June 4, 2026 · Floor · 3,834 words · 4 speakers · 19 segments
Thank you. Secretary, please take the roll.
Allen, Alvarado Gil, Archuleta, Arguin, Ashby, Becker, Blakespear, Cabaldon, Caballero, Cervantes, Choi, Cortese, Daly, Durazo, Gonzalez, Grayson, Grove, Hurtado, Jones, Laird, Limon, McGuire, Mcnerney, Mangivar, Nilo, Ochoa Boat, Padilla, Perez, Reyes, Richardson, Rubio, Seyarto, Smallwood Cuevas, Stern, Strickland, Umberg, Valadez, Wahab, Weber Pearson, Wiener.
We have a quorum. so would members and guests beyond the rail and in the gallery please rise and we will have we will be led in prayer by Sister Michelle Gorman after which you will follow me in the pledge so let us gather ourselves
and be in God's presence again. The book of Proverbs says, Above all else, guard your heart, for everything else flows from it. Creator God, give us a heart like yours that inspires us to love without reservation, to step out in courageous service to one another, and never to dig up in doubt what we have planted in faith. Fortify us with your grace to speak kindly, to keep our actions on the upswing, and to refuse to allow any discouragement to infiltrate our spirits. Gracious God, let your light shine through the cracks and splinters of the less than perfect portions of our hearts. May we forgive ourselves our imperfections, and in response return compassionate love and forgiveness to others. Amen.
Now please join me in the pledge to our flag. I pledge... ...to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Now we will move to privileges of the floor. Thank you. Under privileges the floor, Senator Becker. Senator Becker from the majority leader's desk, you are recognized.
Thank you Mr. President. I am pleased to honor an amazing student athlete in my district who is here with us today. Ryan Liu of Burlingame High School was selected as the 2026 California Interscholastic Federation Male Scholar Athlete of the Year. Since 1982, the scholarship award has honored student athletes who excel in the classroom and athletics and are strong contributors to their schools and communities. Ryan represents more than 800,000 CIF student-athletes and truly embodies what education-based athletics should be. He's dedicating countless hours to athletic achievement while achieving at the highest academic level, all while serving their communities. Ryan is captain of the cross-country and track teams at Burlingame High School. He's founder and president of the Current Events Club at BHS, also a Panther PAL ambassador. Additionally, for the past three years, he's served as an intern and researcher for the Burlingame Mayor's Office. Thank you, Mr. President. He also volunteered with our former colleague, now Congressman Kevin Mullen's office. As Ryan said so eloquently upon receiving this award from CIF, trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship are not abstract ideals. They're daily choices in how I engage with my community, building connections that make our hometown stronger for everyone. He will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall and received a $10,000 scholarship from CIF. I'm pleased to honor Ryan with his legislative resolution jointly signed by my Assembly colleagues, Diane Papin and Mark Berman. Joining Ryan here today are his parents, Kevin and Goldie Liu, and his brother, Tyler Liu. We also welcome the Executive Director of CIF, Ron Nocetti. It is an honor to celebrate Ryan's academic and athletic achievements with my colleagues here in the Chamber today. Thank you.
Thank you. leader's desk. Well, thank you so much, Mr. President. Members, I have great privilege this morning of introducing an extraordinary constituent of mine, our CIF Scholar Athlete of the Year, Mona Sugawara. Each year, as you know, the California Interscholastic Federation has honored one male and one female high school athlete selected from the more than 800,000 student athletes across our wonderful state, folks whose excellence in both academics and athletics not only represent the state's best and brightest, but also help and lift up their classmates and teammates with every step. So in keeping with tradition, the $10,000 scholarship entitled Scholar Athlete of the Year celebrate the culmination of four years of tenacious dedication, selfless community work, academic brilliance. Mona here is a four-sport varsity athlete and a model student taking 15 AP courses. My goodness. I thought I had a stressful job Earning a near ACT score achieving a 4 GPA Mona athletic career has been a tour de force as well studied with awards and titles including varsity tennis MVP, varsity swimming league champion, head team captain for both varsity badminton and varsity water polo. So four letters in different sports. Okay, so beyond her academics, Mona is both first chair bassoon soloist. She's taken on the role of head woodwind captain in her senior year. She and the rest of the upper leadership have devoted their Monday nights zero periods, which is the hour before school even begins, and two full weeks of summer camp for training and coordinating the band to play and march in perfect unison. And as though she clearly has lots of additional free time because then she's able to captain the West Torrance High Science Olympiad team, founds and leads the science club, founded and captained the National Science Bowl team, and helps lead the West High National Honor Society chapter. And lest you think that her efforts are only on the campus, she volunteered in local hospitals, assisting in the cardiology department, serving as a translator for both Japanese and Spanish. Oh, my goodness gracious. This is just, this is too much. Okay, interned at the local surgery center, started a private tutoring enterprise, and has analyzed over 300 CT scans as a lab research intern. I'm flabbergasted. Okay, so along with Mona, we have the honor of welcoming to the Senate Ron Nesetti, who is the executive director of the CIF, Mona's mother, Manirat, and father, Nozomu. So as Mona's parents, I just want to express our gratitude to you for all you've done to support your daughter's really extraordinary achievements, a very special example of how bright our future is. As our Scholar-Athlete of the Year, we know that Mona will follow in the tremendous footsteps of honorees in the past. She went on to accomplish really great things in the years that followed. Women like Sarah Hall, 2001, one of the fastest American women to ever run a marathon, and founder of the Hall Steps Foundation supporting youth in Ethiopia. Folks like Eleanor Wickstrom, 2020, became a Rhodes Scholar, studying at the intersection of U.S. foreign policy and imperialism and global information systems at Oxford, who also performed her poetry at the United Nations at the age of 17. We know that you've all accomplished so much in your life, Mona. We are really excited to see all that you will do as your life goes along. It's a great honor to represent you in the state Senate and to recognize your extraordinary achievements so far here on our Senate floor. Members, let's give an incredible congratulations, a hearty congratulations, to the 2026th Scholar Athlete of the Year, Mona Sugawara.
