By David Bocarsly in Sacramento, California
A California lawmaker just used a last-minute legislative maneuver to introduce a bill that would repeal one of our most significant victories for Jewish college students. The committee vote is this Wednesday, July 1.
The target is SB 1287, our landmark campus safety and civil rights law. It’s been in effect for less than 18 months. UC, CSU, and Jewish students are telling us it’s already working – protecting protest rights and protecting students.
AB 2551, authored by Assemblymember Sade Elhawary, would wipe it off the books entirely.
Take Action: Oppose AB 2551 Now
This bill wasn’t introduced through the normal legislative process. It was slipped in quietly through a “gut-and-amend” – a maneuver that guts an existing bill after it has already passed through multiple votes, then replaces it with entirely new language late in its journey. This circumvents a bill’s normal vetting process and allows for just a handful of final votes.
There was no consultation with the Jewish community or the Legislative Jewish Caucus – despite SB 1287 being one of our flagship priorities just two years ago.
Unfortunately, this is the second time this year a California lawmaker has targeted one of our recently enacted Jewish student civil rights protections. We stopped the first attempt. We can stop this one too – but only if we act before Wednesday.
About AB 2551
After October 7, 2023, antisemitic incidents on California campuses spiked 2,000%. Students were blocked from libraries, assaulted at campus events, barred from student group participation, and effectively shut out of campus life – and administrators lacked both the mandate and the tools to respond.
SB 1287, authored by then-Senator Steve Glazer, changed that. It required UC and CSU campuses to have clear, enforceable codes of conduct governing campus protests – standards that protect free expression while creating time, place, and manner (TPM) protections so students can get to class, access facilities, and participate on campus without violence, intimidation, or harassment. It was co-authored by Senate Leader Monique Limón and over a dozen diverse legislators, and it passed 35-3 in the Senate and 70-0 in the Assembly. Since its enactment, campus disruptions have decreased significantly and students have regained meaningful access to their academic lives.
AB 2551 would sunset SB 1287 in its entirety by January 1, 2029.
The author is making a misguided claim that SB 1287’s framework is responsible for a range of current campus issues it has nothing to do with. We offered to work with her to fix her narrow concern without gutting protections that have worked for Jewish and other students. She is instead pushing ahead with full repeal.
The Senate Education Committee votes this coming Wednesday, July 1. Because of the gut-and-amend maneuver, this may be both the first and last policy committee vote this bill will face.
Please take one minute right now and make your voice heard.
Then please forward this email to anyone who cares about the safety of Jewish college students in California.
*
David Bocarsly is the CEO of Jewish California.