Executive Order

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
STATE OF CALIFORNIA

EXECUTIVE ORDER S-6-04
by the
Governor of the State of California

WHEREAS, this nation and state were founded on the principle of freedom and equality; and

WHEREAS, Congress enacted the landmark Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, making equal employment opportunity without discrimination the law of the land; and

WHEREAS, the 1972 amendment to the Civil Rights Act extended these provisions to all governmental agencies; and

WHEREAS, numerous federal and state laws, regulations and executive orders prohibit discrimination in employment against any person based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, marital status or sexual orientation in the California state civil service system; and

WHEREAS, the California labor force is comprised of skilled and talented workers from all segments of the state's richly diverse population, enabling the state to lead the nation in innovation; and

WHEREAS, this work force diversity is of great value in building a more inclusive and qualified state civil service whose highest principle is duty to an equally diverse public; and

WHEREAS, this administration is strongly committed to ensuring equality of employment opportunity in all aspects of employment where every person can enjoy to their fullest capability the birthrights of our democracy.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of California, by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the State of California, do hereby issue this order to become effective immediately:

1. Equal employment opportunity for all individuals is the policy of the State of California in all its activities. All state officials, managers and supervisors shall vigorously enforce this policy.

2. All state agencies, departments, boards, and commissions shall recruit, appoint, train, evaluate and promote state personnel on the basis of merit and fitness, without regard to age, race, ethnicity, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, religion, disability or other non-job-related factors.

3. All state agencies, departments, boards and commissions shall have clear, written directives to carry out this policy and to guarantee equal employment opportunity, without retaliation or reprisal, at all levels of state government.

4. All state agencies, departments, boards and commissions shall regularly review their employment practices to ensure equality of opportunity in employment. Such actions include the use of inclusive recruitment, properly validated selection procedures and the elimination of non job-related and discriminatory practices.

5. All state agencies, departments, boards and commissions shall fully comply with all constitutional and civil service statutory and regulatory requirements to administer and enforce this policy.

6. The State Personnel Board shall provide statewide leadership, coordination, technical guidance and enforcement regarding efforts to fully achieve equal employment opportunity and non-discriminatory employment practices within the state civil service.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have here unto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this the thirty-first day of March 2004. /s/ Arnold Schwarzenegger Governor of California

The last known link to the official State of California web site for this document:
http://www.spb.ca.gov/xo_s_6_04.htm

Commentary and Analysis
Tim Fay, Chairman, Adversity.Net

          Following issuance of his March 2004 Executive Order S-6-04, Governor Schwarzenegger has rejected or vetoed several bills from California legislators which sought in various ways to bypass or weaken Governor Schwarzenegger's edict for race-blind treatment of California's government employees.

          Gov. Schwarzenegger has repeatedly rejected all such bills.

          Keep in mind that the State of California is legally bound by Proposition 209, passed overwhelmingly in 1996, to refrain from granting or denying any employment, contracting, or educational opportunity in the state because of a person's skin color.  Keep in mind also that in October 2003 California's voters also rejected the Racial Privacy Initiative which would have made it illegal for the State of California to collect racial data on its citizens, contractors, employees, and students.  Therefore it is nominally still legal for California to collect racial data on its citizens.  The use of that data is the subject of some dispute.

          In Gov. Schwarzenegger's rejections of these various bills in 2004, he nonetheless tacitly endorsed the continuing collection of racial information on the composition of various government agency's workforces, as well as the Constitutionally suspect notion of "disparate impact" which is supported by such racial record-keeping.  This is illustrated in Schwarzenegger's veto of California Assembly Bill 2275, below:

The proposed legislation:
AB 2275 (by Assemblyman Dymally)

Equal opportunity programs.

          (Dymally's Assembly Bill stated in significant part): "The State Civil Service Act requires each state agency and department to establish an effective affirmative action program with specified components, and to establish goals and timetables designed to overcome any identified underutilization of minorities and women in their respective organizations."

In Governor Schwarzenegger's veto of AB 2275 he wrote:

"To the Members of the California State Assembly:

          "I am returning Assembly Bill 2275 without my signature.

          "My Administration is firmly committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for anyone interested in public service with the State of California and that is why my Administration issued Executive Order S-6-04 in March of this year which clearly sets forth the States employment opportunity policies.

          "In a recent court decision, Connerly v. State Personnel Board, the Third District Court of Appeals, invalidated specified sections of the State Civil Service Affirmative Action Program as unconstitutional.

          "However, the sections that provide for data collection and reporting were not found unconstitutional and were not invalidated. Accordingly, under both state and federal law, state agencies have a responsibility to maintain statistical information on the composition of their workforce, and state agencies are required by federal law to identify racial, gender and ethnic under-representation in their workforce. I fully expect that all state agencies will comply with this responsibility and maintain meaningful information on the composition of the state workforce.

          "I would consider legislation that repeals those provisions of law that have been judicially invalidated. I encourage the State and Consumer Services Agency to work with the proponents of this legislation to craft a measure that will eliminate the invalid statutory provisions, but does not impose additional reporting and record keeping requirements."

Sincerely,

/s/ Arnold Schwarzenegger

The last known link to the official State of California web site for this document:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/lr/ga/vetoed2004.asp