SB381 - Aftermath

Hello Everyone,

Here is our statement from the California Alliance for Adoptee Rights Leadership Team:

Friends, we wanted to give you a clear, honest update now that we’ve had a chance to talk with our legislative team about the  outcome of SB381.

First, and most importantly: 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴. Several folks we’ve spoken with in Sacramento have told us the same thing: our advocacy on this bill has been legendary. The coalition we built, the number of people who showed up to hearings, called, wrote letters, and stayed fully engaged all year - that’s beyond the standards of what usually happens with legislation like this. We had no formal opposition. We had broad bipartisan support. We did everything right.

Here’s the truth about the suspense file: this happens to a lot of bills, many of them good ones, and it happens for reasons that are rarely made public.

Of the thousands of bills that die in California every legislative session, the vast majority die exactly this way - quietly, without a recorded vote, without a clear explanation. It’s not fair, and it’s not about adoptees, or the merits of our cause in any way. It’s simply how this part of the process works in California, for everyone.
We want to be straightforward: reviving SB 381 THIS session is, by our own legislative team’s description, next to impossible. We’re not going to pretend otherwise.

But here’s what we want you to know: 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿.
We started our private Facebook workgroup in 2019, with almost nothing, and we’re coming out of this legislative session with an enormous amount: relationships with offices across the Capitol, a coalition of 20+ organizations and thousands of individual supporters, real skills in navigating this process, polished materials and messaging, and a community that shows up, again and again, with calls, letters, and presence. That work doesn’t disappear.

We have valuable insight into some things we may do differently next session, but mainly it will be the same strong bill and campaign and we will very likely have to navigate challenges (or people!) that arise unpredictably.

We will be seeking out a new author to carry this bill forward, with conversations starting in mid-September.
And speaking of what’s next: mark your calendars for 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟯𝟬𝘁𝗵, when we’ll gather in Capitol Park in Sacramento to kick off the next chapter of this fight. Everyone is welcome and we would love to see you there. Watch for an invitation soon.

This isn’t the ending we wanted. But it isn’t the end of this fight, we are in it until every California-born adult adoptee has unrestricted access to their OBC!

With gratitude and resolve,
Lori, Paul, Wendy and Emily