Wow – #JPACAdvocacyDay2022 was a powerful and inspiring few days!

We brought together 200 Jewish leaders, including 50 students and young professionals. We had 30 lawmakers join our program. And we lobbied 88 legislative offices, representing three quarters of the entire State Legislature.

We heard from some of the most prominent names in California politics, including Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Senior Counselor to Governor Newsom Jason Elliott.

We had exceptional panels with distinguished legislators, activists, and government staffers about combating hate, supporting immigrants, and working as a young professional in the State Capitol.

And we honored Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian, past JPAC Board Chair Lynn Bunim, and civic leader Nancy Kirshner-Rodriguez.

You can now watch or rewatch much of our program:

A highlight of JPAC Advocacy Day, we had a special dinner with the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, the legislature's 19 Jewish and Jewish-adjacent elected officials. Jewish Caucus Chair Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel and Vice Chair Senator Scott Wiener gave us a fantastic overview of their work, and a dozen legislators in the Caucus shared remarks with our group. And they presented us with a beautiful Assembly Resolution in honor of our 50th anniversary.

It's safe to say that we could not successfully do the work we do without our close partnership with the Jewish Caucus. They champion so many of our priority budget and legislative items, efforts that have led to major victories for our community in recent years. We're grateful for the Jewish Caucus's leadership, their commitment to the Jewish community and Jewish values, and their continued investment in JPAC.

State leaders were so impressed with our community at Advocacy Day. What we did last week makes a huge impact on our priorities, and it serves as a jumping off point for our work for years to come.

Last Friday, we saw early results of that impact, when the Governor announced he would designate $93.2 million from the state budget to Jewish priorities (a huge thank you to Governor Newsom and the Jewish Caucus).

As the State Assembly and Senate finalize their budget proposals in the coming weeks, we continue to leverage the momentum from Advocacy Day to secure funding for our other priority items.

Additionally, yesterday, 13 of 16 priority bills facing a key legislative deadline passed out of their committee and are headed for a floor vote. The number of bills that made it through this "suspense file" hurdle is a great sign for our legislative agenda, and we will continue to push them towards the finish line.

Read more about Advocacy Day and our work in recent press coverage:

Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles • Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund • Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco – Bay Area • Jewish Family Service LA • Jewish Family and Children’s Services of SF • 30 Years After • American Jewish Committee • Anti-Defamation League • Bet Tzedek Legal Services • ETTA • Hadassah • HIAS • Holocaust Museum Los Angeles • JCRC of Jewish Silicon Valley • Jewish Center for Justice • Jewish Community Relations Council of Sacramento • Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay • Jewish Family and Children's Service of Long Beach and Orange County • Jewish Family Service of San Diego • Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley • Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara • Jewish Federation of Orange County • Jewish Federation of San Diego County • Jewish Federation of the Desert • Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region • Jewish Free Loan Association • Jewish Long Beach • Jewish Vocational Service San Francisco • JVS SoCal • Rhoda Goldman Plaza