California Bills 2026 Update
Dear PERK Members,
Earlier this year we asked you to weigh in on seventeen California bills: nine we opposed, eight we supported. Thousands of you sent letters through our action campaigns. Here’s the breakdown. What we won, what we lost, and what’s left to do!
The Legislature adjourned on August 31. Every bill that passed is now on the Governor's desk, and he has until September 30 to sign or veto. That is where this fight is for the next three weeks.
There are a few controversial bills that harm children that got pushed through last minute, so it is important you all stay informed about those bills. Shareable social media post with calls to action here.
Two Bills On The Governor’s Desk To Oppose
AB 2691: Elections, elective office, felony conviction (TAKE ACTION)
This bill would bar people convicted of certain sex offenses and human trafficking from holding state or local elective office, including school board seats. The version the Assembly passed 67–0 named six specific sex crimes. It was then amended twice, the second time to cover only offenses requiring lifetime registration. As it now reads, a person convicted of a non-forcible sex offense against a 14-17 year old, of an offense against a disabled victim unable to consent, or in some cases of first-time child molestation, could still sit on a school board.
The bill is on the Governor's desk. If he does nothing by September 30, it becomes law. We are asking him to veto it and send back the version the Assembly already passed unanimously. Senator Valladeres Explanation.
California State Senator Suzette Valladares gives a passionate statement.
AB 2563: Sex discrimination (TAKE ACTION)
AB 2563 (Asm. Blanca Pacheco) rewrites how sex discrimination is defined across California law, including the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Fair Employment and Housing Act. It requires every provision prohibiting sex discrimination to be read as covering discrimination based on actual or perceived characteristics, including a person's degree of conformity to sex or gender stereotypes.
Our concern is what the bill leaves out. California relies on sex-based distinctions to protect single-sex spaces such as girls' restrooms and locker rooms, domestic violence shelters and single-sex school athletics. Broadening the statutory definition of sex without preserving those distinctions puts them in question, and this bill does not preserve them. Senator Brian Jones, who voted against it, said it "wipes out decades of protections for women and girls."
It passed 60–15 and is on its way to the Governor. If he does nothing by September 30, it becomes law.
Three Bills On The Governor's Desk To Support
TAKE ACTION TO SUPPORT THEM NOW
AB 1763: Pupil attendance: excused absences: religious observance (Asm. Alex Lee) Passed the Senate 40-0 on August 26, after clearing the Assembly 73-0. It removes the requirement that a parent submit a written request and get a principal's approval for a religious absence, treating it the same as an absence for illness or bereavement.
A California family should not need administrative permission to observe their faith. This bill fixes that, and it passed without a single no vote in either chamber. Take Action Here
AB 1766: Health curriculum framework, human trafficking and online safety. Cleared its final concurrence vote 78-0-1 on August 27 and is on its way to the Governor. Take Action Here
AB 767: Sexually violent predators, schools (Asm. Juan Alanis). Passed the Assembly 71-0 and the Senate 39-0, with final concurrence on August 30. Take Action Here
All need signatures by September 30.
5 Bills We Opposed Will Not Become Law
AB 2651: Immunization Bill (Huge Health Freedom Win)
AB 673: Unaccompanied homeless pupils. Held in committee, August 13.
AB 1579: Children's Crisis Continuum Pilot Program. Hearing canceled at the author's request in June, and never rescheduled.
AB 1631: Elementary education: kindergarten. Held in committee, May 14.
SB 608: Sexual health. Referred to the Education and Health Committees in May and never moved.
Four bills we asked you to oppose are finished. Your letters are part of that record.
Bills We Supported That Did Not Make It
We tell you those as well.
SB 1377: Medical Exemption Protection Bill (PERK’s Sponsored Bill was a landmark moment with bi-partisan support. However, it did not make it out of the Senate Health Committee.)
AB 68: School safety: armed school resource officers. Failed passage in Assembly Education on January 7.
AB 1538: Crimes: corruption. Held in committee, May 14.
AB 1628: Child protection: safe surrender. Cleared its first committee 8–0, then stalled in Human Services.
AB 1998: Discrimination: sex and gender: intimate spaces. Never received a committee hearing.
SB 1015: Crimes: minors. Held in committee, August 13.
Several of these died in Appropriations without a public vote. That is how most bills end in California: quietly, on a suspense file, with no one on the record. It is one of the reasons we do this work.
What Happens Next
The bills that made it through the Legislature go to Governor Newsom’s desk to be signed by September 30th. The new Legislature convenes December 7, and we are already preparing: including new legislation on health freedom, children protection, and work towards an informational hearing to put California's health freedom issues and system on the public record.
We will be back with a full list well before the first hearing. Watch your inbox in January.
Thank you for showing up on these. Seventeen bills is a lot to ask of anyone, and you did it!
Sincerely,
Amy Bohn Co-Founder and CEO, PERK
All your action reminders in one place:
AB 2691: Elections, elective office, felony conviction (TAKE ACTION)
AB 2563: Sex discrimination (TAKE ACTION)
Shareable Social Media post here.
AB 1763: Pupil attendance: excused absences: religious observance Take Action Here
AB 1766: Health curriculum framework, human trafficking and online safety. Take Action Here
AB 767: Sexually violent predators, schools Take Action Here
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