Appropriations — 2026-07-01 (partial)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And we went 13 and a half hours in judiciary. Not a record, but. But still warm and fuzzy. So and I think next time they will begin with the Z's and go to the A's. So you will not be there eight times before you are taken up. Can I tell you a fun fact? The reason why they do that every other year, Senator Umberg does that every other year is because I requested this a couple of years ago because I felt like I was so inequitable. the W's. And Rick Zabur was with me on this. I was just going to say he should thank you. We aligned. Yes, exactly. So next year, we're good. I think his bill came up at 1030 or something like that, his two bills. But in any event, I have just spent more time talking about that than I might about this bill. And for those of you that are uninitiated, the Pajaro River, which runs between Santa Cruz and Monterey is in my district and the speaker's district had flood protection of three to five years. And so I did a bill that allowed the state to buy out the local share. The locals funded it in October of 2022. We had a celebration with Alex Padilla and Jimmy Panetta and Zoe Lofgren and Robert Rivas and myself on the levee. And then it broke in the atmospheric Derrick Rivers a few months later, and over 3,000 people were evacuated. And now a new district has formed to manage the levy on both sides and to construct the project. And what this bill does is authorize the usage of four additional construction procurement methods, allowing the agency that's constructing this project to deliver levy repairs and flood control improvements more efficiently. It will be a cost-saving measure to the state as these procurement methods have shown to reduce project costs, expedite completion, ensure better quality control. And with me today for technical assistance is Jack Gwalco on behalf of the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency. And at the appropriate time, I would respectfully ask for an aye vote.

I would just say that yesterday at 930 in the Judiciary Committee, I predicted we would get a quorum at 4 o'clock. And we got it at 351. And then I suggested this would be an element for predictive betting, and it freaked out the chair. So with that, I would respectfully request an iVote. I believe we will have a quorum before 4 o'clock today. So thank you very much.

Here.

Here.

Good morning. My name is Peggy Price. I'm Puro County Board of Supervisors, District 3. I'm here. We respect Senator – so I just get started? Is that what I do? Okay. Yeah. We respect Senator Padilla's work. This is on SB 675. We respect Senator Padilla's work and are here to oppose the bill unless substantially amended. First, we respectfully request adding one additional Board of Supervisors to the proposed 10-member board. Air quality decisions are closely connected to land use, agriculture, public health, in rural, unincorporated areas of Imperial County. A second county representative preserves meaningful county participation while maintaining the broader representation envisioned by the bill. Second, we ask for a two-year implementation window, which was what was originally proposed for a more orderly transition in preparing for uninterrupted public service. We also respectfully request language that keeps the air pollution control district within the county's administration and personnel system. As this legislation moves forward, district employees deserve the certainty that their employment, retirement, and benefits will remain protected so they can continue focusing on serving the public. Finally, we respectfully request dedicated state implementation funding and a formal fiscal analysis before these mandates take effect. Your committee's own analysis recognizes this bill as a reimbursable state-managed local program and identifies the significant costs required to implement these new responsibilities. Providing dedicated funding will allow us to carry out this legislature's vision without shifting the financial burden onto our local governments and taxpayers. We believe these are practical amendments that strengthen the bill, protect local taxpayers, and help ensure its long-term success. Thank you for your consideration.

Hi, good morning. My name is Belen Leone Lopez. I serve as the Air Pollution Control Officer to the Imperial County Air Pollution Control District. The district supports the goals of SB 675 to expand representation and increase transparency. My concern is ensuring that those goals can be implemented responsibly. Your comments for fiscal analysis recognizes that SB 675 creates a reimbursable state mandate and identifies substantial implementation costs. It notes approximately $1.5 million in one-time information technology costs, $4.5 million in ongoing annual staffing administrative costs, and approximately $410,000 annually to expand for air monitoring significantly, facility cost expense associated with supporting the new government board, complaint system, upgrades, public reporting systems, and other new responsibilities. The analysis also recognizes that if these mandates are determined to be reimbursable, Those costs could ultimately become part of the state general fund. These are significant fiscal questions that warrant additional time and discussion before the implementation. We respectfully request a comprehensive fiscal analysis, dedicated state implementation funding, and realistic implementation for the legislature fully understands the fiscal impacts before the mandates take effect. I also respectfully ask that the bill preserve the air pollution control districts and the county administrative and personnel system. We respectfully ask for the committee to allow additional time to address these fiscal and implementation issues so SB 675 can achieve its intended goals successfully. Thank you.

And excited to be here. Thank you, Chair and members. In 2023, we passed the California AI Transparency Act, which is the first law in the country requiring AI content to be labeled with disclosures from where it came from. Last year, the chair of this committee built on that work and passed AB 853, which will allow us to determine where non-synthetic content comes from and make that information easily available to consumers. Since then, AI and the technology used to embed and detect these disclosures has evolved rapidly and requires changes to be made to the act in order for it to accomplish its goals. The language in print today has been drafted in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders across industry, civil society, and international authorities, including those in the EU who recently published the Code of Practice for Article 50 of the EU-AI Act. SB 1000 brings the Act into harmony with international regulations around content provenance and pushes the industry to standardize methods of content disclosure that are readable by large online platforms. Specifically, this bill removes the user threshold for covered systems, adds more protections for users' personal information, and implements common-sense guardrails for third-party licenses. These changes will make sure the actual requirements will work for consumers and developers alike and will serve as a bedrock for future governance in this space so Californians know where the content they see comes from. I have technical – for any technical questions, Ken Wong from Cited is in the audience here today with me.

Good morning, Madam Chair and members. John Doherty, on behalf of Adobe and Google, I want to thank both the chair, the members, the committee staff for their hard work, and the author on this sensible solution. We're trying to hit this August 3rd deadline, so appreciate it.

I would actually ask for an aye vote.

Good morning, Madam Chair and Assembly members. I'm pleased to present SB 1229 on behalf of Senator Allen this morning. This bill establishes limitations on an existing Coastal Act exemption for rebuilding after a disaster. This is an important bill that retains the streamlined approach for victims who need to rebuild after a disaster, but ensures that developers don't take advantage of this, and by doing that would deprive the public of access to our coastline and our beaches. SB 1229 reflects a thoughtful and targeted approach, one that keeps the door open for disaster victims to rebuild their homes without delay, but closes it to speculative developers seeking to profit at the coast's expense, Protecting Public Access and Coastal Resources sits at the heart of this work, and I'm proud to present this bill today. Thank you.

Good morning, Michaela Bird on behalf of the Nature Conservancy in support.

Respectfully ask your aye vote on behalf of Senator Allen. Thank you. And we'll, we need to wait for