Senate Floor Session

Thank you. Secretary will call the roll. Alan, Alvarado Gil, Archuleta, Araguin, Ashby, Becker, Blakespeare, Cabaldon, Caballero, Cervantes, Choi, Cortese, Daly, Durazo, Gonzalez, Grayson, Grove, Hurtado, Jones, Laird, Limon, McGuire, McNerney, Menjabar, Nilo, Ochoa Bogue, Padilla, Perez, Reyes, Richardson, Rubio, Ceyarto, Smallwood Cuevas, Stern, Strickland, Umberg, Baladaris, Wahab, Weber Pearson, Weiner. A quorum is present. Would the members and our guests be on the rail and in the gallery please rise? We will be led in prayer this morning by our chaplain, Sister Michelle Gorman. after which please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

Thank you. Thank you so much. You know, all good things come to an end, and so I'd just like to take a few moments of personal privilege to thank you, senators and staff and sergeants, for the honor of serving you for the past 11 years This was not supposed to be that long but I also wanted to say that personal privilege word for a good while I started out with Senator Kevin DeLeon and I remember in his swearing talk he said that we are all pro And so I think my tem is up right now, even though I thought I would be finished with him. but then there was Senator Atkins and Senator McGuire, and now Senator Monique Limon as pro tem. So you definitely need a break from me and a new face around here. I can truly say I have been blessed by my time with you. Senator Nilo over here one day said, you bless us and we bless you. And actually, he was totally correct. I have been blessed. I have learned a whole lot. I think I've learned to be a better citizen. I've learned to be concise when I make a little prayer. I appreciate the interfaith, intersexuality. I don't think that's the right word, but you know what I mean. Interculturality, in a word, the diversity of all that makes California great. and so I'm inspired and grateful for your dedication to the common good and we will keep on doing the goodness, compassion and justice for all and please know you will be in my poor prayers with gratitude and love. Amen. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation and another, indivisible, with liberty and justice for our all. Members, without objection, Senate Rule 55 is suspended to allow a guest on the floor for today's floor session. Moving to privileges of the floor, we do have some introductions of guests. Senator Pro Tem Lamone. You are recognized for your special guest.

Thank you. And if you would like to join in a picture, please make your way to the back of the floor. As members gather, we will take a group picture. Thank you. Members, moving on in privileges of the floor, we do have another introduction. Majority Leader Senator Ashby, you are recognized from your desk.

Pro Tem Lamone, you are recognized.

Very good. Senator Padilla, you are recognized. And distinguished colleagues, thank you to the Pro Tem and esteemed Majority Leader. I rise as the Chair of the Senate Select Committee on California-Mexico Communication and Dialogue. Bienvenidos a todas y todos. Somos los norteamericanos, no? I think it's important to recognize the unique symbiotic relationship that we share with our brothers and sisters and family in Mexico. Economic, social, environmental, resource. We live in a time when the political inclination is to suggest that being divided is better, that finding differences are better. But the reality is our lives and our fortunes and the future of our children are all inextricably linked together. We are brothers and sisters. We are family. And our destinies must be borne out through understanding, respect, and collaboration. And in that vein, I thank you both again. I thank my leadership and welcome you with my whole heart. Senator Ochoa Bogue, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, I would like to wholeheartedly welcome the delegation from Morelia, Michoacán. De parte del Partido Republicano del Senado, les extendemos una gran bienvenida a esta plataforma. Y gracias por estar aquí. Y será un gusto en conocerles hoy. Senator Rubio, you are recognized. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the Senate. I also want to rise to welcome our friends. And I want to say a few words in Spanish, since most people have welcomed them in English, if I may. Bienvenidos. Queríamos darles con un orgullo recibirlos aquí en el Capitolio Thank you. Senator, is that it? Okay. Let's welcome them once again to the floor and do pictures. All members, if you would like to join in the back. Thank you. Welcome to the California Senate. Thank you. Thank you. Members, moving on in privileges of the floor, we do have more recognitions. Back to Pro Tem Lamone, you are recognized. Thank you. Members, we heard from Sister Michelle Gorman for the last time this morning, and we want to honor the work and her legacy. For 11 years, for 11 years, Sister Michelle has offered thoughtful words of wisdom to this chamber. Her impact in the Senate started long before she offered her words to us. Sister Michelle left her home in County Mayo, Ireland, 55 years ago to start the journey here in California and to enter the Sisters of Mercy in Auburn. She began her ministry as a teacher aide at Our Lady of Fatima School in St Joseph Parish while also studying scripture supporting the community and joyfully reflecting in prayer and contemplation Sister Gorman attended Sierra College Dominican College in San Rafael, and finally Sacramento State University where she earned her Bachelor's of Arts degree in Humanities and French. She also received her teaching credentials. Sister Michelle devoted 15 years to teaching first at Holy Spirit Elementary School. She then served at Bishop High School, where she taught English literature and she taught students about the Senate. She also taught English, literature and composition, yearbook and composition and rhetoric courses at Christian Brothers High School. Continuing her pursuit for educational growth, Sister Michelle returned to school to earn her master's degree in English and American literature from Gonzaga University in Spokening, Washington. After this, she became a vocation minister to work with women across this country, including women in Northern California, in Washington, in Oregon, in Idaho, and Montana. In 2004, Sister Michelle was elected to the leadership team of the Auburn Regional Community. In 2008, she joined the West Midwest community in Omaha, Nebraska, where she spent five years faithfully serving her ministry while caring for those who were sick, poor, and underserved. Throughout her journey, Sister Michelle has remained committed to personal and spiritual growth. She earned her diploma in spiritual direction at the Shalom Spiritual Guidance Program in Maryland, and she studied Spanish at the Cultural Institute in Oaxaca, Mexico. Sister Michelle has been part of so many communities in this world, and we've been lucky to have her as part of our community here in the Senate. When she returned to Sacramento, she joined us. And for the time she's been with us over the last 11 years, she has brought compassion. She has brought grace. She has brought perspective to this chamber. Her prayers have comforted us. They've also been words that we needed to hear during difficult moments. They've grounded us during challenging debates. and reminded us of our shared responsibility to serve the people of this state. Sister Michelle, thank you. Thank you for your unwavering dedication, for sharing your wisdom, your beauty, your prayers, your kindness to this Senate floor. On behalf of the California State Senate, please accept our deepest gratitude and appreciation. You will be greatly missed. We wish you the best in your new chapter and we congratulate you on building an extraordinary career of service to so many communities across this globe we are thankful to you as are the people of the state of California Senator Ashby, you are recognized from your desk.

Senator Nilo, you are recognized.

Senator Richardson, you are recognized.

Senator Grove, you are recognized.

Senator Padilla, you are recognized.

Without objection.

Senator Smallwood-Cuevas, you are recognized.

Senator Gonzalez, you are recognized.

Senator Hurtado, you are recognized.

senator stern you are recognized yes i just wanted to add my gratitude and um

Senator Archuleta, you are recognized.

Senator McGuire, you are recognized.

Senator Rubio, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. ladies and gentlemen of the Senate and of course Sister Gorman what an honor to have spent the last eight years in your presence we all need a steady hand and you represented that every time we come into this chamber we don't know what's going to happen on the floor but we do know that with your blessing we better people on this floor and we look forward to seeing you every week your legacy is always going to be with us but we want you to know that you respected you valued you loved and we all have felt your presence, your warmth, and your inspiration in so many different ways, as shared by my colleague, as he proposed to his wife. But know that you've touched everyone, including staff and everyone that's watching. We don't know how we're going to move forward without you, but please know that we always want you to come back. This is your home. Congratulations on this new chapter of your life, but please know that we wish you the very best. Senator Weiner, you are recognized.

And Senator Durazo, you are recognized.

