BILL NUMBER: AB 7	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JANUARY 28, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bonta
    (   Principal   coauthors:  
Assembly Members   Alejo   and Eggman   )

    (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members 
 Chiu,   Gomez,   Medina,   Nazarian,
  Rendon,   and Williams   ) 

                        DECEMBER 1, 2014

   An act to add Section 37222.18 to the Education Code, and to add
Section 6725 to the Government Code, relating to public schools.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 7, as amended, Bonta. Public schools: Larry Itliong Day.
   Existing law requires the Governor to proclaim certain days each
year for specified reasons. Existing law also designates particular
days each year as having special significance in public schools and
educational institutions and encourages those entities to conduct
suitable commemorative exercises on those dates.
   This bill would require the Governor to annually proclaim October
25 as Larry Itliong Day, would designate that date of each year as
having special significance in public schools and educational
institutions, and would encourage those entities to observe that date
by conducting exercises remembering the life of Larry Itliong and
the contributions he made to the state.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Larry Itliong was a native of the  Phillippines
  Philippines  and was born on October 25, 1913, in
San Nicolas, Pangasinan.
   (b) At the young age of 15, with only a sixth grade education,
Larry Itliong decided to seek out the land of "milk and 
money"   honey"  in order to pursue his studies and
moved to the United States of America in 1929. As a result of the
Great Depression, Larry Itliong was forced to work on the railroads
and then as a migrant farmworker traveling through Montana, South
Dakota, Washington, and finally California. During that time, Larry
Itliong learned of the plight suffered by Filipinos and other
immigrants working as farm laborers.
   (c) Larry Itliong was a prominent leader in one of the greatest
social justice movements in the United States of America: the
American farm labor movement. He organized a group of 1,500 Filipinos
to strike against the grape growers of Delano, California, and
continued on that strike for eight days while suffering through
violence imposed by the growers' hired hands and the sheriff
department and being thrown out of the labor camp.
   (d) However, Larry Itliong remained tenacious and resilient,
calling upon César Chávez and his followers to join forces with the
Filipinos and strike together. Due partly as a result of Larry
Itliong's persuasions, the two groups combined establishing the
United Farm Workers of America, one of the greatest unions in the
history of the nation. The unification of farm labor workers of
different ethnicities was unprecedented at that time, setting an
example for future generations of workers and organizers and proving
to be one of the reasons for the success of the movement.
   (e) Larry Itliong moved on to become the President of the Filipino
American Political Alliance, the first national political Filipino
American organization and a crucial alliance between Filipino
professional and laborers that grew out of the Delano Grape Strike.
   (f) Larry Itliong was also instrumental in the founding of the
Pablo Agbayani Village, a retirement home built by volunteers for
retired Filipino Manongs who no longer had families and needed a
place to call home.
   (g) Larry Itliong passed away in 1977 at the age of 63 leaving
behind his wife and seven children.
   (h) The accomplishments and contributions of Larry Itliong should
be properly memorialized within the history and culture of the United
States of America. Larry Itliong deserves proper recognition for his
numerous sacrifices in the name of justice and the suppression of
severely inadequate working conditions.
   (i) Larry Itliong's legacy has been acknowledged in part in the
renaming of a Union City middle school, formerly known as Alvarado
Middle School. The middle school has been renamed Itliong-Vera Cruz
Middle School in honor of the two labor movement heroes. It is the
first school in the United States of America to be named after a
Filipino American.
  SEC. 2.  Section 37222.18 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   37222.18.  (a) October 25 of each year is designated and set apart
as Larry Itliong Day, a day having special significance pursuant to
Section 37222.
   (b) On Larry Itliong Day, all public schools and educational
institutions are encouraged to conduct exercises remembering the life
of Larry Itliong, recognizing his accomplishments, and familiarizing
pupils with the contributions he made to this state.
  SEC. 3.  Section 6725 is added to the Government Code, to read:
   6725.  The Governor annually shall proclaim October 25 as Larry
Itliong Day.