September 30 is the last day for Governor Newsom to sign or veto bills. The ITV Healthcare Working Group is asking for ITV members to contact the Governor’s office and affirm support for the health-related bills, which are all designated priority bills for Indivisible California State Strong (CASS)”:

• AB 1540, which restores access to 988 LGBTQ+ Suicide and crisis lifeline, is moving forward under AB 173 via the policy framework, and AB 113, the full budget bill, which allocates $5 million towards the lifeline.

• AB 2161, which is part of a package of bills meant to mitigate the negative administrative impact of HR 1, and automates Medi-Cal verifications.

• SB 608, which repeals ID requirements for condoms and contraception. 

• SB 895, the California Science and Health Research Bond Act, which would create a $7.5 billion bond for health and science research on the March 7, 2028 primary ballot. 

• SB 942, which would require public health licenses to operate detention centers. 

To reach the Governor’s office, you can send a message on his website or call his office directly at (916) 445-2841. 

Comment on a Proposal That Could Harm Vaccine Access By 9/20/2026!

We’re doing things slightly differently this time. We’re focusing on kids with cancer. In August of this year, California’s youth who’ve been impacted by the devastation of pediatric cancer and rare diseases, went to Sacramento to inaugurate the first Pediatric Cancer Advocacy and Awareness Day, and lobbied California legislators to designate September 2026 as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and sign on as co-sponsors with concurrent resolutions in the Assembly ACR 213 and the Senate SR 126, which were adopted and passed unanimously. This could not have happened without the support of my friend, Misha Mehta, who lobbied hospitals, companies, and foundations for sponsorship and funding, so that families who have been affected by pediatric cancer could travel from all over California as advocates for their loved ones without having to worry about expenses. 

The first Pediatric Cancer Advocacy and Awareness Day was supported by multiple foundations and organizations, including but not limited to Amgen, Everyday Life Foundation for Rare Diseases, Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, the UCSF Oncology Department,the Neev Kolte Foundation, and Joey’s Wings. 

Misha’s youngest son Neev Kolte, was diagnosed with DIPG, an incurable brain cancer, in August of 2020. At the time, there was no available treatment, and doctors told Neev’s parents to go home and create memories. Misha and her husband Sandeep refused to give up, and they fought to keep hope alive for Neev, finding phase 1 clinical trials for him. Neev, too, did not give up. He learned to walk four times in the fifteen months after his diagnosis, and just kept going. He passed away a month after his sixth birthday. 

Misha and Sandeep still have not given up on finding a cure, or a treatment for DIPG. They established the Neev Kolte Foundation, in his memory, to lobby for funding and research.

President Trump signed an executive order on Monday, August 10, 2026, advocating for separating the MMR ( measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine into three separate vaccines and medical visits, and other actions downplaying the efficacy of current vaccine practices over the objections of most physicians and medical groups. Shelley Facente, PhD, MPH, epidemiologist at UC Berkeley, has a great explainer reviewing the executive order and its implications in detail. 

The degradation of vaccine science in medicine has long been a goal of current Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., although he has claimed to be supportive of vaccines overall. The renewed focus on vaccines is understandably concerning, especially as the US is dealing with multiple measles outbreaks, lowered trust in vaccines, and rising deaths in infants as new parents reject simple health measures like the vitamin K shot, given to newborns to help them properly form blood clots. 

Great News About Vaccines:

Are data centers inherently bad? At the moment, much of the US seems to think so, as calls for safeguards, moratoriums, and bans proliferate across the country. Technology companies and its proponents argue that the construction of these data centers are necessary to compete on the global stage in matters of innovation and the artificial intelligence race. Opponents argue that the costs outweigh the benefits, especially as these data centers compete with civilians for energy and water resources, and additionally increase costs to them, negating any tax benefits. Data centers do not create additional local jobs, and can cause noise, light, and air pollution, along with increasing energy costs to people living in the area. 

What’s Happened In CA So Far:

• Monterey Park is the first city in the nation to vote and pass a permanent data center ban. 

• Alhambra, the next city over, has also put a data center ban on its November ballot. 