Mr. Sister Michelle Gorman, we give you honor today. Thank you for your service to the Senate. And if you would like to join for a group picture in the back, members, make your way. Thank you. Thank you. Members, we have a very special guest with us today. The Majority Leader Ashby's aunt from Oregon is visiting with us today, Rochelle Ashby. So glad that right in the back of the chamber. Welcome to California Senate chamber. Messages from the governor will be deemed read. Messages from the assembly. Secretary please read. Mr. President, I am directed to inform your honorable body that the assembly on this day adopted assembly concurrent assembly constitution amendment 20 Sue Parker, chief clerk of the assembly. Mr. President, I am directed to inform your Honorable Body that the Assembly amended and on this day passed as amended Senate Bill 417 and Senate Bill 623 and respectfully request your Honorable Body to concur and set amendments. Sue Parker, Chief Clerk of the Assembly. Messages from the Assembly will then be deemed read. Reports of committees will be deemed read and amendments adopted. Members, we are moving to motions, resolutions, and notices. Any member wish to be recognized under motions? Senator Hurtado, you are recognized.

Senator Cortese, you are recognized.

The desk will note. Thank you. Senator Laird, you are recognized.

You want to do it a third time? Usually that's the charge. If you think it'll help you.

Senator Laird is asking for an aye vote. Senator Nilo is asking for a no vote. Secretary, please call the roll. Allen. Avril Aguil. Archuleta. Aye. Aragon. Aye. Ashby. Aye. Becker. Blake Spear. Aye. Cobaldon. Aye. Caballero. Aye. Cervantes. Aye. Durazo, Gonzalez, aye. Grayson, aye. Grove, no. Hurtado, aye. Jones, Laird, aye. Limon, McGuire, aye. McNerney, aye. Menzabar, aye. Nilo, no. Ochoa Bo, no. Padilla, Perez, Trelles, Richardson, Aye. Rubio, Aye. Ciarto, No. Smallwood Cuevas, Stern, Strickland, No. Umberg, Aye. Valadares, No. Wahab, Aye. Weber Pearson, Aye. Wiener aye. Secretary please call absent members. Allen aye. Alvarado Gil, Becker aye. Daly, Durazo, Jones, Limon, Padilla, Perez, Reyes, Smallwood Cuevas, aye. Turazo, aye. Stern. Thank you. Senator Laird, you are recognized once again.

up without reference to file Is there any objection Seeing none the motion carries Senator Ashby you are recognized Thank you. Presiding officer, I move the adoption of authors and floor amendments that cross the

Senator Valadares, you are recognized.

