SACRAMENTO, CA — Today, the California Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Legislative Caucus announced its 2024 policy priorities, which include continued efforts to combat hate crimes, achieve equity in healthcare, advance K-12 and higher education, and increase equitable representation and access for our diverse AAPI communities.
In previous years, the AAPILC has advocated for the protection and well-being of the AAPI community through landmark legislation like the 2021 API Equity Budget of $166.5 million, AB 1354 (Mike Fong) Asian American Studies Curriculum, SB 434 (Min) Street Harassment on Public Transit, AB 943 (Kalra) Breaking Down the Other Act, AB 449 (Ting) Freedom from Hate Crimes, and more.
This year, the AAPILC will continue working to prioritize the development of accessible resources, the elimination of harmful stereotypes and systemic inequities, and the production of equal opportunities for AAPI empowerment.
Members of the AAPI Legislative Caucus voted to prioritize the following 18 bills for the 2024 legislative session:
Hate Crimes
AB 2979 (Fong) Income Taxation: Exclusion: Victim Compensation- The bill would exclude from gross income any payment received from the California Victim Compensation Board pursuant to specified law.
AB 2603 (Low) Hate Crimes: Search Warrants- The bill would authorize a search warrant to be issued on the grounds that the property or things to be seized consists of evidence that tends to show that certain misdemeanor hate crimes, as defined, have occurred or are occurring.
AB 2604 (Low): Hate Crimes- The bill would expand the definition of a crime to specify that discriminatory selection of a victim because of a protected characteristic is a type of bias motivation for purposes of determining whether the crime was committed, in whole or in part, because of the protected characteristic.
Health Equity
AB 3004 (Fong) Proposition 65: Certificates of Merit: Attorney General Communications- The bill would require the Attorney General, when providing a comment, suggestion, or any other communication in response to the report to one party in a settlement or judgment, to also provide that comment, suggestion, or other communication to all parties to the settlement or judgment.
AB 2444 (Lee) Barbering and Cosmetology: Licensees: Manicurists- The bill will require the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology to notify manicurists and establishments about employee/independent contractor determination, better known as AB 5 (2019), through language-appropriate and culturally-appropriate methods.
AB 2491 (Lee) Cosmetic Products: Safety- The bill will, commencing January 1, 2025, prohibit the sale or delivery to a person under 13 years of age of an over-the-counter cosmetic product advertised to address skin aging that contains vitamin A or its derivatives or an alpha hydroxy acid.
AB 2132 (Low) Health Care Services- The bill would require primary care providers to offer a TB risk assessment and TB screening, if TB risk factors are identified, to patients. The bill would also require the provider to offer the patient follow-up health care or refer the patient to a provider who can provide follow-up health care.
SB 1078 (Min) Office of Language Access- This bill would establish the Office of Language Access, within the California Health and Human Services Agency, to ensure individuals with limited English proficiency have meaningful access to government programs and services.
SB 980 (Wahab) Medi-Cal: Dental Crowns and Implants- This bill, for purposes of the above-described Medi-Cal coverage for laboratory-processed crowns, would remove the condition that the tooth be posterior and would apply the coverage to persons 13 years of age or older.
SB 402 (Wahab) Involuntary Commitment- This bill would additionally authorize a person to be taken into custody, pursuant to those provisions, by a licensed mental health professional.
Education
AB 2883 (Low) Community Colleges: Chancellor of the California Community Colleges- This bill would require each campus of the California State University, and would request each campus of the University of California, to observe Lunar New Year and to be closed on that day. The bill would provide that employees of California State Universities are entitled to, and that employees of the University of California system are requested to be entitled to, a paid holiday on Lunar New Year.
AB 3034 (Low) Postsecondary Education: Admissions- This bill would additionally prohibit the campuses of the California State University and the University of California from charging mandatory systemwide tuition or fees, as specified, for students who meet certain requirements, including having completed one year in the California Conservation Corps.
AB 247 (Muratsuchi) Education Finance: School Facilities: Transitional Kindergarten
Through Community College Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2024- This bill would set forth the Transitional Kindergarten Through Community College Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2024 as a state general obligation bond act that would provide $14 billion to construct and modernize education facilities, as specified.
AB 2074 (Muratsuchi) Pupil Instruction: English Learner Roadmap Policy Statewide
Implementation Plan- This bill tasks the California Department of Education (CDE) with creating an implementation plan for the California English Learner Roadmap Policy (EL Roadmap).
Access and Representation
AB 2573 (Fong) Policy Fellows: Status of Services: Asian Pacific Islander Capitol
Association (APICA) – The bill would provide that the services of a policy fellow provided by the Asian Pacific Islander Capitol Association (APICA) are not compensation, a reward, a gift, an interest, a business, a transaction, a professional activity, or an obligation, and a policy fellow is not an employee of the Legislature or included in the state civil service, similar to the above described provisions that apply to a California Science and Technology Policy Fellow provided by the CCST.
SB 782 (Limon, Fong) Gubernatorial Appointments: Reports- The bill would require the office of the Governor, on or before January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, to create and publish on its internet website a report containing aggregate demographic information of appointments made by the office during the prior calendar year, as specified.
AB 2321 (Ortega, Kalra) Prisons: Employee Accommodations- The bill would require the department to provide its employees with reasonable and appropriate personal protective equipment based on the employee’s individual needs. The bill would require the department to establish a task force, as specified, to ensure the department’s policies are inclusive and address their impact on minority racial and religious communities.
AB 2155 (Ting) Bilingual-Oriented Social Equity Services Grant Program- This bill addresses the issues with language access at DSS by creating the Bilingual-Oriented Social Equity Services Grant Program (BOSES). BOSES will be used to equitably distribute funds that will be used to provide a pay differential for direct service professionals whose primary responsibilities include communicating in a language other than English.
