Bill Text: CA AB2064 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Community Violence Interdiction Grant Program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-05-22 - In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. [AB2064 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2064-Introduced.html

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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2064

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Introduced by Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer

February 01, 2024

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An act relating to state government.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2064, as introduced, Jones-Sawyer. Racial equity: violence prevention.

Existing law establishes, until January 1, 2030, the Racial Equity Commission within the Office of Planning and Research and requires the commission to develop resources, best practices, and tools for advancing racial equity by, among other things, developing a statewide Racial Equity Framework that includes methodologies and tools that can be employed to advance racial equity and address structural racism in California.

This bill would make related findings and declarations. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to subsequently amend this bill to include provisions that would establish and fund a grant program to support community-driven solutions to decrease community violence at the family, school, and neighborhood levels in African American communities.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NO   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) According to the final report released by the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans (the California Reparations Report), racial terror, and lynchings in particular, pervaded every aspect of pre- and post-enslavement African American life, and the threat and legacy of terror continue to haunt African American communities.

(2) The racial terror inflicted on the African American community has influenced the use of violence within the community, and as a result, African Americans experience violence at the family, school, and community levels. Although rates of violent crime have declined significantly, African American communities are disproportionately affected by it.

(3) Limited resources and concentrated disadvantage influence the rate of violence within a neighborhood. “Concentrated disadvantage” is a sociological term used to describe neighborhoods or communities with high percentages of residents who are poor and lacking in critical resources, including, but not limited to, access to quality healthcare and education.

(4) Investing in programs that increase inclusion and belonging within the community, support education, help residents acquire skills, and increase access to jobs can reduce violent crime within neighborhoods.

(5) The California Reparations Report recommends that the Legislature establish a grant program to address violence in African American communities and in communities where there is a significant African American population, and prioritize funding for youth empowerment, mental health support services, rehabilitation of structures and public spaces, and other programs for violence prevention and early intervention.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to subsequently amend this measure to include provisions that would establish and fund a grant program to support community-driven solutions to decrease community violence at the family, school, and neighborhood levels in African American communities.