August 30, 2026 · Budget · 11,811 words · 4 speakers · 10 segments
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San Fernando Valley waiting. Let's start on that note. All right.
Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to Assembly Budget Committee weekend edition. Happy Sunday. We are very grateful to see all of you. And let me start today just by thanking the sergeants, the support staff, all of the staff who are here today. We really appreciate the work that you're doing throughout the year, but particularly to be here with us on the weekend. And please thank your families as well. We know that this is an imposition. Today's hearing, we are going to aim to be extremely efficient. We have a hard stop at 2 p.m. for assembly floor session. And today's hearing is an informational hearing only, so there will be no votes. But it is an opportunity for us to consider our final 2026 August budget package. The bills before us today detail appropriations, including from the voter-approved climate bond and the Greenhouse Reduction Fund, and also some trailer bills that make key technical corrections, updates, and slight changes, including to the film tax credit. So we expect to adopt these bills tomorrow and Tuesday morning in order to implement this agreement. And today we are as fortunate as always to be joined by Erica Lee from the Department of Finance, who's going to represent the administration, to provide an update. We have our exceptionally capable legislative analyst, Gabe Petek, who is here, as well as the Assembly Budget Committee staff, who are here to answer any questions. I'm going to invite our vice chair to make any opening comments. After we hear from our presenters, we're going to come back and do questions and comments from our members, and then we will open it up to public comment. But again, we aim to finish today by 2 p.m. since we have votes on the assembly floor. So with that, thank you again to everybody who's joined us, and I will turn it over to our vice chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to echo your statements and simply say thank you to the Department of Finance. Thank you to the LAO and also the budget staff as well. I know as we were talking very briefly, we got a notice at three in the morning that they were still working. So while some of us got a 22-hour little hiatus, staff was here and they were still working all the way into the morning. So just want to say thank you to all of you and look forward to hearing what we have. So thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much. With that, I'm going to invite the Department of Finance to begin.
Great. Thank you. Good afternoon. Erica Lee with the Department of Finance. Good morning. Good morning, Chair Gabriel, Vice Chair Tangipa, members of the Budget Committee. Erica Lee with the Department of Finance to present on 16 bills set together to make up the final 2026-27 budget package. As we stated at the end of June, several issues would be decided upon over the summer, particularly in the resources area. Additionally, there are cleanup and technical issues that are included as well. There are a total of 16 bills two of which are budget bill juniors and 14 trailer bills And I will present on all bills at once consecutively then happy to respond to questions after that The first is ABS-B 113, the budget bill junior for the 2026-27 budget, and probably the most lengthy of all of them, so bear with me. The budget allocates $2.7 billion Proposition 4 or the Climate Bond to continue funding critical projects and programs. It allocates a total package of $450 million in Discretionary Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund or GGRF. It also includes $8 million Healthcare Affordability Reserve Fund in 26-27 and $37 million in 27-28 and 28-29 to establish a state-only dialysis program effective October 1 to provide outpatient maintenance dialysis for the treatment of end-stage renal disease, inclusive of medical transportation for 1,200 individuals in restricted scope Medi-Cal. This bill also establishes a designation process for 988 crisis centers, creates new annual funding estimate processes for 988 centers, establishes a 988 system governance board, and requires system interoperability between 911 and 988. The bill also adds an additional $66 million general fund to address cash and expenditure challenges due to federal inactions to approve the Department of Rehabilitation's proposed cost containment measures for vocational rehabilitation services, known as Order of Selection. It clarifies that the $70 million general fund included in the 26 Budget Act for alternative payment program agencies can be used for family support activities. It allocates $10 million general fund in 26-27, available over two years through June 30th of 2028 for CalFood, which funds food banks for the purchase, storage, and transportation of food grown or produced in California. It also allocates a $1.1 million one-time general fund to allow the state to opt into the foster youth version of the federal children's savings accounts. This program allows child welfare agencies to act as guardians to open and manage accounts on behalf of eligible foster youth. It allocates $73.7 million general fund for various community investments, including food assistance, immigration, and sexual assault prevention practices. The bill includes appropriated funds that were in the 2026 Budget Act, totaling about $58.3 million to continue supporting economic development and innovation in California. Investments support local economic development efforts and the state's climate goals. The bill also allocates $88.9 million general fund and $1 million for administration to support various housing and homelessness initiatives. It allocates $12.5 million for the California Workforce Development Board for various workforce development initiatives. and finally allocates $15 million non-Proposition 98 general fund for the Department of Education to allocate funding for LEAs and low-income communities to provide at least one free meal per day to children during intersessional breaks of less than 10 days. Okay, moving on to the next bill. ABSB 114 is another budget bill junior that amends the 25-26 budget. This bill makes various amendments to prior year budget acts many of which are technical or clarifying in nature to address implementation issues identified by the administration and legislature The bill also adds to the 2025 Budget Act the same operational efficiencies languages that was included in the 2026 Budget Act as part of the June budget The language authorized the Department of Finance to transfer any portion of any proposition for climate bond and appropriation from the state entity receiving the appropriation to another entity for specified purposes. Now moving on to the trailer bills. The first trailer bill is ABSB 133, which is the TK-12 omnibus. And again, this bill makes largely technical amendments to various TK-12 programs, including community schools, dual enrollment, career pathways, mathematics and literacy coaches, child nutrition, and high-need student support programs. The next trailer bill is ABSB 167, the higher education omnibus. Likewise, this bill makes largely technical amendments to various higher education programs, including the community college's student support block grant, affordable student housing, capital outlay projects, and the Cal Grant transfer eligibility age increase. Moving on to ABSB 173, which is the health trailer bill. This bill implements the following significant health proposals. It expands the Department of Health Care Services oversight of Medi-Cal providers. It makes various changes related to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, including establishing oversight of 988 Crisis Centers requiring system interoperability between 911 and 988 protocols. Establishes a state-only dialysis program to provide outpatient maintenance dialysis and restricted scope Medi-Cal. And also establishes a process for the development of a specialized LGBTQ plus suicide prevention line subject to federal approval. Many of those things I mentioned in ABSB 113, that's where the funding was, was in that budget bill junior. And this is the language that implements those changes. The next trailer bill is ABSB 175 or the developmental services omnibus. And this bill merges the existing community placement plan and community resource development plan programs to align current law with the needs of the community. $78.1 million or $67 million general fund is appropriated annually for these two programs, and this change will provide a clear framework for staff to implement and establish guidelines as regional centers apply for funding. The next trailer bill is ABSB 178, the public resources trailer bill. This bill makes various changes to the public resources code and includes uncodified language to do the following. Establish