u/Teachtostate2022

Hi, r/CAStateWorkers

If you're like me you've never tracked a bill before so closely. That being said, I wanted to keep you informed with what I have learned about the process and progress of the State Telework Bill (AB 1729)

First off. Disclaimer. I want you to open this phone bank and use it! It is the mechanism we have right now to influence this bill's passage. I'll give more on that in a moment. But before reading on, open that link. Keep it. Share it!

***

Now, some details!

So up until May 29th, the full Assembly is voting on bills that get to move onto the Senate. AB 1729 is going to need 54 votes to move on - a supermajority. Why? Per /u/starrylv "The bill needs 54 votes because it has an urgency clause. If passed and signed into law, it would take effect immediately." You may be thinking... "Oh man. That sounds hard."

It's not. So far, the bill has picked up around 30 members' support in authorship, committees, and in co-authorship. The bill has no organized opposition (we know the governor probably opposes it in principle for now, but that's not what we talk about when we say "organized opposition" in the assembly).

The bill's track record is:

Public employment committee - 6 ayes, 1 absent

+ Picked up 8 co-authors from public employment and the budget subcommittee, and some surprise add ons from outside those committees

Appropriations - 11 ayes, 3 absent (including the bill's co-author Josh Hoover - I don't know why he didn't vote in affirmative; it could be as simple as he was out of the room during the roll call)

We have no reason to believe this bill would face some unexpected GOTCHA in the Assembly where a huge cohort rises against it and dooms the bill. However, we have reason to believe that the bill could lose steam if people aren't keeping it on members' hot plate attention-wise. We need to encourage them and keep them focused!

As we speak, the author - Assemblylmember Lee - is visiting other members along with his team to verify support for the bill. Once he is confident the bill has enough support to clear the assembly, he will present it and it will be voted on.

Let's help Asseemblymember Lee out.

***

If you haven't done this already, open up the the phone bank and make your calls. Each of you has a set of 6 or 7 calls to make based on your birth month.

In terms of who to call first, I advise focusing on the blue "encouragement" calls. I then recommend going on to thank you calls and leadership calls. Leaders are folks with a (title) next to their name. Then try out some persuasion.

It's going to take you around 10 minutes and each day that goes by up until the May 29th deadline is a day where we get to help Lee get this bill out for its final vote in the assembly.

***

In summary.

Thank you for taking time to work on these calls. I really tried hard to make a phone bank that is easy to navigate and informative.

Know that your calls are doing something! When I have talked to staffers of random assembly folks myself, they are telling me that they are getting calls. Everyone is being called. Great! Keep. Doing. This.

Please share this resource. Please talk to your coworkers and friends about calling. Know that your effort here matters.

And please keep participating in whatever events you see. None of us will know what makes a difference in the end for sure. Nobody knows who will be persuasive to the person who is on the fence or currently opposed, but when you make the effort, you increase the probability of things going our way.

Stay sharp. Don't be distracted by memos or directives. Everything is still quite in play. We're riding a great wave of organizing, bargaining, PERB courts, legislative action, and demonstrations! Keep it up! I know it's hard but we're in this together.

Hi, r/CAStateWorkers

Shout out to hundreds (maybe thousands?) of you that took some time to make calls to legislators to encourage the Appropriations Committee to pass the State Telework Bill (AB 1729) to the Assembly floor for a full debate and vote. This was a big legitimacy hurdle for the bill and I'm so proud that we made an impact.

Quick reminder: AB 1729 (the state telework bill) would compel agencies to justify any in-office presence with clear data driven policy and would counter any blanket, political in office mandates. Essentially, make telework an operational norm for state government permanently - no more mandate games.

We move into another critical phase with this bill. We need to be able to get in touch with as many assemblymembers as possible to ensure our bill's passage onto the Senate. The bad news is there are 80 assembly members (TONS!). The good news is that almost 30 of them have already either voted to approve this bill in committee or signed on as co-authors. Our bill has great momentum and, luckily, we can divide and conquer that 80 member list together.

Please download and share this full Assembly phone bank for AB 1729.

