Contact Us The purpose of this page is to give you an overview of the legislation that is being addressed by California Communities United Institute and to provide you with a list of all bills introduced in the California Legislature in the 2011/2012 legislative session. The following links take you to pages where you can see a list of the bills we are working on, what position we have taken on them, and what the bills do, and what their status is, and, alternatively, to a list containing all the bills introduced in the California Legislature in the 2011/2012 legislative session.
Do you want to know the outcome of all the bills we worked on this year? Or, do you want to know the outcome of all the bills we worked on, in a particular issue area? If so, click on any or all of the links below.
The current status of the bills will show in the right column for each bill. Bills marked "Chaptered" were signed by the Governor. Those marked "Vetoed," in the right column, were vetoed by the Governor. The rest of the bills did not make it to the Governor's desk. Most of those bills can be taken up again next year.
In almost all cases the bills marked Chaptered will take effect on January 1, 2012. The one exception, AB 131 will take effect January 1, 2013.
To see the lists, click below.
Who Represents Me?
Find out who represents you. Get all the contact information on the President, the Governor of California and of the legislators who represent you in the US Congress and the California legislature by clicking on the following link:
All bills introduced in the state legislature must be approved by a policy committee in the house the bill was first introduced in. Any bill that is likely to cost the state $50,000 or more must also be approved by the Appropriations Committee in that house before the full house can vote on it. If the full house in which a bill was introduced approves a bill, then it must go through the same process in the other house of the California Legislature.
Getting bills through these key committees is crucial to the life of the bill and often large volumes of mail to the committee members is essential to getting the committees to approve the bills.
If you see bills you like when clicking on the lists above, you might want to key your E-mail address into the yellow sign-up box near the top right corner of this page. That way you will get notices whenever a bill addressed by California Communities United Institute is coming up for a vote. We will also provide you with a very simple way of writing to the committee members on the bills they will be voting on.
Another alternative is to click on the "Take Action Now" button on the left side of this page. That will take you to a page with links to the current E-mail actions we are working on. Clicking on one of those links will show you a sample letter for one of the bills on which we need input to legislators or the Governor at this time. Along with each sample letter, you will see simple instructions on how to send those messages to the elected officials that need to hear from you.
Note: The voting process will not start until sometime in February. We suggest you check the "Take Action Now" page at that time.
We hope these action alert links will be helpful to community organizations which want to carry out their own lobbying campaigns. They can feel free to use our services to get mail sent in to elected officials on the bills they care about.
How Do I Know Whom To Write To?
Do you want to write to the members of a committee that will be voting on a bill you like, but don't know what legislators are on that committee?
If it is a California Senate committee click on the following link and then click on the name of the committee. That will give you the names of the Senators on the committee. Here is the link to use: California Senate Committees.
If it is a California Assembly committee click on the following link and then click on the name of the committee. That will give you the names of the Assembly Members on the committee. Here is the link to use: California Assembly Committees.
Letters to any legislator on these committee lists can be sent to:
The Hon. First Name Last Name The California State Legislature Sacramento, CA 95814
As an alternative, you can click on the name of a legislator in a committee list. That will take you to the legislator's home page. It will provide you with the phone and FAX numbers for the legislator. You will also find either an E-mail address or a web based form you can use to send a message to the legislator. To do that, the legislator's web site usually has you click on a "Contact Us" button on the legislator's web site.
But, believe me, it is easier just to use the sign up box in the upper right corner of this page. That way you will get alerts when bills are coming up for a vote. You are less likely to miss a vote that way. And we provide an easy way to let your legislators know your views on the bills we address.
To join our E-mail alert list just key your E-mail address into the yellow box near the top right corner of this page and click on "Go".
Want To Be Notified When Changes Or Additions Are Made To This Page?
Click the following link to track changes to this page.
Then copy and paste the following URL into the dialogue box that says "Page Address:" and type your E-mail address into the dialogue box that says "Send Alert To:"
Note: If this is your first time using this service, after clicking on the above link, click on "Sign Up" in the upper right corner of the resulting page.
OUR MISSION
To promote the social, economic, and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals, couples and families; people affected by HIV/AIDS; People of Color; people on limited income; and women. We do this by urging elected officials to enact and support legislation that accomplishes this goal.
