Asm. Matthew Harper

This measure would urge all private and public universities in California, to the extent that they have not adopted free speech statements consistent with the principles articulated by the Chancellor of the University of California at Irvine, and the Free Expression Statement formally adopted by the University of Chicago, to consider such statements as a model for developing and adopting free speech statements.

If a school measure qualifies for the ballot, existing law requires the county counsel or district attorney to prepare an impartial analysis of the measure. Existing law prescribes the manner in which a school bond measure is to appear on the ballot, and it specifies information to be included in the statement of the proposition. This bill would require the ballot label containing the statement of a school bond measure to direct voters to the voter information guide for information about the bond's effects on property taxes. By increasing the duties of local elections officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) , it is an unlawful employment practice for an employer, unless based upon a bona fide occupational qualification or applicable security regulations established by the United States or the State of California, to refuse to hire or employ a person or to refuse to select a person for a training program leading to employment, or to bar or discharge a person from employment or a training program leading to employment, or to discriminate against a person in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of the race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran status of that person. FEHA provides that nothing in that act relating to discrimination on account of sex affects the right of an employer to use veteran status as a factor in employee selection or to give special consideration to Vietnam-era veterans. This bill would enact the Voluntary Veterans' Preference Employment Policy Act to authorize a private employer to establish and maintain a written veterans' preference employment policy, to be applied uniformly to hiring decisions, to give a voluntary preference for hiring or retaining a veteran over another qualified applicant or employee. The bill would provide that the granting of a veterans' preference pursuant to the bill, in and of itself, shall be deemed not to violate any local or state equal employment opportunity law or regulation, including, but not limited to, the antidiscrimination provisions of FEHA. The bill would revise the existing veteran status provision in FEHA to remove references to discrimination on account of sex and to Vietnam-era veterans, and would, instead, provide that nothing in that act relating to discrimination affects the right of an employer to use veteran status as a factor in hiring decisions if the employer maintains a veterans' preference employment policy established in accordance with the Voluntary Veterans' Preference Employment Policy Act. The bill would prohibit a veterans' preference employment policy from being established or applied for the purpose of discriminating against an employment applicant on the basis of a protected classification, as specified.

This measure would urge policymakers in federal, state, and local government to work in cooperation with one another to modernize and streamline the processes that will enable rapid deployment of the small cell wireless infrastructure that supports 5G wireless networks and that will bring the many benefits of this important new technology to communities across California.

This measure would declare June 6, 2017, as Secure Your Load Day in California.

This bill would recognize the month of June 2017 as Portuguese National Heritage Month.

This measure would designate the 4th week of May 2017 as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma Awareness Week, and would encourage all Californians to become more informed about DIPG pediatric brain cancer and the current challenges to the medical research system in designating sufficient research funding for pediatric cancers.

Existing law requires the Governor to proclaim various days in honor of a person, status, or an event. This bill would require the Governor annually to proclaim the day of the astronomical Northward equinox, which usually occurs on March 20 or the following day, as Nowrūz Day.