The setup is pretty similar to the last phone bank. You'll select your birth month and make several calls to members. I've researched each assembly member and provided a set of talking points for each, but feel free to also add in those points that are most important to you in advocating for this bill.

You'll see in the phone bank that some calls are for encouragement (meaning, we can expect they would support the bill based on their background and record), persuasion (meaning, they may not jump to support this bill and we can hopefully provide some good points of persuasion), and thank you (meaning they've already publicly supported the bill in some way and we just want to share some gratitude). These thank you calls are especially important.

Alright, so tying this all together. Big week ahead. I haven't seen a date for the Assembly floor debate and vote on this, but we need to jump into action, so onward! Here's a plan I recommend over the next several days...

Plan of action

1. Start by finding your own rep and calling them and encouraging them to support the state telework bill, AB 1729, using whatever talking points you like (NOTE! Sacramento residents. Maggy Krell has supported this bill in Appropriations; Hoover co-authored and supports the bill as well. No need to convince them, just thank them for their support)
2. Open / download the Full Assembly Phone Bank and make time to make some calls this week. I don't think the full list would take more than around 10 minutes for you to complete. Prioritize encouragement calls and any calls towards people with leadership designations (you'll see all this on the phone bank, color-coded)
3. Share the phone bank with coworkers and friends! The more calls we get, the more successful our outreach will be. I hope that every assembly member hears about our bill and understands its importance.

*** General Reminders and Shortcuts ***

Remember to introduce yourself by name and occupation. Remember to be kind and courteous to staffers who answer the phone. Make them think "Wow, that was a nice, professional call and I can't believe the governor is pushing this stupid idea."

Keep your head up! We will be getting memos and any sorts of "RTO is inevitable" messaging from leadership. Don't get distracted. Stay active by making calls and look out for opportunities to demonstrate with unions or at your worksites. Lots of activities are happening all the time and we've clearly frazzled the Governor quite a lot. We can win this and we need to keep plugging away!

SHORTCUTS to your phone list (select your birth month):

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Happy calling! Thanks for taking the time!

Hi, r/CAStateWorkers

I want to shout out EVERY ONE of you who made calls to appropriations members to help lobby for our state telework bill. It was a huge effort with all of us, all the unions... just enormous.

I was going to continue to post some plans for the next steps later on tomorrow or over the weekend, but I just wanted to say great job! And we'll keep at it.

Keep attending any telework events you see at worksites or around the Capitol and be on the lookout for each and every opportunity to make your voice heard. A lot of balls are in the air and we will just keep focused and keep plugging away.

We don't have direct control but I do believe we have real influence. Next comes the assembly floor and then we do it all again in the Senate.

Good work! I'm thankful.

Hello, r/CAStateWorkers

UPDATE 5.12.26

I recommend focusing on sending in position letters and calling other members of the committee instead of the committee chair, Buffy Wicks. You are welcome to try calling the committee chair, but at this point, it appears their phone lines are fairly jammed and going to voicemail. Prioritize Actions #1 and #3.

I hope the weekend treated you well. I heard from many folks both online and offline who contacted Appropriations Committee members after reading this last post regarding the State Telework Bill (AB 1729) currently moving through our legislature. I want to thank you all for staying active and staying motivated. It's a long process but we will do what we can to get this over the finish line.

A brief recap on AB 1729's history:

- AB 1729 has been on a remarkable journey so far, all things considered. It was introduced by Assm. Lee (always worth reaching out to them to thank them for their work on this bill) back in February and co-authored by Placerville's own and telework audit commissioner, Assm. Hoover

- It moved into the Public Employment policy committee where it passed with no objections. A bipartisan group of committee members celebrated the bill and shared how they see it as a big win for the state. The Committee Chair remarked how she would have at one point been skeptical of telework as a former office-based state worker, but she recognizes the importance of it now and wants to see it continue

- The bill picked up EIGHT co-authors. From the public employment committee: Tasha Boerner and Stephanie Nguyen (who was once skeptical of telework but swayed by outreach from Elk Grove state workers!)... from the budget subcommittee on state administration who held a hearing with CalHR and DGS last year: Sharon Quirk-Silva (chair), Liz Ortega, and Christopher Ward... and from the full assembly (folks who probably just heard about the bill and thought it sounded great)... Damon Connolly, James Ramos, and Dr. Corey Jackson

- The bill moved into its next committee, Appropriations, where it is being reviewed until May 14th as part of the suspense file. This committee can advance the bill further or end its run for now. What we want is for this bill to be released from suspense.

