Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1546952
Left: Maya Suzuki Daniels and Erika Jones — both pregnant — walked the Writers Guild of America West strike line with CTA President David Goldberg in 2023. Right: At the 2024 CTA press conference, member Lydiana Alfaro holds her baby as she addresses the crowd. "Members should know their stories made a huge impact on people and our fight. It was so important to keep sharing these stories with legislators to make them aware that we didn't have paid pregnancy leave." —CTA Board Director Mara Harvey SPRING 2025: AB 65 passes through Assembly committees, receiving bipartisan support and unanimously passing the Assembly in late May. JUNE 2025: AB 65 is scheduled for a hearing by the Senate Education Committee but Aguiar-Curry cancels it. AB 65 becomes a two- year bill and remains in committee while negotiations on funding and implementation continue. JANUARY 2026: Legislature reconvenes. Campaign gains momentum, emphasizing educator recruitment, retention and equity, and rooted in the voices and experiences of CTA members. FEBRUARY–APRIL 2026: Our union and friends in the Legislature work to secure funding for PPL through the budget process rather than relying solely on the policy bill. "Erika said 'no, we can't give up on this.' She refocused us and we renewed our fight for our profession and the future educators who aren't here yet," says Ruiz. "It was a constant commitment that we would not let it go and just accept what we've been told." Upward of a thousand members attended a CTA vir- tual town hall meeting in November 2024 for an update on the campaign, leaving no doubt that our union was all-in on the historic struggle. The following month, Asm. Aguiar-Curry introduced AB 65, essentially the same bill as AB 2901, and with the new year, it began to work its way through the legislative process. Following a successful March 2025 press event inside the Capitol, AB 65 received bipartisan support in committees before winning unanimous approval in the Assembly. Paid pregnancy leave advocates in the state Senate, however, felt they needed more time to ensure similar support in their chamber. Agu- iar-Curry cancelled a scheduled hearing in a key Senate committee and made AB 65 a two-year bill as talks with lawmakers continued, meaning we would once again need to wait while keeping up the momentum. "is is where real leadership matters — when you don't make it, leadership that keeps you motivated," urman says. "Our officers and governmental relations staff were doing a lot of that work behind the scenes. Even as a local leader, I was thinking 'can we do this?' and they inspired me and reminded me that yes, we can." Continued from Page 36 38 cta.org Feature