Senate Constitutional Amendment5 (SCA5) was introduced by California State Senator
Edward Hernandez
Edward Paul Hernández (born October 17, 1957) is an American politician who previously served in the California State Senate. A California Democratic Party, Democrat, he represented the California's 22nd State Senate district, 22nd Senate distric ...
to the
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...
on December3,2012. This initiative would ask voters to consider eliminating
California Proposition 209
Proposition 209 (also known as the California Civil Rights Initiative or CCRI) is a California ballot proposition which, upon approval in November 1996, amended the state constitution to prohibit state governmental institutions from considering r ...
's ban on the use of
race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
,
sex
Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...
,
color
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
,
ethnicity
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
, or
national origin
National origin is the nation where a person was born, or where that person's ancestors came from. It also includes the diaspora of multi-ethnic states and societies that have a shared sense of common identity identical to that of a nation while ...
in recruitment, admissions, and retention programs at
California's public universities
This is a list of colleges and universities in California.
Federal institutions
Graduate institutions
* Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, California, Monterey)
Other academic institutions
* Defense Language Institute (Monterey, California, ...
and colleges. SCA5 was passed in the California Senate on January30,2014 but was subsequently withdrawn by Hernandez due to strong opposition, mainly from
Asian Americans
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
.
Background and Content of SCA 5
![SCA5-citation-sample-2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/SCA5-citation-sample-2014.png)
In 1996,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
became the first state to outlaw affirmative action in public universities and state hiring.
Proposition209 prohibited state government institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity, specifically in the areas of public employment, public contracting, and public education.
Hernandez introduced Senate Bill185 in 2011, which sought to achieve what SCA5 intended and was vetoed by Governor
Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...
.
SCA5 essentially does the following two things:
* Deletes the specific provisions implemented through the enactment of Proposition209 that prohibit the State from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to individuals or groups on the basis of race, sex, ethnicity, or national origin, in the operation of public education.
* Deletes the UC and the public school system from the definition of the "state" under Section 31 of Article 1, thereby repealing the application of the provisions of Proposition209 to those entities.
Support
The lead author of the bill, Senator Hernandez, argued that due to Proposition209, "there has been a precipitous drop in the percentage of Latino, African American, and Native American students at California public universities, despite the fact that those same groups have seen steady increases in their percentages of college-eligible high school graduates."
The same arguments for support were summarized as follows in the bill analysis:
"According to the author's office, immediately following the November1996 passage of Proposition209, there was a significant drop in the percentage of enrolled minority students at both the UC and the CSU. The author's office is concerned that, in spite of new eligibility requirements and admissions initiative which have helped to restore the numbers of some underrepresented students, the proportion of underrepresented students eligible for UC and CSU has not kept pace with the proportion of the high school graduating class that they now represent."
On February24,2014,
Gene D. Block
Gene David Block (born August 17, 1948) is an American biologist who has served as the current and 6th chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles since August 2007.
Block has served as Provost (education), provost and professor of b ...
, Chancellor of UCLA, sent an open letter to all students and faculties expressing his strong opposition to Proposition 209.
The following Asian American organizations supported SCA 5:
* Asian Americans Advancing Justice , Asian Law Caucus
* UC Asian American & Pacific Islander Policy Multicampus Research Program (AAPI Policy MRP)
* National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education (CARE)
* Chinese for Affirmative Action
* The Civil Rights Project
* Asian Pacific Americans for Higher Education (APAHE)
* Southeast Asia Resource Center (SEARAC)
* Hmong Innovating Politics (HIP)
The following organizations support SCA 5, according to the Legislature's record.
* AFSCME
* American Association of University Women
* Association of California Healthcare Districts
* Bassett Teachers Association
* California Academy of Physician Assistants
* California Association for Nurse Practitioners
* California Black Chamber of Commerce
* California Black Health Network
* California Communities United Institute
* California Hospital Association
* California Medical Association
* California Nurses Association
* California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
* California Pharmacists Association
* California Primary Care Association
* California State Student Association
* California Teachers Association
* Equal Justice Society
* Equality California
* Health Access California
*
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
A Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) is defined in federal law as an accredited, degree-granting, public or private nonprofit institution of higher education with 25% or more total undergraduate Hispanic or Latino full-time equivalent (FTE) stude ...
* Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
* Medical Oncology Association of Southern California, Inc.
* People Improving Communities through Organizing
* Public Advocates
* The Greenlining Institute
* University of California Student Association
* Western Center on Law and Poverty
Opposition
California State Senate Minority Leader
Bob Huff
Robert S. Huff (born September 9, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who was the California State Senate minority leader and Senate Republican leader from January 5, 2012, until August 27, 2015. He represented the Senate's 29th Di ...
voiced opposition to SCA5 in the State Senate. Democrats
Leland Yee
Leland Yin Yee (, born November 20, 1948) is an American former politician who served as a member of the California State Senate for District 8, which covered parts of San Francisco and the Peninsula. In 2015, Yee pleaded guilty to felony racket ...
