CA Latino Legislative Caucus Announces 2014 Priority Legislation

SACRAMENTO – Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Huntington Park/Long Beach) and Luis Alejo (D-Salinas), Chair and Vice Chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, today announced the Caucus’ 2014 priority legislation.

“The Latino Caucus is committed to fighting for those issues that all residents demand:  Good paying jobs, access to health care, safe communities and excellent schools.  These high expectations comprise the California Dream that continues to draw people to our great state,” said Senator Ricardo Lara. “Our legislative package underscores the work that remains to create a more equitable state for all Californians, including Latinos.”

Caucus members voted on the following priority bills:

• SB 972 (Torres) Improving Covered California.  This bill increases the number of board members on the California Health Benefit Exchange Board from 5 to 7, and adds additional desired qualifications and expertise for future Board Members.

• SB 1174 (Lara) Multilingual Education at Schools.  This bill places an initiative before voters on the November 2016 ballot to repeal Proposition 227 and allow public schools to teach foreign language immersion classes.

• SB 1213 (Hueso) California Enhanced Driver’s License.  This bill allows for the creation of an Enhanced Driver’s License to reduce border wait times and increase economic gain produced by efficient and secure cross-border travel.

• SB 1365 (Padilla) California Voting Rights Act.  This bill strengthens the California Voting Rights Act to make it illegal for election districts to be drawn in a manner that inhibits or dilutes the ability of a protected class from influencing an election.

• SCA 5 (Hernández) Equal Opportunity Programs in Public Universities. This bill places an initiative before voters on the November 2016 ballot to repeal  portions of Proposition 209 which eliminated equal opportunity in public colleges and universities nearly 20 years ago.

• AB 1331 (Rendon) Water Bond. This bill, the Clean and Safe Drinking Water Act of 2014, places an $8 billion water bond on the November 2014 ballot to address our state's major water infrastructure needs.

• AB 1522 (Gonzalez) Paid Sick Leave for Employees  This bill allows workers in California to accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked and provides employers with the option of capping an employee’s paid sick leave at 24 hours, or 3 days.

• AB 1538 (Eggman) Cal Grant Eligibility. This bill amends Cal Grant eligibility criteria so that those academic institutions, which serve a low-income student population and have higher graduation rates, do not unnecessarily lose their eligibility.

“The mission of our Caucus is to identify, promote and advocate on behalf of the professional, educational, social, political and cultural interests of the Latino community throughout Cailfornia,” said Assemblymember Luis Alejo. “Our legislative priorities highlight our commitment to that mission in 2014 and beyond.”

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Contact: Jesse Melgar (916) 651-4033 / Jesse.Melgar@sen.ca.gov