August 5, 2026 · Elections · 5,018 words · 4 speakers · 9 segments
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. The August 5th, 2026 hearing of the Assembly Elections Committee is called to order. I'd like to welcome everyone who is here in the hearing room today and who's watching online. For the purpose of this hearing, we are accepting witness testimony in person, and we are also accepting written testimony through the legislature's position letter portal. That portal can be accessed through the committee's website at aelc.assembly.ca.gov. Today's hearing is an informational hearing on the subject matter of Assembly Bill 1923 by Assemblymember Soria. Because this is an informational hearing, we do not need a quorum, but thank you. Welcome to our vice chair and to Assemblymember Ellis. And we will not be voting on the bill. Although this is an informational hearing, we will proceed as much as possible in the same manner as if it were a regular bill hearing. So we will hear from a maximum of two primary witnesses in support and two primary witnesses in opposition to the bill with a limit of two minutes per witness. Okay. Reminder, primary witnesses and support are those designated by the author. Other witnesses are limited to providing their name, the organization they represent, if any, and their position on the bill. Additional comments will be ruled out of order. We seek to protect the rights of all who participate in the legislative process so that we can have an effective collaboration, deliberation, and decisions on the critical issues facing California. In order to facilitate the committee's business and public participation in today's hearing, we will not permit conduct that disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of legislative proceedings. Violations of these rules may subject you to removal or other enforcement actions. With those announcements out of the way, we will move on to the committee's agenda. The only item on this agenda today is AB 1923 by Assemblymember Soria.
Andrea Assemblymember, you may present your bill when you're ready. Thank you, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to present this. And thank you to the members that have joined us this morning. AB 23 is a very simple bill. It would ensure that the Fresno County Transportation Improvement Act appears on the November 2026 general election ballot and give Fresno County voters the chance to decide the future of transportation funding in their county. Since 1986, the voter-approved Measure C has provided a consistent stream of funding for transportation projects and services in Fresno County. Whether through road repairs, highway improvements, or ride services for seniors, students, and farm workers, Measure C has been a foundational part of transportation in Fresno County. That's how communities have been built. That's how neighborhoods exist. And that measure has been extremely important. However, this funding source is set to end on July 2027 if the voters do not have the ability to see a successor initiative put on the ballot. Currently, the only initiative poised to succeed Measure C is what is in front of you guys today, the Fresno County Transportation Improvement Act. It has secured signatures needed to qualify for placement on the ballot, and we are asking today to allow that to happen. This initiative represents what is a lengthy process of outreach to locals to develop a transportation initiative that serves the diverse needs of the county residents in Fresno. However, despite meeting all the requirements to qualify for placement on the ballot, there were three supervisors on the board of Fresno County decided to essentially take advantage of the election law to subvert the will of over 32,000 signatories and deny half a million registered voters the opportunity to choose for themselves in this upcoming November election. With no replacement funding mechanism, which you will hear about the impacts today, Fresno County Transportation Services, its residents depend on forgetting to work, attending school, or reaching medical care could cease to exist without no future plan. Repairs needed to keep our roads safe would be put on hold for who knows how long. AB 1923 will give the voters of Fresno County their choice to back by ensuring this initiative that should qualify for inclusion on the upcoming general election ballot. The Board of Fresno County will claim and you guys probably have heard that this violates their local control authority But the authority to decide which election a voter initiative appears on is not a power held by counties It is something they had to invent as a legal anomaly in our election process. The Board of Fresno County will claim that they just want to appropriately study the effects of this initiative, but they could have asked for this study as early as January when this initiative was submitted to them. Instead, they waited until the last possible moment when they could use it to subvert the election process. AB 1923 simply bypasses this bad faith maneuver and ensures that Fresno voters get the chance to choose this November. Here with me to testify in support of AB 1923 is Mayor of the City of Kerman, Maria Pacheco, and Mayor of the City of Mendota, Mr. Victor Martinez.
Welcome, and you each have two minutes.
