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Committee HearingAssembly

Arts Entertainment Sports And Tourism — 2026-06-23 (partial)

June 23, 2026 · Arts Entertainment Sports And Tourism · 11,799 words · 15 speakers · 89 segments

Chair Wardchair

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Well, good morning. Everyone is in good spirits this morning. I want to welcome you to the hearing. Welcome you to today's hearing on the Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Tourism. Many absent members should make their way to room 444 of the state capitol. We have seven items on our agenda today, with three of those being ACRs that are proposed for consent. As always, each bill will have up to two main witnesses in support and opposition, and each witness will receive up to two minutes to present. For those that are still wishing to do so, written testimony can, of course, be submitted through the committee's position portal on our website. And for those attending in person, a quick reminder that conduct which disrupts, disturbs or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of this hearing is prohibited. I want to thank you. And with that, we have our first Senate author. I'd like to invite Senator Cabaldon up here to be able to present SB 226. We are going to work as a subcommittee. I think we are one shy of quorum.

Senator Christopher Cabaldonsenator

But in the meantime, the floor is yours. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair, members of the committee. I'm here to present SB 266, which makes a straightforward but important clarification to the existing law regarding infrastructure revitalization financing districts by clarifying that entertainment and sports facilities are included in the law. They're not currently barred from the law, but it's not clear. These districts allow local communities to fund major infrastructure development projects using the new tax revenue that the projects on them will generate without drawing on the general fund or burden existing taxpayers. And when a community is putting together a revitalization project that has the potential to dramatically increase both economic development, but ultimately tax revenue for itself and for other overlapping local agencies and, of course, for the state, these investments make a great deal of sense. SB 226 creates the certainty that is needed for those to work by simply clarifying that sports and entertainment facilities are included in the existing IRFD law and removing any of the ambiguity so that local agencies can move forward with some confidence. Now, this is not just an abstract idea. California is preparing to submit a single bid for the Major League Baseball expansion team that the league has announced that they will be considering two in the country, one in each half of the country. And the city of West Sacramento is pursuing, along with its regional partners, pursuing that franchise, anchored by a new ballpark and waterfront mixed-use development. This is an area I've been involved in for a long time. If you've been to the A's game, this is the first I've helped as mayor to architect the financing and construction strategy for that facility. We also were involved in the regional efforts to build the arena for the Kings and so we have a lot of experience in this space I also was the assembly staffer working for the member who got this initial law passed for Treasure Island development in San Francisco. RFDs are not a common instrument. In most situations, they don't work for just regular economic development. But for projects like this that have very substantial turnaround potential, both because of the tax increment mechanism itself, but also because of the underlying, just the underlying property values that are an artifact of the history of disinvestment and poverty in communities like mine. In this particular instance, this is a mechanism that can be quite powerful in making California's bid for the MLB a reality. And so this carries statewide significance. And with one California team now departing for Las Vegas, this effort would allow our state to maintain its current number of MLB franchises, including here in Northern California. So with that, I would respectfully ask for your aye vote and introduce our witness on the bill today, who is the city manager of the city of West Sacramento

Aaron Laurelwitness

and the former president of the California Association of Local Economic Development, Aaron Laurel. Welcome. Thank you, Senator Cabaldon, and good morning, Chair and members of the committee. Senator Cabaldon gave a great overview there. I don't have a whole lot to add, but I do want to underscore a couple of points about some of the details around this funding mechanism. So So first and foremost, it only is used in projects where the money is generated by the project. So in other words, there's no outside property tax funding coming into this. There's no risk to our general fund. In this case, it would be a stadium and surrounding development and the property tax increment. Only the city's portion, mind you, would be put back into the deal to help with the financing costs of the stadium. On that note, also, I just want to emphasize that none of the other taxing entities that are receiving property tax from the development would be impacted. So that includes the school districts. The county can only participate if they voluntarily do so. So we're only talking about the city's portion of the tax. And that's a very important distinction here because in other forms of tax increment from the past, like redevelopment, that wasn't the case. So it's very much a local tool for projects such as this. So we're really excited about this opportunity to pursue a major league expansion in the Sacramento region and particularly in West Sacramento's Bridge District. The senator kind of gave the history on the meaning of that to us. The Bridge District is bigger than just baseball. It's a very vibrant, sustainable infill community. and we're very excited by the prospect of the stadium coming in to help accelerate and really amplify the work that we've already been doing for the past couple decades. So I'm here to answer any questions you have, and with that, I'll respectfully request your aye vote and thank Senator Kevaldin, my former boss, for carrying the bill for us. Thank you.

Chair Wardchair

Great. Thank you. Great to have you. Are there any other members of the public here wishing to register a position of support?

Good morning. Ross Buckley on Bath.

Chair Wardchair

One second. I'm sorry. Thank you.

Good morning. Ross Buckley on Beth the Sea of Sacramento in support. Thank you.

Chair Wardchair

Seeing no other members of the public wish to approach the microphone. Are there any primary witnesses in opposition?

We have none on file.

Chair Wardchair

Okay. Seeing none, any members of the public wish to register a statement position of opposition? Okay. Seeing none, we'll turn this back to committee members. Questions or comment? Again, we're operating as a subcommittee.

Assembly Member Liz Ortegaassemblymember

Assembly member Ortega. I'll move the motion when appropriate.

Chair Wardchair

When appropriate. When appropriate.

