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2025 CA Legislative Session Wrapped Up!
AVFCA Sponsored, Inspired and Supported
Legislation Signed into Law

In this email A Voice for Choice Advocacy will summarize the 2025 CA Legislative Session, as well as exciting Federal Legislation moving through Congress and what you can be doing in the next few months!

December 2, 2024 CA Legislature Update: The California legislature recently concluded its regular session, having introduced and discussed over 2,350 bills this year, with approximately 917 making it to the Governor’s desk. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed over 794 bills into law and vetoed the rest. While vetoes can be overridden with a two-thirds vote, this is unlikely - the last override occurred in 1979.

As in the past 10 years, A Voice for Choice Advocacy (AVFCA) remained active in the Capitol this year lobbying for your health rights. It was a great year for AVFCA’s goal to “Get Toxics Out” of California. In 2025, AVFCA supported 33 health rights-related bills, with 8 signed into law.



Three particular wins from the 2025 CA Legislative session AVFCA is excited to share:

✔ AB-1264 (Gabriel): Pupil nutrition: ultraprocessed food was signed into law: Mandates, starting July 1, 2035, school meals and foods sold in schools must exclude particularly harmful ultraprocessed foods and limit the inclusion of certain substances, such as specific artificial dyes, added sugars, and excess sodium, in accordance with federal and state nutritional standards.

✔ SB-754 (Durazo) Menstrual products: disposable tampons and pads: chemicals of concern, which was inspired by a past AVFCA sponsored bill authored by Assembly Member Christina Garcia AB1989 (2020): Requires manufacturers of disposable tampons and pads to document and report the concentrations of certain hazardous chemicals, such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, and zinc, in their products by December 31, 2026.

✔ SB-236 (Weber Pierson) Cosmetics: chemical hair relaxers: The C.U.R.L. Act, prohibits the manufacture, sale, or distribution of hair relaxer products containing hazardous ingredients, such as formaldehyde, isobutylparaben, isopropylparaben, cyclohexylamine, cyclotetrasiloxane, diethanolamine perfluorooctane sulfonate, dibutyl phthalate, diethylhexyl phthalate, and lily aldehyde, starting January 1, 2030.



AVFCA's legislative team consists of our Legislative Director (Lea Jones), our newly hired Legislative Assistant (April Robinson), our Grassroots Director (Karen Amigon), and myself (Christina Hildebrand). I am not paid for any of the countless hours I put into A Voice for Choice Advocacy (usually 60+ hours a week), and while AVFCA's legislative team thankfully discounts their rates, AVFCA still strives to pay a fair hourly rate. Our legislative team is AVFCA's biggest expense annually, beyond lawyers fees for our two SB 277 court cases.



Sponsoring and supporting bills is an important part of AVFCA's work, as it allows AVFCA's Legislative Team to interact with legislators and their staff in a positive way showing them AVFCA is more than just an organization that exists to oppose bad bills. AVFCA had hundreds of meetings with legislators and staffers in 2025 to discuss bills and build these relationships for future years. This allows A Voice for Choice Advocacy to continue to be the leading legislative organization lobbying for your health rights in the California Capitol.



Since 2015, A Voice for Choice Advocacy has been sustained only by grassroots donations, as well as my own significant donations. We are so thankful to everyone who has generously donated to our organizations. However, AVFCA always needs your help to make our efforts sustainable. AVFCA does not often ask for donations, but if you appreciate the legislative work we do, AVFCA asks you to donate as generously as you can - no amount is too little or too great!



If you are not already, please consider becoming a monthly donor: www.avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org/donate [[link removed]]

AVFCA cannot do this without you!
And for the next 12 days we have a matching donation up to $50,000
Please DONATE anything and everything you can TODAY
so we can maximize on this donation!

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Other than the above mentioned bills, here are other notable bills AVFCA actively engaged on that were signed into law this year. You can find details for all the bills AVFCA supported and opposed on our website: [link removed] [[link removed]]

✔ AB-60 Cosmetic Safety (Papan): The Musk Reduction Act, expands the list of banned ingredients in cosmetic products starting January 1, 2027, by including musk ambrette, musk tibetene, musk moskene, musk xylene, and restrictions on musk ketone's concentration.

✔ AB-1181 Firefighters: personal protective equipment (Haney): Requires the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to review and update firefighter personal protective equipment (PPE) standards to eliminate the use of harmful substances like PFAS, fluoropolymers, and flame retardants by January 1, 2027. I

✔ SB-68 Major food allergens (Menjivar): Requires certain restaurants and similar retail food establishments that are part of a chain with 20 or more locations doing business under the same name to provide written notifications of major food allergens on or in connection with their menus, starting July 1, 2026.

✔ SB-646 Prenatal vitamins (Weber Pierson): Requires manufacturers of bulk and packaged prenatal multivitamins sold in California to test each lot for toxic elements like arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury, and to provide the test results upon request.

✔ AB-960 Patient visitation (Garcia): Requires general acute care hospitals to allow patients with disabilities, cognitive impairments, or other qualifying conditions to have a family or friend caregiver with them at all times unless certain health or safety concerns justify restrictions.



AVFCA cannot do this without you!
For the next 12 days we have a matching donation up to $50,000
Please DONATE anything and everything you can TODAY
so we can maximize on this donation!

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Together we can make change happen!

C
Christina Hildebrand
President/Founder
A Voice for Choice Advocacy, Inc.
[email protected] [[email protected]]
www.AVoiceForChoiceAdvocacy.org [[link removed]]
www.avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org [www.avoiceforchoiceadvocacy.org]
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A Voice for Choice Advocacy
530 Showers Drive, #7404
Mountain View, CA 94040
United States