Let California Kids Hear

07/02/2026

Yesterday was one of those days that reminded us what can happen when people keep showing up for kids.

SB 331, the Let California Kids Hear Act, PASSED the Assembly Health Committee with a unanimous 14-0 vote, moving one step closer to the Governor’s desk.

We’re especially grateful to our longtime champion, Senator Caroline Menjivar. After securing pediatric hearing aids in the final budget agreement—contingent upon passage of SB 331—she found a way in the final hours to make SB 331 the bill that could move this policy forward.

Thank you to Dr. Dylan Chan of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals , our Junior Ambassador Marie, and every child, parent, grandparent, provider, coalition partner, and advocate who believed in this effort through every setback, every twist, and every breakthrough.

A special thank you to Assembly Health Committee Chair Assemblymember Mia Bonta for once again standing with California’s deaf and hard-of-hearing children and joining SB 331 as a co-author.

Thank you to the Assembly Health Committee for advancing SB 331, and to the bill’s co-authors:

Assemblymember Dawn Addis
Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry
Assemblymember Patrick Ahren
Assemblymember Jessica Caloza (co-author)
Assemblymember Jeff Gonzales (co-author)
Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez
Assemblymember Darshana Patel (co-author)
Assemblymember Joe Patterson
Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez
Assemblymember Kate Sanchez
Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo
Assemblymember LaShaeSharpCollins
Assembly Member Catherine Stefani

SenatorJoe Becker - co-author
Senator Megan Dahle -co-author
Senator Roger Nielo - co-author

And thank you to our co-sponsor, Children Now and to the 30 organizations that signed on in support of the Let California Kids Hear Act—including those who showed up to provide public comment: American Academy of Pediatrics, California, California Teachers Association, Disablity Rights California, Health Access California, UCSF Beinoff Children's Hospital, California Children's Hospital Association, Association of Regional Center Agencies (ARCA), California Children's Specialty Coalition, and others. We couldn't do this without you. 💙👂

NEXT STOP: Assembly Appropriations on August 5, chaired by Assemlymember Buffy Wicks.

06/11/2026

🏆 California high school student Chase Klugo is using his voice to fight for something bigger than himself.

Born with hearing loss, Chase relies on hearing aids every day. Today, the Los Angeles Times shared his story and his advocacy for the thousands of California children who still lack access to hearing aid coverage.

For eight years, families, providers, and young advocates have fought to ensure that a child's ability to hear is not determined by their family's income or zip code.

The California Senate has already acted because pediatric hearing aids will help more children while saving taxpayer dollars on a state program that never delivered on its promise.

Now Governor Gavin Newsom, Speaker Robert Rivas and Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel have an opportunity to confirm that action in the final budget before June 15.

Kids can't wait any longer.
📞 Governor Gavin Newsom: (916) 445-2841
📞 Speaker Robert Rivas: (916) 319-2029
📞 Assembly Budget Chair Jesse Gabriel: (916) 319-2046

Please call Governor Newsom and leaders today and urge them to confirm the Senate's pediatric hearing aid proposal in the final budget.

Thank you to the California Senate and Senator Caroline Menjivar for continuing to champion California's deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

Read Chase's story in the Los Angeles Times:
https://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/story/2026-06-11/harvard-westlake-tennis-chase-klugo-hearing-aid-coverage

Chase Klugo’s moderate-to-severe hearing loss requires hearing aids to navigate life. He wants to make sure all those who need it in California get the aids they need.

05/31/2026

California once led the nation on newborn hearing screening.

Twenty-eight years later, families are still fighting for access to the hearing aids that help children hear “I love you,” listen to bedtime stories, and develop speech and language during the most critical years of brain development.

Families are told early intervention cannot wait. Children’s development does not wait for politics and process.

At the diaper press conference, Governor Newsom said “85% of the brain is fully formed by 3.” We must start at the very beginning — and “we can’t just identify problems; we have to solve them.”

Our proposal would help more children, improve affordability for families, save taxpayer dollars, and downsize a state program that never delivered on its promise to kids.

Michelle Marciniak wrote about why this matters to families raising deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

Governor Gavin Newsom Gavin Newsom — please confirm the Senate’s action to include pediatric hearing aids in the final California budget.

Please share and tag the Governor today. California kids can’t wait any longer. ❤️

California has led the nation in identifying hearing loss in newborns. It should not then leave families to fend for themselves to get treatment.

