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Published May 17, 2021

CFER Legislative Alert: 4 Important Bills for 05/20 Hearings

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On this Thursday (05/20), AB101 and AB105 will be heard and voted in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. On the same day, the Senate Appropriations Committee will consider SB17 and SB40. See below CFER's action alert for these 4 bills.

Assembly Appropriations CommitteeAB101 and AB105

  • AB101 is the state mandate for ethnic studies as a high school graduation requirement. It is based on a narrow framework of critical race theory.
  • AB105 would allow race and gender as factors for the civil services system. It would violate the state constitution ban on preferential treatment.
  • CFER's positions on AB101 & AB105.
  • Watch the hearing here and follow the call-in info. to voice your concerns.
  • Email your opposition at approps.committee@assembly.ca.gov. (Utilize CFER's action portal for AB101).

Senate Appropriations CommitteeSB17 and SB40

  • SB17 addresses racism as a public health crisis and proposes an Office of Racial Equity to promote "anti-racist", equity-driven health policies.
  • SB40 aims for a 5-year medicine scholars program that would grant preferential treatment to "Latino, African American, Native American and Pacific Islander physicians."
  • CFER's positions on SB17 and SB40.
  • Watch the hearing here and follow the call-in info. to voice your concerns.
  • Email the committee your opposition at sapr@sen.ca.gov

Sample Arguments:

  • AB101 is an imprudent measure based on the highly controversial ethnic studies model curriculum. It would lead to violations of California's constitutional guarantee of equal treatment and Articles 3 & 4 of the Education Code. It would also incur extra tax burdens on Californians.
  • AB105 intends to institute preferential treatment and potentially racial quotas in the civil services sector. It is unconstitutional and unlawful. 
  • SB17 is rooted in a narrow, politicized outlook on racism as "a founding principle in the U.S. Constitution." It wrongly attributes health disparities to presumed racism, covering up root problems of policy failures.
  • SB40 sets up a race-preferential goal for medical education, with a false proposition that patients receive better care from practitioners of the same race. It violates the state constitution Article I Section 31 (a). 
  • Racial preferences in public education (SB40) and public employment (AB105) are not only unconstitutional, but also counterproductive as instituting preferences doesn't truly lift up the intended beneficiaries.
  • Pursuing a narrow political framework of critical race theory (CRT) in education (AB101) and public health policies (SB17) is divisive, discriminatory and inflammatory. A victim-oppressor lenses takes away empowerment, personal agency and incentives from the so-called "victim" groups, while viciously scapegoating and stereotyping the "privileged" groups, through the narrow prism of race.
  • Legislating preferential treatment and CRT would cost taxpayers billions of dollars with no empirically proven benefits.

Contact:

Wenyuan Wu

wenyuan.wu@cferfoundation.org

About Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER):

We are a non-partisan and non-profit organization established following the defeat of Proposition 16 in 2020, with a mission to defend and raise public awareness on the cause of equal rights through public education, civic engagement and community outreach. In 1996, California became the first U.S. state to amend its constitution by passing Proposition 209 to ban racial discrimination and preferences. Prop. 209 requires that “the state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.” CFER is dedicated to educating the public on this important constitutional principle of equal treatment.

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