More than 700 CA Muslims Attend CAIR-CA'sSeventh Muslim Day at the Capitol
Sacramento, CA: More than 700 Muslim community members, religious leaders, students and activists spent April 23 at the State Capitol in more than 100 advocacy meetings with elected officials as part of the seventh annual Muslim Day at the Capitol (MDAC), organized by the California Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA).
The participants advocated three issues in an effort to promote just, equitable and progressive policies within the State. These included protecting the rights of immigrants, setting standards for the use of force by police officers, and taking measures to prevent school bullying.
1) Anti-Bullying (AB 2291) – CAIR-CA Co-Sponsoring: The bill would require school districts and county offices of education to include policies and procedures relating to bullying and the prevention of bullying adopted pursuant to the Safe Place to Learn Act in their school safety plans. This bill would require the department of education to post the online training module developed by the department and an annually updated list of other available online training modules relating to bullying or bullying prevention.
2) Immigrants Protection (AB 2184)
This bill would require cities and counties that license businesses carry on within their respective jurisdictions to accept a California driver’s license or identification number, individual taxpayer identification number, or municipal identification number. This bill reduces barriers for immigrant business owners to apply for local business license and align the business license process with efforts to advance the social and economic interest of our state.
3) Police Accountability (AB 931)
Authorizes police officers to use deadly force only when it is necessary to prevent imminent and serious body injury or death – that is, if, given the totality of the circumstances, there was no reasonable alternative to using deadly force, including warnings, verbal persuasion, or other nonlethal methods of resolution or de-escalation. This bill also establishes that a homicide by a peace officer is not justified if the officer’s gross negligence contributed to making the force “necessary.”
CAIR-CA hosted a press conference featuring Assemblymember and author of AB 2184 and AB 2291 David Chiu, Assemblymember and author of AB 931 Dr Shirley Weber, and CAIR Sacramento Executive Director BasimElkarra. MDAC attendees also heard from Professor of University of Berkeley Dr Hatem Bazian, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-California’s Policy Manager Andrew Medina, State Controller Betty Yee, and Stephen Clark father-in-law Raj Manni.
"Muslim Day at the Capitol aims to provide our community with a platform to build relationships with their legislators and advocate for issues that positively shape our local communities,” said CAIR-CA Chief Executive Officer HussamAyloush. The growing success of MDAC each year illustrates that CA Muslims are strengthening their political muscle and helping influence CA politics for a more inclusive, tolerant and just state.
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