This week. We can continue to reach out to the Appropriations Committee. We have 3 days until its review period is complete. I have 3 actions I think that you can take to move the bill along.

Let's call it 3 Days, 3 Actions. You can do this in any order you like, but here's what I'll do.

Day #1: Email a position letter to the Appropriations Committee. If you are a supervisor or someone with knowledge of RTO costs in your agency, I will SUPER DUPER encourage you to write in a letter.

You can do this from whatever email you like. No websites needed. Though if you prefer to be extra sure your email is going to the right place you can click "Submit a Position Letter" on the committee's homepage.

Email To: approps.committee@assembly.ca.gov

Subject Line: Position Letter - Support AB 1729

(or some variant... just as long as it's clear you are supporting AB 1729 and offering a position letter)

Body:

Introduce yourself and your job within the state workforce. State plainly that you are encouraging the Appropriations committee to release AB 1729 from suspense so that it can proceed for a full debate and vote on the assembly floor.

Include reasons why this bill should move ahead (remember this is an Appropriations committee, so arguments about the bill's fiscal benefits are CRUCIAL).

Our top line reason for why this bill should advance is "The estimated $10M in telework oversight costs cited by DGS are vastly outweighed by the savings this bill generates through shedding unnecessary office space and workstation purchases."

- Cite any knowledge you have of RTO costs within your agency (new office leases, additional workstations, furniture purchases, hoteling failures, staff retention issues, hiring difficulties, productivity/morale drag, inefficiencies tied to RTO)

- If you have no direct knowledge of RTO costs in your agency, cite numbers from the California telework audit in 2024. Like...

• Just last year alone, 19 large departments spent $117M on unused office space accommodating a 2-day mandate
• The state could save up to $225M annually (a quarter billion? whatever sounds tastier to you) and shed 30% of its office footprint if it maintained existing telework flexibilities

- Close out respectfully reminding the committee that the costs of this bill fall far short of the savings. Remind staff that telework enables our state to recruit and retain a talented workforce all while saving vast sums of money

Day #2: Contact the committee chair, Buffy Wicks

916-319-2014

Be short and sweet. As best as possible.

When the staffer answers, share your name, your role in the state workforce... say that you're calling to encourage Assm. Wicks, the Appropriations chair, to release AB 1729, the state telework bill, from suspense so it can be debated and voted on by the full Assembly.

In addition, if you aren't quickly shuffled off the phone, provide any one reason from the email talking points above to explain. Anything that communicates "Spending a few million on oversight to prevent hundreds of millions of dollars of wasted facilities cost is well worth it."

Be polite and respectful. They have probably received lots of calls since last week. Courtesy means a lot. Thank the staffer for their time.

Day #3: Contact additional Assemblymembers

- Sacramento residents, contact committee member Maggy Krell.

(916) 319-2006.

She has previously authored letters opposing the 4-day RTO mandate last year. To the best of my knowledge, we have not heard from her on the issue since. Encourage her to support the release of AB 1729 from suspense so that it can move to the Assembly floor. Cite any of your preferred talking points, but emphasize fiscal reasons.

In addition, please call the remaining members. Easy way to split this up is to just divide the remaining members by birth month. Find your birth month, make a call.

Encourage any member to support the release of AB 1729, the state telework bill, from suspense so that it can be voted on the Assembly floor. Cite any of the fiscal talking points you'd like but remember to communicate that any estimated costs of the bill are far outweighed by facility cost savings.

