BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 199
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Date of Hearing: March 30, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 199 (Ma and Cook) - As Amended: March 17, 2011
SUBJECT : Social Science Instruction: Filipinos in World War
II
SUMMARY : Expresses the encouragement of the Legislature that
instruction in social science includes the role of Filipinos in
World War II. Specifically, this bill :
1)Encourages the instruction to include an accurate history of
the contributions of the Filipino American veterans who fought
courageously in the United States (U.S.) Army for freedom and
democracy in World War II, under the leadership of General
Douglas MacArthur.
2)Encourages the instruction to include a component drawn from
personal testimony, especially in the form of oral or video
histories of Filipinos who were involved in World War II and
those men and women who contributed to the war effort on the
homefront. Encourages the oral histories to include the
following:
a) Exemplify the personal sacrifice and courage of the wide
range of ordinary citizens who were called upon to
participate and to provide intelligence for the U.S.
b) Contain the views and comments regarding the reasons for
their participation in the war.
c) Comments regarding the aftermath of the war and the
immigration of Filipinos to the U.S.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires instruction on World War II, the War in Vietnam, and
the "Secret War" in Laos.
2)Encourages, under the existing course of study for
history/social science grades 7-12, the inclusion of
instruction on the Vietnam War, the "Secret War" in Laos, and
the role of Southeast Asians in those wars.
AB 199
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3)Encourages instruction in the causes, battles, and outcomes of
World War II, including personal testimony from individuals
involved in those wars.
4)Stipulates that instructional programs be carried out in a
manner that does not result in any new programs or duties
imposed on school districts.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Legislative Counsel, this bill
is non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : This bill encourages the instruction in social
science to include an accurate history of the contributions of
the Filipino American veterans in the U.S. Army for freedom and
democracy in World War II, under the leadership of General
Douglas MacArthur. When the U.S. entered World War II, the
Philippines was a territory of the U.S. Filipino soldiers
fought for the U.S.; however, Filipino soldiers and their
survivors did not enjoy the same benefits as other soldiers and
their contributions to the war effort are largely unrecognized.
The author states, "For their service, the U.S. government
promised them the same health and pension benefits that were
rewarded to other U.S. soldiers. However, after the war ended,
and the help from the Filipino soldier was no longer needed,
President Truman instated the Rescission Act of 1946, which only
offered benefits to a select group of Filipino veterans, and
excluded the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines, the
Recognized Guerilla Forces, and the New Philippine Scouts from
the benefits. Even though they fought side by side, the
veterans that were denied benefits were also forgotten by the US
government, and largely lost from the pages of our history
books. As our students learn about the heroic feats of our
soldiers, it's important to remember that there are many
soldiers left-out from the pages of history."
This bill is identical to earlier versions of AB 717 (Cook and
Ma), which was gutted and amended into a different bill in the
Senate in 2009, and AB 3084 (Cook and Ma), which was vetoed by
Governor Schwarzenegger in 2008 with the following message:
"While I respect the author's intent to recognize the role of
Filipinos who fought courageously in World War II, I have
consistently vetoed legislation that has attempted to include
specific details or events into areas of instruction. The State
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Board of Education adopted content standards are developed by a
diverse group of experts and are intentionally broad in order to
allow coverage of various events, developments, and issues. I
continue to believe that the State should establish rigorous
academic standards and frameworks, but refrain from being overly
prescriptive in specific school curriculum."
Prior Legislation . This bill and variations of it, has been
introduced several other times in addition to AB 717 (2009) and
AB 3084 (2008). AB 72 (Dymally) was vetoed by the Governor in
2007, AB 15 (Jerome Horton) vetoed in 2005 and AB 2512 (Jerome
Horton) vetoed in 2004.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087