Stronger CA 2026 Agenda: Legislation to increase protections for immigrant workers, transgender patients, sexual violence survivors, and more

March 19. 2026

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For Immediate Release
Mar 19, 2026

Media Contact
Nazirah Ahmad
[email protected]

 

SACRAMENTO, March 19, 2026 – Today, the Stronger California Advocates Network, a coalition of 70 nonprofit and advocacy organizations chaired by Equal Rights Advocates, announced its 2026 legislative agenda responding to federal civil rights attacks and addressing the most pressing needs of California women, workers, and families.

The agenda aims to:

• protect immigrant workers from employer coercive threats of reporting them to immigration-enforcement agencies
• shield transgender patients & healthcare providers 
• expand bereavement leave to include extended and chosen family members
• provide public school teachers with 14 weeks of paid parental leave
• expand access to abortion & other reproductive health care by clarifying the definition of who can provide services
• rein in bias in AI hiring tools
• increase state-funded food benefits to cover the nearly 1 million Californians whose federal SNAP benefits were cut
• crack down on forced arbitration used by employers to deny justice to survivors of sexual assault and harassment
• close loopholes that enable corporations to dodge paying their fair share of taxes while women and families struggle to pay their bills
• and more.

Read the full agenda of 15 bills and 6 budget requests here.

“As the federal government attacks our rights as women, workers, LGBTQI+ people, and parents, California must continue to lead with bold, innovative policies,” said Noreen Farrell, Executive Director of Equal Rights Advocates and Co-Chair of the Stronger California Advocates Network. “Californians deserve the freedom of equal treatment, economic security, and the ability to care for our loved ones without risking our livelihoods. Our coalition and our allies in the state legislature are advancing policies that address our communities’ most dire needs.”

“These bills and budget requests address critical gaps in our existing state protections,” said Jessica Ramey Stender, Policy Director & Deputy Legal Director of Equal Rights Advocates, and Co-Chair of the Stronger California Advocates Network. “At a time when the federal government has abandoned sexual violence survivors, AB 2155, the Forced Arbitration Justice and Conformity Act, aims to end the practice of forced arbitration for survivors of sexual harassment or sexual assault, which denies survivors their day in court, shields this conduct from public view, and enables serial predators.” 

The Stronger California Agenda has a proven track record, with 9 new bills signed into law in 2025 alone. Since its founding in 2015, the coalition has supported passage of 66 new laws addressing the economic needs of California’s working women and communities.

The Stronger California Advocates Network will work closely with the California Legislative Women’s Caucus and other legislative champions to advance these priorities throughout the 2026 legislative session.

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Quotes from Leading Organizations

“Working people in California are struggling more than ever to pay the rent and keep food on the table for their families,” said Arnulfo De La Cruz, President of SEIU Local 2015 and SEIU California Executive Board Member. “Meanwhile, multinational corporations are rigging the rules, shifting profits to global tax havens, and sticking working families and small businesses with the bill. With health care for more than 2 million Californians and food assistance for millions more on the line because of federal cuts, there is zero justification for letting corporations dodge what they owe. It’s time to unrig California by ending corporate global tax haven abuse and making the biggest corporations pay their fair share so we can protect the services our communities rely on.”

“Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL) is co-sponsoring AB 1542 (Ward) because it reinforces a simple principle: the safety, privacy, and civil liberties of our communities must come before corporate profit,” said Nikki Dominguez, Policy Director at AJSOCAL. “For immigrants, survivors of abuse, and other vulnerable community members, digital privacy is more than an abstract issue, it is a matter of safety. Survivors can be tracked through location data, immigrants can be identified through status information, and people exercising their constitutional rights can be surveilled without their knowledge. Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are already disproportionately targeted by scammers who exploit personal information and these risks are intensified by gaps in culturally competent services and language access. AB 1542 closes gaps in existing law to ensure that businesses handling personal data do not endanger survivors and other vulnerable populations served by our organization.” 

