I was in close contact with a person who shall remain unnamed here regarding the development of the AB 455 bill in California who was working with a particular group who had some concern about the bill's language. They were able to successfully turn the bill into a two year bill. That means no action this year while the legislature work to rewrite it and make it appropriate for all Deaf, deaf, and hoh kids in California. This means the bill will not go before a committee or get a floor vote. The bill simply needs a revamp. I was correct that the language of the bill was a bit unclear, even vague, enough so it would warrant justified concerns. One big reason is that the bill failed to define "Deaf" in the write up. For a recap go here - http://kokonutpundits.blogspot.com/2013/05/ab-455-california-bill-to-force.html UPDATE: I had my suspicions about the bill when the terms "deaf" and "hard of hearing" original language in the bill were struck and replaced with "Deaf." An undefined term. One deaf Californian contacted the assemblyperson about the bill and asked if (a) the bill was intended to establish state content standards for ASL like English and math, or (b) was it intended to translate into ASL for those who use it? The assemblyman responded in the affirmative but when asked for clarification on which question was being affirmed the person didn't get a clarifying response. That pretty much says it all.
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