Senate Floor Session

Let us remember that we are always in God's presence. God of all peoples and nations, help us remember that we are in constant development. Let us enter lovingly into the merits of each person we meet. Let what calls us to action be motives of admiration and reverential regard everywhere in our environment. In culture, may we promote liberty. In politics, may we promote equality. In economics, may we promote service to others. In family and community, may we promote inclusivity and love. We ask all this in your name. Amen.

Thank you, Madam President. Please move file item 24, SB 1011 to the inactive file.

Senator. Thank you. Good morning, colleagues. California is home to the largest and most influential creative sector in the world. Over 750,000 jobs power the state's creative economy, which generates over 190 billion federal, state, and local dollars. Recent advancements in AI have led to the creation of synthetic performers, human-like digital figures that convincingly appear, speak, move, and perform like real people. The use of these performers in advertisements is misleading to consumers and allows creators to avoid the responsibility of hiring real workers SB 1050 establishes a disclosure requirement for advertisements that includes synthetic performers to ensure that existing laws are updated to reflect new realities. SB 1050 is sponsored by SAG-AFTRA and has received bipartisan support. I respectfully

Senator Reyes. Thank you, Madam President, members. File item number 6 is the confirmation of Preston Prince for the appointment to the California Housing Finance Agency Board of Directors. Mr. Prince has served on the board since 2014. He is the executive director of the Santa Clara County Housing Authority. He was approved by the Rules Committee on May 20th. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, Madam President, members. File item number seven is the confirmation of Stephanie Lanrudan for reappointment to the State Mining and Geology Board. She is the director of Altadena Garden

Thank you, Madam President. Colleagues, in 2018, California created mental health diversion to address the root causes of low-level nonviolent offenses through treatment rather than traditional court proceedings. However, the reality is that this program was built without sufficient guardrails, and it's opened the door for violent, repeat offenders to avoid accountability and return to our communities without oversight. Perpetrators walk away with no record of their crimes while victims are left with no recourse. In my own home county, a disgraced former Republican County supervisor, Zach Scrivner, serves as the primary example of how broken this system is. Despite sexually assaulting his child, receiving felony charges of child abuse and possession of assault weapons, he was granted diversion. He never entered a plea, he never served a day in jail, and when his diversion is complete, his record will be wiped completely clean, meaning that nothing will appear on his background check if he volunteers at an elementary school. This isn't just one case. We've been given recorded jailhouse calls of career criminals talking about using diversion as their way out. We are seeing habitual offenders in cities across California use this loophole to commit brutal assaults and even murder while out on diversion. In San Francisco, a repeat offender with prior arrests for assaults with a deadly weapon, robbery, and elder abuse was granted diversion only to go out on diversion and strangle a young woman to death. A father whose one-year-old baby girl died from skull fractures and brain hemorrhaging while in his sole care admitted to heavily drinking and being addicted to alcohol, and he didn't remember what happened, and he was granted diversion. A three-year-old little boy was found overdosing on lithium after being force-fed the medication and locked in a filthy room, yet both caregivers were granted diversion. A 20-month-old baby is dead. He had catastrophic internal injuries and nearly 50 external wounds while his parents blamed clumsiness and sought diversion. A three infant suffered a skull fracture and brain bleeding consistent with abuse and living conditions so severe that his face was completely covered in cockroach bites And of course the individuals in his care custody and control sought diversion A two little girl was brutally beaten held underwater and slammed against concrete Abuse and torture, which was captured all on video as evidence, and the abusers sought diversion to escape any type of justice. Some may argue that these cases are the exception to the rule, But the truth is these are just a handful of examples that we pulled from thousands of cases across California. We could sit here for hours and hours reviewing case after case that is established across this state the district attorneys are fighting for every single day to protect victims. There are countless reports of violent repeat offenders being released under diversion, and the public simply is asking why. Why is this happening? This is not what mental health diversion was meant to be for, and SB 1373 fixes this broken system and restores full judicial discretion consistent with AB 46 we passed yesterday, ensuring the judge can deny diversion for a defendant that poses a risk to public safety based on their history. However, judicial discretion is not enough, and we've seen that in other cases. We must ensure that those who commit the most heinous acts, such as human trafficking, child abuse resulting in death, are no longer eligible for diversion at all. Removing diversion simply means that the defendant must face court proceedings, plead their case before a jury. We're closing a loophole for wealthly, privileged politicians and career criminals alike. No one should be exempt from the law. For the right people, diversion can be a real second chance. We can protect our communities from dangerous predators while also making sure the system works in the way it's supposed to. I came up here to Sacramento to fight for the oil and ag industry, and I ended up being the woman that fought for women and children. And this is my last bill that I'll have this in my career since 2010. And I'd be honored and respectfully asked to have your aye vote on this to continue to protect those children that we serve.