“Algorithms decide who gets access to benefits, housing, and healthcare every day,” said Catherine Bracy, Founder and CEO of TechEquity Collaborative. “These algorithms, left unchecked, leave people vulnerable to automated discrimination—without them even knowing about it. People deserve transparency into the tools that are making decisions about their lives and the opportunity to change these decisions if they’re wrong.” 

“Surveillance isn’t just creepy—it’s expensive,” said Samantha Gordon, Chief Advocacy Officer at TechEquity Action. “If you walked into a store and were told you’d pay more than the person next to you because of your zip code, your purchasing history, or where you’d been that day, you’d be horrified. In an economy where costs keep climbing, we cannot allow technology to become a weapon against the economic wellbeing of everyday Californians.”

“AB 2495 is a critical step forward in protecting workers from employers who use immigration-related threats to coerce them into silence,” said Ken Wang, Deputy Legislative Director of the California Employment Lawyers Association. “Every worker in California deserves to report unsafe conditions, wage theft, and workplace violations without fear of retaliation. CELA is proud to sponsor this legislation that ensures immigration status can never be weaponized to deny workers their workplace rights.”

“SB 1149, authored by Senator Durazo, is a common sense change to ensure that workers can use bereavement leave and are not forced to choose between mourning a loved one and keeping their job,” said Katie Duberg, Political Organizing Director at California Work & Family Coalition. “Love isn’t limited to immediate family members and grief isn’t either.”

“Today, families face an arbitrary cliff, losing access to the state’s Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC) once their child turns six,” said Sam Wilkinson, Senior Policy Associate at End Child Poverty California. “AB 1690 by Assemblymember Ahrens would extend eligibility for the YCTC to families with dependents up to age 18. For many immigrant and low-earning households who are ineligible for the full federal Child Tax Credit (CTC), the YCTC is a lifeline. At a time when many of these same families risk losing access to public benefits and federal tax credits under H.R. 1, AB 1690 would provide critical financial support to help families stay afloat.”

“At a time when the federal government is working to undermine access to medically necessary health care for transgender, gender-diverse, and intersex (TGI) people, California must continue leading by protecting both patients and the providers who care for them,” said Tony Hoang, Executive Director of Equality California. “AB 1876 and AB 1930 strengthen California’s existing protections by safeguarding access to essential care and shielding patients and providers from politically motivated investigations targeting lawful health care. We are grateful to Stronger California for supporting these critical measures.”

“The Governor and Legislature must follow through on their promise to fully fund the 77,000 new publicly funded spaces this year, preventing family disenrollment, prioritizing fair pay for providers based on the true cost of care, increasing equitable subsidy payments, and offering financial support to providers impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires,” said Jennifer Greppi, Director of Parent Policy at Parent Voices California.

“AB2624 is a necessary bill that will allow pro-immigrant non-profits to continue their important work in California serving immigrants in lieu of a hostile federal government and anti-immigrant sentiments from right-wing groups,” Aydee Rodriguez, Solis Policy Institute Fellow with Women’s Foundation California. “As immigration support providers, we are in a dire situation. It makes sense for California to model the use of the already existing, proven Safe at Home Program for those who choose to enroll. This provides protections, preventing fear from eroding immigrant support systems built over decades.”

 

To speak with Noreen Farrell, Jessica Stender, or other Stronger California Advocates Network leaders, contact Blake Case at [email protected] or (601) 832-6079. 

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About Equal Rights Advocates
Equal Rights Advocates fights for gender justice in workplaces and schools across the country. Since 1974, they have been fighting on the front lines of social justice to protect and advance rights and opportunities for women, girls, and people of all gender identities through groundbreaking legal cases and bold legislation that sets the stage for the rest of the nation.

About the Stronger California Advocates Network
The Stronger California Advocates Network is a coalition of 65 nonprofit and advocacy organizations working to advance policy reforms that address the intersecting obstacles women and families face to leading economically secure lives. Chaired by Equal Rights Advocates, the Network develops and advocates for the annual Stronger California Legislative Agenda to build a more equitable California economy.