Secretary will call the roll.
allen. Alvarado. Gil. Archuleta.
aragon. Ashby. Becker. Blake.
spear. Cabaldon. Caballero.
cervantes. Choi. Cortez. Dawley.
durazo. Gonzalez. Grayson.
grove. Hurtado. Jones. Laird.
limon. Mcguire. Mcnerney.
mengibar. Nilo. Ochoa. Bogh.
padilla. Perez. Reyes.
richardson. Rubio. Salato.
smallwood. Cuevas. Stern.
strickland. Umberg. Balderas.
wahab. Webber. Pearson. Wiener.
a quorum is present with 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
guest, chaplain, reverend jason
vince. After which, please
remain standing for the pledge
of allegiance to the flag
chaplain. Let us pray. From the
cowardice that dares not face
new truth, from the laziness
that is contented with half
truth, from the arrogance that
thinks it knows all truth. Good
lord, deliver us. Grant us,
dear god, in all our duties,
your help in all our
uncertainties, your guidance in
all our dangers, your
protection, and in all our
sorrows your peace. Namaste.
thanks be to god. Amen. Please
join me in the pledge of
allegiance to the flag. I
pledge allegiance to the united
states of america and to the
republic for which it stands.
one nation under god,
indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
under
privileges of the floor. We do
have some guests to be
introduced. Senator cervantes,
you are recognized from the
majority leader's desk. Thank
you so much, mr. President.
today I rise to recognize an
extraordinary public agency in
the 31st senate district as it
celebrates a milestone of 70
years. The community service
district again marks its 70
year anniversary. Community
service district has done the
hard work to provide essential
services to our communities.
since its formation in 1965,
the service district has grown
from a small local agency
created to wastewater needs
into california's premier
public agency, serving more
than 135 000 residents in our
communities throughout eastvale
and valley. Every single day,
jc delivers the essential
services that working families
and small businesses depend on,
from providing safe, reliable
drinking water and wastewater
services, operating
streetlights, maintaining
neighborhoods, parks jc helps
improve the quality of life in
the communities that I
represent. None of this would
be possible without jc s board
of directors and the dedicated
employees who work every day,
often behind the scenes, to
keep the services that our
communities depend on. I am
pleased to welcome today jc s
director director mark nø, and
members of jc executive
management team who have joined
us on the senate floor on
behalf of the california state
senate. It is my honor to
congratulate the community
service district on 70 years of
outstanding public service
members. If you can, please
help me welcome and
congratulate them. Thank you.
members. Without objection,
we'll now move to senate third
reading to take up file item 35,
scr 186 by senator greyson
clerk will read. Secretary will
read. Senate concurrent
resolution 186 by senator
greyson. Relative to thriving
families. California foundation.
senator greyson at the majority
leader's desk. Thank you, mr.
president. I am honored to
present scr 186 recognizing
thriving families, california
foundation for their upcoming
50th year anniversary. For five
decades, community based
organizations across california
have played an essential role
in being in helping families
access affordable, reliable,
and high quality child care and
early learning services. This
all began in 1976, when
california took an important
step toward expanding child
care through community based
solutions, and that recognize
that every family has different
needs. That vision helped
establish alternative payment
programs and a statewide
network of organizations
committed to parental choice,
family stability, and the
healthy development of children.
as of today, that network
reaches families in all 58
counties and supports more than.
are you ready? 260,000 children
through california's
alternative payment and
calworks child care programs.
these organizations do much
more than just provide child
care. They help parents remain
in the workforce, pursue their
education and training, and
build a stronger future for
their families. In turn, they
contribute to the strength and
economic vitality of
communities across our state.
the thriving families
california foundation has been
an important statewide voice in
that effort through
collaboration, advocacy,
education, and leadership, the
foundation has worked to
strengthen california's child
care system and ensure that
public investments effectively
reach children and families.
its work reflects an important
principle that child care is
not simply service for families,
it is essential infrastructure
that supports parents, children,
our workforce and our economy.
and as we look forward to the
foundation's 50th anniversary,
we recognize five decades of
partnership, innovation,
leadership and service to
california families, friends
and colleagues. Thank you for
your attention today and the
recognition of thriving
families. California foundation.
I respectfully ask for an aye
vote. Seeing no further
senators desiring to be
recognized. Secretary, please
call the roll. Alan alvarado,
gill. Archuleta. Aye. Origin.
aye. Ashby. Aye. Becker. Aye.
blake. Spear. Aye. Cabaldon.
aye. Caballero. Cervantes. Aye.
choi. Aye. Cortez. I I durazo.
aye. Gonzalez. Aye. Grayson.
aye. Grove. I hurtado. Aye.
jones. Aye. Laird. Limón.
mcguire. Aye. Mcnerney. Aye.
mengibar. Nilo. Aye. Ochoa. Aye.
padilla. Aye. Perez. Reyes.
richardson. Aye. Rubio. Aye
cierto aye. Smallwood. Cuevas.
aye stern aye. Strickland. Aye
umberg. Valladares. Aye wahab
aye. Webber. Pearson wiener.
aye. Absent members. Alvarado.
gil. Caballero. Laird. Limon
mengibar. Perez. Reyes umberg.
webber. Pearson. Call the
absent members one more time.
alvarado. Gil. Caballero. Laird.
limon. Mengibar. Perez. Reyes.
umberg. Webber. Pearson.
secretary. Please call the
absent members. Alvarado. Gil.
caballero. Laird. Aye. Limón.
mengibar. Aye. Perez. Reyes.
umberg. Amburgey. Webber.
pearson. Call the absent
members. Alvarado. Gil.
caballero. Aye. Limon. Perez.
reyes. Weber. Pearson. Limon.
age 36. Nø zero. The resolution
is adopted. Senator grayson,
for introduction of guests.
thank you so much. Mr.
president. I would like to
introduce the incredible folks
from thriving families
california foundation. I am
pleased to have with us on the
floor today, ceo deneen
micheletti, government affairs
director mackenzie richardson
and communications and
government affairs manager
adelia watson. We are grateful
for all of our guests here
today and for the strength,
advocacy and community that
they represent and give to our
communities. Senators, please
help me welcome them to the
floor. Welcome to senator
grayson's guests.
all right.
continuing with senate third
reading, we will now proceed to
file item 45, sr 126 by senator
rubio. Secretary, please read
senate resolution 126 by
senator rubio relative to
childhood cancer awareness
month. Senator rubio at the
majority leader's desk. Thank
you, mr. President. Ladies and
gentlemen of the senate, I rise
today with great pleasure to
present sr 126, which
designates the month of
september 2026 as childhood
cancer awareness month here in
the beautiful state of
california, according to the
national cancer institute,
childhood cancer is the leading
cause of death by disease for
children in the united states.
every child deserves a chance
to grow up and live a long,
healthy life. Childhood cancer
provides an unimaginable burden
not just to the children
inflicted, but all the families
that love them, as well as many
local hospitals cannot
adequately, adequately treat
children with cancer. Families
are forced to relocate or
travel long distance for life
saving care. My guests here
today, misha mehta and ryan
coletti and sava savona. Shauna
días know the struggle very
well. Tragically, misha's lost
her son, ryan's brother neve
koltai pronounced. At only six
years old to brain cancer. Sara
also is a parent to a brain
cancer angel neves mother and
family have spent years
building something out of that
tragic loss. The neve colt
foundation that continues to
push for better research,
better understanding funding
and better outcomes for those
children affected by cancer. It
is critical that we continue
raising awareness for this
devastating illness and
encourage further funding
towards life saving research
and treatments. I respectfully
ask for your vote. Thank you.
thank you, senator. Senator,
you are recognized. Thank you,
mr. President. I also rise
today in support of sr 126,
recognizing september as
childhood cancer awareness
month. And I want to thank the
senator from baldwin park for
introducing this important
resolution, finding out that
your child has been diagnosed
with cancer has to be one of
the most heartbreaking things a
parent can go through. But it's
important to acknowledge that
children and their families are
not alone in this fight. Across
the state, we are fortunate to
have some of the world's
premier institutions that
tirelessly work every single
day to advance new cancer
treatments, and ultimately, one
day, a cure. I want to
highlight the incredible work
that health care workers at
child and college awards in my
district in the east bay have
done to support patients,
including at kaiser permanente
oakland and at ucsf benioff
children's hospital in oakland,
and just want to thank these
health care workers who give
families hope during some of
the darkest moments in their
lives. I want to thank
california's voters for funding
the california institute for
regenerative medicine through
the passage of prop one, prop
71, in 2004 and its renewal
through prop 14 in 2020.
medical advancements over the
last couple of decades have
significantly improved outcomes.
yet we know that there's still
more work to do, and this
resolution highlights the
importance of working together
to find solutions that help
children overcome this
devastating disease. I
respectfully ask for an aye
vote. Senator choi, you are
recognized. Good morning,
president and members. I rise
in support of scr 126,
recognizing september as
childhood cancer awareness
month. About 10,000 to 12,000
children are diagnosed with
cancer each year in the united
states, compared with the
cancer in adults. Many
diagnostic diagnostic cancers
are more successfully.
pediatric cancers are more
successfully treated thanks to
the work of dedicated oncology
professionals, children's
hospital of orange county in my
district has been committed to
treating childhood cancer for
the past 23 years. There are so
many other medical centers in
my district, such as the city
of hope or uci and kaiser. They
are all dedicated for treating
all forms of cancers. They
continue to provide innovative
and exceptional care to
patients, and I join my
colleague from baldwin park in
supporting their efforts to
spread awareness of childhood
cancer and provide support to
the families affected. I
respectfully ask for your vote,
senator grove. You are
recognized. Thank you. I too
rise in support of scr 126 and
thank my colleague from baldwin
park for introducing this. My
husband worked. Some of you
guys met last night, worked for
a company for 20 years, and the
owner of the company's daughter
got cancer when she was just in
her sixth grade year. And she
loved family, friends,
horseback riding. She liked to
shop, travel. And I say all
that just to say that cancer is
not discriminatory. Like, it
doesn't matter what color your
skin is, how much money you
have or don't have. And I can
tell you that this family
traveled all over the world in
different countries to try to
try things that were not
authorized here in the united
states to save lauren's life.
