The California Senate will mop up a few matters this week—including a vote on legislation that will force all court employees and volunteers to undergo sensitivity training for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender issues—before they join their Assembly colleagues on a month-long summer recess.
In addition to AB 868 (Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco), the gender identity and sexual orientation measure for the court system, senators will also consider AB 20 (Waldon, R-Escondido), which tightens restrictions on child pornography on government computers and equipment, and AB 465 (Bonilla, D-Concord), which mandates increased background checks for youth sports coaches and volunteers.
Both AB 20 and AB 465 are rare bright spots in an otherwise bleak session that has seen legislators push through a wave of anti-family, anti-life and anti-religious freedom bills.
Last week alone, the full Senate approved AB 1266 (Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco), which forces administrators to accommodate transgender students in all public schools, permitting participation in opposite gender sports teams—including locker rooms and campus-based activities, and AB 926 (Bonilla, D-Concord), the measure that pays a bounty to women who “donate” their eggs for research. Both advance to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. He has not indicated if he will support the measures, but his liberal leanings are well established.
Three of our critical bills: AB 154 (Atkins, D-San Diego), the proposed law expanding abortion access by allowing three classes of nurses to perform the invasive procedures, AB 980 (Pan, D-Sacramento), redefining abortions as non-surgical while also decreasing the building code requirements for those clinics, and AB 714 (Bonilla, D-Concord), allocating $1 million in taxpayer money to fund embryonic stem cell research for spinal cord injuries, all successfully passed out of the Senate Health Committee and are awaiting hearings in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
One pleasant surprise came in the Senate Education Committee, which failed to pass AB 314 (Pan, D-Sacramento), a law mandating that all private, religious colleges provide health insurance coverage for birth control and abortions, a key provision of Obamacare. That measure failed on a 4-3 vote.
Another significant and disappointing failure was AB 375 (Buchanan, D-San Ramon), a plan to improve the amount of time it takes to dismiss school employees accused of serious misconduct, including molestation. Although the bill earned the support of the California Teacher’s Association, several Democratic members abstained from voting on the bill, depriving the legislation of its minimum vote requirement for passage. A similar tactic was taken last year to derail another school reform measure.
While the spotlight is off the legislature for a few weeks, the attention shifts to Gov. Brown as we await his decision on AB 1266 and AB 926. Please take a few minutes to contact Brown’s office and let him you’re your opinion on these two anti-family bills. For your convenience, we’ve provided sample communications for you at the end of these summaries.
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