Senators Jones, Cortese and Allen Work With PERK To Secure Senate Health Informational Hearing
Dear PERK Families,
We are grateful to share this monumental moment with you as we continue the fight for medically vulnerable children in California. We just took a giant leap forward.
PERK has been working hand in hand with the Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R-San Diego), Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), and Senator Benjamin Allen (D-Santa Monica) for a bipartisan formal request to Senate Health Committee Chair Dr. Akilah Weber Pierson. Under the leadership of the Senators, they formally made the ask on our behalf. They asked the committee to hold an informational hearing this fall on how California issues, reviews, and oversees medical exemptions from school vaccine requirements.
After many months of collaborating with the Senators following the Senate Hearing for SB1377, I was contacted a few weeks ago by Senator Jone's staff and subsequently by Senator Cortese’s team with the good news that all our effort and strategy, including the Senator’s formal asks and requests, had secured an Informational Hearing.
PERK and our teams have continued to be the lead on not only sponsoring the legislation introduced this year, but also bringing organizations together in a united effort with the Senators who authored the bill and received direct commitments from the Chair of the Senate Health Committee. Any organization outside of PERK telling you they secured the hearing themselves is inaccurate. They are falsely taking credit for what these Senators have authored, originated, and formally asked for, working hand in hand in with PERK and PERK’s collaborative partners.
At PERK, we knew that Senator Jones’ formal request would be key as the lead author of the bill SB1377, supported by co-authors, Senator Cortese and Senator Allen. They carried the most weight, as the Senators on the bill, than any organization’s request. No organization could penetrate or do what the Senators could. The Senate Health Committee did not grant another organization’s request for a hearing. They granted the Senators, who authored and co-authored the bill SB1377 sponsored by PERK, their formal request for the informational hearing. Senator Jones and Senator Cortese provided direct quotes for PERK’s press release below.
Three senators. Two parties. One request: take a hard look at a system that is failing children with real medical needs.
What the Senators asked for
The senators raised the same concerns PERK families and physicians have been raising for years:
Doctors are being discouraged from using their judgment. California's centralized review process, and the numerical thresholds that can trigger investigations of physicians, may keep doctors from writing exemptions even when they are medically warranted. Under current law, a doctor with five or more revoked exemptions in a year is reported to the Medical Board.
Families' private medical information is at risk. Families seeking or keeping an exemption face concerns about how sensitive medical records are disclosed.
Children's education is on the line. Families worry about continued access to school for children who genuinely need a medical accommodation.
The senators asked the committee to examine the right balance between physician discretion and state oversight, with input from state agencies, physicians, families, and other stakeholders.
How we got here
Earlier this year, PERK sponsored SB 1377, authored by Senator Jones and championed alongside Senators Cortese and Allen, to ease restrictions on doctors providing medically necessary exemptions. At the Senate Health Committee hearing on April 15, Senator Jones, Senator Cortese, and I all testified to the need for action.
The bill fell short in committee, 3 to 4. But at that hearing and behind closed doors, Chair Weber Pierson suggested an informational hearing in the fall as a way to examine these issues in greater depth. This formal ask from the Senator’s took her up on that offer.
That matters. For the first time in years, medical exemptions are back in front of the Legislature, and there is a bipartisan group of senators asking for answers.
Why this moment matters
Families should never be forced to choose between protecting their child's health and accessing an education. This is one of the most pivotal moments for health freedom and children's rights in California. For years, PERK has stood with families and physicians—in the courts, at the Capitol, and in communities across our state—to challenge policies that have denied children educational access and undermined medical decision-making. This informational hearing is an important step toward righting those wrongs, restoring physician judgment, and protecting the medical freedom and educational rights of every California family.
Senator Jones put it simply, "California must ensure that its exemption framework protects the integrity of our public health system without leaving behind the children who genuinely need medical accommodations," Jones said. "We look forward to working with Dr. Weber Pierson and committee staff to get this right."
What comes next
The committee has set a date for the hearing for November 12th. Our call to action is to join us in person at the hearing to give public comment. This hearing is the chance for families, organizations, and physicians to be heard.
In the meantime, here is how you can help:
Share this update with families, physicians, and friends who care about children's medical and educational rights.
Tell us your story. If your child's medical exemption was denied, revoked, or never written because a doctor was afraid to, we want to hear from you.
Donate. Watch your inbox for how to participate at the hearing.
Thank you for standing with us and with California's children.
Thank you for your support,
Amy Bohn
President and Co-Founder, PERK
