FIERCE Coalition

👉🏼 Interested in joining our coalition? Email us at info@leadfilipino.org

FIERCE Coalition is a statewide assembly of 15+ Filipinx/o/a American (FilAm) community-based organizations (CBOs), nonprofits, grassroots, and student groups from across California. In 2018 we operated as the “Statewide Policy Steering Committee” until we were formally established as “FIERCE Coalition” in the summer of 2020.

Telling the story of the evolution of the FIERCE Coalition requires rewinding back to the summer of 2018. In June 2018, we received a phone call from our Bulosan Center family. The reason for the call? To collaborate on forming a response to the continuous absence and underrepresentation of Fil voices in public policy conversations, despite being the largest Asian Pacific Islander group in California at 1.5 million.

That phone call catalyzed a series of summer sessions between LEAD Filipino and the Bulosan Center. These conversations ranged from addressing the current (at that time) absence of Fil Ams in public policy and political leadership, conceptualizing ways that our organizations could change these realities, and at some point – we put these ideas into action.

Since its creation, the FIERCE Coalition produces the annual Statewide Filipinx Policy & Organizing Symposium and Legislative Advocacy Day in Sacramento.

2019

Bill	Name	Description
AB-331	Pupil Instruction: High School Graduation Requirements: Ethnic Studies	Assembly Bill 331 which would authorize an Ethnic Studies pilot program in 11 school districts, with the intention of mandating Ethnic Studies as a CA public high school graduation requirement in the 2024-25 academic year.
AB-1481	Tenancy Termination: Just Cause
AB-1482:	Tenant Protection Act of 2019: Tenancy: Rent Caps
	$5M to found a Domestic Workers Outreach & Education Fund	Help fund for CA’s 300,000 domestic workers that are pushed to the margins daily with respect to much-needed resources, services, and support.

2020

Access 2020 FilAm Policy Platform

Issue Area	Community Demands
Mental Health & Health Care	-Expand PPEs for hospital workers and other essential health workers outside the hospital setting such as care homes, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes. -Expand testing, treatment, and coverage to vulnerable populations such as the uninsured and undocumented. -Increased accessibility to mental health services including a pipeline for more culturally and linguistically competent and sensitive Filipino therapists. -Increased funding for a Filipino-contextualized Mental Health First Aid, an intergenerational, trauma-informed, and social justice-oriented program to raise awareness, destigmatize mental health, and lead
Housing	-Pass a rent and mortgage freeze to provide relief for economically affected tenants and home-owners. -Designate funding towards Filipino cultural districts, such as SoMa Pilipinas, to preserve affordable housing, small businesses, and historical sites integral to our community. -Pass the Rental Affordability Act, which would remove current restrictions in state law, giving cities and counties the power to implement and expand rent control policies that limit how much rents can increase each year. -Encouraging housing solutions such as community land trusts that
Education	-Approve the Schools and Communities First Initiative that distributes over $12 billion per year for PreK – 12 schools and community colleges, including funding to support students and families having access to the necessary tools, such as laptops and internet connection, needed to adapt to online learning. Funding should also include support for staff professional development and support for online learning, as well as providing relief for student loans and funds for food and financial aid. -Expand Ethnic Studies to the K – 12 level and other non academic spaces to combat racism and discrimination and build cross- racial solidarity by approving the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Draft with revisions from the original ESMC Committee. -Advocate for policies to support migrant teachers and end teacher trafficking

2021

Bill	Name	Description
AB-490	The Justice for Angelo Quinto Act	Assembly Bill 490 bans knee-to-neck holds in California and remove knee-to-neck holds from all local police jurisdictions use of force policies.
AB-118	The C.R.I.S.E.S Act	Assembly Bill 118 would fund a pilot program to alternative approaches to emergency response to incidents of mental health crises. AB 118 would support the inclusion of mental health specialists and social workers in responding to emergency calls to offer de-escalation and non-violent solutions.
SB-2	Police Accountability: Decertification	Senate Bill 2 establishes a statewide system that allows for a process to decertify police officers convicted of misconduct.
	Save Philippines Studies at City College of San Francisco	The Philippines Studies Department at City College of San Francisco is the only program in the country. Due to ongoing budget cuts at the community college level, The Philippines Studies Department is facing closure, as the faculty of the program have received pink slips. Help save Philippine Studies at CCSF and grow programming at all California community colleges.

2022

Bill	Name	Description
AB-1608		Assembly Bill 1608 seeks to revoke the authority of county boards of supervisors in California to consolidate the duties of the sheriff with those of the coroner and mandates the separation of these offices if they were consolidated before January 1, 2023.
AB-1400	California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act	Assembly Bill 1400, known as the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act, aims to establish the CalCare program, which provides comprehensive universal single-payer health care coverage and a health care cost control system for all California residents.
AB-1630		Assembly Bill 1630 safeguards the rights of individuals with disabilities and addresses a cycle where financially disadvantaged individuals with mental health issues end up in the criminal legal system instead of receiving appropriate treatment. It aims to make sure that individuals, previously deemed unfit to stand trial and not restored to competency, have their competence assessed before any trial proceeds.
AB 2235		Assembly Bill 2235 requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to establish an extra qualification in ethnic studies for educators meeting the specified requirements.
AB 2596		Assembly Bill 2596 establishes the “Lunar New Year” as a state holiday, granting state employees the option to receive holiday credit or use leave on this day, and excludes it from designation as a judicial holiday.
SB- 830		Senate Bill 830 introduces an equitable way to determine education funding using average daily membership, offering extra funding to local educational agencies that sustain their efforts to combat chronic absenteeism, with a stipulation that a minimum of 30% of this additional funding should be allocated to this cause.

2023

Bill	Name	Description
AB-1255	Teacher Credentialing: Ethnic Studies Task Force	Assembly Bill 1255 establishes a statewide task force to provide recommendations for criteria required to obtain a single-subject credential in ethnic studies, aiming to prepare teachers for effective instruction in this subject.
AB-449	Hate Crimes: Law Enforcement Policies	Assembly Bill 449 mandates state and local law enforcement agencies to adopt comprehensive hate crimes policies, including training, by July 1, 2024, with provisions for review and compliance monitoring by the Department of Justice.
AB-1382	State Designated Cultural Districts	Assembly Bill 1382 enhances state-designated cultural districts by appointing a dedicated staff member for program development and funding allocation and establishing an interdepartmental advisory group to support these cultural districts in collaboration with other agencies and promote them as tourism destinations.
H.R. 1433	Philippine Human Rights Act (PHRA)	The Philippine Human Rights Act proposes the suspension of U.S. security assistance to the Philippines until the Philippine government undertakes significant human rights and institutional reforms within its military and police forces.