California Black Media
Gov. Newsom Approves Key Legislation Backed by Black Caucus in 2024 Session
In 2024, the 12-member California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), introduced nearly 600 bills aimed at improving the lives of all Californians, many with a particular focus on addressing inequities faced by Black citizens. Of these bills, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 230 into law and vetoed 50. The following are some of the key bills taking effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
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By Joe W. Bowers Jr, California Black Media
In 2024, the 12-member California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), introduced nearly 600 bills aimed at improving the lives of all Californians, many with a particular focus on addressing inequities faced by Black citizens. Of these bills, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 230 into law and vetoed 50.
The following are some of the key bills taking effect on Jan. 1, 2025.
Education Reform for Black Students
Senate Bill (SB) -1348 by CLBC vice-chair Sen. Steven Bradford (D- Inglewood) designates California Black-Serving Institutions (BSIs), an effort to provide additional resources and support to higher education institutions that primarily serve Black students.
Assembly Bill (AB)-51 by Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) makes sure that Black families from low-income communities have access to critical early childhood education.
AB-1113 by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D–Sacramento) expands the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) to include data on expanded learning opportunity programs. This bill improves the state’s ability to track student outcomes.
Health and Human Services: Improving Health Outcomes for Black Californians
AB-2319 by CLBC chair Assemblymember Lori Wilson (D–Suisun City) mandates implicit bias training for healthcare providers, addressing disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes, especially affecting Black women.
AB-3059 by Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D–La Mesa) requires commercial health plans to cover medically necessary pasteurized donor human milk for infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).
Tackling the Job Security
SB-1089 by Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D–Los Angeles) requires grocery stores and pharmacies to provide advance notice to workers and the community before closures.
AB-647 by Assemblymember Chris Holden (D–Pasadena) strengthens grocery worker protections by preventing mass layoffs. and ensuring that trained and skilled grocery store and pharmacy workers are rehired.
Environmental Justice for Black Neighborhoods
Bonta’s AB-2851 mandates air quality monitoring near metal shredding facilities, protecting the health of Black communities.
Bradford’s SB-1130 prevents low-income Black families from being left out of the Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) program, which subsidizes electricity costs.
Criminal Justice and Civil Rights Advocacy
AB-1986 by Assemblymember Issac Bryan (D–Ladera Heights) bans certain books in state prisons, addressing concerns over materials that perpetuate racial stereotypes and divisive ideologies.
AB-3089 by Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D–South Los Angeles) issues a formal apology for California’s role in chattel slavery, calls for systemic reforms and reparative justice for Black Californians.
AB-2975 by Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D–Carson) known as the Secure Hospitals for All Act, focuses on increasing hospital safety by requiring the installation of weapon detection systems at key entrances.
AB-672 by Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D – Moreno Valley) would ensure that Black Californians and other underrepresented communities are able to alert authorities in a timely way regarding alleged violations of civil rights.
Economic Justice and Worker Rights
Bradford’s SB-1177 ensures that minority-owned businesses are prioritized for public utility contracts, helping to create more economic opportunities for Black entrepreneurs.
AB-1 by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood) strengthens collective bargaining rights for workers in the California Legislature and protects Black employees, ensurin opportunities to advocate for fair treatment and wages.
A Continued Fight for Equity
The 230 CLBC bills signed into law represent tangible progress in education, healthcare, housing, environmental justice, and criminal justice reform.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of February 19 – 25, 2025
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of February 19 – 25, 2025
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Activism
Two New California Bills Are Aiming to Lower Your Prescription Drug Costs
“When basic life necessities like medication become unaffordable in Blue States, working people pay the price. As Democrats, we should be leading on making people’s lives better and more affordable,” continued Weiner. It is past time California caught up with other states and put basic protections in place to contain the astronomical cost of basic medications.”
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By Edward Henderson, California Black Media
Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has introduced two bills in the State Senate that could lower prescription drug prices for California residents.
Senate Bill (SB) 40, or the Insulin Affordability Act — and accompanying legislation, SB 41, or Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) Reform — comprise Wiener’s Prescription Drug Affordability (PDA) Package.
