Dear ENACT participants,

We hope that you and your loved ones have been staying safe and healthy since we gathered together in late April. These past few months have been exceptionally challenging; we’re facing another, steeper wave of COVID-19 cases, and after bearing witness to a series of murders of Black people by police and police proxies, we’re participating in a national reckoning against our historical and present-day racism. At the same time, our ENACT Day Planning Committee has felt energized by the momentum to address racial inequities, and bolstered by our partners in this fight for justice. 

We wanted to reconnect with all of you to share updates and opportunities for action based on the Beyond Recovery policy platform that we released on ENACT Day. With the legislative cycle contracted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of bills have been introduced since ENACT Day that advance our priority goals, and we urge you to take action on some or all of them today. Keep reading for ways to take action to support health in all of our communities!

Healthy and Accessible Communities 

• AB 3300, The California Access to Housing and Services Fund, allocates $2 billion to the fund for a range of efforts to reduce homelessness, including shelters, transitional housing, and permanent supportive housing. It has passed through the Assembly and into the Senate.
   
• AB 1436, COVID-19 Eviction Protection and Housing Stability, extends eviction protections into 2021, and gives tenants 12 months to pay back rent. In the case of an eviction, it shifts the burden onto landlords to prove that the tenant is not covered by AB 1436, and gives tenants more time to file their response to an eviction. It has passed through the Assembly and into the Senate.

Preventing Violence and Community Trauma

AB 2054, the C.R.I.S.E.S (Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems) Act Grant Pilot Program (C.R.I.S.E.S.) would scale up community-based responses as police alternatives in emergency situations, including mental health crises or intimate partner violence.

Healthy and Accessible Communities

• Prop 15, or the Schools and Communities First ballot initiative, would close the corporate property tax loophole and restore $12 billion in annual funding to California schools, parks, libraries, and other community resources. Prop 15 protects homeowners, renters, agriculture, and small businesses, while requiring large corporations to pay their fair share.

• #Health4AllSeniors Expand full-scope Medi-Cal to all seniors, regardless of documentation status, as included in Governor Newsom’s proposed budget--but excluded from the final 2020-21 state budget.
   
• Expand CalEITC to ITIN filers, We advocated for the budget to allow undocumented taxpayers access to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a program known for supporting families in moving out of poverty. After years of advocacy, the final budget makes ITIN filers with a child under six eligible to receive the CalEITC and the Young Child Tax Credit, beginning January 1, 2021!
  
  While this is a huge step forward, it still leaves out a vast majority of ITIN filers and ignores the heart of this campaign: addressing structural inequities in our tax system. The CalEITC Coalition will continue campaigning to ensure that all working tax filers, regardless of immigration status, are eligible for this important credit.

KEEP UP TO DATE: Updates on items no longer moving in 2020

Healthy Food Access

• SB 882, which would streamline the CalFresh application and reporting processes, especially for older adults and people with disabilities, was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee. While we are disappointed the bill will not move forward, advocates and stakeholders continue to call on the Legislature and Administration to pursue all opportunities to improve CalFresh enrollment and retention, especially during the public health and economic crisis.
   
• We urged lawmakers to ensure that school nutrition programs reach all students that rely on free or reduced priced meals during the COVID-19 public health emergency and beyond. The final 2020-21 state budget includes $112.2 million in federal funds to reimburse schools for meals served from March-August 2020 and cover unearned reimbursements if meal demand was lower than previously estimated. Unfortunately, this funding will not guarantee students have access to meals over the summer months, when food insecurity among low-income K-12 students typically rises.

• AB 1007, the Promoting Reinvestment & Oversight Measures for Individual Success and Empowerment (P.R.O.M.I.S.E.) Act was held in committee. AB 1007 would have ensured that 95% of Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act grant funds be distributed to community based organizations and/or non-law enforcement public agencies providing youth development, prevention, and intervention, as the act initially intended.