LOS ANGELES TIMES, Monday, May 18, 1992

Sacramento File, by Jerry Gilliam

     CIVIL RIGHTS BILL WOULD AFFECT SEX BIAS CASES, ENGLISH ON JOB

     A sweeping civil rights bill authored by Assembly Speaker Willie
Brown (D-San Francisco) has been approved by the Ways and
Means Committee and is headed for a showdown floor vote.

     The committee voted 12 to 8 to approve the measure (AB 3825).
Among other things, it would restore the authority of the state Fair
Employment and Housing Commission to award monetary damages in
sexual harassment cases, ban discrimination against the disabled and
prohibit employers from requiring employees to speak English only in
the workplace.

     In addition, a state Supreme Court decision that restricted the rights
of low-income families to obtain housing would be overturned by the
legislation.

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NOTE:  This is a 94 page bill.  The L.A. Times, in their short synopsis
did not mention that this bill also would amend the Fair Employment and
Housing Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of Sexual Orientation.

     I called Rena in Assembly Speaker Brown's Office, (916) 445-8077,
and was told that the Ways and Means Committee Vote took place last
Thursday, May 14, 1992.

     Currently, the bill is "on 2nd Reading" on the Assembly Floor.  That
means that the full Assembly could vote on the bill as early as tomorrow.

     If you live in California, you may want to call your Assemblyperson
today and kindly ask him or her to vote in favor of AB-3825, Assembly
Speaker Brown's omnibus civil rights bill.

     If the bill passes the Assembly floor vote, it will move on to the
California State Senate.  If it passes the State Senate, our Governor,
Pete Wilson will probably veto it.  Last year, he vetoed 15 civil rights
bills, including the lesbian, gay--and bisexual, damn it--community's
own AB-101.

     AB-3825 is an omnibus bill which encorporates most of all 15 of
those other bills into one big package.

     For your *F*R*E*E* copy of AB-3825, or any other California
Assembly or Senate bill, please call or write the Legislative Bill
Room, State Capitol, Room B-32, Sacramento, CA   95814-4997,
(916) 445-2323.

========================================
Bryan  J. Blumberg, The MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation
815 Colorado Boulevard, Los Angeles, California  90041-1777
(213) 259-4914, B_BLUMBERG@MACSCH.COM