AB 491: California Civil Liberties Public Education Act.

The California Civil Liberties Public Education Act establishes a grant program, administered by the State Librarian, for the stated purpose of sponsoring educational activities and the development of educational materials to ensure that the events surrounding the exclusion, forced removal, and internment of citizens and permanent residents of Japanese ancestry will be remembered and so that the causes and circumstances of this and similar events may be illuminated and understood. The act requires the State Librarian to select as grant recipients applicants who meet certain criteria, and the act lists criteria that grant applicants are encouraged to meet. The act provides a list of entities that are eligible to apply for a grant. The act provides that funding for the grant program is subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or other measure.

This bill would revise the act to, among other things, expand the scope of the grant program to include content linking the exclusion, forced removal, and internment of citizens and permanent residents of Japanese ancestry with current civil liberties challenges, as specified. The bill would revise the criteria that a project is required to meet, and criteria that applicants are encouraged to meet, in order to be awarded a grant. The bill would also revise the list of the entities that are eligible to apply for a grant.

This bill would establish an advisory committee, as specified, to evaluate and make recommendations to the State Librarian based on grant applications.

This bill would require the State Librarian to submit a specified report to the Legislature and the Governor.