2023 Legislation
Domestic Violence
SB 331 - Piqui's Law: Keeping Families Safe from Violence Act. Protects children in family court by directing Judicial Council to establish critical training on domestic violence and child abuse for all judges and those involved in family matters (attorneys, counselors, etc.). The bill also prohibits the courts, starting January 1, 2024, from ordering specific types of reunification treatment that is unregulated and uses unproven treatments and therapeutic interventions.
SB 459 - The Sam Sisters Law: DVRO Modification. Provides critical support to victims of domestic violence who seek to modify their existing restraining order by requiring Judicial Council to create one (or more) specific modification form(s).
Children/Family
SB 545 - The SAFE Children Act (Safeguarding Against Felonies and Exploitation). Provides child sex trafficking victims who attack their abusers, with the opportunity to heal from their traumas with treatment and services by trying them in the juvenile or family court system instead of trying them as adults in the criminal court system and sending them to prison.
SB 558 - Child Images: Statute of Limitations. Strengthens policies for victims of child sexual abuse material (otherwise known as child pornography), by granting victims a wider window to seek justice.
SB 603 - Protecting Child Forensic Interviews. Strengthens protections for children who are victims of physical or sexual abuse, by requiring all child forensic recorded interviews must be released solely through a protective court order.
SB 848 - Reproductive: Distress Leave. Protects jobs for individuals experiencing the trauma of a miscarriage, failed adoption, or other reproductive loss event by providing them with up to 5 days of job-protected leave, similar to the existing 5-day Bereavement Leave benefit under the California Family Rights Act.
Human Trafficking
SB 376 - Human Trafficking: Right to an Advocate. Provides a critical resource to survivors of human trafficking, but allowing them to have an advocate or support person present during law enforcement interviews, including interviews with prosecutors and/or criminal defense attorneys.
Housing
SB 20 - Regional Housing Trusts: State Framework. Help local governments address California’s affordable housing shortage and homelessness crisis by establishing a best practices statewide framework for cities, counties, or tribal governments seeking to create a regional housing trust.
Tenants
SB 734 - Tax Relief: Low-Income Renters. Addresses California’s affordable housing shortage and homelessness crisis by codifying a longstanding legal opinion of the Board of Equalization to provide property tax relief for low-income renters living in public housing projects.
Healthcare
SB 344 - California Cancer Registry. Would support cancer research and advance the quality of care for cancer patients by allowing researchers to share data and provide the California Cancer Registry to streamline reporting requirements.
Insurance
SB 505 - Fair Plan Insurance Coverage Expansion. Expands consumer access to insurance coverage in the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan, by including commercial insurance in the “clearinghouse” program (online tool for insurers to help provide coverage to consumers and get them back on the admitted market).
Tobacco
SB 626 - Smoke Free Hotel Rooms. Protects employees at hotels and motels, mostly women of color, and also guests-- from the dangers of secondhand smoke exposure by requiring all hotel and motel rooms in California to be smoke-free.
Public Safety
SB 852 - The PROTECT Act. Improves public trust in law enforcement by prohibiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from falsely identifying themselves as probation officers or police officers when conducting home enforcement operations.