“The horrors and trauma of Oct. 7 – and its profound impact on our Jewish and Israeli communities here in Assembly District 51 and around the world – will forever be etched in our collective memory, as will the devastation and suffering that uninvolved, innocent Gazans have experienced over the past two years,” Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Hollywood) said.
Newsom signed three other bills from Wiener and fellow Democratic legislators Rick Chavez Zbur and Chris Ward that expand confidentiality for trans people receiving gender-affirming health care and streamline bureaucratic processes for trans adults and children to change their gender markers and names on official documents.
Ward, Zbur, and Wiener are members of the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus. Newsom signed their bills on Monday evening, hours before a deadline requiring him to sign or veto legislation elapsed.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed AB 715, landmark legislation aimed at addressing rising antisemitism in California's K-12 schools, according to an announcement from the bill's lead authors.
The bipartisan measure, authored by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Hollywood) and Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay), passed both legislative chambers without a single "no" vote.
Gay Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Hollywood) used the gut-and-amend process to swap out the original bill language - focused on protecting attorneys who offer legal services for such things as gender-affirming health care and reproductive services from facing disciplinary action by states that have outlawed those services - and add in the classroom policy language. AB 715 requires districts to investigate and take corrective action when discriminatory content is used in classrooms or professional development.
Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Hollywood) joined the Beverly Hills City Council on Sept. 30 to celebrate 175 years of California's statehood.
"From the Gold Rush to Hollywood, from Yosemite to the Golden Gate Bridge, to Beverly Hills, California has always been a state of dreamers and doers, representing opportunity, reinvention, hard work, compassion and a more promising future," Zbur said.
AJC is deeply grateful to the bill's co-authors, Assemblymembers Rick Zbur and Dawn Addis, for spearheading the groundbreaking law and for working closely with AJC.
AJC offers numerous resources to help families, students and school administrators create education spaces that foster inclusion and are resilient against antisemitism.
Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 648, legislation aimed at making it easier for California's community colleges to build housing for students, faculty, and staff. The bill, authored by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Santa Monica) and sponsored by Santa Monica College, Abundant Housing L.A., the Student Homes Coalition, and the Los Angeles Community College District, gives community college districts the same authority the University of California and California State University systems already have to construct housing on land they own or lease.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 39, the Local Electrification Planning Act, into law Tuesday, requiring California cities and counties with populations exceeding 75,000 to create electrification plans prioritizing low-income communities and renters. The groundbreaking legislation, authored by Democratic Caucus Chair Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Hollywood) and sponsored by the Building Decarbonization Coalition and CALSTART, mandates local governments develop plans expanding access to clean energy solutions as the state transitions to zero-emission technologies.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed into law a bill that sets up a state Office for Civil Rights to combat antisemitism and other forms of discrimination in California schools.
Assembly Bill 715 was among the most hotly contested education-related measures, spawning from dissatisfaction, largely among a coalition of Jewish groups, to the way ethnic studies has been taught in some California classrooms.
"California has the opportunity to become a powerhouse for offshore wind,” State Assemblymember Rick Zbur said at the conference, per a press release. “We need to continue focusing on our port infrastructure for offshore wind, right now."