AACRE 2009 Legislative Agenda

AACRE-SPONSORED LEGISLATION

AB 611 (Fong) requires our state’s emergency preparedness, response, and recovery systems account for the needs of limited English proficient communities.

AB 1510 (Eng) would allow parents to bring interpreters to school-related parent meetings, such as student disciplinary proceedings.

AJR 15 (De Leon) puts California on record in support of the federal Uniting American Families Act, which would remove legal barriers to immigration by permanent same-sex partners.

SB 549 (Correa) authorizes the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology (BBC), the state agency responsible for overseeing the licensure for nail technicians, to collect language and ethnicity data from new applicants and existing licensees.

EXPANDING AND PROTECTING LANGUAGE RIGHTS

AB 663 (Jones) creates a pilot project for providing interpreters in civil courts for limited English proficient individuals, including in such cases as domestic violence, child custody and elder abuse.

AB 686 (Ruskin) allows a voter to inform precinct board members when he or she needs more than 10 minutes to mark his or her ballot.

AB 909 (Feuer and Furutani) requires a translated written notice to decline to state voters that identifies those ballots that the voter is eligible to cast at a primary election.

SB 120 (Lowenthal) would provide protections, including translated written notice, for tenants living in homes going through foreclosure.

ENDING DISCRIMINATION AND ADVANCING CIVIL RIGHTS

AB 37 (Furutani) confers an honorary degree upon each person, living or deceased, who was forced to discontinue his or her postsecondary studies as a result of federal Executive Order 9066, which caused the incarceration of individuals of Japanese ancestry during World War II.

AB 504 (Furutani) requires education on the kirpan as part of peace officers’ cultural diversity and weapons violations training. A kirpan is one of five articles of faith that is core to the Sikh religion and is an article resembling a sword or dagger.

AB 717 (Cook) would encourage social science instruction to discuss the role of Filipinos during World War II.

SB 572 (Leno) would proclaim May 22 of each year as Harvey Milk Day, and would encourage schools and educational institutions to conduct suitable commemorative and educational exercises on that date.

PROMOTING IMMIGRANT RIGHTS

AB 772 (Ammiano) establishes the Local Government Identification Act, which would authorize counties to issue local identification cards to persons who can provide proof of identity and proof of residency within the county.

AB 1288 (Fong) prohibits a state or local government from requiring an employer to use an electronic employment verification system, including the federal Basic Pilot or E-verify systems.

SB 160 (Cedillo) would allow AB 540 students to apply for institutional financial aid offered by California Community College, California State University, and University of California campuses.