Spring Outlook

Spring is here, and with it comes a new legislative session filled with opportunities to create lasting, meaningful change for our community. I am proud to once again advocate for the issues that matter most to our residents, whether it’s continuing my work to hold PG&E and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) accountable, addressing the challenges in the homeowner’s insurance market, or supporting legislation to alleviate the economic uncertainty affecting families and businesses alike. I’m committed to ensuring that our residents are protected from rising utility costs and supporting the California Department of Insurance’s recent steps to stabilize the homeowner’s insurance market. As always, I remain dedicated to pushing for meaningful reforms that not only protect our community but also ensure fairness, foster economic stability, and promote environmental sustainability.

This session, I’ve introduced a number of new bills—from defending reproductive rights and privacy to navigating the complex challenges posed by artificial intelligence. Among my new priorities is AB 56, which addresses growing concerns about social media's impact on youth mental health by requiring warning labels to appear in the user's media feed. This measure aligns with the U.S. Surgeon General's call to action, ensuring parents and adolescents have the information they need to navigate online spaces safely. I’m also leading on AI accountability through AB 412, requiring generative AI developers to be transparent about how copyrighted materials are used in training their models—essential safeguards for artists and creators as this technology evolves. AB 1222 protects ratepayers by preventing utilities from raising rates to pay for certain legal costs and by making it easier to challenge last-minute changes to Public Utility Commission decisions that have caused the rapid increases in your monthly bills. Additionally, AB 432 ensures health insurance coverage for menopause treatments and requires physicians with patient bases that are more than 25% women to receive continuing medical education on menopause.

Beyond the legislative work, I've been grateful to be out in the district, connecting with so many of you on the issues that shape our daily lives. From conversations about menopause care to tackling plastic pollution and prioritizing youth mental health, these moments reaffirm how important these issues are in our community. You'll find some photos below from our events so far this year, and I'm excited to see you at upcoming events, including "Anxiety, Technology, & Schools: What Parents Need to Know to Support Teen Mental Health" in Walnut Creek at the end of the month. We're also planning an environmental town hall on plastic pollution, so stay tuned for more updates in the Tri-Valley area. I will continue to keep you informed through my e-alerts on a variety of topics, including the ongoing state efforts to help mitigate wildfire risks. In case you missed the most recent communication from me on this, you may find that update here. Make sure you're signed up for our newsletter to receive these important updates.

Thank you again for the honor of electing me to represent you in Sacramento. To stay updated on all of my work between these quarterly newsletters, be sure to follow me on all of our social media platforms, including my newest account on Instagram @assemblyRBK.

My best,

Rebecca Bauer-Kahan
Assemblymember, 16th District

2025 Legislation:

• AB-45: Protects personal privacy and reproductive rights in two important ways, preventing reproductive health information collected during research from disclosure to out-of-state law enforcement requests and by prohibiting the use of geofencing around health care facilities. Status.
• AB-56: Requires a black box warning label consistent with a recent call to action by the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office, to ensure that parents, adolescents, and the public are warned about the risks of social media use. Status.
• AB-67: Authorizes the Attorney General’s office to enforce the Reproductive Privacy Act, which ensures clinic access. Status.
• AB-222: Creates transparency and efficiency requirements for large AI models and data centers, and protects ratepayers from increased energy costs. Status.
• AB-290: Guarantees women access to emergency reproductive healthcare by increasing liability for hospitals that fail to provide necessary care. Status.
• AB-302: Brings the California Medical Information Act medical privacy protections up to date to ensure that as new technologies are developed patients’ private medical information is not being used as a commodity. Status.
• AB-412: Requires GenAI developers to provide copyright owners with information about how their copyrighted materials are used. Status.
• AB-432: Ensures that menopause treatments are covered by health insurance and adds a requirement that physicians whose pool of patients is greater than 25% of women receive continuing medical education in menopause care. Status.
• AB-578: Increases consumer protections for Californians by ensuring that food delivery platforms refund customers when the service fails to deliver their order. Status.
• AB-621: Strengthens civil enforcement options against nudification websites that use AI to create fake nude images of people without their consent. Status.
• AB-774: A technical clean-up measure to AB 2837 of last year, which protects low-income consumers who are subject to a debt collection judgment by preserving their retirement savings, ensuring due process and accuracy in wage garnishments and bank levies, and providing that amounts wrongfully seized are returned to the consumer. Status.
• AB-1018: Protects individuals from discrimination by requiring developers and users to assess automated decision systems (ADSs) prior to being released to the public. Status.
• AB-1064: Protects children and promotes the development of safe artificial intelligence (AI) systems by establishing the Leading Ethical AI Development (LEAD) Standards Board within the Government Operations Agency to implement a risk-based regulatory scheme for AI systems used by or on children. Status.
• AB-1222: Protects ratepayers by preventing utilities from raising rates to pay for certain legal costs, and by making it easier to challenge last-minute changes to Public Utility Commission decisions that increase utility rates. Status.
• AB-1405: Creates an enrollment process for AI auditors and adopts minimum transparency and ethical standards for enrolled auditors. Status.

Out and About

Our Mobile Office Hours on Tuesday, January 21 in Walnut Creek were a tremendous success, with over 50 constituents receiving assistance with crucial issues including EDD, DMV, and more. We were pleased to have our partners from the City of Walnut Creek and Supervisor Ken Carlson's office join us in providing comprehensive support to our community. Next up is the Tri-Valley, so be sure to follow our event page and social media accounts to know when we're coming to help with state, county, and city issues in your area.

We also recently hosted a sold-out Menopause Town Hall on February 5, where attendees viewed a screening of "The M Factor" followed by a candid and powerful healthcare conversation. The event highlighted how our healthcare system often fails to properly address women's health needs as they age, and showcased our office's commitment to closing this care gap through legislation that ensures menopause is treated as the critical health issue it is.

Last, the Committee of Consumer Protection and Privacy’s recent Informational Hearing on February 25 addressed Technology-Facilitated Violence against Women and Girls, examining the profound impacts of our society's shift to online and virtual spaces. The hearing explored how technological advances have created new avenues for harm, as boundaries between private and public lives have eroded in our increasingly digital world. This important discussion focused on how these changes have disproportionately affected women and girls, and what steps we can take to better protect vulnerable populations in digital environments.

By the Numbers

• $2.5 billion – Legislative authorized spending dedicated to fire resilience, supporting emergency response, evacuations, sheltering, debris cleanup, and more.
• $275,000 – Recovered by my office from EDD for constituents in less than two months.
• 143 calls for Climate Action – So far this year, you've made your voices heard. I’m listening and as a member of the joint committee on Climate Change Policies, I look forward to sharing your views.
• 10 summer interns – We’re excited to welcome the next generation of leaders to our office this summer.