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The state Assembly on Monday passed a pair of sweeping social policy changes -- a universal health care bill and a proposal to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses -- that have virtually no chance of becoming law but could become fodder in the governor's race this fall. The bills represent heartfelt Democratic causes and are certain to draw vetoes from Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, should they reach his desk. They also highlight important differences between Schwarzenegger and his opponent, Democratic Treasurer Phil Angelides. The difference is sharpest on the driver's license bill: Schwarzenegger opposes it; Angelides said...

Like a lot of voters, 50-year-old Lee Steele of Mountain View is increasingly concerned about the bite health care premiums take out of his paycheck. But he was especially concerned to learn Tuesday that both of the major party candidates for California governor don't support a bill pending in the Legislature that would create a state-run universal health care system. The bill, authored by state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, would replace -- if fully implemented -- private health care plans with a statewide program that would cover all Californians. It would establish a commission that would develop a plan...

The Assembly narrowly approved a bill Monday that would provide health insurance to all residents, a move that would make California the only state to offer government-operated universal health care. The bill, which passed the 80-member house on a largely party-line vote of 43-30, received strong Democratic backing. But supporters say pressure from the insurance industry and Republican lawmakers is likely to doom the measure when it reaches Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The governor's office has declined to take a position on the bill, but Schwarzenegger in the past has voiced his opposition to single-payer systems. The bill by Sen. Sheila...

Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, and other supporters of her bill to mandate positive images of gays in textbooks and classroom, faced with a veto threat from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, dropped those provisions. Instead, the measure, Senate Bill 1437, now would prohibit instruction or textbooks that "reflects adversely" on groups because of their sexual orientation. That doesn't satisfy the Campaign for Children and Families and other groups on the other side of the gay rights battle. The bill "still requires all teachers, all textbooks and all instructional materials to positively portray cross-dressing, sex-change operations, bisexuality and homosexuality, including homosexual marriages,"...

Facing a certain veto, state lawmakers have abandoned their effort to require that textbooks in California schools detail the history and achievements of gays and lesbians in America. State Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), the author of SB 1437, said she made the change even though it removed 90% of the import of the measure, which would have been the first in the country to mandate the teaching of homosexuals' contributions. But Schwarzenegger's office, which had taken the rare step of announcing his intention to veto the bill, provided no encouraging signal that he would change his mind. "The governor...

Veto threat forced an overhaul, but senator sees progress on rights. State Sen. Sheila Kuehl has given up her hotly contested campaign to force changes in California school curriculum to reflect the contributions of gays and lesbians. Faced with a certain veto by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kuehl unveiled amendments Monday to Senate Bill 1437 that delete any requirement to alter curriculum. "I'm very disappointed that the governor twisted our arms on this," the Santa Monica Democrat said of the amendments, which she said eliminated 90 percent of her bill. Kuehl said she did not talk personally with Schwarzenegger, but that...

The state Assembly on Monday gutted a bill that would have required California textbooks to include the historical contributions of homosexuals, amending it to say only that school material should not be discriminatory toward gays. Lawmakers voted 56-2 to delete the provision at the request of the bill's author, Sen. Sheila Kuehl, who had feared a gubernatorial veto. Her bill instead would prohibit any negative portrayal of homosexuals in textbooks and other instructional material, expanding current anti-discrimination laws that apply to minorities. "I'm not really someone who wants to plop something down on his desk for him to veto," said...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (Courtesy Sacramento Bee) Breaking a policy of not commenting on pending bills, a spokesman for Arnold Schwarzenegger says the California governor will veto at least one of three controversial education measures related to sexual orientation. The governor opposes a measure passed by the Senate and pending in the Assembly that would remove "sex-specific" terms such as "mom" and "dad" from textbooks and would require students to learn about the contributions homosexuals have made to society, the Sacramento Bee reported. SB 1437 passed the Senate May 11 with a 22-15 vote. "The governor believes that school curriculum...

Spokesman says the governor plans to veto curriculum measure, but Kuehl insists it can still pass. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will veto a bill passed by the Senate and pending in the Assembly to revise California's school curriculum to include the contributions of gays and lesbians to the state and nation, a gubernatorial spokesman said Wednesday. "The governor believes that school curriculum should include all important historical figures, regardless of orientation," said Schwarzenegger's director of communications, Adam Mendelsohn. "However, he does not support the Legislature micromanaging curriculum." Wednesday's announcement signaled a death blow to the efforts of state Sen. Sheila Kuehl,...

FREEP this Survey by the governor's office... Please take the time to do this... It took me about 30 seconds! And is so critical! Debbie To my California friends: This is so simple...all you do is listen to the menu, press 4 buttons and never have to talk to a soul...and it has the potential to help defeat this bill if we all stick together...Some of you, may well, have already done this...but just in case not, I wanted to alert you to the opportunity... Hey friends- Regarding SB 1437 Homosexual Curriculum Ed. Bill This horrendous Bill passed the Senate....