• An infrastructure company called Global Stack which only incorporated in California in March, is drawing attention and backlash for its proposals to build data centers on California’s fairgrounds, including 8 in the Bay Area. 

• In Hayward, a large data center project was summarily approved without much comment or public awareness. Did you know that in Hayward, data centers are currently classified as offices, even though they require very different needs?

•  California’s largest data center is suing for access to the Colorado River’s water, and asking to redirect water being used from agriculture to the facility. 

What Should Be Considered With Data Centers, Bans, and Moratoriums? 

As of July 21, 2026, the “CDC has received reports of 4,173 laboratory-confirmed domestic cases of cyclosporiasis and is aware of more than 7,400 additional cases that are not yet laboratory confirmed and require further investigation and analysis”. The US FDA announced on July 22, 2026, that it was investigating another outbreak of cyclosporiasis, tied to a currently unidentified source. Consumer Reports noted that health officials in North Carolina reported that some cases appear to be linked to parsley and cilantro, alongside lettuce, as a possible source of the parasite. CDC announced July 24, 2026, that : Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, and Michigan.

The news onslaught seems to be never-ending, even as US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, claimed that the crisis was under control. Perhaps it would be less confusing if the CDC hadn’t made surveillance tracking of this parasite and other pathogens optional last year and laid off multiple people due to DOGE-related cuts.  In addition to these difficulties, it is often more challenging to trace, especially because cyclospora has a long incubation period, and can’t be cultured in labs. Public health officials have to rely on interviews with people on what they consumed, and people’s memories can be faulty.  

Here’s what we do know:

During Robert F. Kennedy, Jr’s confirmation hearings for his role as Health and Human Services Secretary, he made several promises on vaccines and funding for healthcare that he has broken. We are now living through the consequences of those broken promises. 

The Bad News: 

The US is rapidly losing its status as a measles-free country with multiple ongoing outbreaks. Earlier this year, a California study found that schools with low vaccination rates lost millions of dollars in state funding. Senator Bill Cassidy criticized Secretary of Defense (“War”) Pete Hegseth after he removed the flu mandate for the military, and a flu outbreak infected several hundred service members at an Air Force base in Texas. Senator Bernie Sanders released internal emails from the CDC and HHS showing Robert F. Kennedy, Jr’s hand in politicizing the health departments and working to eliminate vaccine recommendations and programs for children, among other egregious actions. Acting CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya attempted to block the publication of a COVID-19 study that confirmed that “COVID-19 vaccines reduced the likelihood of COVID-19-related hospitalization and severe illness among adults by about half”. This study has now been published in JAMA Network. 

The Better News: 

This week, we cover updates from the previous issue, and look at what’s going on with the Billionaire Tax Act, trans kids in our community, disability rights, and delve into the Make Polluters Pay Initiative. If you have feedback, please feel free to let us know at [email protected].  

Updates:

OMB Proposed Rule 2026-0034

Thank you to those who have submitted comments to the OMB Proposed Rule 2026-0034, which would kill science and federal funding as we know it today. If you have not done so, the comment period is still open until July 13, 2026.

Welcome to the revived Indivisible Tri-Valley Healthbeat newsletter

We took a bit of a break from our health-focused newsletter, but now we’re back! Our goal is to bring you the knowledge you need to stay on top of the news and fight for the health care everyone deserves.

OMB Proposed Rule 2026-0034 will kill science in the US

Former NIH Program Official Elizabeth Ginexi recently sounded the alarm about the OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule that would overhaul how federal grants and funding would be allocated by requiring federal grant decisions to be made by political appointees rather than by career scientific experts Dr. Ginexi  has since followed up, noting that this goes further than science, and this rule would actually revise the “universal legal framework governing every federal grant to every recipient across every agency in the federal government”. Every program, from Medicaid to education, to food assistance would be subject to the whims of political appointees who could block grants and funding because it wouldn’t serve the “national interest” of the President. Advocacy group StandUpForScience held an Emergency Science Meeting to discuss the ramifications and consequences of the implementation of the new proposed rule - the consensus is that it would be disastrous for current and future progress across all fields. We would be experiencing DOGE 2.0.