SACRAMENTO – While the Trump Administration works to roll back Obama-era efforts protecting students from sex discrimination and sexual assault on campuses under Title IX, the California legislature passed SB 169, a bill authored by State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) that will codify these civil rights protections into state law. The bill passed the Assembly on a bipartisan 61-12 vote.
The bill now heads back to the Senate for a concurrent vote this week.
“I am pleased to see that the actions of Washington will not be affecting California. Last week, Secretary Betsy DeVos rolled back guidelines on Title IX, the important law protecting gender discrimination and sexual assault in America’s educational institutions, putting women and girls at grave risk. Let’s be honest- women are raped and sexually assaulted far more often than their perpetrators are falsely accused,” said Jackson.
SB 169 will codify federal Title IX guidelines issued by the Obama Administration in response to undeniable and alarming data on sexual harassment and sexual violence at schools throughout the country, including at the K-12 level. The procedures implementing Title IX were a strong step toward addressing this crisis by, among other things, creating a fair process for victims to report harassment and sexual violence, and seek the necessary help.
“In California, we will continue to fight to ensure that women and girls can be safe in their educational pursuits. Without a safe learning environment, there can be no equity and fairness for women and girls to achieve their educational goals.”
Jackson represents the 19th Senate District, which includes all of Santa Barbara County and western Ventura County.