BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 2444
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 30, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                    AB 2444 (Hall) - As Amended:  April 10, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                               
          JudiciaryVote:10-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill prohibits the State of California from selling or  
          displaying the Confederate flag or similar image, or tangible  
          personal property inscribed with an image unless the image  
          appears in a book serving an educational or historical purpose.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible fiscal impact.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . This bill reportedly originated with the author's  
            discovery that a gift shop in the State Capitol Building sold  
            confederate currency which contained, among other things, an  
            image of the Confederate flag. According to the author, the  
            Confederate Flag is a "symbol of racism, exclusion,  
            oppression, and violence toward many Americans," and its  
            history is directly related to the defense of slavery, whereas  
            California was admitted as a "free state" and its history is  
            directly linked to the expansion of liberty and equal  
            protection for all.

           2)Constitutional Considerations  . For a legal analysis of the  
            First Amendment issues related to this bill, see the Assembly  
            Judiciary Committee analysis. That analysis concludes that,  
            because AB 2444 only prevents the state, and not private  
            persons, from selling or displaying the Confederate flag, it  
            should be consistent with the a 2013 federal court ruling in  
            Sons of Confederate Veterans v. City of Lexington, Virginia,  
            which upheld a City ordinance declaring that the City's flag  








                                                                  AB 2444
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            standards could only be used to fly the flags of the United  
            States, State of Virginia, and the City.

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