the Farmland Access and Conservation for Thriving Communities program to be administered consistent with related funding authorized in Proposition 4, the Climate Fund. It provides $60 million one-time beverage container recycling fund for local conservation corps, of course, for beverage container litter reduction programs and recycling programs, including for education and outreach. And lastly, it requires the Department of Parks and Recreation in consultation with the California Coastal Commission, the Transportation Agency, and the Monterey County District 5 Supervisor to prepare and submit a report to the legislature by April of next year, summarizing findings and options to reduce traffic congestion and unsafe parking conditions along Highway 1. The next trailer bill is ABSB 184, the General Government Trailer Bill. This bill states legislative intent for the state to work with Alpine, Mano, and San Mateo counties and other potentially impacted counties to develop a solution to the vehicle licensing fee revenue shortfall situation known as insufficient ERAF. It also includes contract and procurement efficiencies, cleanup language, and language to close out bonds no longer in use, which will reduce workload for the state treasurer office and return about million in unspent proceeds to the general fund The next trailer bill is ABSB 186 the Revenue and Taxation or Film Tax Credit trailer bill ABSB 186 includes three changes to the film tax credit programs. It shortens the program 4.0
credit refundability schedule from five years to two and reduces the discount on refundable program 4.0 credits from 10 to 5%. It extends the carry forward for program 2.0 and program 3.0 credits from nine years to 15 years for taxpayers that are actively participating in program 4.0. And lastly, it exempts credits earned by an independent production that are sold to another party from the temporary credit limitation beginning in 2027 and the permanent credit limitation beginning in 2030. The next trailer bill is SB AB 187 or the Employment Labor Trailer Bill. This bill clarifies various statutes related to new employee orientations and state benefit program and also reauthorizes the alternative minimum wage for goat herders until January 1st of 2029. The next trailer bill is ABSB 190, or the Early Care and Education omnibus. This bill specifies requirements for various policies for the California State Preschool Program, including excused absences, enrollment priorities, program eligibility, professional development days, and family fee deductions. It authorizes the Department of Education to collect unspent funds for the California State Preschool Program. exceptional needs set aside beginning in 2027-28. And lastly, it requires the Department of Social Services to identify the remaining foundational policy frameworks of the single rate structure by January 10th, 2028. Report on the considerations to include monthly cost of care plus rates into contract and clarifies various health and safety code sections related to temporary absences and child care provider training requirements. Okay, the next bill is ABSB-191, the LA20 Olympic and Paralympic Games trailer bill. ABSB-191 is a bill pertaining to the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games and includes changes relating to sporting event exemptions, film and TV productions, and building codes. The next trailer bill is ABSB-192, the transmission accelerator trailer bill. And this bill extends the transmission accelerator program from 2031 to 2036. It requires the developer and owner of a transmission project that is funded by the accelerator to use construction and maintenance contractors that meet certain criteria and makes other technical and clarifying changes. The budget includes $322.5 million from Proposition 4 for this program. The next trailer bill is ABSB-193, the Climate and Energy Trailer Bill, Public Resources Trailer Bill. This bill includes the following changes related to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and the CALSHAPE program. For the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, it makes technical and clarifying changes to the GGRF as proposed in the governor's budget. Beginning in 27-28, it requires GGRF interest to flow through the tier structure rather than be available for discretionary purposes. And for the CALSHAPE program, it provides an additional three years for already awarded funds to be spent to allow schools to complete HVAC or plumbing improvements. The next bill is ABS-B 194, the Transportation Trailer Bill. This bill enhances requirements for the California Department. Highway Patrol Protective Services. The state currently has the authority to provide security to current and former constitutional officers and legislators and this bill updates this existing authority. This bill prohibits reducing vehicle lanes on a road serving two cemeteries in a city exceeding two million people unless specified under certain criteria. That is that bill. Okay, moving on to the final bill is ABSB 195. income taxes, exclusions, wildfire loss mitigation payments, trailer bill. Currently, California's wildfire mitigation and home hardening programs are structured to assist low-income homeowners and disadvantaged communities, but state-funded mitigation benefits currently count as taxable income. This bill amends revenue and taxation code to broaden the definition of California-qualified wildfire mitigation payment to ensure tax-exempt status applies not only to assistance provided under the California Wildfire Mitigation Program, but also to new Prop 4 mitigation programs administered by Cal OAS. It expands eligibility to include any grant, rebate, or direct assistance provided by Cal OAS for wildfire mitigation, home hardening, structure hardening, vegetation management, defensible space, fuel modification activities, or community wildfire resilience. And with that, I'm done with the presentation. Thank you very much. Now invite the legislative analyst to provide any comments. Thank you, Mr. Chair. No prepared remarks. Wonderful. With that, we will bring it back to members of the committee for questions or comments. Mr. Vice Chair. Yeah, I just wanted to be quick, but I do want to say, you know, thank you to a lot of my colleagues as well. I look at what happened with the film and tax credit as a necessary change, as we've all voted. I know I actually caught some flack from colleagues on my side of the aisle when it comes to why did you support a $750 million tax credit for film? I believe it's paramount to the institution and to California itself. And so I know that these necessary changes had to correct that. And so I just want to thank everybody for that. The other one I wanted to highlight, too, was I know I noticed in the bill that we save the goats and the goat herders by changing the minimum wage standard on that. So we were able to do that. And so I think there's a lot of people that actually thought about losing the goats that actually help with a lot of the wildfire mitigation and management. So I'm glad to see that SB 187 is the save the goats budget bill. So thank you. And thank you all to my colleagues as well. Thank you very much. We will now go, I believe, Assemblymember Hart. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I just want to highlight the extension of the CAL SHAPE deadline. That was a really important project for our program for school HVAC modifications, trying to make sure that the kids in our public schools have a healthy environment, particularly with increasing heat issues. and it's great to see that extension that will allow so many of the schools that have had grant applications already approved be able to go forward with their projects. So I appreciate that and also with the work on the DSGS too. Those are all two important victories in this budget. Great. Thank you very much. I think we had Assemblymember Patel. Yes, just a brief comment. I want to thank our Senate and Assembly leadership as well as the Governor and our budget chairs here for ensuring that we're honoring our labor contracts with our state scientists. That is something that I have been paying attention to and I want to call that out with deep gratitude to make sure that they are getting paid the wages that they entitled to Thank you Thank you very much Assemblymember Addis. Thank you so much, and I want to first say thank you to staff for being here on a Sunday, for the entire building, actually. I want to say thank you to the security staff and everyone who's keeping this building and swing space open on a Sunday for us to do this work, and, of course, to our budget chair, and really commend all of the team for the gains that we've made in health care. I think we came a long way. We're all tired of talking about the detriment of H.R. 1, but we cannot forget how catastrophic that's been, and I do feel like California has stepped up this year in terms of filling those gaps, particularly when it comes in this budget junior to dialysis, to backfilling. gender-affirming care for children. I think it's just been a huge gain. The gains that you mentioned in the 988 system and how we're shoring that up has really made an impact and is going to make an impact for folks. And I also want to call out and say thank you to all of us who got this in here that we're going to be putting money into wildfire mitigation and prevention. I know many of my Colleagues have heard me talk about it, but we have two fires right now in Big Sur, 30,000 acres across two different fires and evacuation orders in place right now. And so that money makes a huge difference. And then say thank you for the money that's in this budget for the Diablo Canyon lands in San Luis Obispo County for Wild Cherry Canyon. that we know this is one of the ways that we can keep our promises when it comes to commitments that have been made around Diablo Canyon. So really appreciate what's before us. And thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to your staff for all the work that you've done as well. Thank you very much. Assemblymember Schultz. