Amended in Assembly February 11, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 8

Introduced by Assembly Members John A. Pérez and Lowenthal

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Holden, Hueso, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Torres, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, and Yamada)

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January 31, 2013

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 8—Relative to violence against women.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AJR 8, as amended, John A. Pérez. Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act.

This measure would urge the President to sign and Congress to pass the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act and ensure the sustainability of vital programs designed to keep women and families safe from violence and abuse.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, The federal Violence Against Women Act
(VAWA) was developed with the input of advocates from around
the country with diverse backgrounds and experiences, and
addresses the real and most important needs of victims of domestic
violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking; and

WHEREAS, VAWA represents the voices of women and their
families, and the voices of victims, survivors, and advocates; and

WHEREAS, VAWA was first enacted in 1994, and has been
the centerpiece of the federal government’s efforts to stamp out
domestic and sexual violence. VAWA provides millions of dollars
to support programs for victim services, transitional housing, and
legal assistance, as well as tools that law enforcement, prosecutors,
and judges need to hold offenders accountable and keep
communities safe while supporting victims; and

WHEREAS, Domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence,
and stalking, once considered private matters to be dealt with
behind closed doors, have been brought out of the darkness; and

WHEREAS, VAWA has been successful because it has had
consistently strong, bipartisan support for nearly two decades; and

WHEREAS, Senators Patrick Leahy and Mike Crapo and
Representative Gwen Moore have introduced identical legislation,
the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, in their
respective houses with language that includes several updates and
improvements to the law, including the following:

(a) An emphasis on the need to effectively respond to sexual
assault crime by adding new purpose areas and a 25-percent
set-aside in the STOP (Services, Training, Officers, and
Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program
(STOP Program) and the Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and
Enforcement of Protection Orders Program.

(b) Improvements in tools to prevent domestic violence
homicides by training law enforcement, victim service providers,
and court personnel to identify and manage high-risk offenders
and connecting high-risk victims to crisis intervention services.

(c) Critical improvements that provide important protections
for students, immigrant women, as well as the lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender and Native American communities.

(d) Improvements in responses to the high rate of violence
against women in tribal communities by strengthening concurrent
tribal criminal jurisdiction over perpetrators who assault Indian
spouses and dating partners in Indian countries.

(e) Measures to strengthen housing protections for victims by
applying existing housing protections to nine additional federal
housing programs.

(f) Measures to promote accountability to ensure that federal
funds are used for their intended purposes.

(g) Consolidation of programs and reductions in authorization
levels to address fiscal concerns, and renewed focus on programs
that have been most successful.

(h) Technical corrections to update definitions throughout the
law to provide uniformity and continuity; and

WHEREAS, There is a need to maintain services for victims
and families at the local, state, and federal levels. VAWA
reauthorization would allow existing programs to continue
uninterrupted, and would provide for the development of new
initiatives to address key areas of concern. These initiatives include
the following:

(a) Addressing the high rates of domestic violence, dating
violence, and sexual assault among women 16 to 24 years of age,
inclusive.

(b) Improving the response to sexual assault with best practices,
training, and communication tools for law enforcement, as well
as for health care and legal professionals.

(c) Preventing domestic violence homicides through enhanced
training for law enforcement, advocates, and others who interact
with those at risk; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature requests the President to
sign and Congress to pass the Violence Against Women
Reauthorization Act and ensure the sustainability of vital programs
designed to keep women and families safe from violence and abuse;
and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
author for appropriate distribution.