BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 2528
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:  April 8, 2014

                            ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
                                 Richard Pan, Chair
                    AB 2528 (Skinner) - As Amended:  April 1, 2014
           
          SUBJECT  :  State-issued identity documents: diacritical marks.

           SUMMARY :  Requires the State Registrar to ensure that  
          diacritical marks on English letters are properly recorded on  
          birth certificates, including, but not limited to, accents,  
          tildes, graves, umlauts, and cedillas and to develop procedures  
          to include other reasonable requests relating to names on birth  
          certificates and creates substantially similar requirements for  
          the Secretary of State relating to certificates of registered  
          domestic partnerships, and the Department of Motor Vehicles  
          relating to identification cards.  

           EXISTING LAW :  

          1)Proscribes the duties of the State Registrar, including, but  
            not limited to, furnishing all forms for birth, death, fetal  
            death, and marriage certificates.

          2)Requires the State Registrar to appoint a Vital Statistics  
            Advisory Committee (VSAC) with the following duties:

             a)   To make recommendations to the State Registrar as to the  
               adequacy of procedures to assure accuracy and  
               confidentiality of personal health and medical information;

             b)   To review the findings of the Committee for the  
               Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS); 

             c)   To assure that all research conducted using the data  
               from birth certificates is consistent with guidelines  
               provided by CPHS; 

             d)   To review and make recommendations to the State  
               Registrar as to proposals for addition or deletion of items  
               on the certificate of live birth and to advise the State  
               Registrar on the content and format of the certificate;  
               and,

             e)   To take testimony and make recommendations to the State  








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               Registrar regarding changes in the birth registration  
               system.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal  
          committee.

           COMMENTS  :

           1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL  .  According to the author, diacritical  
            marks on letters are not simply decoration; they change the  
            sound of the letter to which they are added and distinguish  
            the meaning of the words in which those letters appear.  Many  
            parents agonize over the process of choosing names for their  
            children because names are symbolic, stick with a person  
            forever, and are often tied to cultural traditions.  The  
            author further states that this decision should not have to  
            take into consideration the possible misspelling of a family  
            name on legal documents and it's time for the state to ensure  
            the proper recording of names on birth certificates.

           2)BACKGROUND  .  Diacritical marks include, but are not limited  
            to: grave or acute accents (è or á) and tildes (ñ or ã)  
            commonly found in Spanish language names or umlauts (ö or ü)  
            used in German and cedillas (ç or _) found in French, Turkish,  
            and other languages.

            According to the DPH Office of Vital Records Birth and Death  
            Registration Handbook, "diacritical marks - any of various  
            marks added to a letter to indicate its pronunciation or to  
            distinguish it in some way, e.g., è, ñ, ç," are unacceptable  
            entries.

            As UC Davis Law Professor, Carlton F.W. Larson notes in a 2011  
            article in The George Washington Law Review, "The state  
            operates Año Nuevo State Park and Montaña de Oro State Park,  
            both of which are labeled as such on California's State Parks  
            website.  On Interstate 80, the state erected a sign noting  
            the exit for Peña Adobe Road.  If these names are manageable  
            for naming parks and roads, why are they so difficult to  
            manage for naming people?  Indeed, under California's policy,  
            parents cannot name their child after one of the state's own  
            parks."

           3)SUPPORT  .  The American Civil Liberties Union of California and  
            the Council of Mexican Federations support this bill because  








                                                                  AB 2528
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            many Californians are being denied the ability to use their  
            true name on legal documents.

           4)RELATED LEGISLATION  .  

            a)  AB 2275 (Ridley-Thomas) would authorize the State  
              Registrar, local registrar, or county recorder to accept  
              requests for birth certificates via email.  AB 2275 is  
              currently pending in the Assembly Health Committee.

            b)  AB 1951 (Gomez) would require the State Registrar to  
              modify birth certificates to recognize same-sex couples,  
              allowing for a gender neutral option on the certificate  
              identifying a "parent." AB 1951 is currently pending in the  
              Assembly Health Committee.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :  

           Support 
           
          American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,  
          AFL-CIO
          American Civil Liberties Union of California
          California Communities United Institute
          Council of Mexican Federations

           Opposition 
           
          None on file.
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Lara Flynn / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097