On December 5, California began its two-year legislative session. Legislative leaders kicked off business with a handful of bills and resolutions that take a hard stance against many of the policies announced by President-elect Donald Trump. Lawmakers passed bills to fund legal services for immigrants facing deportation and to allocate money for training public defenders in immigration law. Sen. Ricardo Lara also introduced a bill prohibiting state agencies from furnishing the federal government with information about a person’s religion.

Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León urged Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress to “treat immigrant families and children humanely, with a modicum of dignity and respect.” Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said California would seek to preserve reproductive rights for women, ensure people can find health care coverage, shield Muslims and LGBT people “or anyone whose rights and safety are increasingly under fire” and send a message that “if you are an immigrant you are welcome here.”

Assembly Member Gonzalez introduced a bill to require a company of 10 or more employees to offer more hours of work to existing part-time employees who are qualified to do that job before hiring another part-time worker. This bill “will provide a boost to the millions of workers in California who want to work more so they can afford the necessities of life and to take care of themselves and their families in a time when housing costs, student debt, and surprise expenses are increasingly difficult to manage,” said Gonzalez.

CELA’s Legislative Committee is currently working on crafting next year’s legislative agenda. We welcome the participation and input from all CELA members. If you have a legislative proposal that you would like us to consider or you would like to get involved in our legislative planning, please email mariko@cela.org. For a list of bills that were recently signed into law and bills we are tracking in the new legislative session, please visit www.cela.org/legislation.