August 31, 2026 · Budget Fiscal · 14,211 words · 10 speakers · 299 segments
Thank you. Thank you. will come to order. We are holding our committee hearing here in the 1021 O Street room, 1200. And we would really appreciate it if one more committee member would come. We'll have a quorum. I will interrupt whatever's going on whenever they walk in and establish the quorum. Public comment will be heard after all discussion items have been presented. And let me just talk about our process briefly today because we are going to go through with the Department of Finance presenting and the legislative analyst here for questions. We're going to go through 14 budget trailer bills. And then when we're done, we're going to bring it back to the committee for questions and comments. and because we have an 11 o'clock floor session and because we want to hear some measure of public comment, I could for once try to lean on the committee members to try to limit it to a comment and a question or two. So I'm just warning everybody, although I know the person, whoever they are that will go longer is the one that's not listening right now. So I will just...
What did you say?
There you go.
It's just a few minutes.
Yes. When Roger and I have our birthdays together, you can give us a cake that says happy 155th. So we can do that. And then we will take public comment. And I will do the usual where I'll take a hand count of the people that want to do public comments. There will still be 30 people raising their hand in the hallway and running in. But I will do my best because we will have to move to a vote 20 minutes at least, if not 30 minutes before our end time to be able to vote and get over to the floor session. So we will just play some of the timing by ear as we go along. Today, the package of budget bills and trailer bills includes AB 113, which is a budget bill junior that amends the budget act that we adopted in June. AB 114, a budget bill junior that amends the last four budget acts and 14 budget trailer bills on various subjects. And although it listed on the agenda we will not be taking up AB 196 at this time We don have a three agreement on that item These bills represent the culmination of the work of the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review for this year, and it's been a long, arduous process. And due to the date stamps on the bills, we'll probably be considering them on the floor, providing they pass the committee today, in two tranches, and then one of them, the major budget bill, will be taken up tomorrow morning after 9 o'clock because it was date-stamped at, I think, 3.46 a.m., and I really heard the vice chair, who was very plaintiff when he heard that time, and that's why we will be carrying it over to the next morning. The bills include technical adjustments, clarifying changes, additional details on agreements that were made as part of the June budget, and it addresses some new issues that have been arisen since its adoption. That is our quorum. I'm going to continue that in a moment. Would you please call the roll? Senator Slayer? Here. Nilo?
Here.
Archuleta?
Here.
Shakespeare?
Here.
Cabaldon?
Here.
Choi?
Here.
Durazo.
Here.
Grove. Hurtado. McNerney.
Here.
McNerney. Menjabar. Ochoabogue. Perez. Reyes.
Here.
Richardson.
Here.
Sayarto. Smallwood Cuevas. Weber Pearson. We have a quorum. Thank you very much. And then the highlights of the package include $2.66 billion for the purposes related to the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention and Drought Preparedness and Clean Air Bond Act Prop 4 to support a variety of projects in that area, and $450 million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for the 26-27 budget year, including $230 million for SB-125 transit and funding for various legislative priorities, including investments in the implementation of the Community Air Protection Program, wildfire prevention, agriculture and land conservation, and safe and affordable drinking water, among others. And also, these contain a variety of one-time investments in local priorities through California. Before we begin with the Department of Finance, let me ask the vice chair if he has any opening comments.
I certainly do, but I would suggest that we first, given the opportunity we have, quickly establish a quorum.
We have 10 people in.
I just did it.
Oh, you did? Okay.
You said here.
Okay. So we have a quorum. Yes, sometimes I think I should record things that I say and catalog them and then just bring them back, speech number two.
I have continuously expressed frustration with our process, and this year is compounded. So three months ago, we adopted the constitutionally required final balanced budget, three months ago. And today, on the last day of the session, we have all of these budget bills. and it was the same thing last year and I said the same thing last year And as I say every year in June this budget that we voting on is not our budget just a placeholder We continue to work on that and even in this case beyond the end of the session. In addition to that, these bills have an abundance of policy in them that have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the budget. And many of the bills, if not maybe all of them, completely violate the single subject rule. Now, nobody's legally challenging that, but if anybody did, I suspect that would prevail. And Senator Laird, you've said, let me talk about process. Beyond that, what we're seeing in this deadline session are other process issues that everybody has to find extremely frustrating. We have three or four times the number of gut and amend bills this year than we ever usually have. It's almost gotten to be absurd to the point that there is one bill that was gutted and amended. It was a two-year bill. On June 4th of this year, it was gutted and amended from its original. A week later, it was gutted and amended again to another bill, one bill that's been three bills. I just think that's an abuse of the process. And then we found another clever way to jam some more stuff into the session by just if they can't be dealt with by Friday, which was the deadline for 72 hours to take things up today, well, if they came up on Saturday, we just make them urgent. And then they can be taken up after the session is over. The wildfire reform bill is a perfect example of that. They just couldn't get it done until Saturday. Is it an urgent bill? No, but they marked it urgent so that we can jam it into the process. I'm hoping that we can find some sanity to this, and I also want to recognize and maybe even apologize to staff on both sides of the aisle. Well, because of the late nature of these proposals, staff has been working literally around the clock. I know our staff got hardly any sleep over the weekend, and I have to believe it's the same for committee staff and majority party staff also. On behalf of the institution, I guess I apologize to them for that, But certainly I think we have to recognize the yeoman's effort that they put into this, as I said, on both sides of the aisle. And I know we all are very grateful for them, for their dedication and significant competence. With that, Mr. Chair, I will minimize any other comments. And if that calls for me, I'm busy. well it's from eureka i don't know who's calling from eureka i found it yeah uh um that that was that was the best part of his speech um thank you i appreciate your comments and uh and there will be a time time I think sometime today when we all get to appropriately recognize the staff for the heroic work that happened And I can speak from experience. The staff might have not gotten any sleep, but I'm aware that the Senate president one night, I'm not sure she ever went to bed. And so I know that was happening all the way around.
So we will now move to items 1 through 16, and the way we're going to do it, as I said earlier, is the Department of Finance. We're pleased to have Erica Lee here, the Chief Deputy Director, and she is going to briefly walk us through those 16 items, and then we'll bring it back for comments and questions to the committee. Welcome to the committee. Thank you.
Good morning. Good morning, Chair Laird, Vice Chair Nielo, and members of the Senate Budget Committee. Erica Lee with the—
Would you move that microphone a little closer to your lips?
Is that better? Okay.
Thank you.
