Press Statement: UNAC/UHCP Applauds Passage of SB 596: Strengthening Staffing Ratio Enforcement

For Immediate Release

October 30, 2025

UNAC/UHCP Applauds Passage of SB 596: Strengthening Staffing Ratio Enforcement

Safe Staffing Saves Lives

LOS ANGELES, CA — Registered nurses and health care professionals with UNAC/UHCP are celebrating a major victory for patients and frontline caregivers with the passage of SB 596, a UNAC/UHCP-sponsored bill authored by State Senator Caroline Menjivar (D-San Fernando Valley) that closes loopholes in California’s safe nurse staffing law, increasing accountability, and strengthening enforcement of nurse-to-patient ratios, including in psychiatric hospitals. We applaud the legislature and Governor Gavin Newsom for their support.

“When ratios are violated, patients wait in pain. They fall through the cracks. Nurses burn out, and the promise of safe, high-quality care becomes an empty promise,” said Charmaine Morales, RN, President of UNAC/UHCP. “This is about real people: The patient in the hallway who needs help. The nurse sprinting from room to room trying to give care. This new law is a practical step forward, not just for nurses, but for every patient in California.”

Registered nurses and health care professionals have fought for decades to protect safe staffing. SB 596 takes that fight several crucial steps further, closing loopholes and clarifying key provisions of California’s safe staffing law. UNAC/UHCP members and leaders, who testified in committee hearings and met with legislators in their districts and at the Capitol, and championed this bill from start to finish, are now in the midst of contract fights over resources for staff.

UNAC/UHCP played a pivotal role in securing California’s landmark safe nurse-to-patient ratio law in 1999, the first of its kind in the nation. Studies have consistently shown that safe staffing saves lives. Yet, in the decades since the law went into effect in 2004, nurses have had to fight to strengthen its enforcement—in our hospitals, in our union contracts, and in the state capitol. SB 596 represents a major step forward in that fight.

This new law brings long-overdue enforcement mechanisms, including:

• Mandated timelines for the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to investigate staffing violations.
• Treating each day of noncompliance as a separate violation, increasing accountability.
• Tightened practices around on-call nurses, who can be essential to fully staff overburdened units.
• Tougher penalties for repeat violators.

For too long, hospitals have skirted staffing laws through delays and loopholes. SB 596 ensures timely investigations, real consequences for violations, and stronger oversight across all hospital settings. These reforms protect frontline caregivers, promote accountability, and make hospitals safer for both patients and staff.

“This is a critical win for both patient safety and caregiver protection,” Morales added. “We are sending a clear message: California will hold hospitals accountable for staffing violations.”

UNAC/UHCP extends deep gratitude to Senator Menjivar and Governor Gavin Newsom for helping ensure that staffing protections are enforced for the people who need them most—California patients.