Thank you all for spending a successful Ramadan with us. To continue our campaign of “Reawakening the Spirit of Justice,” CAIR California would like to update the community on state bills we are strongly supporting and cosponsoring in the legislature to protect your civil rights.
Thanks to your help earlier this year, approximately 800 community members and leaders came together to advocate on these issues during Muslim Day at the Capitol. Because of your advocacy, these bills are moving along the legislative process.
We need your support to continue pushing these to the Governor’s desk.
- ACT: Call your elected officials, write a letter of support, or meet with your elected officials. CAIR-CA government relations staff will be coordinating in-district visits, so please reach out to your local CAIR office if you are interested in attending. Contact CAIR-LA Policy & Advocacy Coordinator Asmaa Ahmed at aahmed@cair.com.
- DONATE: Make a donation to CAIR-LA so that we can continue our efforts in protecting your civil rights.
- SHARE: Share this e-mail with your networks so we can collectively push forward our advocacy.
Muslim Day at the Capitol 2017 Legislative Updates
Active MDAC Bills:
Protecting Your Religious Freedom:
SB 31: (Lara) California Religious Freedom Act (CAIR is co-sponsoring)
Prohibits a state or local agency from participating in a federal program to create a database based on a person’s religious beliefs, national origin, or ethnicity for law enforcement or immigration purposes. Prevents state and local law enforcement agencies from collecting information on the religious beliefs, practices, or affiliations of an individual except under certain circumstances.
- Passed Senate floor on April 3, 2017 with a vote of 36-0. Unanimously passed through the Assembly Judiciary Committee 11-0 on June 13, 2017. Placed on Suspense file of the Assembly Committee on Appropriations on June 28th due to potential costs.
Supporting Immigrant Rights:
SB 54: (De Leon) The California Values Act
Protects the safety and well-being of all Californians by ensuring that state and local resources are not used to fuel mass deportations and that public schools, state health facilities, and courthouses remain safe and accessible to all California residents, regardless of their immigration status.
- Passed through Assembly Judiciary Committee on July 5th, 2017 with a vote of 8-3.
- Passed Senate floor on April 3, 2017 with a vote of 27-12. Passed through the Assembly Public Safety Committee with a vote of 5-2 on June 13, 2017. Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee with amendments on June 19, 2017.
- Referred to Committee on Appropriations with amendments on July 10, 2017.
- Law enforcement is putting up large opposition to SB 54.
Inactive MDAC Bills
Advocating Against School Bullying:
AB 1318: (Chiu) Safe Place to Learn Act (CAIR is Co-sponsoring)
Requires school employees to receive training to intervene and address intergroup conflict and promote positive student interactions. Ensures a broader and intersectional approach to ensuring a safe place to learn for our most vulnerable populations.
- AB 1318 was held in suspense file in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on May 26, 2017 and failed to make it to the Assembly floor for a vote.
AB 158: (Chu) Hate Crime Reporting Standards
Establishes uniform hate crime reporting standards for law enforcement agencies statewide by requiring that the first page of a law enforcement agency's departmental information and crime report cover sheets include a check box indicating whether or not the incident in question was bias related.
- AB 158 was held in suspense file in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on May 26, 2017 and failed to make it to the Assembly floor for a vote.
Although these bills did not make it through the legislature, we will continue fighting to protect our students and community members.
CAIR California’s Legislative Priority Bills
Active Legislative Priority Bills
Surveillance:
SB 21: (Hill) Surveillance Policies
Requires each law enforcement agency to submit to its governing body at a noticed hearing, open to the public, a proposed plan for the use of all surveillance technology and the information collected. Requires that law enforcement agencies submit an amendment to the surveillance plan, pursuant to the same open meeting requirements, for each new type of surveillance technology sought to be used.
- Passed Senate floor on May 31, 2017 with a vote of 21-15.
- Passed through the Assembly Public Safety Committee with a vote of 4-2 on June 27, 2017.
- Amended and re-referred to Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection on July 3, 2017.
