BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2006
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 14, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2006 (Hill) - As Amended: April 6, 2010
Policy Committee: JudiciaryVote:7-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Research Bureau (CRB) to
report on the use of language in state documents suggesting a
particular religious faith or sect. Specifically, this bill
requires the CRB to:
1)Determine the extent to which existing state documents use
such language.
2)Identify, with consultation from experts, religiously neutral
and inclusive terms that can replace religiously-biased
language.
3)Identify any legal ramifications in replacing such language
per (2).
4)Identify fiscal ramifications of requiring state entities to
review agency documents to ensure use of religiously neutral
language.
5)Report its findings to the Legislature by December 31, 2011.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)In addition to using existing staff resources, the CRB will
likely incur contract-related costs to obtain legal and
budgetary expertise in order to complete the report. These
costs are unknown, but could be in the range of $50,000 to
$100,000.
2)To the extent documents would subsequently be modified to
incorporate unbiased language, costs could range for minor and
AB 2006
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absorbable, if modifications were accomplished as part of a
routine updating of agency documents, to significant, if the
specific changes were to be incorporated immediately.
COMMENTS
Purpose . This bill was suggested to the author by a constituent
who is the Executive Director of an interfaith network. This
constituent, while filling out a Board of Equalization (BOE)
religious tax exemption form, noticed that the only choice he
was given-other than "other"-for identifying the qualifying
"religious purpose" was "church, or church and school," even
though his religious institution was not a "church," nor
presumably did the constituent members of his interfaith network
all attend "churches." The BOE's basic property tax exemption
form for religious exemptions (BOE-262-AH) is actually entitled
"Church Exemption," even though the exemption would apply to
synagogues, temples, mosques, meeting houses, and any number of
other places where religious groups might congregate for
religious purposes.
The author believes that the use of such language, however
innocent or unconscious, may suggest a preference toward some
religious groups and may be deemed offensive to other religious
or non-religious groups who do not practice at churches. As
originally introduced, this bill would have directed all state
agencies, departments, and offices when writing any future
documents intended for public use to phrase all references to
religious institutions in "neutral language." Because of the
uncertain legal and fiscal implications of such a comprehensive
undertaking, the bill was amended to require the CRB to assess
the extent of the problem, identify appropriate alternative
language, and consider the fiscal and legal implications of
changing existing language.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081