Wahab's contentious caste bill heads to governor's desk

Oakland NAACP has another plan for public safety; Alameda leaders approve council pay raise; Berkeley mayoral candidate makes it official

State Sen. Aisha Wahab introducing SB 403 on Tuesday afternoon.

LEGISLATIVE NEWS

—TO THE GUV’S DESK—The California Senate approved East Bay state Sen. Aisha Wahab’s legislation to ban caste-based discrimination on Tuesday afternoon. The bill, SB 403, heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom for consideration.

—The State Assembly approved SB 403 last week, 50-3. The State Senate approved the bill on Tuesday on concurrence, 31-5.

—Wahab introduced the bill on Tuesday with just two sentences. “This is a civil rights bill. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.”

—Republican State Sen. Shannon Grove of Bakersfield issued a lengthy opposition to SB 403 on the senate floor, saying the bill targets the Hindu community. “This is not a bill that protects, but it’s a bill that profiles,” she said.

—Wahab responded, “This bill is very simple. It is to protect all people against caste discrimination. Lower caste, upper caste, it doesn’t matter.”

—If Newsom signs SB 403 into law, it would make California the first in the nation to ban caste-based discrimination.

—END-OF-SESSION NOTES—A flurry of votes in both houses of the Legislature on Tuesday included several bills from the East Bay’s legislative caucus and a few that affect the region.

SB 463 - Bill authored by state Sen. Aisha Wahab to eliminate the presumption in juvenile court that a parent or guardian’s lack of participation or progress in a treatment program endangers the child, for purposes of determining whether the child should be returned to the parent or guardian’s custody, passed the state Assembly, 50-10.

AB 1643 - Bill authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan to increase the amount of victim restitution to $5,000 for a minor to be ineligible for a program of informal supervision, passed the state Senate, 30-8.

AB 1021 - Bill authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks to allow a doctor to prescribe Schedule I controlled substances if federally rescheduled or exempted from the Controlled Substances Act, passed the state Senate, 34-2.

AB 421 - Bill authored by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan requiring state referendums uses phrases “keep the law” or “overturn the law,” rather than yes or no, was approved by state assembly, 53-17.

AB 592 - Bill authored by Assemblymember Lori Wilson that creates a three-year pilot program to limit illegal dumping by regulating non-franchised solid waste haulers in Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano Counties, passed the state Senate, 39-0.

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