BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1442|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1442
Author: Liu (D)
Amended: 8/8/16
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
SENATE FLOOR: 39-0, 5/26/16
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson,
Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Stone,
Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 8/18/16 - See last page for vote
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
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Page 2
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).
Assembly Amendments (1) require that specified regulations
implementing provisions in this bill be transferred to the
portion of the California Code of Regulations that is under the
authority of DFEH and authorize DFEH to add to, amend, or repeal
the regulations as necessary; and (2) specify that additional
changes to Section of 12930 of the Government Code, proposed by
AB 2707 (Ridley-Thomas, 2016), will be operative only if AB
2707 and this bill are both chaptered and become effective, and
this bill is chaptered last.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and
eligibility for government programs and benefits based upon
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.
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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.
4)Requires certain portions of the California Code of
Regulations under the authority of the California Health and
Human Services Agency shall be transferred to the portions of
the California Code of Regulations under the Jurisdiction of
DFEH and specifies that, upon transfer, those regulations
shall be deemed adopted by the Fair Employment and Housing
Council of the DFEH and authorizes DFEH to adopt, amend, or
repeal those regulations as necessary.
5)Specifies that additional changes to Section of 12930 of the
Government Code, proposed by AB 2707, will be operative only
if AB 2707 and this bill are both chaptered and become
effective, and this bill is chaptered last.
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."
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."
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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.
Related/Prior Legislation
AB 2707 (Ridley-Thomas, 2016) prohibits "consumer racial
profiling," as defined. (Pending on the Assembly Floor)
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
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, any
additional costs to DFEH, for modifying regulations and
administering what would likely be a small number of additional
claims, would be minor and absorbable, and would be offset to
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some extent by the efficiencies gained in consolidating the
specified responsibilities within DFEH.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/18/16)
California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (source)
California Health and Human Services Agency
Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/18/16)
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."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 8/18/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
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Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine,
Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell,
Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas,
Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Roger Hernández
Prepared by:Felipe Lopez / G.O. / (916) 651-1530
8/19/16 19:37:15
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