IEU Scorecard
Our scorecard helps show how legislators rank on issues that are both important to the Inland Empire and the progressive movement at large!
Legislative sessions begin December after an election and end two months prior to the following election. For the 2021-2022 session, all districts were redrawn through the 2021 Redistricting Process. As a result, we have included all representatives that had or will have portions of their district within San Bernardino or Riverside Counties.
IE United Priority Bills
The following legislative bills were identified by community partners are serving the critical function of both advancing the progressive movement for the state as a whole and being of out sized significance to residents and agencies living and operating in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.
To be clear, this is not an exclusive list of all important bills, but they are each important to IE United staff, board members, and community partners. Bills that were not voted on by at least one chamber were excluded, and bills voted in both were prioritized. For ease of viewing, we have grouped them by policy issue and refer to them loosely by their function or bill name instead of bill number for ease of viewing.
AB 2841
AB 2841 will preserve democracy by protecting eligible voters from faulty purges and by shoring up systems to protect voters with disabilities. AB 2841 will ensure that voters in California are notified and have an opportunity to cure errors before they are removed from voter registration rolls. AB 2841 also will protect voters with disabilities under conservatorship by standardizing reporting procedures, increasing statewide transparency, and helping counties comply with existing law.
SB 1439
SB 1439 would end California’s local government “pay-to-play” loophole by limiting campaign contributions to local elected officials from contractors, developers, and other local special interests. SB 1439 speaks to the concerns of everyday Californians by protecting against quid pro quo corruption and its appearance, and by ensuring that our local government officeholders serve the public interest instead of special interests.
ACA 3
The California Constitution prohibits slavery. The California Constitution also prohibits involuntary servitude except as punishment to a crime. This measure would define slavery to include involuntary servitude and forced labor compelled by the use or threat of physical or legal coercion. The measure would clarify that the provisions are not intended to have any effect on voluntary work programs in corrections settings.
AB 2418
Enhance transparency and accountability in criminal prosecutions by requiring DAs to collect more data about their cases.
AB 2761
AB 2761 would ensure greater transparency in the recording by requiring state or local correctional facilities to post specified information on their respective internet websites within ten days after a death occurs while the person was in custody and provides facilities with an additional ten days if they are unable to notify next of kin.
AB 256
The California Racial Justice Act (Act) prohibits the state from seeking or obtaining a criminal conviction, or from imposing a sentence, based upon race, ethnicity or national origin (AB 2542 Kalra, Chapter 317, Statutes of 2020). While this landmark Act made it possible for a person charged or convicted of a crime to challenge racial bias in their case, it was prospective only, excluding judgments prior to January 1, 2021. This bill, AB 256, simply extends these commonsense and overdue protections to those who have already been impacted by unfair convictions and sentences. Providing for phased-in retroactivity will give these individuals an equal opportunity to pursue justice.
AB 2195
AB 2195 will protect Californians from the lasting collateral consequences of drug convictions by providing prosecutors with the discretion to offer an alternative plea. The bill allows for an individual facing a possible drug conviction to plead to a subdivision of public nuisance as a felony, misdemeanor, or infraction, as a substitute for the same-level drug charge.
AB 990
The 2021 Family Unity Bill recognizes that frequent contact through visits and phone calls preserves family bonds during incarceration, providing family structure for the children and spouses left behind, supporting the mental health of the incarcerated, and reducing recidivism after incarcerated people reenter our communities.
AB 2746
AB 2746 will reduce racial and wealth-based disparities in enforcement of minor traffic laws while maintaining road safety by making the following policy changes: Eliminate license suspensions based on failure to appear in court; and Make the first two offenses an infraction for driving without a license.
SB 354
SB 354 seeks to remove barriers and create more opportunities in the foster care system for children to be housed with relative and nonrelative extended family member caregivers regardless of a prior criminal conviction, provided that the conviction does not endanger the child.
SB 81
SB 81 provides guidelines to judges on the use of sentence enhancements, which have been disproportionately applied to people of color and those suffering from mental illness.
SB 731
SB 731 would expunge or seal most criminal records for those who have completed their sentences.
SB 73
SB 73 would stop mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent offenders of drug crimes, and replace them with paths to rehabilitation, probation and treatment.
SB 2
SB 2 would prohibit someone convicted of certain felonies from regaining police officer employment based on a court vacating, withdrawing or expunging the conviction, unless the court finds them innocent of the crime.
SB 1273
SB 1273 would eliminate the mandatory requirement that schools notify law enforcement for student behavior.
SB 1139
SB 1139 mandates that CDCR: Remove all fees for incarcerated people requesting medical records; Provide certain medical forms and to update them at the incarcerated person’s annual review; Notify those listed on certain medical release forms of their incarcerated contact within 24-hours of the person experiencing a medical emergency; Make emergency in-person contact visits and video calls available whenever an incarcerated person is hospitalized or moved to a medical unit within the facility, and the incarcerated person is in a critical or more serious medical condition; When an incarcerated person is in a critical or more serious medical condition, make emergency in person contact visits and video calls available whenever an incarcerated person is hospitalized, moved to a medical unit within the facility; Expedite the current medical grievance process for an incarcerated person; Remove the visitor clearance process (up to four visitors) when an incarcerated person is in imminent danger of passing away; and designate a phone line for people on the outside to call into an institution to give notice of medical emergencies related to family members of the incarcerated person.
SB 1085
SB 1085 would amend WIC Section 300 to address the overly broad definition of neglect and provide a more comprehensive outline, specifying an exception for parents impacted by poverty. This bill will provide critical protection for California’s families vulnerable to separation based on factors such as poverty, homelessness, and a lack of access to basic resources.
