NASW-CA 2020 Legislative Update: A Year Like No Other

by Rebecca Gonzales,
Director of Government & Political Affairs

In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted every area of our lives, including the work done by the state legislature. The legislative session started in January but was suspended in March for several months due to the pandemic. At that time, legislators were told to reduce the number of bills they had introduced and to only pursue measures focused on the pandemic. When George Floyd was killed and protests erupted nationwide, many legislators pursued racial justice legislation.

NASW-CA advocates for bills that benefit our profession and we also advocate for social justice bills that improve the lives of marginalized communities. This article will focus on a portion of the racial justice bills we supported this year and their final outcome. Most bills will go into effect on January 1, 2021.

Police Reform

AB 1185 (McCarty) Officer Oversight – Allows counties to establish sheriff oversight boards and to establish an office of inspector general to assist the board with its duties.

Status: Signed by the Governor

AB 1196 (Gipson) Peace Officers Use of Force – Makes it illegal to use a carotid artery restraint or chokehold to detain a suspect.

Status: Signed by the Governor

AB 1299 (Salas) Peace Officer Employment – Requires law enforcement agencies to complete misconduct investigations and to notify the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training so this information can be shared with future hiring agencies.

Status: Vetoed by the Governor – the Governor was concerned this measure did not go far enough and will slow momentum for a broader decertification bill. The Governor stated he is open to new ideas next year.

AB 1506 (McCarty) Use of Force – Creates a division in the Department of Justice (DOJ) to, at the request of a law enforcement agency, review the use-of-force policy and make recommendations. This bill also requires a state prosecutor to investigate incidents of an officer-involved shooting resulting in the death of an unarmed civilian.

Status: Signed by the Governor

SB 203 (Bradford) – Juveniles: Custodial Interrogation – Prevents the police from interrogating minors up to 17 without legal counsel.

Status: Signed by the Governor

Justice System Reform

AB 2542 (Kalra) The Racial Justice Act – NASW-CA actively worked to develop and advocate for this bill which prohibits the state from seeking or obtaining a criminal conviction, or from imposing a sentence, based upon race, ethnicity or national origin. The bill also allows for a person charged or convicted of a crime to challenge racial bias in their case.

Status: Signed by the Governor

AB 3070 (Weber) Juries: Peremptory Challenges – Prohibits a party from using a peremptory challenge to remove a prospective juror on the basis of the prospective juror’s race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, or religious affiliation.

Status: Signed by the Governor

Mental Health Reforms

AB 456 (Eggman) Mental Health Workers: Supervision – Requires any program that permits mental health professionals to respond to emergency mental health crisis calls in collaboration with law enforcement, or in place of law enforcement, to be supervised by a licensed mental health professional, including a licensed clinical social worker.

Status: Signed by the Governor

AB 2054 (Kamlager) Emergency Services: Grant Program – Creates the Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems (CRISES) Act. This Act establishes a grant pilot program to allow community organizations to be first responders for calls involving homelessness, mental health, domestic abuse, and other situations that would be better served by community-based response teams centered on culturally appropriate, trauma-informed, and relationship-building services.

Status: Vetoed by the Governor – NASW-CA is committed to bringing this bill back next year with a clearly defined role for social workers.

Programs for Immigrant Communities

AB 826 (Santiago) Emergency Food Assistance: Undocumented Persons – Establishes a program to provide emergency food assistance. The program requires, upon appropriation of funding, to provide a one-time use, prepaid card preloaded with $600 for use at retailers that sell groceries to any adult who self-attests to eligibility for specified assistance programs.

Status: Vetoed by the Governor

AB 2043 (Rivas, Robert) Occupational Safety and Health: Agricultural Employees: Covid-19 Response – Protects California’s agricultural workers by disseminating and adopting health and safety best practices, including the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and physical distancing, which will result in keeping our workforce and food supply chain safe.

Status: Signed by the Governor

AB 3228 (Bonta) Private Detention Facilities – Ensures that detention facilities abide by and uphold basic human rights and standards in the treatment of civil detainees. The bill also provides for a cause of action in state court for any violations of the agreed upon standards.

Status: Signed by the Governor

Additional Racial Justice Legislation

AB 1775 (Jones-Sawyer) Emergency System: Harassment – Imposes a fine or misdemeanor on any person who knowingly uses the 911 emergency system for the purpose of harassing another person including harassment based on a person’s perceived race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, country of origin, ancestry, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.

Status: Signed by the Governor

AB 3121 (Weber) Task Force to Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans – Establishes a task force to study the issue of reparations for African Americans. The task force will recommend appropriate ways to disseminate their findings and will also be required to recommend appropriate remedies, such as how any form of compensation should be awarded and who shall be eligible.

Status: Signed by the Governor

ACA 5 (Weber) Affirmative Action – This measure placed Proposition 16 on the ballot to reinstate Affirmative Action programs in public employment, public education, and public contracting.

Status: Signed by the Governor but Proposition 16 failed at the polls. 

NASW-CA is committed to continue pursuing an anti-racist agenda in policy proposals that we propose or support in the California Legislature.

If you have any questions or want more information on anything written here, Rebecca may be reached by email at rgonzales.naswca@socialworkers.org.