When intersectional feminist policy becomes law, we’re all winners. And we won big this legislative cycle.
This year’s Solís Policy Institute State fellows tirelessly championed five bills – four of which were signed into law.
We won:
- Greater transparency in the reporting of deaths of incarcerated individuals by requiring jails and state prisons to post information on their websites within ten days after a person dies in custody from our Community Justice Reform team’s bill, AB 2761
- Vital support for alternatives to criminalization for drug users with the Community Health team’s bill, AB 2195
- Housing protections for survivors of domestic violence with the Trauma Services & Prevention team’s bill, SB 1017
- Critical protections for workers that ensure CalWorks and CalFresh recipients maintain their benefits when facing workers’ rights violations from our Economic Security team’s bill, AB 2300
Even a vetoed bill, like AB 2320, represents its own kind of victory. Policy is an on-going conversation. So many bills don’t go through the first time around, but that doesn’t mean that change isn’t taking place. In fact, last year’s Criminal Justice Reform team got their bill, SB 960 -focused on the compassionate release of incarcerated folks – passed this year. Through our coalition work we also supported the passage of SB 951 which increased temporary disability coverage so that all workers can afford leave to bond with a baby or to care for themselves and each other during a family medical crisis.
Over the last nearly twenty years, our Solís Policy Institute fellows have championed over 50 bills into intersectional feminist law building health, safety, and prosperity for all of us. If you want to know more about our feminist policy legacy, summer intern Eliana Arroyo wrote up two fabulous reflections on our reproductive justice policy wins of the past: medication abortion on college campuses and unshackling pregnant people in prison.
Across the board, we couldn’t be prouder. We are genuinely moved by the tenacity, courage, and skill that each of our SPI fellows past and present bring to the policy making process.