What’s Next: We’re ready for 2024! ⭐ Here’s what NextGen has coming up this year
January 17, 2024
Hope you are enjoying a wonderful start to the New Year! The California Legislature is now in the second year of its legislative session and it is going to be quite an eventful next 10 months! On behalf of the NextGen team, we hope you are ready to get involved, take action, and engage because we are going to need your help to accomplish our goals in 2024. The work ahead, as always, will center around continuing our advocacy and policy efforts to combat climate change; reform our criminal justice system; increase access to high-quality broadband services; expand digital literacy and inclusion; create more pathways to higher education; and so much more. The team is super excited, even with the backdrop of a bad budget outlook, we head into 2024 focused on building a more equitable, inclusive, and prosperous California for all – are you ready to join us?
Before we get into all the latest happenings, we first want to take a moment to acknowledge, honor, and celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On Monday, January 15th, we celebrated one of history’s most inspirational and influential civil rights leaders. Dr. King stood up for equal rights, stood up for inclusive democracy, stood up for affordable housing, and stood up for economic opportunity for all. We hope you were able to take some time to participate in one of the events honoring Dr. King and/or take a few minutes just to reflect on the sacrifices and strides he made to make our country and our world a better place.
With that, let’s dive in – here’s a closer look at What’s Next at NextGen:
★ California’s 2024-25 State Budget: Last week, Governor Newsom released his 2024-25 state budget proposal and it forecasts a roughly $38 billion budget deficit. The budget closes this deficit through the use of reserves, a multitude of cuts to and deferrals of critical programs in the environmental and economic equity areas, and other budget balancing tools. Despite this bleak budget picture, the NextGen team must remain fully committed to our equity and justice mission and will continue to advocate strongly for policies and programs that protect California’s most vulnerable communities and populations. Read our official response including reactions from our Executive Director, Arnold Sowell Jr., and a few other NextGen policy advisors.
★ Updates on Our Priority Bills:
- Increased Consumer Protections for Students: AB 1160 (Pacheco), the Protecting Students from Creditor Colleges Act is a priority bill for the NextGen team. In a nutshell, this bill helps protect students from harmful debt collection practices initiated by their colleges and, if passed, would remove barriers for students to complete their higher education goals. AB 1160 is off to an exciting start, as it just passed the Assembly Higher Education Committee and now heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee!
- Reforming Solitary Confinement: Another priority bill for NextGen is AB 280 (Holden), the California Mandela Act. This bill seeks to reform the inhumane practice of solitary confinement in California’s prisons, jails, and detention centers. Stay tuned for more information on AB 280 as it moves through the final stages of the legislative process and learn about our ongoing advocacy work in support of this bill.
★ California’s Racial Equity Commission: As a result of your advocacy and those of our partner community groups, the Racial Equity Commission was established by an executive order issued by Governor Newsom in 2022. The Commission is tasked with addressing the impacts of structural and systemic racism across all of state government – it will hold its first public meeting on Wednesday, January 24th at 10am. We encourage you to attend via Zoom, or in person, to learn more about the Commission’s work and to provide your input. More information on the public meeting, including a Zoom registration link, is now available!
What exactly is the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)? 🤔
ACP is a federal benefit that provides eligible households with a discount of up to $30 per month on their internet bill! 🛜 The problem: most qualified folks are unaware that ACP even exists. That’s why we’re here to help!
Get the facts and learn all about ACP today
★ Member Spotlight: We’d like to shine a spotlight on Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco, author of one of our priority bills, AB 1160 – the Protecting Students from Creditor Colleges Act. We are grateful to Assemblymember Pacheco for standing up for students, working to prevent colleges and universities from engaging in harmful debt collection practices, and participating in our recent legislative briefing on the bill. In case you missed it, you can watch a full recording of the AB 1160 briefing on our website.
★ What’s Next: The final weeks of January will include updates on the status of the state budget, the progress of AB 1160 (Pacheco) as it moves through the legislative process, and the introduction of various new pieces of legislation that will help build a more equitable, inclusive, and prosperous California for all. Stay tuned for opportunities to take action and for more information as it becomes available.
★ In the Legislature: Currently, the California Legislature is focused on reviewing the state budget and some initial stages of budget negotiations now that the Governor’s January Budget has been released. Policy committee hearings on two-year bills – bills that were paused in the first house last year – are now underway. These bills will need to pass their respective Appropriations committees this week and then pass their respective Floors by January 31st in order to continue the legislative process. Meanwhile, for new bills being introduced this year, legislative offices have until February 16th.
★ Our Mission: NextGen Policy fights for progressive policy change to address environmental, social, racial, gender, and economic inequities through justice-centered legislative advocacy, grassroots partnerships, and democratic civic engagement.
Thank you for being a part of our journey toward a more equitable California. As we continue to push for progressive policy change, we invite you to make a difference by donating to support our organization. Your contribution will directly impact our efforts to address environmental, social, and economic inequities throughout the state.