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I'll be brief. Obviously, thank you to you and all of the staff and to the governor's office, everyone who came together to make this budget happen. There's a lot of wonderful things in it. I just had one question, and colleagues specifically, I'm looking at page 17 of our handout on SB 113. It is under the public safety portion of the budget, of course, and I'm talking about item number 195. I, my understanding, and I could be mistaken, but I believe that the $4 million was brought into the budget by the governor's office. And it is from the general fund for the Department of Corrections to support trauma recovery and training in our women's prisons. The point I wanted to ask about here is we've obviously had a number of hearings on some pretty egregious conduct in our women's facilities. I think it's wonderful that we have more resources to combat it. I'm just wondering if the administration could give a little more insight as to what this funding will go to solve I think the funding is a great step, but we do have a culture problem at CDCR And I'm just wondering if you could address what this will be doing Yes, and thanks. Thank you for acknowledging that I think the the reason you're seeing it in there is to address some of the issues that you had just mentioned and my colleague is here to Give you a little bit more detail Kimberly Harbison Department of Finance And this is an administration priority. It's $4 million one time for trauma recovery and training in the women's institutions at CDCR. We would note that more than 90 of women in prison have a history of victimization or trauma That why we prioritizing this Much of it occurs before incarceration and it often leads to their criminal conduct So this funding will be used to provide trauma care and to train staff in best practices and in interacting with individuals suffering from trauma. Thank you. You good? Thank you very much. Assemblymember Bennett. Thank you very much. Chair Gabriel. There are too many specific items in here for me to call anything out. There's just two things I'd like to mention, and that is my compliments to you, the chair, and all of your staff for having the assembly members prepared so that if things broke in the budget the proper way, lots of people were able to be able to identify things that would be very important. And I think that was crucial as things came down to the end. And so my compliments to you and your staff who worked really hard to have all this last minute preparation and work done. The second thing I'd just like to call out to the voters of California, and that is, had we not passed Prop 4 years ago, think how bleak a day like today would be for many of the environmental things that are highlighted there. And with that, thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. Bennett. Any other questions or comments? Seeing none, I will take a moment just to thank everybody again for the hard work. And I just want to turn the compliment back around on you, Mr. Bennett. I know that a lot of what we talked about in June was leaving aside Proposition 4 and how important that was. And that there was, I think, an interest on all three sides in getting that done. So thank you for very ably leading that process. And I think there's a lot of really important investments in communities across California that are going to go out, thanks to your hard work and for the work of staff and folks on this committee. And also would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge, I believe today it will be Ms. Quirk-Silva and Mr. Lacky's last Assembly Budget Committee hearing. And so I just wanted to thank. Very painful. I assume you're talking about leaving, not the hearings themselves. Of course, of course. But I'll leave that up to interpretation. I just want to thank you, Ms. Quirk-Silva. but you have been such an important voice on housing issues and on so many issues. And it's just been a pleasure to have you on the committee. Likewise, Mr. Lackey. And I will tell you, a number of your Democratic colleagues were talking about you behind your back the other day and talking about what a good-hearted, big-hearted, thoughtful member of the legislature you have been. And so I just want to thank you both for your very distinguished service on this committee. We will miss you, but we have been very much enriched by your presence in this conversation. So thank you to you both. Great time. Thank you. With that, yeah, we can give them a round of applause. They earned it. With that, again, we expect to take both of these bills up probably sometime in the evening tomorrow and then again early Tuesday morning. And with that, we will turn to public comment. I'll invite folks to come forward for public comment. I will just remind everybody, as you're getting assembled, really hoping, out of respect for the folks behind you, out of respect for the folks behind you, that we're just going to really try to ask everybody to keep their comments to less than a minute. We do want to give everybody an opportunity to speak. And as I mentioned, we do, unlike other hearings where we could give everybody, we do have a hard stop because we have votes on the assembly floor. So with that I invite our first commenter to come forward Good afternoon chair and members Mark Vuksovich on behalf of Streets for All I come here decently enraged and vehemently opposed to SB 194 This 11th hour bill's only purpose is to threaten a street safety project in Los Angeles. This is an LADOT project intended to reduce the death and carnage on Forest Lawn Avenue, a project I'll note that the local council member supports. There were 95 crashes in a decade on this street and nearly three quarters of driver's speed on it. 17 days ago, 17, Bajan Yousafian, a man from Beverly Hills, was driving on Forest Lawn Avenue in front of Mount Sinai Cemetery, one of the groups opposing this project. When his vehicle left the roadway, struck a tree, burst into flames, he was unable to escape, and his cause of death was listed as thermal burns. Zena Bethune, a dancer and actress, was on Forest Lawn Drive. She saw an injured animal, stepped out of her vehicle to take care of the animal, was hit by a car, was then hit by another car, dragged 600 feet, and died on this road. This project needs to go in, and this bill, SB 194, interrupts the ability to get this project in the ground. Going forward, I'm asking the legislature to bring this up to leadership and say you are uncomfortable with blocking an important street safety project through the budget process. Thank you. Thank you very much. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members. Amy Costa, Full Moon Strategies on behalf of the Trust for Public Land in strong appreciation and support for the appropriation for the Golden Gate Fields Project. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. Missy Johnson on behalf of the Directors Guild of America and the Entertainment Union Coalition, representing 170,000 of the states working men and women in the entertainment industry. We greatly appreciate the work that was done to make sure that the production tax credit remains competitive with other states. Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members. Karen Lang on behalf of the Boards of Supervisors in Placer, Napa, Marin, Stanislaus, Mendocino, and Humboldt and the Delta Counties Coalition for the various items in the two bills that support activities in their district. Thank you very much. Good afternoon. Michelle Gibbons with CHIAC. I'm here to express our disappointment that the budget not only overlooks additional funding support for county indigent care programs, but it also fails to adopt very important technical corrections to AB85 that was needed. Without those technical corrections, several counties are going to lose the maximum amount of realignment possible at the very time that they're supposed to be using those resources to support their indigent care programs and the growing population that's anticipated. The AB85 was never intended to take resources that were necessary for indigent care programs, and that is exactly what's happening without the technical fix. I hope that we can continue to have a dialogue about it in the year to come. Thank you. Sarah Ducat on behalf of the rural county representatives of California would like to align my comments with Michelle around the AB 85 concerns. This is definitely something that's going to need early action next year to make sure our counties have resources when folks lose their medical coverage. And I would like to thank the committee for ABSB 187 for the goat sheep herding parity language, as well as the 2.5 million for the wolf program. Thank you. Mr. Sharon members, Brendan Tuig on behalf of the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association, here to express appreciation for the $10 million in GGRF funding for agricultural diesel engine replacement through the farmer program. Really appreciate the work on that. The need is significant. So again, we're grateful. It's going to make a difference for public health. Mr. Chair and members, Ben Ebbing on behalf of the California Wool Growers Association in strong support and appreciation of the language in SB AB 187, restoring the goat herder wage parity language as it was until July 1st. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair, for calling out the importance of that issue. Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Chris McKeeley here on behalf of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. LA Metro wants to thank you for transit funding in the budget as well as transit funding for mega events. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you for the public service you provide to the entire capital community. We all appreciate it. Happy Sunday, Chair and members. Jordan Wells on behalf of the California State Association of Counties. I'd like to start by expressing deep gratitude to the legislature for not advancing proposals that would have limited public entity recovery for utility-caused wildfires. We'd also like to thank you for rejecting the governor's proposed sustainable aviation trailer budget language and appreciate the greenhouse gas reduction fund expenditure plan and ABSB 193 and the funding for local priorities and programs. And on behalf of CSAC and Cal cities, thank you for restoring the wage parity for goat herders until 2029, ensuring the continued availability of goats for wildfire fuel reduction until that time. Thank you. Good afternoon. Darby Kernan on behalf of California Food Banks and In Child Poverty California. We want to thank you for the additional funding for CalFood and the new $15 million pilot providing meals during school breaks. We appreciate it. Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members. Michelle Welkaba on behalf of the City of Paris. I want to thank you and Assemblymember Jackson for the resources that we're in for the City of Paris and some of their activities. Also, on behalf of the County of San Diego, unfortunately, disappointed that there was no technical fix on engine care and AB 85 as second largest county in San Diego. We don't have public hospitals. We're not part of the CMSP program. We will be disproportionately impacted. So we'll have to come back and have that conversation next year. Good afternoon, Kyle Jones. First, on behalf of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, just wanted to thank the administration, budget committee and staff, leadership, and of course, Assemblymember Wilson for the Land Act program and trailer bill language in order to get that funded. That's been a priority of CAF for the past few years. And then on behalf of the San Joaquin Valley Water Collaborative Action Program, we have a little bit of a mixed bag. We're very, very appreciative of the funding for the SAFER program that's critically important and multi-benefit land repurposing. In out years, we hope to see more funding for groundwater recharge and more funding to support subsidence repairs in the California Aqueduct. Thank you. Jonathan Clay. No. I still got to bend over here. Jonathan Clay on two issues on behalf of the city of Encinitas, opposed to language that was put into budget junior bill SB 114 that retroactively puts conditions on money that was awarded in 2023. And then on behalf of the trans youth Alliance and trans family support services, we appreciate the language that was included in the health trailer bill supporting trans youth. Thank you very much. Good afternoon. Sylvia Solis Shaw here on behalf of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. We want to show our appreciation for the funding in this budget for a number of air quality programs and specifically for the farmer program. Thank you so much. Good afternoon. Griselda Chavez on behalf of the California Association Local Conservation Corps. Great support and great appreciation for the $60 million allocated to the Corps to the Beverage Container Recycling Fund and ABS-B 178. We greatly appreciate, and we also want to use these funds will help ensure that local core members across the state will be able to continue protecting and restoring California's environments while receiving training and experiences that can help them prepare for future careers. Thank you. Adam Dorsey, California Hospital Association. Thank you for the investments in hospitals and health systems and for studying the impact on coverage losses. Good afternoon Mr Chair and committee members Scott Cox on behalf of East Bay Regional Park District commenting on AB 113 to express our strong support and great appreciation for funds allocated for the Golden Gate Fields project. This will support climate resilience and offer Californians an enriched opportunity to enjoy nature. In addition, we'd like to express our support and appreciation to Assemblymember Wilson and the broader legislature for funds allocated for pond restoration projects vital for livestock grazing and regional wildfire prevention work. Thank you. Good afternoon. Jake Schultz on behalf of the Conservation Fund in support and appreciation for the $4.6 million allocated to DOC to improve land access and tenure for socially disadvantaged farmers. In addition, on behalf of the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County and the Conservation Fund, we'd like to thank the legislature for the $50 million allocated to the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program intended to protect at-risk agricultural lands from sprawl development. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair, members and staff. Mitch Steiger with CFT, Union of Educators and Classified Professionals. We just wanted to clarify that, unfortunately, the CAL-SHAPE language that's in 193 does not include the language that we need to make sure that students are kept safe. The language would not do anything to stop the current plan to send $200 million that was reserved by the legislature and directed towards TK-12 schools and instead give it to utility companies. That language is in AB 196 that isn't on the agenda. It's over in Senate budget. We would strongly urge the appropriate time that that language be adopted after the language. That's in 193. If we don't do that, we're going to have schools all across the state where students are suffering from heat-related cognitive learning loss, where they are suffering from asthma. The particulate matter at issue can cause asthma. It can cause cancer in school children. And the legislature very clearly said that they wanted that $200 million to go to schools. If we don't pass 196, we'll lose all that. We'll go into the pockets of the utilities. We strongly urge your support for that bill at the appropriate time. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chair and members. Read out us on behalf of CalVans in strong support. Appreciate the chair, the sub-chair, and the staff on the work in getting the Prop 4 funding in for the farmworker van pool program critical to us. Thank you very much. Tiffany Mock on behalf of CFT, a union of educators and classified professionals. We are disappointed that the final budget does not include funding for part-time faculty office hours. This will have an immediate impact on compensation for part-time faculty who provide office hours for students. At the same time, we want to thank the proponents of the funding and we want to take the opportunity to thank all others engaged in the process, including the hardworking assembly budget staff for their productively engaging to understand the issue, provide suggestions for working, and provide suggestions for working together in the future. We are so appreciative that there is so much to be done and appreciate your attention and time and details to this matter. Thank you. Mr. Chair and members, Michael Pimtel here on behalf of the California Transit Association. I want to thank the legislature and the governor for responding to the voices of Californians from across the state and seeking supplemental funding to address projected GGRF declines affecting the Tier 3 programs. As you know, budget does not backfill all Tier 3 programs, but it does include several critical investments for public transit. We especially appreciate the $230 million provided for the SB 125 program. And as we look to next year and consider what wasn't funded in this year's budget, I want to uplift the continued importance of fully funding core Tier 3 programs, including the TIRCP, the LCTOP, and the AHSC. And we ask that you work with us next year to advance policy solutions or alternative funding mechanisms to ensure the Tier 3 programs were fully funded Thank you Good afternoon I Marina Espinoza with the California Housing Consortium I like to echo my colleagues comments and would also like to urge the legislature to work on a permanent solution that addresses the funding shortfall for Tier 3 programs funded by GGRF. We appreciate the augmentation that some of the Tier 3 programs received through the August budget package. It's important to note that the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program also needs additional resources and should be included in any future efforts to address this funding gap. The program funds transit-oriented projects that result in greenhouse gas reductions by combining affordable housing with sustainable transportation infrastructure. Again, it's critical that Tier 3 programs, including AHSC, have the resources they need to continue to benefit low-income communities across California. Thank you. Good afternoon. Emily Pappas was asked to do a meet-to-and-support on behalf of the almond alliance for the insertion of funding for the farmer program for tractors. Thank you. Hi, Jill. Good afternoon, members of the committee. Felipe Fuentes, Pacific Coast Capital Advisors here on behalf of a few clients in gratitude of all of your hard work. First, the Motion Picture Association of America. Thank you so much for the fixes in trailer bills 186 presenting us medical care the fixes in 113 and 173 go a long way to serve that population and lastly your rejection of the sustainable aviation fuel tax credit that would have been subsidized by diesel revenues thank you for your work there road safety is a priority of yours thank you good afternoon chair members Janice O'Malley with AFSCME California and on behalf of our members who work for the county of San Mateo we are grateful for the language in SB AB 184 that directs the state to negotiate a solution to the VLA funding crisis to help protect union jobs and fund key community services. We also appreciate the $1 million funding to PERB to provide adequate staff for mediation and conciliation services in AB and SB 113, and also appreciate the language consideration related to child care provider attendance and staffing coverage. Thank you. Good afternoon, members. Brandon Garcia with Advanced Energy United. I want to start by thanking the committee for the inclusion of the $10 million for geothermal exploratory wells in AB-SB113. Appreciate that. I do want to thank the legislature for rejecting the administration's trailer bill to transfer the DSGS participants to ELRP. I think that's incredibly valuable. I do want to underscore incredible disappointment for a lack of DSGS funding and not using that interest dollars to fund that program. I think it's a very successful program. I do want to thank Assemblymember Erwin for championing that request as well as the other members of Sub4. I also want to echo the comments CFT made on CalShape. 196 has the preferred language to extend that program's encumbered state to be able to use those funds to adequately improve schools and a lot of those HVAC systems. Those are my comments. Thanks. Good afternoon. Lizzie Guansone here on behalf of the San Mateo City County Association of Governments commenting on ABSB 184. We appreciate the continued focus on the VLF shortage, I'm sorry, shortfall issue and the signaled intent to work on longer term solutions to address this critical local revenue shortfall and impacted counties, including San Mateo. Thank you. Dennis Albionne with California Advocates on behalf of several agricultural organizations, California Grain and Feed, California Seed and Pacific Aging Poultry. We appreciate the inclusion of the farmer program. We help with acute air quality issues in the Central Valley and it a very good program for many years We do on behalf of American Beverage Association and the PET Recycling Corporation of California we express concerns about the million that has been sent to the local conservation corps. There's been conservation corps engagement in this for many years. However, it's always been in the teens of millions of dollars to do a one-time augmentation of $60 million. That's very significant. It makes us concerned that if that's used to increase staffing and those things, that there might be needs to go out years, and we need to make this sustainable and create oversight. Thank you. Good afternoon. Allison Hilliard with the Climate Center, also representing NextGen today, aligning my comments with Brandon Garcia at Advanced Energy United. Also want to talk about the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. We are supportive of backfilling GGRF with GGRF interest. Although the GGRF programs are not fully, fully allocated in alignment with SB 180, we We are supportive and grateful for all of the work that was put into this. Tier 3 programs are super important, and we are grateful that there's some funding there this year. We are disappointed that improving the manufacturing decarbonization incentive was not included. CARB needs to provide a rationale for setting $118 million allowances as the pool of allowances available, and CARB must consider whether the MDI objective could be achieved with a much smaller allocation amount, like $20 million. $20 million? Okay. Thank you so much. Good day. Jeff Neal, first representing Contra Costa County, really appreciate the funding for 988. I look forward to working with the state to improve that service going forward and help save lives.
And on behalf of the Central Valley Salinity Coalition, appreciate the safer drinking water allocation. Even though it's only a one-time fix, we look forward to working with the legislature to find a permanent source of funding for the drinking water. Thank you. Good afternoon. Taylor Trefo on behalf of a variety of agricultural trade associations. We want to thank you for funding Safer, similar to my colleague's comment. Also appreciate the $10 million available for the farmer program. It's one of the most successful programs in agriculture to improve air quality. We appreciate the work on the goat herder wage issue. And we'd also like to ask that next year there'd be an ongoing conversation about how we fund glassy wing sharpshooter. No new funds were provided in the budget to manage this ongoing issue. Thank you. Thank you, Kathy Sunderling-McDonald. for two clients. First, for the California Association for Adult Day Services, we appreciate both the language and the health trailer bill, as well as associated funding for the Departments of Aging and Healthcare Services to work with us and our community-based adult services providers to help understand the closure crisis that we're facing and make recommendations. Second, for Public Health Advocates, which runs the All Children Thrive Program, we really appreciate the inclusion of the reappropriation language, also in ABSB 113, which will enable us to get through the end of the fiscal year with this important local program and ideally work with the Department of Public Health to figure out an ongoing reauthorization proposal for next year. Thank you to your staff and all of you, as well as to the administration, for pulling the package together. Thank you very much. My name is Dan Jacobson with Environment California. Three quick points first on the CalShate program. We created that program during the COVID crisis, and it's worked incredibly well to help. We now have an extreme heat crisis, and so we should extend that program to make sure that schools and kids are cool. Two, we have a benefit from that program, which is the accrued interest. That should go to help fund the DSGS program. That's the fastest way to help bring relief to ratepayers. And third, great work with the geothermal. That money will imperative to getting us 24-hour clean power. Thank you. Ms. Chair, Sarah Flox, California Federal of