Dear Friends,

Governor Newsom and legislative leaders just announced a budget deal that includes a record $80 million in state funding for the California State Nonprofit Security Grant Program!

They also pledged $80 million for the grant program in 2025, the first time the state has ever made a multi-year commitment for this program. The legislature is expected to pass this agreement later this week.

An ongoing initiative led by JPAC and the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, security grants provide funding for nonprofits at risk of hate-motivated violence to enhance their security infrastructure – ensuring that synagogues and other houses of worship, as well as LGBTQ and reproductive health centers, can remain protected.

We're grateful to have incredible partners in the Jewish Caucus. As our 500 attendees at JPAC Capitol Summit last month made the case to lawmakers that the uptick in antisemitism demands more support, the Jewish Caucus elevated the need for expanding this program amongst their colleagues.

This allocation far surpasses the previous record of $50 million, made in 2021 and 2022. It comes as California navigates its largest budget deficit since the Great Recession, demonstrating the state’s deep commitment to Jewish communal safety.

We expect the grant program to be made available in the Fall, and will share information about the application at that time.

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The budget agreement also includes two other major JPAC and Jewish Caucus victories: 

» $5 million to continue and expand the work of the California Teachers Collaborative on Holocaust and Genocide Education. The Collaborative is composed of 14 leading California Holocaust and genocide educational institutions working together to create lesson plans, vehicles for the distribution of new curriculum, and teacher training programs to ensure that all schools are appropriately meeting the state’s Holocaust and genocide education standard.

» $79 million reappropriation so the San Diego Rapid Response Network (SDRRN) can carryover unspent funds to use in this fiscal year. The SDRRN provides support – such as those provided by Jewish Family Service of San Diego’s Asylum Seeker Shelter and Services – to asylum seekers in the California border region, helping to prevent a humanitarian crisis at our southern border.

We thank Governor Newsom and the Senate and Assembly leadership for their consistent allyship.

We are especially appreciative of the Jewish Caucus, led by Co-Chairs Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel and Senator Scott Wiener, for championing all of our biggest initiatives this year, and for delivering these major victories.

Onward,

David Bocarsly

JPAC Executive Director

JPAC is a Coalition of California's Leading Jewish Community Organizations:

Jewish Federation Los Angeles • Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund • JCRC Bay Area • Jewish Family Service LA • Jewish Family and Children’s Services of SF • 30 Years After • American Jewish Committee • Anti-Defamation League • Bet Tzedek Legal Services • ETTA • Hadassah • HIAS • Holocaust Museum Los Angeles • JCRC of Jewish Silicon Valley • Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles • Jewish Center for Justice • Jewish Community Relations Council of Sacramento • Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay • Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Long Beach and Orange County • Jewish Family Service of San Diego • Jewish Family Service of the Desert • Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley • Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara • Jewish Federation of Orange County • Jewish Federation of San Diego County • Jewish Federation of the Desert • Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys • Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region • Jewish Free Loan Association • Jewish Long Beach • Jewish Vocational Service San Francisco • JVS SoCal