Thank you. Thank you.
All right. Go Bruins. Mona looks awfully alert for a person who clearly has no time to sleep. and continuing under privileges of the floor Senator McNerney at the majority leader's desk you are recognized well thank you Mr. President colleagues today I have the high honor and privilege of welcoming a distinguished delegation from China's Jiangsu Province. They are visiting here today to further deepen the relations and ties between California State Senate and the Jiangsu Provisional People's Government in conjunction with the 15th anniversary of our sister state relationship. Jiangsu is China's leading provinces in terms of finance, technology and tourism. It also leads in research and education, hosting 168 institutions of higher education characteristics. It shares with California. I met with the delegation, and I can tell you what, this is a province with only 1% of the population. It has 80 million people, and they are manufacturing wind turbines, which I am partial to, solar panels, and a lot of other stuff. It's really quite an honor to have them here with us. While visiting, they will also be participating in an event at the San Francisco Zoo celebrating Crane Cow, the story of a red-crowned crane named after California when it escorted Governor Newsom and his delegation in a 2023 visit to the Wetlands Rare Birds National Reserve. Now, the video showed this crane walking in front of the delegation. It was really cute to see that. I'm pleased to have the opportunity of recognizing them today and renewing the relationship between our institution of the California State Senate and the important Chinese province. Please join me in warmly welcoming these three government officials from the Foreign Affairs Office of the Jiangsu Provisional Governments to the California State Senate. The three of them, the leader is Frank Lufan. Amelia Yu Minxiu Wan and Lily Wu Yu. Thank you. Give them a warm welcome to California. Welcome to the California State Senate. And now, Senator Ochoa-Bogue. From the Majority Leader's desk, you are recognized. Good morning, Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen of the Senate. Joining me today to celebrate California Taxpayers Association's 100th anniversary are Robert Gutierrez, president of the California Taxpayers Association, and John Schmalak, Chair of CalTax Board of Directors. CalTax is California's oldest and largest taxpayer advocacy organization and has been advocating for sound tax policy and government efficiency since 1926. Organizations like CalTax play an important role in ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly and tax policies are fair and predictable for all Californians. CalTax was founded on nonpartisan and nonpolitical principles so the association could bring about the greatest possible economies consistent with efficiency in the collection and expenditure of public monies. CalTax has always supported policies that promote transparency, fairness and accountability in tax laws. This includes one of their earliest victories in which they played a key role in legislation that required counties to prepare formal budgets, providing transparency for all Californians and Californians. Over the years, they've worked to defeat unnecessary tax increases and have worked directly with governors, legislators, county assessors and tax agencies to ensure that California's taxpayers are always represented. They've also played a role in the outcome of many ballot initiatives and court cases, and they never stop working to promote and support policies that make California more affordable to businesses and consumers alike. These are just a few examples demonstrating CalTAC's long-standing commitment to advocating on behalf of California's taxpayers, and I have no doubt they will continue to provide this excellent service for another 100 years. Please join me in welcoming Rob and John to the Senate and in honoring the California Taxpayers Association on their 100th anniversary And we all plan on being around for the next one right And Senator Ochoa-Vogue from the Majority Leader's desk, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President, ladies and generals of the Senate. I have the great pleasure to have had the pleasure of hosting my district staff in Sacramento. They've been seeing firsthand the life in the Capitol, meeting with key stakeholders, seeing the legislative process and trying our classic Sacramento cuisine. We all know how hard our district office works to stay informed with local issues, facilitate connections between communities, and build meaningful relationships with constituents. and my staff is absolutely no exception to that. So it is with great pride and appreciation that I ask you to please give a warm Senate welcome to my team. We have Nick Calero, my district director, William Boyd, Armando Martinez, Emily Davalos, Ariel Solis, and Milet Lizarraga-Gaitan up in the gallery with me today. Please help me welcome them to the California State Senate. Welcome to Sacramento, California's God country. Okay, now messages from the governor will be deemed read. Excuse me, messages from the assembly will be deemed read. Reports of committees will be deemed read and amendments adopted. under motions, resolutions, and notices. First, pursuant to Senate Rule 2910, the following bill is referred to the Committee on Rules, File Item 45, AB 782. And further, Senator Menjivar, you are recognized. Mr. President, I request to rescind the vote on File Item A79, AB 1457. And place the item on third reading. Senator Valadares. I'd like to request a no vote. We will take a roll call on that motion. Senator Menjivar is asking for an aye vote. Senator Valadares is asking for a no vote. Secretary, please call the roll.