Assembly Member Liz Ortegaassemblymember

But I do want to thank the senator for bringing this bill forward. I won't hold it against you for mentioning the Oakland A's, formerly known as the Oakland A's. As in my previous life I actually worked very hard with the city of Oakland in trying to maintain the A in the city and remember having to you know maneuver all the infrastructure all the pieces to make it happen Unfortunately they have chosen to leave the state. And so I'm, you know, happy to support your bill today and look forward to what's to come. Thank you.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you. Any other member questions or comments? Okay. Seeing none. Senator, I want to thank you for bringing this bill forward. You're a champion for this region, certainly your home city of West Sacramento. And, you know, I think your history on working on these kinds of projects and the legacy that you're leaving already to date. And I think your vision for what you have going forward is, you know, going to be more than than most of us in elected office would ever be able to achieve. I did have just a couple of, I think, technical questions around this, because, one, I wanted to understand. And maybe this will come, I know, before local government committee and we can dig a little bit deeper. You know, your use of your proposed use of the IRFD as opposed to an EIFD structure. IRFDs, of course, have a little bit of higher barrier with local approval to be able to establish. And so why are we choosing this method? What would be a more beneficiary method to this structure as opposed to using our EIFDs to be able to accomplish the same? Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm glad you asked because this this the city and the bridge district were the have been the very first EIFD in California so there's an existing EIFD that's overlaid over this district and most of the city already for the for the more generalized purposes of infrastructure development and for the development that's already occurred in the bridge district and so the these will work together in order to yet you are absolutely correct this is a more difficult instrument to use which is why very few have done so that's right but But on top of the EIFD is in order to, because we're not disturbing that. Those are for infrastructure projects throughout the district and the city and already have bonds associated with them. This would be on top of that district. Got it. Walk me through if you can. Let's say this is established. And now this is a vehicle that can be used for the financing, a financing mechanism or part of a financing mechanism for that kind of a new project. One of the things that I know we will get hit sometimes as a legislature is the idea that we've got something that is really meant for public and for beneficial, for beneficial public uses. Right. And that really is already existing law with under the section. When you think about your roads, your infrastructure, your stormwater maintenance, parks, libraries, yada, yada. And then now we're going to add in here, although there already is existing law here that private, commercial and industrial spaces can be used. so I appreciate this as clarification. So you've got a mechanism that while it's limited to that parcel and is generating new tax increment over time and into the future, is going to be able to repay that development of that parcel as well. Meanwhile, we have other sports facilities, SoFi comes to mind, that were 100% purely privately financed. And so how do we counter of the argument that we're using a tool that's meant for public benefit, but the tax increment and the future benefit is going towards a private sports facility? Great question. And like you, I was around during the end of redevelopment and the abuse of redevelopment by a couple of jurisdictions and a couple of whom were dealing with sports facilities is one of the reasons why public and state government confidence in that tool dissipated. So it a really important question And the stadium that is there today was financed without that kind of investment But what I think important to remember is that for both kinds of districts EIFDs and for IRFDs we talking about investments in the infrastructure So unlike, for example, the Irwindale project for the Raiders, I think it was, or similar projects where essentially they're trying to figure out how to subsidize directly the development itself. basically write a check to the sports team or to the stadium developer. These resources are for the infrastructure associated with the project. And so they are to the benefit of the overall community because they are the sidewalks, the roads. In the case of the existing stadium, it was on septic before sewer systems and whatever, which then provided the platform for all other amenities and steps forward for the communities. So I think that's really the key answer with respect to what are we doing for the larger community. The other is that in this particular case, there's absolutely – this is not an old redevelopment strategy where you'd say, hey, we're going to declare an area for tax increment financing and we'll make some investments and then cross our fingers. This one's specifically tied exclusively to this project. And so if there's no project, there's no district. And if there is a project, then the direct economic benefit to not just the community through the availability of the facility and all the ancillary things that will occur, but it will also boost the tax revenue for every other taxing district in the region for Medi-Cal and mental health, for community colleges, and for everything else that are in the district. So none of which would be available if the project didn't move forward. So in this case, the benefits are to the community itself as opposed to a payoff to some owner, you know, in five states away. Right. No, I appreciate that. And I think that's going to be important to underscore as that conversation continues, because you're right, there will be substantial economic benefits to the public for that kind of a new facility and that new economic driver to be able to be in existence right now. but you've got to lay down that infrastructure, and I think it's important there to underscore, one, the infrastructure component here that will serve multiple purposes, you know, beyond the facility itself but the broader community, and two, like you said, you know, this is coming out of the city's share, and we're not going to be able to, like, affect the county or school districts or others that are getting from that. At this time, we do have a quorum. I'm going to ask Madam Secretary to call the roll. Ward. Present. Lackey. Here. El Hawari. Here. Oh, Jeff Gonzalez. McKinner, Ortega, Quirk Silva, Valencia, Zabir. Thank you. We do have a quorum. We have a motion that I'll accept by Assemblymember Ortega. Is there a second? A second by Mr. Zabir. Well, I appreciate the proposal that you have. It's well thought. I think it will serve great purpose and hopefully the Sacramento region will not be the last to be able to use this new opportunity. With that, this enjoys a denied recommendation. Madam Secretary, please call the roll. SB 226, the motion is due passed to the Assembly Committee on Local Government. Ward? Aye. Ward, aye. Lackey? Aye. Lackey, aye. El Huari? Aye. El Huari, aye. Jeff Gonzalez? McKinner? Ortega? Aye. Ortega, aye. Quirk Silva? Aye. Quirk Silva, aye. Valencia? Zver? Aye. Zver, aye. That has six votes. It will be out. We'll hold the roll up in for absent members. Thank you. Thank you. And we are awaiting additional Senate authors. so we only get on with our mornings. I appreciate those that got here just a little bit early so we can be effective with our day. Thank you. Members at this time, I'd be happy to entertain a motion on the consent calendar. There are three ACRs, items one, two, and three, moved by Ortega and seconded by Assemblymember Elowari. Madam Secretary, please call the roll. Motions on consent are as follows. ACR 175 be adopted. ACR 204 be adopted. ACR 221 be adopted. Ward? Aye. Ward, aye. Lackey? Aye. Lackey, aye. El Huwari? Aye. El Huwari, aye. Jeff Gonzalez? Aye. Jeff Gonzalez, aye. McKenner? Ortega? Aye. Ortega, aye. Cork Silva? Aye. Cork Silva, aye. Valencia? Zburr? Aye. Zburr, aye. That content calendar has seven votes. It will be adopted and will hold the roll up for absent members. Thank you. Thank you. While we're waiting, Mr. Gonzalez, we'll go ahead and open the roll for item 4, SB 226. Madam Secretary, please call the roll. SB 226, do pass the Assembly Committee on Local Government. Yes, Gonzalez? Aye. Jeff Gonzalez, aye. SB 226, current roll call is 7-0. We'll hold the roll open for absent members. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. All right. We have our next Senate author, Senator Ashby. You have two bills before this committee. I'll let you choose which one you want to begin with. What's your pleasure, Chair? It is sincerely your choice. You have SB 865 or 1050. Okay. We'll get them both out here. Oh, hi. I guess I'll do this one. Okay. They'll choose for you. Hi, Mike. How are you? Good. Unless you want to do AI work with me as well. Whatever you want. Okay. Well, good morning, colleagues. Bright and early Happy to see you Chair okay to start All right great We are here to talk about music festivals really fun and important topic Music festivals have a profound economic impact in Sacramento, and I know abroad we call this the creative economy. So this is me trying really hard to make sure that the state of California continues to be the leader in the creative economy in this country. These music festivals that we all love and enjoy, they attract thousands of visitors every year. They generate millions of dollars in economic activity. They create jobs and contribute significant tax revenue that bolsters the local economies as well. In the Sacramento region alone, and I love to look at your staff's basis here because they usually know more than you about these particular events, but we have Aftershock and Golden Sky, which are two music festivals that are really large and they're in a park, Discovery Park. They generated in economic impact over $44 million for Sacramento. These festivals supported 13,000 jobs, generated $230,000 in just local sales tax revenue alone, and $1.1 million in state sales tax contributions. That's just one city with two music festivals. Imagine the impact across the entire state for all of these festivals. However, music festivals have an extremely high production cost, such as safety and sanitation and staff services. They have to improve the space before they can come in and then put it back the way it was when they leave, not to mention pay all of those artists. Big upfront costs. SB 865 is intended to make sure that the creative economy continues to infuse all of our districts and ultimately our lives and our communities' lives. SB 865 has received bipartisan support as it's moved through the legislature to this point and has not received any opposition. The goal here is to create a source that supports this economic development and this really important creative economy engine in each of our districts. And I have with me some incredible witnesses that I'm very excited for you to meet, ask them all the hard questions. Right next to me is my very good friend, Mike Testa. Mike is the president and CEO of Visit Sacramento. So he recruits all the cool, fun stuff. You may have heard of the Bridge Dinner. That is a great example of his work. Mike will talk to you a little bit about the economic impact of music festivals for not only our region but across the state. And then also Dylan Welsh is with us. Dylan's the Senior Director of Legal Affairs for Danny Wimmer Presents, which, lest you think I was only focused on Sacramento. Aftershock and Golden Sky are presented by Danny Wimmer, which is a Los Angeles-based company. So this is everybody. This is all of us. I'm very excited for you to get to hear from them today, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Welcome to our witnesses. You have two minutes each. Good morning. As the Senator said, Mike Testa, President and CEO of Visit Sacramento, I often tell people that if music festivals were easy, everybody would do it. The reality is that every year offers multiple ways for these events to fail, from poor ticket sales to 100-plus degree temperatures, smoke from wildfires that impacts a singer's ability to sing to other elements that the organizer has no control of. The cost of losing these events, not only for Sacramento, but for the state of California, is significant. From a financial standpoint, Destination Music Festivals are vital to our economy in Sacramento by driving impact to local businesses, creating jobs, as the senator said, and millions of dollars in tax revenues for the city and the county. But of importance is that these events generate significant revenues for the state of California, south of $1 million per festival. Close to 13,000 jobs are created over the month-long build time and activation. You know, the promoter takes 100% of the risk for these events, and there's no way of knowing if ticket sales will be off this year, if they'll be better this year, again, if there's wildfires, things that impact. The reality is if the promoter loses a bunch of money, the city, the county, and the state still make all of theirs. There is no risk to any of these partners for these events. The promoter takes 100% of the risk. You know, Golden Sky, we had it for three years. It left after the third year because it just didn't pencil for the promoter. We're bringing it back next year, and some of that assistance is coming from Visit Sacramento. We want to invest in that because it was so valuable for this region, but there's no guarantee that it'll be enough of what we're doing. And so we look at those opportunities that we just don't want to lose. We've lost Soul Bloom in Sacramento. We lost the Breakaway Music Festival, things that created jobs and provided impact. The last thing that I'll say to you is Aftershock is a 165,000-person destination festival over four days, drives $40 million in economic impact. It is not branded to Sacramento. It is not branded to California. At any point, that event could be picked up and moved to any other state because the brand is aftershock. I think it is fair for the promoter to think if the state or the city or the region doesn't commit to me, why should I commit to them? And that's, I think, one of the things that we're facing. Thank you for the opportunity this morning. Thank you. My name is Dylan Welsh. On behalf of Danny Wimmer Presents, DWP is an independent promoter that produces destination music festivals. We're headquartered in California. Sixty percent of our staff reside in California, We are the producers of two California festivals, Aftershock, the West Coast's largest rock festival, and Golden Sky Country Music Festival that will return to Sacramento in 2027. These festivals are proven economic drivers for California. A recent independent economic impact study found that Aftershock generates nearly $80 million in annual economic output and $8.8 million in tax revenue. Golden Sky represents an additional $34 million in economic output and $3.7 million in tax revenue. Producing each festival is like building a city every single year, complete with all infrastructure, staffing, safety, and public services needed to host tens of thousands of daily visitors. To produce Aftershock alone, DWP commits to $37 million in expenses before opening doors and takes 100% of the risk. DWP remains committed to investing in California festivals, but the current model is not sustainable. For the last four years, we've seen national inflation of 3.3%, and our costs to produce and operate a music festival have increased by 11% each year. We cannot pass these costs on in the ticket price, or festivals will become unaffordable to many attendees who fill hotels, support local businesses, and inject millions of dollars into our economy. SB 865 ensures California will remain competitive in attracting and retaining major festivals. To qualify, promoters must meet significant attendance thresholds, maintain long-term agreements with host communities, support local businesses, feature local performers, and demonstrate meaningful economic impact. SB 865 is an investment in supporting California jobs, California tourism, California businesses, and California's creative economy. Thank you for your time this morning. Thank you. Are there other members of the public wishing to register a position of support? Good morning Russ Buckley on behalf of the City of Sacramento in support Thank you Mr Chair and members Alex Torres on behalf of the National Independent Venue Association representing 650 venues and promoters also on behalf of the California Capital Venues Coalition in strong support Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair and members. Jason Schmelzer on behalf of California Arts Advocates in strong support. Thank you. Good morning, Chair and members. Walid Hajaj representing the League of California Cities in support. Thank you. Thank you. Chloe King with political solutions on behalf of the California travel association and support. Thank you. Thank you very much. Is there anybody else who is wishing to offer a position of opposition or a statement of opposition? Seeing none, we'll turn this back to committee member questions and comments and emotion. Mr. Gonzalez. As I look at this bill, a few things automatically come to mind 20 million. Where are we going to find the money for 20 million? But I represent a small little festival called Coachella and Stagecoach. And this October desert trip to include smaller venues that are now starting to pop up because of the influx of people. Desert Rodeo being one of them where they have a smaller venue while Stagecoach is going for more of the local pieces. is just a stagecoach in Coachella bring in roughly approximately $700 million to California. A hundred million of that is going just to the local economy in Indio. So the fiscal conservative in me is like, but I also look at this and say, is this worth, is a juice worth the squeeze, right? with 700 million coming into California. Absolutely. So that's where, you know, we were talking the other day about we got to do the hard things, right? It was a casual conversation. And this is