- Rancho / Folsom / Placerville residents - Josh Hoover

916-319-2007

Thank him for co-authoring the bill and ask for his support in having it removed from suspense and onto the full Assembly floor

January - Dr. Joaquin Arambula (Fresno) - 916-319-2031

February - Lisa Calderon (Whittier) - 916-319-2056

March - David Tangipa (Mariposa) - 916-319-2008

April - Tri Ta (Orange County) - 916-319-2070

May - Jose Luis Solache Jr. (Los Angeles) - 916-319-2062

June - Gail Pellerin (Santa Cruz) - 916-319-2028

July - Blanca Pacheco (Los Angeles) - 916-319-2064

August - Dr. LaShae Sharp-Collins (San Diego) - 916-319-2079 ***New Appropriations Member!***

September - Mark Gonzalez (Los Angeles) - 916-319-2054

October - Mike Fong (Alhambra) - 916-319-2049

November - Diane Dixon (Huntington Beach) - 916-319-2072

December - Jessica Caloza (Los Angeles) - 916-319-2052

***A tidbit that can help calls to Los Angeles appropriations members. According to the state telework audit, the Ronald Reagan State Building is going to require about $660M to renovate in the coming years. Under the current 2-day RTO mandate, it only has about 20% occupancy. The state can divest from this building and immediately realize enormous savings that counter-balance the $10M annual spend on AB 1729. Telework oversight and right-sizing office space affords us enormous savings. Support AB 1728***

Good morning, r/CAStateWorkers

I'm so glad lots of you had the chance to review yesterday's post detailing the current status of the state telework bill.

A brief summary for those who missed it:

- The Appropriations Committee in the CA Assembly is holding onto AB 1729 (State Telework Bill) for additional fiscal review because in its current version, it includes around $10M annual spending for maintaining the telework dashboard and reporting telework numbers to DGS. We all know this would be vastly offset if the state stopped paying for unused office space. The numbers are on our side.

So why isn't this so obvious to the committee? Why can't we just move ahead!

During yesterday's hearing, Appropriations addressed almost 300 bills. In order for this bill to move along, it is important that we bring the committee chair's attention to the bill and its savings. We can't let the bill go ignored.

What we need to emphasize to the committee chair to get the bill out of suspense:

The bill's costs are vastly offset by shedding the hundreds of millions of dollars in unused office space we (taxpayers) are currently paying for as noted in the 2024 Telework Auditor's Report

That's really the whole ballgame. If we can transmit that message across at scale, we can keep it moving.

Ok, so that being said.

The action plan I recommend.

1) Call the committee chair, Buffy Wicks. Be respectful, courteous, and polite. They may be getting a lot of calls on this.

916-319-2014

When a staffer answers*,* say that you'd like to leave a comment to encourage Assemblymember Wicks, the Appropriations chair, to take AB 1729, the state telework bill, out of suspense so the full legislature can debate on the savings afforded in the bill.

Then... I recommend adding in some talking points.

I have some ideas below, but anything that emphasizes the cost of implementing 4-day RTO compared to the proposed $10M annual cost of AB 1729 is helpful.

*Talking Points*

- Spending a few million on oversight to prevent hundreds of millions in avoidable facility costs is a big win for taxpayers

- According to the 2024 California auditor's report on state telework, the auditor found that between 19 departments and 7 major state office complexes, the state is already spending $117M annually on unused office space

- According to the 2024 CA auditor's report on state telework, giving agencies flexibility to schedule 3 or more telework days would allow the state to shed 30% of its space and save up to $225M annually

- The state will need to purchase and indefinitely pay for more office space to accommodate a 4-day RTO

- If you have a great example of the cost of 4-day RTO from your own direct experience (e.g. you have submitted orders for new office space, new equipment, etc.), provide that example to emphasize the cost of the 4-day RTO mandate compared to the expenses of the telework bill

2) (If you live in Sacramento / Natomas) Maggy Krell - Committee Member from Sacramento

(916) 319-2006

- Inform the staff that you are a constituent

- Encourage them to help get the state telework bill out of suspense citing any of the reasons listed under Buffy Wicks's talking points (see 1) above)

3) Send a position email to approps.committee@assembly.ca.gov

You can do this through the submission portal on their website.

