Assemblymember Haney’s Statement on the Passing of SB 1161, the Stop AAPI Hate Priority Bill that Provides for Public Transit Ridership Safety

“As a proud co-author of SB 1161, I commend the leadership of Senator Min and the Stop AAPI Hate Coalition for the passing of SB 1161, a priority bill for the API community that provides for public transit ridership safety that will work to address harassment on public transportation. Transit agency staff will now be trained on how to legally respond to incidents of harassment—including hate crimes—that take place on our streets, buses, and mass transit.

With the dramatic increase in hate crimes statewide, including the 177.5% increase in reported anti-Asian hate crimes, The California Department of Justice July 2022 report only confirms what we’ve been hearing from API communities all over San Francisco. And it’s not just violent hate crimes that are on the rise. For every crime that’s reported to the police there are hundreds of incidents of hate based harassment and even violence that go unreported—often targeted at women and seniors.

San Francisco has a duty to protect all its citizens and I’m glad to see that we are taking critical steps at the state level to protect the API community.