Jewish California Condemns AB 2159, a Brazen Attempt to Gut California's Landmark Antisemitism Law

Days After Jewish Americans Were Beaten on the Streets of San Jose, Assemblymember Robert Garcia and the California Faculty Association Move to Weaken Civil Rights Protections for Jewish Students

SACRAMENTO – Jewish California (formerly JPAC) – the nation's largest statewide coalition of Jewish organizations – condemned the introduction of Assembly Bill 2159 by Assemblymember Robert Garcia, which would gut key provisions of AB 715, California's landmark antisemitism law signed by Governor Newsom five months ago and upheld by a federal court in December. The California Faculty Association is sponsoring the bill.

The introduction of AB 2159 comes just days after the horrifying attack on a Michigan synagogue, and after two Jewish Americans were violently beaten outside a San Jose restaurant for speaking Hebrew.

“At a moment when democracy is under assault and working families are struggling to put food on the table, advocates for this bill have decided that their priority is to try to weaken civil rights laws protecting Jewish children,” said David Bocarsly, Executive Director of Jewish California. “This is a moral failure, and a dangerous precedent.”

AB 2159 makes targeted changes to AB 715 that collectively strip the law of its enforcement teeth:

• Removes the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism as a basis for identifying antisemitism

• Strips protections against bias, advocacy, and partisanship in classroom instruction and materials

• Eliminates the requirement that instruction meet accepted standards of professional responsibility

• Demotes the governor-appointed, Senate-confirmed Antisemitism Prevention Coordinator to a generic civil service position – a standard applied to no other discrimination prevention coordinator in state law

A federal judge reviewed AB 715 in December 2025 and denied an effort to block the law, finding that its provisions are constitutionally sound and appropriately targeted. AB 2159 ignores that ruling and advances arguments courts have already rejected.

In a candidate endorsement questionnaire released just five months ago, the California Faculty Association named Jewish California (then called JPAC) alongside the oil, tobacco, and police industries as groups that “harm working families,” and asked political candidates to reject association with the Jewish community's statewide coalition.

"Last year, CFA singled out our diverse statewide Jewish coalition for boycott," said Bocarsly. "Now they are sponsoring legislation designed to apply a different, lesser standard to antisemitism than to every other form of hate. That double standard is not an oversight – it is the point.

“There is a pattern of harm targeting our community, and it’s becoming clear that CFA has an antisemitism problem."

Assemblymember Garcia introduced this bill without consulting Assemblymembers Rick Chavez Zbur and Dawn Addis – AB 715’s authors – the Legislative Jewish Caucus, or the broader Jewish community. In a state where antisemitic incidents in California’s K‑12 schools have surged 623% over the past decade, this bill sends a devastating message: that it is acceptable to roll back protections for Jewish children at the behest of organizations with a documented record of hostility toward Jewish civic life.

Jewish California is calling on Assemblymember Garcia to withdraw AB 2159 and engage in good-faith consultation with AB 715’s authors, the Legislative Jewish Caucus, and the Jewish community.