Any objection to previous roll call? It appears we'll have to call roll. With that, Secretary, please call roll. Allen. Aye. Aye. Alvarado Gil. Archuleta. Aye. Adegin. Aye. Aye, Ashby. Becker. Aye. Aye, Blake Spear. Aye. Cabaldon. Aye, Caballero. Aye. Aye, Cervantes. Aye. Aye, Choi. No, Cortese. Aye. Aye, Daly. Durazo. Aye, Gonzalez. Aye. Grayson. Aye. Grove. No, Hurtado. Aye. Jones. Laird. Aye. Aye. Limon. McGuire. Aye. Aye. McNerney. Aye. Menjabar. Aye. Nilo. Ochoa Bog. No. Padilla. Aye. Perez. Aye. Reyes. Richardson. Aye. Rubio. Aye. Ciarto. No. Smallwood Cuevas. Aye. Stern. Aye. Strickland. No. Umberg. Aye. Valadares. No. Wahab. Mojave, aye. Nilo, no. Ashby, aye. Ayes 28, noes 7. The motion carries. If there are no other members to be recognized under motions, resolutions, and notices, give us one moment as we prepare for our next step. Thank you. And Senator Laird, you are recognized. Secretary, please read. Assembly Constitutional Amendment 20 by Assemblymember Gabriel, an act relating to state finance. Senator Laird, you are recognized. Thank you very much, Mr. President. ACA 20 the Save for California Futures Act is a constitutional amendment that strengthens the state rainy day fund Prior to 2014 California consistently had not set aside significant amounts of reserves to smooth revenue volatility However the budget shortfalls of the Great Recession, which resulted in significant program cuts and painful impacts for so many Californians, led to a reconsideration of how to manage revenue volatility in our state. As a result of this difficult period, the current Rainy Day Fund was created by Proposition 2 of 2014 and specified a structure of mandatory deposits into the Rainy Day Fund as well as required debt repayments. Deposits into the account reached the 10% general fund revenue cap in four fiscal years. The Rainy Day Fund was first used to bridge the budget gap experienced in 2021 due to the pandemic. The Rainy Day Fund has been a successful improvement in statewide budgeting, leading to record reserves, which we have drawn upon in recent years as we have recovered from the pandemic. However, the ACA before us today reflects that it is time to continue to improve our rainy day fund, continuing the cycle of learning over time and making adjustments to ensure California's fiscal stability into the future. This ACA 20 mandates deposits into the rainy day fund until balance reaches 20% of general fund taxes, doubling the prior cap of 10%. It increases deposits into the rainy day fund to help fill that higher cap by depositing more funds during boom years when revenues spike. It adds common sense to how our key reserves are treated with the state appropriations limit, better known as the Gann Limit. Under this measure, funds count toward the limit when they are withdrawn from reserves and actually spent rather than when they are deposited into reserves. This very reform was supported by Paul Gann, the author of the Gann Limit. He thought it made much more sense to incentivize savings to not count the payments into the fund and to only count the withdrawals from the fund, which is what this ballot measure would do. This ballot measure also extends the requirement to make debt payments through 2040 and expands eligible debt to Proposition 98 Settle-Up, budget borrowing. And notably, this measure adds the federal unemployment insurance loan to the list of eligible debts that can be repaid. This adds a potential avenue for the state to assist employers in repaying the unemployment insurance debt. Establishing the Rainy Day Fund in 2014 was a monumental achievement that helped usher in the era of responsible budgeting. When I was chair of the Budget Committee from 2004 to 2008 in the Assembly, we had no reserves. We would have what we called the reserve that would be very small for that year for expenses that we anticipated. But if there was a recession, if there was a pandemic, we had nothing. This rainy day fund has changed that, and this is the time to fine-tune it. Establishing it managed the volatility without having to resort to draconian cuts and middle-class tax increases that were a perennial threat for the prior decade and a half. Today, we have the opportunity to ask the voters to take the next step and go even further in strengthening our rainy day fund and building a stronger, more fiscally stable California. Thank you for the years of work by the Assembly, the Senate, and the administration and their staff, and the continued focus on working toward constitutional amendment we're considering today. I respectfully ask for an aye vote. Thank you, Senator. Senator Nilo, you are recognized. I'm sorry, Senator Sayarto. You've been called worse. It's a common error. I take no offense, especially since it's Senator Nilo. So senators, today I rise in lukewarm support, but opposition, but maybe somewhere in the middle because I think we are embarking on a path to do something that we have all supported and that is do something about our overall budget situation and part of that situation is our reserves right now we have 15 billion dollars in reserves that's not even the 10% 10% reserves right now be 25 billion dollars out of our general fund and we're not even close to that yet we should be putting money into reserves and when we have enough money in reserves and this is where I kind of start to to differ from from my colleagues on a strategy and approach and a goal when we are doing when we're going to present an ACA to our residents our goal needs to be establish a reserve but be able to have the flexibility to make substantial substantial progress on on our UI debt, on our borrowing debt. Our borrowing debt from other funds, I believe, is about $30 billion, and we're supposed to be paying interest on that into whatever fund that we are supposed to borrow from. So those debts just keep going up. The UI debt is another thing that we've all, you know, we've agreed for, we've been imploring us to get rid of the UI debt for years, especially when we had the funds to do it. But the UI debt now is still $19 billion, and the methodology that would be used to pay that off using the ACA 20 would essentially be the same as almost making your minimum payments on your credit card that you've ran up with $20,000 or $30,000. It'll be a long time before that gets paid off. So we need something with a little more certainty. We need something that clearly states the goal for our citizens when they're looking at a ballot measure that says, hey, this is what we want to do. We want to pay down our debt. We want to get rid of that UI debt. And we want to make sure that we have a reserve that is reflective of the budget that we have in California, the potential dangers that we have as far as emergencies and things like that that may come up. LAO has given us a number of 50%. I don't know that we're going to get to $125 billion of reserve anytime soon, but we certainly could get to 30, 40, or 50. And if we get to that 30, 40, or 50, our game plan should be to float our reserve between 15 and 20% and make substantial payments to pay off every single bit of the debt that we have accumulated so far. And I said so far because that a point in time debt In 2014 Governor Brown came up with this plan and he called it we need to get rid of the wall of debt At the time it was billion And the money that they would use would be used to pay off debt that had been accumulated so far but not debt going forward Well, this allows us to do debt going forward. And when we're doing debt going forward, and it may not be any of our goal, but other people are going to get elected to these seats, they may see that as an opportunity to borrow this year from another fund and then maybe pay it off with our reserve policy that we have the citizens go ahead and approve in the future years. In other words, we're just going to be churning water on the debt. We can't churn water. What we need to send the citizens is a bona fide plan to pay off debt, increase our reserves, which will increase our resiliency both financially and physically in our state, to be able to withstand an earthquake or a bridge falling down for other purposes. That way we can get those things done, and we don't have to borrow money and pay more interest. Our interest payments are somewhere north of a billion dollars a year just for this, but then when you add our bonded indebtedness, those payments are another $7 billion or so. We can't borrow our way out of this problem. We have to take positive action, and this could be part of it, But once we put an ACA to the citizens and it's not working the way we want, it's not reducing that debt, are we going to present another one in two more years to do another fix? We need to make sure this gets done right. There are a lot of concerns that myself and some of my colleagues may have had. We weren't able to express them until right now. And this isn't a criticism on the people that have been working hard to try to come up with a plan like this. But I'm concerned. I'm concerned that it creates some loopholes that other people will be able to, will be more than happy to march through. We're going to raise our debt ceiling a little bit, which means there's going to be more money in the pot to borrow from and pay back. And so that becomes another source of revenue when we don't really have revenue. So these are the things that are concerning us about this. I wish I had been able to be at the table when they were negotiating this, because then perhaps we could incorporate some of these additional things and we'd all be on the same page. I appreciate the efforts of my colleagues in trying to address this in a manner that all of us could be on board with. But at this time, it is difficult for me to be part of that train. Thank you. Senator Hurtado, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. I rise today as a proud co-author of ACA 20. I often say to people that I come across here at the Capitol that poverty does not discriminate in the Central Valley. And in the Central Valley, the people know that this is very much true of our region. But it's also very much true across California. But in the Central Valley and people across California know that there will be a time of hardship. And that when that time of hardship that hopefully it later rather than sooner that when that time comes we got to all be kind of prepared for it And our job here as legislators, as senators, is to protect Californians, to protect them from hardships, to protect them and provide them with opportunities. and I believe ACA 20 will do that. It will make us more disciplined, not just in saving, but also in spending. And this is important because finance is part of a critical infrastructure. It's a national security issue. It's the right thing to do. It's the right thing to protect Californians. It's the right investment. And for those reasons, I respectfully ask for an aye vote. Senator Strickland, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President, members. My opening comment is I want to say that I do believe the Assemblymember Gabriel gave a good faith effort into trying to resolve an issue that we've been talking about on this floor for quite some time. I do believe this ACA is a missed opportunity. There are some good things in this. I just wish the majority actually came to a lot of our members because we could have actually made this a very good proposal to the people of California had you included us on some of these provisions. But some of the good things in here is the UI debt, a list of obligations that's eligible for debt payments that we've been talking about on our side for quite some time. It increases the set aside for revenue spikes with higher capital gains. What I've mentioned in this year's budget is you're spending equal to record revenues with capital gains. And, you know, I actually do like the fact that you're going to try to put some of that money aside instead of increasing spending to match those record revenues. But unfortunately, the devil's in the details. This enables more irresponsible borrowing for any new budgetary debts. It does not require debt payment to go to the UI debt. And it facilitates more spending, exempting reserve deposits from the state spending limit. Members, this is missed opportunities to tighten our deposit and withdrawal rules. The best analogy, it's like getting a credit card in order to pay off your earlier spending credit card debt. And so what it does is it allows your addiction to spending to continue to move forward. Because what you're doing is just putting another credit card on an earlier credit card in order to keep your debt, in order to keep your spending going moving forward. And for those reasons, you know, again, I believe this is a missed opportunity. Because I think we could have worked together and got a great product to the people of California. there's many good things in here but there's more things that will not be good for the people of California particularly the addiction to spending of this legislature and so therefore I'm asking for no one to support ACA 20. Senator Valadares you are recognized. Thank you Mr. President. Members I rise because I cannot support ACA 20 I believe in fiscal responsibility and to me that means paying our debts building reserves and getting California fiscal house in order But ACA 20 essentially promises fiscal responsibility without requiring it California is carrying nearly a billion in federal unemployment insurance debt, and we are the only state in the nation that has still not repaid its COVID-era federal loan. Not one other state, just California. When California had a historic $98 billion budget surplus in 2022, we had the opportunity to pay down this debt. And instead, the legislature chose to spend that money elsewhere and handed the bill to California employers. And since then, employers have seen their federal UI payroll taxes increase by 250%. According to the California Business Roundtable, California employers now face a payroll tax burden nearly nine times higher than employers in states that paid off the debt years ago. Less than a month ago, I stood on this floor and asked this body to prioritize paying down the debt instead of shifting the burden onto employers already struggling with higher costs. It would have allocated $5 billion a year to pay the debt down in four years, and that proposal was rejected. So what does ACA 20 actually do? It authorizes payments towards the UI debt, but it doesn't require them. This is like having a maxed out credit card. Most people wouldn't keep building a bigger emergency fund while making minimum payments on their card. They'd pay off the debt first. ACA 20 doesn't require that. It allows reserves dollars to be used for future debt instead of the nearly $20 billion debt that we already owe. And that is not fiscal responsibility. That's kicking the can down the road. So we can still borrow to cover budget gaps, pay off the new borrowing first, and then leave UI debt sitting there year after year. Meanwhile, employers won't see the payroll tax relief until the UI debt is completely paid off. Even under the most optimistic projections right now, that would be nine years. And I can't look at the restaurant owners in my district, the contractors, the small manufacturers in Santa Clarita, the aerospace and defense industry in the Antelope Valley and in the Victor Valleys in the eye and tell them that this bill helps them. It doesn't. They're still paying for Sacramento's mistakes. And under this proposal, they'll continue paying for years, nearly a decade to come. ACA 20 gives the legislature a blank check for debt. Members, I urge that no one support this bill. Senator Nilo, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. yesterday in budget committee I compared this ACA 20 to kind of washing your hands with your gloves on it'll get the gloves clean but it won't really do the accomplished or the intended job like so many bills in the budget space there's There's some good and there's some bad. In this case, there is so little good and so much bad, it is just simply unsupportable given the status quo. My fellow Republican colleagues have articulated many of the issues with which we take exception. I think the only good thing one could say is that it doubles the reserve, doubles, from 10 to 20 percent when the LAO recommended a 50 percent cap. And that is woefully inadequate given the huge fluctuations that we have in our revenue base. Our colleague from Pico Rivera yesterday talked about explaining these things to constituents. That's the other fundamental problem with this proposal, which we just seem to always do, particularly with regard to reserve proposals. It was true of Proposition 2 also. It is incredibly complicated. I would challenge anybody in this room to have a town hall with your constituents and you explain this constitutional amendment to them. I think it would be very difficult for anybody to do that. I do like the KISS principle. there is a simplistic way to forever cure the dysfunction that exists because of our incredibly fluctuating revenue sources. Now we could change the tax system. We know that's not going to happen, but we can change how we can utilize those revenues with just a simple rolling average of revenues over a five to seven year period. That because it's pretty much the time during which we go from feast to famine and back to feast and famine again. And whenever revenues are above that rolling average, all of that difference goes into a reserve. And when it drops below that rolling average, those reserves can come back in. Gives much more flexibility to budget riders. very easy to explain, and completely solves the fundamental dysfunction that gets us into budget trouble in the first place, and that is the highly fluctuating revenue source that we have. So I preach simplicity, which we do not have. I preach much more positive impacts than negative impacts, which we do not have. I urge a no vote. Senator Grove, you are recognized.