one of those things where we say, yes, let's invest because the payout of 10,000, 20,000 jobs into just into my region, a quarter of a million people just coming into the Coachella Valley. That's where I have to say, yes, the juice is worth the squeeze. With a 20% unemployment rate in counties like Imperial, this brings in a whole bunch of jobs. So my encouragement is that I want more smaller events that can couple along with these larger events so that we can grow areas like Imperial County that absolutely need it, Riverside County and San Bernardino County. So these are one of the hard things where we have to say the juice is worth the squeeze. So I thank the, the, the author for this. Thank you. Thank you. Senator McKenna. Yes. I'd also like to thank the author for this bill. And I have a little, I have a lot of music in my district. I have big music and big venues, but I also have a little festival called rolling loud. He's yours too. Danny Wimmer's in your, my area. It's where I love it. Like, we love music in my area. And so we have this little festival called Rolling Loud, and it brings in tons of money and tons of visitors to my area. Whenever we have people out having a good time spending money, it helps our general fund. And so it's worth the squeeze. I'm like what you're saying. Yes, it's worth the squeeze. So I encourage everybody to support this bill because this will put into our general fund. And I think that is big business when we bring these festivals in. And so thank you for this. All right with that I hearing a motion from Mr Gonzalez and a second from Ms McKenna Any other members wishing or questions or comments Well Senator Aspey I want to thank you very much for bringing this idea forward Of course, I know you're also working on a companion issue with regard to the budget to make sure the money would be there. Always important that we're covering both bases. I recognize that these festivals can have a huge impact, but particularly to that local economy, for your local tourism, for the local hospitality industry. But the most important part of these smaller musical festivals I think that you're trying to promote is that you're giving a space for local artists to be able to have their break. And that is a great benefit to those that are just trying to sort of find themselves on the stage and hopefully get noticed and hopefully take their career and their talent elsewhere. So there are multiple wins here. And I think it's a great opportunity that we've been missing so far that you're leading on to be able to highlight that venue. and to be able to support that industry here in California for all those wins. That invites you to close, and we're happy to take a roll. Well, thank you so much. I love this bill because it's exactly this whole committee, which we don't even have this committee in the Senate, but I wish we did because the creative economy is, it's literally our DNA in California, and you're right. This helps the artists. It helps the cities. Without Bottle Rock, Napa has almost no transit occupancy. They don't have another big event. They just have the wineries. They don't have a big event. That's their signature event. Even in San Francisco, outside lands makes a huge difference in their creative economy. This helps everyone, Huntington Beach, San Francisco, L.A., and Sacramento. And I'm really excited to see it through. I'm so grateful. I knew this committee would get it because it's all about how we use arts to grow what's happening in the state of California. Thank you so much. I respectfully ask for your aye vote. Thank you, Senator. Madam Secretary. Please call the roll. SB 865, the motion is due past the Assembly Committee on Appropriations. Ward? Aye. Ward, aye. Lackey? Aye. Lackey, aye. El Huari? Aye. El Huari, aye. Jeff Gonzalez, aye. Makinner, aye. Makinner, aye. Ortega, aye. Quirk Silva? Aye. Quirk Silva, aye. Valencia? Zver? Aye. Zver, aye. Right now the roll's at 8-0. That will be out and we'll hold the roll up for perhaps some members. Thank you. Thank you so much. And when you're ready, you can go ahead and begin your presentation on SB 1050, item number six. Hi. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you so much. This is another important bill in the creative economy space. This one protecting workers. SB 1050, California, as you know, point of pride, home to the largest and most influential creative sector in the world. We want to keep it that way. Over 750,000 jobs power the state's creative economy, which generates over 190 billion federal, state, and local dollars. Recent advancements in artificial intelligence have led to the creation of synthetic performers, human-like digital figures that convincingly appear and speak and move and perform like real people. The use of these performers in advertisements is misleading. It's misleading to consumers and allows creators to avoid the responsibility of hiring real workers. Over 75% of adults in the USA steps should be taken to regulate AI-altered content. With the evolution of AI and its impact on commercial media California really must ensure that existing advertising laws are updated to reflect new realities SB 1050 does this by requiring disclosures when a synthetic person is depicted in an advertisement The bill is sponsored by SAG-AFTRA and supported by the California Federation of Labor Unions, Common Sense Media, and the National Association of Voice Actors, amongst many, many other supporters. With me to testify today is Shane Guzman, representing SAG-AFTRA and the Teamsters. and Tim Freelander, who's president of the National Association of Voice Actors. Thank you. Welcome. You have two minutes each. Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Chair and members. Shane Gussman, on behalf of SAG-AFTRA, proud sponsor of this bill, and also the Teamsters, who are Hollywood local, supports this bill. AB1050 provides for a basic disclosure when an advertiser utilizes synthetic performers. This is not a new concept. We've had disclosure requirements for many years. The bill is about protecting consumers by ensuring that they have adequate notice and that the image or voice trying to convince them to buy a product or service is not a real human being. The bill is also about protecting the artists SAG-AFTRA represents. Our view is the replacement of human actors with computer-generated synthetics, perhaps trained on stolen performances, jeopardizes jobs and devalues human artistry. Consumers deserve to know when that occurs. Lastly, we have taken significant amendments to try to mitigate the concerns of the opponents. We will continue to work through this process over the next committee and through the summer to try to get there if we can, but we need to make sure that we don't undermine the intent of this bill. It needs to work. And with that, I respectfully ask for your aye vote. Thank you. Good morning, everybody. Thank you for having me here today. My name is Tim Friedlander. I'm a professional voice actor, small business owner, proud SAG-AFTRA member. I'm one of the co-founders of the Creators Coalition on AI and a co-founder of the National Association of Voice Actors, where we have over 1,700 professional voice actors across California and across this country. I'm here today because consumers have a right to know when the person selling them something isn't a person at all. The use of an unlabeled synthetic in a video or audio commercial is by its very nature untrue and deceptive. When a real performer appears in a commercial, either on screen or behind a microphone, they bring something unique, authentic human experience, but also accountability. When an AI-generated likeness or voice replaces that performer without disclosure, consumers are being misled. They are forming trust and making purchasing decisions based on a performance they believe was done by a human. The audio-only industry is massive, with the podcast industry itself projected to be worth $17 billion by 2030. California residents are in the top two consumers of podcasts in this country, with over 90% of them listening on their smartphones on the go. These audio-only listeners have no idea if they're listening to a human or a synthetic voice. And this is not hypothetical. AI tools are already being used to clone voices and replicate real performance in commercials, sometimes without their consent, and almost always without consumer awareness. And a sign of things to come, over 100 stations and a nationwide radio network replaced every voice actor, every voice talent with AI-generated voices. California has long led the nation in protecting performer and consumer rights. Labeling AI-generated commercials is the next logical step. Disclosure doesn't stifle innovation. It builds the trust that makes innovation sustainable. Financial, legal, medical, and political advertisers know this. Audiences deserve transparency, and just like their food, deserve the right to know if what they are ingesting is real or synthetic. And I urge your support today on Senator Ashton's bill, SB 1050. Thank you so much. Thank you for being here. You are indeed a very good professional voice actor. Are there other members of the public here wishing to register a statement of support?

