NUHW Advocates for Mental Health Bills AB 2511 and SB 903 in Sacramento

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NUHW Members Advocate for Mental Health Legislation

On May 13, the Legislative Office Building at the State Capitol was awash in red as members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) and their allies lobbied lawmakers to support crucial mental health bills. Wearing their union shirts, they visited offices to push for two significant pieces of legislation aimed at enhancing access to patient-focused mental health care.

The group engaged with over 60 legislators and senior staff about AB 2511, which seeks to address wage disparities between mental health professionals and other medical providers, and SB 903, which proposes regulations on artificial intelligence use in mental health settings.

While AB 2511 did not pass the Assembly’s Appropriations Committee, SB 903 received unanimous support in the State Senate and is now proceeding to the Assembly.

“I feel empowered,” expressed Monique Dixon, a psychiatric social worker with Kaiser in Fontana, after meeting with Assemblymember Ash Kalra, a San Jose Democrat. “It’s nice to hear that there are people in positions of power that are… supporting the work we do, and supporting the working class.”

State Senator Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, introduced SB 903, aiming to control AI’s role in behavioral health services. The bill stipulates that healthcare providers, such as Kaiser, must obtain patient consent before using AI to record sessions or assess individuals for mental health services. It also bans AI from making independent therapeutic decisions or evaluating emotions and mental states.

NUHW is part of a coalition supporting the bill, including the California Psychological Association, the California Behavioral Health Association, the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and the Alliance for Children’s Rights.

NUHW members shared personal stories to bolster the bill’s importance. Citlalli Vazquez Reyes explained to a staffer for State Senator Sasha Renee Perez the risks of using AI for triaging mental health inquiries, noting that patients might underreport their issues online, leading to potentially dangerous oversights.

Assemblymember Kalra echoed these concerns with clinicians, stating, “You want human beings making the decision. The bottom line is that actually interacting with patients, you can’t replicate that with technology. Technology can help … but ultimately human beings should make the decisions.”

Lobby Day has become an annual tradition for NUHW, coinciding with Mental Health Awareness Day in Sacramento. This annual engagement has enabled the union to pass several laws, including AB 3221, authored by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, which improved the Department of Managed Health Care’s enforcement capabilities.

Andrea Hatfield, a therapist from Kaiser in Southern California, made her first trip to Sacramento for this event and expressed her enthusiasm for future participation. “These current times call for increased political action,” she stated. “It was important for me to know what’s happening (with NUHW) on a larger scale and to help support it.”

Save the Date: Join us on May 12, 2027, for NUHW Lobby Day, which will once again coincide with Mental Health Matters Day, in Sacramento.