Thank you. When we talk about better roads, safe streets, it's easy to focus on miles of pavement, of dollars invested. But for the people I represent, transportation is about opportunity. In Kerman and throughout western Fresno County, many of our residents don't have the luxury of living close to where they work, study, or receive medical care. Reliable transportation is what connects a student to a college classroom, a parent to a good-paying job, and a senior to a doctor's appointment. Several years ago, our community partnered to create a transportation program that allows Kerman students to ride public transportation to Fresno City College at no cost. That program has changed lives. It has opened doors to higher education for students who otherwise could not afford the cost of commuting or owning a vehicle. Similar transportation services help students from other rural communities as well across Fresno County. If this measure were to expire without a successor, those opportunities are put at risk. And we're not simply talking about delaying construction projects. We're talking about limiting educational access, reducing mobility for working families, and making it harder for rural residents to participate in the economy. Current planning documents note that the expiration of Measure C would leave a significant gap in local transportation funding beginning in 2027, affecting roads, transit, and the county's ability to leverage additional state and federal transportation dollars. This is also about fairness. We spend so much of our time educating our constituents on the importance of voting and engaging with their elected officials and empowering them to use their voices. More than 32,000 Fresno County residents signed petitions asking that this citizen-led initiative be placed before the voters. AB 1923 simply preserves their opportunity to decide its future at the ballot box after a procedural delay has threatened to push the measure beyond the November deadline. As someone who has spent their entire life in rural Fresno County, I know what it means to wait years for infrastructure that larger communities often take for granted. Our residents are not asking for special treatment. They are simply asking for the chance to vote and invest in safer roads, stronger transit, and greater opportunity for the next generation. Fresno County has three supervisors.
You can wrap up, please. Thank you.
versus 11 mayors, 30 council members, and 32,000 constituents who signed the petition. Thank you.
Thank you. And you have two minutes.
Yes, thank you very much. Good morning chair and members My name is Victor Martinez mayor for the city of Mendota and Chairman for Fresno Council of Governments a small rural community of about 12 people in western Fresno County In agriculture communities like Mendota, we have a continuing need for ongoing transportation investments to keep our streets in good repair and make sure our residents are safe during the long commutes that are a fact of life in the Central Valley. For 40 years, Measure C half-cent transportation sales tax has played this vital role. This money not only directly funds critical projects, it also serves as the matching funds needed to compete for state and federal transportation grants. As a disadvantaged community of predominantly farm workers, we will not be able to raise these matching funds ourselves without Measure C, and so we will be cut off from most sources of road safety funding. For these reasons, I am proud to support Measure C's successor initiative, the Fresno County Transportation Improvement Act. as it collected the signatures necessary to get on the November ballot. But now that the Board of Supervisors have weaponized procedural delays to keep this initiative off the November ballot, communities like Mendota are facing a road safety crisis. This funding is not a luxury, not something that we would be just nice for us to have. This is a question of life and death if Measure C is allowed to lapse. Someone like me who utilized the transportation services when I was 17 years old fighting leukemia going to the hospital, it was critical for me because our communities, in our rural communities, we do not have the specialists, the oncologists to treat this disease. So we have to go to greater metropolitan areas like Fresno to get those services. That is why I'm proud to support AB 1923 and thank Assembly Women's Soria and Senator Caballero for uttering the measure. This bill does not decide the outcome of the initiative,
All we're asking is to respect the will of the people. More than 30,000 people signed this to be in November ballot. Thank you, and I respectfully urge the committee to please support AB 1923. Thank you so much. We'll now hear from any witnesses in opposition to the bill. Come on up. You have two minutes. Good morning, Madam Chair and members. Paul Yoder here today on behalf of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. The Board of the County of Fresno respectfully opposes AB 1923 in its current form. I want to thank the committee staff for including basically the county's letter verbatim in the analysis. I appreciate that. Before I start or go any further, I want to correct a fact about the board waiting until the last minute. I think that's really, really important for all the members in both houses to understand. The board agendized this item at the next board meeting available to it after the signatures had actually been verified by the elections officials in the county. I want to be clear about that. There's no gaming of that. So this is an informational hearing. I'll keep my comments as brief as I can, but I do want to make sure the members know there's additional opposition. A lot of it's listed in the Senate analysis for the committee later today where a vote will be taken, but the Fresno County Farm Bureau, the Fresno Area Hispanic Foundation, the Fresno Bandera King's Tulare Building and Construction Trades, the AFL-CIO, and I've heard that the California State Association of Counties may list concerns this afternoon because of the precedent. So a couple of things You being asked to take extraordinary action in a frankly and non with all due respect circumstance In the Senate analysis for the hearing this afternoon they state quote committee staff is unaware of any other legislation that placed an item on a local ballot contravening the action of the County Board of Supervisors, as this bill would do. Any legislation ever. Peter Chacon, then Assemblyman Peter Chacon, and I may be the only person in this room that worked with Peter Chacon, in 1987 put this law in the books. 