Mr. Chair, member Sarah Flox, California Federation of Labor Unions in support.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you.

Dagny Starnother

Good morning. Dagny Starn on behalf of Common Sense Media and the Music Artist Coalition in support.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you very much. Okay, we do have registered opposition on file. Are there two, up to two primary witnesses wishing to offer a statement of opposition? Thank you, and you'll have up to two minutes each as well.

Robert Boykinother

Can I go first? Good morning, Chair and members. My name is Robert Boykin with TechNet, here today to respectfully oppose SB 1050, unless it is amended. We appreciate the author's goal of promoting transparency and agree consumers should not be misled. Our concerns are about ensuring the bill is targeted, workable, and aligned with existing law. First, materiality. As drafted, we still feel the bill requires a label any time a synthetic performer appears, even if it's a dental background or obviously stylized use that no reasonable consumer would find deceptive. California advertising law has always tied disclosure to risk of material deception, and we're simply asking this bill to do the same. With that anchor, the recent removal of the word prominently means disclosures get attached to the content that conveys nothing useful. And when labels appear everywhere, consumers learn to ignore the ones that actually matter. Second, common sense carve-outs. The bill should exempt accessibility features, AI captioning, auto description, sign language overlays that serve customers with disabilities and pose no deception risk. And it should exempt purely illustrative or thematic figures that make no claim about the product. Third, fair enforcement. Right now, a single inadvertent error is enforceable under the UCL through private litigation with uncapped per-impression penalties. We're asking for these standard guardrails, a right to cure, a good face-safe harbor, and a reasonable penalty cap. So businesses working hard to comply aren't treated like bad actors. These are neurotechnical fixes that can help focus the bill where consumer protection is generally at stake. We look forward to continuing to work with the author, this committee, and the subsequent committees going forward. Thank you.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you.

Robert Boykinother

Thanks. And my colleague Robert is due in another committee, and that's why he expeditiously ran through his testimony.

Chair Wardchair

So thank you very much.

Melissa Patakother

Chair Ward, Vice Chair Lackey, members of the committee, my name is Melissa Patak. I'm here with the Motion Picture Association. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. We appreciate the ongoing conversations we've had with the author and the sponsor and the committee consultant here. We continue to object to the bill for two main reasons. First, SB 1050 omits the element of deception and requires a disclosure whether or not a consumer would be misled. The bill limits commercial speech, and any restriction must directly and materially advance a substantial government interest and must not be more extensive than it is necessary to further that government interest. SB 1050 requires labeling of all ads that use synthetic performers and not just those which are misleading, making the bill's restrictions on speech too broad. Second, we are concerned that the private right of action will be an invitation to litigation against companies that are perceived as deep-pocketed. We request that the enforcement remain with the Attorney General and other public prosecutors. The recent amendments raise additional concerns The bill now requires disclosure where a synthetic performer is used in an audio advertisement A disclosure in an audio advertisement will propose operational challenges particularly for extremely short advertisements The new amendment limiting disclosure where the synthetic performer appears prominently needs some clarification. clarification. Those producing ads will need more specificity. For example, is a stadium full of people prominent because it's large? It's a large number of people and may take up a large part of the screen. What if the ad also features human actors in the foreground who are the primary focus of the ad? Would such an ad be outside the scope of the disclosure requirement? We note that SB 1050 differs significantly from the New York law, which recently became effective, specifically the private right of action and the inclusion of audio ads, are not in the New York law. While we understand California has no obligation to mirror another state's law, it is very challenging for our member companies to establish business practices which comply with state laws that have different standards. We look forward to continuing to work with the author and the sponsor about the remaining issues. Thank you very much for the opportunity to be here.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you for being here. Are there other members of the public wishing to register a position of opposition?

Chris Bollingerother

Hi, Chair. Chris Bollinger on behalf of Cal Broadband. Very, very respectfully opposed unless amended. Thank you.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you.

Peter Kellisother

Mr. Chair and members, Peter Kellis on behalf of the California Broadcasters Association. We've been working with the author's office on the audio only as it pertains to broadcast. Specifically, local public broadcast is unique in that it has no visual component. It can't provide disclosure while simultaneously delivering the message because local broadcast does run in 15 to 30 second increments. The impact on local broadcast is disproportionate and we want to continue working with the author's office. So thank you.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you.

Naomi Pajoranother

Good morning, Chair and members. Naomi Pajoran on behalf of the Computer and Communications Industry Association. We have an opposed unless amended position. We'll align our comments with TechNet.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you.

Laura Bennettother

Thank you. Laura Bennett on behalf of the California Chamber of Commerce. Opposed unless amended. This is very tall and I'm not supposed to touch the microphone. It says don't touch the microphone. Touch the microphone. Opposed unless amended and we align our comments with TechNet.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you. Thank you for being here. All right. Seeing no other members of the public wish to have a position, we'll turn this to committee members for questions, comments. Ms. McKenna.

Tina McKinnorassemblymember

Yes. Again, thank the author for doing the bill. For me, I'd like to know if it's an AI ad. we do ads for campaigns. And at the end of the ads, we say it real quickly paid for by Tina McKenna and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, quick, quick. So if it's a 30 second ad, I would love to know, or if it's a program I'm watching and I'm listening to on my, on my iPhone, I love at the end of it to say AI generated. That takes one second AI generated. That way people know it's not real people because it may not be deceptive. The message may not be deceptive, But people don't know whether they're hearing a real live person or an AI generated person, or even when they see the images as well. And so it would be great for people in the public to just know that this is AI. And so with that, I will support the bill.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you, Mr. Kenner.

