AACRE 2006 Legislative Agenda
In 2006, AACRE advocated for the following legislative agenda to advance civil rights and equality for Asian Americans across California. You can click on our sponsor and priority bills for more detailed information.
Expanding and Protecting Language Rights
AB 680 (Chan) increases opportunities for parental involvement in K-12 education by monitoring school districts and their translations of written materials for limited English proficient parents. This bill is sponsored by AACRE. Status: Signed into law!
SB 1068 (Escutia) improves safeguards for consumers of telecommunications, including language access provisions designed to protect consumers who are limited English proficient. Status: Failed Assembly Utilities & Commerce Committee.
SB 1221 (Alquist) gathers more information regarding California High School Exit Examination passage rates, dropout rates, and English language learner status. Status: Failed Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 1311 (Soto) authorizes the California Law Revision Commission to study the issue of translations of liability waivers for limited English proficient individuals. Status: Vetoed.
SB 1405 (Soto) establishes a Task Force on Reimbursement for Language Services to assess and develop a recommendation for seeking federal matching funds for providing language assistance to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. Status: Bill moved to inactive file – components of the legislation will be pursued administratively.
SB 1580 (Ducheny) allows English Learner students to take standards-based achievement test in their primary language, resulting in more accurate assessments of their academic achievement. Status: Vetoed.
SB 1592 (Romero) requires a report on the number and percentage of pupils who fail to receive a high school diploma due to not passing the high school exit examination, including English Learner students. Status: Signed into law!
AB 2302 (Judiciary Committee) ensures language access is provided in civil courts, which govern critical cases affecting Californians such as child custody, child support, housing, and consumer protections. Status: Vetoed.
AB 2430 (Umberg) promotes access to voting by providing accurate and standardized translations of election materials. Status: Signed into law.
Ending Discrimination and Advancing Civil Rights
AJR 37 (Ridley-Thomas) would call on Congress and the President of the United States to renew the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, including those that provide language assistance in elections, allow federal officials to ensure elections are conducted in a non-discriminatory manner, and instill requirements for counties with historic patterns of discrimination against underrepresented voters. This resolution is sponsored by AACRE. Status: Chaptered.
ACR 56 (Chu) would proclaim June as Hate Crimes Awareness Month to educate community members regarding reporting of hate crimes and to increase awareness about diversity and tolerance. Status: Chaptered.
AB 432 (Oropeza) allows new citizens to register to vote up until Election Day. Status: Failed Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 606 (Levine) promotes a safe school environment that is free from discrimination and harassment by requiring school districts to establish antidiscrimination policies, maintain documentation of all complaints, and update materials to include information on bias-related harassment. Status: Vetoed.
AB 1056 (Chu) establishes a pilot project that will allow schools to develop curriculum to promote intergroup relations. Status: Vetoed.
SB 1437 (Kuehl) would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in school instructional materials and activities. Status: Vetoed.
SB 1441 (Kuehl) would make it unlawful for state-funded, administered, or operated activities from discriminating based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Status: Signed into law!
SB 1745 (Kuehl) would protect victims of domestic violence from discrimination in employment. Status: Vetoed.
AB 2510 (Lieu) would require an analysis of California Student Survey and California Healthy Kids Survey data regarding bullying and harassment among students, including bias-motivated incidents. Status: Vetoed.
AB 2800 (Laird) would standardize various housing-related nondiscrimination provisions in California law to make them consistent with the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Status: Signed into law!
Promoting Immigrant Rights
AJR 51 (Núñez) calls on the President and Congress of the United States to take a comprehensive, humane, and fair approach to solving our nation’s immigration system. Status: Chaptered.
SB 160 (Cedillo) would provide eligibility for immigrant high school students to apply for state financial aid, if they meet requirements for attending college with in-state tuition. Status: Vetoed.
AB 630 (Chu) would provide additional protections to prevent immigration consultant fraud. Status: Signed into law!
SB 768 (Simitian) would provide protections of personal data in the use of radio-frequency identification technology in government-issued identification documents. Status: Vetoed.
SB 1267 (Cedillo) establishes a California Office of Immigrant Affairs to promote the integration and civic participation of new citizens in the state. Status: Failed Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 1569 (Kuehl) provides temporary needed services for survivors of human trafficking. Status: Signed into law!
AB 1835 (Lieber, Leno, and Koretz) would increase the minimum wage to $8.00 per hour by 2008. Status: Signed into law!
AB 2060 (De La Torre) would make the Naturalization Services Program (NSP) a permanent program, enhance existing services by promoting regional coordination and create an advisory council of naturalization experts throughout the state. Status: Signed into law!
AB 2536 (Montanez) would ensure labor protections are provided to domestic workers, of whom a significant portion are Asian Pacific American. Status: Vetoed.
Advocating for APIA Community Needs
AB 2420 (Lieu) would ensure state data is broken out for the individual APA ethnic groups that are reported by the U.S. Census. Although state law already requires data for certain groups, such as Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese, AB 2420 would enhance data for additional groups such as Hmong and Thai. This bill is sponsored by AACRE. Status: Held in Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 1615 (Simitian) would ensure state data collection includes multi-racial categories. Status: Held in Senate Appropriations Committee.
Check out Legislative Counsel’s Bill Information for the text, status, voting records, analyses of bills, and most updated information.