What Happened To California’s Women’s Legislation?
The California Legislature held its last scheduled meeting on September 9. It is not scheduled to meet again until January 4, 2011.
California Communities United Institute (CalComUI) tracked 25 bills that affect women this year. Twelve of those bills were sent to the Governor but he vetoed 4 of them. He signed 8 of the women’s bills.
The Governor gave various reasons for vetoing the bills. For example, AB 568 would have limited the types of shackling and constraint that California’s prisons can use in restraining pregnant inmates.
In vetoing the bill he said, "The language of this measure goes too far, prohibiting not only shackling, but also the use of handcuffs or restraints of any kind except under ill-defined circumstances. The restrictive criteria set forth in this bill go beyond what is necessary to protect the health and dignity of pregnant inmates and will only serve to sow confusion and invite lawsuits".
The Governor also vetoed AB 288. This bill would have allowed community colleges to deny admission to students who had been expelled from other community colleges for domestic violence. It also established a process which community colleges would have to use before denying admission. The purpose of the process was to assure that dangerous students are kept off campus while giving accused students the opportunity to disprove the charges of domestic abuse.
In vetoing the bill Governor Brown said, "Requiring every community college to follow a uniform process for evaluating a student expulsion taken by another district adds unnecessary burdens and costs that the state will have to reimburse".
To see a list of the 25 women’s issue bills tracked by CalComUI, click here.
To read copies of the Governor’s veto messages on the women’s bills tracked by CalcomUI, click here.
Boyce Hinman
California Communities United Institute