Good morning. Erica Lee with the Department of Finance, here to present on 16 bills that together make up the final 26-27 budget package. As was stated in June, there were several issues that we would be deciding over the summer, and particularly in the resources area. Additionally, there are cleanup and technical issues that are included as well, as was mentioned by the chair. There are 16 bills, two of which are budget bill juniors and 14 trailer bills, and I've been asked to present on each of them consecutively and then happy to respond to committee questions at the end. The first bill is ABSB 113, and it is a budget bill that amends the 2627 Budget Act. The budget allocates about $2.7 billion, Proposition 4, or the climate bond, to continue funding critical projects and programs. It also allocates a total package of $450 million in discretionary greenhouse gas reduction funds over various projects, as was also mentioned by the chair. It includes $8 million in the health care affordability reserve fund in the current year and $37 million in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 to establish a state-only dialysis program effective October 1, 2026. It provides $25 million in 988 fund one time in this year, this current year, to the Department of Health Care Services for 988 call centers. It establishes a designation process for 988 crisis centers. It adds an additional $66 million general fund to address cash and expenditure challenges due to federal inaction to approve 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 this year, available over two years through June 30, 2028 for CalFood, which funds food banks for the purchase, storage, and transportation of food grown and or produced in California. It adds $333,000 for automation to comply with recent federal terms and conditions modification to the elderly simplified application project population as federally required by March 2027. It allocates $1.1 million one-time general fund to allow the state to opt in to 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 foster youth. It allocates $73.7 million general fund for various community investments including food assistance, immigration, and sexual assault prevention. and practices. Excuse me. The bill also includes appropriate appropriated funds that were already included in the 2026 budget act totaling about 58 million general fund to continue supporting economic development and innovation in California. It allocates 88.9 million general fund to support various housing and homelessness initiatives. It also allocates $12.5 million for the California Workforce Development Board for various workforce development initiatives. And the last issue that I'll comment on here is it 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. That was the first bill. The second bill is AB 114, which is a budget bill junior that amends previous budget acts. This bill adds to the 2025 Budget Act the same operational efficiencies language that was included in the 26 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 appropriation from the state entity receiving the appropriation to another state entity for specified purposes and includes many technical and clarifying amendments that were identified by the administration and legislature. The next bill is AB 133, which is the education trailer bill. This bill also makes largely technical amendments to various TK to 12 programs, including community schools, dual enrollment, career pathways, mathematics and literacy coaches, child nutrition and high need student support programs. The next bill is AB 167, the higher education omnibus bill. This bill makes largely technical amendments to various higher ed programs, including the community colleges student support block grant, affordable student housing capital outlay projects, and the Cal Grant transfer eligibility age increase. The next trailer bill is AB 173, 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 increasing oversight of 988 crisis centers requiring system interoperability between 911 and 988 protocols. It establishes a process for the development of a specialized LGBTQ plus suicide prevention line, which is subject to federal approval, and it establishes a state-only dialysis program to provide outpatient maintenance dialysis in restricted-scope Medi-Cal, effective October 1 of this year. The next bill is AB 175, which is the developmental services trailer bill. This bill merges the existing community placement plan and community resource development plan, two plans, to align current law with the needs of the community. It includes $78.1 million 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 bill is AB 178, the Public Resources Trailer Bill. This bill makes various changes to the Public Resources Code and includes uncodified language to do the following. It establishes the Farmland Access and Conservation for Thriving Communities Program to be administered consistent with related funding authorized in Proposition 4 It provides million one beverage container recycling fund for local Conservation Corps for beverage container litter reduction programs and recycling programs including education and outreach And 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 summarizing findings and options to reduce traffic congestion and unsafe parking conditions along Highway 1. The next bill is AB 184, and it is the general government or state 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 license 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. The next bill is AB 186, the Revenue and Taxation or Film Tax Credit trailer bill. This bill 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 9 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 bill is AB 187, the employment or 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, 2029. The next bill is AB 190, the Early Care and Education Trailer Bill. 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 also authorizes the Department of Education to collect unspent funds for the California State Preschool Program exceptional needs set aside beginning in 2728. And lastly, it requires the Department of Social Services to identify the remaining foundational policy frameworks of the single rate structure by January 10th of 2028. The next trailer bill is AB191, the Olympics and Paralympics trailer bill. This bill pertains to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and includes changes related to sporting event exemptions, film and television productions, and building codes. The next bill is AB-192, the Transmission Accelerator Trailer Bill. This bill makes various changes to the Transmission Accelerator Program. Most notably, it 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 it makes other technical and clarifying changes. The next bill is AB-193, which is the Climate and Energy Trailer Bill. This bill includes the following changes to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and the Cal-SHAPE program. For the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund it makes technical and clarifying changes to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund as proposed in the governor budget Beginning in 27 it requires GGRF interest to flow through the tier structure rather than be available for discretionary purposes And for the CalSHIP 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 AB 194, the transportation trailer bill. This bill enhances requirements for the California Highway Patrol's protective services. The state currently has the authority to provide security to current and former constitutional officers and legislators. This bill updates this existing authority. This bill also includes a capital outlay appropriation of $189,000 general fund for the working drawings phase of the Leviathan Peak Tower replacement project. And I think this is the last bill. Yes, AB 195, which is the income tax exclusions 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 the California Office of Emergency Services. And with that, I am done with the presentation of the 16 bills.
Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate your efficiency. This is now back before the committee for comments and questions. And as I said at the outset, and I know not everybody was here, we do have to be at the floor session for 11. So I would just ask for members to be a little disciplined, a statement and maybe one or two questions. So who would like to get into line to do this? McNerney? DeRosa? Blake Spear Reyes Anybody else right now? Okay, then we're going to go to Senator McNerney first.
Well, I thank the chair and I thank the staff. It's been a good run. I have been a member of Budget 2 with the chair here next to me. Thank you for being a chair, a good chair. and I'm also chair of the legislative Delta Caucus and so I want to talk about water which is probably a surprise to everybody this morning. First the Delta Caucus and I are very pleased to see a significant amount of money going in the budget for essential repairs for the Delta levees. These levees were built in the 1800s they could fail at any time which would be catastrophic. I'm also pleased to see a significant amount of money going to repairs on the water conveyance infrastructure in the Central Valley. Again, that's 87% of that water could be lost if these aren't repaired by 2040. You know, in the last generations before us, folks like Mahaldim and Edmund Brown had the foresight to invest in our water infrastructure, which provided water for Californians and helped build our economy into the great state it is now. And now it's our turn to think about how we can invest in water infrastructure so that we have reliable safe water for California for the rest of the century My bill SB 847 starts that process We going to have to continue that in the years to come to make sure that future generations can look at what we've accomplished for their benefit. I also want to talk about the Healthy Soils Program. There was $24.9 million for Healthy Soils Program. That's very important for the agricultural industry. and I'm grateful for the $10 million provided for the farmer program which allows farmers to replace old diesel equipment with clean burning fuel equipment and also we've accomplished a lot this year and I want to thank again the budget chair, the staff for working for us to make sure we have these things in mind. Thank you and I reel back.
Thank you very much. I appreciate your comments. Senator DeRosa.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a quick comment on the funding for the local conservation corps. I've been working on that since the first year that I came, that I was elected, and it means a lot to all of our communities. But as you know, Mr. Chair, this is not only addressing the issues of the environment, but truly it's addressing the issues of who's going to work in these careers that we are creating and now finally funding in an appropriate way, creating the careers that we want our youth to look forward to be able to fill. So for all the work that the Conservation Corps does, but this is especially near and dear to my heart, so thank you. I want to make that comment.
Well, thank you very much. Senator Blakespear.