Subject Line: Position Letter - AB 1729 - Release from suspense

Body:

- To the Appropriations Committee,

- Introduce yourself - your name, where you work in the state

- Plainly state that you want AB 1729 to be removed from the suspense file

- Briefly describe why you think this bill should be released from suspense using any of the talking points or your own talking points (EMPHASIZE FISCAL SAVINGS) e.g. "I encourage you to remove AB 1729, the state telework bill, from the suspense file. Any costs associated to the bill are vastly offset by the savings of reduced office space. The 2024 California auditor's report on telework found that in just 2024 alone, the state had at least $117M in unused office space among just the major departments."

- Shout out to u/Jimbo_Dean20 - consider linking in your email to the https://www.telework-dashboard.com and https://www.teleworksaves.com (recreated dashboards) to show that this is not a start-from-scratch sort of project. We already had a dashboard before and could get it up and running quickly and efficiently!

- Close out respectfully and courteously e.g. "Thank you for your time and I hope you'll consider the immense savings this bill affords taxpayers and move it to the Assembly Floor for full debate."

***

I am deliberately avoiding giving you a letter template because I do not want them to ignore a bunch of letters that look the same and write it off as a big old thoughtless spam.

If we don't seem to be getting lots of traction, I'll add in a form letter, but just wanted to try this for now.

***

Keep at it! We're going to need to continue making contacts through next week. Hopefully you can spread this around to some colleagues. Let's get this bill moving again.

Hello, r/CAStateWorkers

I'm going to give you a high level summary of where the state telework bill (AB 1729) currently stands and what I will encourage you to do to continue advocating.

Where is the bill right now?

The bill is in the Appropriations Committee's suspense file. It is being flagged for fiscal review.

Why is it being flagged for fiscal review? We're going to save hundreds of millions of dollars in office space if it goes into effect, right?

According to the Appropriations Committee's bill analysis, DGS estimates a "One-time General Fund costs of $1.8 million, and $1.2 million ongoing annually" for implementation of this bill.

***I want to thank /u/mortyality for a correction to this. I'll highlight one other cost noted in the bill but leave a caveat on that cost in bold.

In addition, the bill analysis notes: "DGS estimates approximately $8.9 million in ongoing annual costs collectively to the approximately 200 other departments, boards, and commission to support an estimated 50 additional staff needed to collect data on employees and report to DGS. It is unclear to the committee whether this bill’s requirements are commensurate with this amount of additional staffing at all affected government entities. While the bill places various data collection requirements upon DGS, it does not compel other affected government entities to report information to DGS."

Finally, the analysis acknowledges that "Any potential cost exposure to DGS or other departments, boards, and commissions from increased data reporting, including establishment of the state telework dashboard, may be offset by savings achieved from maintaining or expanding telework programs."

So what? They're going to kill the bill because it costs a little bit of money to implement?

That's not what the suspense file is for. While some media outlets have referred to this procedural step (for appropriations to evaluate any bill that has a price tag over $150K) as "A place bills go to die", this is a gross exaggeration. Our friends at GovBuddy tracked over 600 bills held in suspense in 2025 and 65% of them made it out of suspense and onto the floor.

We are not toast. Get that out of your head. We'll just use some strategy to sharpen our outreach and help our bill make it to its next step.

So what now?

By May 15th, the bill is going to be considered for getting out of suspense and moving out onto the floor. There will be a suspense hearing probably announced with little fanfare. I encourage you to go to it when it is announced. I will post a little later today with some additional steps that we can take to reach out to key members.

I will post later on today or early tomorrow with some outreach steps. Spoiler alert: It's going to involve contacting the committee chair and providing some more numbers to bolster the fiscal savings of telework against the costs of implementing the bill. I am building out plans based on conversations I'll have with the staff on these bills, union representatives, and anyone else who's got some knowledge who can help.

For now, be on the lookout for:

- A post I'll put together later detailing some outreach plans

- Announcements from your union or stewards regarding actions planned in the near future - marches, solidarity breaks, etc. Go to these. Have some fun. March around. Yell. It's fun, I promise.

