Legislation
Bills Supported by First 5 Association in 2025
Bill Number
Author
Description
Position
Medi-Cal: ACEs screenings: This bill would require the department to include community-based organizations and local health jurisdictions that provide health services through community health workers and doulas, that are enrolled Medi-Cal providers, as providers qualified to provide, and eligible to receive payments for, ACEs trauma screenings.
School sites: entry requirements: immigration enforcement: This bill would prohibit schools from allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enter a school site for any purpose without providing valid identification, a written statement of purpose, and a valid judicial warrant, and receiving approval from the superintendent (school district or county office of education) or the principal of the charter school, or their designee, as applicable.
Alternative birth centers: licensing and Medi-Cal reimbursement: this bill would ease some certification and licensing requirements to try to keep remaining birth centers open and potentially allow for more facilities to open.
Personal income tax law: young child tax credit: existing law defines “qualified taxpayer” to include an eligible individual who has a qualifying child younger than 6 years old as of the last day of the taxable year. This bill would change the definition to mean a child younger than a specified age as of the last day of the taxable year and would make an appropriation by increasing the payments from the Tax Relief and Refund Account.
Medi-Cal: community health worker services: would require the department to annually review the above-described outreach and education efforts conducted by Medi-Cal managed care plans and would require the department to annually conduct analysis of the CHW services benefit, submit each analysis to the Legislature, and publish each analysis on the department’s website.
CalWORKs: home visiting programs: extends the time on the program to at least 24 months, and not to exceed the duration of the applicable home visiting program model, and would extend the maximum age of the child at the time of enrollment to less than 36 months of age.
Child daycare facilities: Existing law, the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of daycare centers and family daycare homes by the State Department of Social Services. Under existing law, the use of a home as a small or large family daycare home is considered a residential use of property and a use by right for the purposes of all local ordinances, including zoning ordinances, and a local jurisdiction is prohibited from imposing a business license, fee, or tax for the privilege of operating a small or large family daycare home. Existing law also exempts small and large family daycare homes from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act. This bill would similarly require a daycare center, as defined, when colocated with multifamily housing or legally established community amenities, to be considered a residential use of property and a use by right for the purposes of all local ordinances. The bill would similarly prohibit a local jurisdiction from imposing a business license, fee, or tax for the privilege of operating a daycare center that is colocated with multifamily housing or legally established community amenities, and would exempt a daycare center colocated with multifamily housing or legally established community amenities from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act.
Childcare: facility licensure: teacher requirements: under existing law, a person may serve in an instructional capacity in a childcare and development program or a preschool program if they possess a current credential issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing authorizing teaching service in elementary school or a single-subject credential in home economics, and 12 units in early childhood education or child development, or both, or 2 years’ experience in early childhood education or a childcare and development program. This bill would require a California state preschool program or a childcare and development program to allow 2 years from an individual’s date of hire as a teacher in one of those programs to pursue necessary credentials or complete additional coursework to meet the requirements of their position if certain conditions are met, including, among others, that no more than one teacher per classroom is allowed to work toward their credential or complete additional coursework pursuant to this provision.
“Have a Heart, Be A Star, Help Our Kids” license plate program: increases the fees for “Have a Heart, Be a Star, Help Our Kids” license plates and allocates 50% of the fees to state and local child care provider licensure, oversight, recruitment, training, and development, and the remainder to child care safety and health.
Commission on Teacher Credentialing: membership: This bill increases the membership of the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) from 15 to 18 members in order to include representation from early childhood education (ECE) professionals. Specifically, it would require adding:
- One early childhood faculty member representing the early childhood higher education systems, who teaches at one of the California State University (CSU, Univeristy of California (UC), or California Community Colleges’ (CCC) ECE programs;
- One teacher from a state-funded preschool program or prekindergarten program;
- One child development site supervisor or child development program director
Birth defects monitoring: This bill would allow (but not require) a Local Health Officer (LHO) to make birth defects and birth conditions occurring or diagnosed in a child’s first year reportable and to implement a local birth reporting for those birth defects and conditions program.
Maternal health screenings and treatment: This bill would require a licensed health care practitioner who provides perinatal care for a patient to screen, diagnose, and treat the patient for a maternal mental health condition
Rural hospitals: standby perinatal medical services: this bill would require CDPH to establish a 5-year pilot project to establish standby perinatal medical services. To qualify, critical access and individual and small system rural hospitals would have to meet specified requirements, including that the hospital (1) be greater than 60 minutes from the nearest hospital providing full maternity services, (2) not have closed a full maternity or labor and delivery department within the past 3 years, and (3) agree to provide routine labor and delivery services or have an agreement with a freestanding birth center, as specified. The bill would require a hospital selected for a pilot program to comply with certain requirements, including among others, having and maintaining specified staff, services, and equipment. The bill would require a physician, as specified, to have overall responsibility for a pilot program under these provisions. This bill contains other related provisions.
CA home internet lifeline act: This bill requires the CA Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to include broadband internet services as a class of LifeLine services eligible for the state LifeLIne subsidy. Key components include:
- Expands CA LifeLine program to include standalone broadband internet service as an eligible utility for low-income households
- Requires minimum levels of speeds
- Allows families to use their LifeLine benefit for internet alone
- Enables providers to particiatpe without needed federal ETC certification except in areas where they seek federal funds
- Prohibits providers from upselling into higher cost plans
- Authorizes the CPUC to develop a mechanism to ensure households using LifeLine for internet still have access to voice services if necessary.
- Creates a fast-track process for affiliates of small rural phone companies to offer discounted broadband service using federal support
- Requires the CPUC to adopt rules to implement the program by July 1, 2026.
Childcare: state median income threshold: Under existing law, for purposes of establishing initial income eligibility for services under the Child Care and Development Services Act, “income eligible” means that a family’s adjusted monthly income is at or below 85% of the state median income, adjusted for family size. Existing law requires, to be eligible for the third stage of childcare services, CalWORKS participants to have an income that does not exceed 70% of the state median income, adjusted for family size, as specified. This bill would revise the income eligibility for the third stage of childcare services to also be 85% of the state median income, adjusted for family size.