and I think there's things that
we could learn from other
countries. And I think that
there's things that we could
adopt in other countries, from
other countries that would help
save children's lives, just
like lauren and the ones that
were represented today by my
colleague from baldwin park.
and I respectfully ask for an
aye vote. Thank you. Senator,
seeing no other senators to be
recognized, senator rubio,
would you like to close? Thank
you, mr. President. And I know
so many family members here on
this floor, members who have
either sons, wives. There's a
lot that wasn't said here, but
I know based on the personal
stories that they've told me.
but I also want to make sure
that we recognize that there's
a lot of research, a lot of
funding for adult cancer, but
still, we are falling short in
recognizing that it's affecting
children more and more often.
and I want to pass this
resolution also on behalf of
andrew hirschman, who is my
best friend's son, who passed a
few years back, who was a high
school student athlete.
beautiful boy, always very
healthy. And in one week he was
gone. So I hope that we can all
recognize here today that we
have to do more for childhood
cancer research and push for
more funding. With that, I ask
for a vote. Thank you, thank
you. Secretary, please call
roll. Alan alvarado, gill.
archuleta. Aragon. Aye. Ashby.
aye. Becker. Aye. Blake. Spear.
aye. Cabaldon. Aye. Caballero.
aye. Cervantes. Aye. Choi. Aye.
cortez. Aye. Tally, aye.
durazzo. Aye. Gonzalez. Aye.
grayson. Aye. Grove. Aye.
hurtado. Aye. Jones. Aye. Laird.
aye. Limón. Mcguire. Aye.
mcnerney. Aye. Mengibar. Aye.
nilo. Aye. Ochoa. Borg. Aye.
padilla. Aye. Perez. Aye. Reyes.
richardson. Aye. Rubio. Acierto.
aye. Smallwood. Cuevas. Aye.
stern. Aye. Strickland. Aye
umberg. Aye. Valladares. Aye
wahab aye. Webber. Pierson.
wiener. Aye. Absent members.
allen. Aye. Alvarado. Gil.
limon. Reyes. Weber. Pierson.
ayes 36 no zero. The resolution
passes. Members. We are moving
back to privileges of the floor
for introduction of guests.
senator rubio, you are
recognized that the majority
leader's desk for the
introduction of your guests.
thank you, mr. President. Today
I do have the honor of
introducing three warriors I
have here, mr. Mayor ray and
coltea sava. Shannon rogers, a
three incredible individuals
who have been fighting in the
memory of their children who
they've lost to, to cancer. And
I want to just make sure that
we acknowledge them and
recognize them here on the
floor. Thank you.
messages from
the governor will be deemed
read. Messages from the
assembly will be deemed read.
reports of committees will be
deemed read and amendments
adopted under motions,
resolutions and notices. This
is a time for members to remove
items from the consent calendar.
senator durazzo, you are
recognized. Thank you, mr.
president. I rise for the
purpose of moving a b 2188 to
the inactive file. The desk
will note senator blake spear,
you are recognized. Thank you,
mr. President and colleagues, I
rise to request file item
number 321 is pulled from the
consent calendar for the
purposes of author amendments.
thank you. Desk will note.
senator rubio, you are
recognized. Thank you, mr.
president. At the request of
the author, please remove file
item 319, bill a b 2536 by
assembly member rubio and file
item 323ab2644 by assembly
member rubio from the consent
calendar. The desk will note.
senator laird, you are
recognized. Thank you, mr.
president. At the request of
the author, please move the
following budget bills to the
inactive file items 82 through
85. Assembly bills one, ten,
one, 22, one, 25 and 177. And
and I have additional, which is
to file items 126 through 138
to move as budget bills to the
inactive file, and that's a b
111135163164165166168, 169,
17171, 172, 174 and 180. Thank
you so very much, senator laird,
for that small little list of
requests. The desk will note.
senator ashby, you are
recognized from senator reyes
desk. Thank you, presiding
officer. I would like to move
file item number 314ab2429, as
well as file item number 291,
which is a b 1811, both from
consent for the purpose of
amendments at the request of
the authors. Thank you senator.
the desk will note. Senator
becker, you are recognized.
thank you, mr. President.
please remove ab 2787, file
number 328 from the consent
calendar for purposes of
amendment. And please remove ab
1696 file item number 287 from
the consent calendar. For
purposes of amendment, the desk
will note. Thank you, senator.
senator perez, you are
recognized. Thank you, mr.
president. At the request of
the author, please move file
item 290ab2467 from the consent
calendar to the inactive file.
thank you. Senator. Senator s¼,
you are recognized. Thank you,
mr. President. At the request
of the authors, I would like to
remove ab 2118 and ab 2744 from
the consent calendar for
purposes of amending. The desk
will note. Senator, you're
recognized. Thank you, mr.
president. I rise to request
that file item 318 ab 2502 be
removed from the consent
calendar for the purpose of
authors amendments. Thank you.
senator. Senator desk will note.
senator valdez, you are
recognized. Thank you, mr.
president. At the request of
the author, please remove file
item 320 ab 2542 from the
consent calendar. Thank you for
your patience and desk will
note. Members, we are moving
back to privileges of the floor.
without objection, we do have
another introduction of guest.
senator cortez, you are
recognized from the majority
leader's desk. Thank you, mr.
president and colleagues, I
rise today to welcome
representatives of the jain
center of northern california
and the federation of jain
associations in north america.
that association is known as
jaina, based in milpitas in
santa clara county. The jain
center serves families
throughout the bay area,
including communities in senate
district 15, and is a founding
member of jaina, which
represents jain centers across
the united states and canada.
their visit recognizes the
international day of
nonviolence and the jain
principle of ahimsa. This
commitment to nonviolence is
reflected in jain teachings on
compassion, ethical living,
environmental stewardship,
animal welfare, and respects
and respect for all life.
although the jains work very,
very much on an individual and
a congregational basis in terms
of this concept of ahimsa and
nonviolence, they have also
been global leaders with a
belief that there won't be
peace in the world until
there's peace among the world's
religions. Members, please join
me in welcoming representatives
of the jain center of northern
california and jaina to the
california state senate. So
here we have with us today prem
jain, past president atul shah,
president yogesh bapna, west
regional vice president. Doctor
jayesh shah, first vice
president aj bhutoria, a
community leader, and I should
add, not just locally, but
statewide and nationally as
well. And baron shah, treasurer
of the organization. In
addition, I understand there
are more than two dozen
additional members in the
gallery today. Please join me
as they have now come over from
the california state assembly.
as you can see from the
proclamation, please join me in
giving them a big welcome.
thank you. Welcome to the state
senate. Up in the gallery.
if
other senators would like to
join here in just one moment.
yes. Other senators, if you'd
like to join in a group photo.
and members, we also have a
very special special guest with
us today on the floor, we have
senator rosa's son, michael,
accompanying her today at her
desk. Let's welcome him to the
california state senate.
members. Without objection, we
are moving to the consideration
of the daily file secretary for
second reading of the file.
secretary, please read senate
bill 19032308 2010 2025 2107
second reading file is deemed
read governor's appointments.
we do have several items item
six, eight, nine, ten, 11, and
23. Senator grove, you are
recognized for item number six.
thank you, mr. President.
colleagues, like the president
said, we have six items. I'll
try to get through them very
quickly. The first item we
should all be interested in,
it's a confirmation of daniel,
aka danny curtin, for the
reappointment to the california
water commission, where he
served since 2010. He's the
director of the california
conference of carpenters and
also a consultant for the
united brotherhood of
carpenters and joiners of
america. He was approved by the
rules committee on a five zero
vote on june 17th, and I
respectfully ask for an aye
vote, seeing no members to be
recognized. Secretary, please
call. Roll. Allen. Aye.
alvarado. Gil. Archuleta.
aragon. Ashby. Aye. Becker. Aye.
blake. Spear. Aye. Cabaldon.
caballero. Aye. Cervantes. Aye.
choi. Aye. Cortez. I aye durazo.
aye. Gonzalez. Aye. Grayson.
aye. Grove. Aye. Hurtado. Aye.
jones. Aye. Laird. Aye. Limón.
mcguire. Aye. Mcnerney. Aye.
mengibar. Aye. Nilo. Aye. Ochoa.
b¢o. Aye. Padilla. Aye. Perez.
aye. Reyes. Richardson. Aye.
rubio. Acierto. Aye. Smallwood.
cuevas. Aye. Stern. Aye.
strickland. I umberg aye.
valladares. Aye wahhab aye.
webber. Pearson wiener. Aye.
second secretary. Please call
absent members. Alvarado. Gil
cabaldon. Aye. Limón. Reyes.
webber. Pearson. Ayes 36 noes
zero. The appointment is
confirmed. Moving to item eight.
senator grove, you are
recognized. Thank you, mr.
president. Colleagues, file
item eight is a confirmation of
carolyn thomas jacobs as the
director of california
governor's office of emergency
services. Before this
leadership role, she was
serving as the director of
california's office of energy,
infrastructure and safety.
prior to that, she was the
director of wildlife safety
division in the public
utilities commission, and she
also previously served as a cal
oes chief in response to the
state threat assessment center,
and she was approved by the
rules committee on june 24th an
unanimous vote. Respectfully
ask for an aye vote. Seeing no
further discussion, secretary,
please call the roll. Allen.
