PERK and local fire stations partner up to help nearly 170 fire victim families with donated mattresses from local furniture company.
PERK and local fire stations partner up to help nearly 170 fire victim families with donated mattresses from local furniture company.
BUY ADVANCED TICKETS NOW to the latest Mikki Willis film including the festival premiere of Follow The Silenced. Join Mikki, Drea DeMatteo, Jimmy Levy, Jessica Sutta, Brianne Dressen and more for the screening and VIP reception.
PERK co-founder, Darrlene Alquiza’s testimony at AB 659 hearing July 12, 2023
To watch full hearing click here.
AB-659 Cancer Prevention Act AKA the HPV Vaccine bill, has passed out of the Senate Education Committee and has been referred to Senate Appropriations Committee.
Darrlene represented PERK Advocacy this week in Sacramento.
As of Friday July 14th, all legislators are officially on “Summer Break” until Monday August 14. This means that they will not be conducting business at the state Capitol, but will be available to meet at the local district office. Summer break is a great opportunity to engage and build relationships with your legislators.
AB 223, AB 665, AB 957 were not heard on the Senate Floor and will not be taken up until the return of session in August. This gives us the ability to put pressure and educate the senators on the harms of the bills above.
Over 2,500+ bills have been introduced this year and most of the time, legislators are unaware of the policy that they vote on. It is our responsibility as advocates to voice our concerns. We have made it easy for you to take action with these steps below:
Breathe, relax and regroup! Politics is a heavy contentious topic that can drain even the greatest advocate or lobbyist. The topics we cover require difficult and uncomfortable conversations with decision makers. It is vital to utilize self care and fill your cup so you can continue to fight with your best foot forward.
Attend your legislators local events, the best way to do this is to call their office and ask to be put on the mailing list or ask what upcoming events they will be having. Engaging at the local level and establishing yourself as a caring constituent will show them that you mean business. Find your legislator here.
Print out our resource guide on AB 665, AB 223, AB 957 and schedule a meeting with your senator to discuss your concerns further. Use our guide as a way to initiate conversation and spark questions for them to consider. Visit our take action page for updates and action links.
AB 659 passed out of the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday July 12th. We had the opportunity to be one of the lead testifying witnesses on the bill. Darrlene Alquiza, PERK Director of Education, did a phenomenal job in articulating ongoing concerns we have with AB 659’s HPV Vaccine Recommendation notification to 6th graders. We strongly believe that the conversation surrounding HPV and vaccines belong solely in the hands of the Child’s Physician. A 6th grade child has only learned about the basic anatomy of reproductive organs and is not yet of age to dialogue STDs and STI’s. This notification is misplaced and we are asking for it to be removed.
The Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, Senator Josh Newman directly asked the Author, Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry about the reason behind addressing this issue at the school level rather than a doctors office. The Author did not answer and instead read off her pre-written speech.
AB 659 is off to the Senate Appropriations Committee where it will undergo fiscal review and cost of the bill. This bill adds additional financial burdens on local school districts and we calculate a heavy cost. Please prepare and submit your opposition letter to the Senate Appropriations committee in a timely manner.
To watch the full hearing click the video below:
ASM. Aguiar-Curry - AB 659 Senate Education Committee hearing, July 12th, 2023.
PERK testifies at AB 659 Committee hearing
Extreme Democrats enable Human Sex Trafficking of children.
SB 14 by Senator Shannon Grove would make a repeat offender of human sex trafficking of a MINOR a serious offense, eligible for the 3 strike penalty for re-offenders.
This bill passed out of the Senate with unanimous bipartisan support. It was then stopped in the Assembly Public Safety Committee by 6 extreme progressive democrats: Chairman Assembly Member Reggie Sawyer Jones, Assemblymembers Isaac Bryan, Liz Ortega, Mia Bonta, Miguel Santiago, and Rick Zbur who decided to not vote for the bill therefore enabling sex trafficking of a minor.
After intense nationwide scrutiny and an utter shock to the state legislature, Republican Leaders tried to force a floor vote in the Assembly. Their motion was denied due to “being out of order” since this bill should technically go to Appropriations before it is set for a floor vote.
Assistant Majority Leader Assembly Member Isaac Bryan motioned for the bill to be reheard in the Public Safety Committee and was granted the request. This sent SB 14 back to the same committee that it was paused in. They immediately brought it for a Vote with a Yes vote from all members except for Isaac Bryan and Mia Bonta who both abruptly stormed out of the hearing room.
Since being shut down and brought back up, SB 14 picked up an additional 31 Democrat authors in the Assembly. Many members speaking out and saying they greatly support the measure and would have Voted Yes in the Public Safety committee if given the chance.
Assembly member Liz Ortega realized she made a mistake and walked back her decision on Tuesday.
The momentum around SB 14 initiated a greater dialogue surrounding democratic values and the hijacking of the Democratic Party by extreme progressives who value a Repeat Human Trafficker over the life of an innocent child being sold for sex.
This issue transcends political lines and if they were not willing to stand up for the children, then the state of CA was ready to push back. There is power in our voices and we are starting to wake up to the political facade. We encourage you to know the names and faces of the members who voted against a completely sensible policy. Elections are coming up in 2024 and we have to bring back balance to CA. Get involved in your local community and support like-minded candidates who are motivated to make a change.
Assemblymember Robert Rivas was recently appointed Honorable Speaker of the Assembly after a dramatic and hostile takeover by Assembly progressives last year. He will replace Assemblymember Anthony Rendon who was not ready to give up his position.
Speaker Asm. Robert Rivas is the son of immigrant farm workers and an advocate for rural communities. We look forward to engaging him on our issues and having a seat at the table to push forward positive legislation.
Rivas also appointed the following positions:
Speaker Pro Tempore Honorable Cecilia M. Aguiar-Curry -An officer appointed by the Speaker that presides over Floor Sessions in the absence of the Speaker.
Assistant Speaker pro Tempore Honorable Stephanie Nguyen.
Majority Leader Honorable Isaac Bryan -Appointed by the Speaker, represents the Speaker on the Floor, expedites Assembly Floor proceedings such as motions and points of order and promotes harmony among the membership.
Assistant Majority Leader Honorable Gregg Hart
Assistant Majority Leader for Policy and Research Honorable Diane Papan
Majority Whip Honorable Lori Wilson
Assistant Majority Whip Honorable Matt Haney
Assistant Majority Whip Honorable Josh Lowenthal
Democratic Caucus Chair Honorable Rick Chavez Zbur
Republican Leader Honorable James Gallagher
Do you notice a common trend amongst the appointed leadership? It is clear that there is a set agenda to bring forth extremely progressive policies in California. The bad bills we are fighting were a teaser in anticipation of what is to come with this new slate of leaders. A quick search into their proposed legislation will give you a clear idea of what they support and want to advance.
Many from the LGTBQ community respect PERK’s decision as we draw the line at inappropriate and sexually explicit material being exposed to our children.
Some of the appointed leaders in Sacramento are loud and proud advocates of Gender transitioning for minors, mandating gender affirming care, and insulating our school curriculum with medically inaccurate information.
History repeats, create the future!
The time to be involved is NOW, these bills will not be going away and we must stand united to protect our children. Never forget that you have the power to keep the peace in your home, the world will traumatize our children enough, and we must be the safe space for them to learn and thrive. What you feel as a parent is valid and we hear your concerns, PERK plans to release more resources to empower you.
We are at a pivotal time in history where we have the ability to shape what the future looks like in the face of a new future pandemic. These policies are like liquid concrete being poured onto us. Only we have the ability to determine how it sets and hardens. Once it is set it will be hard to chip away and fix the damage. This is why we must stand firm now and be willing to have those difficult conversations with everyone around us.
People don’t get involved in politics until politics gets involved with them. Many of us are in this because we were empowered to fight for our freedoms in the face of complete government control. Together we preserved some fundamental freedoms in CA through legislation, litigation, education, and advocacy.
Keep standing firm and don’t waiver in the face of opposition. There are millions of us willing to fight and never give up on California.
This state will always be worth fighting for!
-Jessica Cabrera
PERK Director of Advocacy
Removes the requirement that children must be a danger to themselves or others, or be alleged incest or abuse victims, before seeking care without their parents’ consent. This will remove the guardrails that prevent abuse of current law, so instead of cases of emergency, mental health professionals or school psychologists can refer for treatment and/or send a child to residential shelter services for any reason without parental consent.
Status of Bill: Senate Floor
AB 957 Obligates a judge to include gender identity affirmation by parent as part of the deciding criteria when awarding custody in family court. Changes SECTION 1. Section 3011 of the Family Code to the health, safety, and welfare of of the child. (B) As used in this paragraph, the health, safety, and welfare of the child includes, among other comprehensive factors, a parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity or gender expression. Affirmation includes a range of actions and will be unique for each child, but in every case must promote the child’s overall health and well-being.…Read more
Status of Bill: Senate Floor
SB 407 will not allow foster children to be placed in homes if you will not or cannot affirm their self-selected gender identity. This bill would make foster families sign forms stating they will affirm the foster child's gender, even if it is against their religious beliefs.
Status of Bill: Re-referred to Assembly Com. on Appropriations
AB 223 would require any petition for a change of gender and sex identifier or a petition for change of gender, sex identifier, and name filed by a person under 18 years of age, and any papers associated with the proceeding, to be kept confidential by the court. The bill would require the court to limit access to these records to specified individuals, including, among others, the minor, the minor’s parents, and their attorneys.
Status of Bill: Senate Floor
This bill would remove local school districts from the equation of deciding the best literature and curriculum for the communities served.
Local school districts will lose their authority over curriculum and give all the power to the County Superintendent and California Board of Education. It includes financial penalties to school districts who don’t comply.
Status of Bill: Senate Appropriations Committee TBA
AGENCY: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
Agency/Docket Number: Docket ID ED-2022-OSERS-0052
SUMMARY:
Dr. Miguel Cardona, @SecCardona Secretary of Education proposes to amend regulations under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Part B of IDEA or the Act) that govern the Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities program, including the Preschool Grants program. Specifically, the Secretary proposes to amend the IDEA Part B regulations to remove the requirement for public agencies to obtain parental consent prior to accessing for the first time a child's public benefits or insurance ( e.g., Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)) to provide or pay for required IDEA Part B services. As there are no comparable consent requirements prior to accessing public benefits for children without disabilities, the removal of this consent requirement would align public benefits consent requirements for children with disabilities to those for children without disabilities and ensure equal treatment of both groups of children.
Specifically, he proposes to REMOVE the current requirement for public schools to obtain parental consent prior to accessing for the disabled child's public benefits or insurance (Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP))
This curtails parental rights - and it provides public schools with a vehicle to claim reimbursement from Medi-Cal without permission of the family.
Submit Comment: We invite you to submit comments regarding this proposed regulation. To ensure that your comments have maximum effect in developing the final regulation, we urge you to clearly identify the specific section or sections of the proposed regulation that each of your comments addresses.
Directed Questions: As currently drafted, the proposed regulatory language would retain the requirement to include in the written notification to parents the “no cost” provisions in 34 CFR 300.154(d)(2)(i) through (iii). We invite your comments on the following questions relating to the written notification related to the “no cost” provisions in § 300.154(d)(2)(i) through (iii),[1] which will continue to remain in effect and would not be changed by this proposed regulatory action:
Then click green icon “SUBMIT A FORMAL COMMENT”
Please specify the Docket ID number and indicate “Information Collection Comments”
Sample script: "The current regulation under Agency/Docket Number: Docket ID ED-2022-OSERS-0052 should NOT be amended. Informed consent and parental rights must be upheld.
Once you have filled in the required fields below you can preview and/or submit your comment to the Education Department for review. All comments are considered public and will be posted online once the Education Department has reviewed them.
You can view alternative ways to comment or you may also comment via Regulations.gov at https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/ED-2023-OSERS-0052-0001. Submit same comment.
Comments submitted in response to this document should be submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov by selecting Docket ID Number ED–2022–OSERS–0052. Please specify the Docket ID number and indicate “Information Collection Comments” if your comment(s) relate to the information collection for this proposed rule. Written requests for information or comments submitted by postal mail or delivery should be addressed to the Strategic Collections and Clearance Director, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, LBJ Room 6W201, Washington, DC 20202–8240. For further information contact ICDocketMgr@ed.gov.
Under the guise of gender affirmation for minors, several bills that remove parental rights have been steamrolling through the legislature. Trojan horse bills (AB 223, AB 665, AB 957) will be eligible for a vote on the Senate floor ready for a vote at anytime. SB 407 has been referred to Assembly Appropriation Committee waiting for a hearing date.
With a bait and switch by Assemblymember Jackson to get it passed out of the Assembly, AB 1078 was gutted and amended to put back everything that was taken out and more. It has passed out of Senate Education and has been assigned to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
This bill would remove local school districts from the equation of deciding the best literature and curriculum for the communities served.
Local school districts will lose their authority over curriculum and give all the power to the County Superintendent and California Board of Education. It includes financial penalties to school districts who don’t comply.
Contact the Senate Appropriations Members*
To oppose use the AB 1078 One Click Action link
Submit your letter of opposition to legislative portal today.
Call the Senate appropriations members.
Sample Script: You must oppose AB 1078. This bill creates a massive new state-mandated local program that will be reimbursable by the state at a time when the state faces massive multi-billion-dollar deficits and sharp dis-enrollment. This will be compounded by further dis-enrollment by parents and guardians who refuse to allow their children to continue to be exposed to materials they do not believe are appropriate or healthy for them to consume.
Would strip parents from their right to care for their child without any allegations – let alone proof – of abuse, incest, or dangers, as is currently required by law.
Contact the Senate Members*
To oppose use the AB 655 One Click Action Link
Submit your letter of opposition to legislative portal today.
Call the Senate members.
