BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 161
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   July 13, 2005

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                   Judy Chu, Chair

                     SB 161 (Soto) - As Amended:  June 30, 2005 

          Policy Committee:                             EducationVote:7-3

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill establishes the California Youth Access To Information  
          Act, which requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to  
          prepare a statement of pupil rights in both English and Spanish  
          that includes information related to discrimination and medical  
          care related to mental health, pregnancy, and sexually  
          transmitted diseases.  Specifically, this bill: 

          1)Requires the SDE to post the pupil rights statement on its  
            Internet website on or before July 1, 2006.  It further  
            requires the SDE to notify school districts of the statement's  
            availability on the website.  

          2)Authorizes school districts to display this statement at  
            school facilities, as specified.   

           FISCAL EFFECT  


          Unknown General Fund (GF) administrative costs, likely in excess  
          of $60,000, to SDE in order to post California Youth Access To  
          Information Act in English and Spanish on its Internet website.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  .  In 2003, the author established the 32nd Senatorial  
            District Teen Pregnancy Prevention Consortium as a response to  
            the district having the fourth highest teen pregnancy rate in  
            the state.  The consortium consists of stakeholders, community  
            members, and youth of the 32nd senate district.  The  
            consortium concluded that the many barriers youth face could  
            be mitigated if they knew about the resources available to  








                                                                  SB 161
                                                                  Page  2

            them. Specifically, the consortium believed that youth are not  
            exposed to many of the laws that are pertinent to their lives.

            This bill establishes the California Youth Access To  
            Information Act, which requires the SDE to prepare of  
            statement of current pupil rights and post it on its Internet  
            website.  

           2)Current law  establishes certain rights relating to a pupil's  
            ability to consent to certain medical care, rights relating to  
            adoption procedures, and rights relating to criminal  
            procedure.  It also provides pupils with certain rights  
            relating to the attendance of safe schools and the right to be  
            free from discrimination in schools. 

             
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081