,
Ted Lieu
Ted W. Lieu (; born March 29, 1969) is an American politician and Air Force Reserve Command colonel who has represented California's 33rd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2015. The district includes much of weste ...
, and
Carol Liu
Carol Jean Liu (born September 12, 1941) is an American politician who is a former member member of the California State Senate. A California Democratic Party, Democrat, she represented California's 25th Senate district, Senate District 25, which ...
were among those who voted for SCA5 in the Senate, but the three senators have since asked Hernandez to hold the bill from an Assembly vote in order to better assess its potential impacts, in light of fervent opposition among the public.
In addition, Assemblyman
Ed Chau
Edwin “Ed” Chau (born September 17, 1957) is an American jurist and politician who served in the California State Assembly as a Democrat representing the 49th state assembly District from 2012 to 2021. On November 29, 2021, California Gover ...
has promised that he will vote against SCA5 if it is voted on in the State Assembly.
Opposing organization in the Legislature's record:
* American Civil Rights Coalition
Other organizations and individuals opposing SCA5 included:
*
American Civil Rights Institute
The American Civil Rights Institute is an American American conservatism, conservative non-profit organization that opposes Affirmative action in the United States, affirmative action. It was founded by Ward Connerly and Thomas L. Rhodes, Thomas L. ...
and
Ward Connerly
Wardell Anthony "Ward" Connerly (born June 15, 1939) is an American political and anti-affirmative action activist, businessman, and former University of California Regent (1993–2005). He is also the founder and the chairman of the American Civi ...
* Project on Fair Representation
* The Century Foundation
* The Center for Individual Rights
* Chinese American Federation (Representing about 100 Chinese American organizations)
*
80-20 National Asian American PAC
*
The Committee of 100
* Asian Americans for Political Advancement PAC
* Backbone Foundation
* Chinese Alliance for Equality
* Chinese Americans for Progress and Equality
* Chinese United
* Chinese Young Professionals Networking
* Chinese-American Institute for Empowerment
* DFW Chinese Alliance
* On Leon Merchants Association of Miami
* Overseas Chinese Association of Miami
* Silicon Valley Chinese Association
* The Chinese Association of Science, Education and Culture of South Florida
* The Federation of Florida Chinese Associations
* The Great Philadelphia United Chinese American Chamber of Commerce
* The United Association of Chinese Alumni in Great Houston
* United Asian Americans for Activism
* United Chinese Associations of Eastern USA
* United Chinese Foundation
* The World Association of Chinese Elites
* Chinese-American Oceanic and Atmospheric Association
* 80-20 Asian American PAC Virginia-Maryland-DC Chapter
* USCCA (Univ. of Southern California, California Alumni Association)
* San Diego Asian American for Equality
* Indian American Forum for Political Education
* Chinese Americans for Progress & Equality
* Asian American Voters
* Joint Chinese University Alumni Association
* The Orange Club
* Central California Chinese Cultural Association (CCCCA)
Arguments
Major arguments against SCA5 include:
Failing to address root causes of the problem
* To address the problem of failing to obtain college admission, the root causes in early stage should be identified and the quality and outreach of K-12 education should be improved. Artificially lowering the admission standard for a small group of students will not address the root problems. On the other hand, college enrollment should be increased to accommodate qualified students.
Pursuing the wrong metrics for diversity
* Diversity is defined by the collection of different life experiences, thinking models, approaches to problems, and fresh perspectives within a group of people, not defined by the superficial differences in skin colors. Improving education diversity is to improve different thinking methods and problem solving skills for students so they can be better prepared for life challenges later on, not to increase the number of different skin colors.
Wrongfully blaming Proposition209
* The UC system already leads the country in its admission of talented, socioeconomically disadvantaged students. In 2011–12, 41 percent of the enrolled students at UC and CSU were Pell Grant recipient students (i.e. most often undergraduates with family incomes under $20,000).
* Graduation rates for all races and ethnicities increased by using race and gender neutral policies.
Relying on shaky fundamental supportive data
* Hernandez did not provide publicly accessible sources of the data used to support his statement of the problem. His data is also selectively based on a few campuses (such as UCLA and UC Berkeley) of the UC system or a few isolated years after 1996 (2004 was singled out for example).
* Based on publicly accessible data, it is indisputable that both in absolute numbers and percentages, minorities that attend the University of California have increased. Comparing the data in 1996 and 2013: Black students' population increased from 4% to 4.3% out of 6.6% of the California population, Chicanos and Latinos increased from 14.3% to 27.8% out of 38.2% population, Asian increased from 32% to 35.9% out of 13.9% population. The only race group with decreased student population is whites (decreased from 41% to 27.9%, out of 39.4% population).
