BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 401
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 401 (Ammiano)
As Amended August 14, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 19, 2011) |SENATE: |36-2 |(August 20, |
| | | | | |2012) |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY : Strikes the provision in the intent section of the
Carl Washington School Safety and Violence Prevention Act
specifying that sexual orientation shall not include pedophilia.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead strike out the provision specifying that sexual
orientation shall not include pedophilia in the Carl Washington
School Safety and Violence Prevention Act. The Senate
amendments also add double jointing provisions to avoid
chaptering out conflicts with AB 1999 (Brownley).
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill established a statewide cap
of 1,450 on the number of charter schools that can operate until
January 1, 2017; required the Legislative Analyst's Office to
report to the Legislature on the effectiveness of charter
schools; and, prohibited charter school personnel with hiring
authority from employing relatives.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : The School Safety and Violence Prevention Act, with
grant funds encompassed in the School Safety Block Grant,
establishes a program providing grants to school districts
serving pupils in grades 8 through 12 for the purpose of
promoting school safety and reducing schoolsite violence. The
funds can be used to hire personnel such as school counselors,
social workers, or nurses who are trained in conflict
resolution; purchase on-campus communication devices; establish
in-service staff training for school staff to identify at-risk
pupils; provide instructional curricula and materials to equip
pupils with skills and understanding necessary to prevent school
AB 401
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violence; establish arrangements with local law enforcement
agencies for appropriate school-community relationships; prevent
and respond to acts of hate violence and bias-related incidents,
including implementation of programs and instructional
curricula; and, any other purpose that the school or district
determines would materially contribute to the goals of safe
schools and preventing violence among pupils.
The Governor's proposed 2012-13 Budget appropriates $79 million
to the school safety block grant. This line item, along with
approximately 39 other categorical programs was placed in "tier
3" flexibility in 2009-10, which authorizes districts to use the
funds for any educational purposes and not necessarily for the
purposes for which districts received the funds.
The legislative intent section of the School Safety and Violence
Prevention Act states, among others, the "intent of the
Legislature that public schools have access to supplemental
resources to combat bias on the basis of race, color, religion,
ancestry, national origin, disability, gender, gender identity,
gender expression, or sexual orientation, as defined in
subdivision (r) of Section 12926 of the Government Code, and to
prevent and respond to acts of hate violence and bias-related
incidents. Sexual orientation shall not include pedophilia."
This bill strikes the last sentence specifying that sexual
orientation shall not include pedophilia. The definition of
"sexual orientation" as "heterosexuality, homosexuality, and
bisexuality" are identical in the Education and Government
Codes.
The intent provision of the Carl Washington School Safety and
Violence Prevention Act was enacted by AB 1785 (Villaraigosa),
Chapter 955, Statutes of 2000. It is unclear from a review of
the legislative history why the additional provision proposed to
be struck by this bill was included. The author states that
this provision is "neither appropriate nor necessary."
Equality California supports the bill and states, "Pedophilia
is, in fact, a psychiatric disorder rather than a part of a
person's sexual orientation."
This bill was substantially amended in the Senate and has not
been heard in an Assembly policy committee.
AB 401
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Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0005222