BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SJR 9|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SJR 9
Author: Kehoe (D), et al
Amended: 5/13/10
Vote: 21
SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE : 4-1, 6/23/09
AYES: Correa, Wiggins, Negrete McLeod, Cedillo
NOES: Denham
NO VOTE RECORDED: Maldonado, Wyland
SENATE FLOOR : 23-13, 8/24/09
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Cedillo, Corbett, Correa,
DeSaulnier, Ducheny, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu,
Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price,
Romero, Simitian, Steinberg, Wiggins, Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Ashburn, Benoit, Cogdill, Cox, Denham, Dutton,
Harman, Hollingsworth, Huff, Runner, Strickland, Walters,
Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Aanestad, Florez, Maldonado, Oropeza
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 51-21, 5/13/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Military: Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy
SOURCE : Equality California
DIGEST : This resolution urges the Congress and the
President of the United States to adopt the Military
Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 1283) and the
Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010 (S. 3065) that
CONTINUED
SJR 9
Page
2
institutes a policy of nondiscrimination based on sexual
orientation, and to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
policy.
Assembly Amendments are technical and clarifying in nature
and add co-authors.
ANALYSIS : Existing law generally prohibits, under the
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" federal law, anyone from disclosing
his or her sexual orientation, or from speaking about any
homosexual relationships, including marriages or other
familial attributes, while serving in the Armed Forces.
This resolution contains numerous legislative findings
consisting of statistical data compiled by the federal
government and other entities as it relates to how this
policy has affected the Armed Forces of the United States
and its members. The legislative findings point out, among
other things, that there are at least 24 other nations,
including Great Britain, Australia, Canada, and Israel, all
of whom allow open service by gays and lesbians.
California has 27 military bases that are home to tens of
thousands of military personnel and their families, and,
according to a 2004 Urban Institute study, an estimated
137,000 gay and lesbian veterans live California.
The Legislature and courts of the State of California have
extended protections based on sexual orientation and gender
identity that affirm the equality under the law of lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) residents in order to
prevent invidious discrimination. In 2004 the California
Legislature passed, and the Governor signed, legislation
that protects nonfederally recognized personnel in the
California State Militia from the threat of "Don't Ask,
Don't Tell."
In 2005 and 2007 the California Senate resolved, and the
Assembly thereof concurred, that the California Legislature
respectfully urged the President and the United States
Congress to adopt the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of
2005 (H.R. 1059) and the Military Readiness Enhancement Act
of 2007 (H.R. 1246), respectively, to end the
discriminatory policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
SJR 9
Page
3
This resolution urges the President and the Congress of the
United States to adopt the Military Readiness Enhancement
Act of 2009 (H.R. 1283), reintroduced in the 111th Congress
of the United States on March 3, 2009, by a bipartisan
group of 186 cosponsors, and the Military Readiness
Enhancement Act of 2010 (S. 3065), introduced in the United
States Senate on March 3, 2010, by Senator Joseph Lieberman
and 13 cosponsors, to end the discriminatory federal policy
of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Comments
This resolution addresses the controversial military policy
enacted during the Clinton presidency called "Don't Ask,
Don't Tell." Instituted in 1994, the "Don't Ask, Don't
Tell" policy replaced the outright ban of gays and lesbians
from United States military service. Unless one of the
exceptions under federal law applies, this discriminatory
policy prohibits anyone who has sexual bodily or romantic
contact with a person of the same sex from serving in the
Armed Forces of the United States, and prohibits any
homosexual or bisexual from disclosing his or her sexual
orientation, or from speaking about any homosexual
relationships, including marriages or other familial
attributes, while serving in the military. The policy also
requires that as long as gay or bisexual men and women in
the military hide their sexual orientation, commanders are
not allowed to investigate their sexuality. This policy
was introduced as a compromise measure in 1993 by President
Bill Clinton who, while campaigning for the Presidency, had
promised to allow all citizens regardless of sexual
orientation to serve openly in the military, a departure
from the then complete ban on those who are not
heterosexual.