Thank you, Madam President, ladies and gentlemen of the Senate. I rise as a proud co-author to SB 1373, this legislation that strengthens California's mental health diversion process while prioritizing public safety and accountability in our communities. California's mental health diversion laws were created with an important purpose to ensure individuals suffering from legitimate mental illness can receive the treatment they deserve instead of being incarcerated when appropriate. However, recent cases as highlighted by the great senator of Bakersfield shows the deficiencies in this laws particularly when diversion is granted in cases involving serious or violent crimes such as child abuse and endangerment assault of a child that results in death human trafficking and inflicting cruel or inhumane corporate punishment on children I've met with many many victims in fact I want to thank the great senator who authored this bill because she and I have been working a lot in this space and have heard the the horrific stories, and these stories stay with you, especially when they involve children, babies who are horrifically murdered, and yet there's loopholes that allow their aggressors, murders to go free. I think this bill strikes a good balance. SB 1373 is critically important. It preserves access to mental health treatment while ensuring courts retain that authority to deny diversion when a defendant poses a substantial risk to our public safety. Public safety and compassion are not opposing values. Californians expect a justice system that supports treatment when appropriate, while also protecting victims and holding dangerous offenders accountable. This legislation helps restore confidence in California's justice system by ensuring diversion programs are used responsibly, consistently, and with proper oversight. Again, All you have to do is meet with victims who were harmed, whose lives were altered forever because they either lost a child or their life was altered because of their aggressor, and to know that the perpetrator went free and they had no accountability, that's heartbreaking, and we need to fix that. SB 1373 is ultimately about balance, protecting access, again, when people genuinely need access to mental health treatment, but also safeguarding California communities from preventable harm, we must ensure always that the most heinous of crimes are treated with the severity it deserves. Victims are counting on us every single day to help them get justice when appropriate. And with that, I respectfully ask for an aye vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam President. Colleagues, I rise as the chair of the Senate Committee on Public Safety to urge your vote for SB 1373. I know this is a difficult vote for some of you, but I want to assure you this bill has been carefully crafted to balance, ensuring that judges continue to have discretion for referring people to diversion when appropriate, with also considering significant public safety risk of the offender and whether sending them to diversion will not be in the interest of public safety. We passed a bill yesterday, AB 46, that makes important changes to broaden judicial discretion to make sure we're striking that balance of maintaining our system of diversion and making sure that people that need treatment get treatment in California, but also making sure that we're balancing that with considering the public safety impacts of that decision. This bill builds on that and retains the same public safety standard, but also includes other considerations, such as the violent nature of the offender's criminal history, and making sure that that's considered in the process of evaluating whether a candidate is suitable for diversion, and specifically excluding very serious crimes from diversion. The current statute already has specific exceptions in which if people commit certain offenses, they're not able to be referred to diversion. Some of the offenses in this bill that would make someone ineligible are the death of a child, serious harm to children, you know, corporal injury that results in great bodily injury. These are very serious offenses that pose significant risks to public safety. And while people should certainly be in diversion who need treatment we also wanna make sure that those people that may end up in diversion and may get out of diversion and re and pose a risk to the safety of our communities that we are taking that into consideration as we making these decisions I want to thank the author for working with the committee on amendments to this bill. I think this strikes the right balance, and I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, Madam President. And I'd like to thank my colleague from Baldwin Park and the public safety chair from Oakland for