1923 does not propose to do anything. I know I'm dating myself. Yeah. Okay. All right. This club is formed. This bill does not propose to change the law. This bill proposes to change the law in Fresno County this year, right? A law that's been on the books since 1987. The tax, in fact, doesn't expire until July 1st of next year. The revenues collected up until July 1st of next year will, in fact, be available for expenditure for quite a while after that. You're over two minutes, so I'm going to give you about 15 more seconds to wrap up. Can I have the other guy's opposition two minutes, too, since he didn't show up today? Speak 30. Okay, let me go faster. How about this? I'm going to quote from the building trades letter, okay? And this has to do with the 30-day study and the necessity of it, not just from the board's perspective, but from the building trades perspective. The proponent's own economic analysis illustrates the need for an independent review as if it misstates and overstates job creation through modeled employment generated indirectly through suppliers and induced employment resulting from household spending. Even the direct job category includes spending assigned to public transportation operations, administration, consulting, and other activities that are not necessarily construction work performed by local tradespeople. That's not the Board of Supervisors that I represent. That's organized labor saying a study is necessary for at least many reasons. So let me conclude. Madam Chair, thank you for being generous. I also want to make sure the members understand I don't want any members surprised if this leads to litigation. And so in terms of the urgency or the press for the urgency, the statement that this is urgent, I think court proceedings will actually make it possibly make a lot of what this bill seeks to achieve moot. Thank you. Thank you so much. Are there any witnesses in the room in support of the bill that would like to just come up and add on as Me Too's? I think that's a lot of you in the room. Hi, good morning, Chair. Thank you. So Veronica Garibay on behalf of Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability and Support. I'd also like to register a Me Too for Hmong Innovating Politics, Move California, Safe to School, Public Advocates, Fresno City Employees Association, Sierra Club California, and Next Gen California. Thank you. Yeah, you just all step up to the mic, state your name, organization, if any, and position. We'll then have, after you go through the ones in support, we'll ask for anybody in opposition. So thank you. Okay. Mayor Beltran, City of Parlier, and I approve this. Thank you. Good morning. My name is Gilbert Garcia. I'm mayor for the City of Orange Cove, and I also support AB 1923. Thank you very much. Good morning. Ray Leon, Mayor, City of Huron, the heart of the valley, here in strong support. Thank you for being here. Good morning, Genoveva Islas, board president of Fresno Unified School District and executive director of Cultiva La And I rise to give my full support of AB 1923. Christina Solberg with the Central Valley Community Foundation. Fresno County is one of the key counties that we cover at the foundation here in strong support. Sue Hammond, Clovis, California. I'm in full support of AB 1923. My name is Nico Montano. I'm a resident of Fresno, California County, and I am in strong support of AB 1923. Good morning, Madam Chair, members of the committee. Ashley Swearingen, Central Valley Community Foundation, resident Fresno, California, strong supporter of this bill. Thank you. Good morning, Reverend Simon Biasel, pastor of the Big Red Church in the beautiful Fresno High neighborhood. Jim Grant, St. Paul Catholic, Newman Center, very strong supporter of this bill going through. Sarah Centeno, I'm a resident of Fresno, and I support this bill. Good morning, my name is Waldo, and I'm a resident of Fresno, and I support this bill. Buenos dias, mi nombre es Monica, soy residente de Fresno, y apoyo esta medida. My name is Ariana Contreras. I'm from Fresno and I support this bill. Hi, good morning. My name is Eva Ramirez and I'm from Fresno County and I support this bill. Alan Perot, Chair Emeritus, Central Valley Community Foundation, only one to vote for the two previous versions of this bill and I'm a strong supporter of this one as well. Hi, my name is Jonas Palos. I depend on the bus. I'm visually impaired. That's the only way I can get around, and I'm representing veterans on the street, and they're a huge recipient of this, and I'm in support of this bill. Thank you. My name is Janelle Cabrera. I am a resident of Fresno County, and I am in support of Bill AB 1923. Good morning. My name is Brian Abarca. I'm from Fresno County, and I support this bill. Good morning, my name is Silvano Rebollero and I stay here for supporting everything for the bill. Buenos dias, mi nombre es Delia Hernandez. Soy residente de Fresno y voto por la medida. Gracias en apoyo. Gracias. My name is Juan. I'm a resident of Fresno County and I'm a supporter. of this. Good morning. My name is Acel Valdez. I'm a resident in California, Fresno County, and I support this bill. Good