BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 539
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Date of Hearing: August 19, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 539
(Glazer) - As Amended July 16, 2015
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| |Judiciary | |9 - 1 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill:
SB 539
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1)Prohibits the name of an elected leader or senior military
officer of the Confederate States of America to be used to
name state or local public property, including existing
such-named properties, on and after January 1, 2017.
2)Provides that the above prohibition shall not be construed to
require renaming a city, county, or other political
jurisdiction that was named after an elected leader or senior
military officer of the Confederate States of America prior to
January 1, 2016, nor shall it be construed to require the
renaming of any school, building, park, roadway, or other
property that incorporates the name of the city, county, or
political jurisdiction in which it is situated.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Minor reimbursable costs to replace signage on impacted
properties. (According to the Assembly Committee on Judiciary's
analysis of this bill, there are two elementary schools in the
state named after Robert E. Lee, one in Long Beach and the other
in San Diego, and another in Stockton named after the 10th
President of the United States, John Tyler, who later in life
served in the House of Representatives of the Confederate States
of America.)
COMMENTS:
Purpose. According to the author, the "use of
Confederate-associated names in California public schools,
buildings, parks, roadways, and other public property is
antithetical to California's mission for racial equality." The
author contends that "the Confederate States of America and its
secessionist movement were rooted in slavery," and therefore
"California has no interest in enshrining the names of those
SB 539
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associated with the Confederacy, its secessionist movement, or
their ideals in our public schools, buildings, parks, or other
state property."
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081