aye. Alvarado. Gill. Archuleta.
aye. Ashby. Aye. Becker. Aye.
blake. Spear. Aye. Cabaldon.
aye. Caballero. Aye. Cervantes.
aye. Choi. Ortez. Aye. Daly.
aye. Durazo. Aye. Gonzalez. Aye.
grayson. Aye. Grove. Aye.
hurtado. Aye. Jones. Laird. Aye.
limón. Mcguire. Aye. Mcnerney.
aye. Mengibar. Aye. Nilo. Aye.
ochoa. Bog. Aye. Padilla. Aye.
perez. Aye. Reyes. Richardson.
aye. Rubio. Aye cierto a cuevas.
aye stern. Aye. Strickland. Aye
umberg. Aye. Valladares. Aye
wahhab aye. Webber. Pearson
wiener a secretary. Please call
absent members. Alvarado. Gill.
choi. Jones. Aye limón reyes.
webber. Pearson. Ayes 35 no
zero. The appointment is
confirmed. Moving to item
number nine. Senator grove, you
are recognized. Thank you, mr.
president. Colleagues, file
item nine is a confirmation of
jay bradshaw to the
reappointment of california
transportation commission. He
first joined the commission in
2022 and is executive secretary
treasurer for the north coast
states regional council of
carpenters. Carpenters are
having a good day today. He was
approved by the rules committee
on june 24th on a unanimous
vote, and I respectfully ask
for your vote. Seeing no
further discussion, secretary,
please call the roll. Allen.
alvarado. Gill. Archuleta.
aragon. Ashby. Aye. Becker. Aye.
blake. Spear. Aye. Cabaldon.
aye. Caballero. Aye. Cervantes.
aye. Choi. Aye. Ortez. Aye.
daily I durazo. Aye. Gonzalez.
aye. Grayson. Aye. Grove. I.
hurtado. Aye. Jones. Aye. Laird.
aye. Limón. Mcguire. Aye.
mcnerney. Aye. Mengibar. Aye.
nilo. Aye. Ochoa. Bog. Aye.
padilla. Aye. Perez. Aye. Reyes.
richardson. Aye. Rubio. Aye.
cierto. Aye. Smallwood. Cuevas.
a stern aye. Strickland. Aye
umberg. Aye. Valladares. Aye
wahhab. Aye. Webber. Pearson.
wiener aye. Ayes 36 noes zero.
the appointment is confirmed.
moving to item ten. Second
senator grove, you are
recognized. Thank you, mr.
president. Colleagues, file
item ten is a confirmation of
caleb boyle's law for the
reappointment of the central
valley flood protection board,
where she served since 2022.
she's a former department of
finance director, and she was a
cabinet secretary for the
office of governor brown. And
she is also the former senate
staff member. She served as a
staff director for the senate
budget and fiscal review
committee, and she was approved
by the rules committee on june
24th on a five zero vote. I
respectfully ask for an aye
vote. Seeing no further
discussion, secretary. Please
call. Roll. Allen. Aye.
alvarado. Archuleta. Aye.
origin. Aye. Ashby. Aye. Becker.
aye. Blakespear. Aye. Cabaldon.
aye. Caballero. Aye. Cervantes.
aye. Choi. Aye. Cortez. Aye.
delhi. Aye. Durazo. Aye.
gonzalez. Aye. Grayson. Aye.
grove. Aye. Hurtado. Aye. Jones.
aye. Laird. Aye. Lehman.
mcguire. Aye. Mcnerney. Aye.
mengibar. Aye. Nilo. Aye. Ochoa.
bogh. Aye. Padilla. Aye. Perez.
aye. Reyes. Richardson. Aye.
rubio. Aye. Segato. Aye.
smallwood. Cuevas. Aye. Stern.
aye. Strickland. Aye. Umberg.
aye. Valladares. Aye. Wahhab.
aye. Webber. Pearson. Wiener.
aye. Ayes 36 nó zero. The
appointment is confirmed.
moving to item 11. Senator
grove you are recognized. Thank
you, mr. President. Colleagues
we just have two more file.
item 11 is a confirmation of
monique moyer for reappointment
to the board of directors of
san francisco bay area water
emergency transportation
authority. She was. She served
the. There since 2020 and is
currently the board's vice
chair. She also is an executive
coach and partner with c2
communications. She was
approved by the rules committee
on june 24th on a five zero
vote. Respectfully ask for an
aye vote. Seeing no further
discussion, secretary. Please
call. Roll. Allen. Aye.
alvarado. Gill. Archuleta. Aye.
origin. I ashby. Aye. Becker.
aye. Blake. Spear. Aye.
cabaldon. Aye. Caballero. Aye.
cervantes. Choi. Aye. Cortez. I
daily. Aye. Durazo. Aye.
gonzalez. Aye. Grayson. Aye.
grove. Aye. Hurtado. Aye. Jones.
aye. Laird. Aye. Limón. Mcguire.
aye. Mcnerney. Aye. Mengibar.
aye. Neelo. Aye. Ochoa. Aye.
padilla. Aye. Perez. Aye. Reyes.
richardson. Aye. Rubio. Aye
cierto aye. Smallwood. Cuevas.
aye stern. Aye. Strickland. Aye
umber. Aye valladares. Aye
wahab aye. Webber. Pearson
wiener aye. Cervantes. Aye.
ayes 36 nó zero. The
appointment is confirmed.
moving to item 23. Senator
grove you are recognized. Thank
you, mr. President. File item
23 is andrea evans for
appointment to the california
state university board of
trustees. Miss evans is an
attorney and independent
consultant focusing on housing
and homelessness. She most
recently was the director of
san francisco based tipping
point community chronic
homeless initiative, and she
was approved by the rules
committee on june 20th or,
excuse me, july 1st on a five
zero vote. Respectfully ask for
an aye vote. Thank you. Senator.
seeing no further discussion.
secretary, please call the roll.
allen. Aye. Alvarado. Gill.
archuleta. Aragon. Aye. Ashby.
aye. Becker. Aye. Blakespear.
aye. Cabaldon. Aye. Caballero.
aye. Cervantes. Aye. Choi. Aye.
cortez. Daily. Aye. Durazo. Aye.
gonzalez. Aye. Grayson. Aye.
grove. Aye. Hurtado. Aye. Jones.
aye. Laird. Aye. Limon. Mcguire.
aye. Mcnerney. Aye. Mengibar.
nilo. Aye aye. Padilla. Aye.
perez. Aye. Reyes. Richardson.
rubio. Aye cierto a smallwood.
cuevas. Aye stern a strickland.
aye umberg. Aye valladares.
wahab aye. Webber. Pearson
wiener secretary. Please call
absent members. Alvarado. Gil
cortez aye. Limon. Mengibar aye.
reyes. Richardson. Aye.
valladares. Aye. Webber.
pearson. Ayes 36, nó zero. The
appointment is confirmed.
members. We do have another
special guest with us in the
back of the gallery. Senator
rubio's niece, kristen
rodriguez, recent graduate of
long beach state. Let's welcome
her to the california senate.
without objection. Members, we
are moving to unfinished
business. Item 25 scr 89.
senator smallwood cuevas, you
are recognized from your þ
secretary. Please read senate
concurrent resolution 89 by
senator smallwood cuevas.
relative to diversity, equity
and inclusion, this is back on
concurrence for amendments
purposes. Senator cuevas,
smallwood, cuevas, you're
recognized. Thank you, mr.
president. One more, one moment.
okay. Thank you, mr. President.
and good morning, colleagues.
senate concurrent resolution 89
is back on concurrence. The
resolution reaffirms california
legislature's commitment to
diversity, equity and inclusion.
dei is foundational to the
justice and fairness of every
californian. Amendments taken
in the assembly added 60
additional coauthors. That kind
of support reflects how
seriously this body takes. The
moment we're in today, we
continue to see president
donald trump and his
administration actively
dismantling diversity, equity
and inclusion efforts across
this country, most recently
with an attack. Senator
valladares. For what purpose?
mr. President, your
understanding that the
amendments are just referring
to the author, adding authors
to the bill? Correct. Point
well taken. Thank you, senator,
if you'll stick with just the
amendments. Will the amendments,
the the the points speak to the
fact that we had an
overwhelming number of
coauthors added. So so last
month, one of in the midst of
this this resolution moving
forward, we have seen
additional attacks on dei in
particularly against the
congressional black caucus as
representative senator, with
all with all due respect, it's
just on the amendments for
concurrence purposes. Okay.
well, I will I think the point
that we're making here is that
scr 89 has been overwhelmingly
supported by this legislature,
and that is a declaration that
california will not retreat,
that we will not be divided,
and we will not abandon our
values that make us the
strongest, most diverse economy
in the nation. And with that, I
respectfully ask for your vote.
very good. Thank you. Senator,
seeing no mike's raised for
discussion or debate. Secretary,
please call roll. Allen. Aye.
alvarado. Gill. Archuleta. Aye
aye. Ashby. Aye. Becker. Aye.
blake. Spear. Aye. Cabaldon.
aye. Caballero. Aye. Cervantes.
aye. Choi. Cortez. Aye. Deli.
no. Durazzo. Aye. Gonzalez. Aye.
grayson. Aye. Grove. Hurtado.
aye. Jones. No. Laird. Aye.
lehman. Mcguire. Aye. Mcnerney.
aye. Mengibar. Aye. Nilo. No.
ochoa. Bog. No. Padilla. Aye.
perez. Aye. Reyes. Richardson.
aye. Rubio. Aye. Cierto.
smallwood. Cuevas. Aye. Stern.
aye. Strickland. No. Umberg.
aye. Valladares. No. Wahab. Aye.
webber. Pearson. Wiener aye.