Senator Cabaldon, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. We've heard a lot of metaphors this morning. Credit cards, hand washing, gloves, bank loans. But let's check them out a little bit, because some of them have had a little bit of Austin Powers to them. Oh, my God, $680 million. Million dollars, 683. Well how much is billion It million Our state budget is over billion So billion is worth less than relative to the income of a middle family in this state. We're not overburdened with debt in California. What we do have a problem with, though, is our reserves. So forget the metaphors for a second. Let's listen to folks who actually specialize in this, the folks that rate our credit for purposes of bonds. Moody's and the other nonpartisan independent multinational ratings companies that say this government has a good credit rating this one is a bad one. What have they said about California? They said California's credit rating is pretty decent. You know how it would be better? You know how it would be better if California had a much larger reserve. If California had a better reserve, we could up the credit rating for the state to be even better than it is today. Why does that matter? Because that means that $687 million goes down. The way we save money for taxpayers in this state, the way we save money in our budget, is to have a better credit rating, and the way forward to a better credit rating is to have a decent amount of reserves. Now, my colleague from Fair Oaks is perhaps under something here, which is that we should even have a bigger reserve. Maybe 50%. I'm not sure I'd go that far, but maybe. Maybe. But there's no other proposal on the table today. The only proposal is to take what he called a modest effort, but it's doubling the size of the state's reserve capacity. That will go a long way to making sure we don't have to make devastating cuts when we're at the bottom of our budget, that we're now having to contemplate even when we have money coming in, and it will reduce the cost of our ongoing borrowing. So this is a critical bill to move forward, and it's critical that we move it to the voters right now because there's never been a more important revenue moment that we do not have the ability to deal with. We have at least three major California-based companies, or with lots of California workers there, that are likely to generate enormous tax revenues in the coming years. One-time revenues. Exactly the kind of revenues that a substantial portion should be going into general fund reserves in order to protect us over the long term. If we sit around in an ivory tower and debate what these policies could look like and maybe put something on the ballot two years from now or four years from now, we will have missed the most important opportunity in California's history to get this right. This is a well-crafted consensus among every finance expert in California. This is the way forward. I urge an aye vote. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Senator Laird, would you like to close? Thank you very much, Mr. President. It was said during this debate that the big thing we should do is get our fiscal house in order. will pay attention to the budget that we approved a week ago Monday. That budget balanced the budget for two years. It cut the structural reserve, structural deficit in half. But more importantly, it set aside over $36 billion in reserves. $36 billion more than we had before the Rainy Day Fund. But the significant thing is, is we had to do a substantial amount of that voluntarily because this measure was not in place. In fact, in getting our fiscal house in order, we were taking seven and a half billion dollars. of excess revenue in the current fiscal year due to the artificial intelligence revenue that's coming in and holding it for the year after next to match with cutting the structural deficit in half and balancing the budget. If this measure were in place, we wouldn't have had to do those extra efforts. We would have been doing them anyway. And it's interesting because it was said during our debate yesterday, and it was actually reaffirmed during this debate, that if we were really going to deal with volatility in the revenue system, we would have to give the wealthiest people in California a tax cut and raise the taxes on the middle class. We will not do that. So what is the alternative? The alternative is saving more. And when it was said that what about a person working two jobs, what would they say? They would say save more. They would say do exactly what this ballot measure does. And I appreciate the previous comments because this was done. The Rainy Day Fund was established in 2014. We are getting to doubling the amount in 2026. These opportunities don't come along. I mentioned in the opening statement that Paul Gann, who was the architect of the Gann limit, he endorsed the fact that we should pay more and not have that account and only in the Gann limit count the withdrawals. He has been gone for 37 years. He proposed that before that. We are doing it now. These opportunities do not present themselves regularly. We have one. And it was said in the debate that there are many fine things in this ballot measure, which is why we should approve it. We have a unique opportunity to double the amount that we save, and it won't present itself if we don't take it for years and years. This is our chance to address the volatility that everybody complains about. This is our chance to have it in statute and the Constitution in a way that we will absolutely save and we will absolutely continue the process that we are embarked on of uprighting the state budget. I respectfully ask for an aye vote. Secretary, please call roll. Allen. Aye. Alvarado Gil. Archuleta. Aye. Aragín. Aye. Ashby. Aye. Becker. Aye. Blake Spear. Aye. Cabaldon. Caballero. Cervantes. Choi. Cortese. Daly. Durazo. Gonzalez. Grayson. Grove. Hurtado. Jones. Laird. Limon. McGuire. McNerney. Menjabar. Durazo, aye. Gonzalez, aye. Menjabar, aye. Nilo, Ochoa Vogue, Padilla, aye. Perez, aye. Reyes, Richardson, aye. Rubio, aye. Ciarto, Smallwood Cuevas, aye. Stern, aye. Strickland, Humbert, aye. I follow Darius Wahab Aye Weber Pearson Aye Wiener Aye Secretary please call absent members Alvarado Gil Daly Grove No Jones? Limon? Aye. Nilo? Ochoa Boat? Reyes? Ciaro? Strickland? Valadares? Secretary, please call absent members once again. Alvarado Gil, Daly, Jones, Nilo, Ochoa Bogues, Reyes, Ciaro, Strickland, Valadares. Ayes 29, Nose 2. The measure passes. Members, we are moving to Supplemental File Number 1, Item Number 186, SB 417. Senator Lamone, you are... We are moving to item 187, SB number 623. Senator Umberg, you are recognized. Or Secretary, please read. Senate Bill 623 by Senator Umberg, an act relating to transportation. Senator Umberg, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, you may have heard that Uber, the rideshare entities, as well as the other stakeholders have come to a compromise with respect to the proposed ballot issues. I don't want to say this is biblical, but let me quote Isaiah 1116. The lion lay down with the lamb. Except those of you who are biblical scholars like my colleagues from the Inland Empire and Pastor Grayson will note that's not actually the quote from Isaiah 1116. The actual quote is, the wolf will lie down with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the goat. I'm not sure who the lambs and the goats are in this compromise, but I am very grateful, and we should all be grateful, that they have reached a compromise that is fair to Californians. It creates a system that's safe, fair, accountable by protecting patients from unnecessary treatment and overcharging, ensuring access to medical care and legal representation, and strengthening the rideshare safety measures. In order to address concerns in the medical lien industry and their relationship to attorneys while ensuring that victims get access to care, SB 623 makes several reforms in transportation network company accident cases. For accidents occurring on or after January 1, 2027, if a plaintiff receives treatment from a lien-based medical provider, the plaintiff generally cannot recover more than the 70th percentile as shown in the Fair Health database for that particular service in that geographic area. Charges above that amount cannot be collected from the plaintiff in our void. It requires standardized itemization of all lien-based medical bills. If a lien care provider sells their lien to a third party the maximum amount the third party can recover is the consideration paid by that third party to the lien provider for the assignment It makes it unlawful for an attorney representing a person under a contingency fee agreement to refer the client to a health care provider in which the attorney or a family member of the attorney has a direct ownership interest It makes it unlawful for an attorney to receive a kickback or a fee split for referring a client to a lien-based provider or provide bonuses or incentives for referring a client to a lien-based provider. prohibits attorneys from charging an additional contingency fee, administrative fee, management fee, or similar fee based on reducing or resolving a client's medical lien. Additionally, SB 623 makes several reforms to the TNC, ride share industry, in order to protect passengers and create greater accountability. It requires an initial background check before activating a ride share driver, and annual background checks thereafter, adds additional issues, crimes like violating a restraining order and child abuse to the list of crimes that disqualifies a potential driver and expressly allows women drivers to request women passengers only and women passengers to request women drivers only. Kudos to the stakeholders that hashed this out over the last several months. It avoids a costly battle, and I think that the compromise creates a workable alternative that protects Californians and ensures that those who are injured can receive just compensation, and at the same time, it keeps passengers safe. And for that, I ask an aye vote. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Secretary, please call roll. Allen. Aye. Alvarado Gil. Archuleta. Aye. Arrigan. Aye. Ashby. Becker. Aye. Blakespeare. Aye. Cabaldon. Caballero. Aye. Cervantes. Choi. Aye. Cortese. Aye. Daly. Durazo. Aye. Gonzalez. Aye. Grayson. Aye. Grove. Hurtado. Aye. Jones, Laird, Aye, Limon, McGuire, Aye, McNerney, Aye, Menjivar, Nilo, Aye, Ochoa Bog, Aye, Padilla, Aye, Perez, Aye, Reyes, Richardson, Rubio, Aye, Cioto, Aye, Smallwood Cuevas, Aye, Stern, Aye, Strickland, Aye, Umberg, Aye, Voladeros, Aye, Wahab, Aye, Weber Pearsons aye. Weiner aye. Secretary please call absent members. Alvarado Gill, Ashby, Cobaldon, Cervantes aye. Daly, Grove aye. Jones, Limon, Mandivar, Reyes, Richardson. Richardson aye. Thank you. Thank you Secretary, please call absent members. Avarado Gil, Ashby, Aye. Cabaldon, Aye. Daly, Jones, Limon, Aye. Menjivar, Aye. Reyes, Ayes 36, Noes 0. The measure passes. Members, give us one moment. Thank you. Members, we are moving back to item 186, SB 417. Senator Lamone, or Secretary, please read. Senate Bill 417 by Senator Lamone, an act relating to housing by providing the funds necessary therefore through an election for the issuance and sale of the bonds of the state of California and for the handling and disposition of those funds and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately. Senator Lamone, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. SB 417, the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026, is a critical measure to place on the ballot for an $11.25 billion housing bond that addresses full spectrum of the needs for housing here in our state. The policy builds on the work of so many to ensure that our most vulnerable keep the roof over their heads while connecting families and first-time homebuyers to the need for home ownership opportunities. The bond complements the significant progress the state has made over the last several years in addressing our housing crisis. For the first time in 15 years, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has reported that unsheltered homelessness dropped about 9% across this state. But we're not done. We will continue to do more work to ensure that the legislature prioritizes housing funds for special need populations, including people experiencing homelessness, farm workers and their families, public universities, City students, tribal members, young adults, and our veterans. We approach this with not a one and done. Through my time in the legislature, we have voted on a number of bills to streamline housing production in our state. Today, we have in front of us a way to fund some of that. We know that it's important to tackle this priority for our legislature, for our state, year by year. In the last five years, California has made incredible progress by doubling the number of new affordable homes, and this bond helps us keep that momentum going for the foreseeable future. I am proud today that this body brings forth a measure that will have lasting impacts on creating housings for millions of Californians in this state. I want to thank an incredible group of members who have been involved and who have helped get us here today. From the Bay Area to West Sacramento to Los Angeles, from all parts of this state, there have been incredible folks who have helped lift this to the finish line. I respectfully ask for an aye vote. Thank you, Pro Tem. Senator Grove, you are recognized.

Senator Aragon, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. I stand in strong support of SB 417, and I want to thank our pro tem, Senator Lamone, Speaker Rivas, Assemblyman Wicks, and most specifically Senator Cobalt, the senator from West Sacramento, Senator Cobaltin, for their hard work and leadership in getting this bond to us today. this is historic and transformative, and this is a veterans housing bond. I have deep respect to my colleague, the Senator from Bakersfield, and appreciate her comments and her service to our country. $1.25 billion of this bond measure will provide home loan assistance to veterans to purchase homes in California. I think about the unhoused veterans on the streets in my district, in Oakland and Berkeley who've served our country but who've been left behind and who are struggling to find housing stability in a path forward. And this bond measure will provide an opportunity for people to own homes who are veterans in California. I want to commend the senator from Pico Rivera for his leadership as the chair of the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee in helping advance this effort, which is going to transform the lives of veterans throughout the state of California. But this is also transformative in that it is funding for the first time several things that are critical in our state. So much of what we've done in California has focused on building new housing and not on preserving existing homes that are at risk of conversion or displacement. So we can help stabilize communities and keep people stably housed and reduce homelessness. This bond focuses on the three Ps, the production, preservation, and protection of Californians. And I want to just lift up $200 million of this bond measure. We'll fund for the first time a program to help acquire and preserve existing, naturally occurring affordable housing in the state of California. I want to thank the Center for Merced for her leadership in advancing this proposal. Additionally, $150 million in this bond measure will help provide housing for transition-age youth, and youth that have aged out of our foster care system, and young people who are experiencing homelessness to have stable housing. And I want to commend the Senator from the San Fernando Valley for her leadership in advancing this critical effort as well So in this bond we not only providing funding to create 45 shovel homes in California all over the state of California. These are housing projects that have been approved, that need this money to be able to get these projects built and to be able to open the doors to provide housing for people. Money to help transition-age youth and foster youth. Money to help preserve existing housing. Money to help address the needs of our unhoused community by providing permanent supportive housing. Funding for homeownership so we can expand homeownership opportunities in California because rental housing is not the only way for us to address housing stability in California. And money for infill infrastructure to help support new sustainable communities in California, not just building the housing but providing the connected infrastructure. and lastly funding to help support our veterans to make sure that they have homes honoring the service they provide our country. This is historic. This will be transformative for the lives of thousands and thousands of Californians. I'm honored to support this today and to have worked with the leaders to help move this forward. I respectfully and strongly ask for an aye vote and SB 417. Senator Minch of our year of recognition. Thank you Mr. President. Three years ago I started my effort to pass a youth housing bond and it wasn't because at the time I was the youngest senator closest to the age of all the youth that I was trying to fight for it was because at the age of 19 I had to look my mom in the eye when the bank came and evicted us out of our home after she worked so hard to buy that at the age of 19 my sister my mom moved in with my aunt a little ways away from where we lived and I couch served for over a year because I was a college student at that time and it was really hard for me to go move into a one bit you know into a spare bedroom with my mom and my sister at the time I thought it was really fun I was sleeping on different couches I was hanging out with my friends these were sleepovers but it was really difficult to navigate that life while going to college and one of the main reasons well one of the reasons I joined the Marine Corps I was like well that's stable housing and it wasn't until I joined the Marine Corps that I got stable housing since I became housing unstable flash forward 20 years later, we across the nation have the highest number of unhoused youth. And we should be ashamed of that. Of the number of youth who are unhoused, 60% are unsheltered. So while I would have been considered housing unstable youth, I had a couch to sleep on or a bed of my friends to sleep on while going to college. But a lot of youth are sleeping in their cars right now while going to college. They're going to the gyms. They're going to the basic centers of the community colleges and colleges to get the needs while trying to be successful, taking showers where they can find it, because they don't want that story to be the reason why they're not successful. And currently right now, only 2.9% of the available beds are for youth specifically. And what happens when we don't support them? Well, let me tell you what happens. The older people you're seeing on the streets uh the individuals that during the rainy day you're like why is a grandma why is a grandpa sleeping under a facade with a blanket and a cart next to them well it's because 50 percent of them first experienced homelessness when they were under the age of 25 and it turned into chronic homelessness because we didn't step in in the beginning and stop it before it became more expensive to help them when now they have diabetes now they have um edema and And their lower extremities are swollen and it's really hard to care for them. Enter this housing bill that after three years of fighting for it we were able with the leadership collaboration with the Senator from West Sacramento Yolo County and the Pro Tem add million for youth housing Those who are at risk of homelessness who are unhoused who are foster kids and are current foster kids We're going to be able to address the situation at the beginning of the problem to prevent them from having chronic homelessness. That's why I'm so proud to support SB 417, to help the individuals that we often forget that are also unhoused. Respectfully asking for an I-VIL. Senator Smallwood-Cuevas, you are recognized.

vote. Senator Strickland you are recognized. Thank you Mr. President

And for those reasons, I ask for a no vote on SB 417.

I mean, Mr. President.

And I ask for an aye vote.

And I also would like to thank the leadership and the members who work so tirelessly on this bond. It has taken years to get us to this point. And it reflects the diverse funding needs that we have in this state in order to address California's housing deficit. And the reason that we need the resources is what works in the valley is not the same need as the coast. And Northern California has a different need than Southern California. So the bond really reflects the reality that to solve California's housing crisis, a broad portfolio of investments is required, from veterans housing to down payment assistant to student housing, infrastructure, tribal assistant, farm worker housing, new construction, home ownership opportunities, and money to preserve affordable housing that currently exists in our state. And I'm especially grateful that the bond includes $200 million to establish the Community Anti-Displacement and Preservation Program created by SB 1091. Too often we focus on building new housing, which is critically important and undeniably necessary, but we can't afford to lose the affordable housing we already have. In my district, we have a significant number of units that are affordable today at risk of being purchased, remodeled, and increased in price, driving families that live in these homes, people, real people who live in these homes, many seniors out of the neighborhood because they can't afford to pay the new higher rents. And so today we have nearly 1.1 million naturally occurring affordable housing units that provide housing to low and moderate income individuals. And almost half of those homes are at risk of becoming market rate conversions through private acquisitions. Once these affordable housing units are lost, they are incredibly difficult to replace and very expensive. Preservation of affordable housing is a proven and cost-effective tool to prevent displacement, to keep families in their communities, and to create deed-restricted affordable housing without having to wait years for those units to be built And so this bond becomes critically important in helping all of us to meet the housing needs that we have in our communities and I respectfully ask for your aye vote. Senator Laird, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. The senator from San Francisco beat me to one of my two points, but it was said there was no reason for this bond in the debate, there's over 45,000 reasons for this bond, which is those are the number of units that are ready to go, that are penciled out, that this bond will move to construction. That is a substantial effort in our desire to create more housing. The other point I wanted to make is that when this bond came out of the Senate earlier this year, I stood up on the floor and made the point that unless there was money for infrastructure for challenged communities, they could not avail themselves of this bond. There are disadvantaged communities across the state that do not have the money for water, that do not have the money for additional sewer capacity, and their units depend on their ability to do that. If they do not have support for that, then this bond would be about support to just wealthy communities. Well, there is a nice amount in this bond to help those disadvantaged communities, and that will unleash housing. I know there's one in the Salinas Valley where they have a 200-unit facility ready to go, and with the waterboard restrictions, they can't move on it. They will have the chance to have a grant from this bond. They will have a chance for multifamily help from this bond. And that is why the people of California are anxiously waiting for us to approve it here on the floor and get it to the voters where they can approve it and housing can be constructed. I respectfully ask for an aye vote. Senator Rubio, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. Today I rise strongly in support of SB 417. Every one of us here on this law recognizes the crisis that we find ourselves in. We hear constantly from families that are struggling, from parents working two to three jobs to make ends meet, from young individuals also sharing with us and wondering if they're ever going to own a home. But I would say even more importantly from our youth who today are wondering where they're going to sleep. We hear from seniors who no longer are able to afford the homes, the communities that they helped build for us, generations before us. And we also hear from unhoused veterans who know and we recognize they fought so hard for us, and it is unacceptable that they are on the street or struggling to find a warm bed. It is important that we recognize once again that this measure alone is not going to solve the crisis. And I don't think any of us on this floor believes that. But I do believe that today we're taking an important step towards real solutions. This bond represents real collaboration between the legislature, housing advocates, or local governments, community partners who came together because we all understand the urgency of this moment. For communities throughout the San Gero Valley, my district, it means opportunity. It means affordable housing. It's in the horizon. It helps veterans. It helps support first-time buyers. It builds homes for working families who just simply do not have a chance in today's not only unaffordability crisis, but just with everything that's coming at them. This represents hope. I want to thank our president and pro tem Monique Limon for bringing us all together around this shared goal. Progress doesn't happen all at once. It happens when we continue to move forward in a meaningful direction with collaboration, respect, and understanding of this moment. While our work is far from over, this is an investment that gives hope to our families who have waited far too long for us to step in and help. With that, I strongly urge an aye vote. Thank you, Mr. President. Senator Cabaldon, you are recognized.

leadership on this issue, and I urge an aye vote. Senator Seattle, you are recognized.

Senator Varadayos, you are recognized.

Seeing all discussion and debate has ceased. Senator Pro Tem Limon, you are able to close.

Secretary, please call roll. Allen.

Alvarado Gil.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Cortese.

Daly.

Aye.

Gonzales.

Grayson.

Grove.

Aye.

Laird.

Limon.

McGuire.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Ochoa Bog.

Aye.

Aye.

Richardson.

Rubio.

Valadeiros? Wahab? Aye.

Weiner? Aye. Rubio Aye. Secretary, please call absent members. Abraado Gil? Choi? Daly? Grove? Jones? Nilo? Ochoa Bogue? Reyes? Valadeiros? Ayes 29, noes 2. Assemblymember amendments are concurred in. Members, we are moving to consideration of the daily file, Senate third reading file in particular, item number 80, SCR 189. From the Majority Leader's desk, Senator Rubio, you are recognized. Secretary, please read. Senate concurrent resolution 189 by Senator Rubio relative to I Love's SGV Day. Senator Rubio, you are now recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, I rise proudly to present SCR 189, which designates June 26, 2026, as I heart SGV day in California, and it celebrates the rich history, culture, and enduring legacy of our beautiful San Gabriel Valley. The San Gabriel Valley is one of California's most vibrant and diverse regions, encompassing 31 cities and unincorporated communities across more than 374 square miles. It spans three senators and six assembly members. For generations the San Gabriel Valley has played a vital role in shaping California story contributing to our state economic growth educational excellence cultural vitality and the spirit of innovation The region is home to an extraordinary diverse city of cultures languages, and traditions, making it a powerful example of the strength that comes from California's multicultural communities. The San Guerrero Valley is also defined by a strong commitment to community service, civic engagement, and regional collaboration, bringing together residents, businesses, schools, nonprofit organizations, and local governments in pursuit of our shared goals. Through the SGV iHeart SGV Day campaign, residents throughout the region have embraced a shared sense of pride and identity and celebrating the people, places, institutions, and traditions that make the Sanguero Valley unique. The iHeartSGV campaign, recognizing this resolution, falls on June 26th, represented numerically as 626, which reflects the iconic 626 area code that has become synonymous with the Sanguero Valley and serves as a source of pride for all of us in that region. In addition, the Sanguero Valley COG, the Council of Government, which was established in 1994, serves as the largest and most diverse sub-regional Council of Governments in Los Angeles County. It represents that collaboration and working spirit that is represented in everyone that lives in the SGV. I want to take a moment to thank the COG for our incredible partnership. Earlier today, we were talking about housing, and we just hit a milestone in the Sangaro Valley. Together with our regional housing trust, we just built 1,038 affordable housing units, which I'm very proud of, and 130 interim housing units that help homeless individuals get back on their feet. So again, I'm so proud to collaborate and be part of the tapestry of this wonderful community. SCR 189 recognizes that type of partnership and its contributions to California's economy. I respectfully ask for an aye vote. Senator Perez, you are recognized.

Senator Archuleta, you are recognized.

Seeing no further discussion, Senator Rubio, would you like to close? Yes, I want to thank my colleagues for their words, for adding to why we're so proud of our community. But I want to say, as I traveled all over the world, you cannot go anywhere without knowing Sriracha that comes from our district. You can't go anywhere in California and see those long lines when they're going to get their In-N-Out burger. That's in our district. We have In-N-Out University. We have In-N-Out Museum. So this is the type of iconic places that we have in our community. And I'm wearing the I Love SGV pin. That is our campaign. And as chair of the Sanguero Valley Caucus, I'm just so honored to be part of such a vibrant community and group of people. With that, I ask for an aye vote. Thank you. Thank you so very much. Members, this item is eligible for unanimous roll call without an objection. Hearing and seeing no objection. Ayes 36, no zero. The resolution passes. And we are going to return to privileges of the floor. Senator Rubio, from the Majority Leader's desk, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to invite two extraordinary people in our San Gero Valley community. First, Ed Rees, San Gero Valley Council of Government President and Claremont Vice Mayor. I also would like to invite Ricky Choi onto the floor. He is the Sanguero Valley Council of Governments Director of Government and Community Relations. Both have been extraordinary leaders. They are part of why we just hit 1,038 affordable housing units, and this campaign is only going to highlight how incredible our community is. Please help me welcome our guest to the floor. Thank you, Mr. President. And if anyone would like to join in the back for pictures this is the time to do it Senators, we are going to break for lunch for 30 minutes. Please stay in the building and return promptly. I do want to recognize the majority leader, Senator Ashby. You are recognized when you're ready. Yes, thank you, Mr. President. We will be caucusing. The Democratic caucus will be in room 205. And the Republican caucus will be in room 215. We will caucus for at least 30 minutes. Thank you. The Senate is in recess. Thank you. Members, the Senate is back in session, and we are going to go back to motions, resolutions, and notices to recognize any members. We do have one mic raised. All right. Senator Ochoa-Vogue, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate. At the request of the author, please remove file item A13, AB112 from the inactive file. The desk will note. Thank you. Continue on, Sister. At the request of the author, please place file item 176, AB1273 on the inactive file, Sir. Thank you, Senator. The desk will note. I'm seeing no other microphones raised. Members, we are going to move on. Move on to consideration of the daily file. The second reading file. Secretary, please read. Assembly Bill 2595, 1542, 2058, 1537, 1646. The second reading file will be deemed read. We are moving to the governor's appointments. We have items 56, 57, 58, and 59. Members, we will go to item 56 for governor's appointments. Okay. Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, file item number 56 is a confirmation of Dr. Lucina Profata. Luciana Profata. You should have done this one. For reappointment to the California Commission on Disability Access, she previously served as the Chief Deputy Director for the Department of Rehabilitation, and she first joined the Commission in 2023. She was approved at the Rules Committee on a 5-0 vote. Respectfully asked for an aye vote. Thank you, Senator. Seeing no mics raised for discussion or debate, Secretary, please call roll. Allen. Aye. Alvarado Gil. Archuleta. Aye. Aragon. Aye. Ashby. Becker. Aye. Blake Spear. Aye. Cabaldon. Aye. Caballero. Aye. Cervantes. Aye. Choi. Aye. Cortese. Aye. Daly. Durazo. Aye. Gonzalez. Aye. Grayson. Aye. Grove. Aye. Aye. Hurtado. Aye. Jones. Laird. Aye. Aye. Limon. Aye. McGuire. Aye. McNerney. Aye. Menjabar. Aye. Nilo. Aye. Ochoa Boog. Aye. Padilla. Aye. Perez. Aye. Reyes. Richardson. Aye. Rubio. Aye. Aye. Stern? Aye. Strickland? Aye. Umbert? Aye. Valadares? Aye. Wahab? Aye. Weber Pearson? Aye. Aye. Weiner? Aye. Ashby? Aye. Ayes 36, noes 0. The appointment is confirmed. Moving to item 57.

