Bills to Support Social Workers and Our Clients are on the Governor’s Desk!

The California legislative session will end on September 14, and many bills sponsored and supported by NASW-CA are on Governor Newsom’s desk for his signature or veto. The Governor will have until October 14 to sign or veto each bill. Here is an update on a small portion of the bills we have supported.  

NASW-CA Co-Sponsored Bills on the Governor’s Desk: 

• SB 372 (Menjivar) Allows for the removal of “deadnames” from the licensee or registrant’s name under the Department of Consumer Affairs. This can be done in several circumstances upon request, such as a gender and name change or a domestic violence victim who does not want their old name listed. 

• SB 373 (Menjivar) Would prohibit the Board of Behavioral Sciences and the Board of Psychology from displaying the full address of record so that only the city, state, county, and zip code will be displayed.  

Other Bills Supported by NASW-CA on the Governor’s Desk: 

• AB 28 (Gabriel) Secures a dedicated and sustained funding for lifesaving violence intervention initiatives and related gun violence prevention, education, and research purposes through a modest surtax on firearms and ammunition.  

• AB 230 (Reyes) Requires public schools catering to students third through fifth grade to ensure that their restrooms are adequality stocked with menstrual products. This bill extends previous legislation by providing products for third through twelfth grade rather than the previous population of sixth through twelfth grade.  

• AB 1078 (Jackson) Would ensure that instructional materials represent diverse perspectives and are culturally relevant.  The bill also revises the list of what groups must be represented to meet the mandates of the bill to include materials that accurately portray the contributions of people of all gender expressions and the role and contributions of Latino Americans, LGBTQ+ Americans, and other religious and socioeconomic status groups.  

• SB 58 (Wiener) Would decriminalize the possession and consumption in specific quantity limits of psychedelic substances: psilocybin, psilocyn, dimethyltryptamine (“DMT”), and mescaline (for personal use) for people over 21 years old. In addition, this bill directs California Health and Human Services Agency to convene a workgroup to study and make recommendations on the establishment of a framework governing the therapeutic use, including facilitated or supported use, of those substances.  

• SB 403 (Wahab) Ends caste discrimination in California by making it clear that discrimination based on caste is covered under existing anti-discrimination statutes. 

As previously mentioned in this newsletter, our priority sponsored bill, SB 766 (Eggman), Title Protection for Social Workers, is a two-year bill and it will be eligible for another hearing in January 2024. This bill only allows a person with a degree from a CSWE accredited school of social work to be called a social worker.  

At the time this article was written, we were still waiting for the final vote on one of our lobby day bills – SB 407 (Wiener). This bill requires a resource family to demonstrate an understanding of the unique needs of LGBTQ+ and gender-expansive youth, and the capacity and willingness to meet those needs.  

Other bills previously mentioned in this newsletter:  

• AB 4 (Arambula) Allows for undocumented individuals to buy into Covered California if they are income eligible. Status: Two- Year Bill 
• AB 280 (Holden) Limits the use of segregated (solitary) confinement. Facilities must follow specified procedures such as requiring a mental health check at specified intervals and limit the time a person can be held in segregated confinement. Status: Awaiting a final vote in the Assembly. 
• AB 1001 (Haney) Provides for minimum staffing requirements, including LCSWs, at a general acute care hospitals to respond to behavioral health emergencies. Status: Two-Year Bill 
• SB 260 (Menjivar) Would add $20 to the CalWORKs grant to purchase menstrual products for those between the ages of 10 and 55. Status: Two-Year Bill 

We would like to thank the social workers who have supported our advocacy efforts this year! This includes the 800 social workers and social work students at Lobby Days plus other social workers who advocated on specific issues. You may have noticed that several bills above were authored by our social work legislators – Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman, Senator Caroline Menjivar and Assemblymember Corey Jackson. We are so pleased how social work has positively impacted policy in the State of California and across the country. Please stay engaged and involved! After the Governor has completed his bill signings and vetoes, we will provide another update.