***

For now, please know that our work is working. Don't let the process scare you too much. We got this. Numbers are on our side and the committee wrote in their own analysis that they expect the bill's costs to be offset by savings. We will just have to let them know.

I don't have a direct outreach action item for right now. I will later on.

Hello, r/CAStateWorkers !

Good morning! Yesterday was pretty big. Looks like a ton of folks made calls on the Appropriations Committee phone bank and we even got a major local candidate in Sac County coming out with a pro-telework stance.

I wanted to keep folks informed based on what I know regarding tomorrow's hearing and - of course - collect additional feedback in the comments. So without further ado...

1) We shouldn't expect having the opportunity to give public comment at the hearing. Our presence there will be more visual / solidarity. If you've got some colors that reflect labor affiliation, I'll recommend that, but otherwise, being there is enough. We may get a nod from committee members. Who knows. We're there to signal importance.

2) We should prioritize our professionalism and courtesy above all else. From what I've heard from folks connected to the Capitol floor, our bill has built up good support within Appropriations and among the Assembly, in general. That is a reflection of our outreach and advocacy of course as well as the open-mindedness of the legislators themselves.

We should continue to express gratitude for those reps who are speaking up on our behalf and additionally approach those who are skeptical / opposing the bill with courtesy and curiosity. I think that our outreach has led to some real cases of persuasion and we should not take that lightly. This bill can be a win-win for the workforce and for those who want more effective, fiscally responsible state government. We just need to continue reaching out in polite and respectful ways. It's working.

3) The bill will probably end up in what's called a suspense file after the hearing. This is the standard mechanism for bills that will require some funds to implement - e.g. reinstating the telework dashboard, having agencies justify in office presence, etc. Yes, the bill saves the state tons of money overall, but there is a cost to implement this right now. This does not mean that the bill is being killed, shelved away, etc. It's literally just a procedure for putting bills with fiscal impacts in batches to be approved, amended, or held onto.

4) Of course, even if things are going great in Appropriations, there is still more road for this bill to travel. Full assembly vote, senate committees, full senate vote. But luckily, we all can offer our support to help this bill move along. And double luckily, if you've already been making calls, you've already learned how that works and you'll be able to take on the next rounds of calls (hopefully) with less uncertainty.

I hope you all will continue on the journey. I hope nobody loses sight of how big this collaboration has been and how far we've gone already. Keep at it! Consider making a call if you didn't yesterday, but all in all... know that folks are listening. Just keep being professional and respectful and your outreach. Let's see how far we can take this!

I’m Dr. Flo Cofer and I’m running for County Supervisor in District 1. #VoteJune2 I would love to talk telework, commuting, and Sacramento’s future.

This is a hot topic for state workers right now given there is a bill moving to a committee vote on Wednesday -- AB 1729 -- that is pushing the state to justify return-to-office mandates and implement data-driven and worker-centered telework policies.

But state workers aren't the only ones affectedm There are also the broader implications of this conversation for housing, transportation, affordability, childcare, and workplace accessibility.

I would love to hear your thoughts, personal experiences, opinions and ideas.

Hi there, r/CAStateWorkers

AB 1729 is heading to Appropriations Committee Wednesday, May 6th, at 9 AM - 1021 O Street, Room 1100 (hope you can attend!)

The Appropriations Committee is the next gate our bill must pass through. It is not the last stop for the bill. It will likely head to a new place called the suspense file where it is prioritized for a full assembly vote alongside other bills. This is standard operating procedure for bills like this that require some money to implement - this bill calls for a new telework dashboard and for agencies to justify any in office presence, fro example. Outreach is so critical right now until it gets through its likely suspense review. To help make sure that as many members as possible are being contacted, I've set up a light phone bank below that can help spread out the calls to all members.

The format for the phone bank will include member names, phone numbers, and recommended talking points. Feel free to share any talking points you like! I'm just sharing ones that I think may be salient/persuasive based on what I've seen on member websites.

AB 1729 Phone Bank

Remember to be kind and respectful when talking with staffers! Polite and succinct.