morning. My name is Genevieve Aguilar, and I'm a resident of Fresno, and I support this bill. Good morning. My name is Jazlyn Cisneros, and I'm in support of this bill. Good morning. My name is Sherma. I'm a director with the Youth Leadership Institute, resident of Fresno County and I'm strong support of this bill. Good morning, I'm Orlando Rodriguez, organizer for Local 99 Carpenters Union. We are strong in support of this bill. Good morning everybody, my name is Palimon Frauso, I'm a field representative with the North Coast State's Carpenters Union, representing Carpenters Local 99 Fresno Madera Tulare Kings and Kern County and I strong support of this bill Thank you Good morning Sandra Celedon with Fresno Building Health and Communities I like to register our support I also like to register the support of Community Justice Center Climate Plan California Bicycle Coalition Live Again Fresno, United San Joaquin, Fresno Interfaith Climate Alliance. Thank you. Good morning. And I support this initiative. Good morning. Bye. Thank you. Good morning, Madam Chair. Members, Mari Lopez with the California Nurses Association in support. Dr. Esmeralda Diaz, I support the AB 2913 on behalf of Organización Las Panchas. 1923. We got you. We knew what you were talking about. Hi, my name is Gloria. I'm from SEIU and I support AB 1923. Thank you. Hello, my name is Brianna and I'm from SEIU 2015 and I support AB 1923. Yeah. Good morning. My name is Oscar. We're with SCIU 2015. We represent caregivers all across Fresno County, and we are in support of this bill. Good morning. I'm Olga Valle, and I am on the executive board for SCIU 2015 and represent the home caregivers, and I support this bill. It's very important for our community and who we represent. Good morning my name is Ada Yumasak I'm a resident of Fresno County and I support this bill. Good morning my name is Margaret Yang I am a resident of Fresno of Fresno County and I support this bill. My name is Rosa Mariana and I'm a student at Fresno and I rely on the transportation and I and I support this bill. My name is Jose Perez. I'm a resident of Fresno, and I support this bill. Good morning. My name is Ruel, and I'm a resident of Fresno, and as a student, I utilize the transit system all the time. It's very crucial to my education, and that's why I'm in support of this bill. Thank you. Good morning. My name is John. I'm a resident of Fresno, and I support this bill. Good morning. My name is Andy. I'm a resident of Fresno, also a member of the Fresno Unified School Board, and also I support this bill. Also proud to register support on behalf of the following organizations. The California Faculty Association, Fresno Chapter, State Center Federation of Teachers, the Fresno Unified School District, the Fresno Teachers Association, Every Neighborhood Partnership, California Enviro Voters, Jakara Movement, the Children's Movement of Fresno, Planned Parenthood Advocates Marmonte, Friends of Calhaw, and the Central Labor Council. Thank you. Good morning. My name is Gerardo. I'm a resident of Fresno, and I support this bill. Good morning My name is Leticia and I a resident of Fresno and I support this bill Buenos dias my name is Emanuel I from Fresno and I support you Yes, I'm Juan and I support what is the petician of the 1923 and I live in Fresno. Thank you. Buenos días, soy Mariana Ramirez, vengo apoyando la proposición 19-23, gracias. Buenos días, mi nombre es María, residente de Fresno, voto sí. Hi, I'm Ulysses. I'm a resident of Fresno. I support 1923. Hola, mi nombre es Mariela y vengo en apoyo a la medida. Hello, my name is Eileen and I support this bill because my mom relies on public transportation. Thank you. Hello, good morning. My name is Juana Iris Mesa and I'm from Fresno, California and I support this measure. Good morning. My name is Esmeralda, I'm from Fresno and I'm going to support this measure. Good morning. My name is Frances Calvas from the organization Las Panchas. I'm from Fresno and I support this measure. Hello, my name is Salud Duarte, I'm from Fresno, I support the measure of the organization of Las Panchas. Thank you. Hello, good morning. My name is Juliana Bajar, I'm a Fresno County resident and I support this bill. Hello, good morning, my name is Julia and I belong to the community of Cantuacrid and I belong to Fresno, I support the proposal. Gracias. Good morning. My name is Esther Ramirez. I live in Cantua Creek in Fresno County, and I support this bill. Thank you. Mi nombre es Marisela. Soy residente de Fresno y apoyo la medida. Mi nombre es Jorge. Soy residente de Fresno y apoyo la medida. My name is Ivanka Saunders, resident of Fresno, and I support this bill. Thank you. Good morning. My name is Yedera Torres. I'm a resident of Fresno County, and I strongly support this bill. Phoebe Seaton with Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability, registering support for Fresno State Center for Community Voices, Medical Advocates for Healthy Air, Faith in the Valley, Mothers Helping Mothers, Climate Citizens Lobby of Fresno, and Central Valley Partnership. Thank you. Good morning. Don Wilcox, California Conference of Carpenters in strong support of this measure. Thank you. Good morning. My name is Sylvia. I'm a resident from Fresno County, and I support this bill. Thank you. Hello, good morning. My name is Guillermo Arguelles and I am a resident of Fresno and I support this bill. Good morning, Kerry Catalano. I'm a resident of Fresno County and I support this bill and thank you, Assemblymember Soria. Miguel Arias, Fresno City Councilmember. Our council unanimously supported this transportation initiative, as did our mayor. And for the record the consultant comments were completely falsehoods We be happy to expand on that later One of those Ray Leon I forgot to mention that the Latino Equity Advocacy and Policy Institute the organization that I founded to serve