BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2780
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
2780 (Holden)
As Amended June 9, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |79-0 |(April 21, |SENATE: | 37-0 |(August 11, |
| | |2016) | | |2016) |
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Original Committee Reference: L. & E.
SUMMARY: Provides adjustments to the term lengths of the seven
Fair Employment and Housing Council (Council) members.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides that for the Council, the terms of four of the
members be four years in length and the terms of three of the
members be two years in length. The bill provides that after
the terms of these initial appointments expire, members would
be appointed to serve four-year terms.
2)Provide that vacancies occurring prior to the expiration of
the term shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired
term.
3)Provides that these changes would begin with appointments to
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the Council made on or after January 1, 2017.
The Senate amendments:
1)Remove provisions requiring that the Governor, in the case of
a vacancy on the board, to immediately appoint a member to
serve the remainder of the term.
2)Provide that vacancies occurring prior to the expiration of
the term shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired
term.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the Department of Fair Employment and Housing
(DFEH), who is responsible for enforcing California's civil
rights laws.
2)Establishes the Council within the DFEH, which is an
independent body, responsible for promulgating regulations
that implement California's employment and housing
anti-discrimination laws, providing technical assistance to
advisory agencies and issuing reports to the Governor and
Legislature in order to advance civil rights in California.
3)Provides the Council consists of seven members, appointed by
the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, who each serve four
year terms, which are not staggered.
4)Provides that the Director of the DFEH shall serve as a
nonvoting ex-officio member of the Council.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
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Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS: The purpose of this bill is to stagger the terms of
the Council members in order to provide institutional
continuity. Continuity is significant for institutional memory
and for consistency across long-term institutional commitments.
Other boards and commissions, such as the California
Transportation Commission, have staggered terms.
Background:
The mission of the DFEH is to protect Californians from
employment, housing and public accommodation discrimination, and
hate violence. The DFEH is the largest state civil rights
agency in the country. It was established by the Legislature in
1959 as the Division of Fair Employment Practices and was
initially part of the Department of Industrial Relations. In
1980, the DFEH was established as an independent department
charged with enforcing California's comprehensive employment,
housing, public accommodations and public service
non-discrimination laws, as well as the State's bias-related
hate violence law.
The DFEH's statutory mandate is to protect the people of
California from employment, housing and public accommodations
discrimination and hate violence pursuant to the California Fair
Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Unruh Civil Rights Act,
Disabled Persons Act, and Ralph Civil Rights Act. The DFEH has
jurisdiction over both private and public entities operating
within the State of California, including corporate entities,
private sector contracts granted by the State of California, and
all State departments and local governments.
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The DFEH receives and investigates discrimination complaints in
its five district offices throughout the California. The
district offices handle employment, housing, public
accommodations, and hate violence cases, along with a special
investigations unit which focuses on systemic discrimination
cases statewide. In addition, there are three legal offices
which prosecute cases. The DFEH routinely provides technical
assistance to employers, business establishments and housing
providers regarding their responsibilities under the law.
Arguments in Support:
This bill is supported by the Department of Fair Employment and
Housing; they state that, "Currently, the seven members' terms
are not staggered and will expire simultaneously on January 1,
2017. This bill would stagger subsequent appointee's terms in
order to maintain institutional knowledge and consistency across
long-term projects."
There is no opposition on file.
Previous Related Legislation
SB 1038 (Committee on Budget & Fiscal Review) Chapter 46,
Statutes of 2012, eliminated the Fair Employment and Housing
Commission, an entity separate from the DFEH that both
promulgated regulations and adjudicated California Fair
Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) claims. The law transferred
the regulatory functions of the Commission to the DFEH by
creating a rulemaking body called the Fair Employment and
Housing Council (Council) within the Department. SB 1038 ended
administrative adjudication of FEHA claims and, for the first
time, authorized the DFEH to file and prosecute civil actions
directly in court.
Analysis Prepared by:
Taylor Jackson / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091 FN:
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