SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — A bill that would make condoms freely available to California public high school students passed its first legislative hurdle on Wednesday, though it has a long path before potentially reaching the governor’s desk.
Senate Bill 954 — introduced by Senator Caroline Menjivar, a San Fernando Valley Democrat — closely resembles a bill of hers that passed the Legislature last year, but was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom over budget concerns. The new bill passed the Senate’s Education Committee Wednesday in a 5-2 vote. It now heads to the Senate Health Committee.
The bill is an attempt to address what Menjivar called the state’s sexually transmitted infection epidemic. Rates of infection for youth aged 15 to their early 20s have increased over the past decade, with that age range comprising about 50% of all cases.
Some school districts have programs that provide condoms to students, but it’s not statewide, Menjivar said.
“We don’t have equitable access to these kinds of programs throughout California,” she said Wednesday.
Her bill would require that condoms are available to high school students no later than the 2025-26 school year. It would also require condoms be made available during specific educational and public health programs in public schools with 7th through 12th grades.
Amy Moy, co-CEO of Essential Access Health, called the sexually transmitted infection epidemic a public health concern. Many sexually transmitted infections have no symptoms but devastating results, like permanent tissue damage, blindness and infertility.
Greg Burt of the California Family Council, spoke against the bill. He said lawmakers have championed condoms as a “panacea” for the state’s rate of sexually transmitted infections. He pointed to the 2015 California Healthy Youth Act, questioning if that measure — which sought to ensure students receive accurate, appropriate and inclusive sex education — actually worked.
It didn’t, Burt argued, asking why legislators think condoms are now the answer.
“This bill promotes a hook-up culture,” Burt said. “How many young people are you willing to sacrifice?”
Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, a Yucaipa Republican and the committee’s vice chair, said lawmakers have received several comments from constituents on the issue. She said she was concerned about turning schools into health centers when the same schools rank low in reading, writing and mathematics.
Ochoa Bogh also pointed to the state’s budget deficit — somewhere between $38 billion and $73 billion, depending on the estimates from the Governor’s Office and Legislative Analyst’s Office, respectively.
The funds for the program — some $5 million over three years — would come from a special fund, not the general fund.
The vice chair also questioned why taxpayers should fund a program that pays for the consequences of someone else’s choice.
“Where’s the sense of personal responsibility?” Ochoa Bogh asked, adding that she was nervous about potentially aiding a culture of permissiveness.
Menjivar said she wanted to prevent unintended pregnancies. It’s the Legislature’s responsibility to tackle the statewide epidemic, she said. California spends billions of dollars on reactive care, but falls short when addressing preventive care.
Money was Newsom’s main concern when he vetoed a similar bill by Menjivar last year.
“While evidence-based strategies, like increasing access to condoms, are important to supporting improved adolescent sexual health, this bill would create an unfunded mandate to public schools that should be considered in the annual budget process,” the governor said in a veto statement from 2023.
Menjivar said that taking no action will make the epidemic worse.
“This is a 40-year argument, and I can’t believe we’re here,” said Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, a Los Angeles Democrat, as she made a motion to pass the bill. “Condoms are life-saving measures.”
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