Senator Smallwood-Cuevas paved the way for new legislation in 2023 that would better empower and protect workers across California. The Senator’s bill package focuses on addressing the needs of working families, protecting the rights to collectively bargain, and creating employment and social safety net programs that support an equitable economy.
SB 16 – Local Enforcement of Fair Employment and Housing
Empowers local civil rights agencies to enforce prohibitions against discrimination in employment and housing.
SCR 30 – Black History Month
Recognizes February 2023 as Black History Month and the importance of celebrating the historic contributions of Black Americans.
SB 497 – Equal Pay and Anti-Retaliation Act
Creates a rebuttable presumption that retaliation occurred when the employer punishes or terminates a worker within 90 days of the worker’s complaint of wage theft or unequal pay.
SB 521 – Campus Protection for Pregnant and Parenting Students
Enables CalWORKs to provide accommodations to pregnant, parenting and lactating students who are not being adequately accommodated under Title IX.
SB 627 – Displaced Worker Protections Act
Requires large chain employers to give advance notice to workers so they can prepare for a store closure. Also requires employers to give transfer rights to workers at the closed store for any job that becomes open at a chain location within 25 miles.
SB 725 – Safety Net for Grocery Workers Act
Requires a grocery establishment that conducts a mass layoff due to merger or acquisition to provide workers with at least one week of severance pay for every year of service.
SB 749 – Prop 47 Elimination of the Limitation
Allows people who have completed their prison sentence for a qualifying felony under Prop 47 to petition the courts to reclassify their felony to a misdemeanor using a simpler, more streamlined procedure.
SB 809 – Criminal Background Checks
Limits when an employer may use a criminal conviction background check as a basis for hiring and termination.
SB 823 – Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Rates
Requires utilities to establish a program that allows customers without access to an EV charging device at their homes to participate in existing EV charging discount programs.
SB 830 – Deregistered Apprenticeship Programs
Requires the Division of Apprenticeship Standards to post quarterly on its Internet website a list of programs that are deregistered.
SB 854 – Carpet Installer Apprenticeships
Requires 10% of existing assessments on carpet sales in California to be used for grants to apprenticeship programs for apprentice and journey-level carpet installers.