2021 Legislative Session Wraps with Major Victories!

LCHC’s 2021 Legislative Season Wrap-up: policy priorities, partner and coalition victories, and further opportunities.

2021 was an unprecedented legislative cycle that includes critical investments in COVID-19 relief and setting the stage for a just recovery. The 2020-2021 Legislative Session officially ended on Monday, October 11th, with the Governor signing critical bills into law. As we look back at a historic year that included an unprecedented budget surplus, California made huge strides to ensure that Latinxs and BIPOC communities had more protections, more access, and more resources to address the impacts of COVID-19. Several LCHC policy priorities resulted in legislative wins, including ongoing efforts to provide low-income immigrant Californians healthy food options, access to Medi-Cal for immigrant Seniors, and the compensation of women who underwent state-sponsored sterilization. We will continue to fight for policy priorities including the Health Equity and Racial Justice fund and the International Medical Graduate program.

While this year’s Legislative Session focused on addressing short-term COVID-19 response needs, LCHC will continue to advocate for the systemic changes needed to fully address the health disparities across our health systems and safety net.

All the policies we supported this year will positively improve Latinx health and advance health equity and advance our 3 strategic issue areas:

• Access to Health Care for All: Increase access for individuals to affordable, high quality, and culturally and linguistically appropriate health care— including oral and mental health care—for all.
• Building Healthy Communities: Build social, economic, and physical environments for communities that prevent chronic diseases and promote health and wellness.
• Health is a Fundamental Human Right: Reduce structural and institutional barriers that produce health inequities across race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, age, and immigration status.

With these issue areas serving as a guide, let’s dive into our review.

Our Wins:

• Food4All (SB 464)-  Budget Win with Two-Year Policy Strategy:
  • This bill would have allowed greater access to food for low-income families through a Cal-Fresh expansion. While this bill did not make it through the policy process, budget allocations made by the Newsom administration will increase access to food for immigrant families, provide free school meals for grades K-12, and update the Cal-Fresh system.
• Healthy Store Refrigeration Grant Program – Budget Win
  • Originally, this budget ask started as a $15 million extension of an already successful state program. This program helps small business owners and people in rural areas store, promote, and buy healthy foods.  We were able to increase the allocation to $20 million due to the work of our network, fellow advocates, and  Assemblymember Ting’s leadership.
• Health4All (AB4 & SB56) – Budget Win with Two-Year Policy Strategy
  • A version of Health4all was created through a $1.3 Billion dollar ongoing expenditure allocated in the budget this year that extends Medi-Cal Health coverage to anyone over 50 regardless of documentation status. AB 4 and SB 56 seek to expand that coverage to every Californian. As we move into the next legislative cycle, implementation and expansion of Health4all will be the next obstacles to tackle with a two-year bill strategy.
• SB-62 – Signed Bill
  • The Governor signed SB 62, also known as the Garment Worker Protection Act, this bill requires garment manufacturers to pay their workers by the hour. California is the first state in the nation to enact this type of law. Historically, many manufacturers have paid workers for the garments made rather than hours worked, often leading to incredibly low wages for workers. This is a huge deal considering that our state is the largest producers of garments in the country.
• AB  1007 – Budget Win
  • From 1909 to 1979, Eugenics laws allowed the state to sterilize female prisoners. This practice continued through the coercion of some victims after 1979. This policy will be implemented through a budget bill that gives reparations to those women, many of whom are Latina, that had to suffer through that violation. While a victory, passing this policy is only the beginning for the state to start repairing harm. Challenges will include finding and compensating survivors or their families and continuing to address the reverberations of this inhumane practice.

Continued Opportunities:

• AB 1163 –
  • This bill was not given much of a chance as it was never heard in its first committee. With that said, a court ruling out of Sacramento County would allow Charter cities in California to vote on Sugary Sweetened Beverage (SSB) taxes in defiance against current state law. The current state-wide law bans a state-level SSB tax while this ruling allows for an exception being made for California’s 121 Charter cities.
• International Medical Graduate Program Budget Ask 
  • There is currently a program out of UCLA that helps Doctors from foreign countries, that are now living in the U.S. pass American Medical licensing exams. This program saves time, money, and places its alumni in areas of high medical need. We were not able to secure state funding for this program this year, but we will continue to pursue efforts like the IMG to provide care in culture and in language to Latinx and other immigrants.
• Health Equity and Racial Justice Fund (AB1038)
  • If passed, this bill and budget ask would establish a $300 million annual allocation to nonprofits, community benefit organizations, and clinics that are often unable to completely meet the challenges their community is facing. Some of the issue areas this bill would address include housing security, food security, community violence & hate crimes, youth criminal justice, and environmental justice. While this bill did not pass this year, our team and the staff of many of our partner organizations are committed to seeing the organizations that are doing the real work at the local level be fully funded.

We had incredible policy wins that will lead to lasting change for nuestra gente and our state at large. While our team is currently in the planning process for the 2022 legislative cycle, this is a journey that is going to require all of us to get involved if we want to reach true equity. If there is an issue that is on your mind, we encourage you join our network. The next legislative session starts on 1/3/22 and a preliminary version of the state’s budget will be presented in the middle of January. For any questions or if you want to get involved with LCHC’s advocacy efforts, please contact Oscar Sandoval osandoval@lchc.org.