SB 1377 Update: One small step in the legislative process to achieve legislative change

SB 1377 was heard in the Senate Health Committee, marking a small step forward in the legislative process of addressing concerns with medical exemption policies in California.

The final vote was:
3 AYES: Grove, Valladares, Weber Pierson
4 NO: Caballero, Durazo, Gonzalez, Padilla
4 ABSTENTIONS: Menjivar, Perez, Rubio, Smallwood Cuevas

The motion from Health Committee Chair Senator Dr. Weber Pierson was “do pass as amended” and referred to the Senate Business, Professions, & Economic Development Committee. However, because members of the Health Committee did not have adequate time to review language finalized during late stage negotiations between the bill authors and the Health Committee Chair, the bill did not receive enough “aye” votes to advance.

While reconsideration was granted, this is standard procedure for any bill that fails to pass committee. This means the bill can be recalled by the chair for a vote-only procedure.

The bill was significantly amended in late stages before the hearing, removing a majority of its original substance and narrowing the focus to a limited provision related to physician exemption thresholds.

While the bill will most likely not move forward this legislative session, the process itself established a critical foundation for future work.

During the hearing, Committee Chair Senator Dr. Weber Pierson emphasized multiple times that an informational hearing would have been a more appropriate starting point. Informed Policy Advocates has been advocating for exactly that approach, and we appreciate that at the hearing Senator Menjivar for acknowledged IPA co-founder Jessica Cabrera for making that request.

This moment represents meaningful progress.

Bipartisan engagement had been established with Informed Policy Advocates working with Senator Ben Allen, coauthor of SB277 (Pan, 2015). In January of this year, Senator Allen sent a formal letter to the Department of Public Health with concerns and a list of questions about the medical exemption process that has still gone unanswered. IPA is continuing to work with his office to get a response from the department. SB1377 created an opportunity for dialogue, raised awareness among committee members, and clarified both the interest in and concerns surrounding this issue.

We are grateful to Senator Brian Jones for bringing this bill forward, and to Senators Cortese and Allen for joining as coauthors in support of a bipartisan effort. We are encouraged to see that the information we provided to the bill author, along with the letter we worked on with Senator Allen, helped lay the groundwork for efforts to address the current policy.

Equally important, this process provided a clearer understanding of the political landscape and the work required to move forward. Informed Policy Advocates will continue working with legislators on both sides of the aisle to advance policies that protect access to education, restore physician discretion in individualized care, and ensure public health policy remains balanced and evidence based. 

We are committed to this work for the long term.

Stay Engaged

We will be sharing additional updates, strategy, and next steps in the coming weeks.

Stay connected. Stay informed. Stay engaged.

Informed Policy Advocates