labor unions. I want to thank you and express strong support for the million dollars for PERB to do private sector, state mediation, and conciliation services. This is an important service now that the federal government has gotten rid of it to avert strikes and labor disputes. They've done over 700 of these. We hope we can get ongoing funding for this. And also, we look forward to working with you to find a fix to the VLF shortfall for San Mateo and other counties. Thank you for that inclusion. Thank you for your work on this budget. Hi there. McKinley Thompson Morley on behalf of the Solar Energy Industries Association and Energy Hub here to echo the comments made by Brandon Garcia at AEU and speak in support of the CalShape program and the Demand-Side Grid Support program, which needs that ongoing funding to actually be able to support customer and repair affordability. Thank you. Kim Stone, Stone Advocacy on behalf of the California Solar and Storage Association. similar comments in support of both CalShape and the program at the Energy Commission Demand Side Grid Services Program to promote grid reliability. Appreciate you all. Thanks. Good afternoon. Carmen Nicole Cox on behalf of Cayenne Wellness Center. Today, Cayenne Wellness Center serves 1,200 California families impacted by sickle cell disease. That's more than 2,300 coordinated care services every year. Historical federal funding ends tomorrow. the state of California chose not to continue funding services for this medically vulnerable population. That means more than 200 families will lose access to free mental health counseling. 200 families will lose free transportation to specialty care and life-saving blood transfusions. These are not just programs. These are lifelines. Cayenne has spent years building a safety net for this community that has historically gone without one. We look forward to early conversations next year so that this safety net that they've developed does not disappear. Thank you. Good afternoon. Pat Joyce on behalf of NBC Universal and William Morris Endeavor. I want to thank you for the targeted but important fixes in AB 186 and really appreciate the support there. Thank you. Good afternoon. Trent Smith on behalf of the Walt Disney Company here in support of SB 186 film tax credit fix. Thank you. Good afternoon, Matteo Kushner from Community Water Center and on behalf of the Central California Environmental Justice Network, I'd like to thank the Assembly for its collaboration on AB 113 and 193 to keep essential GGRF tier three programs funded. We acknowledge this is not the perfect solution, but it allows vital programs like SAFER to continue to provide long-term water solutions for the hundreds of thousands of Californians that depend on it. We look forward to continuing this dialogue next session. Good afternoon, Chair and members. Catherine Charles on behalf of the Bay Area Council. want to express appreciation for the $230 million allocation through GGRF for transit funding, as well as the $6.75 million allocation to the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority. Grateful to the members who helped make that possible. Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members. Greg Hayes here on behalf of Warner Brothers Discovery. Just want to express our strong support for the fixes in SB 186 to the production tax credit to keep and maintain jobs in California and grow them as well. Thank you. Chair and members, Alicia Priego on behalf of Paramount Skydance in strong support of SB 186 related to the film tax credit. Thank you. Good afternoon, Stephen Stenzler on behalf of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of California. Appreciate the investments in mentorship and youth in AB 113 and specifically in the Orange County, San Diego, and Los Angeles region Really appreciate the support of the legislature for that and look forward to expanding mentorship opportunities in other parts of the state next year Thank you Mr Chair and members Delaney Hunter on behalf of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority and its transit partner Omnitrance and the Ventura County Transportation Commission in strong support of 113 and the $230 million for transit funding. Thank you for honoring the SB 125 funding commitment. And we look forward to working with this legislature further on GGR fixes next year. Good afternoon, Chair and members. Alexis Rodriguez on behalf of the County Welfare Directors Association, sharing our gratitude again for the critical actions taken in July budget to invest in the CalFresh and Medical County eligibility workers to keep people connected to these life-saving health care and food supports. And Mr. Speaker, thank you again for highlighting the federal safety net programs as critical to affordability and to Chair Gabriel, subchairs Addis, Jackson, Hart, our member champions Sharp Collins and Shavo. We are also glad to see the actions taken now to prevent children from hunger to provide our hunger free holidays. Our thanks to Assemblymember Aaron and Assemblymember's assembly's leadership on this. As HR1 is federal law, it will take ongoing commitment to continue to support to our county eligibility workforce to maximize these federal exemptions. Thank you all. Good afternoon, Josh Wright with Equality California. I want to express our gratitude for the swift action taken in response to the CMS final rule to ensure that TGI youth and their families do not lose access to life-saving health care. We look forward to continuing to work with you on a permanent solution through a Medi-Cal building pathway. We are also grateful for the funding to implement the Press 3 option for 988 calls to ensure LGBTQ plus youth in crisis can be connected with trained counselors. Thank you. Chair and members, Alex Torres, on behalf of Perimeter Solutions and Vibrant Planet, thank you for the extensive investments in wildfire prevention, response, other technological investments. On behalf of the Thermalito Water and Sewer District, we continue to beseech this body to consider the Concow Reservoir in Oroville. The campfire reduced the drinking water storage by 2,000 acre feet. We continue to ask this body to consider some sort of funding mechanism as we try to do that dredging project and restore drinking water capacity to that critically deserving community. Thank you so much. Hello, Alexis Rodriguez with the California Chamber of Commerce here to register our support for SB 186 related to the film tax credit. Thank you. Christine Smith, Health Access California. We're proud to co-chair the Health for All Coalition. We appreciate the legislature allocating funding to allow undocumented people on restricted scope medical who need dialysis to get this much needed care. Without this, undocumented people needing dialysis would be forced into emergency rooms on a regular basis or die from treatable diseases. We appreciate utilizing the Healthcare Affordability Reserve Fund for this important purpose. We also appreciate the funding in the 988 for LGBTQ youth. Hello, Chair and members. My name is Adalia King with UDW. Speaking on behalf of CCPU, we want to thank the legislature and the administration for addressing our concerns about AB 150, particularly the removal of the reporting requirements for provider absences. We also appreciate the decision to rely on regular communication between providers and parents regarding the attendance and staffing coverage. We're also pleased with the extension to meet the new chaining and education requirements. Just appreciation and look forward to continue partnership Chair and members Beth Malinowski the SCO California one offered the following reflections on the final budget actions With a budget that as a whole aim to delay coverage losses and maintain quality care deeply disappointed that the August TBL failed to fund the one restoration of the successful WQIP for skilled nursing facilities This is a missed opportunity that will undoubtedly lead to undermining our workforce, harming our patients, and leaving federal dollars on the table when we all know that it's completely hard to come by those federal dollars. We do want to align our comments with health access and appreciate the provisions to guarantee immigrants will still have access to life-saving care. Additionally, we align with counties' nurses' appointment. The technical amendments need it now to clean up AB85 and guarantee that counties do not have a harmful funding freeze placed on them, not move forward. While we look forward to long-term conversations on how to best fund injured care, the failure to act will likely make injured care more difficult come 2027. Additionally, as it relates to our immigrant communities, want to appreciate the ongoing additional funding to support legal needs of our immigrant communities. I look forward to ongoing work next year as we return together to hopefully do more to address the H1 impacts. Thank you. Kelly Brooks, on behalf of the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems and the urban counties of California, we're very appreciative of all the work the legislature has done this year to mitigate H1. I would just note we're disappointed that we couldn't find a path forward on doing some technical fixes around indigent care right now. and thankful for that. We'll have further conversation next year, and maybe there'll be some data to help with those conversations. Thank you. Hello, Brian Cho with the California Climate and Agriculture Network. First, I want to thank you for protecting the livelihoods of goat and sheep herders, as well as the health and safety of firefighters and high wildfire risk communities. Second, I want to thank you for funding the Sustainable Ag Lands Conservation Program in the GGRF package in SB 113. We know this was a hard-fought compromise, and we'll note that this would have been a lot easier for you all if CARB hadn't given away a billion dollars in GGRF revenue. So I do urge you to try to fix that issue next year, and we're here to help. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chair and members. Rebecca Marcus on behalf of American Farmland Trust and the California Certified Organic Farmers. Echoing the previous speaker in support of the goat herder provision in SB 187, and in strong support of the $50 million in GGRF for protecting ag lands in SB 113. Additionally, in support of the land access language in SB 178. Thank you. Good afternoon. Lillian Mervis with Environmental Defense Fund here in support of extending CALSHAPE and want to echo my colleagues who spoke to ensuring the language in AB 196 is adopted, clarifying the program funds are available for projects beyond what's currently in the pipeline and taking the interest from that program and putting it towards the demand-side grid support program, which is important for electric grid reliability. We also want to express appreciation for funding for the SAVER program and the multi-benefit land repurposing program. And lastly, we appreciate Assemblymember Addis' comments regarding wildfire mitigation funding, which we also support. Thank you. Spencer Street, on behalf of the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Anaheim, San Leandro, Union City, Reedley, Kingsburg, Sunnyvale, Pacifica, and the Consumers Community Services District. Very grateful for the preservation of critical funding for the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program, low-carbon transit operations program, as well as the allocation of funding for local parks, wildfire mitigation, public safety, and affordable housing. Also, on behalf of the North County Transit San Diego Railroad, please, the budget protects some SB-125 zero-emission transit capital program and LC-TOP funding this year, generally aligned with the comments of CTA. hopeful that next year we can work together to fully fund those funding sources and TRCP Thank you Ryan McCarthy on behalf of the cities of Hercules Mission Viejo South Pasadena San Gabriel, and Oakland, grateful for the wage parity fix for goat herders, aligning our comments with CSAC. And on behalf of the cities of Chino Hills and Upland, grateful for funding for critical public projects. Thank you. Mr. Chair and members, Aaron Neemel, on behalf of Sony Pictures, in support of SB 186, deeply appreciative of the budget creativity in such a difficult budget year. Also, courtesy testimony for the California Association of Wine Great Growers in support of the farmer program. Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, members. Shane Gussman on behalf of SAG-AFTRA and the Teamsters. Just want to extend the appreciation of both of those unions for all the work that was done on the film tax credit and so this robust jobs program can continue on. Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members. Brian Little, California Farm Bureau. In appreciation for your attention to the matter of wage parity for sheep and goat herders, this will allow California sheep and goat producers to be able to continue furnishing prescription grazing services to control wildfire fuels for special use districts, municipalities, and other land operators throughout California. And we appreciate your attention to the matter. Thank you. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members, committee staff. Thank you for your work on this budget. Edgar Guetta with SEIU California. On the topic of public sector, we are grateful for the additional funding to PERB for mediation. Also, I want to thank you for committing to find a long-term solution to the VLF shortfall, which is a priority for our members who are serving in San Mateo County. On the topic of child care, grateful for the budget juniors funding for FFN's license exempt providers who were impacted by the 2025 Los Angeles County fires. Lastly, we look forward to working with the administration and our legislative partners on ensuring the adoption of rate reform using the alternative methodology to move towards a single rate structure on a timely fashion. To note that our intention to organize on a timeline that is more urgent than what was referenced in AB 190. And on education, we look forward to continuing conversations around funding for classified employees and staffing, including cleaning standards and supplies and full funding for the CSAP dollar match. Thank you. Yesenia Rabancho with End Child Poverty California. Across the country, more than 5.5 million hungry people have been kicked off of food assistance. we are experiencing an engineered hunger crisis targeting vulnerable households. While in California we are making real progress on our administrative response to this crisis, we are deeply disappointed that this budget does not immediately expand food assistance to immigrants excluded by H.R.1's xenophobic policies. We will continue our Work With You Next budget to expand CFAP. And while we did not see the progress we hoped for for CalFresh households with children 14 to 17 losing their dependency status, We celebrate the new hunger-free holiday school meal program as it sets a North Star goal that in California, every kid has a right to every meal every season. And lastly, on the behalf of the Dena Rise Up Coalition, we support the inclusion of the CARE Fund. This is a historic step forward for disaster recovery policies created by and for disaster survivors. We thank the governor and the legislature for standing with Eaton Fire survivors and helping us protect that future. and just wanted to add in, there's over 20 organizations in support of this effort. Thank you. Good afternoon. Keely O'Brien with the Western Center on Law and Poverty. We want to express gratitude for all the work to fight hunger in this budget, including the additional funding food that was just added, but also echoing the deep disappointment that nothing was done to expand CFAP this year to protect the refugees, victims of trafficking, including children and seniors who are losing food aid as a result of cruel xenophobic federal policies. And while we did not see the progress we hoped for to support CalFresh households losing access due to time limits, we are very excited to celebrate the creation of the Hunger-Free Holidays school meal program. We also appreciate the language to ensure immigrants can continue to access dialysis and emergency Medi-Cal, and we are thankful for the swift action taken to support gender-affirming care for children and youth. Thank you to all of you and your staff for your work on this budget. Good afternoon, Chair and Committee members. Melissa Sparks-Crans with the League of California Cities. We are in support here today of ABSB 113 and the legislature's leadership in allocating the proposition for climate bond dollars, including bond funding for water supply reliability, wildfire prevention and mitigation, coastal resilience to address sea level rise impacts, extreme heat programs, and energy microgrid funding. Thank you. Good afternoon. I'm Trinity Tran on behalf of the California Public Banking Alliance and over 130 organizations with the California State Bank Coalition. And we want to extend a thank you to the leadership for entertaining the idea of funding a commission to explore the creation of a California state bank. And although we are disappointed it wasn't funded in this budget, we will continue the fight. This is a common sense, practical step for the state to take to explore how we can create public financial infrastructure to fund housing, climate, small business infrastructure. We're obviously in a moment of federal volatility with retreat from the federal level, with budget cuts and constraints year after year. This is a practical, due diligent, fiscally responsible step for the state to take to explore how we can keep more public dollars circulating in California. So we look forward to