Item 1 – Welcome and Call to Order

Meeting called to order at 10:02 a.m. by Chair Dr. Rita Gallardo Good.

Item 3 – Policy Package

Katherine Squire presented the policy updates. She updated the Commission that all of our bills went through the appropriations process. Six of our bills did not make it out of the appropriations process due to the difficult budget constraints this year. Despite that, Katherine brought forward 6 additional bills to take the place of the bills that did not make it through appropriations.

• AB 1626 (Gabriel) This bill requires sports coaches who oversee student athletes to have certain mental health training.
• AB 1784 (Pellerin) This bill ensures that students who are going through pregnancy don’t face discrimination in higher education institutions and that they receive several reasonable accommodations.
• AB 1876 (Addis) This bill would prohibit any individuals from being excluded enrollment, denied benefits, or not given care by a health plan based on sex, amongst other characteristics, with sex being inclusive of sex characteristics, intersex traits, pregnancy, and gender identity.
• AB 2212 (Bauer-Kahan) This bill is aimed at ensuring higher education institutions take steps to combat technology facilitated harassment on their campuses.
• AB 2540 (Stefani) This bill expands access to medication abortion to community colleges.
• SB 1237 (Blakespear) This bill increases penalties for employers who fail to file their pay data and creates more enforcement and accountability around that.

Alex Zucco added that the Commission is a cosponsor of the Gabriel bill and are more involved than just support.

Alex Zucco noted that there is not much of an update on the NDA bill because they are still in conversations but that she will update the Committee after the next meeting she has on the topic.

Chair Gallardo Good clarified that there is no bill number for the NDA bill yet. Executive Director Darcy Totten confirmed that is correct.

Motion: Commissioner Rodrigo motions to approve the six additions to the package with the positions as given with that one co-sponsorship of AB 1626 and then also the go ahead to pursue the NDA bill. Commissioner Chacon seconds the motion.

Item 4 – Advocacy Day 2027

Executive Director Totten started by saying stakeholder interest is very high with this item. She informed the Committee that there are a few women’s organizations who are interested in partnering with us for this and that some of those offers have come with much needed financial support.

Alex Zucco presented the update saying that the date chosen for the event would be March 17, 2027. That day was chosen because of commissioner availability and venue availability. She highlighted that there should be some kind of reception for the women who attend to network with other women in the space.

Commissioner Greer commented that she really enjoyed the Mount Saint Mary’s event and people she spoke to there still bring it up to her, so she believes it is important to have a networking reception and offered to assist where needed.

Chair Gallardo Good advised that if people are traveling to this event and staying in hotels, it might be better to make the networking reception on the first night instead of the second so that people don’t have to stay two nights in order to attend the reception.

Alex Zucco agreed that she is considering that, as well.

Executive Director Totten mentioned the possibility of hosting two different receptions so that the venue of the reception will be able to accommodate the number of people in attendance but also made note that we will not have those numbers until we start getting responses.

Commissioner Greer volunteered the help of her daughter. Executive Director Totten thanked the Commissioner for her offer.

Motion: Commissioner Greer motions to approve the dates of March 16^th and 17^th 2027 for the event and the continued planning of Advocacy Day. Commissioner Rodrigo seconds the motion. 

Item 5 – Office Discussion

Executive Director Totten advised the Committee that there is a good chance the Commission will not be able to keep the building after the lease runs out in 2027. The Commission is requesting to keep it in the upcoming BCP, however, initial discussions from the Department of Finance suggest it is unlikely to get approval. Because of this the Commission should be advised that they may transition to full-time telework, which they have done before, and don’t anticipate any issues.

Director of Administration, Max Macedo added to the Executive Director’s comment that the Commission’s office and the CAPPIA office share resources and workspace and that they will be affected if we are unable to renew our lease. Because of that there is a small chance that the Department of Finance allows the Commission to stay where it is.

Chair Gallardo Good asked whether Director Macedo had a timeline for the move if it were to take place.

Director Macedo responded that the BCP will be done in August and that everything will move forward quickly based on what happens after that.

Executive Director Totten flagged that June 23^rd is a day that Commissioners can attend multiple events and that she would email the event information.

Commissioner Rodrigo responded that she will be at one of the events.