In today's newscast:
Sen. Laird's 2025-26 legislative session
The two year legislative session is wrapping up, and the Monterey Bay region’s state senator authored 31 bills that passed.
In a really successful session, Sen. John Laird says one of the toughest bills to get through was SB 577.
“I had been working on that for two years,” said Laird.
The bill creates new protections against child sexual abuse in schools, youth detention, and foster care. But, it also sets limits on when someone can file sexual abuse claims.
“The goal was to protect survivors' rights, but at the same time try to help local districts who are experiencing financial shock from some of these old settlements,” said Laird.
SB 577 is still waiting on a signature from Gov. Gavin Newsom.
New Trump census proposal
California has the largest undocumented immigrant population in the country with one Pew Research Center study finding over 2 million in 2023.
A recent Trump administration proposal would exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2030 Census.
The California Budget and Policy Center’s Laura Pryor says the state saw a roughly $75 million annual reduction to child care programs due to decreasing youth numbers.
She says an undercount in 2030 could mean even more cuts "for programs like childcare that could result in real cuts to these spaces that we know California families need for affordable childcare."
Census data helps determine how billions of dollars in federal assistance are distributed through more than 350 federal assistance programs.
That reporting from our partner, CapRadio.
