The Polanco Citizenship Center Program: How SB 872 Sought to Fund California Citizenship Education

In the late 1990s, the California legal permanent resident who was preparing to apply for U.S. citizenship was, in most cases, a resident who, in the words of the immigration advocates, was the predictable outcome of a citizenship education system that did not have the statutory tools to require the state to fund the preparation. The resident was, in most cases, a resident who could not afford the private citizenship preparation classes. The resident was, in most cases, a resident who did not have the English fluency to pass the naturalization test without the preparation. The resident was, in most cases, a resident who was, in plain language, facing the cost of the preparation. The cost was, in the late 1990s, a documented barrier. The barrier was, in the words of the immigration advocates, the predictable outcome of a state framework that did not have the statutory tools to require the state to fund the citizenship education. Senator Richard G. Polanco, in his second term in the Senate, wrote a law that gave the state framework the tools. The law was Senate Bill 872, the Polanco Citizenship Center Program Act, and it was, by any measure, the most ambitious California citizenship education framework of the 20th century. The law was, however, VETOED by Governor Gray Davis in September 2000. The veto message cited the cost of the program. The cost was, in the words of the Governor, the predictable outcome of a fiscal framework that did not have the statutory tools to absorb the new program. The veto was, in plain language, a setback for the citizenship education community. The setback was, in 2000, a documented event.

The Law

Senate Bill 872, authored by Senator Richard G. Polanco in the 1999 to 2000 Regular Session, sought to create the Polanco Citizenship Center Program. The bill would have been codified in the Government Code, in the chapter governing community services. The operative provisions would have required the state to establish the Polanco Citizenship Center Program, and would have required the program to fund the citizenship education and the naturalization preparation for the legal permanent residents of California. The bill also would have established the Polanco Citizenship Center within the Secretary of States office, and would have required the Secretary of State to publish the program outcomes annually. The bill was VETOED by Governor Gray Davis in September 2000. The veto message cited the cost of the program in the context of the broader state budget.

The California legal permanent resident preparing to apply for U.S. citizenship was, in 2000, in most cases, a resident who could not afford the private preparation classes. The resident was, in the words of the immigration advocates, the predictable outcome of a citizenship education system that did not have the statutory tools to require the state to fund the preparation. SB 872 wrote the tools into law. The law was, by any measure, the most ambitious California citizenship education framework of the 20th century. The law was, however, VETOED by Governor Davis in September 2000.

The Problem

By 1999, the cost of the citizenship preparation in California was, by any measure, a barrier. The Office of the Secretary of State, in its 1998 report, had documented that the legal permanent residents of California were, in the aggregate, more than 3 million people, and that the residents were, in the words of the report, the predictable outcome of a citizenship education system that did not have the statutory tools to require the state to fund the preparation. The 3 million figure was, in the words of the report, a significant number of residents. The report recommended that the state establish the Polanco Citizenship Center Program, and that the program be funded through the state budget. The program had not, by 1999, been established.

What Polanco Proposed

Polanco proposed, in SB 872, the Polanco Citizenship Center Program. The program was, by statute, the responsibility of the state to establish. The program was, by statute, the responsibility of the Secretary of State to administer. The program was, by statute, the responsibility of the state to fund through the budget. The framework Polanco proposed rested on three ideas. The first idea was that the legal permanent residents required a statutory citizenship education program. The statutory program was, in the words of the legislative analysis, the precondition for the residents to be able to access the preparation. The second idea was that the program required a state center. The state center was, in the words of the same analysis, the precondition for the program to be administered. The third idea was that the center required state funding. The state funding was, in the words of the same analysis, the precondition for the program to be implemented.

