AAUW California’s Priority Legislation: 2023 California Legislative Session Round-Up

By Amy Hom & Missy Maceyko, Co-Chairs, CA State Public Policy Committee

After at least nine months of writing, researching, amending, and lobbying, the legislative session drew to a close. So how did AAUW California’s priority legislation fare?

Our three A-level bills this year were AB 1394, AB 549, and SB680. 

AB 1394. Authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, this bill seeks to help child sex abuse survivors remove their images from social media platforms. It has been signed into law by the governor.

AB 549. 2-Year Bill. Authored by Assemblymember Lori Wilson, this bill would require all state agencies to conduct an evaluation of their own departments to ensure that the state does not discriminate against women through the allocation of funding and the delivery of services.

SB 680. 2-Year Bill. Authored by Senator Nancy Skinner, this bill prohibits a social media platform from using a design, algorithm, or feature that the platform knows, or should have known, causes child users to experience addiction to the social media platform. 

Our four B-level bills this year were AB 524, AB 1071, AB 1078, and SB 36. AAUW California added AB 1078 later in the session at the request of the School Board Project Subcommittee, as it deals with preserving historically accurate and representative curricula for public schools in California. AB 1078 also bans “book bans” in schools and prohibits censorship of instructional materials. AB 524, AB 1071, and AB 1078 have been signed into law. SB 36 has been transformed into a 2-year bill.

For details on B- and C-level bills, check out our bill tracker HERE.

Susan Rife, Public Policy chair