2006 Legislation

2006 List of Bills that Affect LGBT Californians
(As of Monday, October 2, 2006)
Compiled by Eric Astacaan, 916-319-2226, eric.astacaan@asm.ca.gov

 

PRO-LGBT BILLS

 

  • AB 606 (Levine)Safe Place to Learn Act – Enact statutory scheme to implement Senator Kuehl’s CA Student Safety & Violence Prevention Act of 2000 that prohibit discrimination and harassment in public schools. Status: Passed the California Legislature.  Vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, 2006-09-28.

 

  • AB 1056 (Chu) - Establish the Tolerance Education Pilot Program, to be administered by the State Department of Education, to promote instruction in public schools on tolerance and intergroup relations as part of the instruction in the history/social science content standards, as specified.  Status: Passed the California Legislature.  Vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, 2006-09-28.

 

  • AB 1160 (Lieber)Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act - Affirm legislative intent stating that use of “panic defense” by criminal defendants to appeal to the bias of jurors is against public policy. Status: Passed the California Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, Chapter 550, Statutes of 2006.

 

  • AB 1207 (Yee)Code of Fair Campaign Practices – Include in the voluntary pledge to not use or permit any appeal to negative prejudices based on sexual orientation or gender identity (AB 866 redux).  Status: Passed the California Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, Chapter 551, Statutes of 2006. (LGBT Caucus Priority Bill)

 

  • AB 2051 (Cohn) - Expands education and training requirements to include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) domestic violence issues.  Establish the Equality in Prevention and Services for Domestic Abuse Fund, a continuously appropriated fund (from additional fees to domestic partnership registration) to develop and support domestic violence-related education and services specific to the LGBT community. Status: Passed the California Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, Chapter 856, Statutes of 2006.

 

  • AB 2800 (Laird) - The Civil Rights Housing Act of 2006 - Standardize various housing-related nondiscrimination provisions in California law to make them consistent with the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Status: Passed the California Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, Chapter 578, Statutes of 2006. (LGBT Caucus Priority Bill)

 

  • AB 2920 (Leno) - Amend to include senior LGBT Californians in the Mello-Granlund Older Californians Act, which sets forth the state’s commitment to its elder population who are served by programs administered by the California Department of Aging. Status: Passed the California Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, Chapter 829, Statutes of 2006. (LGBT Caucus Priority Bill)

 

  • SB 1437 (Kuehl)The Bias-Free Curriculum Act - Amend the Education Code to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in text books, classroom instruction, and school-sponsored activities. Status: Passed the California Legislature.  Vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, 2006-09-06. (LGBT Caucus Priority Bill)

 

  • SB 1441 (Kuehl) - Prohibit discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity in state operated or funded programs. Status: Passed the California Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, Chapter 182, Statutes of 2006.  (LGBT Caucus Priority Bill)

 

  • SB 1471 (Kuehl) - Require any state-funded or administered program that provides education to prevent adolescent or unintended pregnancy or to prevent sexually transmitted infections to be, among other requirements, medically accurate, free from specified biases, culturally and linguistically appropriate, and does not teach or promote any religious doctrine. Status: Passed the California Legislature.  Vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, 2006-09-29. (LGBT Caucus Priority Bill)

 

  • SB 1827 (Migden) – Extend state income tax joint filing status to registered domestic partners.  Status: Passed the California Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, Chapter 802, Statutes of 2006.  (LGBT Caucus Priority Bill)

 

HIV/AIDS-RELATED BILLS

 

  • AB 2076 (Laird) - Give local jurisdictions the option of funding needle-exchange programs from state General Funds allocated for HIV prevention & education. Status: Passed the California Legislature.  Held at Assembly Desk per author’s request.

 

  • AB 2203 (Garcia) - Require that any woman seeking an annual gynecological examination or family planning appointment be provided with an information sheet on HIV and AIDS, as prescribed, including a place where the patient may sign to acknowledge receipt of the information sheet. Status: Failed passage in Assembly Health Committee, 4 – 3.  Reconsideration granted.

 

  • AB 2280 (Leno) - Permit a physician or nurse practitioner, who diagnoses a sexually transmitted gonorrhea infection, or other sexually transmitted infection as determined by DHS, to prescribe, dispense, furnish, or otherwise provide prescription antibiotic drugs to that patient's sexual partner or partners without examination. Status: Passed the California Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, Chapter 771, Statutes of 2006.

 

  • AB 2383 (Dymally) – Require inmates committed to state prison or a state hospital to be given a health screening prior to being released. Status: Held in Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file.

 

  • SB 699 (Soto) - HIV Names Reporting (urgency bill reintroduced with Senator Soto as lead author, LGBT Caucus Members as principal co-authors). Status: Passed the California Legislature.  Signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger into law as an urgency statute, 04-17-2006, Chap. 20, Statutes of 2006. (LGBT Caucus Priority Bill)

 

OTHER BILLS OF INTERESTS

 

  • AB 1210 (Levine) – Establish the International Genocide Memorial Commission to oversee the construction of a memorial to California's genocide survivors on the grounds of the State Capitol. Status: Passed the California Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, Chapter 849, Statutes of 2006.

 

  • AB 1677 (Koretz) – Allow condom distribution in prisons. Status: Passed the California Legislature.  Vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, 2006-09-29.

 

BAD BILLS

 

  • AB 2130 (DeVore) – Require a court to consider the religious, cultural, moral, and ethnic values of the child or of his or her birth parents, if those values are known or ascertainable by the exercise of reasonable care before placing the child for adoption or appointing a legal guardian for the child. Status: Failed passage in Assembly Human Services Committee, 2 – 3.  Reconsideration granted.

 

  • AB 2311 (Mountjoy) – Prohibit the “promotion of homosexuality in public education.” Status: Failed passage in Assembly Education Committee twice.

 

WATCH

 

  • AB 2891 (La Malfa) – Include sexual orientation and gender in prohibited questions in student survey. Status: Failed passage in Assembly Education Committee twice.

 

  • SB 1228 (Morrow) - Enact the Covenant Marriage Act of 2006. Status: Hearing in Senate Judiciary Committee cancelled at the request of the author.

 

To see the complete text of the bill, please visit the Legislative Counsel’s website at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.

 

###