Thank you, Chair. And I want to say thank you to the budget staff and the late nights and the weekends. I know it's very trying here at the end, and I recognize how much work is put in, so I just want to say thank you for that. I'm just going to highlight a few things that are important to me and that I think are worth mentioning. So this package includes $30 million for implementation of Prop 36. That's something that the voters passed in 2024 in all 58 counties. And it includes $10 million for our courts and $20 million for county behavioral health departments to build treatment capacity. I represent San Diego and Orange County, and both of those counties say that this isn't enough money. But it is some money. And so I'm grateful for that because I know this wasn't the legislature's idea. This was the voters' idea. but it is something that is important that we fund. So I just want to say thank you for the funding, and we need to continue to follow through on the commitments there. I want to recognize there was $2 million included for the Islamic Center of San Diego for security infrastructure improvements. There was a devastating shooting that took the lives of three community members earlier this year, and that investment is part of a community security package that the state has made a commitment to related to helping congregations to harden their places of worship so that they can be safe. So I just want to recognize that as really important. I'm also proud that the budget invests in the University of California's climate research, including new GGRF revenues for the UC Climate Change Research Institute. I know there was a lot of work from my colleagues, Senator Stern, and also Assemblymember Irwin on this topic. And we know that with the federal government retreating from climate science, California needs to step up and fill in some of the gaps. And that's what's happening here. There were four universities. Universities listed as climate centers, UC Irvine, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, and UCLA. So missing from that list is UC San Diego, which does have the esteemed Scripps Institute of Oceanography, one of the world's best climate and ocean science institutes on the planet in it. So I just want to make sure that there's accessibility for all the UCs. I'm sure everyone who represents them wants their UCs included in that as well. I want to recognize that we saved the goats from going out of state. So it really was very much at risk that with a wage herder provision that expired July 1, that the cost of employing a single goat herder jumped to roughly a quarter million dollars a year by the Farm Bureau estimates. This is more than what the governor makes. A goat herder would make more than what the governor makes. and the grazing operations in California threatened to shut down completely, to slaughter the goats, move out of state, utilize only sheep, which eat different sheep and goats eat different plants when they're doing fire mitigation at different seasons. So it's important that we have our goats as part of our wildfire crews because if you've ever witnessed how much they eat, it's incredible. They clear the brush in places that are impossible for hand crews to get to, steep slopes, canyons, wildland edges of our neighborhoods, And, of course, they're also adorable animals. They're part of having range animals on our landscape now. And so it really seems to me like it's something we should be investing in and giving attention to to make sure we can continue to employ goat herders. The extension was only for two years, so this will come back to us, but we need to have a permanent fix to allow people to be appropriately paid but also our goat herders to be able to continue to operate in California. I'm also really happy in a similar vein to see the wildlife coexistence funding increased by $5 million in this package. Wildlife coexistence is something that's important because we share the state with apex predators like mountain lions and bears and particularly wolves, which we did not reintroduce but came over the border from Oregon. And we do have them in our communities, and we need to be appropriately funding our approach to them. And finally, I think I'll just mention that transit remains a concern. There is some money for transit that was in categories where it had been proposed to be zeroed out. But it's not enough money or as much as we promised. But it's certainly not the absolute devastating cut to the bone that we had feared. So transit needs our support if it's going to work in California because fare box recovery is never going to cover the cost of transit. So we need to be accepting that we will need to be helping subsidize it if we want it to operate in the state. And I think of it as a priority that we do have a functioning and growing transit sector to help people get where they need to go and also to protect our climate and our environment. So with that, I'll yield back to the chair.
Thank you. Thank you very much. And then we'll go to Senator Gomez Reyes.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to first acknowledge the collaborative and truly democratic process that was done here for this budget. Our pro tem, Senator Limon, our budget chair, Laird, made abundantly clear at the beginning of the process that it would be one where every senator would have an opportunity to elevate issues important to their communities And this was done not just through words but also through action And I want to thank you for that The three deal that we have represents an extension of investments here in the entire state of California for all Californians. Specifically with Prop 4, as was mentioned by the chair, a $2.6 billion investment. When the voters approved this $10 billion bond, they wanted certain things taken care of. We are investing more than $1 billion in safe drinking water, drought, flood, and water resilience, nearly $330 million in wildfire and forest resilience, over $100 million in parks creation and outdoor access, and over $1 billion in other areas that improve our environment and natural lands. These are investments that are consistent with what the voters wanted. On GGRF, as many of you know, the Senate has been vocal about our concerns about the Manufacturing Decarbonization Incentive, or MDI, both as a policy and the fiscal impact, particularly as a reduction to our GGRF, which came less than one year after agreeing to an expenditure plan under SB 840. The adoption of the MDI, which was approved by CARB earlier this year, has led to and will continue to make GGRF both unstable and reduced further over the long term. This specifically impacts Tier 3 programs. This three-party budget agreement this year created a one-time $450 million solution for programs and makes investments in transit, housing, vegetation management, clean drinking water, and air quality. I do want to thank our House for consistently fighting to make sure these funds are available. I want to thank specifically on Prop 4. I want to thank Joanne Roy from the Senate Budget Committee for her hard work on Prop 4 throughout the year. And on GGRF, I'd like to thank Eunice Rowe and Elisa Wynn for their work on GGRF and all things energy and transportation. Thank you, Senator Laird, for your leadership here, and special thanks to our President Pro Tem for making sure that and honoring the requests of all 40 senators, making sure that we were included in this budget and recognizing the importance of our respective districts. Thank you.
Thank you. Before we start to move to public testimony, is there anybody that wasn't recognized that want to? Joy and Cabaldon. Anybody else? Then after those two, I'll make some comments and we will go to public comment. Senator Choi.
Yeah, I would like to point out that our wildlife mitigation, the wildfire mitigation program is very, very important because we see annual occurrence of these wildfires. And I been trying to introduce my bill to underground high power lines But the state I don see any specific budget allocated to this effort other than the utility company effort with the 10 program And even though Prop 4 has $325 million allocated for public financing of transmission projects, but nothing to do with the underground programs. And I wonder why we neglect the prevention of potential future fires, which is likely to happen, and most likely the wildfire happening takes place because of the downlines of high-power lines. As you know, we are trying to find where to blame and insurance companies trying to collect their money liability from suing the utility companies. And then that agreement, as of now, has been, I understand, dropped. So if you can reply to that, the state is not going to take up any plan on this project rather than leaving it up to the utility companies?
Yeah, I just reiterate the package was agreement between the administration and the legislature on how to spend Prop $4. and there are, as you noted, hundreds of million dollars towards wildfire prevention as well as some mitigation. I think you're asking a more specific policy question about undergrounding and that is not – perhaps a colleague could come up in here and provide some detail, but the package generally is dollars that are bucketed towards certain efforts. And I think the question you ask is more about a policy decision in terms of how to spend some of those dollars.
Yeah, we hear wildfire mitigation word so much, but specifically if you can mention that, what is the best effective method of fire mitigation? Is it fuel mitigation around the houses? The home hotening project is one of them, But I believe the utility high power line underground, undergrounding or shielding in the rugged areas in the pipelines would be most effective. And we can do so if we plan over even 20, 30 years. But we'll get there once we begin. But there's no, I don't see any effort to that direction. That's the reason.
I think we have someone here that wants to address your question.
Andrew Marsh for the Department of Finance. So just note, so in proposition for the $322-ish million is going to the Transmission Accelerator Financing Program. And so that was a program that was established last year in SB 254. And then there's a trailer bill in front of you today in SB 192 or AB SB 192 to make some changes to that. So that program will be for high-capacity transmission lines through the California Independent System Operators Program, Transmission Planning Process Program So these are really high lines to help reduce costs for ratepayers I don know if some of those may be underground lines I think typically they very large above structures But to your point about wildfire resilience and prevention, the state's taken an all-of-the-above approach to help reduce the risk of wildfire, and you see that here in Proposition 4 with significant investments and then also with funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. But there is no specific funding to underground utility lines. So that's typically been a process through the Public Utilities Commission and the utilities to help fund that process.
Okay. I'm making a suggestion for the future. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Then Senator Cabaldon.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. First, I want to agree with all the comments from my colleagues about the important investments that are included in this budget, big and small. and some of the policy solutions as well, but not to dwell on that to simply also thank the various parties that have been involved in this, that it's for all the things that aren't in this package, and that they're also big and small. And I know folks have had lots of different proposals, and although this is expansive and there's lots here, the humility of this package relative to some, you know, over time, some budget proposals at the last moment is appreciated because it's digestible, at least if you don't sleep for several days, and it retains the important nature of the regular legislative process on many key policy issues. And then just lastly, to reinforce, because this is a moment of making some additional investments and wrapping up the budget just to reinforce, you know, our longer-term challenges remain. We have the fairly dire un-legislative analyst-like legislative analyst warnings in the summer that we need to continue to be, you know, laser-focused on our fiscal management and to assure that the kinds of the prosperity and government efficiency that allows us to make these investments that we're making today continues. And so thank you, Mr. Chair, for all of your leadership on this, and the Vice Chair as well, to assure that we're in a position to do this. We obviously have some additional work to do to get our fiscal house as strong as possible in the years to come. Thank you.
