<p>California lawmakers are considering novel legislation that would permit "special measures" to benefit minority and ethnic groups despite a statewide ban on preferential treatment based on race or gender in public employment, education or contracting.</p>
<p>AB 703 would use language from a 1960s United Nations treaty to define racial discrimination in a way that supporters say could benefit underrepresented groups without violating prohibitions in California's Proposition 209, approved in 1996.</p>