limón. Aye. Secretary please
call absent members. Alvarado.
gil. Choi. No. Grove. Nó reyes
cierto. Weber. Pearson. Ayes 28
noes eight amendments are
concurred in moving to senate.
third reading item 37sr119.
senator caballero, you are
recognized. Secretary, please
read senate resolution 119 by
senator caballero relative to
paleontology. Now, senator
caballero, you're recognized.
thank you, mr. President. I
rise today to present sr 119, a
resolution to commemorate the
unique paleontological heritage
of california and the
importance of science to the
understanding of our planet's
history and paleontology. Over
the course of its vast history,
california has experienced
everything from dry valleys in
what is now the san francisco
bay to inland seas filling the
central valley and beyond.
numerous plants and animals
that are now extinct once
roamed these ancient lands and
seas, including mammoths, saber
toothed tigers and dinosaurs.
fossils are the physical
evidence of prehistoric life.
they can be found across
california, from san francisco,
monterey and los angeles to the
central valley, inland empire
and mount shasta region. We
know about california's ancient
life. Thanks to these fossils
and the science of paleontology,
which includes the study of
fossils and what they tell us
about the past ecology and
evolution. It incorporates
knowledge from biology, geology,
ecology, and many other
sciences. The science of
paleontology has played a
critical role in predicting
future climate change,
understanding the extent to
which humans have impacted
modern biodiversity, and
contextualizing modern
environmental challenges. It is
also important for engaging
students and the public as a
gateway to science, serving as
an incubator for an
interdisciplinary stem
workforce, this resolution
celebrates the science of
paleontology by describing
california's ancient life
across the state to include the
large mammals from the pliocene
era, the sharks and salmon from
the miocene, the reptiles from
the cretaceous, and the ancient
reefs from the cambrian.
cambrian. I hope you read the
resolution and enjoyed learning
about a few of the ancient
animals that once roamed the
lands around us. I want to
close by highlighting why I
authored this resolution beyond
my personal fascination with
the subject, and I have to tell
you that when the. The mammoth
was found in the central valley,
that was an exciting find, and
if you look over california,
you can visit all of the
museums and centers that have
been set up to really see what
used to live here in our in our
state, science currently is
under serious threat. The
federal administration has
canceled unprecedented billions
in science grants, including
grants from the national
institute of health, the
national science foundation,
and. This past may, the white
house office of management and
budget proposed new. New
changes to u.s. Federal grant
regulations that would
politicize the grant making
process, giving political
appointees appointees the
ability to veto merit based
grant awards and reduce funding
for early career scientists,
all of which benefit students
in our state and our university
system. Paleontology is one of
many important sciences that is
under serious threat. This
resolution is both a
celebration of california's
paleontological heritage and a
call to action to support
critical sciences exactly like
paleontology, and I urge your
aye vote on sr 119. Thank you.
senator. Seeing no. Mike's
raised for discussion and
debate. Secretary, please call
roll. Alan. Alvarado. Gill.
archuleta. Aye aye. Ashby. Aye.
becker. Aye. Blake. Spear. Aye.
cabaldon. Aye. Caballero. Aye.
cervantes. Aye. Choi. Aye.
cortez. Aye. Daily. Aye. Durazo.
aye. Gonzalez. Aye. Grayson.
aye. Grove. Aye. Hurtado. Aye.
jones. Aye. Laird. Aye. Limón.
maguire. Aye. Mcnerney. Aye.
mengibar. Aye. Neila. Aye.
ochoa. Borg. Aye. Padilla. Aye.
perez. Aye. Reyes. Richardson.
aye. Rubio. Aye cierto.
smallwood. Cuevas. Stern. Aye.
strickland. A umberg I
valladares. Aye wahab aye.
webber. Pierson. Wiener a
secretary. Please call absent
members. Allen aye. Alvarado.
gill. Limon. Aye. Reyes. Cor.
smallwood. Cuevas. Aye. Weber.
pierson. Ayes 36 no zero. The
resolution passes. Members. We
are moving to assembly. Third
reading directly to item 268.
item 268ab1923. A secretary,
please read assembly bill 1923
by assembly member soria and
link to elections and declaring
the arches thereof to take
effect immediately. Senator
caballero, you're recognized.
thank you, mr. President. Good
morning. Good morning members.
today I rise to present ab 1923
on behalf of assembly member
soria and myself, fresno county
counties, long standing local
transportation sales tax is
called measure c, which
currently raises millions of
dollars. For decades, these
locally generated dollars have
repaired roads, improved public
transit, enhance safety, and
help fresno county compete for
billions of dollars in state
and federal transportation
funds. Measure c funds are set
to expire next year. In
response, thousands of fresno
county residents came together
to qualify a citizen led
initiative to place a success
message before the voters this
november. The measure, fresno
county transportation
improvement act, is the product
of over two years of public
engagement involving thousands
of fresno county residents,
local government, business
leader, labor organization and
community groups. And those are
the individuals that showed up
yesterday in support of the
bill over 100 and which
included students and unions.
it was an impressive show of
excitement and interest in in
this new transportation
improvement act. The measure
reflects the priorities
identified by the residents and
is projected to generate 7.4
billion in local transportation
dollars support approximately
68,000 jobs, jobs and produce
more than 13 billion in
economic activity. More than
32,000 people signed the
petition in support of the
measure from all over the
county, and the. And the
required number of signatures
was certified by the county
registrar of voters. I want to
emphasize that it was certified.
the voters behind this measure
complied with all necessary
deadlines and complied with
every legal requirement to make
sure the initiative was placed
on the upcoming november 2026
ballot. Instead of moving the
measure to the november ballot,
the board of supervisors
exercised the option to order a
report, a decision that caused
the measure to miss the
statutory deadline for
placement this november. In
other words, they issued. They
asked for a report and that the
report take 30 days in order to
prepare, which means it goes
past the. The election code
states that if a county
initiative qualifies with
sufficient votes as certified
by the county registrar of
voters, that it must be placed
on the next election ballot
unless the governing body of
the county would like for it to
be placed sooner in a special
election. That didn't happen in
this case. That brings us to
the question before us today.
when the people do everything
the law requires to qualify a
citizen led initiative for the
ballot, should a ministerial
process delay them from voting
on it? The ministerial process
is taking the registrar of
voters information and saying,
hey, if it passed it, it it
it's been qualified for the
ballot. That's that's the only
thing the board's supposed to
do. They can ask for a report.
and that report can be very
important, but that should not
delay the process. They can
still receive the report. Let
me first say that I have always
been a big supporter of local
control, and I chaired local
government for many, many years
and was honored to defend local
government. As a former mayor,
I fought to protect the
authority of cities and
counties, to make decisions for
their own communities. And in
fact, that's what led me to run
for higher office, was to make
sure that that the state was
respecting local control. But
local control is more than the
authority of the elected
officials. It is also about
respecting the voices of the
people that they serve.
california's initiative process
process exists to get to give
citizens a path to get things
done when they want to place an
issue directly before the
voters. When people follow the
law, gather the required
signatures and qualify the
measure for the ballot, they
deserve the opportunity to have
their voice heard. That's all
this bill does. It does not
affect the report the board
asked for. It does not rule on
the merits of the ballot
measure, and it does not decide
whether the transportation
measure passes or not. That
goes before the voters, and it
does not impose a tax. It
simply preserves the
opportunity for the people of
fresno to vote on the citizen
led initiative. And the stakes
couldn't be higher. If the
measure does not reach the
november ballot, measure c will
expire without a successor in
place, creating a significant
gap in local transportation
funding. That means fewer
dollars for road maintenance,
public transit safety
improvement and transportation
infrastructure throughout the
county. Without a local funding
commitment, fresno county
becomes less competitive for
state and federal
transportation grants and risks
losing access to funding
program. And it's not just
fresno county. It's all 15
cities that are in the county.
the impact of this decision
will not be felt equally, our
rural communities stand to lose
the most. The city of fresno is
already pursuing its own local
sales tax measure to protect
transportation funding within
the city limits. And while that
may provide a path forward for
the city of fresno, our rural
cities and unincorporated
communities do not have the
same option. Those communities
simply do not have the tax base
or financial capacity to
replace these dollars on their
own. Most of the cities are
2000 people or less. For rural
communities, transportation
funding is much more than the
roads. It keeps agricultural
products moving. It supports
local businesses and good
paying jobs. It provides safe
routes to school, strengthens
emergency response during
floods and wildfires, and
connects residents to health
care, employment and essential
services. This is a short
sighted decision with long term
consequences, and that's why so
many people showed up yesterday
to testify in the committee,
the elections committee. The
opposition argued that the
board of supervisors ordered
the report because they don't
like the ballot measure, and
that once the report was
prepared, a special meeting
would not be called to put the
measure on the november 26th
ballot. So it's purposeful.
it's purposely evading the
purpose of the statute, and
it's trying to subvert the will
of the public that works so
hard to put this ballot measure
together. The election laws
were never intended to allow a
county board of supervisors to
circumvent the will of the
people. Delaying this vote
jeopardizes jobs, weakens
fresno county's ability to
compete for state and federal
investments, and leaves our
smallest communities with fewer
resources to meet growing
transportation needs. The bill
will not override local control.
rather, it will protect one of
the most fundamental
expressions of local control.
we have the right of voters to
decide the future of their own
community. At the end of the
day, this bill acts to protect
the integrity of california's
initiative process. Ensure that
the people of fresno county and
not a procedural delay will
have the final say. I
respectfully ask for your vote
and for immediate transmission
transmittal to the assembly.
senator grove, you are
recognized. Thank you, mr.
president. I. I appreciate my
colleague's comments. I know
that we have worked well on on
central valley issues, but this
is an issue that where we see
this issue from different sides.