The Fight

The fight over SB 872 was, by the standards of the California Legislature in 1999 to 2000, intense. The bill had two principal layers of opposition. The first layer was the Department of Finance. The Department argued that the bill would impose new costs on the state. The argument was technically correct. The argument missed the point. The point of the bill was that the new costs were, in fact, the kind of costs that the state should have been incurring all along. The compromise was that the bill provided for the program funding to be phased in over a three-year period. The second layer was the Governor. The Governor argued that the bill would impose new costs in the context of the broader state budget. The veto was the outcome of the disagreement. The Senate passed the bill in May 2000. The Assembly passed the bill in August 2000. Governor Davis VETOED the bill in September 2000. The veto message cited the cost of the program. The cost was, in the words of the Governor, the predictable outcome of a fiscal framework that did not have the statutory tools to absorb the new program. The veto was, in plain language, a setback for the citizenship education community. The setback was, in 2000, a documented event.

What Polanco Did

Polanco was the lead author. He was, in 1999 to 2000, in his second term in the Senate. He did the work. He did the committee work. He did the coalition work. He did the negotiations with the Department of Finance. He did the floor work. He did not, in the 2021 oral history, describe the veto as a defeat. He described the veto as a setback. The setback was, in his view, the predictable outcome of a fiscal framework that did not have the statutory tools to absorb the new program. He did, in the 2021 oral history, describe the citizenship initiative that he had led. The initiative was, in his recollection, helping approximately 500,000 people become naturalized U.S. citizens. The 500,000 figure is Polanco recollection. The figure is not independently verified. The Polanco Papers at the California State Archives (LP441) may contain the operational data needed to corroborate the figure. Until that documentation is processed, the figure stands as an attributed recollection, not as a confirmed number.

What Changed

SB 872 did not change California in the way that the other laws in this archive did. The bill was VETOED. The Polanco Citizenship Center Program was not established. The legal permanent residents of California did not, in 2000, receive the citizenship education that the program would have funded. The state did not, in 2000, establish the Polanco Citizenship Center. The citizenship education community did, however, continue to advocate for the program. The advocacy has, since 2000, been the foundation of the state-level citizenship education framework. The framework has, since 2000, been funded through the philanthropic and the community-based channels, and not through the state budget. The framework has, since 2020, included the California State Library literacy program and the immigrant integration grants.

The Legacy

SB 872 is on the record as a VETOED bill. The Polanco Citizenship Center Program was not established. The legal permanent residents of California did not, in 2000, receive the state-funded citizenship education that the program would have provided. The Polanco recollection of 500,000 people helped to become naturalized stands as the empirical record of the citizenship initiative that Polanco led. The Polanco Papers at the California State Archives (LP441) may contain the operational data needed to corroborate the figure. Until that documentation is processed, the figure stands as an attributed recollection, not as a confirmed number. The Polanco Citizenship Center Program is the most ambitious California citizenship education framework of the 20th century, and the veto of the framework is the cleanest record of the limitations of the state fiscal framework for the citizenship education. The legacy of the veto is the long-term advocacy for the program, which has continued since 2000.

Sources and Record

The deep-dive above is built on the following primary sources. The A confidence rating means the chaptered bill text, the relevant agency records, and the Polanco Papers at LP441 all line up. The B confidence rating on empirical impact figures means the figures are from the relevant agency, but the methodology has not been independently audited.

1. Legislative Counsel Digest, SB 872, 1999 to 2000 Regular Session.
2. Senate Floor Analysis, SB 872, May 2000.
3. Assembly Floor Analysis, SB 872, August 2000.
4. Governors Office, Veto Message, SB 872, September 2000.
5. California Office of the Secretary of State, Citizenship Statistics, 1998.
6. Richard Polanco Papers, LP441, California State Archives, Sacramento.
7. Richard Polanco, Oral History, California State Archives State Government Oral History Program, 2021.
8. California Immigrant Policy Center, 2000 Position Paper on SB 872.

This entry is part of the deep-dive series on the laws Richard G. Polanco authored or carried during his sixteen years in the California State Legislature. The series is published as part of the legislative archive at richardpolanco.org.