Rick Zburassemblymember

Some members of her. I want to thank the author for bringing the bill. You know, I think this set of issues is actually one of the most important that we're dealing with now with the advancement of AI. and it really is important that we protect our workers and we make sure that basically folks that are in these creative spaces that they're not being displaced in an unnecessary way. On the other side of that obviously we want to do things in a way so that the creativity of the industry is maintained and doing that in order to protect the workers in the state of California So I think that's the balance that these things, obviously supporting this bill today. And so I think really, you know, I just want to thank you and encourage you to continue working with the opposition. I think there's some details there. Obviously, when we're talking about commercial speech, there's constitutional issues that arise in terms of what the standards are. And so I do think some additional focus on that would be good. The issue of sort of the prominence, I think, should be a little more defined. So a case where, for example, you might have a stadium full of folks with J-Lo or some other artists there, does that require – if the stadium is full of reproduced people, but you actually have your artists there and that person is real, what would the disclosure be there? So I think those kinds of issues are ones that we have to think about both protecting the real artist But also allowing for the creativity to continue. So, you know, some of these are issues I think are more appropriate for the Judiciary Committee and But you know, I'm glad that the two sides are working together. Obviously. This is a, you know This industry is one of the most important in my district And it's important that we get it right both to make sure that it survives challenge So to protect these workers and also to protect the workers and the creativity in the industry So with that, I'll be supporting the bill today.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you, Mrs. Zaburs.

Sharon Quirk-Silvaassemblymember

I'm a member of Quirk Silva. Well, I'm glad you brought up J-Lo, considering you're sitting between two Latinas, and we know she would take up all the space so we wouldn't have to wonder about the people behind her. But this bill is important not only at this time, but if we back up several years. So several years ago, I was chair of arts and entertainment. And this is when we were just beginning to say out loud AI. And the public who is not working in the industry is trying to catch up to what the industry is doing. And yet it has moved extremely quickly. So when I was chair of AI, I actually distinctively remember being on a tour of Capitol Records, and they were just starting to talk about what they could see as far as what AI would bring, and not only the positives, but of course the negatives. and we are living that. We are seeing that each one of us, when we pick up our phones and we're scrolling because we all do, so let's all own that. And there are times when we go, okay, that's AI for sure. But then there's other times where it's kind of, is this AI? And I think that's what the public is thinking about many times. And then of course, when you look at the creative arts, as my colleagues just mentioned, there's probably still work to do on this particular bill, but the concept and the idea of protecting workers, and in this case, voices, sometimes voices that you don't even see related to podcasts and journalism and so forth, Those are important conversations So I will be saying yes today I do think there more work to do But it is the topic of our lifetime for many of us because it isn just AI We could broaden that to what we talk about many times all day long which is social media and influence and all of these things But it's a changing industry and it's impacting not only just actors, but the entire creative of what are we going to be looking at if you want to go out and project 10 years from now? because it has moved so fast, just in our short, I think I was the chair in, oh no, when? 23. 23. Okay, so 23. And that's how fast, when they were just starting to talk about it. So with that, thank you for your work. I'll be supporting it today.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you, Ms. Cork-Silva. Vice Chair Locke.

Tom Lackeyassemblymember

Yeah, I think everybody wants to know the distinction between techno talent and human talent. And I think we deserve to all know the difference. I mean, our voice witness has such an impressive voice resonance. I wonder if he was lip syncing over there. It was quite impressive. But I think that AI is not the enemy. it's not toxic in and among itself but i think we want to know the distinction and i think we deserve to know the distinction and so i think as we continue along this line we we shouldn't characterize ai as the enemy but because ai can be a friend but it will be the enemy if we let it so i think this is a bill that recognizes the need to make the distinction between the two of them. And I don't think it's anti-AI. I think it's just something that we all want to know. So I clearly will be supporting this.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you, Mr. Lackey.

Sade Elhawaryassemblymember

Assemblywoman Elwari. Thank you so much to the author for bringing this forward. I think it's really important to recognize how many folks are able to get their start in this industry. I am working on a bill specifically because we know that as people are coming home from incarceration, they get an opportunity to really uplift themselves through what we know is a huge part of the creative economy in this state. And we have to do everything we can to protect all the workers in this industry. And that means at every level, no matter what it is. And I think hearing your voice, like I almost feel like I've heard a synthetic version of it too, you know, and how unfair is that, that you've done all this work and now someone can just steal it and use it in this way. And so just really appreciate you coming today. Appreciate the opposition's perspective, but I think everything we can do to protect workers is really, I think, important in this case. Thank you.

Chair Wardchair

Any other member questions or comments?

Angelique Ashbyassemblymember

Well, Senator, I really, sorry, motion by McKinner and a second by Ms. Cork-Silva.

Chair Wardchair

And Senator Ashby, I want to thank you for bringing this forward. Of course, congratulations on a triple refer opportunity for you. And this is the second stop for you. I had a chance to, of course, hear this in the privacy consumer protection committee. where it passed out of that and we'll be headed to judiciary. And I know that you are working on some technical amendments that of course are not going to undercut the principles of the bill that we want to do, but are going to make this implement in the right way because I think what you're hearing kind of the common thread here is much of what I agree with us specifically would align with what Mr. Zuber and our vice chair had been able to say. Yes, we want to get some of those technical amendments right better, I think, done in judiciary, which is your next stop when we think about the how to have how to more specifically define what a prominently featured synthetic performer is, working on the impact of local news broadcasts and audio-only commercials. And, you know, you're taking that laundry list of, like, all the details and figuring out with opposition, you know, what is reasonable to be able to meet. And I know that that work will continue as well. I think that is important that as we're considering these, just as the legislature has done in the past, to be able to recognize the work of music artists and when their talent, when their inputs are going into something and being recreated. And then now we're using technology to be able to create something that is a likeness of them. I mean, we're all like, you know, thinking about how AI is coming into these different industries and into our different lives. But this bill clearly just being about, you know, kind of a viewer's understanding and the deception that can come with that, I think is important. It's important to the jobs that go into this that are feeding the systems that are being replicated otherwise through this technology, but also for the viewer to understand, you know, what they're looking at so they can make a conscious decision, have a little bit more of a pause to understand the advertising, the input that's coming into them, the whatever's being sold, whatever's being like, you know, whatever's motivating them to know something, that they should just have a quick little pause to understand, like, you know, sort of the genesis of that. This might not be coming from your friend, your neighbor, your fellow human being, but something that's being recreated, not necessarily with malintent, right? But that's just something that you would want to know about to be able to process, you know, the input that you're receiving from that as a viewer. So I think it's important that we're all working on this. It is going to be probably the biggest challenge coming up for us in this decade. And you're tapping into a very important and very present issue that's happening here with the industry. So with that, I invite you to close.