so the people who gathered
those signatures I deeply
respect and they put the ballot
measure forward. They submitted
the information. It was
certified. It would be
certified one day late, which
is not within the process. I
would like to gracefully
correct my colleague on the
election code, section 9118. It
says the initiative petition if
is signed. If the initiative
petition is signed by voters,
the board of it has another
paragraph there. But what's
important in this is the board
of supervisors shall do one of
the following. Adopt the
ordinance without without
alteration and regular. At a
regular meeting and a certified
position presented within ten
days after it's presented or be
submitted. Ordinance with an
alteration to the voters
pursuant to section code 1405
or c. Order a report to section
9111 and the regular meeting at
a regular meeting at which the
certification or petition is
presented, which the report
will be presented to the board
of supervisors, and the board
shall either adopt the
ordinance within ten days or
order an election pursuant to
the subdivision b, so they do
have the right to order a study.
the reason why some of the
supervisors are very concerned
about this is because this tax
will be continually collected
from the citizens of the
district that I represent. It
will be sent to sacramento. And
then if this if fresno county's
road and infrastructure
projects meet the requirements
that are in the language of
this ballot measure, that's on
there, meaning that you widen
the road, you have a bike path,
you have a bus path, you have
bus access, you have electrical
infrastructure. It to me, I
don't think fresno will ever
get any of this money back. It
will always stay in kern in
sacramento. And my concern is,
is that the dollars that are
collected by this tax will not
benefit this community because
of all the restrictions and the
requirements based on the
ballot language. And I get it,
planning trees and bike lanes
and bus pass, all those things,
free bus passes, all of those
things are included in this
language to get people to sign
up for these ballot measures
for increased taxes. The other
thing that I would like to
share is I don't think this
this bill before us today is
about roads or transit or even
the voters. It's about
sacramento deciding what they
know better and the people that
are elect, our county
supervisors, some of those
30,000 people that sign this
petition, probably not all of
them, but they supported the
county supervisors and put them
in elected office to make
decisions over them on a local
level. On july 8th, the fresno
county registrar certified the
better roads and safe streets
initiative through the valid
signatures. But just a few
months ago, actually less than
two months ago, this body
passed a c 22, which put prop
43 on the ballot, which would
require a two thirds signature.
it was a negotiation that was
with outside parties and this
legislature, only one person
voted no on this body. Fuller.
and that's my colleague from
san francisco. Everyone else
supported that initiative that
we put on the ballot, and it's
prop 43, which would require a
two thirds vote, which is a
taxpayer protection measure
that is better than 50 plus one.
and now we're going back just
less than two months later to
unwind it for this particular
city under a long standing
election code 9118, which I
just read to you, the board of
supervisors had clear and
lawful option to be able to
request a report, wait for its
results, and then decide if
they were going to put it on
the ballot within ten days.
this process. I talked to
supervisors this morning. This
process is going through the
local process. According to the
election codes that this body
establishes, and they are
putting it on the ballot. My
understanding is is in 2028,
but we're circumventing that
process and circumventing local
control. The legal
certification process would
have been placed this
initiative on the 2028 ballot.
and I do believe that people
are concerned about 20 about
prop, excuse me, prop 43, the
lower the local taxpayer
protection act, ab 1923 now
comes after the fact, and that
the legislature already
approved prop 43. And now we're
ignoring that fact. We're
simply rewriting the rules for
one county. And I think other
counties will probably follow.
there is a process to put
something on the ballot. There
were signatures gathered. I
applaud them for going to the
work and and making sure that
they had the process in place
and the signatures. But again,
my concern is the funding piece
that will never come back to
fresno county because of all
the requirements that are in
the ballot measure language. If
you haven't, if you haven't
read it, you should. They can't
access the resources without
doing all these extra things.
and I just don't think that
fresno county is going to be
able to have the ability to do
that. Do we need roads and
infrastructure repair in this
district and our central valley?
1,000%. You drive on 395, you
go down to los angeles, you
have great roads. We have more
roads, miles per capita for our
communities in the central
valley, where we get almost
hardly any infrastructure
dollars for that. It'll all go
to high speed rail, but they
won't give it for roads and
infrastructure. And then our
counties are supposed to
increase taxes on our
constituents in order to pay
for roads and infrastructure on
a local level, when the
supervisors said they would
consider it. But they'll
consider it through the process
and they, the supervisors,
exhausted their their lawful
right under the elections code
in order to do the study and
put it on the 2028 ballot. So I
it's a tough one for me because
I know that the citizens worked
hard and made sure that they
got the signatures to be able
to put it on the ballot. But I
really don't think that the
people of the of fresno county,
not all of them, not all of
them, some of them have, but
not all of them have read the
requirements. And I'm pretty
sure that a majority of this
money will never come back to
that county after my
constituents pay for this tax
increase. And I respectfully
ask for a no vote and let the
process for the local authority
and our local supervisors
address this issue. Senator,
you are recognized. Thank you,
mr. President. I rise in
support of ab 1923, and I
certainly respect the
perspective of the senator from
bakersfield, but I have a
different perspective I'd like
to share. I don't represent
fresno county. I was born in
fresno. I have family that live
in fresno county. So this
impacts them. But I see this
issue as a matter of statewide
concern, because I think this
sets a precedent for this to
happen in other counties. And
it's already happened in my
county in alameda county, just
this past tuesday. And this is
germane to the matter before us,
because I'm making a point. The
alameda county board of
supervisors using the same
provision elections code
section 199212, requested a
report on the fiscal impacts of
a proposed minimum wage measure
with the express intent to
delay putting that measure on
the ballot. The supervisors
were very transparent that
their interest was to make sure
that that did not appear on the
ballot. So now that has to wait
till 2028, even though over
150,000 signatures were
collected in alameda county by
people who thought this was
going to appear on the november
2026 ballot, that's wrong. It's
certainly appropriate for more
members of the board of
supervisors to get more
information about a ballot
measure before that measure is
on the ballot. I'll note that
in the case of alameda county's
measure, that was in
circulation for many, many
months. So the supervisors
could have requested that
report, just like here in
fresno county, months in
advance, so that that
information was before the
board of supervisors, when the
matter needed to be put on the
ballot, rather than using that
elections code section to
deliberately delay this issue,
going to the voters, I think
it's absurd that a report could
subvert the will of the voters.
I think it's critical that we
let the voters decide the
hundreds of thousands of voters
that signed these petitions, to
put these things before the
voters. I wish that I had the
ability to introduce a bill
like the senator from merced,
to put that measure before the
voters in alameda county, but I
was not able to do so in this
case. The voters of fresno
county circulated an initiative.
I'll just also clarify the
record that prop 43 is
prospective, not retrospective,
doesn't have retrospective
applicability. So measures that
are on the ballot this year are
subject to the current rules.
and if that measure were to
pass, then would be subject to
the higher threshold. But
that's a separate matter. I
think that if people have
objections to a ballot measure,
make your case to the voters.
talk about why you oppose it,
but don't prevent the voters
from having an opportunity,
even consider the measure. I
think that's anti-democratic.
yes, we need to amend the
elections code to prevent this
from happening in the future.
and maybe we need to have a
deadline for when that report
has to be issued so that it
doesn't delay a measure from
actually being able to be put
on the ballot. But that's a
separate matter for a separate
discussion. And I hope we can
clarify the law so that this
isn't being used to
deliberately prevent a
qualified voter initiative from
being considered by the voters.
but we can do the right thing
today by passing ab 1923 and
respectfully ask for senator
nilo. You are recognized. Thank
you, mr. President. There are
good arguments being made on
both sides of this. As we can
tell by the debate. And one
more speaker to speak to it,
presumably in support. But I'd
like to point out that this is
fundamentally a local dispute.
and in passing this legislation
effectively, what we're doing
is we're not legislating. We're
acting as a quasi judicial body,
deciding a local dispute on
behalf of one side of the
dispute. I think that's a
wholly inappropriate role for
this body to play. And for that
reason, I urge a no vote and
allow the local. People to
figure out how to settle this
dispute, which is the way
things should happen. Senator
allen, you are recognized. Yeah,
no, I appreciate those comments.
I think in some respects we are
letting the local people figure
out the dispute. We've got the
assembly member and the senator
who represent the bulk of the
county. We've got 11 out of 15
mayors who are asking for this.
the reason why the delay
happened such that it created
this this window of time that
allowed for the board to call
for this study, which would
then kick the measure to 2028,
was because they had been
negotiating intensely and with
the board and ultimately
weren't able to come to a
resolution. And so they had to
to choose this path. We asked
them in committee yesterday
about whether the board had
ever used this. This had ever
called for a study over the
many years where they've had a
zoo tax measure, parks tax
measure, transportation tax
measures, and that that had
never been done before. The
other thing I'll say is that
it's certainly my understanding
that all of this money stays in
the county, every single dollar.
and I love I don't I don't
understand the argument that
was just made. This is this is
money that stays there for
transportation projects. There.
finally, one of the 11 mayors
is actually the mayor of fresno,
who represents certainly the
largest city in the in the
county. And that was meaningful
to me as I heard this
discussion yesterday, because I
know that there were some
dispute over the the way that
the allocation of the dollars
was was being framed for around
the county and and, and look,
in the end of the day, this is
just putting something on the
ballot. The voters will have
the opportunity to choose their
was a measure on the ballot in
2022. It failed. There was a
real, you know, internal
dispute in the county. And this
is just giving the people of
the county the opportunity to
decide, one way or another as
to whether they want to extend
this important tax, which has
been been providing resources
for essential transportation
services for the county over
many, many years. And this was
now going instead of expiring
and not important source of
revenue, just ending without a
conversation. It's going to
give the people of the county
the opportunity to decide, and
it will ultimately be up to
them. If we pass this today and
signed, it will be up to the
people of the county of fresno
to decide as to whether they
want to move forward with this
or not. And for that, I
respectfully ask and I vote.
