Why Public Policy Priorities Matter
By Nancy Mahr, Member AAUW California Public Policy Committee

 Why do AAUW’s Public Policy Priorities matter? They shape the actions that we take as an organization, socially and legally to advance gender equity.

AAUW’s mission is to advance equity for women and girls. Our Public Policy Priorities guide how we encourage active citizenship toward the goal of advancing our mission. There are four branches to our PublicPolicy Priorities: Economic Security, Equal Access to Quality Public Education, Social and Racial Justice, and Increased representation of Women in Leadership roles. Each of these priorities is further broken down into several action-oriented subcategories, such as enforcement of Title IX and passage of the ERA. Click HERE to view Our 2023-25 priorities.

As active participants in society we can help shape the laws and society that govern us, such as healthcare, environmental policies, sex education, curriculum and book banning, housing, childcare, voting rights, immigrants’ rights, sexual harassment, domestic violence, racial and LGBTQ discrimination, and Title IX enforcement. We “advocate” or promote our mission through research, education and lobbying for legislation on the international, national, state, and local levels. Over the next four years, there will be a lot of opportunities to use our legislative advocacy to push back against attempts to overturn long standing human rights and civil rights protections.

Why do our Public Policy Priorities matter? They make us the most effective advocates for our collective mission to protect and expand gender equity. At the branch and individual levels, we can take advantage of as many opportunities as possible to operationalize our Public Policy Priorities, and through this work to activelypromote AAUW’s mission. AAUW as an organization relies on the branches to stay informed and to keep track of where our Public Policy Priorities may fall short, to form coalitions with local allies who have similar missions, and to assign branch members to focus where we can have the most impact.

Public Policy Committee Sets AAUW California 2025 Legislative Agenda

By Missy Maceyko and Amy Hom, Co-chairs
AAUWCA Public Policy Committee

The Public Policy Committee met over a weekend in mid-March for our most important meeting of the year,to set the Legislative Agenda for 2025. Prior to the meeting, our committee collectively evaluated over 60 bills related to AAUW’s mission and Public Policy Priorities. During our two-day marathon session, we carefully considered each bill. We then voted to select and prioritize the top 25 bills, leaving room to add a few more bills that we know will be coming to us in the next few weeks.

Our three “A” priority bills are SB 771 ”Social Media Platforms Endangering Californians”, AB 579 “Yaeli’s Law”, and SB 418 “Ensure Equal Access to Care for All”. All three of the “A” priority bills this year fall under the Social Justice pillar of our Public Policy Priorities.

The first “A” bill, SB 771 “Social Media Platforms Endangering Californians”, is authored by Senator Henry Stern and is sponsored by AAUW California. SB 771 clarifies that a social media platform may be liable for civil penalty under existing law if and when its algorithms or AI aid or abet individual users who are engaging in already unlawful intimidation of others in online spaces. While hateful speech is problematic, it is not illegal. However, it can cross the line into illegal action. When hate speech is “brought to the door- step” of marginalized communities, for example if someone maliciously posts anti-immigrant messages on the virtual Facebook wall of an immigrant family, they are engaging in unlawful intimidation, terrorism, and threat. While social media platforms are not responsible for the speech of individual users, aspects of their platform such as algorithms or AI can be complicit in the targeting of marginalized groups, which is unlawful. Social media companies have recently intentionally turned away from providing safeguards that they previously provided for targeted vulnerable communities. They should be held accountable for that decision, in light of the real-world impacts of proliferation of online hate and their complicity in unlawful intimidation.

The second “A” bill, to which we are taking an opposition position, is AB 579 “Yaeli’s Law” authored by Assemblymember Leticia Castillo. This bill rests on the premise that denial of support for youth self-identity, including refusal to use a child’s name and pronouns, or refusal to provide or allow their gender- affirming care, is not harmful and therefore should not be considered child abuse under the law, and, accordingly, not be allowed as a basis for custody or removal decisions. This is problematic. Research shows that transgender children are more likely to experience anxiety and depression and are at greater risk of substance abuse and homelessness when they live in households that do not accept their gender identity. We oppose this bill because every child deserves to be protected from emotional and physical abuse, including the right to be removed from a harmful household to a more healthy environment.

The third “A” bill is SB 418 “Ensure Equal Access to Care for All” authored by Senator Caroline Menjivar. This bill would prohibit a health plan or a health insurance provider from denying coverage or denying benefits to a person based upon their race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex – including sex characteristics such as intersex traits, pregnancy, and gender identity. Access to gender-affirming care is a fundamental aspect of health equity and human rights. SB 418 will protect against discrimination on the basis of sex, while also sending a powerful message of support to the LGBTQ+ community, affirming that their needs matter.Creating an environment where all individuals can express their identities without fear is foundational to a strong democracy.

To see the full 2025 Legislative Agenda, please go to the Bill Tracking Report. This report is a living document that will be updated as the bills move through the legislative process, so you will always be able to see the latest status.