California Legislative Jewish Caucus
The California Legislative Jewish Caucus is a bipartisan, bicameral group of state legislators primarily dedicated to Jewish institutional interests, promoting Holocaust education and remembrance, countering antisemitism, anti-Zionism and anti-Israel narratives, supporting Israel in schools and college campuses, and strengthening California–Israel economic, technological and cultural ties. It was established in 2012 and is the first official legislative Jewish caucus in the United States.
The CLJC employs staff paid through the State Assembly but is not a separate legal entity and has no independent budget or bank account. Its “budget” accomplishments are state funding allocations it successfully advocates for in the annual California Budget Act. The CLJC works in partnership with Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California.
The CLJC successfully advocated for the incorporation of the IHRA definition of antisemitism in California's K-12 Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum.
Since 2021, the CLJC's legislative efforts related to Jewish institutional interests and Israel have intensified alongside broader Tikkun Olam themed social-justice programs.
The CLJC has been criticized for misleading, unethical, and undemocratic legislation, mostly in support of Israel.
Origins and early Israel economic mandate
In 2012 Assemblymembers Marty Block, Bob Blumenfield, and Speaker John A. Pérez established the CLJC as the nation's first official legislative Jewish caucus, initially comprising eight Senators, three Assembly members, and three non‐Jewish associate members—twelve Democrats and two Republicans—while convening the monthly “Capitol Knesset” for Jewish legislators, staff, and advocates to network and discuss policy priorities.Its first major legislative initiative was spearheading SCR 121, formally endorsing the California–Israel memorandum of understanding signed March 5, 2014, by Governor Jerry Brown and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which noted $4.2 billion in two‐way trade in 2013 and committed both parties to:
- Foster economic cooperation and development
- Facilitate joint industrial research and development
- Enhance business relationships, educational exchanges and friendship
- Convene bilateral public–private partnerships in sectors such as alternative energy, environmental technology, health, and agriculture
SCR 121 and SCR 25 both include the explicit assertion that collaboration with Israel under the California-Israel MOA “will foster peace and democracy in the Middle East”.
2015-2017 Modest allocations, anti-BDS legislation
In February 2016, CLJC introduced AB 2844, also known as California's anti-BDS law, prohibiting companies from “participating in a boycott of the State of Israel, known as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement”.- 2015-16 Allocation: The caucus secured $2 million for the Museum of Tolerance's "Tools for Tolerance" K-12 educator training program and expanded the Nonprofit Security Grant Program by $2 million.
- 2016-17 Allocation: The California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program allocates $4.5 million to CLJC.
2017-2019: JPAC partnership, increased allocations, ethnic studies guardrails
During this period, CLJC established a partnership with JPAC.- 2017-18 Allocation: $11.7 million. This package added Holocaust-survivor social-service subsidies and broadened hate-crime prevention initiatives, signaling that the caucus could marshal eight-figure support
- 2018-19 Allocation: The caucus secured $15.3 million funding including $10 million for Museum of Tolerance maintenance, $3.6 million for Holocaust Survivor assistance programs, and other smaller allocations.
2019-2020: Substantial allocation surge
2019 saw the passage of Assembly Bill 1548, which formally established the California Nonprofit Security Grant Program—legislation that would become a cornerstone of the caucus’s advocacy work in subsequent years.- 2019-20 Allocation: Surge to $64.3 million, including $15 million to Nonprofit Security Grant Program, $6 million for Holocaust Museum expansion, and $23.5 million for Jewish camp reconstruction after wildfires.
2021-Present: Record allocation increase, greater legislative output and broader social justice appeals
State Budget Allocations
;2020-21:Pandemic belt-tightening reduced new wins to roughly $31.9 million, but the caucus still protected core survivor services and kept security-grant funding flowing even as many discretionary programs were slashed statewide.
The 2021–22 CLJC state budget rebounded with $80 million. It allocated:
- $50 million for the California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program, providing up to $200,000 per high-risk nonprofit site, including synagogues and other vulnerable institutions.
- $10 million for the Museum of Tolerance to build an interactive antisemitism exhibit on its third floor.
- $5.7 million for Jewish Family Services of Los Angeles to purchase a permanent Van Nuys site for its SOVA Community Food and Resource Program.