The California legislature is voting on this bill June 6th. It will likely pass, and then it goes to Governor Schwarzenegger's desk to be signed into law. By simply taking a few seconds to call this number and automatically registering your opposition to this bill, you can help influence the governor to veto this extremely damaging legislation. Remember, when you call the governor's office (916-445-2841), you'll want to press the numbers in the following order: "1" - for English, then "2" - for legislation, then "1" - for SB 1437, then "2" - for "no"! (Again, that's: "1, 2, 1,...

SAN FRANCISCO, May 13 — Sheila Kuehl has done a few things that someday may merit mention in the history books: more than a decade in the California Legislature, a public crusade against domestic violence and a stint as the tenacious busybody Zelda on the classic sitcom "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." But if such immortality were to happen, Ms. Kuehl says, she would want one fact listed with the rest of her accomplishments: she is gay. So this year, Ms. Kuehl, a state senator representing western Los Angeles, introduced a bill to assure that lesbians and gay men...

Would the state of California "out" Abe Lincoln, now that a controversial biography has suggested that he not only changed the course of a nation but also shared a bed with men? Would Eleanor Roosevelt be singled out not just for her seminal work pursuing the New Deal and fighting for human rights, but for her relationship with a woman? Would Renee Richards, the tennis player who underwent sex reassignment surgery in 1975 and fought successfully to compete as a woman, merit mention in a history book? On Friday, a day after the state Senate voted to require that the...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Saying that more role models could help alleviate the social estrangement and high suicide rates of gay and lesbian students, the California Senate voted Thursday to teach the historical contributions of homosexuals in the United States. If approved by the state Assembly and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the measure, the first of its kind nationwide, could once again stake out California in the vanguard on gay rights. California is a huge portion of the textbook market, where it often sets trends, and many publishers put out a specific edition for the state that others can also use. ...Social...

Bill Would Allow Textbooks to Include Information on Homosexuality Written for the web by C. Johnson, Internet News Producer The state Senate has approved legislation that would allow California public school textbooks to include information on homosexuality. Senate Bill 1437, sponsored by St. Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, modifies current law to prohibit the state Board of Education or any school governing body from adopting texts that contain information that reflects negatively on race, ethnicity, gender, disability, nationality, sexual orientation or religion. Current law is less inclusive, barring texts or instructional materials that reflect adversely upon persons because of race,...

The California State Senate today passed SB 1437 (Kuel, D-Los Angeles), the most outrageous bill in the California legislature this year. “This is just another example of how radical the State Senate has become,” said Karen England, Executive Director of Capitol Resource Institute. “SB 1437 seeks to indoctrinate innocent children caught in the tug-of-war between traditional families and the outrageous homosexual agenda.” SB 1437 requires textbooks to highlight the so- called positive contributions of homosexual and transgender individuals to society and would prevent textbooks, teaching materials, instruction, and “school- sponsored activities” from reflecting adversely upon persons based on their sexual...

After a sometimes emotional debate centering on discrimination and sexual orientation, a Senate committee approved a bill Wednesday that would require that the contributions of gays and lesbians be included in textbooks. Supporters argued that all students should be made aware of the role that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have made, but state curriculum has no such requirement. Opponents countered that discussion of sexual orientation should occur at home and not be mandated in schools. Not requiring that gays be included in instructional materials creates the "enforced invisibility that so many minority groups have gone through in terms...

A bill requiring students to learn about the contributions homosexuals have made to society and that would remove sex-specific terms such as "mom" and "dad" from textbooks has passed another hurdle on the way to becoming the law of the land in California. Having already been approved by the state's Senate Judiciary Committee, SB 1437, which would mandate grades 1-12 buy books "accurately" portraying "the sexual diversity of our society," got the nod yesterday of the Senate Education Committee. The bill also requires students hear history lessons on "the contributions of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender to...

A Senate committee approved a bill Wednesday that would require California's textbooks to include the contributions of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people to the state and nation's history. The bill outraged some religious and conservative family groups, which said it would indoctrinate students in what they view as an unacceptable lifestyle. The Senate Education Committee passed the bill by state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, 8-3, along party lines. It now goes to the full Senate. "Our community is invisible in all of the teaching material, so that our students are never, ever given any information about the fact...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - State Sen. Sheila Kuehl says a key aspect of history is missing from school textbooks - the contributions that homosexuals have made to California and the nation. Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, has introduced a bill that would fill that void by requiring textbooks and other social science materials to discuss contributions that gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people have made to the state and nation's economy, politics and society. The bill also would prohibit textbooks from criticizing people because of their sexual orientation. Current law sets that standard for discussions of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, gender...