New Law Prohibits Forced Outing Policies in Schools to Keep Students Safe

The Support Academic Futures & Educators for Today’s Youth (SAFETY) Act was signed into law today, reinforcing California’s commitment to providing a safe and supportive learning environment for all students, regardless of gender identity. Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego) and the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus introduced the legislation, AB 1955, in response to policies in several school districts that have sought to forcibly expel students.

“Politically motivated attacks on the rights, safety, and dignity of transgender, nonbinary, and other LGBTQ+ youth are on the rise nationwide, including in California,” said Assemblymember Ward. “While some school districts have adopted policies to forcibly out students, the SAFETY Act ensures that discussions about gender identity remain a private matter within the family. As a parent, I urge all parents to talk to their children, listen to them, and love them unconditionally for who they are.”

Since 2023, over a dozen school districts have proposed or implemented policies requiring teachers to inform parents if their child identifies as transgender or requests to be identified by a different name or pronoun at school. These policies have significantly impacted the mental health of LGBTQ+ students and can lead to instances of bullying, harassment, and discrimination.

The SAFETY Act addresses these issues by:

• Prohibiting school districts from enacting forced outing policies.
• Providing resources for parents and students to manage conversations about gender and identity privately.
• Protecting teachers and school staff from retaliation if they refuse to forcibly out a student.

Since 2020, eight states have enacted laws mandating school staff to forcibly out transgender students, while five others have passed legislation encouraging such actions. California is the first state to explicitly prohibit forced outing policies in schools.

Despite homes not always being safe for transgender youth, schools should be a sanctuary. According to a 2024 Trevor Project survey, less than 40% of transgender and nonbinary youth find their homes to be LGBTQ-affirming. Conversely, more than half of transgender and nonbinary young people reported that their schools are gender-affirming, which correlates with lower suicide attempt rates.

The SAFETY Act is a step forward in ensuring that all students, regardless of their gender identity, have a supportive and safe environment to learn and grow.

“Today is a great day for California,” said California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus Chair Susan Eggman. “With the Governor’s signature on AB 1955, a first-in-the-nation policy, reaffirms California’s position as a leader and safe haven for LGBTQ+ youth everywhere. I am incredibly proud of our LGBTQ Caucus, and Assemblymember Ward in particular, for their leadership on this life-saving legislation. I am also deeply grateful for all the parents, teachers, youth, LGBTQ+ leaders, and so many other groups who came together to support this bill. Their support reaffirmed what this caucus already knew: Safe and supportive schools for all our children should be our top priority. And at the end of the day, that’s what this bill does: it ensures our K-12 campuses remain safe and affirming places for our youth no matter how they identify.”

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A software error affecting a California lottery game is prompting lotto officials to boost the prize pool by hundreds of thousands of dollars in the coming days, leading to potentially bigger jackpot wins. 

On Monday, the California Lottery said it recently discovered the glitch which affected machines selling Daily Derby tickets.

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As part of the game, players select two sets of three numbers: the first represents three horses to finish in first, second, and third places. The second set of numbers represents a winning race time.

The software error was limited, according to lottery officials, who said it affected two specific kinds of ticket machines and had an impact on players who used the “quick pick” option. That option allows the gaming system to select the numbers for players.

“The machines affected by the error produced Quick Pick tickets with numbers only in ascending order. The software issue also affected the race time number selections in some cases, with numbers only being printed on tickets in ascending order and with no repeating digits,” officials explained.

They also said the software issue was corrected within 24 hours of its discovery and stressed that no other state lottery games were affected.

Because of the error and as a promotion, the California lottery said that starting Tuesday, the Daily Derby overall prize will be boosted by $100,000 each day for 12 days. 

“This means winners at any prize level will have the opportunity to win bigger prizes than they would without the promotion,” officials said. “If the grand prize is not won during the promotional period, the money added to the grand prize will remain in the pot until someone wins the top prize.”