ask for an aye vote. Thank you, Senator. Seeing no mics raised for discussion or debate, Secretary please call roll. McGuire. Aye. McNerney. Aye. Menjabar. Nilo. Aye. Ochoa Vogue. Aye. Padilla. Aye. Aye. Perez. Aye. Aye. Reyes. Richardson. Aye. Aye. Rubio. Aye. Cierto. Aye. Aye. Smallwood Cuevas. Aye. Aye. Stern. Aye. Aye. Strickland. Aye. Aye. Umbert. Aye. Valadares. Aye. Aye. Wahab. Aye. Aye. Weber Pearson. Aye. Aye. Weiner. Aye. The Chair of the Board, aye. Ayes 36, noes 0. Appointment is confirmed. Moving to item 58, Senator Grove, you are recognized.

And we do have. Senator Laird, would you like to speak? Well, thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to point out that the husband of the person that we are considering is recused. due to conflict of interest. And so when he doesn't vote, I didn't want any of you to think he was laying off in opposition to the appointment. It is because of that recusal. I would ask for an aye vote. Thank you, and I'm sure he appreciates you defending him. Senator Allen, you are recognized. Well, members, I know I probably speak for almost all of this body when I say this is the Umberg we wish we had serving with us here. But if this is the best we have, It would be good to have her serve on this important board, and I respectfully ask for an aye vote. Point well taken. Seeing no other mics raised, Senator Grove, would you like to close?

Secretary, please call the roll. Allen. Aye. Aye. I'm a broad girl. Archuleta. I again. I ask be I Becker. I place for Ike Walden. I call it. I servant is I Choi I Cortese I Daly to Russell I Gonzalez I Grayson I Grove I with double I Jones Laird I LeMond I McGuire I McNerney I Menjabar? Aye. Nilo? Aye. Ochoa Bok? Aye. Padilla? Aye. Perez? Aye. Reyes? Richardson? Aye. Rubio? Aye. Ciarto? Aye. Smallwood Cuevas? Aye. Stern? Aye. Strickland? Aye. Umberg? Valadares? Aye. Wahab? Aye. Weber Pearson? Aye. Weiner? Aye. Ayes 35, nos 0. The appointment is confirmed. Moving to item 59. Senator Grove, you are recognized.

Seeing no mics. Yes?

Excellent. Thank you for that additional point. Seeing no mics raised for discussion or debate, Secretary, please call the roll. Allen. Aye. Alvarado Gil. Archuleta. Aye. Aragon. Aye. Ashby. Aye. Becker. Aye. Blakespeare. Aye. Cobaldin. Caballero. Aye Cervantes Aye Choi Aye Cortese Aye Daly Durazo Aye Gonzalez Aye Grayson Aye Grove Aye Hurtado Aye. Jones. Laird. Aye. Limon. Aye. McGuire. Aye. McNerney. Aye. Menjavar. Aye. Nilo. Aye. Ochoa Bog. Aye. Padilla. Aye. Aye. Perez. Reyes. Richardson. Aye. Rubio. Aye. Ciarto. Aye. Smallwood Cuevas. Aye. Cern. Aye. Strickland. Aye. Umber. Aye. Valdeiros. Aye. Wahab. Aye. Weber Pearson. Aye. Weiner. Aye. Cobalden. Aye. Secretary, please call absent members. Ayes 35, noes 0. The appointment is confirmed. Members, we are moving to Senate third reading, file item 66, SCR 113. Senator Grove. Thank you. Secretary, please read. Senate Concurrent Resolution 113 by Senator Grove relative to Gold Star Mothers and Families Day.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Minjavar, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. I rise as the co-chair of the newly formed veteran caucus in support of SCR 113. Could you share a little bit what these Gold Star Mothers go through? Before the sun comes up, there is a uniformed officer that is waiting outside the home. Once they see the first light turn on, they put on their cover, they cross the driveway, they make that door knock. for those couple of seconds that ghost star mother is on the other side of that door not knowing that her life is about to change opens the door and immediately once she sees two uniformed officers at the door understands what news she going to get She fall to the floor The officer will try to hold her up as they tell her that her daughter her son was just killed in action It'll be a couple weeks before she'll be reunited with the body because it's a long journey to get our loved ones back from war, back to our soil. That officer will stay with that mom all throughout the process until they lay and bury and pay their last respects. I'm thankful that for the past couple of years, this body has honored the names that we've lost. And by honoring and renaming those names, we are telling the Gold Star mothers that we will never forget their loved, their lost sons and daughters. Respectfully asking for an aye vote. Thank you, Senator. Senator Archuleta, you are recognized. I rise in support of SCR 113 as the chair of the Military and Veterans Committee. On a personal level, my colleague from Los Angeles mentioned the officer knocking on the door. My son, Matthew Archuleta, as a major, was assigned to that duty. And that was his duty to accompany the body and then knock on that door. and he would stay with that Gold Star mother. That day, that night, the next morning, he was there again to take her to church. The next day, he went down to the military base to walk her through all the processing. Day after day, whatever it took, he was there with that family. And it was heartbreaking when I heard the stories because he had to share that and accompany the Gold Star mother to be received by other family members. So he was there standing at the door at the uniform as the family surrounded her and cried and so on. Then he would put her in his car and take her to the next family meeting or the church. So our military holds the Gold Star Mothers as saints, precious, honored individuals who've given up their child to our country in battle, and the sacrifices will never be forgotten. So the Gold Star Mothers, God bless them, and what can we say? Condolences time and time again. But thank you for allowing us to have your child to serve our country. And with that, I ask for an aye vote for SCR 113. Thank you, Senator. Seeing no other mics raised for discussion, Senator Grove, would you like to close?