commenting on this bill. We worked really hard to make sure it was narrowed. My intent is not to take individuals who truly need mental health diversion and put them in a prison sentence where they don't get the help that they need. But there needs to be sufficient guardrails. And like I said, I could have kept us going until probably 4 o'clock this afternoon reading case after case of child abuse that is brought to us, where, like I said, death of a child, corporal injury. One guy cut a little girl's finger off because she was flipping people off. She was three years old. That's a learned behavior. Somebody taught her how to do that, and then they punished her by doing that and then said, oh, it was the alcohol. Those things can't happen. We have to protect our children. They're growing up in a society. A lot of them spend a lot of time on their phones, even as children, as long as little kids, like two, three years old. And we've got to be able to protect our children. And this bill, I think, provides the proper guardrails to at least move it further so that we can protect our kids. I have no doubt in my mind that when the original bill for mental health diversion passed, this was not the intent of that author to make sure that everybody had a get-out-of-jail-free card. That's just not the intent. Everything associated with the DSM-5 list, which is about nine pages long, gives you every reason why somebody in California, because this is attached to that bill, gives you a reason why you can get out on mental health diversion. And some of these things, we all have them. I'm just saying. All of us have something in this file. And it shouldn't be like that. There should be guardrails sufficient to protect our children and those who cause the most great bodily injury and the most horrendous crimes in our state. Respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you so much, Madam President. I rise today to ask for support for SB 1393, the Fisheries Omnibus Bill. Members, California's fishing fleet and recreational fishermen support more than 100,000 jobs and drive hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity each year, especially in rural coastal communities. The Dungeness Crab Fisheries, centered along California's north coast, is one of the most vital in the western United States. And no matter if you are a lover of rockfish or squid, crab, urchin, or spiny lobster, this bill is for you. We need smart management tools that protect our natural resources and keeps our coastal economy strong, and that's what 1393 delivers. Number one, it strengthens the steelhead trout fishing program. It extends and refines the Dungeness crab fishery management structure, which has been needing modernization candidly for years, and it establishes clear rules for vessel transit through closed crab fishing areas, which should have been updated years ago. This bill has received broad bipartisan support. It's supported by the commercial fleet and would respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, Madam President and members. I rise today to present SB 995, the Masuma Khan Justice Act. This is a bill that is inspired directly by one of my constituents, Masuma Khan, a 64-year-old fire survivor from Altadena who was taken during her immigration check-in appointment to California City Detention Center where she was denied access to clean water, denied access to clean food, and also denied access to an attorney. When her family finally discovered and located where she was, she had almost suffered a medical emergency. Fortunately, her daughter got to her in time and was able to save her. She has ultimately been released but has been utterly terrified by the experience she had in this facility. Her story is just one of hundreds of stories that we heard from across the state about these types of facilities and we already heard cases CalMatters just reported on this of sexual assault and sexual violence occurring in these facilities And then hiring outside private contractors to do investigations rather than allowing in county sheriffs. We must ask the question members, why do these facilities refuse to to let law enforcement even inside their doors. That is incredibly concerning. In addition to that, there are currently 500 individuals across this country right now participating in a hunger strike to bring attention to the quality of these facilities, the mistreatment that is going on. You will notice that the bill also includes what is referred to as secure youth treatment facilities, which also falls under involuntary residential facilities. These are operated here in the state. We've also found several abuses with these facilities as well. We need stronger oversight. We need stronger accountability. I urge an aye vote on SB 995. Thank you.