Thank you very much. And Senator Ochoa-Bogue wanted to close us out with a brief question.
Just a brief question. I'm kind of curious on the $5 million that was added for the Office of Data Innovation for Citizen Assemblies and Digital Democracy. We weren't able to get a little more information on it and expand a little bit more so that we could have a better understanding of what that encompasses. That would be helpful. I'm looking behind me to see if I have any backup. Here comes the California. Thank you.
We have heard this also in budget sub four, so we might be able to help as well.
I'm on sub one, so I missed that. Good morning, members. Danielle Brandon with the Department of Finance. This $5 million is for the Engage California and other activities to make California government operations more efficient. Engage California is a digital platform that empowers California to participate in government discussions, influence policy, and collaborate on solutions beyond election cycles. The first conversations began in early 2025, and this funding helps Engage California continue these efforts along with the digital democracy. Okay. How is that different? Sorry, just a little bit more. So how is that different than helping we as legislators through the, what do we call it, the management, the constituent management services platform that we have in which constituents are able to email us and give feedback on legislation and be part of the process and follow the legislation throughout? How is this different than how is that current system that we currently have, which is digital and online platform that allows the constituents to be able to communicate with us different than this particular one? Hi, I would just say that the the Office of Digital Innovation that was part of the agency, the government operations agency, is a created a statewide platform. And it's something that as part of the last probably couple of years, we've been attempting to get more Californians, well, first aware of and being participants in so that they can weigh in on. And in particular, it started with state workers, actually. So we did try to survey to get a better understanding of the state workforce and what their needs were in terms of running government and then expanding that to the public. And so I think perhaps the difference is this is a statewide platform, a statewide effort, and to get more engagement from communities in the public process, both for program implementation but also for the legislative process. So is this gathering information, so surveys going out to the constituents across California and giving that information back to this office? And then who decides on legislation? Who has access to this information? I'm not sure if there's that much detail at this point. I think it's a perspective rather than anything that's happened. and so we can get more detail in terms of how that is going to be rolled out, but I don't believe this has happened as of yet. Okay. I'm just going to be curious as to who's going to have access to this information, this tool on the government side. So is it the governor? I'm assuming it's going to be deciding the information that's going out, and then, of course, all the feedback that is coming back because I'm assuming that's going to translate eventually to legislation perhaps? or perhaps we'll have to get you more information as that rolls out. Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Chair, can I help out just briefly? Because we passed legislation on this yesterday off the Senate floor as well, the Assemblymember Irwin spill, and we've had pretty extensive conversations and hearings on this in sub four as well. The Engage California platform has been deployed so far, I think, in three areas. One is with state workers, another is with wildfire area survivors. survivors in LA. And then I think the third most recently is a deliberative democracy project in that's centered in Oakland. And it's intended to apply different forms of civic engagement that are not just government announces what are what issue we're taking up and now you're well you're welcome to send your feedback. But instead, for example, with wildfire survivors and victims, bringing them together with each other and sharing with them research or contrary positions and having folks explore like we do the issues and then talk about it so that their feedback is collective and it deliberative and it rooted in the research That one example So trying to come up with forms of civic engagement that are more than just one way where we announce this is the question, what do people think, but instead to allow people to engage with one another and to be more thoughtful about their feedback as well. So I don't think any of those three projects have led to legislation per se. Some have improved the state worker relationship in terms of the design at the site level. The L.A. project has led to some policy execution lessons for the State Department. But I think the hope is that it will also ultimately lead to potential feedback and deliberation that would be useful to the legislature as well. Thank you. Do you have a comment? Because I'm going to try to shut this discussion.
I can ask. I can follow up afterwards. I was just wondering if Assemblymember Lee's bill on telework was part of the discussion when you extended it to feedback from the state workers. Yeah.
Senator Cobald says he doesn't think so. But the one thing is if you have any additional information, if you'd forward it to the committee, we'll get it to every member so that we can handle it. Thank you for your brief question. Then in a minute, we're going to move to public comment, but I want to just make a closing comment here. And I want to stand back because we have been going into the granular detail of these budget trailer bills. But if you look at the impact of the trailer bills together with the budget that we adopted in June, It basically balances the budget for this year and next year. It gets to a $35 billion reserve. It cuts the structural deficit through a balanced approach of cuts in revenues. And that is very significant. And at the same time, we did our best to mitigate the federal cuts and mitigate the things that have happened to us. So I think that is very significant. And when you look at the Greenhouse Gas Fund and the budget the Senate proposed, in both cases, I think us sticking together as a group with a proposal drew the discussion to us. And that is very significant. And it couldn't have been done without, and I don't have the count in front of me, last it was 56 subcommittee hearings. I know there were more, and hearings of this and work around the clock. So I just really appreciate everybody that brought us to this point, and I know we'll be thanking them. I was going to ask for a show of hands of who wanted to talk, but you've pretty much voted with your feet. Is there anybody that wants to talk that's not standing in line? Okay, that means there's 20 people in the hallway that are going to run in and act like they never were part of this hearing before. So we're trying to end public comment about 10.30, which is 32 minutes from now. No, 10.30, so we can be on the floor at 11. If we end it at 11.30, we'll be a mess on the floor. So looking at the number of people if you could do your best and you going to hate this to try to stick to about 30 seconds we will and it very important to identify your name your organization and the top level thing that you want us to know about the budget And if you go on too long I will intervene So welcome to the committee.
Good morning, Mr. Chair, Mr. Vice Chair, members. Amy Costa with Full Moon Strategies on behalf of the Trust for Public Land and strong support and appreciation for the appropriations for Golden Gate Fields. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, members and staff. Mitch Steiger with CFT, a union of educators and classified professionals, just wanted to express our disappointment that AB 196 wasn't included in the hearing today. Long story short, this bill would have taken $200 million that the legislature earmarked for air quality and temperature control improvements in TK-12 schools, and it will give it to utilities. This is not an exaggeration. This decision will cause asthma, it will cause heat illness, and it will cause cancer in school children. And what will we get for that? We'll give it to utilities that made billions of dollars in profits last year. It's not too late to revisit this decision. We'd urge the legislature to do so and send that money back to where it was originally intended. Thank you.
Thank you very much. And in case anybody didn't hear the announcement at the beginning, while that was agendized, we're not voting on it because there was not a three-party agreement on it. Obviously, the Senate felt favorable to that. Welcome to the committee.
Mr. Chair and Senators, Ben Ebbing, on behalf of the California Wool Growers Association, in strong support of the goat herder language, Senator Blakespeare adequately summarized that, so I won't go on. Very important for fire mitigation, obviously, and also want to express our sincere appreciation of Senator Hurtado for her leadership on this issue. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members. Missy Johnson on behalf of the Directors Guild of America and the Entertainment Union Coalition. On behalf of our 170,000 members working in the entertainment industry, We appreciate the work that was done on AB 186 to make sure that the production tax credit program remains competitive with other states and other jurisdictions around the world. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Mr. Chair and Senators, Michael Pimentel with the California Transit Association. Just want to show my thanks and appreciation for the progress that was made on the Tier 3 programs. As you know, not every program under Tier 3 was funded. but for public transit did want to show the thanks for the $230 million for SB125, the carryover for the interest earned for the SB840 programs in the years ahead. And we just want to uplift the importance of TIRCP, LCTOP, and AHSC being fully funded in years ahead. We'll afford to working with you on solutions. Thank you.
Yes, but the only way you got into 30 seconds was to use an endless number of acronyms. Welcome.