- $2.5 million to expand Holocaust Museum Los Angeles—adding to the $6 million the CLJC had secured in 2019–20 for the same institution.
- $1 million to renovate and preserve the Tauber Holocaust Library operated by JFCS Bay Area.
- $8 million for the Enhanced Services Program for Asylees, supporting case management for newly arrived refugees and asylum-seekers through Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.
Lawmakers declared a “record year,” locking in $141.2 million across seven projects, including $36 million for a three-year Holocaust Survivor Assistance Program and $40 million to finish camp-rebuild work.
;2023–24
Facing a $30 billion deficit, overall caucus wins initially fell to about $24.7 million. Still, $20 million went to a scaled-back security-grant round, and Governor Newsom later added another $20 million in emergency funds after the October 7 attack to nearly double that pool to $44.7 million.
;2024–25
The legislature took the unprecedented step of approving a two-year, $160 million commitment — $80 million per year — locking in long-term stability for the security-grant program and adding smaller sums for Holocaust-education consortia and asylum-seeker services
Key elements include:
- $80 million annually for CSNSGP, marking the first multi-year commitment to the program and guaranteeing sustained funding for high-risk nonprofits, houses of worship, LGBTQ+ centers, and reproductive-health clinics.
- $5 million to continue and expand the California Teachers Collaborative on Holocaust and Genocide Education, supporting curriculum development and teacher training across 14 leading institutions.
- $79 million reappropriation for the San Diego Rapid Response Network, enabling Jewish Family Service of San Diego's Asylum-Seeker Shelter and related services to carry over unspent funds into the new fiscal year.
Legislation
AB 57 : Implements State Auditor recommendations to improve hate-crime, anti-Semitic and anti-Israel data collection and reporting by law enforcement and the California Department of Justice. Introduced 2021; advanced in Assembly Public Safety Committee.
AB 587 : Requires social-media platforms to publicly disclose content-moderation practices related to hate, disinformation, extremism, harassment, antisemitic, and anti-Israel content. Sponsored by CLJC; supported by ADL, JPAC, AJC, and other groups.
AB 1126 : Establishes the California Commission on the State of Hate & Violent Extremism, monitoring anti-Semitic and anti-Israel activity and recommending policies to the Legislature and state agencies.
SB 693 : Develops and promotes resources for teacher training and curriculum through the creation of the Governor's Council on Genocide and Holocaust Education, which includes the Anti-Defamation League, Simon Wiesenthal Center, USC Shoah Foundation, Jewish Family and Children's Services Holocaust Center, Holocaust Museum LA, Facing History and Ourselves, and the Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation.
;2024
SB 1287 : Requires public colleges and universities to update and expand student-conduct codes to prevent behavior defined as harassment, intimidation, violence and discrimination, particularly against pro-Israel students by pro-Palestinian activists.
AB 2925 : Requires that any campus that chooses to provide DEI training must include training about anti-Semitic and anti-Israel discrimination against Jews.
AB 3024 : Stop Hate Littering Act criminalizes distribution of pro-Palestinian and other flyers, posters, or symbols defined as hateful or as being intended to terrorize.
SB 1277 : Establishes a statewide professional-development program under the Department of Education for grades 7-12:
The California Teachers Collaborative for Holocaust and Genocide Education, which includes the Anti-Defamation League, Simon Wiesenthal Center, USC Shoah Foundation, Jewish Family and Children's Services Holocaust Center, Holocaust Museum LA, Facing History and Ourselves, and the Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation.
;2025
AB 715 : Creates a state Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator to monitor K-12 and prohibits historical narratives deemed anti-Israel by the Coordinator.
Prohibits accounts that minimize the nature and extent of antisemitic incidents and violence as determined by Pro-Israel organizations. Prohibits comparisons of Israel with Nazi Germany and Jews or Israelis with Nazis. States that language or content which “directly or indirectly questions Israel's right to exist” amounts to discriminatory conduct toward Jewish students. Prohibits “dual loyalty” assertions that American Jews have loyalty to both Israel and the US. Strengthens Uniform Complaint Process.
AB 1468 : Narrows high school ethnic-studies curriculum to a U.S.-only framework, excluding global perspectives on colonialism and Palestine-related education. Introduces new “guardrails”, public-hearing and wait period requirements for every ethnic-studies course and instructional material.