2023 Legislative Compendium

- Rep. Armando Walle (TX) - Assigns $3.3 million annually to cover the cost of school breakfast for students who qualify for reduced-price meals. Will help school districts that are seeing a rise in student meal debt after federal COVID-19 aid expired.

- Asw. Blanca Rubio (CA) - Prohibits suspension and expulsion in state preschool and childcare programs, serving children 0-5, except as last resort in extraordinary circumstances where there are serious and validated safety concerns. Strengthens early childhood mental health consultation (ECMHC) as a means of providing adequate supports to teachers, children, and families to promote positive mental health, buffer the effects of toxic stress and trauma, and bring out the most optimal development and learning of each child. See fact sheet here: https://earlyedgecalifornia.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Fact-sheet-AB-2806.pdf

- Rep. Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz (PA) - Addresses the steep decline in the number of qualified teaching candidates (and the growing number of teachers teaching with emergency credentials), especially in hard to staff areas like special education, English Language instruction, and STEM, by allowing certain non-citizens to be eligible for a teaching certification. Current law prevents non-U.S. citizens from completing an application for certification unless they are applying for certificate to teach a foreign language or hold an immigrant visa (Green Card) and sign an affidavit of intent to become a U.S citizen. This law would allow those with a valid immigrant visa, a work visa, or a valid employment authorization document which allows them to work in the United States (such as DACA) to be eligible to apply for teacher certification.

- Asm. Rick Chavez Zbur (CA) - The Safe and Supportive Schools Act - Provides public school teachers and staff with training and resources to better serve LGBTQ+ and all students. - The bill provides public school teachers and staff with training and resources to better serve LGBTQ+ and all students. Requires the state Department of Education to complete the creation of the online training which will cover, at a minimum: ∙ Creating safe and supportive learning environments for LGBTQ+ students and those with intersecting identities (for example those who are also people of color, immigrants, and/or people living with HIV) ∙ Identifying LGBTQ+ students at risk of harassment or lack of support at home ∙ Obligations under school policies relating to bullying, harassment, complaint procedures, suicide prevention, use of school facilities, and procedures to protect privacy ∙ The importance of identifying local community-based organizations as well as physical and mental health providers that support LGBTQ+ youth ∙ The formation of peer support clubs ∙ Mandates that teachers and other certificated staff serving grades 7 through 12 complete one hour of training annually, with a sunset in five years. ∙ Allows schools that are already providing LGBTQ+ cultural competency training to meet this requirement through in-person training so long as it is substantially similar to, and meets the same standards as, the online training.

Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk (MD) - Guarantees prenatal and postpartum care to undocumented pregnant women and their newborns regardless of the mother’s immigration status. - Pregnant women will be eligible for comprehensive medical care and other healthcare services while pregnant and up to one year postpartum. ■ The state already provided expanded Medicaid access to low-income pregnant women for one year after delivery, and this bill ensures that undocumented pregnant women receive the same support. Under this legislation, the children of undocumented pregnant women will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid for their first year of life, reducing required documentation, which often limits access for undocumented communities. ○ While these children are already eligible for Medicaid, this provision is intended to decrease barriers to care by. ● HB 1080 requires the state Department of Health to submit a waiver to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that maximizes federal funding and the individuals who would be eligible under this bill. ● Failure to provide coverage often leads to more expensive care provided in Emergency Departments when health conditions have become more complex, require more intensive treatment, and often have worse outcomes. hat the bill is about

- Asm. Jessica González-Rojas (NY) - The Coverage for All Act - Require state to amend the state’s existing federal waiver in order to expand eligibility of the state’s Essential Health Plan to undocumented immigrants with incomes up to 250% of federal poverty level. See Assemblymember González-Rojas’s op-ed in El Diario: https://eldiariony.com/2023/06/20/the-assembly-can-make-history-by-passing-health-coverage-for-all/

Rep. Ashlee Matthews and Sen. Luz Escamilla (UT) - Directs state employee insurance to expand maternal care coverage to include birthing doulas, free standing birthing centers, and direct-entry nursing midwives.

- Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega (MN) - The state already has two programs to provide assistance to individuals who cannot afford the cost of insulin. The urgent need program provides eligible individuals with a 30-day supply and the co-payment cannot exceed $35. The continuing need program provides eligible individuals with a 90-day supply of insulin and the copayment cannot exceed $50. Before this law, both programs required individuals to indicate residency by presenting a valid state identification card, driver’s license or permit, or a Tribal identification card. This bill adds an individual tax identification number (ITIN) to the list of valid identification documents. An ITIN is a document created by the Internal Revenue Service to allow foreign nationals and other individuals, including undocumented persons, who are not eligible for a Social Security number, to file taxes.

- Sen. Luz Escamilla (UT) - Expands the state’s Children's Health Insurance Program to otherwise qualified undocumented children, residing in the state for at least 180 days, and one of whose parents must also have unsubsidized employment.

Sen. Nancy Rodriguez (NM) Earmarks and allocates 2.5 percent of the annual senior severance tax bond (STB) capacity for the state’s Housing Trust Fund, which did not previously have predictable funding and relied on annual appropriations with significant variations. The current value of this bill’s allocation is approximately $24 million dollars every year into the state’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund for low to median income residents. Furthermore, this $24 million will generate approximately 26 to 1 in leveraged building capacity (around $625 million) by the state’s Mortgage Finance Authority. NM has a great need for both affordable housing and housing inventory and my Senate Bill 134 will assist greatly in this regard.

Sen. Catherine Miranda (AZ) - An emergency measure that outlines requirements for the Department of Economic Security (DES), the Department of Housing (ADOH) and the Department of Administration (ADOA) relating to affordable housing grants, pilot programs, rental assistance and eviction prevention. Establishes the Homeless Shelter and Services Fund (Fund) and appropriates $145,000,000 from the state General Fund in FY 2024 to the Fund to award grants to counties, cities, towns, Indian tribes and nonprofit organizations for programs that provide shelter and services to unsheltered persons who are experiencing homelessness. Appropriates $10,000,000 from the state General Fund in FY 2024 to DES to distribute for rental assistance to persons who are at least 65 years old. - Sponsoring this legislation helped other individuals get involved and contribute to tackling underlying issues and working towards long-term solutions. Although it didn’t get to the finish line, this SB1585 helped get providers talking to one another and local governments to coordinate themselves for better solutions and our state legislature to finally listen.

- Del. Elizabeth Guzman (VA) - Permits local governments to allow employee collective bargaining and, for those who have not, requires local governments to vote on allowing collective bargaining at the request of a unit - Permits counties, cities, and towns to adopt local ordinances authorizing them to (i) recognize any labor union or other employee association as a bargaining agent of any public officers or employees, except for Constitutional officers and their employees, and including public school employees and (ii) collectively bargain or enter into any collective bargaining contract with any such union or association or its agents with respect to any matter relating to them or their employment. The bill provides that for any governing body of a county, city, or town that has not adopted an ordinance or resolution providing for collective bargaining, such governing body is required, within 120 days of receiving certification from a majority of public employees in a unit considered by such employees to be appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, to take a vote to adopt or not adopt an ordinance or resolution to provide for collective bargaining by such public employees and any other public employees deemed appropriate by the governing body. The bill provides that the prohibition against striking for public employees applies, irrespective of any such local ordinance.

- Sen. Lena González (CA) - Before this law, only, Washington, Arizona, Oregon, New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maryland, Vermont, Maine, and Connecticut have granted workers the right to use at least five or more paid sick days per year. Research has shown emergency paid leave prevented approximately 400 positive COVID-19 cases per day in each state where workers temporarily gained access to paid sick leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. However, temporary expansions of paid sick leave policies are not enough to provide a reliable safety-net for workers and adequately protect public health year-round. SB 616 would require employers to provide five sick days to employees who work 30 or more days within a year from commencement of employment. This bill would extend the anti-retaliation provisions and requirements on the use of paid sick days to Collective Bargaining Agreement employees. This bill would also require railroad employers to allow their railroad employees to take at least five days of unpaid sick days annually.