Brian Chobe with the California Climate and Agriculture Network. First on ABSB 187, thank you, Senator Hurtado and Blake Spear, for protecting the livelihoods of goat herders and the health and safety of firefighters and communities on the front lines of wildfires. Second on ABSB 113, thank you for funding the Sustainable Ag Lands Conservation Program, and especially the chair and Senator Reyes for vigorously trying to defend the promise of cap and invest. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Thank you. Christine Smith, Health Access California. We appreciate the legislature allocating funding to allow undocumented people on restricted scope Medi-Cal who need dialysis to get this much needed care. And we appreciate utilizing H-CAR for this important purpose. We look forward to working with the legislature to end the Medi-Cal freeze for undocumented people so that all Californians can get the care they need. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning, Chair and members. My name is Sedalia King with UTW Ask Me Local 3930 On behalf of CCPU we want to thank the legislature and administration for addressing our concerns on 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 the parents regarding attendance and staffing coverage. And we're pleased with the extension to meet the new training and education requirements. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Thank you. Mr. Chair and members, Brendan Tuig on behalf of the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association. We appreciate the $10 million in funding for agricultural diesel engine replacements, and that's through the farmer program. The need is significant, but that investment will make a difference for public health, and we appreciate all the efforts by senators on this issue. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Sarah Flox, California Federation of Labor Unions. Very, very strong support for the funding for per private sector mediation to avoid labor disputes and strikes. Support for future fix to the VLF revenue shortfall for the counties, San Mateo and others. We look forward to working on that. And I just have to say, we do and have opposed any carve-outs from labor standards like minimum wage and overtime for any group of workers, including goat and sheep herders, EMTs, nurses, firefighters, police. They all work 24-hour shifts doing critical work, and we pay them. So we have to find a fix to this, and we look forward to working with the legislature on it.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning, Mr. Chair. Jonathan Clay, I'll speak on two issues. On behalf of the City of Encinitas, we oppose language that was inserted into AB 114 that retroactively applies new conditions to an appropriation from 2023. We feel that's illegal, so we oppose that. And then for the Alliance for Trans Youth and for Trans Family Support Services, we appreciate the help for trans youth that was included for Medi-Cal. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and committee members. I'm Scott Cox on behalf of the East Bay Regional Parks District, commenting on AB113. We'd like to express our strong support and appreciation for funds supporting Golden Gate Fields, a critical climate resilience project that will offer enriched access to nature for all Californians, and particular appreciation for Senator McNerney and his legislative colleagues for additional funding to complete pond restoration, projects that are vital for livestock grazing and regional wildfire prevention. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning, Chair members. Monica Madrid with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. We thank the committee for not including the proposed autonomous agricultural equipment language in the budget trailer bill. And then, however, we are disappointed that the budget did not include funding to expand CFAP to humanitarian immigrant populations losing federal funding assistance eligibility under H.R.1. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Chair and members, Reid Addis on behalf of CalVans. Thank you very much for your work to get the Prop 4 funding and for the very important farmworker vanpool program. I appreciate Senator Reyes' committee in particular for doing that. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning. Griselda Chavez on behalf of the California Association Local Conservation Corps in support of the funds allocated through the Beverage Container Recycling Fund and ABS-B-178. These funds will ensure local corps members can continue protecting and restoring California's environment while receiving training and experiences that prepare them for future careers. and we'd like to thank Senator Reyes for her leadership and support in Subcommittee 2 as well as Senator DeRosso and the office for being lifetime friends of the Corps and for being such saunter advocates. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Jake Schultz on behalf of the Conservation Fund in strong appreciation for the $4.6 million allocated to DOC to improve land access 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 towards the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program. And a special thank you to Senator Lehrer as well.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning. Emma Jungwirth on behalf of the California State Association of Counties. First, I want to thank the legislature for not advancing proposals that would have limited public entity recovery for utility-caused wildfires. Thank you for rejecting the governor's proposed sustainable aviation fuel trailer bill. Appreciate the GGRF expenditure plan and funding for local priorities and programs. And on behalf of CalCities as well, we want to thank you for restoring the wage parity for goat herders until 2029.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Welcome.
Jeff Neal for Contra Costa and San Diego County. Thank you for funding 988 and saving lives for Contra Costa and Lake Counties. Thanks for the goat fix. Central Valley Salinity Coalition really appreciate your work funding for the Safer Drinking Water Program. We do need to find a long-term fix for that as well, but we appreciate the one-year fix. And lastly, for the Orange County Fire Authority, thank you for providing the funding to help combat wildfires in that county.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
It's Senora Robancho with End Child Poverty California and the Dena Rise Up Coalition. Over 100-plus Eaton Fire survivors came together and organized in support of the CARE Fund, and we celebrate its historic inclusion and thank the governor, legislature, Pro Tem Limon, and Senator Perez for standing with Eaton Fire survivors to ensure they protect the generational legacy of Altadena. Lastly, while in California we are making real progress on H.R.1 CalFresh administrative response, we are disappointed that this budget does not immediately expand food assistance to immigrants excluded by H.R.1's xenophobic policy. And while we did not see the progress we hoped for for CalFresh households with children 14 to 17 losing their dependency status, We are celebrating the new hunger-free holiday school meal program because every child deserves a right to every meal every season. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning. Michelle Gibbons with CHIAC. I'm here to express our disappointment that the budget doesn't include a solution for indigent care programs, but not only that, it doesn't adopt any of the technical corrections to AB85. So what this means in real terms is that some counties without any infrastructure are being asked to stand up that infrastructure without any new resources, but also diverting the maximum amount of resources of 1991 realignment away from them. So they have less to stand up more. And so we hope that next year we can continue this dialogue and find a solution that helps counties be able to administer the program and or maintain coverage in Medi-Cal. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning, Kyle Jones. First, on behalf of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, just want to thank the committee, staff, leadership, administration on the Farm Access Trailer Bill and getting that funding going. That's been a priority of CAF. I also want to thank our champion, Assemblymember Wilson, for helping getting that across the finish line. And then for the San Joaquin Valley Water Collaborative Action Program, we're pleased to see one-time funding this year for a safer program and recognize the need to figure out an ongoing fix there. Thank you, Senator Reyes, for working on that. Also just want to flag the need for further water investments from Prop 4 in the San Joaquin Valley, including groundwater recharge, and we look forward to those conversations next year. Thank you.
Thank you. Last few witnesses are slipping a little, so if you can try to keep it to 30 seconds, or less so all these people in line can be able to speak.
We'll do my best. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mark Fenstermaker on behalf of the California Council of Land Trust, Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, expressing our support for the Sustainable Agricultural Land Conservation Program And much gratitude to you Mr Chair for your leadership on that program for so many years On behalf of the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts Save the Goats thank you for saving the goats And lastly on behalf of Earth Justice I want to thank the Senate for rejecting the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Tax Credit proposal.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning. Sylvia Solis-Shaw here on behalf of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. Appreciate the funding and the budget for air quality improvement programs. And a big thank you to the Senate for its work on making sure that the $10 million in farmer funding was included.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Welcome. Good morning, Mr. Chair and
members. Karen Ling on behalf of the Boards of Supervisors in Stanislaus, Mendocino, Marin, Humboldt, San Francisco, and Kern in support for various items that were included. Big thank you to Senator Cobaldin for the farmworker housing funding for NAPA. Senator Nilo for the support on the goat hoarder thing for Placer County because they definitely need it
and thank you Senator McNerney for the Delta money. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Welcome. Good morning. Lizzie Guansona here on behalf of the San Mateo City County Association Governments. Just want to thank you for the continued focus on the VLF shortfall issue and the signaled intent to work on longer term solutions. Also on the behalf of the Office of Kat Taylor and Tom Kat Ranch, I want to express our gratitude for the $50 million for Salk.