Allen. I'm Rob Gale, Archuleta, I, I, Ashby, I, Becker, I, Blake Spear, I, Cabaldon, I, Caballero, I, Cervantes, I, Choi, no, Cortese, I, Daly, no, Durazo, I, Gonzalez, I, Grayson, I, Grove, No, Hurtado. Aye, Jones. No, Laird. Aye, Limon. McGuire. Aye, McNerney. Aye, Menjabar. Aye, Nilo. No, Ochoa Bog. No, Padilla. Aye, Perez. Aye, Reyes. Richardson. Aye, Rubio. Aye, Ciarto. No, Smallwood Cuevas. Stern. Strickland? No. No. Umbert? Aye. Aye. Valadares? No. Wahab? Aye. Weber Pearson? Aye. Weiner? Aye.
Please call the absent Matt and I.
Abrago Gil? Limon? Reyes? Smallwood Cuevas? Aye. Stern? Aye.
The ayes are 28, the nos are 9, the motion carries. Now moving to consideration of the daily file. Secretary, please read. The only thing we have to take up is the consent calendar. This is just a packed agenda today. Does anybody want to have any item pulled off of the consent calendar? Seeing none. Secretary, please read.
Assembly concurrent resolution 129, 164, and assembly concurrent resolution 166.
Secretary, please call the roll.
Aye. Aye. Jones. Aye. Laird. Aye. Limon. Aye. McGuire. Aye. Aye. McNerney. Aye. Menjabar. Aye. Nilo. Aye. Ochoa Pogue. Aye. Padilla. Aye. Perez. Aye. Rayes. Richardson. Aye. Rubio. Aye. Aye. Walla Durs. Aye. Wahab. Aye. Weber Pearson. Aye. Wiener. Aye.
The ayes are 38. The nos are zero. Item 49 passes. The same vote applied to items 50 and 51. Now returning to motions and resolutions, we have adjourned in memory motions. and first Senator Becker you were recognized
colleagues I rise today to adjourn a memory of Clarence Jones it's hard to summarize the life of a man like Clarence Jones in a few minutes, so I'll start by relying on the words of Martin Luther King himself. He said, ever since I've known Mr. Jones, I've always seen him as a man of sound judgment, deep insights, and great dedication. I'm also convinced he's a man of great integrity. Throughout each of his 95 years, Clarence showed this to be an apt description of who he was. Born in Philadelphia in 1931, He went to Columbia University before being drafted. He would go on to earn his Bachelor of Law degree from Boston University and move to Altadena, California in 1960. Then he joined the legal team of Martin Luther King Jr. and went on to become his confidant, his strategist, advisor, and friend. So in April 1963, Clarence Jones was the one who smuggled those pieces of paper and even margins of newspapers, scraps of paper, toilet paper that he smuggled out. That became the letter from Birmingham jail. Clarence Jones was the one who smuggled out a lot of those papers. And here's a fun historical fact. Jones helped secure the bail money for Dr. Jones and the others by flying to meet Nelson Rockefeller, the governor of New York, who gave Jones the bail funds directly from his family's vault at Chase Manhattan Bank. He would go on, he helped craft Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech. Can you imagine that, having worked on the I Have a Dream speech? I first learned about Mr. Jones through my friend Larry Moody, and we met him at a ceremony in East Palo Alto did It was one of three cities selected to focus on honoring the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King assassination and I met him there, and I later learned more and more about him. For example, he chaired a group called Spill the Honey. This is a platform dedicated to fostering and strengthening black Jewish alliances, which is a cause he was very passionate about. He told CBS News the black community and the Jewish community, that alliance was so powerful it turned the country around. None other than Steph Curry recently directed a documentary about Dr. Jones that had its world premiere at Sundance this year, and it won the short film Grand Jury Prize. It's called The Baddest Speechwriter of All. in january this year on martin luther king jr day of service i was able to join him we planted 20 trees and they named a play area in his honor at the newest and largest child care center in san mateo county even though he's in his late 90s in a wheelchair i still remember kind of kneeling by him to speak to him and just being just kind of blown away by his presence After King's assassination, he would become a dedicated defender of King's legacy. He taught at Stanford and at UC, at USF, University of San Francisco. He co-founded their Institute for Nonviolence and Social Justice. His work reminds us that there are countless unsung heroes in the world, people who are working quietly and diligently behind the scenes to change things for the better for all of us. For a man who has seen so much suffering and experienced so much hate, he never lost his spirit or sense of justice. Like Clarence Jones, not all heroes stand in the spotlight. It's important to remember societies held together by the unsung heroes whose names we may never know. He left a lasting legacy. I thank my colleagues for allowing me to adjourn the Senate in his honor.