Thank you, Senator Grove. Secretary, please call roll. This item is eligible for unanimous roll call without objection. Seeing no objection, ayes 36, no zero. The resolution is adopted. Members, give us one moment. Thank you. Members, we are going to be moving to the consent calendar. If there are any members that would wish to remove an item from the consent calendar, now is the time to rise. And seeing that we have one mic raised. Senator Rubio, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. At the request of the author, please remove file item 5, AB 2792, Assembly Government Organization Committee number. Also remove file item number 6, AB 2793, Assembly GO Committee as well from the inactive file. Thank you. The desk will note. At this time we will move on with the consent calendar and the special consent calendar. Secretary please read all items on both calendars. Assembly Bill 26, 25, 21, 47. Assembly Joint Resolution 27. Bill 2090, 2331, 1651, 34, 35, 1587, 1653, 1683, 1736, 2320, 2421, 2641, 2652, 2789, 2791, Assembly Concurrent Resolution 191-206-215. Secretary, please call the roll on item 161. Allen. Aye. Aye. Abraud Aguil. Archuleta. Aye. Aregine. Aye. Ashby. Aye. Becker. Aye. Blake Spear. Aye. Cobaldon. Aye. Caballero. Aye. Cervantes. Aye. Choi. Aye. Cortese. Aye. Dally. Durazo. Aye. Gonzalez. Aye. Grayson. Aye. Grove. Aye. Hurtado. Aye. Aye. Jones. Laird. Aye. Limon. Aye. McGuire. Aye, McNerney. Aye, Mandelvar. Aye, Nilo. Aye, Ochoa Pog. Aye, Padilla. Aye, Perez. Aye, Reyes. Richardson. Aye, Rubio. Aye, Ciarto. Aye, Smallwood Cuevas. Aye, Stern. Aye, Strickland. Aye, Umber. Aye. Aye, Valadares. Aye. Aye, Wahab. Aye, Weber Pearson. Aye, Wiener. Aye. Ayes 36, noes 0 on item 161. Ayes 36, noes 0 on all remaining items on the consent calendars. The consent calendars are adopted. members at this time we will move to motions and resolutions to begin with our adjournment in memory Our first adjourn in memory is Senator Grove. Senator Grove, you are recognized.

Senator Valadares, you are recognized.

Thank you, Senator. Our sincere condolences to the family, friends, and peers. Senators, please bring the names of your adjournment memory to the desk to be properly memorialized. Senator Rubio, you are recognized for your first adjournment memory.

Thank you, Senator. Please bring the name of your adjournment memory to the desk to be properly memorialized. Senator Rubio, you are recognized for your second.

the desk to be properly memorialized. Members, give us one minute. Members, do not go far. Stay near to your desk. We are pausing just for a moment, but we will be with you in just a moment. a minute. Please do not go far. Thank you. Thank you Thank you We are going to Assembly messages. Secretary, please read. Mr. President, I am directed to inform your honorable body that the Assembly on this day adopted Assembly Constitution Amendment 21, Assembly Constitution Amendment 22. Sue Parker, Chief Clerk of the Assembly. Thank you. Members, under motions and resolutions, we are recognizing Senator Ashby. Senator Ashby, you are recognized.

Senator Milo, your mic is raised. All right. He's just wanting special attention, feeling lonely in the corner over there. Okay. Okay. Seeing no mics raised for debate or discussion, Secretary, please call the roll. Mr. President, staff was unaware that rules had already been pulled, so we're good. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Any objection to moving to roll call? Seeing no objection. Secretary, please call the roll. Allen. Aye. Avrata Gil. Archuleta. Aye. Aragon. Aye. Ashby. Aye. Becker. Blake Spear. Aye. Cobaldon. Aye. Caballero. Aye. Cervantes. Aye. Choi. Aye. Cortese. Aye. Daly. Durazo. Aye. Gonzalez. Aye. Grayson. Aye. Grove. Aye. Hurtado. Aye. Jones, Laird, Aye, Limon, Aye, McGuire, Aye, McNerney, Aye, Menjabar, Aye, Nilo, Aye, Ochoa Bogue, Padilla, Perez, Reyes, Richardson, Rubio, Criarto, Aye, Smallwood Cuevas, Aye, Aye. Stern? Aye. Strickland? Aye. Humbert? Aye. Valadares? Aye. Wahab? Aye. Aye. Weber Pearson? Aye. Aye. Wiener? Aye. Secretary, please call absent members. Abraudogil Becker Aye Daly Jones Ochoa Bog aye Padilla aye Perez aye Reyes Richardson aye. Rubio, aye. Strickland, aye. Ayes 36, no zero. Rules are suspended. Senator Ashby, you are recognized once again.

Senator Vatadaris, you are recognized.

Thank you. Without objection, seeing no objection, ayes 36, no 0. The motion carries. Members, we are going to go to two remaining items, ACA 21, ACA 22, without reference to file. We will hear ACA 21 first. Senator Ashby, you are—Secretary, please read. Assembly Constitution Amendment 21 by Assemblymember Rivas, an act relating to voting. Ashby, you are recognized.

Senator Grove, you are recognized.

Yes.

Thank you to the Senator from Bakersfield. Per Legislative Council, an ACA may be removed from the ballot by another ACA or a concurrent resolution as long as it is passed with a two-thirds vote. That being said, as I stated in my earlier comments, ACA 21 will direct the Secretary of State to withdraw from the ballot a previously referred measure, which in this case is ACA 13. Again, so the specific question, and I know my colleague from Orange County will address that as well. The specific question is give assurity to the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. Three attorneys, the attorneys at the Secretary of State's office.

Permission to ask a question. Will you take another question, Senator?

Senator, continue. Senator Grove.

Senator Strickland, you are recognized.

Pro Tem Lamone, you are recognized.

Seeing no mics raised for further discussion or debate,

I'm Raul Gil Archuleta I I again I Ashby I Becker I play spear I Cabalden I Caballero I Cervantes I Choi I Cortese I Dally Durazo. Aye. Aye. Gonzales. Aye. Aye. Grayson. Aye. Grove. Hurtado. Aye. Jones. Laird. Aye. Limon. Aye. McGuire. Aye. McNerney. Aye. Menjabar. Aye. Nilo. Ochoa Bog. Padilla. Aye. Perez. Aye. Reyes. Richardson. Aye. Rubio. Aye. Cioto. Smallwood Cuevas. Aye. Aye. Stern? Aye. Strickland? Umberg? Aye. Volodaris? Wahab? Aye. Weber Pearson? Aye. Wiener? Strickland, aye. Strickland, aye. Secretary, please call absent members. Alvarado Gill? Daly? Grove? Aye. Jones? Nilo? Aye. Ochoa Boque. Aye. Reyes. Sayarto. Aye. Valadares. Aye. Weiner. Ayes 35, noes 0. The measure passes. Members, we are moving to ACA 22. Secretary please read Assembly Constitution Amendment 22 by Assemblymember Wicks in acronym to taxation Senator Gonzalez you are recognized Good afternoon, Senators and Mr. President. I'm here today to present ACA 22, which provides clarity for local governments on vote thresholds for special taxes. When it comes to our communities, we are here fighting to protect the core services, as we know, police, fire, park programs, health care, and providing local governments with the tools to solve local needs. Effective January 1, 2027, the constitutional amendment, which would be placed on the November 2026 ballot, would require that all special taxes be approved with a two-thirds vote. This would be prospective in nature and not affect special taxes that are currently in effect. Taken in conjunction with ACA 21, these measures combined protect local communities from harmful effects that a separate measure would directly threaten. I respectfully ask for your aye vote. Seeing no mics raised for discussion or debate, Secretary, please call roll. Allen. Aye. Alvarado Gil. Archuleta. Aye. Aragon. Aye. Ashby. Aye. Becker. Aye. Blake Spear. Aye. Cobaldon. Aye. Caballero. Aye. Cervantes. Aye. Choi. Cortese. Aye. Daly. Durazo. Aye. Aye. Gonzalez. Aye. Grayson. Aye. Grove. Aye. Hurtado. Aye. Jones. Laird. Aye. Limon. Aye. McGuire. Aye. McNerney. Aye. Menjavar Aye Nilo Ochoa Bog Padilla Aye Perez Aye Reyes Richardson Aye Rubio Aye Ciaro Smallwood Cuevas, Aye, Stern, Aye, Strickland, Aye, Umberg, Aye, Valdez, Aye, Wahab, Aye, Weber Pearson, Aye, Weiner, No. Secretary, please call absent members. Ayes 35, noes 1. The measure is adopted. If there is no other business, Pro Tem Le Monde, the desk is clear. Thank you, Members. The next floor session will be on Monday, June 29th at 2 p.m. The Senate will be in recess until the Senate is adjourned. We will reconvene Monday, June 29, 2026 at 2 p.m. The Senate is adjourned. Thank you.