Madam President and colleagues, I rise in support of SB 995. This is something that desperately needs to be addressed and fixed. I think that there's involuntary. When you involuntary put somebody in a facility, there should be oversight to where we have some type of input on how people are treated in those facilities. I worked, you all know, and you guys helped pass bills that Paris Hilton was involved in, and this is a bill that she would definitely, and not speaking for her, but she would definitely support as well, I believe. Anyways, respectfully ask for an aye vote for SB 995.

Thank you. I want to thank the aye good senator for rising in support, And once again, I can't think of a more important measure for this body to pass, given the circumstances that we've seen in these sorts of involuntary residential facilities. These facilities are operating in our state. It's our responsibility to ensure that they are following public health and public safety laws. Thank you. Urge an aye vote.

Good morning. Thank you, Madam President. Colleagues, I rise to present SB 1025, which establishes the Office of Food Security and Affordability. Across California, there are families, students, seniors, and working parents who qualify for food assistance but still find it difficult to assess the support that already exists. This isn't because of our lack of investments. It is because of our current system, and it's spread out across multiple agencies that often do not communicate with one another. And SB 1025 is about making that system easier to navigate for individuals. This bill brings agencies together to improve coordination, strengthen outreach and enrollment efforts, support emergency food providers, and use data to identify communities that continue to be underserved. By improving communication and reducing duplication between programs, SB 1025 helps ensure that the investments California is already making are reaching families more effectively and efficiently. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, Madam President. SB 1266 redefines the value when assessing copper wire theft costs

Thank you, Madam President. I rise today to present Senate Bill 1211, which will clarify that conviction integrity units within district attorney offices have the authority to investigate post-conviction claims of factual innocence as open cases. By clarifying that the CIUs may investigate the most time-sensitive cases as open matters, SB 1211 will expedite access to justice for wrongfully convicted Californians. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. SB 1302 is the sunset bill for the Board of Registered Nursing. I respectfully

Thank you, Madam President. Members, I am the proud daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico. My parents always shared the stories with me of when they migrated to the U.S. My father had an easier route here than my mother. My mother often shares with me how cruel the journey can be going north, how dangerous, how at one point she was almost raped before a good Samaritan stepped in and helped save her. I want to be very clear that getting to the United States can be very cruel for people making that risk for a better life. And when they get here, it's not always easy. it's not my parents share that with me my dad you know lived out of a car for some time both of my parents lived out of a hotel the immigrant story is it's not an easy one to speak about it can be cruel and like so many families in the Central Valley, my parents came here searching for dignity and a better future for their children. That story is not unique to my family. It is a story of millions of Americans. And that is why this conversation here today matters. SB 1181 is about protecting youth. The future of this country, documented or not, are our little ones. Because predators, traffickers, online manipulators, and criminal networks do not stop to ask immigration status before targeting vulnerable children. And every child deserves safety. Every family deserves dignity. And every community deserves institutions that can recognize threats early and respond before lives are destroyed. This bill passed unanimously out of the last committee with bipartisan support and I know that suddenly opposition emerged portraying this bill as targeting communities instead of protecting them. This bill is not that. We're walking into a dangerous territory when we begin telling vulnerable communities they should not trust the institutions meant to protect them. These institutions are not perfect. I recognize that and we must all continue to work to improving them. We must continue protecting civil liberties and above all yes we must pass meaningful immigration reform. But we We should not confuse reform with dismantling trust itself, because trust saves lives. Across California coordinated public safety efforts have helped rescue trafficked migrant children identify victims of exploitation and dismantle criminal networks targeting vulnerable immigrant communities These partnerships have helped locate missing children stop labor exploitation, and improve emergency response when lives were on the line. Because these same communities most vulnerable to exploitation are often the communities most afraid to ask for help. And after listening carefully to the concerns raised by immigrant communities and civil liberty advocates, I am removing fusion centers from this bill and keeping coordination within Cal OES because trust matters. I recognize that. The very research surrounding what's going on warns us that societies that become more vulnerable when fear, mistrust, and division begin to erode confidence in institutions and in one another. I want communities, especially vulnerable communities, to know this bill is not about surveillance. This bill is not about targeting immigrants. It is not about creating fear. It is about prevention, awareness, coordination, and protecting children from exploitation, trafficking, online radicalization and emerging emerging threats driven by technology and artificial intelligence and if removing fusion centers helps preserve trust while allowing us to accomplish the goals of this bill through Cal OES coordination then that's the right thing to do and in today's world the threats facing our youth and vulnerable families are evolving rapidly. Experts studying what's going on online warn that modern threats are increasingly designed to manipulate trust, behavior, and decision-making through technology, misinformation, fear, and isolation. They also warn that artificial intelligence and digital platforms are accelerating these threats at a scale previous generations never faced. And their conclusion was simple. Resilience requires a whole of community response. Families, schools, local leaders, mental health professionals, educators, and emergency officials must work together before harm occurs. And that is exactly what SB 1181 is about. It's about prevention, awareness, coordination, and protecting young people before tragedy occurs. President Donald Trump warned Americans about threats from within, and it's not a very nice thing to say on its surface, but President Joe Biden also warned about something, and he spoke about the battle for the soul of our nation. I prefer President Joe Biden's way of speaking. I think we are facing a battle for the soul of our nation. Different parties, different language, both in their own way warning Americans that something deeper is happening in this country. We are losing trust in one another. We are becoming more isolated, more divided, more vulnerable to manipulation, fear, exploitation and extremism And when trust disappears vulnerable communities suffer first This moment is bigger than politics or party This is about whether we allow fear and division to destroy trust between communities and the people responsible for protecting them. The Central Valley taught me something important. Resilience. The Valley produces more than food. It produces sacrifice, perseverance, and families who still believe that hard work should mean something. And it produces people willing to fight for the next generation. So I go back and I think about my parents. I think about the risks they took and the sacrifices they made. And I think about my niece's future and the future that we leave behind for her generation. It is about whether children are protected before they become victims, and whether the next generation inherits fear and division or trust, resilience, and hope. And as long as I have the privilege of serving, I will continue fighting to protect both freedom and human dignity for every family that calls this country home. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Senator Caballero.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Perez.