Angelique Ashbyassemblymember

Well, I really want to say thank you for all your comments. It was actually incredible to hear about the movement from 2023 to 2026. We know intuitively, I think, how fast this is moving. But it's also about just telling the truth, making sure people have the facts. And then they can decide what they want to do, if they want to listen to something or not. And protecting the hard work and investment that people have put into their own talent. And my commitment to all of you is I want to get it right. So we'll keep working with the opposition. We've taken many, many amends, but we'll keep doing more. I'm open to all of that. I just want to get it right. I appreciate your input. I took notes. Please, if you think of something else, even after the committee, please tell me. I'm happy to take it in. I appreciate you, and I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you, Senator. Madam Secretary, please call the roll. SB 1050, the motion is due passed to the Assembly Committee on Judiciary. Ward? Aye. Ward, aye. Lackey? Aye. Lackey, aye. El-Hawari? Jeff Gonzalez? Aye. Jeff Gonzalez, aye. McKenner? McKenner, aye. Ortega? Aye. Ortega, aye. Cork Silva? Aye. Cork Silva, aye. Valencia? Aye. Valencia, aye. Zuber? Aye. Zuber, aye. Thank you. That bill has eight votes. It will be out. We'll hold the roll of them for absent members. Thank you so much. Thank you for being here. and we will be on to our final item of the morning, item seven. We'll let the presentation table reset and invite Senator Smallwood-Cuevas up here to present SB 1073.

Lola Smallwood-Cuevasassemblymember

Good morning.

Chair Wardchair

Good morning, and when you're ready, you may begin. Thank you, Mr. Chair and colleagues.

Lola Smallwood-Cuevasassemblymember

I am proud to present SB 1073, which provides California taxpayers a voluntary opportunity to support the preservation and long-term sustainability of one of, not one of, the first California Black Cultural Historic District. My district is South Central Los Angeles. It is home to one of the largest Black populations in the nation. It has a long history of being the center of black culture black history black pop culture arts entertainment and community And what is so historically significant about this district is that it spans both the multi artistic and civic contributions that have helped to shape Los Angeles and the state for generations. Notable landmarks like the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which hosted the 1932 and 84 Olympic Games, is standing next to the California African American Museum, which was the first museum in the nation to recognize the Black experience. This historic South Los Angeles Black cultural district lifts up legendary cultural centers like the Crenshaw Corridor, Leimert Park, Central Avenue, where murals and public art reflect a deeply rooted tradition of creativity, activism, and cultural expression. At this time where we know there is national hostility against diversity, equity, and inclusion, against groups of color, against cultural contributions and individual expressions, it is incredibly important that we look for ways to fortify, sustain, and protect these cultural assets. And that is why SB 1073 is so important, because this bill allows Californians to make voluntary contributions through their personal income tax returns directly to support historic South L.A. This is a tradition of self-determination, and certainly this is not in any way meant to give the state a pass or off the hook for investing in protecting cultural corridors and assets across the state. But this is just another tool in the toolbox as we are looking at outlay years of deficit. It's incredibly important that we do all that we can to preserve these institutions. And this means that we're asking Californians to get involved, to volunteer. This is a chance for residents to give their voice to protect their assets and communities. And with that, I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you, Madam. Senator Small-Oquavis, do you have any witnesses and support today for this?

Lola Smallwood-Cuevasassemblymember

No witnesses today.

Chair Wardchair

That's all well and good. Any other members of the public wishing to offer a position of support?

Jason Schmelzerother

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members. Jason Schmelzer on behalf of the California Arts Advocates in strong support of the bill and very pleased to be the sponsor working with Senator Smallwood-Cuevas.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you very much.

Jason Schmelzerother

Good morning, Jasmine Asher. I'm representing the Greater Sacramento Urban League, and we are in support. Thank you.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you. Are there any members of the public here in opposition to the bill? We have no registered opposition on file. Seeing none, we'll turn it back to committee members for questions and comments. And I'm looking at Assemblymember McKinner.

Tina McKinnorassemblymember

Oh, no, you're looking really happy about this. Assemblymember Elabari.

Sade Elhawaryassemblymember

I just really want to thank the author for all the work that she's been doing, especially related to the Black Cultural District and just the ways in which it preserves our community, our culture, our history, and a place like South Central that I think really deserves that as we see demographics shifting. So I just wanted to uplift the work that you're doing and definitely urge support on the bill and would like to move the bill.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you, Assemblywoman Quirksilva.

Sharon Quirk-Silvaassemblymember

I heard this bill already and Revin Tax and, of course, supported it there. But I want to acknowledge the author as she I think probably within a few weeks of her being elected and again I was chair of arts and entertainment at that time came and asked for a meeting and really voiced how can she get a cultural arts district in her city and at that time I believe we 14 and she wanted to not only have an additional one in her area but others And so really how are we paying for these and supporting them came up So she has been very committed, and I like to say slow and steady, and yet you can see the achievements that she's already made, and not only in this voluntary kind of tax proposal, but also in just the work. And so what I would say to all the members here, as somebody who is leaving shortly, it's slow and steady wins the race. I mean, you're not always going to get $25 million because you want it, but it's every year she's stuck to it. And you can see by the analysis that she's making progress. So very proud of you and happy to support this.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you.

Jeff Gonzalezassemblymember

Assemblymember Gonzalez. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a question for clarity for the author. Will this go on all of the tax forms throughout the state or will it be specific for the L.A. region? Can you kind of talk to that?

Lola Smallwood-Cuevasassemblymember

Yes. Like, for instance, you know, again, I go back to Imperial County, Calexico, right? Quite a distance. Does it go on theirs or how does that look? No, this is specific. It goes on all tax forms, but really it has to be, and I think this is a great tool, not just for my cultural district, but for others who want to see how to increase investment. It still has to be a big campaign to educate the taxpayers in my district who care the most about this cultural district to know that it's on the form and how to participate. I think the opportunity of putting it on the forums for everyone is that, you know, everyone might want to support cultural districts. And so the more that we have that option for folks, I think the more hopefully we will have participation of everyone investing in cultural districts. But this is the first opportunity. This is the first historic black cultural district in the state. There were 14, as our former chair said, but not one was dedicated to the black experience in California. And so we think that it's important for us to look at different methods to sustain, to grow, and to protect this cultural district. And hopefully it's a model that other communities will be able to use as well. So, and I don't know if you could speak to this piece or not.

Jeff Gonzalezassemblymember

will it say on the form, like when I'm checking the box, right? Will it say L.A.-based Black Cultural District, or will it say checkbox for cultural districts in general?

Lola Smallwood-Cuevasassemblymember

No, it will say the historic Black South L.A. Cultural District.

Jeff Gonzalezassemblymember

Got it. And do you think, the example I give is in Indio, we have, because of the festivals, A lot of the arts and culture comes from the festival. And then we have art in public places and all kinds of other stuff. Do you think that this also opens up the door for others to then, if you will, check a box to invest in their art or invest in whatever X type of thing? As many know, I'm very partial to veterans issues. So, hey, there's, you know, we have a veterans thing, a veterans cemetery. Does this open up the door for things like that, do you think?