Opposition: SB 1262
SB 1262 (Bradford) would allow anyone in the general public to do an online search of criminal cases by filtering results based on an individual’s date of birth or driver’s license number, or both. The bill makes one’s criminal history permanently available to everyone online and was sponsored by commercial background check companies who wish to obtain otherwise-restricted rap sheets at little or no cost with no regard for the interests of formerly incarcerated or convicted people. SB 1262 conflicts with the existing statutes that prohibit unauthorized access to local rap sheets as well as the constitutional right to privacy that the statutes seek to protect.
AB 2057
Requires Dept of Transportation to make a webpage to create a webpage of links to existing registries/databases of drayage trucks and to coordinate those links with the Dept of Industrial Relations data on known employer labor practices.
AB 2840
AB 2840 would prohibit warehouse development in the IE within 1,000 feet of homes, schools, daycare facilities, health centers, and other vulnerable communal/familial spaces.
AB 701
AB 701 creates 13 new sections of the Labor Code regulating the use of quotas by “Warehouse Distributions Centers.” The law covers employers who directly or indirectly control 100 or more employees at a single warehouse distribution center or 1,000 or more employees at one or more warehouse distribution centers in California. Employees provided by outside staffing agencies may also be included where the employer controls the terms and conditions of employment for those employees.
SB 260
SB 260 would require all large U.S.-based corporations doing business in California that make over $1 billion annually to publicly disclose their full carbon footprint in a way that is easily understandable and available to the public.
SB 1137
SB 1137 would end new and phases out existing oil drilling next to homes, daycares, schools, hospitals, and other sensitive sites.
AB 2847
AB 2847 would have created an Excluded Worker Pilot Program, a program to extend unemployment benefits to the one in 16 workers in California who are excluded from Unemployment Insurance solely due to their immigration status.
AB 937
AB 937, the Voiding Inequality and Seeking Inclusion for Our Immigrant Neighbors (VISION) Act, would protect refugee and immigrant community members who have already been deemed eligible for release from being funneled by local jails and our state prison system to immigration detention. Prohibiting transfers to ICE would protect Californians from being subjected to inhumane and unsanitary conditions in immigration detention, close the main pipeline filling immigration detention beds, and reunite refugee and immigrant families and communities.
SB 972
SB 972 would expand the CA Food code to include street vendors and brick and morder folks to work as verified food vendors.
AB 4
AB 4 would provide full Medi-Cal coverage to income-eligible adults by removing immigration status as an eligibility exclusion.
AB 4
AB 4 would provide full Medi-Cal coverage to income-eligible adults by removing immigration status as an eligibility exclusion.
AB 2134
Establishes the “California Reproductive Health Equity Program” which will provide grants to providers who provide uncompensated care to patients with low-incomes and those who face other financial barriers to accessing abortion and contraception.
SB 1142
Establishes “The Abortion Support Fund” to provide grants to California organizations that assist patients in overcoming barriers to abortion through direct practical and logistical support. Additionally, creates an “Abortion Information Webpage” with comprehensive information regarding accessing abortion services in California, to provide patients one point of entry to connect with the nearest and most accessible abortion provider, obtain information about coverage or financial support for care, and logistical assistance and resources for travel, lodging, or other needs.
SB 245
The Abortion Accessibility Act, Senate Bill 245, “will require all state licensed health care service plans or disability insurance policies to cover abortion services without a co‐payment, deductible or any type of cost sharing require so that no one in California is left behind as it pertains to abortion care,” Gonzalez (D‐Long Beach) said Friday during a press briefing organized by Planned Parenthood’s California affiliates.
AB 701
AB 701 creates 13 new sections of the Labor Code regulating the use of quotas by “Warehouse Distributions Centers.” The law covers employers who directly or indirectly control 100 or more employees at a single warehouse distribution center or 1,000 or more employees at one or more warehouse distribution centers in California. Employees provided by outside staffing agencies may also be included where the employer controls the terms and conditions of employment for those employees.
AB 257
On Labor Day, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed A.B. 257 into law, delivering to workers one of the most significant labor law victories in recent years. The new law guarantees that fast-food workers get a seat at the table on the Fast Food Council, ensuring they have a voice in determining their working conditions and pay. More than half a million fast-food workers from across California will have the power to raise standards in terms of wages, freedom from discrimination and harassment, and other issues.
SB 1044
SB 1044 prohibits an employer, in the event of an emergency condition, from taking or threatening adverse action against any employee for refusing to report to, or leaving, a workplace or worksite within the affected area because the employee has a reasonable belief that the workplace or worksite is unsafe. In addition, SB 1044 prohibits an employer from preventing any private or public sector employee from accessing the employee’s mobile device or other communications device for seeking emergency assistance, assessing the safety of the situation, or communicating with a person to confirm their safety.
SB 1162
SB 1162 requires employers to make salary ranges for positions available to applicants and employees and expands pay data reporting requirements to better identify gender and race-based pay disparities.
AB 2057
Requires Dept of Transportation to make a webpage to create a webpage of links to existing registries/databases of drayage trucks and to coordinate those links with the Dept of Industrial Relations data on known employer labor practices.
AB 2847
AB 2847 would have created an Excluded Worker Pilot Program, a program to extend unemployment benefits to the one in 16 workers in California who are excluded from Unemployment Insurance solely due to their immigration status.
AB 2840
AB 2840 would prohibit warehouse development in the IE within 1,000 feet of homes, schools, daycare facilities, health centers, and other vulnerable communal/familial spaces.