05/30/2026

In this video, Sierra hears her mother’s voice through hearing aids for the first time. ❤️

Moments like this can shape a child’s ability to develop speech and language for the rest of their life.

California passed one of the nation’s first newborn hearing screening laws in 1998. Yet 28 years later, many families are still struggling for access to the hearing aids their children rely on.

Only 10% of private health plans cover pediatric hearing aids — even though early access can change the trajectory of a child’s development.

And the hearing aids cost families an average of $6,000 per pair every 3 years as children grow — forcing many parents into debt, delaying treatment, or going without altogether.

And while 35 other states already require some level of coverage, California’s alternative state program has served fewer than 300 children despite roughly $30 million allocated over five years.

There is a better way.

Our proposal would serve more children, save taxpayer dollars, and improve affordability for families seeking hearing aids for their infants and children.

Thank you to longtime champion Senator Caroline Menjivar for moving this forward in the Senate.

Help us keep pressure on the Governor and Assembly leadership to make this right.

Share and tag:
Governor Gavin Newsom
Speaker Robert Rivas
Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel
Assemblymember Mia Bonta

Please confirm the Senate’s action to include pediatric hearing aids in the final California budget.

California kids can’t wait any longer.

❤️ Posted with parent permission

05/28/2026

California’s final budget is being written NOW.

Governor Gavin Newsom and Legislative leadership can still fix this before the budget is finalized.

📞 CALL TODAY:
Governor Gavin Newsom: (916) 445-2841
Speaker Robert Rivas: (916) 319-2029
Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel: (916) 319-2046
Children’s Caucus Chair Mia Bonta: (916) 319-2018 ❤️

Assemblymember Mia Bonta has championed our children before. We need the Children's Caucus to lead on this.

After eight years, children should not have to wait another year for access to sound, language, and learning during the most critical years of brain development. Kids can’t wait for process and politics.

Advocates presented the Governor with a targeted cost-saving proposal that would serve thousands more children, reduce taxpayer liability by moving the majority of kids out of the state’s failing HACCP program, and address the concerns raised in his previous vetoes. With the federal pathway no longer viable, the Governor has a responsibility to act and solve this. Families want to know why.

Tell Sacramento you can still fix this in the final California budget before June 15.

05/15/2026

For YEARS, families across California have fought for something basic: medically necessary hearing aids for children.

Now the truth is out. Once again, Governor Gavin Newsom has failed our children.

While children continued to go without access to sound, language, learning, and connection, California burned through tens of millions of taxpayer dollars in a program that reached fewer than 300 kids.

After eight years of promises, advocacy, testimony, and families begging for action, hearing aids for kids were once again left OUT of the May Revise budget.

Eight years to fix this.
Eight years to stand with families.
Eight years to stop treating childhood hearing loss like an afterthought.

Instead, parents are still paying thousands of dollars out of pocket while children miss critical opportunities for speech, learning, education, and connection during key developmental years.

This is not just a policy failure.
It is a developmental emergency.

Hearing aids are not optional for many children. They are medically necessary devices that directly impact a child’s ability to communicate, learn, and participate fully in the world around them.

And the most frustrating part? There is already a solution.

We are offering a cost-savings plan that would serve MORE children while reducing wasteful state spending. Kids win and taxpayers do too.

California families deserve better than excuses.
Children deserve better than delays.
Taxpayers deserve better than waste.

Governor Newsom: stop shifting blame and get kids across the finish line.

No more empty promises.
No more photo ops.
No more political talking points.
Let California Kids Hear.


Gavin Newsom

05/12/2026

Governor Newsom releases his May Revise this Thursday morning. Please make one quick call today asking him to include hearing aid coverage for deaf and hard of hearing children in the state budget. If you have additional time, please also contact legislative leaders supporting children and families and ask them to continue standing with us.

CALL TODAY:
• Governor Gavin Newsom: 916-445-2841
• Senate Pro Tem Monique Limón Capitol Office: (916) 651-4021
• Assemblymember Mia Bonta, Chair of the California Children’s Caucus: 916-319-2018 ( Thank her for her leadership for our kids over the years and ask her to stand with us again).

After years of bipartisan support being pulled back, blocked, or vetoed, the failed HACCP program, and the federal pathway no longer viable, California children cannot wait any longer.

A child’s development can’t wait. Neither should California. Please call Governor Newsom today!