1) EVERYONE should call the committee chair, Buffy Wicks (Chair).

916-319-2014

- Telework is a rare opportunity to both improve government services AND affordability for working California families; it reduces the financial and time burdens of commuting, saves the state hundreds of millions of dollars in leased office space, improves our recruitment and retention across a truly statewide workforce, AND it makes California a competitive employer of choice among talented professionals

2) SACRAMENTO / NATOMAS state workers, call Maggy Krell

916-319-2006

- Telework is a critical tool for state operations; it improves our capacity to recruit/retain talent statewide, increases our overall responsiveness to needs statewide, reduces traffic congestion, vehicle emissions, and financial strains on commuting working families; AB 1729 helps the state come into alignment with findings from the 2024 CA State Telework Audit commissioned by Assm. Hoover

3) EVERYONE. See your phone bank assignment based on your birth month. NOTE: If you see your own district listed for one of the members, please call that assemblymember instead.

(If you want to call more and share with colleagues, feel free to reference and share the full list of committee members using this link)

January Birthdays

David J. Tangipa (San Joaquin)

916-319-2008

- Telework saves the state money, reduces financial strains on working families, and brings our state government in better alignment with findings in the 2024 Telework Audit commissioned by Assm. Josh Hoover

February Birthdays

Tri Ta (Northern Orange County)

916-319-2070

- The state has an obligation to act based on information in the 2024 CA telework audit finding that the state can improve its performance, recruit/retain talented staff, and save hundreds of millions of dollars by preserving and in some cases expanding its access to telework; For many Californians with disabilities, telework has been an incredible tool to preserve their access to the workplace

March Birthdays

José Luis Solache Jr. (Paramount / Lakewood / Los Angeles)

916-319-2062

- Telework and hybrid flexibility are massive benefits to state operations - they allow the state to recruit and retain top talent all while saving money in leases and physical facilities space

April Birthdays

Gail Pellerin (Santa Cruz)

916-319-2028

- Has worked in the past on government transparency measures. AB 1729 promotes greater transparency with state operations and ensures that agencies right size their physical footprint and expenditures in regards to what they can do remotely, saving taxpayer money and expanding our capabilities in CA to be an employer of choice, recruiting and retaining top talent in CA to administer our government services

Blanca Pacheco (SE Los Angeles / North Orange County)

916-319-2064

- Has worked on bills promoting use of teleconferencing / telework as a way to expand civic tech capabilities and service deliverability
Telework makes state government both more efficient in use of space and overall access across California ALL WHILE improving work-life balance and affordability for working families and caregivers

May Birthdays (Also, happy birthday!)

Al Muratsuchi (South Bay - Los Angeles)

916-319-2066

- Telework is a powerful productivity tool that allows the state to save money on physical real estate and operations all while improving its ability to recruit and retain top talent from across all of California - not just California in major city centers

- Maratsuchi has worked on responses to California audit as it pertains to misuse of education funds for charter schools, but a 2024 audit likewise found hundreds of millions of dollars the state could save if it maintained its current telework provisions (not moving to the 4-day RTO mandate) and even expanded telework

June Birthdays

Mark González (Culver City - Downtown LA - West LA)

916-319-2054

- Telework supports affordability for working families; broadens out the opportunity to access stable employment and career advancement across geographically diverse regions and outside of more expensive city centers

July Birthdays

Mike Fong (Alhambra - San Gabriel)

916-319-2049

- Telework opens up more career advancement opportunities for young Californians across the state - a more geographically diverse career pipeline that can recruit and retain young talent; hiring can occur outside of city centers

- Telework is a government modernization initiative that saves the state money! Fong has already authored legislation that promotes the use of teleconferencing tools in local government to expand public access; same principles apply for public and employment access via greater flexibility in telework / hybrid options

August Birthdays

Diane B. Dixon (Orange County)

916-319-2072

- California should bring its telework and hybrid work policies in alignment with the 2024 CA Telework Audit - California should not ignore audit findings, especially when taking action on an audit can save the state hundreds of millions in office space, reduce cost burdens and affordability concerns for state workers who commute in high traffic districts like Orange County, and improve recruitment and retention of talented state workers, especially caregivers and working parents

