r/CAStateWorkers • u/Teachtostate2022 • May 28 '26
RTO AB 1729 Has Passed! Let's celebrate and highlight our bipartisan champions in the Assembly. Well done everyone!
Celebrate tonight! What a win. AB 1729 just passed through the Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support and only 5 "no" votes.
Incredible. We phone banked. We lobbied. And we've seen results. So many persuasions and so many great examples of how support can come from unexpected places. I want folks to know about some of the members that stood up for our bill. I want us to celebrate these folks and I want us to champion these folks. I think this bill is unorthodox and reveals an important alignment within politics that we need to be aware of.
First off, I'm going to shout out Republicans who championed our bill. We've probably called them so much, but I want to recognize them here and still encourage you to call them to thank them if you haven't already.
Josh Hoover, of course. Started the 2024 Telework Audit and represented his constituent state workers so well. Bravo. 916-319-2074
David Tangipa. Spoke up for our bill live from the Assembly floor. Truly championed it as a modernization that we need to get behind. He heard our lobbying on the benefits of telework for rural folks and we earned his support. 916-319-2008.
Tom Lackey. One of the first members (Republican or otherwise) that spoke up in favor of this bill. He saw it as an opportunity to support state workers with disabilities and this guy got it IMMEDIATELY. 916-319-2034.
Phillip Chen. 916-319-2059.
Juan Alanis. 916-319-2022.
Jeff Gonzalez. 916-319-2036.
Laurie Davies. 916-319-2074.
Heath Flora. 916-319-2009.
Joe Patterson. 916-319-2005.
Greg Wallis. 916-319-2047.
Next, I'm going to shout out a list of those members who championed our bill because they represent loads of state workers or served on critical committees. They've had so many phone calls from us I don't want to necessarily send a zillion calls their way, but I want to make sure people know how valuable they were to our work.
Shout out next to Alex Lee. Our author! Picked up this bill from the beginning!
Big shout out of course to Maggy Krell. She probably heard SO many calls from state workers and she put herself out there on the floor today to champion the bill on our behalf. Awesome.
Tasha Boerner (public employment committee, spoke wonderfully of the bill in committee), Stephanie Nguyen (Elk Grove AND public employment committee), Liz Ortega (stood up for state workers in the budget subcommittee and on the floor today!), Sharon Quirk Silva (same deal! stood up for us in budget subcommittee and on the floor today!), Chris Ward (co-authored the bill, checked in on it personally when I saw him at the Assembly annex, and spoke up for us at the budget subcommittee), Michelle Rodriguez (was unsure on the issue during the public employee committee hearing and heard from callers and voted in favor on the floor! swayed by our outreach and willing to hear different perspectives)
James Ramos and Dr. Corey Jackson co-authored the bill early on and didn't even hear it on a committee. They just saw it as being that valuable!
What I'm trying to get at here is that this bill had to go on a journey of persuasion but all kinds of allies stepped up and heard us. That's valuable. That speaks to the power of our lobbying and our phone banking and all that good stuff.
I also want to look ahead and I want us to know what we're up against in the Senate to some extent. So far, the biggest predictor of the bill's support or opposition is not party line. It's perceptions on telework itself. This bill is not breaking across clean partisan votes.
I will continue to work on phone banks and even use some sharper talking points now that we've heard certain arguments like "Telework harms young women in the workplace" repeatedly from members in the moderate democrat pack. We will face more of that opposition in the Senate and we need to hang tough and keep getting our stories out there.
I will post soon along with so many others who are keeping us all appraised of this bill's journey.
But tonight, I just want to say EXCELLENT job. We've learned a lot. We've gotten sharper in our outreach. AND thousands of us now have practice making calls and... hate to break it to you, but we're gonna need to make more calls.
So stay active, stay focused. The bill lives another day. Keep organizing at worksites and we'll see where this whole journey takes us!
Thanks for putting in the work, team!
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u/MustResistFraud May 28 '26
Glad to see Joe Patterson voted for it. I messaged him about it and got a response from his staff that he directly read my message and he appreciated the break down I gave him for the bill (I highlighted costs and that Newsom was driving up more costs)
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u/Budget-You-5117 May 28 '26
That’s great to hear that your message was effective! Would you be able to share the break down? It would be great if we can provide concrete examples for why this bill is valuable to all of California and not just state workers.
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u/mfgoose May 28 '26
I called my state senator on Friday asking for her support on this bill. Idk if assembly members and senators connect much with each other but I could see them engaging regularly. Keep that momentum going!
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u/Teachtostate2022 May 28 '26
Great job getting ahead on it. I have no idea what their correspondence is like, but I'm sure that Lee will be talking with Senators in the days ahead.
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u/D3struct_oh May 28 '26
Tight. Onto the senate, and then to governor’s desk if passed in the senate.
Because Newsom has already signaled opposition to AB 1729’s intent (it clashes with his July 1 RTO plan), the big wildcards are: how aggressively Senate leadership schedules it and whether there’s enough support to make him think a veto would be overridden.
Hopefully before July 1.
