July 15, 2021
California Federation of Republican Women
Sue Blair, President
Submitted by the CFRW Legislative Analyst Committee
Gretchen Cox, Elaine Freeman, Lou Ann Flaherty,
Val Emick, and Theresa Speake
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RETAIL
AB 1084– Gender-neutral retail departments – Existing law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, specifies that all persons within the jurisdiction of the state are free and equal, and no matter their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status, are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind.
This bill would require a retail department store that is physically located in California that has a total of 500 or more employees across all California retail department store locations that sells childcare items or toys to maintain a gender-neutral section or area, to be labeled at the discretion of the retailer, in which a reasonable selection of the items and toys for children that it sells shall be displayed, regardless of whether they have been traditionally marketed for either girls or for boys.
Beginning on January 1, 2024, the bill would make a retail department store that fails to comply with these provisions liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $250 for a first violation or $500 for a subsequent violation, as provided.
Status: Passed the Assembly and in the Senate with a hearing scheduled for July 13th.
TRANSPORTATION
AB-950 – This bill deals with excess property held by the Department of Transportation. This would authorize the department to sell its excess real property to the city, county or city and county where the real property is located for the sole purpose of implementing affordable housing, emergency shelters, or feeding programs as specified. This bill would exempt these sales from the California Environmental Quality Act.
2021/2022 CALIFORNIA BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS
312 million to speed up vaccines across the state; 14 billion investment for Californians who need relief as a result of COVID; 90 billion for school funding for K-14 (Prop. 98 requires 85.8 billion); 2 billion for safe return to in-person learning; 4.6 billion to help students “bounce back” from impacts of COVID and 400 million for school based mental health services.
UPDATE-SENTENCING
AB 333-Participation in Criminal Street Gang: Enhanced Sentences– This bill would require that the crimes committed to form a pattern of criminal gang activity have commonly benefited a criminal street gang and that the common benefit from the offenses is more than reputational.
The bill would remove burglary, looting, felony vandalism, and specified personal identity fraud violations from the crimes that define a pattern of criminal gang activity. The bill would prohibit the use of the currently charged crime to prove the pattern of criminal gang activity. This bill would require if requested by the defense in a case where a sentencing enhancement for participation in a criminal street gang is charged, that the defendant’s guilt of the underlying offense first is proved and that a further proceeding on the sentencing enhancement occurs after a finding of guilt.
The bill would require that a charge for active participation in a criminal street gang be tried separately from all other counts that do not otherwise require gang evidence as an element of the crime. This bill would change the definition of “criminal street gang” to be an ongoing, organized organization or group of 3 or more persons, whether formal or informal, having as one of its primary activities the commission f one or more of the enumerated criminal acts, having a common name or common identifying sign or symbol, and whose members collectively engage in, or have engaged in, a pattern of criminal gang activity.
Status: Passed in the Assembly, now in the Senate. Gosh, why should those poor gang members be hassled by laws?
The More We Know…
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Questions? Please e-mail legislativeanalysts@cfrw.org
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