BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AJR 45
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AJR
45 (Chiu)
As Amended August 18, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |52-11 |(June 23, |SENATE: |29-5 |(August 22, |
| | |2016) | | |2016) |
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Original Committee Reference: JUD.
SUMMARY: Urges Congress to enact the 2015 Equality Act.
Specifically, this measure:
1)Makes various findings and declarations relating to the Civil
Rights Act of 1964.
2)Declares the necessity to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964
by detailing the lack of enumerated discrimination protections
for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans.
3)Declares the 2015 Equality Act's comprehensive approach will:
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a) Protect LGBT Americans from employment, housing, public
accommodations, public education, access to federal
funding, and access to credit discrimination.
b) Give women equal access to public accommodation and
public funds while not using federal funds to encourage
discrimination.
c) Update the definition of public accommodations to allow
all individuals, including people of color, full access and
utilization of social and public places.
d) Ensure religion cannot be used as a justification for
refusing service based on race, color, religion, sex,
nation original, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
4)Resolves that the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, call upon the United States Congress to
pass the 2015 Equality Act.
5)Resolves that the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
The Senate amendments add co-authors and make one technical
change.
EXISTING LAW:
1) Federal law guarantees equal protection of the laws and
prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex,
or national origin. (Public Law 88-352; 78 Statute 241.)
2) Provides that no person in the State of California shall, on
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the basis of race, national origin, ethnic group
identification, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation,
color, genetic information, or disability, be unlawfully
denied full and equal access to the benefits of, or be
unlawfully subjected to discrimination under, any program or
activity that is conducted, operated, or administered by the
state or by any state agency, is funded directly by the
state, or receives any financial assistance from the state.
(California Government Code 11135.)
3) Provides, under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, that all persons
within this state are free and equal, and no matter what
their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin,
disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital
status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or
immigration status, are entitled to the full and equal
accommodations, advantages, facilities, or services of all
business establishments of every kind whatsoever. Defines
"sex" to include gender identity and gender expression.
(California Civil Code Section 51.)
4) Provides, under the California Fair Employment and Housing
Act, that it is unlawful to discriminate against or harass
any person because of the race, color, religion, sex, gender,
gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation,
marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status,
source of income, disability, or genetic information of that
person. (California Government Code 12955.)
FISCAL EFFECT: None
COMMENTS: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans segregation on the
basis of race, color, religion, gender, or national origin at
all places of public accommodation and prohibits discrimination
by employers and labor unions and the use of federal funds for
any discriminatory program. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a
monumental step for advancing the equal treatment of Americans.
After 52 years, however, the author believes that the law should
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be amended in order to become truly inclusive and to
specifically encompass LGBT Americans. According to the author,
the 2015 Equality Act, introduced as H.R. 3185 by U.S.
Representative David Cicilline of Rhode Island, will provide a
much-needed update to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This
resolution urges Congress to pass the 2015 Equality Act.
Federal Anti-Discrimination Laws: While the United States
Supreme Court gave all 50 states marriage equality in Obergefell
v. Hodges (2015) 135 S.Ct. 2071, LGBT Americans are still faced
with discrimination in employment, housing, public
accommodation, education, access to federal funds, access to
credit, and the right to serve on a jury. Under current federal
law, there are no specific equal employment protections for LGBT
Americans; instead states are given the responsibly to pass
anti-discrimination laws and mostly fail to do so. .
Religious Freedom Restoration Act: The federal Religious
Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) was passed in 1993 a response to
the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Employment Division v.
Smith (1990) 494 U.S. 872. Prior to the Smith decision, the
Supreme Court had issued a number of decisions holding that,
under the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment,
government policies need to accommodate the rights of
religiously observant persons, unless there was a "compelling
state interest" for not accommodating religious concerns.
However, the Smith decision, written by the late Justice Scalia,
reversed this trend, holding that the state did not need to show
a compelling interest in order to discriminate on the basis of
religion. As a response, Congress passed RFRA. In essence,
RFRA provides that a state must show a compelling state interest
in order to infringe upon a religious practice. Following the
passage of RFRA, the U.S. Supreme Court said RFRA did not apply
to some actions of several states. (City of Boerne v. Flores
(1997) 521 U.S. 507.) Subsequently, states began passing their
own RFRA laws. Essentially, state RFRA laws go beyond the
federal RFRA law by offering more protection for religious
freedom, as they are entitled to do under the City of Boerne
decision, than the First Amendment requires. In order to better
balance religious rights and the right to be free of
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discrimination, the 2015 Equality Act would stop organizations
from using state RFRAs or similar laws as a reason to
discriminate or refuse service on the basis of race, color,
religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender
identity.
California Anti-Discrimination Laws: While recently some states
have been moving backwards in terms of protecting rights for the
LGBT community, California has been a consistent leader in
enacting legislation to ensure equal rights over the years.
California law is consistent with the 2015 Equality Act and
protects against discrimination in employment, housing, public
accommodations, funds, and services. Most notably, California's
most important anti-discrimination laws, the Unruh Civil Rights
Act and the Fair Employment and Housing Act, have been amended
to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected
classes. In light of California's historic commitments in this
area, it would seem entirely appropriate for California to urge
Congress to similarly update the federal Civil Rights Act of
1964.
Analysis Prepared by:
Thomas Clark / JUD. / (916) 319-2334 FN:
0004779