2018 Budget & Policy

 

 

Budget 2018

Early Care and Education

A recent report estimated that six out of seven children eligible for subsidized child care in California did not receive services from state programs; the estimated number of children eligible for subsidized child care is 1,479,000.  We cannot ignore the fact that there is an 85 percent unmet need for subsidized child care for California families.  While we might not meet all the need this year, we owe it to developing kids, their working parents, and our status as the 5th largest economy in the world to do our best.

That is why the Legislative Women's Caucus remains wholeheartedly committed to ensuring a one billion dollar investment in child care in the upcoming budget.  California families are desperately trying to balance work and family life.  When parents cannot find or afford child care, the economy loses valuable workers and children miss opportunities to learn.

Read our letter to Governor Brown here.

California Department of Fair Employment and Housing

Given the important mission of the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) as one of California's civil rights enforcement agencies, and at the critical moment we are in, the California Legislative Women's Caucus respectfully requests three million dollars in ongoing General Fund money to advance the critical goals related to workplace harassment.  This allocation could fund an additional 20 mediators and investigators, which could be used for education and outreach, for an agency ombudsperson, for the Office of Compliance Programs, and for senior attorney positions to help with systemic and complex civil rights cases.

Read the rest of our letter here.

Policy 2018

SB 826 (Jackson) Women on Corporate Boards

Requires all publicily-held corporations based in California to have at least one woman on their boards by the end of 2019.  Beginning in 2021, requires a minimum of two women directors on boards with five directors and at least three women on boards with six or more directors.

SB 945 (Atkins) Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment

Ensures that low-income women in California who suffer from breast or cervical cancer and are uninsured or underinsured receive the treatment they need for their cancer by repealing the arbitrary treatment caps of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program.

SB 982 (Mitchell) Childhood Deep Poverty

Helps end childhood deep poverty in the CalWORKs program by setting a floor for grants at 50% of the federal poverty line.

SB 1200 (Skinner) Gun Violence Restraining Orders

Provides a streamlined provess to obtain gun violence restraining orders (GVROs).  Removes fees, automatically schedules a 1-year review hearing and adds ammunition magazines and other firearm components to the items prohibited by GVROs.

AB 1870 (Reyes, Waldron, Friedman) FEHA Statute of Limitations

Allows victims of sexual harassment  more time to bring claims forward by extending the current time limit (1 year) for which claims must be filed to three years.

AB 2023 (Caballero) Child and Dependent Care Expenses Tax Credit

Makes the Child and Dependent Care Expenses Credit refundable, so that low- and moderate-income working families can benefit from the credit and receive a tax refund for their child care expenses.

AB 2070 (Reyes) College Orientation

Expands the existing college orientation requirements to include education and discussion about dating and domestic violence.

AB 2124 (Rubio and Baker) Vertical Prosecution in Human Trafficking

Requires OES to award funds to up to 11 DA offices that employ vertical proescution programs for human trafficking crimes.

AB 2289 (Weber) Young Parents Family/Sick Leave Policy

Establishes a state-wide family and sick leave policy for young parents in grades 6-12 to opt into in order to support their academic success and to be able to bond with and care for their children.

AB 2292 (Aguiar-Curry) Infant and Toddler Rates

Invests in California's child care system by increasing state rates for infant and toddler care, creating a grant program to fund implementation and start-up costs of new child care facilities, and establishing a fund to recruit a new generation of family child care providers.

AB 2342 (Burke and Waldron) BRCA Screenings

Requires health care service plans, health insurers and the State Department of Health Care Services to cover screaning, genetic counseling and testing for BRCA gene mutations in women who have not been diagnosed with BRCA-related cancer, but who may have an increased risk based on one or more specific family history risk factors.

AB 2698 (Rubio) Early Childhood Mental Health Services

Enables children in the California State Preschool Program (CSPP), and infant and toddlers in general child care and development programs to benefit from early childhood mental health consultation by authorized providers to utilize subsidized child care funds to provide these valuable services.

AB 3080 (Gonzalez Fletcher) Arbitration

Seeks to end practices that have enabled sexual harassment in the workplace to be covered up by prohibiting one-sided arbitration agreements from being forced on new employees, providing protections for whistleblowers, and preventing retaliation towards workers who do not sign arbitration agreements.