Legislative Advocacy
Patients receiving care from members of the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) benefit from enhanced quality and safety.
The latest: Fight Attacks on Medicaid and Labor
What We Fight For
Safe Staffing
UNAC/UHCP played a key role in securing California’s nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, which have improved patient outcomes and reduced mortality. We continue to fight for similar protections in Hawai‘i.
Quality Care
We confront critical challenges like the national nursing shortage by advocating for systemic solutions that uphold high standards of patient care.
Professional Development
UNAC/UHCP supports ongoing education and skill-building for RNs, pharmacists, therapists, and optometrists—ensuring patients receive care from highly trained, up-to-date professionals.
Professional Practice
UNAC/UHCP strengthens healthcare professions by supporting ongoing education and skill-building, ensuring patients receive care from highly trained, up-to-date professionals.
- Registered Nurses deliver more attentive care thanks to enforceable staffing ratios.
- Pharmacists focus on safe, accurate medication counseling through fair workloads and ongoing training.
- Therapists access tools and education that improve patient rehabilitation outcomes.
- Optometrists stay current with innovations in eye care, enhancing vision services for patients.
Making A Difference
Legislative Wins
Safe Work Environments for Better Care
SB 327 (2015) – Protecting 12-Hour Shifts for Nurses
Preserves the ability for nurses to work 12-hour shifts—an important scheduling option that supports continuity of care, reduces handoff errors, and increases patient familiarity with care teams.
SB 1299 (2014) – Preventing Violence in Healthcare Settings
Requires hospitals to implement workplace violence prevention plans, helping reduce the risk of assaults on healthcare workers so they can focus on delivering safe, uninterrupted care.
SB 17 (2017) – Drug Price Transparency to Protect Access
Increases transparency on drug price hikes, making essential medications more affordable and available to patients—especially in emergencies and chronic care situations.
Safe Staffing and Pandemic Protections
SB 227 (2019) – Enforcing Nurse-to-Patient Ratios
Empowers regulators to fine hospitals that violate safe staffing laws. Enforced ratios ensure nurses aren’t overwhelmed—critical to preventing errors, hospital-acquired infections, and avoidable deaths.
SB 1159 (2020) – Protecting Healthcare Workers During COVID-19
Provides automatic workers’ compensation coverage to frontline workers who contract COVID-19, keeping infected staff home and preventing further spread to vulnerable patients.
Expanding Safe Access to Care
SB 1237 (2020) – Nurse Midwives Can Provide Routine Care Independently
Allows certified nurse midwives to provide prenatal and reproductive care without physician supervision, expanding access to safe maternal care and reducing delays in treatment.
AB 890 (2020) – Nurse Practitioners Improve Access and Continuity
Grants experienced nurse practitioners the authority to practice independently in underserved settings. This helps reduce ER visits and improves chronic disease management—especially in primary care deserts.
Strengthening the Future Nursing Workforce
AB 1577 (2024) – Prioritizing Clinical Training for Nursing Students
Ensures hospitals partner with community colleges and CSU programs to offer clinical placements. More training slots means more skilled nurses at the bedside—boosting safety for future patients.
As dedicated healthcare professionals, we’re proud to have successfully stood up for patient safety, professional standards, and the integrity of care by helping defeat proposals that would have placed professionals and the communities we serve at risk.
Protected Patient and Nurse Privacy
We helped defeat SB 1111, which would have required nurses’ home addresses to be posted online—needlessly compromising the personal safety of frontline caregivers. Patient care is strongest when healthcare workers can focus on healing, not on threats to their privacy and security.
Defended Clinical Expertise on the Pharmacy Board
We stopped SB 716, which would have weakened pharmacists’ voices on the Board of Pharmacy. Patients deserve a regulatory board guided by professionals who understand the real-world implications of medication safety, access, and oversight.
Preserved Safe Pharmacy Staffing Standards
We blocked SB 617, which sought to dangerously increase the pharmacist-to-technician ratio from 1:2 to 1:3. That change could have led to rushed medication preparation and reduced oversight—risking patient safety in every prescription filled. We stood firm for accuracy, accountability, and safe patient care.
Our 2025 Legislative Priorities
Top Priority
Protect Medicaid
UNAC/UHCP is fighting to preserve Medicaid funding in California to protect access to essential healthcare services, especially for vulnerable communities.
Sponsored Bills
SB 596 (Menjivar) – Strengthening Staffing Ratio Enforcement
Closes loopholes in nurse staffing laws, increases accountability, and enforces ratios in psychiatric hospitals.
AB 1400 (Soria) – BSN Community College Pilot Program
Creates a pilot program for California community colleges to offer BSN degrees, expanding access in underserved areas.
Support Bills
AB 288 (McKinnor)
Enables California workers to seek union rights protections from the state when federal systems delay or fail to act.
AB 836 (Bonta)
Launches a study to improve midwifery education access, diversity, and training in California.
AB 876 (Flora)
Expands CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthetists) practice rights—full anesthesia services without physician supervision statewide.
SB 41 (Wiener)
Regulates Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) to increase pricing transparency and protect consumers from drug cost manipulation.
SB 632 (Arreguín)
Establishes presumptive workers’ comp eligibility for hospital employees with job-related illnesses and injuries.
Oppose Bills
AB 1503
Increases pharmacist-to-technician ratio to 1:4—raising safety concerns and pharmacist workload.
AB 985
Introduces anesthesiologist assistants (AAs), creating confusion and undermining CRNAs (certified registered nurse anesthetists) without demonstrated need.
AB 1082
Gives clinical priority to out-of-state nursing students over California-trained students, risking educational quality and patient safety.