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Consumer Federation of California and Legislators
Unveil 2026 Affordability Agenda


 

State worker unions, lawmaker push for transparency around CA prison contractors

Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal discusses his bill, AB 2223, with the Sacramento Bee. AB 2223 would establish reporting standards for health care staffing contracts at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

“A California lawmaker wants more transparency around how state prisons use contract workers instead of civil service employees after an audit found that several facilities have increasingly relied on private contractors, who often cost the state more in hourly wages, to meet required staffing levels.

Long Beach state Assembly member proposes law to keep kids under 16 off social media

Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal sat down with the Long Beach Post to discuss his bill, AB 1709, which would limit social media for kids under 16 years of age.

“Democratic Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal said the recent landmark court verdicts in New Mexico and Los Angeles ‘reaffirm our need to keep kids safe online.’ Yet while the rulings ‘are a good start,’ they don’t protect children aside from the plaintiffs. Lowenthal aims to change that, demanding oversight of the multi-trillion-dollar industry of social media.”

CA must fix outdated regulatory system for digital platforms

Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal’s op-ed in Capitol Weekly on the need for greater social media regulation in the wake of the New Mexico and Los Angeles social media trials.

“Right now, our regulatory system for digital platforms is woefully outdated. We regulate automobiles, pharmaceuticals and food products precisely because we recognize that unregulated markets can and do produce harmful outcomes.

Social media trials usher in Big Tech's latest moment of reckoning

Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal responds to the landmark social media verdicts in New Mexico and Los Angeles.

“Meta and YouTube, along with TikTok and Snap, have built platforms that are like casinos. They’re marketing them like they’re toys,” said Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, the Long Beach Democrat spearheading California’s effort to restrict social media access for kids under 16. “And now, they have to pay the price.”

 

Lowenthal Introduces Legislation to Protect Digital Privacy and Streamline Opt-Out Process

Bill would create first in nation privacy protections for consumers

SACRAMENTO - Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) announced today the introduction of AB 566 – a bill that would require web browsers to offer consumers the ability to exercise their privacy rights under California’s best-in-the-nation privacy law through global opt-out tools, often referred to as opt-out preference signals.

California passes school cellphone restrictions. But some students find workarounds

Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal is a proud author of AB 3216. 

"The legislation is expected to be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who urged educators as the academic year began to enact restrictions, citing the 'mental health, scholastic, and social risks' of phone use in classrooms. California would be the fifth state to require school districts to limit students’ phone usage, joining Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Virginia."