Assemblyman Tony Mendoza's legislation, AB 1967, to move California's kindergarten cutoff date from Dec. 2 to Sept. 1 was approved this week on an 8-1 vote by the Assembly Education Committee.

Mendoza, D-Norwalk, said that when the kindergarten start date was set, the education landscape was different because the class then was just three hours a day and more social. Now kindergartners attend class all day and the youngest students are not as mature as their peers, some of whom are almost a full year older.

AB 1967 would change the date for the 2012-13 school year.

Currently, 33 states have a kindergarten cutoff date on or before Sept. 30, and 24 of those have cutoff dates of Sept. 2 or earlier.

Mendoza's bill could affect about 100,000 children.

It also proposes to enroll kids with birthdays between Sept. 2 and Dec. 2 in pre-kindergarten programs maintained by school districts and providing funding for these kids.

A similar bill, SB 1381, has been introduced by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto.

Both bills move the kindergarten cutoff date, but Simitian's bill phases in the date one month at a time over a