SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In 1973, five Latino legislators formed the California Latino Legislative Caucus (CLLC) to address the social and economic issues affecting the Latino community.

What You Need To Know

  • Assembly member Sabrina Cervantes is the first openly LGBTQ woman to Chair the Latino Legislative Caucus

  • Former Assembly member Gloria Molina was the first Latina elected to the State Assembly, and is a major inspiration for Cervantes as she now leads the Caucus

  • The Latino Caucus is prioritizing issues of economic equality, education, health care and immigration in this year’s legislative session

  • While the Latino Legislative Caucus promotes equity and inclusion, one group that isn’t welcomed into the caucus is Republicans

Today, the CLLC is made up of 38 members and is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Assembly member Sabrina Cervantes is the first openly LGBTQ woman to Chair the Latino Legislative Caucus. She oversees the most diverse group of members since the caucus’ inception.

“Members that are not just identifying as Mexican, but Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, so it’s wonderful to be able to lead a caucus of this diversity. And with a Latina majority for the first time in history with 21 Latina members,” Cervantes said.

Cervantes, who has served in the State Assembly since 2016, says she’s proud of the work all the members who have come before her have done to help her get to where she is now. 

“Since its founding 50 years ago, we are looking at five decades of transformational legislation that has impacted our Latino community in California,” Cervantes said. “When I think about the last 50 years, I think about justice, I think about representation, where we’re fighting for economic justice, we’re fighting for environmental justice, housing affordability, health care access for our most vulnerable, our undocumented community.”

Former Assembly member Gloria Molina, who was the first Latina elected to the State Assembly, is a major inspiration for Cervantes as she now leads the caucus.

“Someone like her has been a trailblazer, who has faced many battles on her own just to be that first. Because of her, it opened the door for so many of us here today and we acknowledge that,” Cervantes said.

Latinos currently make up about 30% of the legislature today, compared to about 4% five decades ago. Cervantes notes throughout its 50-year history, the CLLC has advocated in the intersectionality of economic inequality and social justice for all Californian Latinos.

A major piece of legislation the caucus campaigned for was AB 540 in 2001. This law allowed undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at California’s public universities.

In 2015, the Latino caucus sponsored the Health for All Kids Act, which established a program in the state to provide health care coverage to all undocumented children in California

The caucus has successfully campaigned for legislation that not only benefits Latinos, but all Californians who want equitable treatment. Such as AB 1266, which allowed transgender students to use the bathroom and take part in sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

“We need to continue on this trajectory of being successful in bringing our voices to the State Capitol. Because it is that collective voice that allows us to bring that transformational change,” Cervantes said.

The Latino caucus is prioritizing issues of economic equality, education, health care and immigration in this year’s legislative session.

Once such a measure, SB 616, introduced by Senator Lena Gonzalez, looks to increase the amount of paid sick leave for employees from three to seven days.

“What have we learned from COVID-19? We have learned that so many of our essential workers, especially those that are Latino, have needed additional time to care for themselves, care for others,” Gonzalez said. 

Another prioritized bill is SB 227, or the Safety Net for All Bill, authored by State Senator Maria Elena Durazo, which would extend unemployment benefits to undocumented workers.

Gov. Newsom vetoed a similar bill last year.

While the Latino Legislative Caucus promotes equity and inclusion, one group that isn’t welcomed into the caucus is Republicans.

According to a report by the political organization Third Way, Latino voters have shifted to the right on the political spectrum. The report showed several majority-Latino districts saw a nearly 11% shift in votes for Republican candidates from 2020 to 2022.

Related Stories

There are three Latino Republican legislators in the Assembly and one Republican Latina in the State Senate. All four lawmakers are not allowed to join the Latino Legislative Caucus because of the group’s original bylaws.

“It doesn’t exclude us from working with members of the other aisle. We do that often on some policies that we’ve done so in the last six years since I’ve been here,” Cervantes said. “We always welcome collaboration with all members of the legislature because at the end of the day it’s doing what’s going to be best to uplift our communities in California. But we will continue to remain committed to what the founding members of the Caucus initially set forth in our bylaws.”

Now leading the caucus, Cervantes says she will not address changing the bylaws to allow GOP members, she instead will focus more on the issues that established the caucus. 

“Stepping into this role, I know that there’s a lot to continue fighting for and I’m confident that the caucus will remain steadfast in uplifting the nearly 16 million Latinos in the state of California,” Cervantes said.

Let “Inside the Issues” know your thoughts and watch Monday through Friday at 8 and 11 p.m. on Spectrum News 1.