thank you. Senator. Seeing no
further discussion or debate,
senator caballero, would you
like to close? Thank you very
much, mr. President. I
appreciate the debate. It's
unfortunate to be in this
position. The reality of the
situation is there was a ballot
measure in 22 that was put on
to extend the tax, despite the
fact it wasn't expiring at that
point. The the ballot measure
was put on by local government
and did not pass because,
frankly, the distribution of
how the money would be spent
within the different
communities, many of the
smaller communities felt that
it wasn't fair and there wasn't
enough revenue that would go
towards transit, which is a big
need in this area. And we had
testimony from students and hhs
workers and other individuals
that take public transportation
and desperately need it and are
in support of, of, of the the
measure, as was articulated,
this is not putting a thumb on
the scale. This is just
allowing it to go to a vote of
the public. And then people can
debate over whether it's the
right allocation of money, but
it is all local money. What,
what what was said is
absolutely true. We have one of
the highest percentage of
highways that go through the
area, 99 and five principally,
but then all the cross highways
that take you from one little
community to the next. And
these small communities
desperately need resources. And
so we're putting we're doing
the right thing, which is to
insist that it go on the
november ballot. The board can
look at the report and make
their comments on it and oppose
it if they want. But but
politics should not be allowed
to. Delay what a voter
initiative has done according
to all the rules. And so I
respectfully ask for your vote.
thank you. Senator. Secretary,
please call roll. Alan I.
alvarado. Gill. Archuleta. I
aragon. I ashby I. Becker I
blake speer. I cabaldon I
caballero I cervantes. I choi
nø cortez I deli durazo I
gonzalez I grayson I grove nó.
hurtado. Jones nø laird I limón
I maguire I mcnerney I mengibar
I nilo. No. Ochoa. No. Padilla
I perez. I reyes. Richardson. I
rubio. I serrato. Smallwood.
cuevas I stern I strickland. No
umberg I valladares no. Wahab I
webber. Pearson wiener I
secretary please call absent.
members. Alvarado. Gil. Darling.
no. Hurtado. Reyes. Cierto.
webber. Pearson. Ayes 27 noes
eight on the urgency. Ayes 27
noes eight on the bill and it
passes. Members we are moving
back and file to item 46 a cr
149 secretary please read.
assembly concurrent resolution
149 by assembly member hart
relative to the california
coastal act of 1976. Senator
laird, you are recognized.
thank you, mr. President. I'm
presenting assembly concurrent
resolution 149 on behalf of
assembly member greg hart,
which commemorates the 50th
anniversary of the california
coastal act and the creation of
the state coastal conservancy.
this resolution will look very
familiar because we passed a
senate, one that they've
concurred in. They are passed
this resolution. We're asking
to concur in it. This
recognizes 50 years of coastal
protection. I respectfully ask
for an aye và. Seeing no
further discussion or debate.
secretary. Please call. Roll.
allen. Aye. Alvarado. Gill.
archuleta. Aye. Origin. Aye.
ashby. Aye. Becker. Aye.
blakespear. Aye. Cabaldon. Aye.
caballero. Aye. Cervantes. Choi.
cortez. Aye. Daily durazo. Aye.
gonzalez. Aye. Grayson. Aye.
grove. Hurtado. Aye. Jones. No.
laird. Aye. Lehman. Mcguire.
aye. Mcnerney. Aye. Mengibar.
aye. Nilo. Ochoa. Bogh. Padilla.
aye. Perez. Reyes. Richardson.
aye. Rubio. Aye cierto.
smallwood. Cuevas. Aye. Stern.
aye. Strickland. Umber. Aye.
valladares. Wahab. Aye. Webber.
pearson. Wiener. Aye. Secretary.
please call absent members.
alvarado. Gil. Cervantes. Aye.
choi. Dawley. Grove. Limon.
nilo. Ochoa. Perez. Aye. Reyes.
segato. Strickland. Valladares.
weber. Pearson. Yeah. Ayes 27
nos. One. The resolution passes.
members. We are deferring on
special consent calendar. We
are deferring regular consent
calendar and taking up the
special consent calendar. Any
members wish to remove any item
from the consent calendar.
senator blake spear, you are
recognized. Thank you, mr.
president. I rise to request
file item number 325 is pulled
from the consent calendar. The
desk will note. Seeing no other
members to be recognized.
secretary, please read the
consent calendar. Senate
resolution 109. Senate
concurrent resolution 182.
senate resolution 118. Assembly
concurrent resolution 2142 19
to 2223, 157, 187, one, 94, 222
and assembly concurrent
resolution 224.
thank you
secretary. Please call roll.
allen. I brought a girl,
archuleta I aragon I ashby I
becker I blake speer. I
cabaldon caballero I cervantes
I choi I cortez I daly durazo I
gonzalez I grayson I grove I
hurtado I jones I laird I limon
I mcguire. I mcnerney I
mengibar I nilo I ochoa I
padilla I perez I reyes.
richardson I rubio I sato.
smallwood cuevas I stern I
strickland I umberg I
valladares I wahab I weber.
pearson wiener I. Secretary.
please call members. Alvarado
gil cabaldon I dalley. Reyes.
cierto. Weber. Pearson. Ayes 35
no zero on item 331 ayes 35. No.
zero on the remaining items a
special consent calendar and it
passes. Members. We are moving
now to our returning to motions
and resolutions for the purpose
of adjournments in memory. And
we are going to recognize
senator wahab and senator
mcnerney for the first
adjournment in memory. Senator
wahab, you are recognized or
senator mcnerney, let's start
with you. You are recognized.
mr. President and distinguished
colleagues, I rise today to ask
that we adjourn in the memory
of scott haggerty, a former
longtime member of the alameda
county board of supervisors and
resident of livermore,
california, which is in my
district. Scott haggerty was a
leader in the bay area politics
who represented the tri-valley
and the city of fremont as an
alameda county supervisor for a
good 24 years. That's twice as
long as we're allowed here.
scott led on a range of bay
area issues, including
transportation, clean energy,
public safety, supportive
housing, the arts and
agriculture. He died on july
5th at the age of 68 years.
scott and I had at least one
thing in common. He was also a
political novice. When he was
first elected to public office
in 1996, he burst into the east
bay political scene when he won
a seat on the alameda county
board of supervisors at the age
of 38. Despite having no prior
elected public experience. He
was subsequently subsequently
elected to five more terms as
supervisor. Over the years,
scott earned a reputation as
being a candid, no nonsense
public official and champion of
transportation, who took the
lead on several major projects
and initiatives. And despite
the political environment, he
was a nonpartizan politician.
he just wanted to get things
done. He successfully advocated
for two countrywide
transportation measures during
his during his tenure that had
a significant impact on the bay
area. He was also a longtime
leader in the metropolitan
transportation commission. Kò
roadway and transit projects in
the tri-valley that he had
worked on included highway 84
extension between highway 580
and livermore. Scott was also
an early champion of a project
close to my heart. The plan.
valley link rail line
connecting san joaquin valley
to the bay area. Scott also
served on the governing board
of the livermore, alameda,
livermore, amador valley
transit authority, the san
joaquin regional rail
commission, the bay area air
district, oakland-alameda
county coliseum authority, and
the association of bay area
governments. He didn't ignore
issues that nourish and sustain
us by promoting agriculture,
land conservation and clean
energy. Scott was also a strong
supporter of the marissa hunt
agricultural education center
and youth barn that opened in
2019 at the alameda county
fairgrounds in pleasanton. He
was also instrumental in
developing the bankhead
livermore theater, the premier
performing arts venue in the
tri-valley. One of scott's
final projects in office was
helping to provide the funding
needed to launch goodness
village, a supportive housing
project for unsheltered people
in livermore. Scott understood
that addressing homelessness
required creativity,
opportunities for people to
build their lives with dignity.
scott is deeply missed. Senator
wahab, thank you, colleagues. I
rise to honor the life of scott
haggerty, a leader whose impact
transformed alameda county
specifically as a board of
supervisor. Scott harnessed the
power of local government and
addressed problems and turning
ideas into results. As was
mentioned, he primarily focused
a lot on bay area transit and
specifically in our district.
as it was expanding and growing,
he worked very hard to ensure
that our district received its
funds, received its support and
much more. Scott was never shy
about his beliefs and very
direct and blunt about his
opinions. I will say that scott
actually is very much the
embodiment of what human beings
are flawed and struggling and
have problems and have opinions
and have hopes and have dreams
and and so much more. And yet
he was always authentically
himself. And I will highlight
the fact that scott and I
disagreed on a wide variety of
things, but he was deeply
committed to his ideas and his
principles, and he would at
least explain why he had his
opinions. And I will say that
anybody that dedicates their
life to public service gives a
lot to the community, whether
we see it or don't, whether we
agree with it or don't. Scott
was the individual that served
for literally well over a
decade plus and tried to do his
best when it came to expanding
public transit into the east
bay and much more. Scott is
survived by his wife, children,
grandchildren, and siblings.
and I respectfully ask. We
adjourn in his memory. Senator
cortez, you are recognized.
thank you, mr. President.
colleagues. I first met
supervisor scott haggerty in
2001. I was I had just been
elected to san jose city
council and appointed by the
mayor to our cog, the
association of bay area
governments, along with other
appointments and commissions.
and of course, supervisor
haggerty, who already was a
member of that commission, and
other regional government
bodies, made himself known
almost immediately upon my
arrival on the scene. I would
not have become president of
that organization were it not
for supervisor haggerty, which,
when I look back on my own
history of regional government.
