California Family Minute

Senate Bill 48 – Although a strong core of individuals, churches and organizations sought to stop this bill, it was passed out of the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday by a 6-3, party line vote. If ultimately placed into law, SB 48 would mandate the inclusion of societal contributions of homosexual, bisexual and transgendered persons in the social science curricula of California’s public schools, opening the door to selection of persons based
on sexual orientation rather than significance of contribution. The next stop for this bill’s consideration is the Senate Judiciary Committee, and that date is yet to be scheduled. Stay tuned.

CFC’s Monthly Prayer Guide – Link here to read our requests for prayer, distributed every month to 3,800 people and shared in church and community prayer gatherings. Take time now to send an email to Info@CaliforniaFamily.org with Prayer Guide in the subject line to receive this monthly guide via e-mail.

Proposition 8’s Defense – Earlier this week, the three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request to lift the stay on same-sex marriages.  In attempting to convince the Court to vacate the stay, attorneys for the plaintiffs in the Perry v Schwarzenegger suit based their argument on President Obama's decision not to defend the federal Defense of Marriage Act, claiming the president's opinion held more weight than established legal precedent.  In a one-sentence statement citing two previous Court decisions, the order simply read, “we deny Plaintiffs’ motion at this time.”  The Ninth Circuit panel awaits an answer from the California Supreme Court – expected no earlier than November – regarding Prop 8’s proponents having standing to legally defend their initiative.

Governor Brown and the Budget – Still attempting to woo a handful of Republicans to join the Democrat majority in placing tax extensions on a June ballot, the governor hinted Thursday morning that he was considering initiatives for the November ballot if a bipartisan solution fails.  The timetable to collect hundreds of thousands of signatures to qualify the initiatives would be tight and expensive, although Brown and his allies would have the funds needed to pay top dollar for a quick turnaround in signature gathering. Should talks with Republicans fail, Brown needs to make a decision in the next few days.