August 12, 2016 (Sacramento, CA) – Yesterday, the California Senate Appropriations Committee heard the voices of 326 California community members and passed AB 2845, an anti-bullying bill co-sponsored by the Sikh Coalition. Now that the bill has cleared this hurdle, we anticipate that the entire California Senate will pass the measure in the coming weeks and present it to the Governor of California for his signature before the end of the year.

“AB 2845, also known as the Safe Place to Learn Act, is a historic bill. It combats the bigotry and bullying perpetuated by our current political environment by providing resources to educators to prevent, identify, and respond to bullying and discrimination in the classroom. We applaud the decision of the California Senate Appropriations Committee,” said Harjit Kaur, Community Development Manager at the Sikh Coalition.

The Sikh Coalition, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-California, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations-California Chapter all collaborated in helping draft and promulgate this bill.

The Sikh Coalition thanks everyone who signed our petition. Your collective voice was heard. Your advocacy made this victory possible, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that educators, parents and students have the necessary resources to curb bullying and discrimination in California.