, labor unions, service providers, religious congregations, community groups, affordable housing developers, public interest lawyers, public health and safety organizations, and many more uniting across lines of race, class, and geography to propose concrete solutions to the many hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. To learn more about this coalition, called Healthy LA Coalition, and to join and help advocate, please click here. COVID-19 response.
OPPOSE (none at this time)