Public Policy
Public Policy
Public Policy
Disability Rights California's policy team advocates across all levels of government including federal, state and local. We engage in policy work within state government on legislative bills and budget items, guided by our mission, vision and values. We focus on legislation and budget items that impact people with disabilities and public programs that provide services and supports.
DRC also develops bill ideas to address issues affecting people with disabilities. Based on priority, political climate, input from the disability community and DRC's Board of Directors, we decide which bills, if any, we will sponsor. Then we work to persuade the right legislator to be the author of the bill.
Disability Rights California’s Public Policy Priorities for 2026
This year, we have high priorities in the following areas: education, health, housing & homelessness, intellectual and developmental disabilities, mental health, public safety, and labor & employment. In our advocacy on the following priorities, we engage with the disability community, the Legislature, state agencies, the governor, and coalition partners.
Education Policy Priorities
AB 1861 (Lackey): Special Education: Public Complaint Database – SUPPORT
AB 1861 creates a statewide special education complaint database to improve transparency and identify systemic issues across school districts. DRC supports this bill because it will centralize complaint data to help policymakers and advocates target reforms and hold school districts accountable for repeated violations.
AB 2468 (Patel): School Accountability: Pupils with Disabilities: Inclusion – SUPPORT
DRC supports 2468, which would expand a proven statewide model to help school districts move students with disabilities out of unnecessarily restrictive settings and into inclusive classrooms. By investing in training, technical assistance, and implementation support, the bill helps close the gap between the legal right to inclusion and what students actually experience in schools.
SB 998 (Gonzalez): Educational Equity: Discrimination Prevention Coordinators – SUPPORT
DRC supports SB 998, which would establish a statewide Disability Discrimination Coordinator within the Office of Civil Rights to improve oversight and accountability in education discrimination cases. The bill addresses ongoing gaps in enforcement by ensuring a centralized entity is tracking patterns and supporting compliance, particularly for students experiencing intersectional discrimination.
Health Policy Priorities
AB 2081(Stefani) – Medi-Cal: Home and Community-Based Alternatives Waiver – SUPPORT
Medi-Cal has a Home and Community-Based Alternatives (HCBA) Waiver. This allows people to receive care in their homes rather than living in a facility. Currently, there is a wait list for the HCBA waiver, meaning that not everyone who needs it gets it. DRC supports this bill because it requires the state to provide an HCBA Waiver to every person in California who is eligible.
SB 987 (Weber Pierson) - California Health Access Fund – SUPPORT
H.R. 1 by the federal government made cuts to Medi-Cal funding including by making it harder for some people to enroll. The state might save money from fewer people enrolling, but it means that many people with disabilities will lose the healthcare they need to survive. DRC supports this bill because it takes those savings and uses them to fund some of the care that will be lost from the federal cuts.
SB 1422 (Durazo) - Medi-Cal: eligibility: immigration status – SUPPORT
Last year’s budget made it so that adult undocumented immigrants could not enroll in Medi-Cal if they were not already enrolled. This means that these immigrants with disabilities may have no way to access affordable healthcare. This bill undoes that, allowing these immigrants to enroll in full-scope Medi-Cal.
Housing & Homelessness Policy Priorities
AB 647 (Gonzalez) - Abandoned recreational vehicles - OPPOSE
DRC opposes AB 647, which would dramatically expand a pilot program to tow and destroy recreational vehicles (RVs). While California and its local governments continue to fail to provide enough affordable housing, many Californians priced out of market-rate housing rely on their vehicles for shelter and safety. This bill puts Californians who live in RVs – many of whom are people with disabilities – at risk of being further displaced and unsheltered.
AB 736 (Wicks) / SB 417 (Cabaldon) - The Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026 – SUPPORT
DRC supports AB 736 and SB 417, both two-year bills, which would place a $10 billion bond on the ballot to support production and preservation of affordable rental housing and home ownership programs. To learn more, visit HousingBondCA!
AB 1165 (Gipson) - The California Housing Justice Act – SUPPORT
DRC supports AB 1165, a two-year bill that would require the state to assess how much ongoing investment is needed—and where those investments must be targeted—to solve housing instability and homelessness over the long term. This bill provides a roadmap for making future investments strategic and meaningful in addressing housing and homelessness once and for all.
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) Policy Priorities
AB 1099 (Bryan): Developmental services: initial intake: assessment – SPONSOR
DRC is sponsoring this two-year bill to improve coordination of services for systems-involved youth with I/DD. This bill advances our policy goals of improving equity for marginalized groups in the regional center system and of preventing institutional placements for people with I/DD.
