Muslim Day at the Capitol (MDAC) in California is the nation’s largest Muslim civic engagement event. It provides an opportunity for participants to speak with assembly members and state senators, discuss issues impacting them and their communities, attend town halls, and participate in political advocacy. 

In 2023, over 400 community members throughout California gathered at the state capitol, where they played a pivotal role in influencing policies that affect all Californians. MDAC attendees lobbied for progressive policies that support justice and equality, including protecting the right to religious accommodations in correction facilities, allowing excused absences from school and work for religious holidays, and expanding opportunities for all.

MDAC will be held on Monday, April 29, 2024, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm in Sacramento.

We will be scheduling in-person meetings with elected officials. Registered attendees will be placed in groups based on their region, and each group will be scheduled to meet with at least one elected official. We will also host town halls and workshops.

Registration is required to attend. Deadline to register: Monday, April 22, 2024, at 11:59 pm

$30 Per Adult   |   $25 Per Student

Registration includes materials, training, and meals.

Attendees under 18 must register with a parent or guardian over 18.

Transportation is available for an additional fee.

Legislative Agenda

Click here to view the scheduled legislative meetings.

  • SB 309: Correctional facilities: religious accommodations. PASSED
      • The bill would include the right to exercise religious freedom, including accommodations for grooming and prescribed religious clothing and headwear, as specified.

  • SB 461: Days and hours of work: religious or cultural observance. PASSED
      • This bill would allow state employees to utilize their allocated 8 hours of holiday credit towards time off for religious or cultural observance. Currently, the time may only be used for predetermined holidays.

  • AB 1503: Pupil attendance: excused absences: religious retreats.
      • This bill would expand the excused absence time from 4 to 8 hours per semester. The existing law allows 4 hours per semester of excused absences for religious retreats in K-12.

Hate Crime/Harassment

AB 1947: Freedom from Hate Crimes Act

    • The bill will mandate that every law enforcement agency adopts better documentation and policies to guide officers in their response to suspected hate crimes. The bill does not mandate more policing or increase penalties for crimes.

AB 2549: Ending Street Harassment

    • This bill would create a public health approach to prevent the street harassment of women and other vulnerable communities in California. The Bill would also create a multi-year statewide public education campaign about street harassment, study street harassment as a public health issue and define street harassment within a public health, not criminal, context.

SB 1161: Public Transit Ridership Safety – PASSED

    • This measure will require California’s 10 largest transit districts to gather research on street harassment of women and other vulnerable communities and to develop data-driven initiatives to help prevent street harassment on public transit systems.

Immigration

AB 1766: California IDs for All – PASSED

    • This bill will expand access to all in obtaining a California ID, regardless of immigration status.

Law Enforcement

SB 1038: Prohibition of Biometric Surveillance by Law Enforcement 

    • This bill would indefinitely extend the prohibition of a law enforcement agency or law enforcement officer from installing, activating, or using any biometric surveillance system in connection with an officer camera or data collected by an officer camera.

AB 412 (Reyes) – California Commission on Human Rights

This bill would create the California Commission on Human Rights, an advisory commission which will oversee and report on the status of human rights across California. Where issues or concerns of human rights violations are occurring, the Commission would provide recommendations and solutions to the Legislature and necessary departments to mitigate those human rights abuses.

AB 1368 (Calderon) – Enhanced Services & Programs for Asylees

This bill would establish the Enhanced Services & Programs for Asylees (ESPA) program which would provide resettlement services for community members granted political asylum in California. This bill would provide $8 million over the next two years to provide culturally responsive case management services.

AB 48 (Gonzalez) – Kinetic Energy Projectiles: Passed

This bill would prohibit the use of kinetic energy projectiles or chemical agents, such as tear gas and rubber bullets, by any law enforcement agency to disperse at any assembly, protest, or demonstration and solely due to a violation of an imposed curfew, verbal threat, or noncompliance with a law enforcement directive. The bill would also require law enforcement agencies to report whenever they determine to use tear gas and rubber bullets on protestors to ensure it does not violate this law.

AB 3133 – Refugees: Resettlement: Passed

This bill prohibits a refugee from being denied resettlement in California on the basis of protected characteristics such as, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, country of origin, religion, gender, and sexuality. This ensures no refugee is discriminated against for their identity when being approved for resettlement in California.

AB 3134 – Refugee Cash Assistance

This bill expands the Refugee Cash Assistance program by an additional 8 months to secure greater funding for new refugees who classify as “Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents.” This classification includes all refugees who arrived without families and are still looking for employment and economic security.  This bill was ultimately held in the State Senate due to COVID-19 budget restrictions.

ACA 6/Prop 17 – Free the Vote

This bill would create a California Constitutional amendment for voters to approve in the November 2020 election. This amendment would allow individuals on parole for a felony to register to vote.  This bill passed the Legislature and was sent to voters on the November 2020 Ballot as Proposition 17.  Voters approved this amendment.

ACA 5/Prop 16 – Opportunity for All Act

This bill would create a California Constitutional amendment for voters to approve in the November 2020 election. This amendment would repeal Prop 209, effectively reinstating affirmative action in California.  This bill passed the Legislature and was sent to voters on the November 2020 Ballot as Proposition 16.  Voters did not approve this amendment.

AB 392 (Peace officers deadly force): Passed

This bill would redefine the circumstances under which a homicide by a peace officer is deemed justifiable to include when the killing is in self-defense or the defense of another, consistent with the existing legal standard for self-defense, or when the killing is necessary to prevent the escape of a fleeing felon whose immediate apprehension is necessary to prevent death or serious injury. The bill would additionally bar the use of this defense if the peace officer acted in a criminally negligent manner that caused the death, including if the officer’s criminally negligent actions created the necessity for the use of deadly force.