Thanks. Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning. Brandon Garcia with Advanced Energy United here to express support for the $10 million in geothermal funding for exploratory wells and AB-SB113. Also want to thank the Senate in particular for the rejection of the administration's trailer bill to transfer the participants of DSGS over to ELRP. Thank you much for that. And special thanks for consideration to Subtude, Chair, Senator Reyes, for her hard work there. Do want to obviously then express disappointment for the lack of DSGS funding for next year. We think this is a critical reliability program that should be included. I also want to echo the CFT comments about passing AB 196. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning. Ryan Suza on behalf of California Food Banks and End Child Poverty California. We just want to say thank you, and we're grateful for the additional CalFood funding and the $15 million pilot hunger-free holiday school meal program. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Welcome.
Good morning. Good morning. Josh Goger on behalf of the Urban Counties of California, the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, and the boards of supervisors of the counties of Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. We want to just continue to express appreciation for the HR1 mitigation efforts that were included in the budget and express continued disappointment that there's nothing in the budget to address the indigent care issue. And even modest technical changes would be helpful. But we look forward to partnering with the legislature next year on that issue. Thanks.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. Cliff Berg here on behalf of Forest Lawn and Mount Sinai cemeteries, a large coalition of community organizations, including the Armenian Jewish Catholic communities of Los Angeles, homeowners associations, and business associations, all in support of AB 194, which contains some language that would ensure that there is a public and transparent process before the road in front of those cemeteries impacting hundreds of thousands of families in Southern California. and our state is narrowed without any public approval. Urge your support. Thank you. On behalf of the California Optometric Association, expressing disappointment that we have failed to address Medi-Cal rates for optometrists who have not had an increase in 25 years.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning. Mariel Aracho with Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability. You can pull the microphone down to you. Mariel Aracho with Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability on GGRF. While we are disappointed that the budget bill does not include guard rules for the MDI and more funding for air quality drinking water housing and transit We know that the Senate fought hard to secure more funding for what otherwise would have been less money for EJ priorities such as SAFER and AB617. We thank the Pro Temp, Senator Laird, Senator Reyes, and committee members for fighting hard for Tier 3 DRI funding. Thank you.
Thank you very much. You're welcome.
Good morning.
Now you can pull the mic back up.
Good morning. Leo Dale on behalf of the Climate Center. In support of additional funds for geothermal exploration, I'm grateful for the work on AB 196. We also support returning interest earned from GGRF to GGRF, and although the programs are not being fully funded, we appreciate the effort to fund these programs as much as possible, and we're also disappointed that improving the manufacturing decarbonization incentive was not included. Thank you, Senator Reyes, for your comments, and thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Morning. Ryan McCarthy on behalf of North County Transit District. Pleased that the budget protects some SB 125 zero emission transit capital program and LCTOP funding for this fiscal year. Also aligned with comments from the Transit Association regarding fully funding these funding sources and TIRCP in future budgets. And on behalf of the cities of Chino Hills and Upland, grateful for funding for critical public projects. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Hi there. McKinley Thompson Morley here on two things. First, on behalf of the Solar Energy Industries Association and Energy Hub, echoing the comments of Brandon Garcia at AU on CalShape and DSGS. Also here on behalf of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, Ventura County Transportation Commission, and San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, and our transit partner, Omnitrans. I wanted to thank you for the $230 million in ABSB 113.
If you could just speak up slightly, even though you're almost out of time.
Of course. Sorry. Thank you for the $230 million in ABSP 113 and for the SB 125 commitments. Look forward to working together next year to continue supporting transportation. Thank you very much.
Thanks. Welcome.
Good morning. Lillian Mervis with Environmental Defense Fund here in support of extending the CalShare program. And I want to echo my colleagues who spoke to ensuring the language in AB 196 is heard since AB 193 does not go far enough. AB 196 ensures program funds are available for projects beyond what's currently in the pipeline. And ensuring the interest from that program extension goes towards the demand side grid support program, which is extremely important for grid reliability. Thank you to Senator Reyes and Pro Tem Limon for their leadership. Thank you very much. We also want to express appreciation for funding for the SAVA program, MLRP. Thank you very much.
You're talking into all their time. Welcome.
Good morning, Chair and members. Trent Murphy with the California Association of Alcohol and Drug Program Executives. I want to thank the legislature for their support for the Naloxone Distribution Project, as well as the Treatment Atlas Program, and finally the allocation for $20 million to go to the 98 call centers, all of which address the number one cause of years of life lost in the state of California, which is drug overdose. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Dennis Albiani with California Advocates on behalf of the California Grain and Feed Seed and several agricultural entities. We appreciate the $10 million for farmer program, But as it's been heard, out years, we'd like to get that heavier funded. The concern we have is on behalf of American Beverage and the PRCC, the PET Recycler Council, $60 million taken from the unredeemed bottle bill account. That has often been a loan opportunity, but this looks like a grant. We need oversight on that so we don't put pressure on out years. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Hi. I appearing on behalf of Dr Leah Stokes a professor at UC Santa Barbara I want to echo the comments Could you tell tell us who you are Oh I Meredith Alexander Thank you And I reading her statement Thank you Echoing the comments of others regarding the Senate not taking up AB 196 to fund the Cal shape program and also express gratitude for Senator Reyes and the pro tem for their leadership. And just wanting to highlight that in the last week, half a million students were sent home because of extreme heat and the lack of air conditioning. So we still need that $200 million in the CalShay program. Thanks for doing anything you can.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members. Adam Hadafi. First, on behalf of Generac Power Systems and Ecobee Smart Thermostats, I would like to thank Senator Reyes for her leadership and support of the Demand-Side Grid Support Program as well as the Pro Tem. We are, of course, disappointed that the funding for this program was not included in this year's package. And I will echo my colleague's comment from Advanced Energy United on that. And then secondly, on behalf of the California Coalition of Large Energy Users, echo the comments encouraging the Senate to take up AB 196. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Morning, Chair and members. George Covint on behalf of the Almond Alliance. We support the inclusion of farmer and safer funding in the budget. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning. Chloe Ames with NextGen California. First, I want to thank the committee for all your work on the greenhouse gas reduction funds, returning interest dollars, and funding some Tier 3 programs, but would like to see full funding for Tier 3. We'd also like to state significant disappointment for not curtailing the manufacturing decarbonization incentive and look forward to working on that next year. And finally, I want to echo comments from Brandon Garcia on funding the demand side grid support program. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning, Chair and members. Jessica Hay with AFSCME California. On behalf of our members who work for the county of San Mateo, we support the language in AB 184 that directs the state to negotiate a solution to the VLF 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 in AB and SB 113. We also appreciate the language consideration related to child care provider attendance and staffing coverage. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Thank you. Good morning. I'm Shane Levine on behalf of the Partnership for Innovative Action. I just want to thank the administration and the legislature for supporting the $4.7 million investment in the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine for Veterans Psychedelic Research in AB113. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Thank you. Good morning. My name is Carmen Nicole Cox. My client, Kanye and Wellness Center, serves 1,200 California families impacted by the lifelong painful disease of sickle cell. The federal government has retreated from funding black life in America, including funding for this medically vulnerable population, because California also chose not to continue funding for coordinated care. More than 200 families will lose access to free mental health care, free transportation to hospitals, specialty care, and life-saving blood transfusions. Cayenne has spent years building a safety net for a community that has historically gone without one. We are eager for meaningful conversations to keep this safety net from disappearing entirely.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning committee chair and members. Yerale Magallon on behalf of the Creative Artists Agency. Appreciate the work on ABSB 186 and thankful for Senator Allen and Assemblymembers of Burr for their leadership on this issue.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning. Rebecca Marcus on behalf of the California Certified Organic Farmers. First, a huge thank you to the legislature and specifically to Chair Laird for the investment in the Salk program. Additionally, we are in support of the Prop 4 investments in healthy soils, the land access language in SB 178, and the goat herder provision. for all the reasons laid out by Senator Blakespeare. On behalf of the Union and Concerned Scientists, huge appreciation for not including the SAF tax credit. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning, Chair and members. Trevor Nelson with the California Alliance of Child and Family Services in strong support of ABSP 173, which includes $5 million to implement a California Press 3 option for LGBTQ plus youth suicide prevention through the 988 Suicide Crisis Lifeline. Given the federal uncertainty surrounding restoration of a reliable LGBTQ plus lifeline, California must have the ability to ensure this specialized support remains available. This funding will help restore a lifeline that tens of thousands of Californians have relied on in moments of crisis. Thank you.
