Judiciary Committee advances a package of bills on housing, immigration, labor and public safety; key votes recorded

The Assembly Judiciary Committee met in subcommittee form and advanced multiple bills across housing, immigration, labor and public‑safety policy, sending most measures to appropriations or the next committee with amendments.

The most contested item was Assembly Bill 57, an author‑sponsored measure that would reserve at least 10% of state home‑purchase assistance program funds for people identified as descendants of formerly enslaved persons. Supporters said the set‑aside is a targeted remedy for long‑running racial disparities in homeownership; opponents, including the Pacific Legal Foundation and Californians for Equal Rights, argued the measure raises constitutional concerns because its eligibility category is closely tied to ancestry. The committee moved AB 57 as amended to appropriations.

Other bills the committee advanced included AB 495, the Family Preparedness Plan Act, which would standardize caregiver authorization affidavits and create a short‑term guardianship pathway for parents facing immigration‑related separation; AB 392 (a Protect Act variant aimed at blocking nonconsensual pornographic uploads and giving victims expedited takedown tools); AB 692, which would ban so‑called "stay or pay" employer debt agreements; AB 1234, which would add enforcement tools and administrative penalties to the Labor Commissioner's wage‑claim process; AB 394, which extends enhanced penalties and temporary‑restraining‑order access to frontline transit…