farmworker families throughout rural Fresno County, is also in support. Thank you. Thank you. I think that takes into account everyone who's a Me Too in support. We'll now move on to the Me Too's who are in opposition to the bill. Please step up to the mic. State your name, organization, and your position, please. Good morning. Emma Jungwirth on behalf of the California State Association of Counties. We do not have a formal position yet, but I do just want to express concerns about local control and overriding the vote of the board. But thank you. Thank you so much. We'll now bring it back to our committee of three of us. Any comments or questions? Vice Chair Johnson. Thank you so much. Good afternoon. I first want to thank what a great representation of support. I always appreciate when people make the time to come up and let us know, so I appreciate that. With that being said, I do have some serious concerns for AB 1923, both in the terms of the underlying policy as well as the procedural approach that is being taken to push the bill through. And I think this very much can be considered an inappropriate overreach by the state in a very local matter. And I'm very deeply concerned about those implications and more so the precedents that this action will set. You know, as someone who served on a city council for 13 years and as a mayor, I feel strongly that local matters should be decided by the city or even the county level when possible. That is especially true in cases where local representatives have taken action directly in opposition of policy proposal. So this bill, in the way I've interpreted it, the bill strips away local control and overrides the will of the elected officials chosen by the residents in Fresno County. Sacramento should not be injecting its own political winds in this matter. We need to stand by the decision of the County Board of Supervisors and respect their insight, their oversight, and their authority. Overriding this decision directly undermines local control and the will, more importantly, of the voters of Central Valley. I think the intention of the bill isn't the most important part. It is wrong for the legislature to intervene. And I encourage my colleagues to consider the facts as we leave the committee today. I know we are not voting, but I just wanted to make these concerns very clear for these reasons. I cannot be in support and I know we're not taking a vote today, but I wanted to make sure that was heard on the committee floor. So it's not a surprise on the floor. Thank you. Thank you so much. Any other comments or questions? No. Good morning. How are you? We're at the point where we're asking committee members if you have any comments or questions. Are you having to share anything? I have a question for your staff. Okay. Okay. Very good. Well, thank you. The elections code lets the Board of Supervisors ask for a report on a proposed initiative to help the board decide whether to adopt the measure itself or send it to the voters. So that was the reason that was put into law. But that choice doesn't exist here. Because the Fresno initiative would impose a tax, the California Constitution doesn't allow the board to adopt it outright. So the board's role is actually ministerial. It must submit the measure to the voters. So requiring a report before the board refers the measure to the ballot doesn't serve the purpose the elections code. The report can't inform a decision that the board has no authority to make. So the practical effect of this, please withhold your applause. The practical effect is simply delay. And delay for delay's sake is not what the elections code contemplates. So Fresno voters gather the signatures necessary to qualify this measure for the ballot. I know that's no simple task. I too am very grateful for everyone who showed up today to make your voices heard. And the voters of Fresno County should have the opportunity to vote on this in the fall and not be forced to wait until 2028. So as we have said, there's no vote being taken on this measure today. We're just hearing the voices and the issues around it. But Assemblymember, you may go ahead and close Thank you Madam Chair And I appreciate obviously your comments As someone that has tremendous experience with our election code you are exceptionally right when you mentioning that the power that really the Board of Supervisors has is ministerial. And they are essentially using a technicality to do what they're trying to do to push this initiative off to 2028, which is not right. The voters deserve to have a vote. And that's what this measure is today. And I'm grateful for this public hearing because we are going through the process in the legislature to have this discussion, you know, hear the concerns. And to the opposition, I just want to say no one is against the study. We welcome the study. We look forward to the study. The study can be utilized during the next several months to decide, you know, where voters want to be on this measure. But ultimately, what we want is the democratic process to allow this initiative to be on the ballot in November of this year. So again with that I thank you guys for you know hearing us out And I want to thank all the folks that came from Fresno County which is not an easy track It demonstrates how critically important it is for our communities to be able to have a voice and to have a decision and not allow three people to think that they have the power to derail the democratic process. And today, while you guys are not going to vote, I do respectfully ask that you consider supporting this measure when it gets to the assembly floor. Thank you so much for the opportunity to be here this morning. Thank you so much for your leadership on this issue. Thank you again to everyone who drove up to have your voice heard. And with that, this informational hearing is adjourned. Thank you Thank you. Thank you.