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Over 95 Advocates Attended JPAC Advocacy Day 2015
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JPAC held its 2015 Advocacy Day on May 11th and 12th in Sacramento. Attended by more than 95 advocates representing 18 organizations from across the State, we met with over 45 legislators and staffers, honored State Senator Marty Block (D-39) with Legislator of the Year award, and heard directly from Senator Holly Mitchell (D-50) and University of California President Emeritus Mark Yudof on issues affecting all Californians. JPAC also hosted two riveting panel discussions on economic justice issues and anti-Semitism on college campuses with esteemed members of the Legislature, student leaders, and issue experts.
We put our Jewish values into action as we lobbied our elected representatives on three hunger bills, Pre-School for All, and increasing the budget for the state's most vulnerable. We also asked legislators to sign onto a letter requesting state funding for the Non-Profit Security Grant Program.
JPAC Advocacy Day is an annual mission to Sacramento that brings together lay leaders and staff of Jewish organizations all over California. It is an opportunity to come together in our State's Capitol to strengthen our relationships, debate public policy, and represent the greater Jewish community statewide to our legislators.
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| | Shana Hazan presents Senator Marty Block with Legislator of the Year Award |
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| | Nancy Goldberg presents Earl Raab award to lay leader of the year, Jon Levinson. |
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| | Economic Justice Panel. From left: Mike Herald; Jerilyn Gelt; Asm. Sebastian Ridley-Thomas; Asm. Kevin McCarty |
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| | Campus Climate panel. From left: Dan Gold; Ollie Benn; Julia Reifkind; Avinoam Baral; Avi Oved; Lauren Rogers. |
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| | From left: Senator Marty Block, Asm. Marc Levine, Dr. Eli Taub, Asm. Matt Dababneh, Siamak Kordestani, Shawn Landres. |
 JPAC Advocacy Day Lobbying
JPAC advocates met with over 45 state senators and assembly members and their staff at the capitol to advocate for votes on these issues: The social service budget: Restoration of $36 million in the State budget that will provide $36 million for critical services for California's elders, people with disabilities and the communities that care for them, introduced by Assemblymember Cheryl Brown, Chair, Assembly Committee on Aging and Long Term Care Services.
Hunger Bills:
- AB 608 (Gordon):This bill would require County Human Services Agencies to provide low-income families with children applying for CalFresh with information regarding their eligibility for other school-based nutrition programs.
- AB 1321 (Ting): This bill would establish the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program to maximize California's share of federal matching funds, improve the health of low-income Californians, and support California's farming communities and small business owners.
AB 47 (McCarty): Pre-school For All: Expands on last year's commitment from the Governor and Legislature to require the state budget to include appropriations sufficient to fully fund the commitment made last year to provide preschool for all low-income 4 year olds.
Non-profit Security Grant Program Budget Ask: A $2 million appropriation in the state budget to expand funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, administered by the California Office of Emergency Services. This important appropriation will grant funds to nonprofits that are at high risk of attack, for the purpose of security improvements and readiness at these facilities. JPAC GETS RESULTS
During our legislative appointments, JPAC advocates reported a overwhelmingly high rate of support from legislators on our policy priorities for this year, and all of the advocates ended the day with a great deal of satisfaction that their voices were not only heard, but welcomed and respected by our California law makers.
On Tuesday, June 16, the Governor and the State Legislature announced their 2015-16 state budget agreement. The agreement is the result of negotiations between the Governor and legislative leadership and continues to reflect the Governor's commitment to austerity and a reduction of state debt. The agreement maintains many of the same fiscal assumptions made in the May Revision, including revenue forecasts, overall spending, debt repayment and investments in the Rainy Day Fund.
As a result of JPAC lobbying, AB 608 is currently on the Senate Appropriations suspense file, which will be taken up at the end of August; AB 1321 is in the Senate and will be heard in the Senate Agriculture Committee in the next few weeks; and AB 1240, Breakfast After the Bell, was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. That disappointing decision means the bill will not proceed further this year. AB 47, Pre-school for All made significant headway with increased funding for pre-school education in the approved Budget, with $392 million to be invested in early childhood education. In 2016-17 and beyond, the annual increase would be $563 million. The author plans to continue to move AB 47 and the bill is going to Senate Education Committee next; and JPAC lobbying efforts succeeded in securing a $2 million appropriation for the Non-profit Security Grant Program in the State budget. The $36 million social services budget ask resulted in the following wins: - $1 million General Fund on-going for the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, and conform to Senate action to additionally increase funding by $1.4 million, with $1 million as a one-time shift from the State Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account and $400,000 from a Licensing and Certification fee increase for Skilled Nursing Facilities.
- Approves the administration's revised trailer bill language as placeholder for the Multipurpose Senior Services Program Transition Timeline.
- Augments the Caregiver Resource Centers budget with $2 million (General Fund).
- Approves a trailer bill on various programs including: Children's Health & Disability Program dental referrals, Health Homes, Ground Emergency Medical Transportation, Application Assistants Payments, elimination of copays for nonemergency emergency room care, CalHEERS MAGI sunset, Multipurpose Senior Services Program Coordinated Care Initiative timelines, and Major Risk Medical Insurance Program & Guarantee Issue Program cost reconciliations.
- Approves the Governor's requested resources associated with implementing Legislation Related to Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFEs). The budget includes 8.8 permanent and 5.3 limited-term positions, for a total of 14.1 in 2015-16, at a cost of $2.3 million General Fund to implement recently enacted legislation. This body of new law increases civil penalties for licensed facilities throughout the state and, for RCFEs, prohibits problem licensees from admitting new residents, strengthens residents' personal rights, and expands training to increase compliance.
For questions or more information about these bills and programs, please contact Julie Zeiser at [email protected] or Cliff Berg at (916) 448-8240. |
JPAC Supports Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 25-Relative to the Memorandum of Understanding between Israel and California.
On March 5, 2014, Governor Jerry Brown and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed a Memorandum of Understanding between Israel and California to promote cooperation in economic development, research and trade.
This significant partnership prompted the State Legislature to approve a resolution calling for support and implementation of this partnership.
Senator Marty Block, chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, has introduced a resolution in the current session that reinforces the positive partnership of this historic MOU.
JPAC is pleased to support this resolution.
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JPAC and the CA Legislative Jewish Caucus co-host Screening of "Woman in Gold"
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| | Asm. Richard Bloom (D-50) with Randy Schoenberg |
On May 20, 2015, JPAC and the CA Legislative Jewish Caucus co-hosted a movie screening of the acclaimed film "Woman in Gold" starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds, attended by over 100 people. The film is based on the true story of the late Maria Altmann, an elderly Jewish refugee living in Los Angeles, who, together with her young lawyer, Randy Schoenberg, fought the government of Austria for almost a decade to reclaim Gustav Klimt's iconic painting of her aunt, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, which was confiscated from her relatives by the Nazis in Vienna just prior to World War II. Altmann took her legal battle all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled in her favor in Republic of Austria v. Altmann. Randy Schoenberg, who is currently president of the Holocaust museum in Los Angeles, attended the screening and held a Q&A with the audience following the film .
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Thank you to our member organizations:
Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles
Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, Sonoma, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties
Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles
Jewish Family and Children's Services of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, and Sonoma Counties
Jewish Family Service of San Diego
Jewish Federation of San Diego County
Jewish Federation of Greater Long Beach and North Orange County
Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley
Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region
Jewish Federation of Santa Barbara
Jewish Labor Committee Western Region
Hadassah Southern California
Hadassah Central Pacific Coast
Anti-Defamation League Western Region
30 Years After
Jewish Vocational Service Los Angeles
Jewish Family and Children's Services of the East Bay
American Jewish Committee Los Angeles
ETTA
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