State Legislature Passes “The Zacky Bill” Named After Pasadena Boy, Aiming to Keep Students With Food Allergies Safe at School

Assembly Bill 2640, more commonly known as The Zacky Bill after 10-year-old Zacky Muñoz of Pasadena, has passed both the state senate and the state assembly, and will soon be sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom to be signed into law.

The new law will create an online California Food Allergy Resource Guide to provide school districts, parents, caregivers and students with information necessary to prevent and address anaphylaxis, a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that occurs within seconds or minutes of exposure to an allergen.

It will also direct the Department of Education to include in the Guide, state and federal resources, methods to initiate individualized food allergy management and prevention plans, and other ways to minimize risk of food anaphylaxis in school.

Muñoz and his mother passionately advocated for the bill to become law while it was winding its way through the California legislature.

Calling the whole process a journey, Muñoz, now 10, and his mother Priscilla Hernandez spoke to Pasadena Now about what the passage of the bill means for thousands of children in school with allergies.

“Zacky testified in the assembly education committee, as well as the Senate education committee. And I did as well,” Hernandez said. “It was a great process and well received on both ends. So both the Assembly and Senate decided to support it and pass it through.”

Zacky, who is allergic to many foods including nuts, shellfish, beans, peas, avocados, and sesame, has experienced anaphylactic events in school while he was in first grade.
“I had it twice at school. It’s tough because you can’t sit with friends or you can’t eat in the cafeteria or when you do get it every time it can be very scary,” Zacky recounted in an earlier interview. “I had to get an EpiPen. It hurts.”
His mother, Priscilla Hernandez, said it was her son’s unfortunate experiences in school that prompted the family to look at the seriousness of having allergies and the reactions to it from hives to life-threatening ones, even death, to push for the legislation.
But he’s glad the bill has passed, after he and his mother, and little brother Jacob, 5, went to Sacramento to appear at a hearing as the bill was being deliberated on.

“This bill means a lot to kids like me,” Muñoz said. “I have food allergies. It acknowledges us. It shows that we are not alone. It helps us feel safer, and no one wants to get hurt. It most importantly will help our parents so they can help us. The bill shows that we can all make a difference in the world no matter who we are.”

Muñoz also thanked Pasadena Now for publishing his story with the announcement of the bill being filed earlier this year. The bill was first introduced into the state assembly in February. By the first week of May, the state assembly had approved it with a unanimous vote. On Aug. 17, the state senate also passed it unanimously.

“There are so many people I’d love to thank: the state government senators and assembly, my representatives here in Pasadena and assembly member Valladares who’s championing this bill, Pasadena Now for spreading the word about the Zacky bill, my family, especially my mom and also my little brother Jacob, because he had to drive all the way to Sacramento six hours in the car,” Muñoz said.

His mother said they’ve had to drive to Sacramento at least four or five times for the hearings at both houses of the California legislature.

When the bill is signed into law, it would add a new section to the California Education Code for the protection of school-age children with allergies.