The CFT is hosting its annual legislative lobby day of action on April 15, 2026.

2026 CFT Legislative Priorities

“The AI Bill” AB 2148 (Muratsuchi) – In order to protect the sanctity of education and be able to provide students the education and support they need without the constraint of an algorithm, the CFT is sponsoring legislation that defines any employee or person within the education code, as a natural person. This bill also will attempt to protect educator’s ability to safeguard students and be able to turn off “AI” functionality in the classroom, and prevent the use of “AI” to be used in any surveillance on campus.
AB 2148 Sponsor Letter

Vendor Protection AB 2197 (Valencia) – Educators have become inundated with solicitations from vendors either in person or through their district email inboxes. These vendors may at times appear to be trusted agencies, such as the California State Teachers Retirement System, and may sell products or services that are unnecessary or appear to be aligned with existing agency services. This bill will require vendors to disclose their identities and purpose when emailing or presenting to educators at their public email inboxes or worksites, and put some common sense limits on these companies so that schools remain schools and not solicitation marketplaces.
AB 2197 Fact Sheet
AB 2197 Sponsor Letter

Campus Security SB 1140 (Ashby) – Public school sites are considered private spaces for student and worker safety, however during construction projects there may be a less restrictive security perimeter. This bill will require schools to plan around the construction or maintenance workers that aren’t usually accustomed to school security protocols, and limit access points during infrastructure projects so that the ingress and egress of individuals on campus is secured.
SB 1140 Fact Sheet
SB 1101 Co-Sponsor Letter

Expedited Investigations SB 1083 (Pérez) -  In the event of an investigation into allegations of egregious misconduct, classified school employees are often required to wait long periods of time to appeal a personnel decision before investigations are completed. These time periods are without pay, and without any probable cause requirements for the accusations charged. This bill expedites investigations and hearings in front of an Administrative Law Judge, so that local education agencies can keep students safe and employees may exonerate themselves in a timely manner.
SB 1083 Fact Sheet
SB 1083 Sponsor Letter

Worker’s Compensation Access AB 2098 (Kalra) – Classified employees that are hurt on the job require visitation to health care clinics that provide services including physical rehabilitation. However, workers are sometimes being denied access to medical care appointments during normal shift hours. CFT shall sponsor legislation to protect the right of workers to access their healthcare without penalty. 

Short-Term Employment Abuse AB 2142 (Garcia) – Current law allows for the use of short-term employees in order to address temporary needs at schools. In many instances, there has become an excessive reliance on short-term hourly workers, with some examples of jobs being kept as short-term for 20 years or more. This practice denies employees the status and benefits of regular employment even though they are working essentially the full-time job. This bill addresses this abuse and creates a rebuttable presumption so that an assignment that is habitually used as a short-term assignment is transformed into an ongoing job assignment.
AB 2142 Sponsor Letter

Community College District Reserve Cap SB 1262 (Archuleta) – While it is prudent for districts to maintain a level of reserve funds for economic downturn or unforeseen expenses, there is a threshold when dollars would be better spent on student services today rather than the phantom needs of a tomorrow that may never come. CFT has seen some districts store well over the recommended amount of funds in reserve by many districts. This bill will require college districts to have no more than a financial reserve of 50% on operating expenses, unless they are already complying with certain provisions of current law, such as providing part-time faculty health care benefits, office hours, and meet other existing conditions.
SB 1262 Sponsor Letter

Re-establishment of Adult Education Programs (Solache) Budget Ask – AB 86 (2013) established the current Adult Education Consortia and funding to offer free or low-cost classes for adults to earn high school diplomas/equivalencies, learn English (ESL), gain job skills (CTE), improve basic skills, and prepare for citizenship. Unfortunately, classes that are focused on parenting skills, classes for seniors and financial literacy classes were cut from the program. CFT is asking to restore the ability for an adult education consortium to offer these classes under existing funding levels in order to cater to their local community’s needs.

Social Security for Part-Time Faculty AB 2417 (Zbur) – Individuals who hear the call to be educators in the community college system after a long career often start out with part-time assignments. Faculty have several options for retirement, including the CalSTRS defined benefit pension, or its Cash Balance program. These programs make sense for the beginning of a career to become vested in the pension or build up funds in the cash balance program, however for workers with a long career with social security credits, it may make more sense to continue focusing on earning more social security credit. The CFT shall sponsor legislation requiring Social Security as a required option offered for all part-time community college faculty, in addition to CalSTRS other benefits.
AB 2417 Fact Sheet
AB 2417 Letter of Support

Employment opportunities for undocumented higher education students AB 713 (Solache) -Undocumented students who seek employment opportunities at California’s public colleges and universities should not be barred based solely on their immigration status. This legislation provides undocumented students shall not be barred from applying from employment opportunities at public higher education institutions based on their immigration status.
AB 713 Fact Sheet
AB 713 Letter of Support

Library Spending Transparency JLAC Request (Muratsuchi) – Years of declining investment in public university libraries threatens student success. CFT shall sponsor a Joint-Legislative Audit Committee Audit of historic public college and university library spending (going back as far as 30 years). This information will better inform the budgetary decisions of the legislature and university systems.

Community College part-time health care fund flexibility to vision and dental benefits – The current Part-Time Health Care Program that reimburses districts for providing health insurance to part-time faculty is barred from providing districts for dental and vision benefits. This leaves a gap in coverage between full time and part-time faculty for benefits and further does not utilize the previous year allocations for the health care reimbursement program. CFT proposes that funds for the part-time health care program may be used for dental and vision benefits. 

Community College Part-time faculty Office Hours -  Compensation for office hours is only guaranteed to full time faculty. This creates a disparity for access to office hours for students enrolled in classes taught by full time faculty versus classes taught by part-time faculty, and with many part-time faculty unable to provide office hours to students. While the current program is funded to provide 90% of community colleges with part time student office hour compensation, the absence of investment last year left the fund without adequate funding. CFT seeks 90 million dollars annual appropriation to ensure that office hours are available to students who take courses from part-time faculty.