Together, the bills would cap monthly co-pays for insulin at $35 (SB 40) and create regulations for pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) whose negotiation practices, critics say, have resulted in steep price increases for prescription drugs (SB 41).
“It makes no sense that people with diabetes in states like West Virginia can access affordable insulin while Californians are stuck with higher prices,” said Wiener in a statement.
“When basic life necessities like medication become unaffordable in Blue States, working people pay the price. As Democrats, we should be leading on making people’s lives better and more affordable,” continued Weiner. It is past time California caught up with other states and put basic protections in place to contain the astronomical cost of basic medications.”
SB 40’s proposed $35 monthly co-pay was written, in part, in response to the price of insulin tripling over the past decade, Wiener’s office says. As a result of the increase, one in four people using insulin has reported insulin underuse because they can’t afford the full dose.
About 4,037,000 adult Californians have diabetes, with an additional 263,000 cases of Type 1 diabetes diagnosed each year. This rate in new cases disproportionately affects the elderly, men, and low-income patients, Wiener’s office reports.
According to Wiener, SB 41 is his follow-up to similar legislation he introduced last year, SB 966, which was vetoed by Gov. Newsom.
Middlemen in the pharmaceutical industry, PBMs buy prescription drugs from manufacturers and then sell them to pharmacies and health plans. Their position as intermediaries allows them to charge high administrative fees and significantly higher prices for drugs to pharmacies than they paid originally. This practice results in higher costs for patients seeking the prescriptions they need.
“On behalf of the Californians we serve who live with chronic and rare diseases, we are grateful to Sen. Wiener for his commitment and attempt to hold pharmacy middlemen accountable for their anti-patient and anti-pharmacy practices,” stated Liz Helms, California Chronic Care Coalition President & CEO. “Health care costs continue to rise when patients cannot afford medically necessary medications.”
SB 41 proposes that all PBMs be licensed and that they disclose basic information regarding their business practices to the licensing entity. It also calls for a number of other requirements and prohibitions, including limiting how fees may be charged and requiring transparency related to all fees assessed.
“This bill addresses some of the worst abuses by pharmacy benefit managers: lack of transparency, unfair business practices, steering, and price gouging,” said Jamie Court, President of Consumer Watchdog.
In 2022, drug spending in California grew by 12%, while total health premiums rose by just 4%. Last year, more than half of Californians either skipped or postponed mental and physical healthcare due to cost, putting their safety and well-being at risk. One in three reported holding medical debt, including half of low-income Californians.
So far, there is no organized opposition to the Prescription Drug Affordability package.
Activism
Tony Thurmond Urges Educators to Stay Focused Amid Federal Funding Battle
In a statement and a letter to California’s local educational agencies (LEAs), Thurmond praised efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism and close achievement gaps, particularly for socioeconomically disadvantaged students. “Now is not the time to be distracted by external efforts to demean and divide,” Thurmond wrote. “Please continue to stay the course with local programs that are producing results. Our students need consistency, support, and community more than ever.”
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By Bo Tefu, California Black Media
California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond has urged educators to remain focused on student achievement following a court ruling that temporarily blocks the Trump administration from freezing federal funding for schools, health care, law enforcement, and disaster relief.
A U.S. District Court judge in Rhode Island issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on Jan. 31, halting federal efforts to pause funding while a lawsuit led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 22 other state attorneys general moves forward. Thurmond, a declarant in the case, welcomed the decision and reassured educators that funding for critical school programs remains in place.
In a statement and a letter to California’s local educational agencies (LEAs), Thurmond praised efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism and close achievement gaps, particularly for socioeconomically disadvantaged students.
“Now is not the time to be distracted by external efforts to demean and divide,” Thurmond wrote. “Please continue to stay the course with local programs that are producing results. Our students need consistency, support, and community more than ever.”
Thurmond emphasized that state officials will continue advocating for stable funding to ensure schools can maintain and expand programs that help students succeed.
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