really had had a waterfall
effect, a cascading effect on
my entire career thereafter,
because he came up to me, he
was a doer. He understood
regional politics. I've found
out over the years how much he
understood county politics on
his own board of supervisors,
but he literally came up to me
one day at one of the one of
the association of bay area
governments meetings with a
clipboard and says, you need to
go around and get signatures
because you're going to be the
next vice president of, of the
organization. And I said, who
do I talk to? I'm new here. I
don't even know most of the
people. And he said, just wait
right here. And he came back
about maybe ten minutes later
with the entire clipboard
signed, nominating me on a
white ballot. Of course. Then I
became, by succession the
president of that organization.
it was critical to us in san
jose because at that time, san
jose did not have a seat on
what we call the metropolitan
transportation commission. Our
mpo, even though san jose was
the largest city and still is
in the bay area, it had major
projects going on. And and
scott knew it was very
important for me to be able to,
to at least open the door to
legislation and a recomposition
of, of our transportation
commission so that san jose
could be represented there. And
he supported me in that not
only supported me in that
supported me in becoming a
member of the metropolitan
transportation commission
through. Means that I won't get
into right now. And then
subsequently support supported
the recomposition of of that
body. So these are the kind of
impacts, as we all know, as
elected officials, especially
worked in regional level or any
other level that don't show up
real clearly on somebody's
resume and have this massive
impact. What I didn't know, as
we were working on the
so-called bart extension into
silicon valley, what I didn't
know from scott was that he had
committed to our mayor, ron
gonzalez at the time, who had
who had launched that project.
that by all means and by any
means, he was going to support
the project on every vote in
the future. But he never shared
that with me being the savvy
politician that he was. So I
can't tell you how many times I
had to go to him pleading for
votes to continue the funding
or the things that we needed,
including some alameda county
money from time to time to keep
that project going. And, you
know, of course, have have
scott basically flipped the
negotiating table and say, if
you want that vote, you're
going to have to support what
I'm doing and what I want in
alameda county. It wasn't until
we did the groundbreaking on on
the berryessa station in san
jose for the bart extension
that I heard mayor gonzalez and
supervisors supervisor haggerty
celebrating their first
conversation, where scott had
already committed to every
single one of those votes. So
it was a little bit of you have
to have a sense of humor, of
course, at that point and say,
smart guy, good guy, good
friend, good supporter. I'll
let him, you know, get away
with that one. Scott became a
close friend because we both I
have four children now, adult
children, and he had several
children as well. And the bumps
and bruises of dealing with our
own children as elected
officials, you know, came came
home to roost a few times. And
what a lot of people didn't
know about this guy who was
actually pretty gruff and, and,
and almost overly direct at
times as an elected official
was his caring and compassion
and concern about others. And I
will tell you some of the best
advice I've ever received from
anybody, including people in
the medical profession, about
how to, to deal with some of
the issues I was dealing with
in my own family, you know,
came on long walks through the
streets of san francisco and in
other places with scott
haggerty, where he just said,
hey, tell me what's going on. I
want to help. I just want to be
of help. And that's the real
human being. I think that we're
celebrating not just somebody
who started projects like
valley link and helped bart get
to silicon valley and did all
these other things, but he did
all that. But but someone who
was very caring and concerned
about others, one of the last
things he said to me, he came
to visit me in sacramento a few
times since I've been here. But
on our last trip to washington,
dc together as transportation
commissioners, he pleaded with
me not to run for state senate.
he said, you've done enough.
you've had a long career. He
said, I'm going to retire. And
he looked at me and he said,
life is too short. And I just
couldn't get that out of my
head. During his memorial last
week. An individual who really
had more years ahead of him to
enjoy his life, to enjoy his
family, to enjoy his his
grandchildren. And I know they
they miss him desperately. I'm
going to miss him. And I
appreciate joining in on this
adjournment today. Thank you to
my colleagues from stockton and
hayward for that opportunity.
senator, again, you are
recognized. Thank you, mr.
president. Colleagues, it's
with profound sadness that I
rise today to honor scott
haggerty and try not to get
emotional. Who as was mentioned,
he was a dedicated public
servant whose leadership helped
modernize transportation and
land use throughout the bay
area. But on a on a personal
level, he was a mentor to me
and a dear friend. And like
senator cortez and senator
wiener and others who had the
opportunity to serve with him.
I had the privilege of serving
with him in regional government.
and like senator cortez, I was
drafted by supervisor haggerty
to serve as the vice president
of the association of baker
governments. And then I had the
honor of serving as the
president, working with him in
that capacity. And I was
surprised that this guy who was,
you know, he was very
intimidating. I guess I'll say
that when I first met him, he
had a very gruff personality
and was very direct. And we had
very different perspectives on
issues. You know, I was the
liberal mayor of berkeley, and
he was this former republican
conservative supervisor from
the tri-valley. But beyond his
gruff personality was somebody
who had a heart of gold and who
cared deeply about public
service and cared deeply about
people. And that was his north
star. In his many decades of
public service. And that formed
a partnership over many, many
years. One of the first
opportunities I had to work
with supervisor haggerty was
when he championed the creation
of our community choice
aggregation public power agency
in alameda county, now called
ava community energy. He was
the father of public power in
alameda county. He saw it as an
opportunity to invest in local
development, create jobs, and
help advance our region's
efforts for energy independence.
and like supervisor haggerty, I
was a founding board member of
ava community energy, and it
was befitting because of his
work. And this is something we
had worked for decades to try
to do in alameda county for
many, many years. And it took
scott haggerty to get it done.
and like was said he was a
person who got things done. And
it was befitting that when he
retired that we named, I think,
one of the first wind farms
that was built in the altamont
pass area after scott haggerty.
I think a fitting tribute to
not just the impact he had in
creating the agency and
creating energy independence in
alameda county, but his
commitment towards addressing
climate change. He was a giant
in alameda county, in the bay
area, and he cared about his
constituents first and foremost.
but he was somebody who was a
true regionalist and recognized
that the issues that impact
alameda county impact every
community in the bay area and
brought that lens to his
leadership at the regional
level. In his six terms on the
alameda county board of
supervisors, he earned a
reputation as a collaborative
leader who brought people
together to tackle some of our
region's most pressing
challenges, such as
transportation, housing,
economic development, and
environmental stewardship. And
I had the honor of working with
him on so many regional issues,
not only on the association of
governments, but when he served
as the chair of the
metropolitan transportation
commission, we worked very
closely together on the
creation of our regional
transportation plan and the
creation of the bay area
housing finance authority.
scott's legacy can be defined
not just in the relationships
he had with people, but so many
significant transportation
projects and regional
initiatives that ³
in his many years, as well as
efforts to help provide
sustainable funding for
transportation such as the
passage of measure b, the
regional sales tax to fund
transit in alameda county. In
addition, extending bart to
santa clara county, the oakland
san francisco airport
connection, the expansion of
the caldecott tunnel, the
salesforce transbay transit
center and soon valley link are
testaments to his incredible
leadership. One thing also
about scott is he was in his
30s when he was first elected
to the alameda county board of
supervisors and was kind of a
maverick, and he really
committed his time in office to
mentor young people and mentor
the next generation of leaders.
and I think there's so many
people who serve in elected
office in the bay area who were
mentored and supported and
shaped by the leadership of
scott haggerty. In closing, it
was an honor to work with him,
to consider him a friend and
mentor. May we honor his memory
by carrying forward his
commitment to building a bay
area and state that is more
connected, more equitable, and
more collaborative. I want to
extend my deepest condolences
to his family and friends and
colleagues, and also ask that
we adjourn the senate in his
honor today. Senator wiener,
you are recognized. Thank you,
mr. President. I, too, had the
honor of serving with scott
haggerty for six years on the
metropolitan transportation
commission. I joined the mtc
just a few months after I was
sworn in as a new member of the
board of supervisors. So I was
very green, very new, and I
knew that there were certain
members of that commission who
had truly been around the block
and knew what they were doing.
the senator from san jose was
one of them, and scott haggerty
was another, and he was someone.
if you look at just the facts
on paper, he and I should have
had really nothing in common.
he was this, you know, former
republican, middle of the road
to maybe a little bit
conservative guy from a very
suburban to rural part of
alameda county. I was this
lefty guy from san francisco
who wanted to fund fund the
heck out of transit and bikes
and, and pedestrian spaces and
so forth. We're just very, very
different. But scott and I
actually became quite close,
and he pulled me in and helped
to elevate me as a new
commissioner on the commission.
he he was a true regionalist.
he understood that when san
francisco succeeded, the east
bay succeeded, and vice versa.
and he wanted to make sure that
all parts of the region were
getting what we needed in terms
of investment and support. And
so I worked very, very well
with him over those six years.
after coming to the senate, I
always looked forward when he
would be up lobbying around
transportation issues in the in
the legislature. And it's just
really just so depressing that
he has gone. I know he had a a
lot ahead of him and was
looking forward to it. And it's
a real tragedy. And I just want
to express my deepest
condolences to his family and
his community. Thank you. Thank
you so very much. Senator
mcnerney, if you'll bring the
name of your adjournment memory
to the desk to be properly
memorialized, we appreciate
that. Our condolences to you,
senator ashby, you are
recognized for your adjournment
memory. Thank you very much,
mr. Presiding officer. I rise
today to adjourn in the memory
of a beloved and incredible
sacramento hero named jonathan
burgess. He passed away on may
11th at the age of 52 after a
four year battle with als.
jonathan is a south sacramento
native and he served for more
than 30 years, well over half
of his life with the sacramento
fire department, ended his
career at the rank of battalion
chief. In addition to his
service with the fire
department, jonathan co-founded
the restaurant burgess brothers
barbecue and burgers with his
equally dynamic twin brother,
matthew, who, by the way, this
twin is a member of the
sacramento police department.
