California Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 5 is a proposed bill that would lift the ban created in 1996 by California Proposition 209 against state-run schools having admission preferences based on a student's race or ethnicity.
Contents
History
In 1996, California became the first state to outlaw affirmative action in public universities and state hiring. The bill introduced by the California State Senate would have lifted the ban on affirmative action.
California Senate Constitutional Amendment No.5 (SCA5) was introduced by state senator Edward Hernandez (Democratic) on December 3, 2012. Its principal coauthor is assembly member Bradford. Its coauthors include senators Block, De León, Lara, Leno, and Steinberg, and assembly Member Garcia. The proposed bill would allow state-run colleges to use race, gender and ethnicity as factors in determining which students to accept.
Voting in the Senate
On 1/30/2014, the bill passed at the senator floor, with 27 Ayes, 9 Noes, 3 NVR (No Votes Recorded)
Amendment
The amendment would affect California Proposition 209 in California. The amendment would delete the provision that allows colleges to give preferential treatment to people based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. In addition, the amendment would repeal the notion that the University of California (UC) and the State Public School System were part of the "state," which in effect would repeal the application of Proposition 209 onto state schools.
Public opinion and reaction
According to The Global Times, many Asian-Americans were angered by the bill, which would reduce the number of Asians accepted into state-run universities. Resistance 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.
Republicans also attacked the bill and went against the Democrats who have a super-majority in the Senate. Republicans spoke at a forum called "Stop SCA 5," which was sponsored by the Chinese-American Institute for Empowerment, which is based in San Francisco.
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.