Victory! ACA7 Will Not Go on the November 2024 Ballot

Allow me to share the great news of our hard-fought victory. We have succeeded in stopping ACA7 from getting on this year's state ballot!

Today is the deadline for the California Senate to pass ACA7 if its members want it to appear on the November ballot. But there is no chance that the deadline will be met.  Even ACA7's chief sponsor---Assembly Member Corey Jackson---admits this.

The Senate Rules Committee, acting with full knowledge that the deadline for qualification on the November ballot was looming, waited until just the last week to assign ACA7 to the Judiciary Committee and the Elections & Constitutional Amendments Committee.  But neither committee has had time to hold a hearing or vote on ACA7.  They haven't even scheduled such a hearing or vote.

This is a big win for us. And this is a win for all Californians.  ACA7 is just a trickier version of Proposition 16, which we defeated overwhelmingly in 2020.   If ACA7 ever becomes law, it will effectively gut Proposition 209's core provision: "The state shall not discriminate, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting."

I want to thank my colleagues on the "No on ACA7" team, who have been working diligently with me to meet with state senators and their staff members to present our arguments. I want to thank our allies and coalition partners who submitted position letters and joined our effort whenever possible.

But mostly, I want to thank you.  Over the course of the last six months, many of you have responded to our calls for action and voiced your opposition to ACA7 by sending letters, postcards, and emails to state senators.  In February, many of you joined us for a Day in Sacramento during which we spoke to senators and senate staffers and dropped a "No on ACA7" briefing book by each senate office.  Some of you joined us at local rallies. Others of you sent us photographs of yourselves holding "No on ACA7" signs for our "No on ACA7" photo parade on Twitter/X.  Because of you, lawmakers in Sacramento were made to understand that ACA7 would be just as unpopular as Proposition 16.

While ACA7 has not been scheduled for any committee hearing as of today, there is certainly a possibility that the California Senate could move the bill through the committee process later and place it on a future ballot in 2026 (or sooner, if a special election is called).  Therefore, we will continue to follow developments regarding ACA7 and bring you updates.

But for now, let's celebrate the win. May this be a fitting gift for America's 248th birthday!

Gail Heriot

No on ACA7 Chair