According to the author's office:
Since [the institution of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
policy], according to the Servicemembers Legal Defense
Network, more than 13,500 LGBT servicemembers have
been fired under this discriminatory policy, including
hundreds who have served in critical occupations, such
as intelligence officers, language specialists, and
SJR 9
Page
4
medical personnel. More than 100 retired admirals and
generals now support the repeal of this policy. A
recent Gallup poll (2009) shows that even a majority
of conservatives (58%) and Republicans (58%) now favor
repeal. In the face of an increasing federal deficit,
continued war spending and requiring our troops to
fulfill longer tours of duty overseas, it makes no
sense for American taxpayers to spend millions of
dollars to investigate, eliminate and replace
well-qualified lesbian and gay service personnel.
This resolution urges enactment of H.R. 1283, the Military
Readiness Enhancement Act of 2009 and S. 3065, the Military
Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010 (MREA). According to the
Human Rights Campaign Web site, the MREA would replace
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" with a policy of
non-discrimination: "The legislation permits the U.S.
Armed Forces to prescribe and enforce conduct regulations
as long as they are designed and applied without regard to
sexual orientation. MREA also permits those discharged
under ["Don't Ask, Don't Tell"] to seek to re-enter the
military without consideration of their previous separation
on the basis of sexual orientation. The bill does not
create a private cause of action for damages or require the
military to provide dependent benefits."
Proponents state that it is time for the "Don't Ask, Don't
Tell" policy to be repealed. They note that "[e]videncing
the senselessness of ["Don't Ask, Don't Tell"] are the
Department of Defense's own unanimous studies showing that
sexual orientation diversity causes no detriment to unit
cohesion and the plethora of defense and security related
governmental entities that permit open service, such as the
Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, the
National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and the Central Intelligence Agency."
In addition, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network notes
on their Web site that 24 countries allow openly gay
service. The United States and Turkey are the only two
original NATO countries that still have bans in place. The
Web site also notes that studies of the militaries in
Australia, Israel, Great Britain and Canada have shown open
service to have no adverse effect on enrollment or
SJR 9
Page
5
retention.
Another supporter points out that "Since post September
11th combat operations have ensued in Afghanistan and Iraq,
discharges under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" have plummeted to
their lowest level since 1994, when this policy was
implemented." (Letter from Alexander Hamilton Post, dated
June 12, 2009.) They add that the drop in the number of
discharges "signals the tacit recognition by the Armed
Forces that LGBT service members can serve both capably and
honorably. It should be the policy of our military to
accept all Americans who wish to serve their country."
Finally, an editorial in the Los Angeles Times notes that
while nearly 13,000 servicemembers have been discharged
under the policy, "The armed forces have spent more than
$1.3 billion to kick them out and to pay for the
investigations that justify their expulsions. Among those
who have been discharged are almost 60 Arabic linguists,
weakening our national security in order to pursue a policy
of exclusion." (August 15, 2009.)
Prior/Related Legislation
SJR 6 (Kehoe, Chapter 63, Statues of 2007) urged the
President and the United States Congress to adopt the
Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2007 to end the
discriminatory policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
SJR 11 (Kehoe, Chapter 108, Statutes of 2005) urged the
President and the United States Congress to adopt the
Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2005 to end the
discriminatory policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
AB 2900 (Laird, Chapter 788, Statutes of 2004) protects
non-federally recognized personnel in the California State
Militia from the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/13/10)
Equality California (source)
Alexander Hamilton Post 448 of the American Legion
SJR 9
Page
6
American Veterans for Equal Rights
Anti-Defamation League
Associated Students, California State University,
Northridge, Inc.
California Communities United Institute
City of West Hollywood
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Lambda Legal
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
National Center for Lesbian Rights
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
San Diego LGBT Community Center
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento
Transgender Law Center
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero,
Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La
Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez,
Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Monning, Nava, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson,
Torres, Torrico, Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Conway,
Cook, DeVore, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines, Gilmore, Harkey,
Knight, Logue, Miller, Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth,
Audra Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee, Garrick, Hagman, Jeffries,
Nestande, Norby, Skinner
TSM:nl 5/17/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****