Assembly Speaker John Peréz says the Legislature's lower house won't vote on SCA5, a proposed constitutional amendment that would repeal the ban on affirmative action in higher education imposed by Proposition 209.
With the proposal drawing protests from many Asian Americans in California concerned about its impact on college admissions, Peréz announced Monday that he was withdrawing the proposal from consideration at the request of state Sen. Ed Hernandez, a Los Angeles-area Democrat who first introduced the amendment in December 2012. That will allow the state Senate to convene a commission to further study the idea.
In a statement Monday afternoon, Hernandez said: "Given the scare tactics and misinformation used by certain groups opposed to SCA 5, we felt it was necessary to have a discussion based on facts and take the time to hear from experts on the challenges our public universities and colleges face with regards to diversity, as well as the implications for California’s workforce and our overall competitiveness in a global economy. Although I have met with, and will continue to meet with, individuals and organizations that have concerns regarding SCA 5, these Commission hearings will be yet another opportunity for people to have their voices heard."
(Hernandez appeared on "KQED Newsroom" on Friday -- see video above -- to promote the measure and described it "as about diversity but more important about equal opportunity for every student here in the state of California.")
Prop. 209, which passed in 1996 with 54.5 percent of the vote, declares: "The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting."