CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Constitutional Amendment
No. 7

Introduced by Assembly Member Jackson
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Weber)

February 16, 2023

A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending Section 31 of Article I thereof, relating to government preferences.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


ACA 7, as introduced, Jackson. Government preferences: interventions or programs: exceptions.
The California Constitution, pursuant to provisions enacted by the initiative Proposition 209 in 1996, prohibits the state from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting. The California Constitution defines the state for these purposes to include the state, any city, county, public university system, community college district, school district, special district, or any other political subdivision or governmental instrumentality of, or within, the state.
This measure would provide that, subject to approval by the Governor, the state may utilize state moneys to fund research-based, or research-informed, and culturally specific interventions or programs if those interventions or programs are established or otherwise implemented by the state for purposes of increasing the life expectancy of, improving educational outcomes for, or lifting out of poverty specific ethnic groups or marginalized genders.
Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  
Resolved by the Assembly, the Senate concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California at its 2023–24 Regular Session commencing on the fifth day of December 2022, two-thirds of the membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to the people of the State of California, that the Constitution of the State be amended as follows:

 That Section 31 of Article I thereof is amended to read:

SEC. 31.
 (a) The (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the State shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.
(2) Subject to approval by the Governor, the State may utilize state moneys to fund research-based, or research-informed, and culturally specific interventions or programs if those interventions or programs are established or otherwise implemented by the State for purposes of increasing the life expectancy of, improving educational outcomes for, or lifting out of poverty specific ethnic groups or marginalized genders.
(b) This section shall apply only to action taken after the section’s effective date.
(c) Nothing in this This section shall not be interpreted as prohibiting bona fide qualifications based on sex which are reasonably necessary to the normal operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.
(d) Nothing in this This section shall not be interpreted as invalidating any court order or consent decree which is in force as of the effective date of this section.
(e) Nothing in this This section shall not be interpreted as prohibiting action which must be taken to establish or maintain eligibility for any federal program, where ineligibility would result in a loss of federal funds to the State.
(f) For the purposes of this section, “State” the following definitions apply:
(1) “State” shall include, but is not necessarily be limited to, the State itself, any city, county, city and county, public university system, including the University of California, community college district, school district, special district, or any other political subdivision or governmental instrumentality of or within the State.
(2) “State moneys” means all money, bonds, and securities possessed by the State itself.
(g) The remedies available for violations of this section shall be the same, regardless of the injured party’s race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin, as are otherwise available for violations of then-existing California antidiscrimination law.
(h) This section shall be self-executing. If any part or parts of this section are found to be in conflict with federal law or the United States Constitution, the section shall be implemented to the maximum extent that federal law and the United States Constitution permit. Any provision held invalid shall be severable from the remaining portions of this section.