Ineffective and harmful policies
* Preferential treatments for certain racial groups in college admission will inevitably deny other racial groups' access to the same education system, creating or sustaining an
Asian quota
An Asian quota is a racial quota limiting the number of people of Asian descent in an establishment, a special case of ''numerus clausus''. It usually refers to alleged educational quotas in United States higher education admissions, specific ...
, for example. This may increase the risk of racial tensions or even hostilities in California.
* Race-based preferential treatments in college admission do not work based on latest research.
Legislative action
SCA5 passed the State Senate on January30,2014, and crossed over to the Assembly. On March17,2014, at Hernandez's request, Assembly Speaker
John Pérez
John A. Pérez (born September 28, 1969) is an American union organizer and politician. He has been a Regent of the University of California since November 17, 2014, previously serving as the 68th Speaker of the California State Assembly from M ...
referred the measure back to the Senate. In a joint statement with Hernandez, Pérez announced the creation of a bicameral commission on issues surrounding recruitment, admissions, and retention in California's systems of higher education. Senate President pro Tempore
Darrell Steinberg
Darrell Steven Steinberg (born October 15, 1959) is an American politician and attorney who is the 56th mayor of Sacramento, California since December 2016. He was elected to be mayor on June 7, 2016 (avoiding a runoff). Before that, he was Cali ...
also issued a statement stating that he is a supporter of SCA5: "I look forward to working with Senator Hernandez, my Senate colleagues, and the Assembly in bringing all communities together for a serious and sober examination of
affirmative action."
Voting in the Senate
On January30,2014, the
bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
passed in the Senator in a
party-line vote
A party-line vote in a deliberative assembly (such as a constituent assembly, parliament, or legislature) is a vote in which a substantial majority of members of a political party vote the same way (usually in opposition to the other political ...
, with 27 ayes, 9 noes, 3 NVR (no votes recorded)
* Ayes: Beall(D), Block(D), Calderon(D), Corbett(D), Correa(D), De León(D), DeSaulnier(D), Evans(D), Galgiani(D), Hancock(D), Hernandez(D), Hill(D), Hueso(D), Jackson(D), Lara(D), Leno(D), Lieu(D), Liu(D), Mitchell(D), Monning(D), Padilla(D), Pavley(D), Roth(D), Steinberg(D), Torres(D), Wolk(D), Yee(D)
* Noes: Anderson(R), Berryhill(R), Fuller(R), Gaines(R), Huff(R), Knight(R), Vidak(R), Walters(R), Wyland(R)
* NVR: Cannella(R), Nielsen(R), Wright(D)
Public reactions
![Chinese Americans Protesting Against SCA5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Chinese_Americans_Protesting_Against_SCA5.jpg)
SCA5 received heightened public attention after it passed the State Senate. A
Change.org
Change.org is a worldwide nonprofit petition website, based in California, US, operated by the San Francisco-based company of the same name, which has over 400 million users and offers the public the ability to promote the petitions they care abo ...
petition has been launched to press the State Assembly to vote No on SCA5. The petition gained over 80,000 supporters in less than two weeks.
Resistance to the bill included a petition to stop the bill that received more than 112,000 signatures. Many different Asian lobbying groups also attacked the bill, including the
Southeast Asian Resource and Action Center and the
Filipino Advocates for Justice in
Union City and
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
.
Republicans
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
also attacked the bill and went against the
Democrats, who had a supermajority in the Senate. Republicans spoke at a forum called "Stop SCA5," which was sponsored by the
Chinese-American Institute for Empowerment, which is based in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
.
The bill stagnated while under intense opposition until Senator Edward Hernandez took it off the table. The bill did not qualify to be put on the election ballot as a
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
.
Aftermath
A Change.org petition to stop the bill had more than 112,000 signatures at that time, and at the request of three Democrat senators who voted for the bill in January, Senator Hernandez put the bill on hold. There has been no further action or attempt to revive the bill.
Assembly Bill1726, which was seen by some as a prelude to a revival of SCA5, was signed into law in late 2016.
Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5 (ACA5) was introduced by Assembly Members
Weber
Weber (, or ; German: ) is a surname of German origin, derived from the noun meaning " weaver". In some cases, following migration to English-speaking countries, it has been anglicised to the English surname 'Webber' or even 'Weaver'.
Notable pe ...
,
Gipson Gipson is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Andy Gipson (born 1976), American politician
* Charles Gipson (born 1972), American baseball player
*Fred Gipson (1908–1973), American writer
*Graham Gipson (born 1932), Australian sp ...
, and
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
on January 18, 2019.
ACA5 is a resolution to propose to California voters an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by repealing Section31 of ArticleI thereof, relating to government preferences. This measure would repeal Proposition209.
See also
California Affirmative Action in Education Amendment (2014)
References
{{AAUS
209
Year 209 ( CCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Commodus and Lollianus (or, less frequently, year 962 '' Ab urbe cond ...
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
History of affirmative action in the United States
Initiatives in the United States