continuing conversations next year. Thank you. Good afternoon, chair and members. My name is Meredith Alexander. I'm reading a statement from Leah Stokes, a professor at UC Santa Barbara who was unable to be here today. Hi, my name is Leah Stokes. I'm a professor at UCSB and a California mom, and I'm urging you to vote yes on AB 196 and also to express disappointment that we are once again not funding the Demand Side Grid Support Program. This past week, extreme heat disrupted school for roughly half a million students in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Barbara. Some of those schools already hold CalShape awards to install air conditioning. They simply need time to finish the work. Nearly $2 million sits unspent. On December 1st, without action on AB 196, it will revert to the utilities. Please send it to classrooms instead. Thank you. Good afternoon Chair and members First thank you all for all the hard work you and staff for all the hard work that it took to get here On behalf of the California Coalition of Large Energy Users I would like to echo Professor Stokes statement on asking for your support on Assembly Bill 196 to keep the CalShape money in the CalShape account Our members are California companies with employees in California who work and live in California, and it's really important for this funding to be available for schools. And then on behalf of Generac Power Systems and Ecobee Smart Thermostats, I would like to echo the comments from Advanced Energy United and Professor Stokes on our disappointment that funding for the demand-side grid support was not included in this package. You know, in general, these programs were created to support California during times of emergency, and we would urge a continued effort to make sure that we were prepared for future emergencies and that these programs stay intact. Thank you. Mr. Chair and members, thank you all for your dedication and being here on the weekend to get this the state's business done. Andrew Antwi on behalf of the Office of Cat Taylor with a thank you for G-Drive funding for Salk and for the Port of Los Angeles. Thank you for funding for Aquatic Center and also for the Port Freight Infrastructure Grant Program to allow grants to continue to be drawn down. And for the LADLT, thank you for the GGRF expenditure. Echo comments that have made earlier for the larger Tier 3 Coalition to find a better solution. Revenues have been volatile, way more than anybody thought when we did SB 840. So, continued work there, and thanks. Good afternoon, Chair and Members. Ronald Coleman Baez here on behalf of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. CHERLA, also here on behalf of ALTA Together, a Resilient Tomorrow, Civic Sundays, Clergy Community Coalition, California Community Foundation, Eaton Fire Residents United, and Project Passion. We're very thankful to see the $15 million in the budget for the CARE Fund, which will help Altadena residents recover and continue to live and stay in their area after the devastation from the Eaton Fire. Additionally, on behalf of CHERLA, we are very grateful for the additional $2 million to expand immigration legal services, particularly in the San Fernando Valley, to ensure that we can have immigration legal services in this area that has been an enforcement hotspot over the last two years. Finally, we are very much in appreciation of the funding that's in place to ensure that people on restricted scope Medi-Cal can have access to dialysis. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chair and members. Monica Madrid with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Chirla. We thank the committee for not including the proposed autonomous agricultural equipment language in the budget trailer bill. Immigrant farm workers are essential to California and proposals that could impact their jobs and economic security deserve a transparent process with meaningful worker input. However, we are disappointed that the budget did not include funding to expand CFAP to humanitarian immigrant populations losing federal food assistance eligibility under H 1 As the federal government continues to target immigrant communities California must ensure that families do not go hungry because of their immigration status Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Cliff Berg here on behalf of Barcelona Cemetery, Mount Sinai, a broad coalition of community organizations, including Jewish, Armenian, Catholic, homeowners associations in strong support of AB 194. And we'd like to thank the chair for including in that legislation and provisions that set up a clear public and transparent process for approval of a project that has been on the boards for over two years, despite community opposition with a lack of any kind of public vote or any kind of governmental entity approving it. Unfortunately, there have been attempts to jam that project through, which would unfortunately narrow a road in front serving both Forest Lawn and Mount Sinai cemeteries, which serve hundreds of thousands of families of every faith in the greater state of California and Southern California, despite opposition from the community. Unfortunately, this language is needed to provide transparency in a public process. Thank you for your support. Good afternoon, Chair and members. James the director of the California State Council of Laborers here to express our strong appreciation for the committee's work on preserving and protecting the state's film and tax film and television tax credit program. This program supports thousands of union jobs in both the construction and production of our state's entertainment industry. So thank you for that. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members. Raymond Contreras with Lighthouse Public Affairs. On behalf of the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency, Habitat for Humanity, California, and the San Diego Housing Commission, we would like to thank the legislature for funding the regional housing finance agencies in Los Angeles, San Diego, and the Bay Area. This will help build, preserve, and protect affordable housing across the state. Thank you. Chair members, Mikhail Skavarla here on behalf of Carrier Corp in support of the Cal-shaped provisions and want to express our appreciation. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chair members. I'm Molly Corcoran with Axiom Advisors on behalf of the coalition, including Forest Lawn, Memorial, Parks, and Mortuaries. We appreciate the legislature's recognition in AB 194 to ensure a transparent public process to a proposal that would make changes to row aides around the cemetery and create traffic congestion. and severely restrict public access to sacred grounds. Thank you.
Thank you very much. I want to thank all the members of the public who showed up on a weekend to share their thoughts and perspectives with us. As we're about to adjourn what I believe will be our final hearing of this legislative session, I just wanted to take a moment to underscore a few thank yous. First I just wanted to thank members of the committee I have learned so much from all of you I have been deeply in awe of the intelligence and integrity and sense of purpose and mission that each of you has brought to this work, particularly our subchairs. It has been a pretty brutal two years for the budget committee, and all of you have just represented your communities, the people of the state of California, people are counting on us so ably, and I'm just really, really grateful for all the hard work that all of you have put in. And I know that each of you can see your fingerprints are all over this budget, and California is better for that. So thank you to the members of this committee for doing the hard work. I also want to thank the folks sitting over there, members of the Assembly Budget Committee staff for all the incredible hard work, and Christian Griffith, who hopefully you can hear me right now. I know he's, there he is. To Christian, to Jason from the Speaker's office for, again, for helping to guide us, for working so hard. I was just looking back on my text messages. My last text from a budget committee person was 3.08 a.m. on Friday night, and they picked up again at 6.22 in the morning on Saturday morning. So I hope that gives you a sense of just how hard these folks are working for all of us. So thank you. And then again to Abram and Alicia on my team who have gotten dragged into a lot of the thorniest budget issues. Thank you for your incredible service. And also to all of the staff, the sergeants and everybody else who makes all this possible. So thank you, everybody. It's been an eventful two years, but I think we have done well by the people of California, and I'm proud of the product that we're delivering today. Look forward to conversation and votes on the floor tomorrow and Tuesday. And with that, we are adjourned.
Thank you. Thank you.