2003 Budget Priorities | 2004 Budget Priorities
2005 Budget Priorities | 2006 Budget Priorities
2007 Budget Priorities
2004 Legislative Priorities | 2004 Legislative Priorities
2005 Legislative Priorities | 2006 Legislative Priorities
2007 Legislative Priorities | 2008 Legislative Priorities

2006 Legislative Priorities

ACR 56 (Chu) – This resolution establishes the month of June as Hate Crimes Awareness month in order to raise awareness and encourage the reporting of hate crimes in our communities.

Outcome: Adopted by Legislature

ACR 112 (Chan) - Establishes that a health disparity exists in the rate of chronic Hepatitis B infection among Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Americans, compared to other ethnic and racial groups. ACR 112 urges the medical and public health community to raise awareness regarding high incidences of hepatitis B (HBV) infection in API Americans. This resolution also encourages the medical community to emphasize to parents the need for their children to complete the three dose HBV vaccination series, as well as encourage HBV vaccination programs in California to target high-risk API children in hopes of diminishing this population's carrier pool.

Outcome: Adopted by Legislature

AB 630 (Chu) – Adds new protections, as well as strengthens existing ones, within state law to further protect consumers from fraud by unscrupulous and fraudulent immigration consultants. These new protections include an enforcement component that authorizes the Secretary of State to issue a “cease and desist” letter to immigration consultants for violating the state-bonding requirement and requires a background check for those individuals interested in becoming immigration consultants. Under this bill, law enforcement agencies will also have additional tools to prosecute immigration consultants who violate the law.

Outcome: Signed by Governor

AB 680 (Chan) – Enhances opportunities for parental involvement in K-12 education by strengthening compliance with Education Code Section 48985, which requires school districts to translate notices and materials for parents into the primary languages of substantial English Language Learner populations.

Outcome: Signed by Governor

AB 1056 (Chu) – Establishes a pilot project grant program to help integrate inter-group relations and tolerance instruction in the existing History and Social Science curriculum.  This program would ensure that schools have the tools to respond to the increase of bias-motivated incidents that occur in California schools. This measure authorizes the California Department of Education to award 10 grants to applicable schools. Funding will be provided for the purposes, including, but not limited to, the purchase of supplemental materials and professional development for teachers on tolerance and inter-group relations.

Outcome: Vetoed by Governor

AB 2152 (Chan) - Would repeal the exception in current law that allows physicians, surgeons, dentists, or podiatrists to practice acupuncture without training.  AB 2152 would instead require any individual who practices acupuncture to fulfill the educational and training requirements under the Acupuncture Licensure Act and obtain an acupuncture license. 

Outcome: Held in Assembly Business and Professions Committee.

AB 2233 (Chan) - Would reestablish, on a contract basis, trade offices in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Mexico.  Per the recommendations of the State Auditor in a 2001 audit report entitled Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency, the bill requests that each trade office establish a long term strategic planning process in order to ensure its success.  This long term strategic plan requires the trade offices to define a mission, specify outcome related goals that are significant to the mission, and quantified targets for the goals.  As a check on the trade offices, the offices must submit an annual report to the Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing, and the Secretary must contract out for an independent study of the effectiveness of the trade offices and submit the results of the study to the Legislature no later than January 1, 2011.

Outcome: In Assembly Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy Committee.

AB 2287 (Chu) – Would define Acupuncture as a treatment predicated on the Acupuncture and ElectroAcupuncture Evidence-Based Treatment Guidelines, which were developed and published in accordance with the requirements of the Workers’ Compensation reforms of 2003 and 2004.  Doing so would reverse an unintended consequence that resulted from these reforms which effectively removed acupuncture from the Workers’ Compensation system.

Outcome: Vetoed by Governor

AB 2420 (Lieu) - Would provide one of many steps towards meeting the API community’s diverse needs by requiring state agencies, commissions, and boards to use collection categories for API ethnic groups currently broken out and reported by the U.S. Census. California law currently requires the state collection of disaggregated data for the following API ethnic groups:  Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan, Laotian, and Cambodian.  However, this list does not include many API ethnic groups.  AB 2420 will require state agencies to collect data for additional API ethnic groups, including Hmong, Tongan, Thai, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Malaysian, Indonesian, Taiwanese, and Fijian.

Outcome: Held in Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 2510 (Lieu) - Would encourage the statewide survey that is conducted every other year in grades 7, 9, and 11 to include questions regarding bullying and harassment incidents, including bias-related discrimination and incidents.  Currently, the survey asks questions mainly about drug and alcohol use.  A supplemental report (contingent upon future appropriation) specifically analyzing bias-related discrimination and incidents will also come out of this bill in addition to the overall report on survey findings.  AB 2510 would help the state better gauge bias-related discrimination and incidents in schools, as well as how students are handling such incidents.

Outcome: Vetoed by governor