Senator Reyes.

Senator Hurtado, you may now close.

Secretary please call the roll Allen Aye Aye Aye Aye I, Jason. I, Grove. I, Hurtado. I, Jones. I, Laird. I, Limon. I, McGuire. I, McNerney. Menjabar. Nilo. I, Ochoa Bo. I, Padilla. I, Perez. I, Reyes. I, Richardson. I, Rubio. Cillarto. I, Smallwood Cuevas. I, Stone. I, Stone. Aye. Strickland? Aye. Umbert? Aye. Valadares? Aye. Wahab? Aye. Weber Pearson? Wiener? Aye. Please call the absent members. Caballero? Cervantes? Daly? Durazo? Gonzales? Aye. McNerney? Mandjavar? Rubio? Aye. Weber Pearson? Aye. Rubio, aye. Weber Pearson. Ayes 33 no 0 The measure passes That it You on bill presentations We are moving into the special consent calendar number 26 on items 62 through 76 Would any member wish to remove an item from this consent calendar? Phenomenal. Secretary, please read. Senate Resolution 94, Senate Bill 1430, 867, 894, 900, 962, 1022, 1047, 1053, 1224, 1299, 1330, 1395, 1397, and Senate Bill 1407. Secretary, please call the roll on the first item and apply that roll call to the entire consent calendar. Allen. Abrago. Aye. Archuleta. Aye. Arrigan. Aye. Ashby. Aye. Becker. Aye. Blakespear. Aye. Cobaldin. Aye. Caballero. Aye, Cervantes. Aye, Choi. Aye, Cortese. Aye, Daly. Durazo. Gonzalez. Aye, Grayson. Aye, Grove. Aye, Hurtado. Aye, Jones. Aye, Laird. Aye, Limon. Aye, McGuire. Aye, McNerney. Aye, Menjavar. Aye, Nilo. Aye, Ochoa Bog. Aye, Padilla. Aye, Perez. Aye, Reyes. Aye, Richardson. Aye, Rubio. Aye. Cillarto. Aye. Smallwood Cuevas. Aye. Stern. Aye. Strickland. Aye. Umber. Aye. Aye. Valdez. Aye. Wahab. Aye. Weber Pearson. Aye. Wiener. Aye. Please call the absent members. Allen. Aye. Dally. Durazo. Aye. Ayes 39, noes 0. The consent calendar is adopted. Under committee announcements, for all the budget subchairs, Senator Perez.

Senator Reyes.

Budget Sub-3 will be meeting in Room 1200, 15 minutes after session is over. Senator Hurtado?

Senator Richardson Yes I like to announce that the Budget Subcommittee 5 on Judicial Corrections Labor Transportation subcommittee will be held in Room 112