Jewish California - formerly JPAC

Jewish California - formerly JPAC Jewish California is our community's voice in Sacramento – and the nation's largest statewide coalition of Jewish organizations. See more at jewishcal.org

JPAC monitors and helps to develop and promote state legislative initiatives of interest to the Jewish community and the community at-large. Past JPAC efforts have focused on such areas as health care funding for low-income seniors, the California-Israel relationship, bullying, human trafficking, Holocaust-era insurance claim issues, anti-Semitism on college campuses, Iran divestment, and public e

ducation. With the leadership of our Chair Dave Rand and assisted by our legislative advocates in Sacramento, we take positions on legislation dealing with issues important to the Jewish community, and advocate on the full range of Jewish community concerns. In addition, we serve as a resource to legislators on various policy matters. JPAC hosts an annual “Advocacy Day” which attracts hundreds of advocates from around the state to participate in workshops, form alliances, and lobby legislators and Administration officials in Sacramento. JPAC is non-partisan and a registered 501 (c) 4 non-profit.

07/27/2026

SB 1387 will add “Jewish” to the ethnicity section on demographic forms. This addition will help California Jews in multiple ways.

SB 1387 (Stern) codifies that Jewish identity is an ethnicity – in addition to a religion – and ensures it is captured w...
07/16/2026

SB 1387 (Stern) codifies that Jewish identity is an ethnicity – in addition to a religion – and ensures it is captured when the state collects ethnicity data.

Check out this J Weekly op-ed written by our CEO, David Bocarsly.

🎉 BREAKING: California’s final budget includes 6 Jewish California wins! 🎉Rooted in Jewish values, these victories prote...
07/09/2026

🎉 BREAKING: California’s final budget includes 6 Jewish California wins! 🎉

Rooted in Jewish values, these victories protect our community – and all Californians.

1️⃣ Nonprofit Security Grants — $80M, ONGOING 🔒 (Sponsor) For the first time ever, security funding for synagogues, schools, & community centers isn’t a one-year fight — it’s permanent. A true generational win.

2️⃣ Holocaust Survivor Assistance — $36M over 3 years 🚙(Sponsor) Our last generation of survivors deserve to age with dignity, at home, and cared for. This funding makes that possible.

3️⃣ Holocaust & Genocide Education Curriculum — $10M 📚(Sponsor) Education is our strongest weapon against hate. This funding helps bring genocide education to classrooms across California.

4️⃣ Immigrant Legal Aid — $175M 🗽(Support) Supports deportation defense services for immigrants.

5️⃣ Victims of Crime Act — $50M 🤝(Support) Critical support for domestic violence survivors and other crime survivors.

6️⃣Museum of Tolerance — $12M 🏛️ (Help Sponsor) A museum upgrade and increased mobile capacity to reach even more communities statewide.

Six wins. One stronger California. 💙

This didn’t happen by accident — it happened because our coalition showed up, year after year, in Sacramento. Thank you to everyone who made these wins possible.

🎉 GENERATIONAL WIN. For years we fought for security funding one budget at a time. Today, that changes forever. 🔐 Califo...
07/06/2026

🎉 GENERATIONAL WIN. For years we fought for security funding one budget at a time. Today, that changes forever. 🔐 California has made nonprofit security grants permanent — $80M every single year, guaranteed. A 160x increase in a decade. This is what advocacy makes possible.

Introducing SB 549, which just passed the Assembly Education Committee.This bill closes a gap in law that keeps our youn...
07/02/2026

Introducing SB 549, which just passed the Assembly Education Committee.

This bill closes a gap in law that keeps our youngest students from being able to attend cultural after-school programs.

SB 549 lowers the minimum age for enrollment for certain cultural after-school programs (heritage schools) to include transitional kindergarten students. Now that California has universal transitional kindergarten, four-year-olds across the state are now schoolchildren who attend a full day of class. Yet the heritage school minimum age remains 4 years and 9 months, a holdover that no longer matches reality. The mismatch forces programs like Beth Shir Shalom’s heritage school in Santa Monica to turn away transitional kindergarten students. It also means we now have students in public school that do not have access to the same after-school coverage as other public school students. This bill closes that gap, ensuring parents can work knowing their children are cared for.

Yesterday, AB 1853 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. This bill makes sure that hate speech is not spread through Ca...
07/01/2026

Yesterday, AB 1853 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. This bill makes sure that hate speech is not spread through California’s official voter guides. Next stop, Senate Appropriations.

Yesterday, AB 395 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. No Californian should have to choose between faith and civic pa...
07/01/2026

Yesterday, AB 395 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. No Californian should have to choose between faith and civic participation. Next stop, Senate Appropriations.

Senator Scott Wiener has been a champion for the LGBTQ+ community throughout his career. On Friday, he was physically su...
06/28/2026

Senator Scott Wiener has been a champion for the LGBTQ+ community throughout his career. On Friday, he was physically surrounded, screamed at with antisemitic slurs, and chased from the Trans March in his own district – the latest episode in a years-long pattern of harassment that has included activists following him onto planes and shouting slurs about his "tainted bloodline."

There is no place for this type of harassment in our public discourse – for Senator Wiener or any elected official. The content, tenor, and persistence of this targeting make clear that the political grievance is the pretext – his Jewishness is the target.

We must all call out this antisemitism for what it is.

Jewish Insider covered yet another brazen attempt by the California Faculty Association (CFA) to attack Jewish students ...
06/27/2026

Jewish Insider covered yet another brazen attempt by the California Faculty Association (CFA) to attack Jewish students in CA.

Yesterday, SB 1387 — the bill to recognize Jewish identity as an ethnicity — passed the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Pr...
06/24/2026

Yesterday, SB 1387 — the bill to recognize Jewish identity as an ethnicity — passed the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee 15-0. Sign up for our newsletter at jewishcal.org to learn how to take action.

Address

Sacramento, CA
95814

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Jewish California - formerly JPAC posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Jewish California - formerly JPAC:

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category