Immigration:
AB 3: (Bonta) Immigration Counsel for Public Defenders
Creates and funds Regional Centers and Statewide Resource Centers to provide immigration law training and advice to public defenders’ offices on issues relating to the immigration consequences of criminal convictions.
- Passed Assembly floor on June 1, 2017 with a vote of 52-24. Referred to Senate Committees on Public Safety and Human Services on June 14, 2017.
SB 29: (Lara) End Local Contracting with For-Profit Immigration Detention Centers
Prohibits a local municipalities or a local law enforcement agency from contracting with a private corporation, contractor, or vendor to detain immigrants in civil immigration proceedings for profit. Authorizes the Attorney General or any district attorney or city attorney to bring a civil action against an immigration detention facility, including an agent or a person acting on its behalf, that violates a detainee’s rights.
- Passed Senate floor on May 31, 2017 with a vote of 25-13. Passed through the Assembly Judiciary Committee with a vote of 7-2 on June 28, 2017. Referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee on June 28, 2017.
Education:
AB 233: (Gloria) School dress code policies: graduation ceremonies
Prohibits a dress code policy from prohibiting a pupil from wearing religious, ceremonial, or cultural adornments at school graduation ceremonies. (K-12)
- Passed Assembly floor on April 6, 2017 with a vote of 68-1. Passed through the Senate Education Committee with a vote of 7-0 on June 14, 2017. Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee on June 14, 2017.
Criminal Justice:
AB 42: (Bonta) & SB 10: (Hertzberg) Bail Reform
Enacts legislation to safely reduce the number of people detained pretrial, while addressing racial and economic disparities in the pretrial system, to ensure that people are not held in pretrial detention simply because of their inability to afford money bail.
- AB 42 and SB 10 are duplicate bills. AB 42 failed to make it through the Assembly floor on May 20, 2017. SB 10 is the Senate version of AB 42, and it passed through Senate floor with a vote of 26-11. Referred to the Assembly Committee on Public Safety on June 26, 2017.
Environment:
SB 258: (Lara) Cleaning Product Right to Know Act of 2017
Requires a manufacturer of a cleaning product to disclose ingredients contained in and health impact information related to the cleaning product on the product label. Requires an employer to make a safety data sheet readily accessible to an employee.
- Passed through Senate floor with a vote of 22-15. Referred to Assembly Committees on Labor & Employment and on Environmental Safety & Toxic Materials on June 15, 2017.
- Amended and re-referred to Committee on Environmental Safety & Toxic Materials on July 6, 2017.
Indigenous Rights:
AB 20: (Kalra) Divestment from holdings in companies involved in the Dakota Access pipeline
Requires the boards of administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System and the State Teachers’ Retirement System to make a specified report, on investments in the Dakota Access Pipeline. Requires the boards to consider factors related to tribal sovereignty and indigenous tribal rights when selecting or rejecting investments.
- Passed through Assembly floor with a vote of 50-24 on May 31, 2017. Referred to Senate Committee on Rules and Administration on June 14, 2017.
Resolution:
AJR 2: (Levine) Reject Border Wall, Monitoring Mosques, profiling, or adopting discriminatory immigration policy
Commends Latino Americans and Muslim Americans for their economic, political, and cultural impact on California and the United States and respectfully requests the President and Members of Congress to respect the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and to reject efforts to build a wall along the United States-Mexico border, monitor mosques, profile Muslim Americans, or adopt any immigration policy based on discrimination.
- Resolution referred to Committee on Judiciary on January 30, 2017.
Inactive Legislative Priority Bills
Education:
AB 927: (Levine) Safe Schools: supplemental law enforcement services
Establishes security measures that authorize the employment of security staff at private and religious non-private schools in the State of California. Provides funding for security services.
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AB 158 was held in suspense file in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on May 26, 2017 and failed to make it to the Assembly floor for a vote.
Definitions:
Suspense File: A bill or set of bills, with a fiscal impact, set aside in Appropriations Committee by a majority of Members present and voting. These bills may be heard at a later hearing. Bills with a projected cost of $150,000 or more are automatically placed on suspense file.