BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1850
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1850 (Eduardo Garcia) - As Amended April 7, 2016
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|Policy |Education |Vote:|7 - 0 |
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| |Judiciary | |10 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill deletes the word "illegal" from the descriptor
"illegal alien" in legislative findings and declarations related
to the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, and
replaces the word "alien" with the term "foreign national" in
these provisions, subject to a terminology change in federal
law. Specifically, this bill:
AB 1850
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1)Makes certain changes operative only if the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SPI) certifies, in writing, to the
Secretary of State of California on or before January 20,
2017, that House Resolution 3785 of the 114th United States
Congress, or an equivalent measure, has been enacted and the
Correcting Hurtful and Alienating Names in Government
Expression (CHANGE) Act has become law.
FISCAL EFFECT:
No significant state fiscal effect.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, current law uses the term
"illegal alien" to describe a person who is not a citizen or
national in the United States. This language is derogatory
and antiquated. This bill seeks to remove and replace "illegal
alien" with the term "foreign national." This would complete
the effort made by the legislature to completely remove the
term "illegal aliens" from the California code and to move
society forward away from this term.
2)Pending federal legislation. Legislation pending in Congress,
titled the "Correcting Hurtful and Alienating Names in
Government Expression (CHANGE) Act" (H.R.3785, Castro)
proposes to prohibit an executive agency from using "alien"
and "illegal alien" in any rule, regulation, interpretation,
publication, other document, display, or sign issued by the
agency, and replace the term "alien" with "foreign national,"
and "illegal alien" with "undocumented foreign national."
This bill replaces the word "alien" with the term "foreign
AB 1850
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national" in specified provisions of the Education Code only
if the SPI certifies to the Secretary of State of California
that this terminology has been changed in federal law. For
purposes of consistency, these specified provisions, because
of their relation to the federal Immigration Reform and
Control Act of 1986, are thought best to leave unaltered
unless identical changes are also enacted in the federal
statutes.
3)Prior related legislation. AB 432 (Mendoza), Chapter 160,
Statutes of 2015 repealed two statutes using the term "alien"
in the Labor Code.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081