With a new crop of lawmakers sworn in to the state legislature on December 2, 2024, 30 Senators and Assemblymembers left their offices, whether due to term limits, not seeking re-election or running for other offices.

The California Medical Association (CMA) wishes to extend its thanks to outgoing lawmakers who have advocated for CMA priorities, carried sponsored legislation and served as strong partners in creating a better health care system for all Californians. Among the departing lawmakers, CMA owes a particular debt of gratitude to the following individuals for key legislation and positions they took during their service:

• Sen. Toni Atkins, the first woman to lead the California state senate, has been a strong champion for access to reproductive health. Atkins authored CMA-sponsored SB 487 (2023-24), which prevents providers from having their Medi-Cal provider eligibility threatened by states with abortion bans.
• Sen. Nancy Skinner twice carried CMA-sponsored legislation – SB 598 (2023-24) and SB 516 (2023-24) – to reform prior authorization and address the care delays and administrative burdens associated with our current system.
• Asm. Freddie Rodriguez authored the recently passed AB 977 (2023-24), which protects health care workers in emergency departments by granting them the same level of protection in an emergency room that they are afforded outside a hospital.
• Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman served as the chair of the Senate Health Committee, overseeing the passage of several CMA priority bills.
• Asm. Brian Maienschein has a record of voting to support physician priorities and supported AB 366 (2015-16), which would have raised Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for providers. He also stood with CMA against AB 890 (2019-20), which created two new classifications of nurse practitioners with varying requirements for physician engagement.
• Asm. Miguel Santiago authored CMA-sponsored AB 457 (2021-22), the Protection of Patient Choice in Telehealth Provider Act, which ensures patients can access telehealth services from their selected health care provider.

CMA also extends its thanks to the following outgoing lawmakers for supporting physician priorities and working to improve health care and the practice of medicine in California: Sen. Anthony Portantino, Sen. Dave Min, Asm. Evan Low, Asm. Kevin McCarty, Asm. Laura Friedman, Asm. Marie Waldron, Sen. Richard Roth and Asm. Wendy Carillo.

CMA is grateful to all the outgoing legislators for representing their communities and dedicating years of service to California.