BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 401
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 401 (Ammiano)
As Amended August 14, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 19, 2011) |SENATE: |36-2 |(August 20, 2012) |
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(vote not relevant)
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: |7-0 |(August 28, 2012) |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
|(ED.) | | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY : Strikes the provision in the intent section of the Carl
Washington School Safety and Violence Prevention Act specifying
that sexual orientation shall not include pedophilia.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill, and
instead strike out the provision specifying that sexual orientation
shall not include pedophilia in the Carl Washington School Safety
and Violence Prevention Act. The Senate amendments also add double
jointing provisions to avoid chaptering out conflicts with AB 1999
(Brownley).
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill established a statewide cap of
1,450 on the number of charter schools that can operate until
January 1, 2017; required the Legislative Analyst's Office to
report to the Legislature on the effectiveness of charter schools;
and, prohibited charter school personnel with hiring authority from
employing relatives.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : The School Safety and Violence Prevention Act, with
grant funds encompassed in the School Safety Block Grant,
establishes a program providing grants to school districts serving
pupils in grades 8 through 12 for the purpose of promoting school
safety and reducing schoolsite violence. The funds can be used to
AB 401
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hire personnel such as school counselors, social workers, or nurses
who are trained in conflict resolution; purchase on-campus
communication devices; establish in-service staff training for
school staff to identify at-risk pupils; provide instructional
curricula and materials to equip pupils with skills and
understanding necessary to prevent school violence; establish
arrangements with local law enforcement agencies for appropriate
school-community relationships; prevent and respond to acts of hate
violence and bias-related incidents, including implementation of
programs and instructional curricula; and, any other purpose that
the school or district determines would materially contribute to
the goals of safe schools and preventing violence among pupils.
The Governor's proposed 2012-13 Budget appropriates $79 million to
the school safety block grant. This line item, along with
approximately 39 other categorical programs was placed in "tier 3"
flexibility in 2009-10, which authorizes districts to use the funds
for any educational purposes and not necessarily for the purposes
for which districts received the funds.
The legislative intent section of the School Safety and Violence
Prevention Act states, among others, the "intent of the Legislature
that public schools have access to supplemental resources to combat
bias on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national
origin, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, or
sexual orientation, as defined in Section 12926 of the Government
Code, and to prevent and respond to acts of hate violence and
bias-related incidents. Sexual orientation shall not include
pedophilia." This bill strikes the last sentence specifying that
sexual orientation shall not include pedophilia. The definition of
"sexual orientation" as "heterosexuality, homosexuality, and
bisexuality" are identical in the Education and Government Codes.
The intent provision of the Carl Washington School Safety and
Violence Prevention Act was enacted by AB 1785 (Villaraigosa),
Chapter 955, Statutes of 2000. It is unclear from a review of the
legislative history why the additional provision proposed to be
struck by this bill was included. The author states that this
provision is "neither appropriate nor necessary."
Equality California supports the bill and states, "Pedophilia is,
in fact, a psychiatric disorder rather than a part of a person's
sexual orientation."
AB 401
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Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0005748