California state legislature to decide on six bills ‘critically important’ to Jews

Six bills "critically important" to California Jews are scheduled for a vote before the California Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees on Thursday. David Bocarsly, CEO of Jewish California, which sponsored all six bills, stated, "In one hearing, we're going to figure out 'who shall live and who shall die.' It's like a Yom Kippur question." The bills address various needs, including:

• Establishing 100-foot protest-free buffer zones around houses of worship (AB 2664).
• Expanding the California Nonprofit Security Grant Program to include offsite events (AB 1836).
• Barring hateful content in candidate statements in official voter guides (AB 1853).
• Requiring public schools and agencies to avoid scheduling major events on holidays like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (AB 395).
• Excusing absences of religious students in public schools for holidays without requiring written parental requests and principal approvals (AB 1763).
• Calling upon state agencies to recognize Jews as an ethnicity under state law and in data collection (SB 1387).

The Appropriations Committees will decide if the state can afford the associated costs, with Bocarsly arguing the bills have "minimal costs." The California Legislative Jewish Caucus is prioritizing five of the six bills, not taking a position on AB 1763, and is also focused on AB 1803, which requires anti-hate-speech training in workplaces.