In September 2023, California passed legislation requiring large companies to file sustainability disclosures beginning in 2026. The move was part of a global trend of sustainability reporting and environmental, social and governance reporting focused on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. However, a new proposal by Governor Gavin Newsom will delay implementation by two years.

As international focus on climate change increased in the wake of the Paris Agreement, there was a simultaneous increase in pressure on businesses to be more accountable for their climate and environmental policies. This translated into a rise in ESG reports and sustainability reports created by companies to attempt to showcase their green initiatives.

Around 2020, the production of these reports became standard practice by both publicly traded and privately held companies. However, there was no standardization of content. Regulators scrambled to create sustainability reporting standards. This was generally done at a national or international level.

In 2021, the International Sustainability Standards Board drafted the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation’s Sustainability Disclosure Standards. The IFRS Standards were adopted in June 2023 as the global standard for sustainability and climate change reporting, including GHG emissions.

That same month, the European Union announced the adoption of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. The ESRS incorporated the IFSR Standards for climate related disclosure

In March 2022, the SEC proposed the development of a Climate-Related Disclosure Rule. The final rule, adopted in March, 2024, required large publicly traded companies to disclose climate action, GHG emissions, and the financial impacts of severe weather events. The rule was initially set to go into effect in 2026.

In September 2023, California approved the Climate Accountability Package, a pair of bills aimed at creating sustainability reporting requirements. The bills require reporting standards far beyond the SEC standards.

Senate Bill 253 requires companies who do business in California and have an excess of $1 billion in revenue, defined as “reporting entities”, to submit an annual report for Scope 1 and Scope 2 starting in 2026. Scope 3 reporting will begin in 2027. The State Air Resources Board must create the details of the reporting requirement by January 1, 2025.

Senate Bill 261 requires companies who do business in California and an excess of $500 million in revenue, defined as “covered entities”, to submit a biennial climate-related financial risk report. The report is based on the work of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, established by the Financial Stability Board.

Implementation of sustainability reporting standards has been bumpy at best. The drafting of the regulations was more complicated than lawmakers originally envisioned. The result has been delays in the implementation timelines as governments struggle to find a balance between the desire to require reporting and the complexities of a regulatory scheme. The EU has delayed parts of the ESRS to allow companies to adjust to the existing standards and to allow time for additional drafting.

This became even more problematic, especially in the U.S., as regulations were challenged in the courts. The SEC rule was delayed indefinitely as challenges work through the legal system.

The California requirements faced similar challenges. However, it was not the legal challenges that delayed implementation, but rather the inability to draft the details in time. This is not a new concern, and it is not surprising the Newsom is now pushing the delay.

Newsom signed the bill into law on October 7 but questioned the feasibility of implementation at the time. The Governor’s message with the bill singing, which becomes part of the official record, stated (in full).

“I am signing Senate Bill 253 which would require, among other things, the California Air resources Board (CARB), by January 1, 2025, to develop and adopt regulations requiring businesses with total annual revenues over $1 billion and operating in California to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions to an emissions reporting organization.

“This important policy, once again, demonstrates California’s continued leadership with bold responses to the climate crisis, turning information transparency into climate action. However, the implementation deadlines in this bill are likely infeasible, and the reporting protocol specified could result in inconsistent reporting across businesses subject to the measure. I am directing my Administration to work with the bill’s author and the Legislature next year to address these issues.

“Additionally, I am concerned about the overall financial impact of this bill on businesses, so I am instructing CARB to closely monitor the cost impact as it implements this new bill and to make recommendations to streamline the program. I look forward to working with the Legislature on these modifications to ensure we achieve this bill’s goals of ‘full transparency and consistency’.”

The proposal will delay Scope 1 and Scope 2 reporting until 2028. Scope 3 will be delayed until 2029. It is unclear if the delays will be adopted. However, given the global trend of delays in implementation, it is not unreasonable to assume that California will follow the same path.