September Birthdays

Jessica Caloza (East LA / Glendale)

916-319-2052

- Telework helps reduce cost-of-living pressures for working families by cutting commuting, childcare, and daily expenses while maintaining stable public employment

- Expanding telework aligns with her focus on government effectiveness by modernizing state operations, improving employee retention, and ensuring agencies can deliver services efficiently

October Birthdays

Lisa Calderon (Southeast LA)

916-319-2056

- Telework is a massive support to women in the workplace, especially those who struggle with chronic, discomforting challenges like menopause or pregnancy recovery; telework helps us recruit and retain top talent all across California for critical roles in state administration

November Birthdays

Dr. Joaquin Arambula (Fresno / Central Valley)

916-319-2031

- Telework is a big win for public health. Telework reduces financial strains on commuters, promotes flexibility in work-life balance, reduces pollution, car accidents, simplifies life for working families

December Birthdays

Josh Hoover (Vice Chair) (Citrus Heights / Roseville)

(916) 319-2007

- Thank them for their hard work on protecting the efficiencies of telework! Hoover not only commissioned the 2024 state telework audit but co-authored AB 1729. He's a big supporter of this cause.

Alright, r/CAStateWorkers

Let's keep showing up on the State Telework Bill, AB 1729! It's on the hearing agenda for Wednesday, May 6th, at 9 AM - 1021 O Street, Room 1100. The work continues! We'll hit those phones on Monday and Tuesday and show out for our bill.

I'm sure various unions will also be putting word out on this bill, but start looking ahead. Let's do this!

Fore more information on selected committee members, see previous posts below. More to come!

All committee members + talking points

Post #1

Post #2

Post #3

Post #4

https://preview.redd.it/d59o1l89vnyg1.png?width=1688&format=png&auto=webp&s=fec9166719921bf80228580c00f081e4df51ba62

Hello, r/CAStateWorkers

I'd like to continue outreach to Appropriations Committee members of the CA State Assembly who will be hearing the State Telework Bill. Just a couple more reps to call for today and if you're interested in reaching out to other representatives on the committee including Sacramento's representative, Maggy Krell, you can do so by referring to these links:

Post #1

Post #2

Below, I'll provide some talking points you can use when calling two additional members of the committee. If you live in their districts, you will be able to message them on their web portals. Otherwise, I recommend calling in directly and asking if the staffer who answers can take down a comment on AB 1729. From there, simply provide a reason or two why you think this representative should support the bill. Remember to be kind and respectful. Keep up the good work!

Mike Fong - District 49

Alhambra / San Gabriel

(916) 319-2049

Important areas of policy focus: access to higher education and career advancement opportunities for diverse, young Californians; public health

• Telework opens up more career advancement opportunities for young Californians across the state - a more geographically diverse career pipeline that can recruit and retain young talent; hiring can occur outside of city centers!
• Telework is a government modernization initiative that saves the state money! Fong has already authored legislation that promotes the use of teleconferencing tools in local government to expand public access; same principles apply for public and employment access via greater flexibility in telework / hybrid options
• Telework remains a critical tool for supporting affordability, supporting families, reducing commuting costs and financial and time constraints on working families - this is especially important for constituents in Southern California who experience especially challenging commutes into Los Angeles

Mark Gonzalez - District 54

Culver City / Downtown LA  / Parts of West LA 

(916) 319-2054

Important areas of policy focus: affordability and cost of living for working families; expanded access to education and careers; improving quality of life for caregivers and their dependents (especially the elderly); immigrant rights

• Telework supports affordability for working families; broadens out the opportunity to access stable employment and career advancement across geographically diverse regions and outside of more expensive city centers
• Telework reduces commuting strains on residents of Los Angeles
• Telework provides additional flexibilities around commuting that can alleviate financial and time constraints on caregivers
• Telework helps our state meet its climate goals and reduces air pollution caused by traffic congestion
• Telework brings greater viability to California neighborhoods, expanding economic activity beyond downtowns