please bring the name forward so that he may be properly recognized and Senator Riener you are recognized thank you very much mr. president colleagues today I rise to adjourn let me start over again thank you very much mr. president colleagues today I rise to I ask that the Senate adjourn in memory of a truly great San Franciscan and a giant in the San Francisco Jewish community, Rita Semel, who passed away on May 13th at the very young age of 104. And Rita, it's hard to overstate her presence in San Francisco as a leader for decades and decades in the San Francisco community. Jewish community but also as one of the founders of the San Francisco Interfaith Council. Rita believed deeply in interfaith connections and she worked hard throughout her life to ensure that people of all faiths were working together to address our city's largest challenges around poverty and homelessness and so many other needs. And it was really part of her DNA. And we will be forever grateful to Rita for her leadership and her vision. Rita was a native of New York who found her way to San Francisco like so many of us did. And she was just a tireless advocate. it. She believed deeply that San Francisco's diversity was our greatest strength, not something that separates us, but something that brings us together. She fostered deep relationships in so many communities. She was recognized endlessly by, with award after award, too many to list here, because that's who Rita was. When she turned 100, there was a huge celebration, and she received blessings from every faith in existence at Temple Emanuel in San Francisco. She served for more than a decade on the city's Human Services Commission, and again, I just cannot overstate the strength of her leadership and the impact that she had on San Francisco. I actually saw Rita just about a week before she passed away. I could tell that she was not quite as perky as she normally was, and she obviously was in the last week of her life. But it was so Rita that at the age of 104, when she was only a week before she was passing, she was still sitting there in the front row of a community event. Just an extraordinary human being on all levels. So, colleagues, please join me in adjourning the Senate in the memory of Rita Semel. May her memory be a blessing. please bring her name forward so that she may be properly recognized thank you and now senator rubo rubio for that you're recognized thank you mr. president ladies and gentlemen of the senate please help me adjourn in the memory of deputy levi vargas of the la county shows department who worked in my district in the city of San Dimas. He's a graduate of Ruben S. Ayala High School in Chino Hills. Deputy Vargas served as an 11-year veteran of the department. He joined in 2015 at the age of 19 as a custody assistant, later graduating from the academy class for 13. Over the years, he worked various custody assignments at different jail facilities before moving to Norwalk and later San Dimas Station. Deputy Vargas came from a law enforcement family with his mother working as an LA County Sheriff's Deputy Department head and father worked as a correctional officer. From an early age Vargas showed a strong interest in law enforcement. He would wear sheriff's clothing, costumes, he would play with guns and swords. He wanted to pretend he was a soldier in the army. Deputy Vargas was also involved in sports from a young age, a love he carried throughout his life, playing football, soccer, and basketball as a child and in high school. He later joined the Sheriff's Department's soccer team. Deputy Vargas was known for his calm demeanor, kindness, professionalism, and compassion towards the communities he served. Sheriff Robert Luna described him as someone who loved being a deputy in LA County and referred to the department as his second family and home. Deputy Vargas was married to Amanda Vargas, whom he met just before her father's death. She said, he was my lifeboat and my light in a dark season of my life. His life and story remind us of the power of public service and what true friendship and companionship looks like. No matter what we do or where we come from, Deputy Vargas' example shows us that everyone can create meaningful change in their communities. Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, please join me in adjourning in the memory of Deputy Levi Vargas. Thank you. please bring the name forward so that may he may be properly recognized if there is no other business pro tem limon the desk is clear thank you members the next floor session is scheduled for monday june 8th at 2 p.m thank you thank you uh the senate will be in recess until 3 30 at which time an adjournment motion will be made. We reconvene Monday, June 8th at 2 p.m.