UNITE-LA champions equitable economic mobility and well-being through collaboration that strengthens systems, policies and high-quality education and career pathways. UNITE-LA is committed to advancing cradle-through-career policies and investments that advance and strengthen these pathways, helping to disrupt cycles of inequality.

It is critical we work with state leaders to safeguard investments that promote equitable economic mobility. We respectfully encourage the governor’s administration and state legislature to elevate the following priorities in the 2026 Legislative Session.

Early Care and Education (ECE)

• Advocate for increased state-funded reimbursement rates to ensure educators and child care providers receive the true cost of providing early care and education.
• Adopt a reversion account for child care funds not spent within one budget year to ensure funds appropriated for early care and education stay within the system. Funds within the reversion account will be reappropriated for ECE purposes.
• Protect and ensure implementation of the Governor's commitment to add 200,000 additional child care spaces by 2028.
• Support proposals aimed at addressing infant-toddler program expansion and the workforce pathways into early care and education.

TK-12 Education

• Advocate for expanded state funding to the California Student Aid Commission to be dispersed to Regional Coordinating Organizations and the California Student Opportunity and Access Program. Expanded funding will support California's highest-need students—such as adult learners, English learners, foster and systems-involved youth, parenting students, unaccompanied minors, undocumented and mixed-status families, and unhoused youth—in receiving robust financial aid outreach, workshops and individualized support to access college.
• Increase investments to support postsecondary advising for high schools by hiring additional counselors and reduce student–counselor ratios.
• Support legislation and investments that advance implementation of TK to ensure a high-quality experience for children, families and educators.
• Support policies that increase access to Dual Language Learner supports and programs, as well as pathways for bilingual educators.

Higher Education

• Elevate data-backed successes of the Statewide K-16 Collaborative Grant Program and increase funding to support long-term program sustainability.
• Increase resources and supports for student parents and their children to ensure success in higher education and beyond.
• Support California's implementation of the new federally funded Short-Term Pell Grants to ensure a rollout that prioritizes equity and meets student and workforce needs.
• Support implementation of AB 1098 and SB 638, which establish and outline the responsibilities of the California Education Interagency Council, a statewide coordinating entity that will foster communication among the state's higher education, social services and workforce development systems.

Digital Access and Equity

• Advance measures that ensure learners and workers have the digital infrastructure they need to learn, work and thrive.
• Maximize public investments in Los Angeles's digital equity efforts through changes to the current California Public Utilities Commission – Advanced Services Fund to ensure sufficient funding is allocated to the region.

Immigration Policy and Protections

• Support efforts to amend the California Dream Act application to clarify and ensure that the application can be used by any student eligible for state financial aid programs, regardless of their eligibility for federal financial aid or immigration status.
• Ensure funding that supports implementation of legislation working to protect students, families and educators in education settings, including AB 49 and AB 495.
• Support additional funding allocation (at minimum $15 million annually over the next three years) for the CA Social Entrepreneurs for Economic Development (SEED) Initiative, which supports immigrant entrepreneurs across the state in starting, maintaining or scaling their small business.

Workforce Development

• Co-sponsor AB 805 to implement key recommendations uplifted by the California Youth Apprenticeship Committee, including employer engagement strategies that support work-based learning.
• Prioritize sustained and expanded funding for long-term wildfire recovery and community resilience in Los Angeles, including affordable housing rebuilding, infrastructure restoration and economic stabilization programs.
• Protect and sustain investments in Earn & Learn models—such as paid internships, pre-apprenticeships and registered apprenticeships—that provide opportunity youth with compensated, work-based learning experiences tied to industry-recognized credentials.
• Strengthen and expand social safety nets to ensure individuals and families in need have access to essential services that support their basic needs—including food, housing, health care and financial assistance—while actively connecting them to workforce development opportunities.
• Support additional funding for the Educator Workforce Investment Grant (EWIG) program, which provides opportunities for teachers and paraprofessionals to experience professional learning opportunities, including those supporting the implementation of effective language acquisition programs for English Learner (EL) students.
• Support the implementation of the 2025 California Master Plan for Career Education, which calls for all learners to have equitable access to pathways that connect education and work. This includes advocating for career-connected learning where experiences are designed to connect curriculum to real-world skills and knowledge.