2021 Fall WMNL: People Powered Legislative Wins

by Jasmine Pantoja | Dec 16, 2021 | Publications

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Need a reason to celebrate? DHF has got you! DHF staff, volunteers, Vecinos Unidos® members, and partner organizations, with the help of our generous donors and supporters from around the world, were able to secure significant legislative wins. This is what People Power looks like! 

SB 380 End Of Life Options Act – This is a major step forward in respect for patient autonomy and relief of suffering for terminally ill Californians. It reduces the mandatory minimum 15-day waiting period between the two oral requests for aid-in-dying medication to 48 hours for all eligible patients.

SB 721 California Farmworker Day – Establishes a day to honor California’s’s roughly 800,000 farmworkers – essential workers – who play a vital role in maintaining our food supply and whose work is more critical than ever during the pandemic.

SB 393 Farmworker Access to Childcare Act –  Directs resources to the Migrant Child Care Alternative Payment Program so that such workers can gain access to child care in any county in the state of California.

SB 497 Direct Deposits to Qualifying Accounts, Overdraft Features – Closes a loophole that allows non-bank prepaid card companies to evade California laws that prohibit overdraft fees on prepaid cards used to receive public assistance, unemployment compensation, and/or state distributed child support payments.

SB 81 Judicial Guidelines for Sentence Enhancements – Establishes guidance when a California judge is deciding whether to dismiss an enhancement (policies that mandate that people who are convicted of criminalized behaviors while engaging in generally non-criminalized behaviors—such as being in a school zone—or having generally non-criminalized traits—such as having a prior conviction—receive longer and surer sentences) by requiring judges to give “great weight” to evidence that proves certain mitigating circumstances, such as: The underlying conviction is not a violent felony.

SB 224 Pupil Instruction Mental Health Education – Requires each Californiaschool district, county office of education, state special school, and charter school that offers one or more courses in health education to pupils in middle school or high school to include course instruction on mental health.

AB 701 Warehouse Worker Protections – Prohibits a California  employer from taking adverse action against an employee for failure to meet a quota that has not been disclosed or for failure to meet a quota that does not allow a worker to comply with meal or rest periods or occupational health and safety laws.

AB 1096 Removing “Alien” from State Law – Removes the word ‘alien’ from California laws when referring to noncitizens

SB 757 Home weatherization for Low Income – Creates better transparency in the solar energy systems sales process and enhances California consumer protection.

SB 62 Garment Worker Protection – Prohibits the practice of piece-rate compensation for garment manufacturing in California, except in the case of worksites covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement.  Furthermore, garment manufacturers who contract with another person for the performance of garment manufacturing would be required to jointly and individually share civil liability for all workers in that other person’s employ.

AB 796 CA Motor Voter Program – Will help create a more representative democracy and ensure that California’s  DMV’s voter registration process is efficient, fair, and secure.

None of this work is possible without supporters like you, so please take a moment to celebrate our collective wins and know that we are grateful for all you do to strengthen our community. 

2021 Fall WMNL: The Fight for Fair Maps!

by Jasmine Pantoja | Dec 16, 2021 | Publications

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Creating fair district lines is a critical tool our communities have to reclaim their voting power. For many communities of color throughout the nation, historical gerrymandering allows their elected representatives to choose their voters in their district, rather than allowing the voters to elect their representatives in fair and lawful elections. This practice of gerrymandering has disenfranchised underrepresented communities and diluted their voting power. Our communities are standing up and demanding that county officials adhere to the process as outlined in the Federal Fair Maps Act. Community leaders like Tammy Tyler refuse to be shut out of the process and are working to make sure that the voice of her community is not only heard, but that their involvement leads to concrete changes. For Tammy, redrawing the district lines is personal. “A lot is at stake for the community of California City, California,” Tammy states, “The system has failed the black and brown communities for so long that we have lost faith and it made us believe that we have lost power.” Tammy says that all changed when she met DHF Organizer Carol Watkins. It was then that she “woke up” and took her power back empowered with tools and knowledge she gained through a series of educational redistricting workshops. According to Tammy, “We don’t even have a hospital here. Our roads are bumpy when the ones in the white neighborhoods are nice and smooth.” She understands the lack of resources and funding for communities of color is rooted in racist practices that our communities work to dismantle. 

California City is not alone. The DHF plans to continue addressing redistricting issues in the Central & Antelope Valleys in partnership with community leaders and other organizations that make up the Equitable Maps Coalition (EMC). Using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, DHF is working to create maps that display newly proposed boundaries. GIS mapping makes the data visible and easier to comprehend the social inequities in Central Valley communities. With your support, DHF has been able to mobilize folks in the Central Valley and support leaders like Rubi Colmenares, one of many community members who have collectively submitted hours of comments and feedback at board of supervisor meetings. Rubi shared, “I felt good, because I had the opportunity to express what I had in mind and I was being heard.” “It was so beautiful to hear from every community in Kern to come to a universal agreement, especially in the most misrepresented and underserved communities,” said Gabriela Fernandez, DHF Youth Program Manager.

DHF has faced strong opposition in Fresno and Tulare as in Kern County, and the fight for equitable representation is just starting. Each area has gained a tremendous amount of support for the EMC maps. Over 1,200 people signed petitions in agreement that these maps presented the best options for fair representation. Vecinos Unidos® member, Mirna Elvir says, “It was a very important moment for me being able to express myself to the people who have power to resolve the different problems that communities have, especially the community of Lamont.”On December 4, 2021 DHF joined forces with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 521, Central California Coalition for Equitable Redistricting (CCCER), Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN), Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment (CRPE) Central Valley Leadership Round Table (CVLRT), Cultiva de Salud, Central Valley Progressive PAC, Central Labor Council (CLC), Communities for a New California (CNC), Strength Based Community Change (SBCC) and Central Valley Partnership to lead a “Redistricting March for Our Future” in Fresno, California. Hundreds of supporters took to the streets to urge  Redistricting Commissions to adhere to the redistricting criteria and ensure that community voices are heard. We marched in solidarity to demand fair maps, improved public services, and more COVID rescue funds for our Central Valley communities. Join us in DEMANDING redistricting commissions to adopt an equitable map at assembly, senate and congressional levels. Demand that your elected representatives know where you are located and what is important to you and those in your community by giving public comments at your local redistricting hearings. For more information, please contact Eliana at ehoneycutt@doloreshuerta.org or Californians may visit www.wedrawthelinesca.org