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The bill linking draft registration and driver's licenses in California,
AB 1572, was kept in the "suspense file" by the Assembly
Finance Committee and failed to meet the deadline for floor votes
in the last legislative session. However, it was categorized as
a two-year bill, which means it can be activated until January 2002
without having to start the committee process all over again.
ACTION NEEDED:
Californians and national organizations outside the state should
continue to send opposition letters to Assemblywoman Carole Migden,
Chair, Assembly Appropriations Committee, State Capitol, Sacramento,
CA 95814. For details on the bill, see the May-June-July 2001 Draft
NOtices, check the COMD Web site or call us.
Update
on Bill to Force High Schools to Accept Recruiters
As of November 2, 2001, there were reports that the amendment to
the pending federal education bill that relates to military access
to high schools was going to be approved by a joint House/Senate
conference committee (see earlier alert).
The House amendment to the bill would require schools receiving
federal funds to "permit regular United States Armed Services
recruitment activities on school grounds, in a manner reasonably
accessible to all students of such school." The Senate amendment
restates an already-passed law that doesn’t contain legal or
financial penalties for schools that limit recruiter access and
relies, instead, on bringing political pressure to bear on noncooperating
schools.
An Associated Press report on October 29 indicated the possibility
of a compromise between the two education bill amendments that would
only require that the military be given the same access to schools
as is given to college and business recruiters. The report also
implied that the financial penalty might be eliminated. If this
is correct, it would mean that education and peace organizations
succeeded in at least stalling the drive to expand the military’s
influence on the civilian school system. However, a Los Angeles
Times article on Nov. 2 implied that the harsher House amendment
was going to prevail, which would use financial coercion to enact
broad access rights for the military.
Information sources: Associated Press, Oct. 29, 2001; Los
Angeles Times, Nov. 2, 2001.
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