Asm. Sade Elhawary

Maddy summaryCalifornia Assembly Resolution 140 designates August 2026 as Children's Get Offline and Get Outdoors Month to promote awareness of the benefits of screen-free play for child development. The resolution cites research linking excessive social media use and reduced free play time to increased rates of anxiety, depression, and other behavioral issues among teenagers. It encourages families and communities to support unstructured outdoor activities and highlights ongoing federal efforts to protect children's mental health through technology guardrails.

Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services, subject to an appropriation, to provide grants to qualified nonprofit organizations through contracts, in order to provide certain immigration-related legal services to persons residing in, or formerly residing in, the state. Under existing law, those grants are aimed at obtaining certain immigration remedies and benefits, assisting with the naturalization process and an appeal arising from the process, or providing legal training and technical assistance. This bill would establish the Immigration Legal Fellowship Project within the department for the purpose of expanding access to high-quality immigration legal services by supporting legal fellowships for qualified individuals who provide immigration legal services under the grant programs described above. The bill would require the department to award grants or enter into contracts with nonprofit entities to operate legal fellowships that include specified components, including, among other things, the recruitment, placement, coordination, and hosting of legal fellows. The bill would authorize the department to establish eligibility criteria, application requirements, and funding priorities for the program. The bill would require the department to include specified information relating to the use of funds appropriated for the purposes of the project in reports and updates provided to the Legislature regarding other immigration-related programs. The bill would provide that the implementation of these provisions is contingent on an appropriation for these purposes.

Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to maintain a canteen at its active facilities, and until January 1, 2028, prohibits the sale prices of the articles offered for sale in a canteen from exceeding a 35% markup above the price of the articles paid to the vendors. Existing law, commencing on January 1, 2028, requires the sale amounts of the articles to be offered for sale to be fixed by the secretary at amounts that will render each canteen self-supporting. This bill would prohibit the sale price of an article offered for sale in a commissary, as defined, at a private detention facility, defined as a detention facility that is operated by a private, nongovernmental, for-profit entity, and operating pursuant to a contract or agreement with a governmental entity, from exceeding a 35% markup above the amount paid to a vendor for that article.

This measure would urge President Donald J. Trump to avoid raising the cost of living for American consumers by rescinding the tariffs that he has imposed since taking office in January 2025 and refunding the American people for the costs passed on to them by his tariffs. The measure would also urge the United States Congress to enact a joint resolution to rescind President Trump's tariffs and to oppose all future unilateral and arbitrary tariff increases imposed by President Trump.

Existing law authorizes designated health care services providers, employees, volunteers, and patients, and individuals who face threats of violence or violence or harassment from the public because of their affiliation with a designated health care services facility, to complete an application to be approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of enabling state and local agencies to respond to requests for public records without disclosing a program participant's residence address contained in any public record and otherwise provide for confidentiality of identity for that person, subject to specified conditions. Existing law defines "designated health care services" to mean gender-affirming health care services or reproductive health care services. Under existing law, any person who makes a false statement in an application is guilty of a misdemeanor. Existing law prohibits a person, business, or association from knowingly publicly posting or publicly displaying, disclosing, or distributing on internet websites or on social media, the personal information or image of any designated health care services patient, provider, or assistant, or other individuals residing at the same home address, with the intent to incite a third person to cause imminent great bodily harm to the person identified in the posting or display, or to a coresident of that person, as specified, or to threaten the person identified in the posting or display, or a coresident of that person, as specified. Existing law additionally prohibits a person, business, or association from soliciting, selling, or trading on the internet or social media the personal information or image of a designated health care services patient, provider, or assistant with the intent described above. Existing law establishes a cause of action for injunctive or declarative relief for a violation of these prohibitions. Existing law prohibits a person from posting on the internet or social media, with the intent that another person imminently use that information to commit a crime involving violence or a threat of violence against a designated health care services patient, provider, or assistant, or other individuals residing at the same home address, the personal information or image of a reproductive health care services patient, provider, or assistant, or other individuals residing at the same home address. This bill would, commencing October 1, 2027, similarly establish an address confidentiality program for a designated immigration support services provider, employee, or volunteer, as defined, who faces threats of violence or harassment from the public because of their affiliation with a designated immigration support services facility. This bill would additionally prohibit a person, business, or association from soliciting, selling, or trading on the internet the personal information or image of a designated immigration support services provider, employee, or volunteer with the intent described above. The bill would also, among other things, prohibit a person from posting on the internet the personal information or image of a designated immigration support services provider, employee, or volunteer, or other individuals residing at the same home address, with the specific intent that another person imminently use that information to commit a crime involving violence or a threat of violence that is likely to occur against such an individual. The bill would define various terms for these purposes. By imposing new duties on local agencies and creating new crimes, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, establishes a system of childcare and development services for children up to 13 years of age, which includes various programs and services, including, among others, general childcare and development programs and migrant childcare and development programs. Existing law, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) , provides that a record or signature may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form. This bill would specify that a signature required by the Child Care and Development Services Act may be satisfied by use of an electronic signature in compliance with the UETA. The bill would authorize documents with an electronic signature to be created and stored in an electronic format in compliance with the UETA, and would authorize the department to adopt regulations to implement these provisions. Existing law, the Early Education Act, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to, among other things, provide an inclusive and cost-effective preschool program. The Early Education Act and the Child Care and Development Services Act authorize contractors operating or providing services under the acts to use digital signatures that comply with state and federal standards, including specified state regulations. This bill would instead condition the authority of contractors operating under the Early Education Act and the Child Care and Development Services Act to use an electronic signature on compliance with the UETA.

Maddy summaryCalifornia Assembly Resolution 137 formally recognizes the Diwali festival scheduled for November 8, 2026, and encourages state residents to participate in the celebration. The resolution highlights the cultural significance of the holiday for Indian Americans and South Asian communities, noting its themes of unity, joy, and the triumph of light over darkness. It also acknowledges that California previously designated Diwali as an official state holiday in 2025. This measure serves as a commemorative statement rather than a law with new regulatory or financial provisions.

This measure would declare the Legislature's opposition to any federal executive action that restricts, burdens, or interferes with California's vote by mail system and would call upon the United States Congress to reject any federal legislation that would restrict or eliminate vote by mail options and to protect the constitutional authority of states to administer their own elections.

This measure would recognize August 26, 2026, as Women's Equality Day and its historic importance to women's rights, including the battle to attain those rights in the past, present, and future.

Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is in part governed by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law sets forth various procedures, including the submission of an application package, for provider enrollment, continuing enrollment, or enrollment at a new location or a change in location under the Medi-Cal program. Existing law requires an applicant or provider who is a natural person and is licensed or certificated under provisions relating to healing arts, the Osteopathic Initiative Act, or the Chiropractic Initiative Act, or is a professional corporation, to comply with the above-described procedures and to be enrolled in the Medi-Cal program as either an individual provider or as a rendering provider in a provider group for each application package that is submitted and approved. This bill would also apply the above-described provision to a nonprofit public benefit corporation that has been granted tax-exempt status and through which licensed providers enumerated in the Medicaid state plan provide nonspecialty mental health services, as specified.