Ethnic studies legislation + Election watchdog votes for transparency + ACA 5 goes to voters
Good morning and happy Thursday. The weekend is nearly here. As always, stay safe, wear a mask and we’ll see you on Monday.
ETHNIC STUDIES LEGISLATION
Three California legislative caucuses have come out in favor of a bill that would mandate that each high school student complete an ethnic studies course prior to graduation.
The California Latino Legislative Caucus, the Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus and the Legislative Black Caucus all say they support AB 331, which would go into effect in the 2024-25 academic year if the bill becomes law.
Why this bill? Here’s Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, chair of the Latino Caucus:
“Ethnic studies will help all of our students better understand American history and thus, better prepare them for our societal challenges ahead. But, studies show that students of color in particular, perform better in all subjects when they are taught self-empowerment through their own history,” Gonzalez said in a statement.
The bill is currently before the Senate Appropriations Committee.
FPPC VOTES FOR TRANSPARENCY
California’s election watchdog has voted to require more transparency and disclosures of those who use limited liability companies (LLCs) to make political contributions.
The Fair Political Practices Commission also voted to require campaigns to list the name of the actual person directing LLC political spending, according to an FPPC statement.
According to the FPPC, a 2019 examination of LLCs found that it was extremely difficult to identify the true source of an LLC’s political expenditures.
“This goes to the heart of California’s law on campaign finance, the goal of which is to make it as transparent as possible to see those who are spending money on political activity,” FPPC Chair Richard C. Miadich said in a statement. “When someone can form an LLC in a couple of hours for a couple hundred dollars, it opens the door to potential abuse and funneling of dark money into an election, causing irreparable harm to trust in the process and to the rights of the voting public.”
ACA 5 GOES TO THE VOTERS
Via Hannah Wiley...
California voters will decide in November whether to reinstate affirmative action after lawmakers approved a proposal Wednesday asking them to repeal the 25-year-old law that bans the consideration of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in university admissions, public employment and contracting.
In a 30-10 Senate vote, Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5 secured the necessary two-thirds majority needed to send the measure to repeal Proposition 209 to voters in the Nov. 3 election. Only one Republican, state Sen. Scott Wilk of Santa Clarita, voted for the measure.
For two hours, senators debated the need to revisit a decades-old policy Democrats said has historically disadvantaged women and Californians of color in businesses and on university campuses throughout the most diverse state in the country. They recounted their own experiences with racism, anti-semitism and anti-LGBTQ sentiments to argue in support of or to oppose the bill.
“I know about discrimination. I live it every day. We live it in this building,” said state Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, who is Black. “Quit lying to yourselves and saying race is not a factor...the bedrock of who we are in this country is based on race.”
Bradford said ACA 5 wouldn’t establish an employment or admissions “quota,” but would help add “fairness and opportunity” for Californians building a future.
Opposing the measure, state Sen. Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, rejected the idea that racism has had such a deep impact.
“I patently reject the notion that this state is racist, or that this country is racist,” Melendez said. “This is the least racist country on the planet.”
The debate largely centered on California’s internationally recognized higher education system, which several senators said have historically disadvantaged low-income Californians of color.
Latinos make up nearly 40 percent of the state’s 40 million residents, but represent less than 25 percent of the University of California’s 2019 fall enrollment. About 6 percent of Californians are African American, but at both UC and California State University, 4 percent of students are black.
Currently, Asian-Americans represent 15 percent of California’s population, but 16 percent and 33 percent at CSU and UC, respectively.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Pretty good shaker - 5.8 magnitude. Definitely felt here at the Capitol. Chandeliers in the Senate Chambers were moving.”
- Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, via Twitter. Did you feel the earthquake?
Best of the Bee:
A judge has ruled that Rep. Devin Nunes has no right to sue Twitter over statements made by a fake Internet cow, someone parodying his mother and a Republican strategist, via Kate Irby.
The percentage of Californians testing positive for the coronavirus is increasing as the state has reopened its economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday, calling it a sign that people are letting their guard down and not doing enough to prevent the virus’ spread, via Sophia Bollag.
Latino residents of the Sacramento region and California – a population that experts say is more likely to be working on the front lines of “essential” professions outside the home – are falling ill to coronavirus at a higher rate than any other ethnic group, via Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks, Tony Bizjak and Phillip Reese.