Thank you. Welcome.
Good morning, Chair and members. Tiffany Mock on behalf of CFT, a union of educators and classified professionals. We're here to express our disappointment that this final budget does not include funding for part-time faculty office hours. However, we wanted to thank the Senate for their steadfast support of this proposition at times and for all the work that staff in all areas have done. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning. Linda Way with Western Center on Law and Poverty. I want to echo Grace and Child Poverty's gratitude for the work to fight hunger, including creation of the hungry-free holiday school meals, but deeply disappointed that nothing was done to expand CFAP and families will lose access due to time limits. We also appreciate continued access for immigrants to access outpatient dialysis in emergency Medi-Cal, Medi-Cal cleanup language, as well as support for gender-affirming care for children and youth. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning. Chelsea Gazzillo on behalf of American Farmland Trust. We thank the legislature and especially Senator Laird for the $50 million for the Sustainable Ag Land Conservation Program. We are also supportive of the Prop 4 appropriations for the Healthy Soils Program and the Farmland Access Program, as well as the trailer bill language that creates the Farmland Access Program. So thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning, Chair and members. Beth Malnowski of SEO California. With a budget that as a whole aimed to delay coverage losses and maintain quality care, we are deeply disappointed that we were not able to maintain WQIB for our skilosing facilities for one year. This is a missed opportunity both for our workforce, for those who received care in skilosing facilities, and we did regrettably also leave federal dollars on the table. I want to also align with the remarks made by CHIAC and our counties regarding indigent care. We look forward to working with all of you in 2027 to address indigent care, to also address other matters that are before us as we continue to address HR1 implications to our state. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members. Greg Hayes here on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America and the Warner Brothers Discovery in support of AB 186. Thank you for the governor's and legislature's work improving the production tax credit program to preserve the jobs and also grow them for the future. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning, Chair and members. Alicia Priago here on behalf of Paramount Skydance in support of AB 186. And thank you for your work on this fix. Thank you. Good morning, Chair and members. Catherine Charles on behalf of the Bay Area Council. Just want to express appreciation for the $230 million GGRF allocation to transportation, as well as $6.75 million to the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority. And thank you to the members who made that possible.
Thanks. Thank you. And just before you speak, we're going to start voting in six or seven minutes. and would the one member that is not here please come so that we don have to put the bills on call Welcome Good morning Mr Chair and members Stephen Stenzler here on behalf of Big Brothers Big Sisters of California I want to thank the Senate and the legislature for their investment in youth mental health in AB 113
and specifically the investments in Orange County, San Diego. Thank you, Senator Blakespear, and Los Angeles. We look forward to working with the legislature next year to expand these investments to other parts of the state. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning. Stacey Heaton with the Rural County Representatives of California, representing 40 rural counties statewide. We would first like to thank you for saving the goats. That's very important to our communities. We'd also like to offer strong support for the investment in the wolf livestock coexistence programs, also very important to our communities. And thank you for your work to get the tax exemptions for wildfire mitigation funding for individual homeowners. Most of those programs are aimed at lower income residents and to turn around and tax them on those funds seems unfair and unwise. So appreciate your support today.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning, Brian Little, California Farm Bureau. Here to thank you for the provisions in ABSB 187 to restore wage parity for sheep and goats and for goat grazing services. Thank you to Senator Blakespeare for her excellent explanation for why it matters, and Senator Hurtado for her leadership in making this happen. Thanks.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning. Good morning. Ronald Coleman Baise here on behalf of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. CHERLA, we very much are grateful and thankful for the addition of the CARE Fund, $15 million that will go to help residents of Altadena to restore them after the Eton fire. We also very much appreciate the additional $2 million to expand legal services into the San Fernando Valley. That has emerged as a hotspot for enforcement, and now this investment will help more lawyers help folks who may be facing deportation. Lastly, we very much are grateful for the inclusion and the changes in law that will allow for individuals on restricted scope Medi-Cal to also have dialysis. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Honorable Chair and members, Niccolo DeLuca, here we go. Thank you for VLF. Thank you for Golden Gate Fields. On behalf of the Goat Herders, thank you from Oakland, Hercules, San Gabriel, Sunnyvale, Mission Viejo, South Pasadena, and Laguna Beach. And then finally, on local public funding opportunities, thank you from Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro, Union City, Pacifica, Sunnyvale, Reedley, Kingsburg, and Samuel Merritt University.
Thank you very much.
Good morning, Chair and members. Ms. Tiffany Phan, on behalf of two entities, first, on behalf of Sony Pictures Entertainment, in support of AB 186, thank you for the legislature and administrators' work on that. Also, on behalf of a large coalition of water districts and water users, we are disappointed there isn't funding for the state's snow survey and measurement program, especially with a potentially historic El Nino before us. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Members, Dan Jacobson with Environment California. want to echo the comments about CalShape, which was started to help us deal with the COVID crisis, but now we have the extreme heat crisis. And so we need to make sure that we're extending CalShape and doing everything we can. Thank you to the members of the Senate who really helped us to do that. We hope we can tackle that this year. Thank you. Thank you very much. Welcome. Good morning. I'm Marina Espinosa with the California Housing Consortium. We would like to urge the legislature to work on a permanent solution that addresses the GGRF funding shortfall. We appreciate the augmentation that some tier three programs received in the budget package The affordable housing and Sustainable Communities Program also needs additional resources and we encourage you to consider that in any future efforts to backfill GGRF
Thank you. Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning, Chair and Senators. Edgar Guetta with SEIU California. On the topic of child care, grateful for the funding for FFN's licensed providers who were impacted by the 2025 Los Angeles fires. We also look forward to working with the administration and the legislature to move rate reform forward using the alternative methodology towards a single rate structure. On the topic of education, we appreciate the recognition of classified food service workers and the funding for intercession meals to help prevent child hunger, especially as families face loss of SNAP.
Thank you very much for sharing it. Welcome.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members. Raymond Contreras with Lighthouse Public Affairs. on behalf of Habitat for Humanity California, Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency, and San Diego Housing Commission. We would like to thank the legislature for the funding of the regional housing financing agencies in Los Angeles, San Diego, and the Bay Area. A special thank you to our champions, Senator Durazo, Weber, and Araguin. This will help protect, build, preserve affordable housing across the state. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning. Anayeli Martin with the California Immigrant Policy Center. We share disappointment this bill package does not restore benefits to humanitarian immigrants kicked off of CalFresh due to HR1. And we also share disappointment to see that the funding for the California Immigrant Resilience Fund was removed. This funding is essential in building out legal services capacity in our Central Valley, Inland Empire, and Pearl Valley, and other underserved areas in our state. And finally, I want to echo the comments of my colleagues regarding Medi-Cal. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Josh Wright with Equality California. Thank you for the swift action taken to ensure trans youth on Medi-Cal do not lose access to life-saving care. We look forward to continuing to work with you on a permanent Medi-Cal billing pathway. We are also grateful for the funding to ensure that LGBTQ plus youth in crisis can be connected with trained counselors through 988. Thanks.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members. Alejandro Solis for California Advocacy. We would like to thank the committee for the investments for Mount St. Mary's University, City of Alhambra, City of Rialto, and for the Marine Mammal Care Center of Los Angeles. Thank you to Senator Reyes and Senator Perez. Thank you, Senator Richardson and Senator Allen, for your leadership and for recognizing the importance of investing in the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles. On behalf of the Marine Mammal Care Center and the communities it serves, we are deeply grateful for Senator Richardson's commitment. This investment will provide lasting benefits for public safety and marine wildlife. Thank you.
