Asm. Joan Buchanan

This measure would proclaim February 28, 2010, as Rare Disease Day.

This measure would establish, until January 1, 2014, the California Task Force on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education for the purpose of promoting the improvement of mathematics, science, engineering, and technology education across the state. The task force would consist of Members of the Legislature and experts appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Committee on Rules. The task force would conduct its business on a volunteer basis, be able to accept private funds, and would submit an annual report on its work to the Legislature.

This measure would request that the Congress and the President of the United States enact the Medicare Secondary Payer Enhancement Act of 2010.

Existing law, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) , protects and safeguards the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain, and hold employment without discrimination or abridgment on account of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status, sex, age, or sexual orientation. FEHA provides that it does not prohibit an employer from refusing to employ an individual because of his or her age if the law compels or provides for that refusal. This bill would provide that FEHA does not prohibit an employer from providing health benefits or health care reimbursement plans to retired persons that are altered, reduced, or eliminated when the retiree becomes eligible for Medicare benefits.

This measure would state the intent of the Legislature to increase the funding of child development centers and preschools in future years, as resources become available, in order to provide staff with adequate salaries and benefits, provide adequate resources to support program quality for children, and keep programs open to serve parents and children.

This measure would proclaim May 12, 2010, as California Lab Day.

This measure would designate the 2nd week of October 2010, and annually thereafter, as Disability History Week, and would encourage public and private institutions of higher education, state and local agencies, nonprofit and community-based organizations, and private businesses and corporations to observe Disability History Week by dedicating appropriate classroom instructional time or by coordinating all-inclusive activities to be conducted during that week to afford opportunities for students and the general public to learn more about the disability community and to celebrate and honor its role in contemporary American society.

This measure would proclaim the first Friday in December as California Civics Day for Teachers, and would urge all local educational agencies to encourage teachers to participate in professional development opportunities focused on civics on that day.

This measure would proclaim December 3, 2010, to be the Day of the Special Educator, and would urge Californians to recognize the dedication and hard work of special educators in teaching pupils with unique needs.

This measure would declare the Legislature's support for the observance of "Spirit of '45 Day" on the second Sunday in August to commemorate the anniversary of the end of World War II on August 14, 1945.