AB 331 (High School Graduation Requirements: Ethnic Studies)

This bill would add the completion of a one-semester course in ethnic studies, in either the subject of social studies or English, based on the model curriculum in ethnic studies developed by the Instructional Quality Commission, to the high school graduation requirements commencing with the 2023–24 school year. The bill would authorize local educational agencies to require a full-year course in ethnic studies at their discretion, as specified.

ACA 6 (Free the Vote Act: Voting Rights)
This bill would restore the right to vote to people on parole for a conviction of a felony.

AB 2291 (School Safety: Bullying ) CAIR CA Co-sponsoring: Passed

The bill would require school districts and county offices of education to include policies and procedures relating to bullying and the prevention of bullying adopted pursuant to the Safe Place to Learn Act in their school safety plans. This bill would require the department of education to post the online training module developed by the department and an annually updated list of other available online training modules relating to bullying or bullying prevention.

AB 2184 (Business Licenses): Passed

This bill would require cities and counties that licenses businesses carried on within their respective jurisdictions to accept a California driver’s license or identification number, individual taxpayer identification number, or municipal identification number.

AB 931 (Use of Force)

Authorizes police officers to use deadly force only when it is necessary to prevent imminent and serious bodily injury or death – that is, if, given the totality of the circumstances, there was no reasonable alternative to using deadly force, including warnings, verbal persuasion, or other nonlethal methods of resolution or de-escalation. This bill also establishes that a homicide by a peace officer is not justified if the officer’s gross negligence contributed to making the force “necessary.” If AB 931 becomes law, police departments can discipline or fire officers who use deadly force that is unnecessary, and in some cases, the local District Attorney could file criminal charges.

SB 31 (California Religious Freedom Act) CAIR Co-sponsoring: Passed
This bill would prohibit a state or local agency from participating in a federal program to create a database on a person’s religious beliefs, national origin, or ethnicity for law enforcement or immigration purposes. It would also prevent state and local law enforcement agencies from collecting information on the religious beliefs, practices, or affiliations of an individual except under certain circumstances.

SB 54 (The California Values Act): Passed 
This bill would protect the safety and well-being of all Californians by ensuring that state and local resources are not used to fuel mass deportations and that public schools, state health facilities, and courthouses remain safe and accessible to all California residents, regardless of their immigration status.

AB 158 (Hate Crime Reporting Standards) 
This bill would establish uniform hate crime reporting standards for law enforcement agencies statewide.

AB 1318 (Safe Place to Learn Act) CAIR Co-sponsoring
This bill would require the department to assess whether the local educational agency has provided information related to the support all students who may face bias or bullying. Additionally, it would require the list to include resources that provide support to youth, and their families, who have been subjected to bullying or faced bias.

AB 2845 (Safe Place to Learn Act) CAIR Sponsored: Passed
The act aims to mandate that school districts provide school site and community resources for students who are subject to discrimination and bullying based on actual or perceived religious affiliation. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction of California would be required to publish and make available to students and their families, anti-bullying resources on its website for those who are subject to discrimination and bullying based on actual or perceived religious affiliation, nationality, race, or ethnicity.

AB 2792 (TRUTH ACT): Passed
In an effort to rectify an absence of transparency and accountability within the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) program, the Transparent Review of Unjust Transfers and Holds (TRUTH) Act was created to allow public oversight through community forums and access to ICE records through California’s Public Records Act (CPRA) requests. Local law enforcement assisting ICE would be required to provide a written consent form to detained individuals explaining their rights during the ICE interview process. They would also be required to notify the detained individual’s attorney of the individual’s anticipated release date.

SB 1286 (Police Investigation Transparency and Accountability): Passed
SB 1286 will (1) allow public access to investigations, findings, and disciplinary information on serious uses of force by police, (2) allow public access to information on police misconduct, (3) affirm an individual’s right to be able to track his/her misconduct complaints and monitor what the police department is doing about it, (4) allow local governments that choose to establish civilian review boards or appeal boards for officer disciplinary proceedings to have those boards hold open public hearings, and (5) give power back to civilian oversight bodies to effectively monitor police.

SB 178 (CalECPA): Passed This bill would prohibit a government entity from compelling the production of or access to electronic communication information or electronic device information, as defined, without a search warrant, wiretap order, order for electronic reader records, or subpoena issued pursuant under specified conditions, except for emergency situations, as defined. The bill would also specify the conditions under which a government entity may access electronic device information by means of physical interaction or electronic communication with the device, such as pursuant to a search warrant, wiretap order, or consent of the owner of the device.

AB 953 (Racial Profiling): Passed
 This bill would enact the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015, which would, among other changes, revise the definition of racial profiling to instead refer to racial or identity profiling, and make a conforming change to the prohibition against peace officers engaging in that practice.

SB 828 (Anti-NSA Bill): Passed Prohibits the state or a state actor from materially supporting or assisting any federal agency in collecting data of any person not based on a warrant that particularly describes the person, place, and thing to be searched or seized. Makes evidence collected from warrantless data collection inadmissible in local or state courts.

AB-4 (TRUST Act): Passed Limits California’s compliance with the controversial Secure Communities program, which has resulted in thousands of unjust costly detentions and deportations of undocumented immigrants.

AB 241: Passed Strengthens labor protections for domestic workers in California.

AB 1964: Passed Ensures religious freedoms of CA’s minority employees.

AB 1081: Advocated Keeps immigration enforcement at the federal level and strengthens trust between local police and immigrant communities.