Thank you very much. and somehow we lost Senator Perez. If she could come back, we're going to vote after three speakers and we don't want to put things on call. I'll buy you some time.
Chair Espan Nunez with Actum on behalf of Parents Anonymous, incredibly grateful for the investment that will save the parent and youth helpline and also here on behalf of the 988 Consortium, we're grateful for the $20 million to help the call centers in support of AB 113. Thank you so much.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Alexis Rodriguez of the California Chamber of Commerce is here to express our support for AB 186 related to the film tax credit. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Welcome.
Last but not least. Last but not least. I'll be brief. Thank you on behalf of the City of Los Angeles for the major events funding, and also for the Port of Los Angeles, the Port Freight Investment Program, additional time to draw down those funds. also for LA Metro we appreciate the major events funding for the city of Los Angeles There also other community investments that we very appreciative for Lastly for LADLT on the transit funding the ink barely dry on SB 840 It took a lot to cobble together funding, and we're grateful for the effort. Thank you.
Thank you very much. That completes the public testimony, and I just want to thank everybody for being so succinct and working with us. We got a lot of testimony in that period. We're going to move to votes, and we're going to go in the order that we have in the agenda. So we're going to begin with Assembly Bill 113. Is there a motion?
Move the bill.
Motion by Richardson.
Any further discussion? Please call the roll. AB 113, the motion is due passed. Senators Laird? Aye. Laird, aye. Nilo? No. Nilo, no. Archuleta? Aye. Archuleta, aye. Blakespeare? Aye. Blakespeare, aye. Cobaldon? Aye. Cobaldon, aye. Troy? Abstain. Troy, abstain. Durazo? Aye. Durazo, aye. Grove? No. Grove, no. Hurtado? Aye. Hurtado, aye. McNerney? Aye. McNerney, aye. Menjabar? Aye. Menjabar, aye. Orchabog?
Perez Reyes
Reyes, aye Richardson, aye
Ciarto, no
Smallwood Cuevas, aye Weber Pearson, aye
Okay, we have 12 ayes, 3 noes, 2 non-voting We're missing one member She's here, okay Would you please call the absent member on Assembly Bill 113?
Perez. Aye.
Perez, aye. That's ayes 13, noes 3.
That bill is out. We're going to move to Assembly Bill 114. Is there a motion?
Motion by Menjafar.
Any further discussion? Let's move to a vote. Please call the roll on Assembly Bill 114. A B 114 motion is due passed. And it's Laird. Aye. Laird, aye. Nilo.
No. Nilo, no. Archuleta?
Aye. Archuleta, aye. Blakespeare?
Aye. Blakespeare, aye.
Cobaldon? Aye. Cobaldon, aye.
Choi? No.
Choi, no. Dorosso? Aye.
Dorosso, aye. Grove?
No. Grove, no.
Hurtado? Hurtado, aye. McNerney?
Aye. McNerney, aye. Menjabar?
Aye. Menjabar, aye. Ochoa Bogue? Yes, no.
Perez? Aye.
Perez, aye. Reyes? Aye.
Reyes, aye. Richardson?
Aye. Richardson, aye. Sayarto?
No.
Webber-Pearson.
Aye.
Webber-Pearson, aye. That's ayes 13, noes 4. That bill is out. We'll move to Assembly Bill 133 on education. Motion by Archuleta. Further discussion? Seeing none, please call the roll on Assembly Bill 133. AB 133, motion is due passed. Senator Slaher.
Aye.
Lair, aye. Nilo.
No.
Nilo, no. Archuleta.
Aye.
Archuleta, aye. Blakespeare.
Aye.
Blakespeare, aye. Cobaldon.
Aye.
Cobaldon, aye. Choi? No. Choi, no. Durazo? Aye. Durazo, aye. Grove? No. Grove, no. Hurtado? Aye. Hurtado, aye. McNerney? McNerney, aye. Menjabar? Aye. Menjabar, aye. Ochoa Bog? No. Ochoa Bog, no. Perez? Aye. Perez, aye. Reyes? Aye. Reyes, aye. Richardson? Aye. Richardson, aye. Sayarto? No. Sayarto, no. Smallwood Cuevas? Aye. Smallwood Cuevas, aye. Weber Pearson? Aye. Weber Pearson, aye. Ayes 13, noes 5. That bill is out. We're going to move to Assembly Bill 167 on higher education. Is there a motion?
Move it. Move it.
Motion by Archuleta. Further discussion? Seeing none, please call the roll on Assembly Bill 167. AB 167, the motion is due passed. Senators Laird?
Aye.
Laird, aye. Nilo?
Not voting.
Archuleta?
Aye.
Archuleta, aye. Blakespeare?
Aye.
Blakespeare, aye. Cabaldon?
Aye.
Cabaldon, aye. Choi?
Not voting.
Dorosso?
Aye.
Dorosso, aye. Grove?
Aye.
Grove, aye. Hurtado?
Hurtado, aye.
McNerney?
Aye.
McNerney, aye. Menjabar?
Menjabar, aye.
Ochoa Bog?
Aye.
Aye. Perez?
Aye.
Perez, aye. Reyes?
Aye.
Richardson?
Aye.
Sear to? Smallwood Cuevas?
Aye.
Weber Pearson?
Aye.
Weber Pearson, aye. Ayes 15, nos 0. That bill is out. We are going to move to Assembly Bill 173 on health. Is there a motion?
Move it.
I'm sorry. Motion by Cobaldon. Further discussion? please call the roll on assembly bill 173. AB 173, the motion is do pass. And as Laird Aye Laird aye Nilo Aye Nilo aye Archuleta Aye Archuleta aye Blakespeare Aye Blakespeare aye Cobaldon Aye Cobaldon aye Choi Not voting Dorosso Aye Dorosso aye Grove Not voting Hurtado? Aye. Hurtado, aye. McNerney? Aye. McNerney, aye. Menjabar? Aye. Menjabar, aye. Ochoabog? Aye. Ochoabog, aye. Perez? Aye. Perez, aye. Reyes? Aye. Reyes, aye. Richardson? Aye. Richardson, aye. Sayarta? Aye. Smallwood Cuevas? Aye. Smallwood Cuevas, aye. Weber Pearson? Aye. Weber Pearson, aye. Ayes 15, noes 0. That bill is out. We're going to move to Assembly Bill 175, Developmental Services. Is there a motion?
No.
A motion by Reyes. Any further discussion? Please call the roll on Assembly Bill 175. AB 175, the motion is due passed. Senator Laird? Aye. Lerr, aye. Nilo?
Aye.
Archuleta?
Aye.
Blakespeare?
Aye.
Blakespeare, aye. Cobaldon?
Aye.
Cobaldon, aye. Choi?
Aye.
Choi, aye. Doraso?
Aye.
Doraso, aye. Grove?
Aye.
Grove, aye. Hurtado?
Aye.
Hurtado, aye. McNerney?
McNerney, aye.
Menjabar?
Aye.