-Sen. Omar Aquino (IL) - Creates office of Healthcare Licensing Liaison for international healthcare professionals - Helps streamline processes so that international health care professionals can become licensed in the state. The state Department of Financial and Professional Regulation will create an Office of the Ombudsman for International Applicants. This office will employ a full-time licensing liaison for international applicants to assist applicants in answering questions and providing information on education requirements for licenses, as well as helping process the applications.

Rep. Carlos Gonzalez (MA) - Establishes the micro business employee training and workforce development program by creating a $2,000 tax credit for every microbusiness, defined as a business with 10 employees or fewer and not more than $250,000 of gross profit, for each person they hire who was released from prison within the past five years or is receiving transitional assistance. The bill would also create a grant program for these microbusinesses to receive funding within their first five years of eligibility. The value of this legislation is in its approach to simultaneously addressing the interrelated issues of recidivism reduction through second-chance employment, microbusiness development, and assisting people off of transitional benefits through employment.

Sen. Flavio Bravo, Rep. Alma Hernandez and Rep. Consuelo Hernandez (AZ) - Occupational work licenses for immigrant youth. After the historic passage of Prop 308 in Arizona in November 2022, Dreamers are now able to pay in-state tuition at our in-state universities. Yet, they are largely unable to work upon graduation. In the southwestern states of California, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico, they have passed legislation authorizing individuals to receive occupational work licenses regardless of citizenship status. - Many employers realize that our economy demands that our laws be modernized, and this is just one example of how the state legislature can pass a local reform when there is inaction at the federal level. In this case, Congress has not passed meaningful immigration reform since 1986. Immigrant youth are motivated to work and achieve their personal and professional goals. This legislation would make the state competitive with others who have enacted it.

- Rep. Barbara Hernandez (IL) - Allows undocumented individuals to have a standard driver's license. It will allow families to use it as a form of identification and it will remove the purple line that the current program would signal out who was undocumented.

- Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega (MN) - This bill broadens the eligibility for a traditional (non-commercial) driver’s license or identification card so that proof of citizenship or lawful presence is no longer required.

- Sen. Adam Zabner (IA) - Decriminalize fentanyl test strips with the goal of fighting the crisis of accidental fentanyl overdose. Currently, fentanyl test strips are considered drug paraphernalia in the state and a misdemeanor to possess them. That stops people from being able to make sure that they’re not accidentally exposing themselves.

Rep. Carlos Gonzalez (MA) - This bill would create a task force to research where illegal firearms are having the largest impact in Massachusetts and create recommendations for curbing their prevalence and use. It would also prohibit the sale of firearms without a registered serial number or 3D-printed firearms parts at a gun collectors meeting or gun show. Lastly, it would prohibit the sale of a firearm at a gun collectors meeting or gun show to anyone without a firearms identification card.

- Rep. Geraldo Reyes (CT) - Creates the Baby Bond Program (See Sec. 149 p. 245) - State will deposit $3,200 into a trust in the name of each new baby born into a household eligible for Medicaid. The beneficiaries will be able to redeem that capital any time between the ages of 18 and 30 (provided they are still state residents) for buying a home in the state, starting or investing in a business, paying for college, job training or saving for retirement. The modest initial bond amounts are projected to grow to anywhere from $10,000 to $24,000 in value, depending on when they are used. The tax-exempt funds are available for investments such as starting a small business, higher education or job training, and homeownership.

Rep. Aisha Gomez (MN) Provision within her Taxes Omnibus bill, HF1938, make taxpayers who file with an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) eligible to receive the state’s child and working family tax credit. She originated this provision because people who are using ITINS are paying into the tax system but were not getting the benefits that they were owed. Implementing this provision is a measure of basic tax equity that makes the system fairer. This provision helps undocumented and mixed-status families in particular that are not getting some of the support that they would otherwise get for their kids.

