California Family Council

09/04/2026

Ep. 105: Sign or Veto? The Biggest Bills Sitting on Newsom’s Desk

Newsom has until September 30 to sign or veto every bill on his desk. There are 17 in this episode. Your phone call still matters, and here is the proof.

Session is over. Greg Burt and Sophia Lorey run every bill California Family Council is tracking, what each one does in plain English, and whether to ask for a signature or a veto.

First, the question in our comments: does calling actually work? Last year California made Diwali a state holiday and let schools hold exercises "acknowledging and celebrating the meaning" of a religious holiday. Greg objected almost alone. This year Muslim groups asked for the same thing and doubled it. Greg testified again. The bill was then amended, and "celebrating the meaning of" became "exploring the history of."

GALA, ONE WEEK OUT Saturday, September 12, 5 to 9 p.m., Hilton Orange County in Costa Mesa. Keynote Seth Dillon, CEO of The Babylon Bee, who beat California in federal court over a law that would have forced political satire to carry government disclaimers. Tickets below.

LINKS
CALL THE GOVERNOR Governor Newsom's office: (916) 445-2841 Contact page: https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/ Deadline to sign or veto: September 30, 2026
GALA TICKETS https://watchdog.californiafamily.org/fundraising/e/2026-gala
READ THE BILLS YOURSELF
AB 2017: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2017 AB 1973: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1973 AB 1930: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1930 AB 1854: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1854 AB 2164: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2164 AB 2531: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2531 AB 2563: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2563 AB 1980: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1980 AB 1792: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1792 AB 1578: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1578 AB 1803: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1803 SB 934: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB934
SB 685: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB685
SB 1114: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1114 SB 608: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB608
SB 1128: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1128 SB 1276: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1276 AB 268, the 2025 Diwali law: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB268

09/01/2026

California wants to let people who are not doctors perform late-term abortions.

That is AB 1973, and it is sitting on Governor Newsom’s desk right now.

Under current law, nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives, and physician assistants can only perform abortions in the first trimester. AB 1973, authored by Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, deletes that limit. Second trimester. Third trimester. No physician required.

The bill also shields out-of-state abortionists from professional discipline for abortion-related conduct. Lose your license for misconduct somewhere else, and California looks the other way.

Every one of these babies has a heartbeat, fingerprints, and a name known to God. “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13

📞 CALL THE GOVERNOR: (916) 445-2841
Tell them: “I am a Californian and I am urging the Governor to VETO AB 1973.”

Prefer to write? Use the form at gov.ca.gov/contact and select AB 1973.

You can also mention you oppose AB 1973 for the following reasons:

AB 1973 allows non-physicians to perform high-risk, later-term abortions, despite lacking full surgical training.
We should not be increasing the number of medical professionals willing to kill innocent unborn human beings.
Complications rise significantly in second- and third-trimester procedures, yet the bill expands access, while reducing safeguards.
It shields abortion providers from discipline for misconduct in other states, creating a dangerous double standard.

Two minutes on the phone. Make the call, then share this so someone else does too.

09/01/2026

Hundreds Rally at the Capitol for Nick Shirley, the Reporter Sacramento Tried to Silence

Hundreds of Californians packed the west steps of the State Capitol on Wednesday, August 26, days after Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill critics call the “Stop Nick Shirley Act.” Independent journalist Nick Shirley headlined the rally, and California Family Council Vice President Greg Burt was among the speakers who took the podium to back him, praising Shirley’s tenacity and reminding the crowd what one person willing to ask questions can do.

Read full story below. . .

Hundreds of Californians packed the west steps of the State Capitol on Wednesday, August 26, days after Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill critics call the "Stop Nick Shirley Act." Independent journalist Nick Shirley headlined the rally, and California Family Council Vice President Greg Burt was am...

09/01/2026

California just passed a bill to mandate “anti-hate speech” training in your workplace. There’s one problem. Lawmakers never defined “hate speech.”

AB 1803 cleared the Assembly 60 to 11 and the Senate 30 to 8. Straight party line vote.

We already watch this happen in Sacramento. Biblical convictions about marriage, s*x, and gender get relabeled as hate. Then the people who hold them get labeled a hate group. Now that label comes with a state-mandated training module.

There is no hate speech exception in the First Amendment. The government cannot force you to speak a message you believe is false.

AB 1803 is on Governor Newsom’s desk. He has not signed it yet.

📞 CALL THE GOVERNOR: (916) 445-2841
Press the option for comments on legislation. Tell them: “I am a Californian and I am urging the Governor to VETO AB 1803.”

Prefer to write? Use the form at gov.ca.gov/contact and select AB 1803.

You can also mention you oppose AB 1803 for the following reasons:

Provides no clear definition, forcing employers to interpret subjective standards and exposing them to inconsistent enforcement and legal risk.

Compels employers and employees, especially those with sincerely held religious beliefs, to endorse or participate in training that labels their views as “hateful.”

Mandates training that discourages open dialogue in the workplace while creating new compliance burdens and legal uncertainty, particularly for small and faith-based businesses.

It takes two minutes. The Governor counts every call.

09/01/2026

May we ALWAYS be a beacon of truth!

