The California State Assembly took the final vote on Aug. 30 to send Assembly Constitutional Amendment 7 (ACA 7) to voters on Nov. 7, 2028. Currently, the state constitution prohibits racial discrimination and preferential treatment in public employment, public education, and public contracting. ACA 7 would narrow the affirmative action ban language so that within public education, it applies only to higher education admissions and enrollment. K-12 education would no longer fall under the ban's prohibition on racial discrimination and race-based preferential treatment.
Proposition 209 was approved in 1996 with 54.5% of the vote. It was an initiative that amended the state constitution to prohibit discrimination against or granting preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, and public contracting.
In 2020, voters rejected Proposition 16, which would have repealed Proposition 209. The state legislature placed it on the ballot. The vote was 42.77% 'Yes' to 57.23% 'No.' The amendment was the only one of four attempts in the state legislature to repeal or narrow the affirmative action ban that made the ballot since 1996, when it was adopted, according to the bill analysis for ACA 7.