Sen. Luis Sepúlveda (NY) - Allows the commissioner of motor vehicles to enter into driver license reciprocity agreements with other states, countries, provinces, or territories, for unrestricted driver licenses aged 18 or older and shall not apply to applications for enhanced licenses, real ID's or driver licenses for the operation of a commercial motor vehicle or motorcycle. The bill was requested by the President of the Dominican Republic and the Taiwanese government's representative in New York, to facilitate business, research and academic exchanges and cooperation.

Rep. Elizabeth Velasco (CO) - Water Quality in Mobile Home Parks - this bill addresses long-standing issues of mobile home parks having water quality problems in Colorado. Some of the only affordable housing in Colorado, mobile home parks have a high percentage of residents who are Latino. The 2022 Colorado Latino Policy Agenda poll found that 40% of Latinos surveyed living in these parks do not trust their drinking water, that it makes them sick, stains their clothes, and breaks their appliances. In 2023, every single person in Colorado should have access to clean water. Having grown up in mobile home parks in rural Colorado herself, this bill was extremely important to Rep. Velasco.

Asw. Lisa Calderón (CA) - Requires state Department of Public Health to develop public health recommendations for counties. Requires counties to provide lung health-related information and preparation in their next emergency plan. - The worsening climate crisis suggests that there will be more frequent and intense wildfires, leading to dangerous air quality and wildfire smoke. Wildfire smoke constitutes nearly half the fine particle pollution in the western part of the US, and wildfire particulates from Canada cause great disruption in the Eastern seaboard. Recent research reveals that wildfire smoke contains harmful fungi and bacteria. This law requires the state Department of Public Health to develop public health recommendations for counties. It also requires counties to provide lung health-related information and preparation in their next emergency plan; providing for the smooth delivery of emergency provisions. These efforts will not only improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations, but also reduce healthcare costs to the state by reducing the frequency of emergency room visits related to respiratory health.

Rep. Jon Koznick (MN) Equine therapy to first responders suffering from trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder grant funding provided, and money appropriated. See also this YouTube video which tells the story of the program and features Rep. Koznick and the work he did to get this passed into law. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzbP5KT47i8

Sen. Carol Alvarado and Rep. Ryan Guillen (TX) Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) who have been honorably discharged from the US Armed Forces after serving at least two years can be hired as peace officers under certain circumstances. Before the enactment of SB 252, state law only allowed US citizens to be licensed and hired as peace officers or to hold another type of license from the Commission on Law Enforcement. Our nation's veterans, who have bravely served and protected our freedoms, deserve every opportunity to contribute their skills and expertise to our communities. SB 252 recognizes their sacrifices and offers a pathway for LPRs to serve as peace officers to help address the shortage of qualified personnel in police departments. This legislation showcases our commitment to supporting those who have dedicated themselves to safeguarding our nation. Senator Alvarado worked closely with members of the Texas Mexican American Legislative Caucus to get this bill passed. While SB 252 was being ushered through the legislative process, other bills were being pushed simultaneously. Rep. Phillip Cortez (San Antonio), Rep. Victoria Neave (Dallas) and Rep. Hubert Vo (Houston) all filed similar legislation to achieve the same result. In the end, it was Senator Alvarado’s partnership with these members and with the Chairman of the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee, Rep. Ryan Guillen, that propelled SB 252 to the Governor’s desk.

Rep. Eddie Morales Jr. (TX) - State is suffering a critical emergency medical services (EMS) staffing shortage, leaving the remaining EMS personnel around the state stretched thin. This shortage has the potential to negatively affect a patient's quality of care and EMS's response rate. Furthermore, since 2020, there has been a sharp decline in EMS training program enrollment, signaling that no increase in personnel is to be expected for the foreseeable future. In the time of emergency, time is essential. By ensuring those in rural Texas have access to timely emergency medical services, lives can be saved.