Sample script: AB 665 intentionally removes the “danger guardrails” of Family Code 6924, which require an allegation of danger to a minor before the minor may consent without parental consent to residential shelter. What facts or public policy support the removal of those specific danger guardrails from Family Code 6924, enacted in 1979? I urge you to either vote no or have the author gut and amend AB 665. Leave Family Code 6924 alone. Instead, amend Welfare & Institutions 14029.8 to remove the word “not.” This will immediately enable Medi-Cal benefits for disadvantaged kids to receive counseling for any reason under Health & Safety Code 124260. You can preserve your goal without removing safety guardrails.
or Please oppose or abstain on AB665. AB665 intentionally removes the “danger guardrails” of Family Code 6924, which require an allegation of danger to a minor before the minor may consent without parental consent to residential shelter. What facts or public policy support the removal of those specific danger guardrails from Family Code 6924, enacted in 1979? I urge you to either vote no or have the author gut and amend AB 665. Leave Family Code 6924 alone. Instead, amend Welfare & Institutions 14029.8 to remove the word “not.” This will immediately enable Medi-Cal benefits for disadvantaged kids to receive counseling for any reason under Health & Safety Code 124260. You can preserve your goal without removing safety guardrails.
Codifies (makes law) that affirming a child’s self-selected gender identity is always part of a child’s health, safety and welfare. AB957 would compel courts, in deciding custody awards, to view affirming the child’s gender identity is in the best interests of the child.
To oppose use the AB 957 One Click Action Link
Submit your letter of opposition to legislative portal today.
Call the Senate Members
Sample Script: Please oppose or abstain on AB 957. What if the child is not prepared to publicly announce his or her transition? What if the child is not able to do so in a court or during an official judicial proceeding? How is this in the best interests of the child, especially when this bill applies to children of all ages, not just, e.g. 12 and up?
or
Please oppose or abstain on AB957. Affirming a child’s self-selected gender identity cannot physically, logically, or possibly be in the best interests of every child of the 9+M living in California, or support every one of those children’s health, safety or welfare. There must be at least one child who should not be affirmed. This is especially true considering these are children in the throes of a divorce, where there is a custody battle being waged over them. Isn’t it possible that, in this context, the child’s entire identity is being shattered and the gender dysmorphia is the result of some other stressor or pressure, not a sincere desire to change sexes? Mandating affirmation means that a parent will be precluded from investigating these other issues and providing their child potentially life-saving treatment and care. Please vote no on this horrible bill.
Talking points:
California would become the first state in the nation to criminalize and penalize parents who do not affirm their children.
Changes the Family Law creating a path for CPS (Child Protective Services), law enforcement, and the courts to award custody to the parent who affirms gender identity.
If a parent does not affirm their child’s gender it may be considered abusive, cutting off this parent from all ties with the child and no control to change this.
There is NO age limit for which this bill applies. If a 5-year-old believes he or she is in the wrong body, this law will make it child abuse not to affirm the child’s gender identity.
The bill redefines and amends the Family Code Family Code, section 3011, exploiting custody battles to redefine “health, welfare, and safety.”
This bill essentially makes it illegal to NOT give minors sex changes, gender affirming treatment, and surgeries in California making it so that parents would lose custody if they don't go along.
Will allow any adult in custody of a minor child to change the child’s name, sex identifier, and/or gender in secret.
Submit your letter of opposition to legislative portal today.
To oppose use the one click action link AB 223
Sample Script: Please oppose or abstain on AB 223 Change of gender and sex identifier bill. By removing due process of sealing minor's records. This opens the doorway to child trafficking by allowing any adult to file the petition to erase minors legal identifiers.
or
Please oppose or abstain on AB 223. Allowing adults to file petitions on behalf of minors confidentially, opens the doorway to kidnapping by the consenting parent, abuse and even trafficking.
Will disqualify over 60% of eligible foster families due to their religious beliefs, which preclude them from affirming a child’s gender issues.
Action Steps:
Contact Assembly Appropriations*
Submit your letter of opposition to legislative portal today.
To oppose use the AB 407 One Click Action Link
Sample Script:
SB407 is a bill that would make affirmation of a self-selected gender a determining factor regarding foster care placement. With limited availability of candidates to provide foster care and with the overwhelming rate of foster children being people of color and at risk youth, limiting the pool of candidates who can foster a child will have negative consequences for these children. Please oppose SB407.
or
Please oppose or abstain on SB407. The law already requires foster parents to receive training on sexual orientation and gender identity. SB407 takes existing law a step further by requiring candidates to swear their allegiance to gender affirmation, even before they know their foster child’s age or unique physical, psychological and/or emotional needs. With limited numbers of eligible foster care candidates, requiring a majority to act contrary to their faith - or even personal moral, philosophical beliefs - is dangerous and unwarranted. Additionally, the overwhelming rate of foster children are people of color and at risk youth. Limiting the pool of candidates will unfairly and disproportionately impact these vulnerable communities, while simultaneously discriminating against candidates based upon their religious beliefs. SB407 is an unconstitutional, unnecessary, cruel and dangerous bill.
