Indian American California Assemblymember Ash Kalra was appointed Chair of the Assembly Committee on Judiciary by Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) on November 21. The Assembly Committee on Judiciary’s primary jurisdictions include family law, product liability, tort liability, Civil Code, and Evidence Code (excluding criminal procedure).
Some called it winning a tough, uphill task but others called it a black day for California History after the much-debated anti-caste discrimination bill — ‘SB 403 Discrimination on the Basis of Ancestry’ — passed the California Assembly floor with 50-3 votes, on August 28. Introduced by California State Senator Aisha Wahab (Democrat, 10th District) SB 403 seems one step closer to the Governor’s desk. When the Senate passes it and Governor Gavin Newsom signs it into law, California will become the first state in America to make caste bias illegal by adding it as a protected category in the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