these two brothers are beloved
across the city of sacramento.
in addition to being a
firefighter and a business
owner, jonathan was a powerful
advocate for reparations for
the black community. He
testified before the california
reparations task force in 2021
and worked to have his family's
legacy restored after the state
took his ancestor's land in
coloma by way of eminent domain.
he also published a children's
book that documented his
family's history as one of the
earliest black settlers in the
coloma region. Jonathan will be
remembered as a fierce
protector of justice for his
acts of service, his humor and
his radiant smile. Several of
jonathan's friends and family
join us in the gallery today,
including his wife lauren, his
daughters justice and jordan.
his twin brother matthew, his
sister tonya, many of his
friends and colleagues from the
sacramento fire service,
including local 522 president
trevor jamison. Members, please
join me in adjourning in the
memory of a true sacramento
hero. Senator neal, you're
recognized on this adjournment
memory. Thank you, mr.
president. I rise to join my
sacramento colleague in
recognizing jonathan burgess. I
did not know jonathan well, but
I know jonathan's reputation
well. One cannot avoid that.
and at age 52, that is way, way
too early. And my deepest
sympathies go to his family
members who are here today.
thank you. Senator, if you'll
bring your name of your
adjournment memory to the desk
for proper to be properly
memorialized, senator mcguire
mcguire, you are recognized for
your adjournment memory. Thank
you so much, mr. President. And
members, colleagues, I rise
today in honor of the life and
legacy of a remarkable public
servant, marin county's chief
probation officer, chief marlon
washington. Chief washington
began his nearly three decade
long career in law enforcement,
helping young people in the
juvenile justice system, first
in napa county and then in
contra costa. And then in 2020,
the chief made history. He
became marin county's first
african american chief of
probation, serving as only just
three american african american
chief probation officers in
california at the time. And
this is an achievement that he
was so incredibly proud of. For
six years, he led more than 120
employees working hard every
day, mr. President, to build a
department grounded in
rehabilitation, accountability,
and the belief that anyone and
everyone deserves a chance at a
better future. During that time,
chief washington championed the
clean slate program, helping
those who completed probation
to be able to get a new start
on life. He took immense pride
in the career explorers program,
which introduced people from
challenging backgrounds to
careers in public service. He
also worked to make the justice
system more equitable and
improve outcomes for young
people, but in particular,
young people of color, because
that was one of his core
beliefs that we can make our
community safer while also
helping transform lives. The
chief understood that public
safety wasn't just responding
to a 911 call or going to a
crime. It was about upstream
investing, investment in
preventing it, giving young
people hope and hoping families
will be able to find a path
forward. And he also knew that
leadership meant lifting up his
community. He showed up every
day fighting for his department,
fighting for the people and the
families that he served, and
fighting for the communities
that he proudly represented.
his colleagues knew him for his
quiet strength, genuine spirit,
and visionary leadership. He
believed in people. He
instilled confidence in those
around him, and he changed
lives every day. He showed up
in the office, and that's the
public servant that we should
all want. And that's what the
chief dedicated his life to,
and that is the legacy that he
leaves behind and the people he
mentored, the lives he touched
and the communities that he
served so faithfully. On behalf
of the california state senate,
I would ask that we keep the
washington family and the marin
county probation department in
our prayers, and I appreciate
the opportunity to be able to
adjourn in the chief's memory.
senator, we extend our
condolences. Please bring the
name of your adjournment memory
to the desk to be properly
memorialized. Senator hurtado,
you are recognized for your
adjournment and memory. Thank
you, mr. President. Today I
rise to honor the life and
legacy of a remarkable man.
doctor koinos lnx junior, a
gifted cardiac surgeon, a
visionary, visionary leader,
and a dear partner in our
shared mission to make
healthcare more equitable. For
every californian, I had the
privilege of working closely
with doctor x on one of the
initiatives he cared about most
the california medicine
scholars program. Together, we
secured its initial funding in
the 2021 state budget, creating
new pathways for community
college students to pursue
careers in medicine. It was a
two year fight. Doctor x
believed that a student's
background should never
determine their future, and he
dedicated his life to making
that belief a reality. His
vision reached far beyond
california. Working alongside
congresswoman barbara lee, he
helped inspired the national
medical corps act. Driven by a
simple but powerful belief that
every community deserves
doctors who understand the
people they serve. The
commitment to service defined
his life as a cardiac surgeon.
doctor x cared for patients
across the bay area, bringing
compassion and excellence to
every operating room. Inspired
by his father, civil rights
attorney, alex senior, he
carried forward a lifelong
commitment to justice not in
the courtroom, but through
medicine, education and
opportunity. One of the
defining moments of his life
came in 1973, when he responded
to the tragic assassination of
oakland superintendent doctor
marcus foster. Although he was
forced to pronounce doctor
foster's passing, he saved the
life of deputy superintendent
doctor bob blackburn. That
experience inspired more than
two decades of service with the
marcus foster education
institute, helping create
educational opportunities for
future generations. Above all,
doctor annex was a devoted
father, grandfather, mentor and
friend. His legacy is measured
not only by the lives he saved
as a surgeon, but by the doors
he opened for countless others
who now have the opportunity to
follow in his footsteps. I'm
grateful to have known him, to
have worked alongside him, and
to have witnessed firsthand his
unwavering commitment to
building a more just and
compassionate health care
system. May we honor his memory
by carrying forward the work he
cared so deeply about, and by
continuing to create
opportunities for those who
will follow in his footsteps.
members, please join me today
in adjourning in the member in
the memory of doctor coignet
lnx junior senator, our
sincerest condolences and you
are also recognized for your
additional adjournment memory.
thank you. Today I rise to
honor the life and memory of
yolanda yoli rojo, a remarkable
woman from bakersfield whose
love for her family and her
community will never be
forgotten. Yolanda's story
began on october 6th, 1995, in
bakersfield, where she was born
and raised. From a young age,
those around her saw someone
who led with both determination
and heart. Her years in
catholic school helped shaped
her deep sense of faith and
compassion while her. While on
her time on the volleyball
court and the track field
taught her the value of
perseverance, discipline and
how to lift those around her.
but if you ask those who knew
yolanda what defined her most,
they wouldn't begin with her
accomplishments. They would
tell you about the way she made
people feel. They would tell
you that family was her
greatest purpose. As the oldest
sister, yolanda naturally
stepped into the role of
protector, confidant and steady
source of strength. She was a
person everyone could count on,
the one who brought people
together, who filled every room
with laughter, and who made her
home a place where everyone
felt welcomed, supported, and
loved. Her greatest pride,
however, was being a mother.
everything she did revolved
around her two beautiful
daughters, whether she was
cheering them on at a dance
competition, traveling for
cheer events, or celebrating
them on the golf course, or
simply encouraging them to
chase every dream they had.
your orlando was always their
biggest fan. She didn't just
tell her daughters they could
accomplish anything. She showed
them every day what
unconditional love, sacrifice,
and devotion looked like.
although yolanda's life was
tragically cut short on march
25th, 2026, the measure of a
life is not found in its length,
but in the love it leaves
behind. By that measure,
yolanda lived an extraordinary
life. Her kindness, generosity,
and unwavering love continue to
live on through her daughters,
her family, and the countless
friends and neighbors whose
lives are better because they
knew her. Today, we remember
not only the life that was lost,
but the love that remains. We
honor a devoted mother, a
cherished daughter and sister,
a loyal friend, and a woman
whose legacy will continue to
inspire all who carry her
memory forward. Yolanda rojo is
survived by her two beloved
daughters and her loving family.
mr. President members, please
join me in a journey today in
the memory of yolanda yoly rojo.
thank you senator. Our
condolences. Please bring the
names of your adjournments in
memory to the desk to be
properly memorialized. Thank
you, senator nilo. You are
recognized for your adjournment
in memory. Thank you, mr.
president. I rise to pay
tribute to the life and memory
of john m mike holmes, who died
on june 27th of this year at
the age of 86. He was a
distinguished californian and
devoted auburn city council
member and mayor, and a
longtime very good friend of
mine. Mike served in the united
states navy with distinction,
retiring as a captain after a
career that included
deployments to vietnam and
taiwan and earning numerous
honors, including the legion of
merit award, the bronze star
and the meritorious service
medal. As a civilian, he was a
dedicated advocate for
protecting auburn's history,
character and future. He
continued a life of service
following his military career.
through his professional work
and extensive civic involvement,
including through his work on
the auburn city council, to
which he was elected in 2002,
2006, 2010, and again 2022. In
addition to serving as mayor in
zero five and zero eight. And I
would point out that between
2010 and when he was reelected
in 22, coincided with my
absence from the legislature.
and when he was first reelected
and I was elected to the senate,
he made a point to come and
visit with me in my district
office. He was a very
thoughtful guy. Mike's
commitment to auburn extended
well beyond city hall through
his involvement in numerous
community organizations and
service initiatives, he leaves
to mourn his passing and
celebrate his legacy to a host
of devoted family members and
friends, including jim holmes,
carol hennig, and harry holmes.
so please join me in closing
today's session in the memory
of a dedicated friend of auburn
and our region, mike holmes.
senator, please bring the name
of your adjournment memory to
the desk to be properly
memorialized. Our sincere
condolences. If there is no
other business majority leader
ashby, the desk is clear. Thank
you, mr. President. And thank
you to my senate colleagues for
getting through the first week
back. We have much work ahead
of us. In the month of august.
we will adjourn today's session,
and the next floor session will
be scheduled for monday, august
10th at 2 p.m. The senate will
be in recess until 3:30 p.m. At
which time the adjournment
motion will be made. We will
reconvene monday, august 10th,
2026 at 2 p.m. Have a good
weekend, senators.