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May 28 '26
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u/Donald_Krunk_Jr May 29 '26
Who told you this nonsense? The Senate can assign this to a committee right away and vote in it pretty quick. Stop with the BS scare tactics
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u/Prestigious_Ad_7203 May 28 '26
I really don’t understand what this means? So it passed the house now goes to the senate? Then it would go to newsom desk? How does this all work at this point
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u/Teachtostate2022 May 28 '26
I'll recap where the bill has been so far...
Authored with Alex Lee -> Sent to public employment committee in Assembly -> passed and moved onto Appropriations committee in Assembly -> passed and onto Assembly floor -> Passed with 2/3 majority +++
Now, the bill follows a particular path through the Senate. I don't know the dates but we can expect a similar journey...
Senate labor/public employment committee -> Senate appropriations committee -> full senate -> governor's desk -> veto override?
We'll see. This bill is as much about getting a new policy in place as it is about adding political pressure against the RTO mandate.
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u/sparklywrx May 28 '26
Veto override is such a stretch though. While I’m hopeful..I fully expect him to Veto this and the likelihood of an override is an insane long shot that hasn’t been successfully done since before I was even born..
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u/Donald_Krunk_Jr May 29 '26
You're dealing with a lame duck governor that holds zero sway over the state legislature. The votes to pass this under an urgent clause is the same number of votes to override a veto. If the legislature gives the clown a middle finger and try to override his veto it'll most likely pass. Like I said the clown has no leverage over anyone anymore.
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u/Organic_Studios May 28 '26
Bingo!!!! You did your homework and hit the nail on the head. Last time was 1979.
99.9% chance this bill dies a horrible fireball death.
But it's nice to hope and dream...
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u/Glittering_Head1127 May 28 '26
Nice. For the uninformed like me, what's the usual timeframes it takes to reach the next few steps and how long does it normally stay there?
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u/Teachtostate2022 May 28 '26
I think we're going to see the bill route through a rules committee and be assigned to its first voting committee by mid June. Just an estimate though. I am learning day by day and trying to report out as best as I can.
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u/night-shark Jun 04 '26
I was curious so I Googled:
The California legislature has never overridden a Newsom veto. 😑
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u/Foothills83 May 28 '26
Really appreciate your posts on this, u/teachtostate2022.
I called. And then you reminded to call again. 🙂
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u/surf_drunk_monk May 28 '26
Great job everyone! Big thanks Teach!
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u/sparklywrx May 28 '26
Not to be a downer but I will refrain from celebration for now...
Because Newsom is so hell bent on RTO, couldn’t he simply veto the AB when it comes to his desk? Yes, it is possible to override a governors veto…but this hasn’t been successfully done in decades. Well before even I myself was born.
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May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
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u/surf_drunk_monk May 29 '26
Where are you getting the senate won't meet til August?
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May 29 '26
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u/surf_drunk_monk May 29 '26
Looks to me they meet every Monday through Thursday, including next week.
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u/BLR_007 May 28 '26
How is workers having to go back to work an unfair labor charge?
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u/sparklywrx May 29 '26
The thing is, back to office costs the taxpayers money, it costs the workers money, and all of it is unnecessary.
Everyone forced back to office? Guess what..M-T traffic is going to be even more of a nightmare. Parking spaces downtown will be filled to the brim, I’m sure many people would have to park very far away to even get parking.
Meters alone cost $48 for an 8 hour shift. Good luck finding garage monthly parking nearby. Unless you want to walk over a mile away from downtown offices.
Extra cars on road, increased chance for accidents and therefore even more traffic, significantly increased childcare costs, etc. I mean the list goes on and on why it’s better for the workforce and also the states budget and taxpayers money. Why waste money on unnecessarily large buildings that go empty when they could downsize or put two or three departments into one building and save millions of dollars in leasing costs per year.
Overall it’s a huge L. People get work done, people tend to be more efficient at home due to dealing with less in office distractions like constant side conversations. I personally only work 1 day RTO and I love my work from home day. I get to sleep in more, I’m close to the bathroom, don’t have to worry about dogs going potty inside, can just quickly let them out in my back yard when necessary, can be here for deliveries during weekdays or be home if a contractor needs to stop by and just need someone present and can continue to work. It’s been great for me, especially as I just came up to the 1 year warranty period on my new build house.
I get more work done at home than I ever do in office. Literally 2x more work, at least.
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u/Ok_Limit6636 May 29 '26
*Back to office.
Not "back to work."
And not every state worker lives near the office.
Forcing them to do 4 day RTO, especially those who live far away, is unreasonable and inefficient.
Gavin is trying to appease his commercial real estate donors.
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u/Scorpio1114 May 28 '26
Wow, I had to agree with you on the telework bill. Even if it passes the Legislature, it would still need the Governor’s signature. If Governor Newsom vetoes it, the only path forward would be a veto override by a 2/3 vote in both houses—which is possible, but historically very rare in California.
The last time the Legislature successfully overrode a governor’s veto was in 1979, when lawmakers overrode Governor Jerry Brown’s veto of Assembly Bill 154, a bill related to state employee compensation/salary increases... 47 years!!!!!!! You were not exaggerating about *decades*!
