A bill known as Senate Bill 1146 that brought about concerns from religious schools that it would take away their right to operate according to their religious beliefs has been passed by the California state Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday by a 13 to 3 vote. Four votes were not recorded. The state Senate had passed an earlier version of the bill in May.
However, it remains to be seen exactly what the text of the bill was when it was passed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported that Senator Ricardo Lara, the author of the bill, said he would amend the bill to take out certain provisions that raised concerns from religious schools, such as allowing students or employees to file lawsuits against religious schools that receive state financial assistance or enroll students who receive state financial aid for not providing restrooms according to gender identity, or housing accommodations for same-sex married couples.
Instead, Senator Lara would include a provision that would require religious schools to report to the state when students are expelled for not keeping with the schools' rules of moral conduct, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Some religious leaders expressed relief, but Senator Lara's office has not yet released an official press release regarding the alleged changes, nor has the bill text been amended on the California Legislative Information website at the time this article was published.
