Senate Judiciary advances DEI resolution and a wide slate of bills on schools, consumer protection, housing and labor; several measures move to appropriations

The Senate Judiciary Committee met July 1 in Room 2100 and by voice and roll-call votes advanced a broad set of measures covering diversity, school funding, consumer protections, housing and labor policy.

The committee began with Senate Concurrent Resolution 89, a measure reaffirming the legislature’s support for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) principles in state government and public institutions. Senator Smallwood-Cuevas presented the resolution and witnesses including Lakisha Khamis of Black Women for Wellness Action Project testified in support, saying the measure affirms values they described as foundational to California governance.

The panel also heard multiple bills with extended testimony and then recorded formal committee votes that sent many measures forward to the Senate Appropriations or Public Safety committees for further consideration. Major items debated included:

- AB 1348 (filed as AB 13 48 in the hearing): Authored by an Assemblymember present for committee testimony, the bill would allow schools to seek relief so that reductions in average daily attendance (ADA) tied to immigration enforcement-related absences do not result in permanent funding loss. The author cited district-level attendance declines — including a 22% increase in absences reported in one district — and education stakeholders including the California Charter Schools Association and the California Federation of Teachers urged the committee to pass the bill.

- AB 506: Sponsored by Assemblymember Bennett and supported by animal welfare groups, this bill would limit deceptive online pet broker practices by requiring seller disclosures (breeder/source, vet records when available) and prohibiting nonrefundable deposits before buyers know the source of an animal. Witnesses included representatives of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the San Diego Humane Society.

- AB 806: Assemblymember Connolly presented a bill to give mobile-home residents the right to install reasonable cooling in their homes and to require mobile-home parks to provide a cooled common area during extreme heat events when feasible. Legal aid and resident witnesses testified that many park rules currently bar affordable cooling options such as window air conditioners, and witnesses said that indoor heat in some parks has reached dangerous levels.

- AB 823: A bill to expand California’s earlier ban on plastic microbeads to include ‘‘leave-on’’ personal care products, cleaning products containing abrasive plastics and cosmetics with plastic glitter. Environmental and public-health groups testified in favor, urging the committee to close what they called a decade-old loophole.

- AB 288: A bill intended to ensure timely remedies for workers whose organizing rights are impeded when federal labor enforcement is delayed or inoperable. Supporters — including organizing workers and labor unions — framed the bill as a state backstop to protect…