There is something magical when a room full of strangers gathers for a common purpose. Sports games, movies, and theatre all produce an energy of excitement and hope. This year's Jewish California Capital Summit in Sacramento was no different.

 
Over 700 individuals representing Jews from all corners of California filled the largest hotel ballroom in Sacramento. Together, we learned from the Los Angeles County District Attorney, representatives from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), California Assemblymembers and Senators, and attorneys who have worked to draft bills such as AB 715 to protect our children from antisemitism in schools. We heard from Former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff on his efforts to combat antisemitism across the nation, helping to develop the US Strategy to Combat Antisemitism, and California’s Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis. We learned about the Jewish role in fighting for LGBTQ+ equality and California's shared investment with Israel in renewable energy and water access. We discussed how Jewish perspectives are centered in the Union movement and focused on how the Jewish community responds to need through advocacy and service.

 
This two-day conference culminated in 30-minute lobbying meetings with the dual purpose of sharing Jewish California’s priority bills and budget requests and representing our community with clarity, compassion, and authenticity. Participants were broken into small groups of 10 and met with all 120 legislative offices. I was pleased to join Jason Moss as he led a small group of participants in lobbying meetings with elected officials. Our group met with Assemblymember Mike Fong (AD-49), and staff for Assemblymember Michelle Rodriguez (AD-53) and Senator Eloise Gomez Reyes (SD-29) sharing why we were there and how the bills we were advocating are important, not only for the Jewish community and the entire state.

 
The priorities for these meetings were two-fold. The first was to promote bills and budget requests that help counter antisemitism and hate. Efforts to counter antisemitism and hate include AB1836 (Gabriel) to fund $100M for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, funding security infrastructure for synagogues and nonprofits at risk of hate-motivated violence. We promoted AB2664 (Bauer-Kahan) Safe Worship Zone Act, establishing a 100-foot bubble zone around entrances to houses of worship to protect safe access to religious institutions while respecting constitutional protest rights. We also discussed SB 1387 (Stern), which would ensure Jewish identity is captured in ethnicity data collection systems to improve understanding of our diverse community and accuracy in hate crime, healthcare, and other reporting.

The second priority area was to support programs at risk from H.R.1. These priorities include protecting refugees through a budget request of $20 million, funding services for recent refugees who have been cut off early from federal support, AB 2161 (Bonta), to protect Medi-Cal coverage for low-income individuals, and AB 2299 (Calderon) to protect food benefits for nearly one million Californians.

Our Jewish Federation's membership with Jewish California is just one way we advocate for Jews in our community. We are one of over 40 organizations throughout the state that are members of Jewish California. Our collective impact is a strong voice for Jewish Californians.

It was an honor to represent our Jewish Federation and our local Jewish community at this year's Capital Summit. I hope you will join me next year on May 3 & 4, 2027, when we return to Sacramento. I guarantee your voice will be meaningful!