BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1442| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SB 1442 Author: Liu (D) Amended: 4/26/16 Vote: 21 SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORG. COMMITTEE: 12-0, 4/12/16 AYES: Hall, Berryhill, Block, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Lara, McGuire, Vidak NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 4/19/16 AYES: Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8 SUBJECT: Discrimination: regulations and enforcement SOURCE: California Department of Fair Employment and Housing DIGEST: This bill reorganizes and consolidates various statutes regarding discrimination. In addition, this bill removes the authority of various state agencies to promulgate regulations to prohibit discrimination and requires investigation and enforcement of antidiscrimination provisions to be performed by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and eligibility for government programs and benefits based upon SB 1442 Page 2 specified personal characteristics. 2)Specifies that the DFEH within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, is charged with enforcement of civil rights violations, including discrimination. 3)Authorizes the DFEH, and other state agencies that administer programs or activities funded by the state or that receive financial assistance from the state and that enter into contracts for services to be provided to the public, as specified, to promulgate regulations to prohibit discrimination. 4)Specifies that it is the policy of the state to facilitate and support the development and operation of housing for homeless youth. This bill: 1)Reorganizes and consolidates various statutes regarding discrimination. 2)Removes the authority of various state agencies to promulgate regulations to prohibit discrimination and requires the investigation and enforcement of antidiscrimination provisions to be performed by the DFEH. 3)Reorganizes the regulation of housing for homeless youth under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. Background Purpose of the bill. According to the author, "various Government Code sections prohibit discrimination in state-funded programs, however many of the forms of discrimination prohibited by those code sections are also prohibited in various other existing statutes. One of these sections, Government Code Section 11135, requires the Secretary of the Health and Human Services Agency to administer parts of the anti-discrimination provisions and requires nearly every state department to adopt its own regulations." SB 1442 Page 3 The author argues that, "the state entity with expertise in enforcing anti-discrimination laws is the DFEH, which makes it the most logical choice to administer Section 11135." California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. The DFEH is the largest state civil rights agency in the country. Its mission is to protect Californians from employment, housing and public accommodation discrimination, and hate violence. The DFEH's statutory mandate is to protect the people of California from employment, housing and public accommodation discrimination and hate violence pursuant to the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, 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. The DFEH receives and investigates discrimination complaints in its five district offices throughout 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. Prior/Related Legislation SB 703 (Leno, Chapter 578, Statutes of 2015) added a new section of law to the Public Contract Code that prohibits a state agency from entering into contracts for the acquisition of goods or services of $100,000 or more with a contractor that discriminates between employees on the basis of gender identity in the provision of benefits. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No SUPPORT: (Verified5/17/16) SB 1442 Page 4 California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (source) California Health and Human Services Agency Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center OPPOSITION: (Verified5/17/16) None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the DFEH, "the DFEH is the state agency responsible for enforcing California's civil rights laws. However, Government Code Section 11135 requires the Secretary of the Health and Human Services Agency to administer certain anti-discrimination provisions and requires nearly each state department to adopt its own regulations implementing Section 11135. This structure is inefficient because the Health and Human Services Agency is not otherwise charged with civil rights enforcement and because departments are required to create duplicative regulatory schemes to interpret their Section 11135 obligations. Senate Bill 1442 creates a logical and efficient mechanism for implementing the laws prohibiting discrimination in state-funded programs by giving the DFEH authority to investigate, mediate and prosecute Section 11135 complaints in the same manner it handles other discrimination claims." Prepared by:Felipe Lopez / G.O. / (916) 651-1530 5/18/16 16:28:10 **** END ****