AAUW California advocates came out in full strength on April 8th and 9th to participate in Lobby Days 2025. A total of 197 people representing 66 branches, including our Public Policy Interns and other college students, turned out to advance our priority legislation. Eighty-four people came to Sacramento on April 8th to meet in person with legislative offices; 104 people participated in virtual meetings via Zoom on April 9th; and nine people met with district offices. Collectively, we met with 94 of California’s 120 legislative offices, or 78% – a record for AAUW California!
We asked the legislative offices to support SB 771 and SB 418, and oppose AB 579. SB 771 (Stern) “Social Media Platforms Endangering Californians”, sponsored by AAUW California, would hold social media platforms liable if their algorithms or AI aid or abet users to intimidate and threaten marginalized groups. SB 418 (Menjivar) “Ensure Equal Access to Care for All” would prohibit a health plan or a health insurance provider from denying coverage or denying benefits to a person based upon their race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex – including sex characteristics such as intersex traits, pregnancy, and gender identity. AB 579 (Castillo) “Yaeli’s Law”, which we opposed, would prohibit parental denial of support for youth self-identity from being considered as child abuse and the basis for custody or removal decisions.
Our positions on SB 418 and AB 579 are protective of the rights of transgender people, meeting the challenges of the current moment. A number of the offices expressed support for our positions with empathy and personal stories about legislators’ family members who are transgender. Shortly after our Lobby Days event, we learned that AB 579 is dead. The bill was held in the Assembly Rules Committee and was not referred to a policy committee, effectively killing the bill. You can find more information on these and all the bills on our Legislative Agenda HERE.
Reports from the Lobby Days teams indicate that all of the meetings were courteous and cordial, including those with offices that did not agree with some of our positions. Many teams were received with enthusiasm and gratitude for AAUW’s scholarships, activities, and programs such as Tech Trek. Some staffers expressed interest in joining AAUW, and one staffer generously shared information with our Public Policy Interns about a Fellowship program she participated in, which ultimately led to her current job. Overall, we successfully met with 94 offices to advance our key legislation and increase awareness about AAUW. To everyone who participated in Lobby Days 2025, AAUW California thanks you!
Lobby Days, YouTube Video, April 8 – 9, 2025
*If you see any corrections that need to be made to the captions, please email publicpolicy@aauw-ca.org.