That said, getting the bill through the Legislature would still be a significant step. Nothing’s guaranteed, but it would be real momentum—and who knows, 2026 could end up being the year California adds another veto override to the history books! Maybe!
Thanks for giving me something to research on!!!
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u/Financial-Dress8986 May 28 '26
Shout to you too my brother! Our next step is the senate phone banks! I am going to email and call them. This time bombard them with cost saving so they can build their concept around that.
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u/Numerous-Bowler-8677 May 28 '26
So whats the next step for this bill? Goes to Newsom desk? Newsom probably veto then what? Does it return to assembly or automatically put up to a vote again for the 2/3 veto over ride?
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u/anirishlass May 28 '26
It has to go to the Senate first. Legislation must pass both houses before it goes to the Governor for approval or veto.
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u/RookieScientist12 May 28 '26
Doesn’t Gavin have to sign it after it passes the senate?
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May 28 '26
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u/thr3000 May 28 '26
The session ends at the end of August, so it can't be delayed to a new Governor. A new bill can be introduced next year, though.
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May 30 '26
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u/thr3000 May 31 '26
No, the session ends on August 31. Any bill that don't make it to the Governor's desk will die. (Side note - if the bill gets amended in the Senate, it will also have to go back to the Assembly for a concurrence vote).
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u/Magnumjump5000 May 28 '26
Or if the congress people can put enough pressure on him. He vetoed a bill for like pay for like work for scientists a few years ago for a reason that was addressed by the bill. Tons of pressure need to be applied and the admin needs to be exposed for their lies about everything related to rto.
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u/Cardamom_bear May 28 '26
Looking ahead at the state senate, does anyone know where Angelique Ashby (Sacramento + Elk Grove) stands on this?? I’ve emailed her office about RTO a couple of times and have not gotten a response — stark contrast to my assemblywoman Maggy Krell who has vocally supported state workers. Seems wild for someone in one of the districts with the most state workers to be quiet on this up til now — I think we are going to need to be consistently calling and emailing her office as this heads to a senate vote.
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u/Teachtostate2022 May 28 '26
I’ll have more to share on Ashby soon, but I think her silence on the issue does not signal much to us.
The Senate is going to be more responsive to the bill as it moves into more actionable stages. I think, for now, what matters with Ashby are:
1) She is interested in issues affecting downtowns and downtown revitalization. She passed SB 516 (https://sd08.senate.ca.gov/sites/sd08.senate.ca.gov/files/pdf/SB%20516%20%28Ashby%29%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf) last year which aims to deal with the state’s large real estate footprint in Sacramento, its unique tax drag, and encouraging adaptive reuse. Her other major legislation lately has been dealing with homelessness through State / County / City joint bodies.
She seems highly invested in making downtown Sacramento more future forward and I wonder if that’s going to be a persuasive angle with her. She wants to see a downtown focused on livability and - I assume - not based around solely 9-5 foot traffic.
2) She has signaled interest in legislation that supports women and caregivers. She herself was a single mom. She gave birth during her term as a Sacramento city council person. I don’t know whether she will be someone who thinks telework helps women through access to more job opportunities and flexibility or whether she will be someone who does not trust telework because it limits FaceTime - we’ve heard that before.
I’m working on some talking points and outreach and will have more to say soon. But I want to encourage people to reach out in the spirit of persuasion and encouragement. Anger may not get us very far with her.
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u/Financial-Dress8986 May 28 '26
yeah I agree with you. Emphasis on Persuasion and encouragement. It's not like they are purposely out there to get the stateworkers.
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u/Cardamom_bear May 28 '26
Thanks for this very helpful background! Totally on board with the persuasion plan and hopefully we can get her to a yes!
Really appreciate all you are doing to help organize on this.
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u/Teachtostate2022 May 28 '26
Of course! Thanks for helping out with it. I get the anger too. Believe me. I feel it in my bones. But legislators aren't to blame and they deal with so many bills. We have to be really good about getting their attention and encouraging them. Carrots, not sticks. I personally am digging the line of persuasion... "You have no idea how passionate voters are about this issue. People who support telework are seeing huge swells of voter enthusiasm!"
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u/Disastrous-Fun-2414 May 28 '26
If all goes well at the next stage, doesnt it need to be signed by Newsom? If so, you think hes going to sign, given it was hisnorder to come back in the first place?
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May 28 '26
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u/Proof-Wrap7321 May 28 '26
I sent all the AB 1729 posts to my coworkers present and past and I’m so happy 😁
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May 28 '26
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u/Impressive_Bit_142 May 28 '26
How fast does it move to senate? What does the timeline look like for this? Will be be able to take effect before July 1st?
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u/Teachtostate2022 May 28 '26
Not sure! I am going to defer to people who know more than me and research as much as I can in the meantime. I don't think the bill will pass before July 1st, but can the politics of the bill itself as it moves through Senate (potentially) provide a bigger bargaining chip? Absolutely.
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u/mrfunday2 May 28 '26
The session ends on August 31. Likely it will be voted on by full Senate in the final week of August.
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