DRC supports SB 1052 which expands on the existing authorized representative process overseen by the State Council for Developmental Disabilities, with a focus on emergency, contingent appointments in case of changes to immigration status. This bill advances our policy goals of supporting alternatives to conservatorship and of protecting the rights of immigrants with disabilities.
You can learn more about DRC’s work advancing the rights of people with I/DD here.
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) Legal and Policy Advocacy
Labor & Employment Policy Priorities
AB 1729 (Lee): State Employment: Telework Programs – SUPPORT
AB 1729 modernizes and strengthens the state’s telework framework by requiring agencies to evaluate telework programs, justify in-person requirements, and track cost savings and workforce impacts through a statewide dashboard. The bill promotes flexibility, efficiency, and transparency in state employment while supporting recruitment and retention. We support the bill because expanding telework is critical to increasing access to employment for people with disabilities who may face barriers to in-person work
AB 2495 (Kalra): Unlawful Immigration-related Practices – SUPPORT
DRC supports AB 2495, which expands protections against unfair immigration-related employment practices by prohibiting employers from retaliating against or deterring workers from exercising their rights under labor laws. The bill strengthens enforcement by broadening what constitutes unlawful conduct and increasing penalties for violations. This is important because workers with disabilities, particularly those of whom are immigrants, are disproportionately vulnerable to exploitation and need stronger protections to safely assert their workplace rights.
SB 1012 (Smallwood-Cuevas): Employment of Inmates – SUPPORT
DRC supports SB 1012, which would strengthen pathways to employment for formerly incarcerated individuals by ensuring that training and work completed in conservation camps count toward state-approved apprenticeships. The bill enables direct entry into apprenticeship programs and recognizes prior experience, improving access to stable, living-wage careers. The bill supports successful reentry and reduces barriers to employment for people with disabilities who are disproportionately represented in the criminal legal system.
Mental Health Policy Priorities
CARE Court Related Bills:
SB 883 (Umberg): Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) court program - CONCERNS
DRC has registered concerns with SB 883 (Umberg), which is one of four bills this year related to CARE Court. As of April 2026, SB 883 has minimal language. But we have learned from the past several years to anticipate that later in the legislative session there will be significant and controversial amendments. We assume this is not the final version of this bill.
SB 989 (Blakespear): Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court Program - OPPOSE
DRC opposes SB 989, which would expand referrals to CARE Court. SB 989 would allow first responders – including law enforcement – to use a streamlined referral form to send someone into the CARE Court process.
DRC opposes SB 1016, which would make explicit and final what advocates have long warned: that unwillingness to participate in CARE Court means a fast track to involuntary commitment. Specifically, if someone chooses to not participate in CARE Court, SB 1016 would allow a court to order them to submit to an evaluation for involuntary treatment or conservatorship.
SB 1242 (Choi): Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court Program - OPPOSE
DRC opposes SB 1242, which would disregard the wishes of a CARE Court respondent and allow a petitioner to participate throughout the CARE Court process even if the respondent does not consent.
LPS Conservatorship Related Bills:
SB 1221 (Stern): Lanterman Petris-Short Act: Conservatorships - OPPOSE
DRC opposes SB 1221, which would authorize District Attorneys to review and contest conservatorship proceedings, create a backlog of LPS conservatees waiting to enter state hospitals, expand criteria for Murphy conservatorships, and expand involuntary commitment criteria in jails.
Public Safety Policy Priorities
AB 1932 (Elhawary): Department of Social Services: C.R.I.S.E.S. Grant Pilot Program – SUPPORT
DRC supports AB 1932, which reauthorizes the Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems (CRISES) program to community-based alternatives to law enforcement as first responders in crisis situations that are not related to fire department or emergency medical service (EMS) response. The community-led response teams, which are composed of trusted local organizations, can provide culturally competent, trauma-informed, linguistically accessible care without the threat of violence or arrest, thereby enhancing public safety for everyone.
SB 926 (Strickland): Public Safety: Funding of Prop. 36 - OPPOSE
DRC opposes SB 926, which seeks to provide additional funding tied to Proposition 36 implementation, prioritizing incarceration over treatment and community-based solutions. The bill risks reinforcing a system that has failed to adequately serve individuals with disabilities, particularly those with behavioral health needs.
SB 1401 (Stern): Criminal Procedure: Competence to Stand Trial - OPPOSE
DRC opposes SB 1401, which undermines core protections in the mental health system by allowing courts to access confidential treatment information and bypass clinical safeguards in conservatorship referrals. The bill threatens trust in care, weakens due process, and risks expanding costly and inappropriate conservatorships without delivering meaningful public safety outcomes.