08/31/2026

Join us on September 12th for our Annual Life, Family, Liberty Gala in Orange County!

Our keynote speaker is Seth Dillon Seth Dillon, CEO of The Babylon Bee !!

You can get tickets an more information at link in bio or californiafamily.org !

08/31/2026

California AB 2017: Islamic Holidays in Schools – Urgent Call to Action

California Family Council believes every student should be able to take time off for any religious holiday. That is not our objection here.

Our objection is to the state authorizing and promoting the celebration of specific religious holidays inside public school classrooms.

Every child in California can already be excused for a religious holiday at a parent’s request. Every faith. Every holiday. That protection exists right now, and it treats everyone the same.

AB 2017 walks past that. It names two holidays in statute, gives schools specific permission to hold classroom exercises about them, and invites the State Board of Education to write a model curriculum guide for them.

No California statute does that for Christmas. Or Easter. Or Good Friday. Or Passover. Or Yom Kippur.

That is not neutrality. That is the state picking.

AB 2017 is hours away from hitting the Governor’s desk.

📞 CALL GOVERNOR NEWSOM AND ASK FOR A VETO OF AB 2017
(916) 445-2841 It takes 60 seconds. Say you are a California resident and you are asking the Governor to veto AB 2017.

You can also mention you oppose AB 2017 for the following reasons:

*California already allows students to be excused for any religious holiday with a parent’s request. That protects everyone equally. AB 2017 goes beyond equal accommodation by naming specific Islamic holidays in state law while other faith traditions do not receive the same treatment.

*Students should be free to observe their own religious holidays, but the state should not commission curriculum guides telling schools to acknowledge and celebrate the theological meaning of religious observances. That crosses a line from accommodation into state-sponsored religious promotion.

*California is home to many faith communities. If the Legislature starts naming specific religious holidays in law, it will either have to recognize every major religious holiday or explain why some faiths are favored over others. The better approach is a religion-neutral policy that protects all students equally.

Then share this. Send it to your pastor. Send it to a parent in your dist

08/28/2026

Hundreds of Californians rallied at the Capitol last week against AB 2624, the bill critics call the Stop Nick Shirley Act after the 24-year-old citizen journalist who exposed nonprofit fraud in state after state. Newsom signed it anyway. Greg was there and spoke.
Three California families are now asking the Supreme Court to end religious discrimination in charter homeschool programs. These programs hand parents public funds for curriculum, then forbid anything faith based. Blue Ridge Academy rejected a grammar course over one sentence: "God sends the rain to help plants grow."
And Senator Scott Wiener is taking a victory lap he did not earn. His SB 934 would have let clients sue counselors decades later over words they asked to hear. Then Los Angeles County's own Department of Mental Health warned that detransitioners could sue them too. The bill was gutted.
Plus, our Life, Family, Liberty Gala is Saturday, September 12 in Orange County with Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon. Tickets and this week's articles at californiafamily.org.

Links:

Gala
Life, Family, Liberty Gala tickets, Sept. 12, Hilton Orange County: https://watchdog.californiafamily.org/fundraising/e/2026-gala

AB 2624, the "Stop Nick Shirley Act"
Bill text and status: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2624

Greg's rally speech on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com//videos

Homeschool curriculum case, Woolard v. Thurmond

CFC article: https://www.californiafamily.org/2026/08/supreme-court-asked-to-end-cas-double-standard-on-homeschool-curriculum/
First Liberty Institute case page: https://firstliberty.org/news/first-liberty-asks-full-federal-appeals-court-to-stop-discrimination-against-california-families/

Earlier CFC coverage of the Ninth Circuit stage: https://www.californiafamily.org/2025/12/religious-liberty-on-trial-charter-homeschool-families-demand-the-ninth-circuit-end-anti-christian-discrimination/

SB 934 and the counseling ban

CFC article: https://www.californiafamily.org/2026/08/how-fear-of-detransitioner-lawsuits-gutted-senator-wieners-attempt-to-bankrupt-christian-counselors/

SB 934 bill text and amendment history: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB934

Chiles v. Salazar opinion, decided March 31, 2026:https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-539_fd9g.pdf
Wiener's own release: https://sd11.senate.ca.gov/news/senator-wieners-bill-strengthen-californias-conversion-therapy-ban-heads-governor

08/27/2026

“Let’s Make CA a Place We Want Our Children to Live In” CFC Vice President Greg Burt Speaks at Nick Shirley Rally!

Watch the entire speech at the link in our bio!

08/26/2026

Supreme Court Asked to End CA’s Double Standard on Homeschool Curriculum

Three California families just took their fight for faith-filled homeschooling to the highest court in the land.

On August 20, 2026, First Liberty Institute, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, and King & Spalding LLP filed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a Ninth Circuit decision that lets California charter schools strip funding and academic credit from homeschool families the moment their curriculum turns out to be Christian. The case is Woolard v. Thurmond. It could decide whether a public program that hands parents the freedom to choose their children’s own curriculum can turn around and punish the parents who choose a Christian one.

Read more below. . .

Three California families just took their fight for faith-filled homeschooling to the highest court in the land. On August 20, 2026, First Liberty Institute, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, and King & Spalding LLP filed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a Ninth Circuit decision that le...