BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 1252
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 4, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                    SB 1252 (Corbett) - As Amended:  May 19, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                              JudiciaryVote:7-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill makes miscellaneous technical and conforming changes  
          to housing discrimination law, including increasing the maximum  
          civil penalties that may be assessed for a violation of the Fair  
          Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) from $10,000, $25,000, and  
          $50,000 to $16,000, $37,500, and $65,000 for a person's first,  
          second, and third violations, respectively.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Any costs to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing  
          (DFEH), which enforces the FEHA and other civil rights laws,  
          would be minor and absorbable. 

           COMMENTS  

           Background and Purpose  . This bill is sponsored by the DFEH to  
          make several technical changes to the FEHA. The FEHA prohibits  
          employment and housing discrimination based on the protected  
          classes of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation,  
          marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status,  
          source of income, or disability.  The FEHA further provides that  
          it is a civil right to be able to pursue and maintain housing or  
          employment without facing discrimination.  

          According to a work-sharing agreement between the DFEH and the  
          U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the FEHA  
          must remain substantially similar to the Fair Housing Amendments  
          Act (FHAA) in order for the DFEH to receive complaint referrals  
          and funding from HUD.  According to the DFEH, for the current  
          contract period the DFEH anticipates receiving over $3 million  
          dollars from HUD, which it believes could be at risk if this  








                                                                  SB 1252
                                                                  Page  2

          bill is not enacted.

          This bill keeps the FEHA substantially equal to the FHAA by  
          conforming the FEHA civil penalty caps to the recently revised  
          federal caps.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081