Lola Smallwood-Cuevasassemblymember

Yes there are already boxes for folks to check even for a cultural district And I can remember exactly where that cultural district is but there is already a box that is available to that cultural district So this is an opportunity for any member who may have a cultural district to put forward a piece of policy that says, you know, check this box. Why it's specific and not just general cultural district is because it really does take quite a bit of education for taxpayers to know and to activate around the option. And so, you know, for South LA members, we're going to have to do a lot in South LA for folks to know to check the box. And in your community, you will have to do a lot of work to say, check this box for your community. And so it's important for folks to know specifically where the resources are going so that they can look on that form, find themselves, and then hopefully utilize the education to take action and check the box. I just, you know, thank you for your advocacy. And, you know, I always try

Jeff Gonzalezassemblymember

and listen to the folks who've been here a little bit longer and the slow and steady model, incremental wins, so on and so forth. One of the things I like about this is that it's voluntary. So when people hear this, they're going to hear, you know, these mandatory taxes, but it's an opt-in if you'd like. It's an educational piece to help restore, revitalize, or enhance and inform folks. So I like that piece about that. Offline, I'm interested to see how that would play out in other areas with other districts and what does that look like? But I want to thank you for your patience, your grace in putting this forward. Thank you.

Senator Christopher Cabaldonsenator

And happy to work with you on that and really appreciate the chair. She helped show me the way. And so we will continue to do this to build cultural assets across our state. So thank you.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you. Are there any other member questions or comments?

Assembly Member Liz Ortegaassemblymember

Well, Senator, I want to thank you for bringing the bill forward. You were able to invite myself and other members of the committee as well down to the South Los Angeles Black Cultural Health District, what, about two months ago? You ever take Times of Blur?

Senator Christopher Cabaldonsenator

That's right.

Assembly Member Liz Ortegaassemblymember

What a wonderful experience. You know, your leadership there to really highlight that, to be able to get it to be on our state's designated cultural district list as well. And then to, you know, follow that up to be able to be able to support that. The arts, the vitality, the food, the community. I mean, it was really wonderful from my first experience to really have that in-depth immersion in what a special space it is, a historic place that it is. and that we need to do more as a state to be able to support wonderful cultural districts like that. I did want to, I'm fully supportive of this bill moving forward, and I did want to leave you with some things to think about as it moves forward. I know this is the second step that it's going, and of course, I think you're going to appropriations, and you might have time on the floor if there's an opportunity to think about in gaming this out how this might actually play for mutual benefit here, because I want this to be successful for the receipts that are going to come in for the cultural district here in your home district. And you want to be mindful as well that I think this might be a little bit of an outlier, but one that I'm willing to support when we have something that is a statewide, I think this sort of gets into Mr. Gonzalez's point, a statewide resource of inputs where we want people from all over to be able to make these contributions that ultimately at the moment are going to be able to be used as under the bill for the purposes and the benefit of South Los Angeles Cultural District. But we do have other black arts districts elsewhere in the state as well that, you know, might be able to see this as an opportunity. And so any flexibility you might be able to think about with the California Arts Council would be administering this is just something to kind of like, you know, put a little And then this is wonderful because it is absolutely needed for our black community. And we want to think about, you know, with space being limited, you know that you're going to run up against that already enshrined limit that we have that we wouldn't want this to sunset for lack of interest, right? Because that space on that ballot is competitive. And if we don't hit that threshold in certain tax years and everything, it falls off the rolls. And so how do we get more interested in this? I think the education that you're talking about and specifically talking to Angelenos to be able to avail themselves of this and everything will keep you above that threshold. And then your leadership here, would that spur other interests and other ways to be able to support other cultural districts here? And how does that kind of like get into the competition nature of the rest of that ballot? You know, it's something to kind of think about for future bills in future years. But you're leading the way on this, and I think it's for a righteous cause that we want to be able to do to be able to support a wonderful historic institution in your community. And so I thank you for bringing this bill forward as you think about those future considerations. With that, I invite you to close.

Senator Christopher Cabaldonsenator

No, thank you, Mr. Chair. And we are thinking about it because it is outrageous how little we invest in our arts and culture here in California I want to say the originator of global arts and culture I think we have seen other states and other countries who actually have moved ballot initiatives that create constitutional requirements for funding. And it's something I would love to work with you and other members on to think through what are the ways we really sustain our arts and culture and not let, you know, national hostilities force us to step back and walk away from communities that means so much to the story of California. So I absolutely want to work with you on that. I want to thank everyone for their support of this bill. And I really want to recognize our assembly member, Sharon Quixorva for her leadership early on. She explained in detail how this worked and offered her support and services to helped me over the years from 2023 when I first came into office. So I want to thank her for that. And my good colleague from South Central LA, who was there when we kicked off the cultural district. And with that, I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you, Senator. We have a motion to second.

Laura Bennettother

Madam Secretary, please call the roll. SB 1073, the motion is due passed to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations. Ward?

Tina McKinnorassemblymember

Aye.

Laura Bennettother

Ward, aye. Lackey? Aye Lackey aye El Huari Aye El Huari aye Jeff Gonzalez Aye Jeff Gonzalez aye McKenner aye Ortega aye Cork Silva aye Valencia aye Zburg, aye.

Chair Wardchair

Thank you. That is 9-0. So that bill is out. And we will go through the roll one time. I think we have all members present. If you voted on everything, enjoy the rest of your day. Madam Secretary, we'll begin from the top, beginning with the consent calendar.

Laura Bennettother

On consent, McKenna? McKenna, aye. Valencia?

Chair Wardchair

Valencia, aye. The consent calendar is adopted, 9-0.

Laura Bennettother

SB 226, the motion is due to pass to the Assembly Committee on local government. McKenna? Aye. McKenna, aye. Valencia?

Chair Wardchair

Yes. Valencia, aye. That bill is out, 9-0.

Laura Bennettother

SB 865. El Huari? Aye.

Chair Wardchair

El Huari, aye. That bill is out 9-0.

Laura Bennettother

SB 1050. Do you pass the Assembly Committee on Judiciary? El Huari? Aye.

Chair Wardchair

That bill is out 9-0. We'll go back to...

Laura Bennettother

SB 865 the motion is due pass to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations Valencia Yes Valencia aye And we got everybody on the last one so we are good and we are adjourned Thank you

Chair Wardchair

Thank you. Thank you.

Source: Arts Entertainment Sports And Tourism — 2026-06-23 (partial) · June 23, 2026 · Gavelin.ai