Assembly Standing Committee on Appropriations

Good morning. We're going to call to order the June 21st Appropriations Committee hearing. We have 17 bills to consider this morning as a part of our regular ordered hearing. A few items to cover before we begin. We encourage the public to provide written testimony before the hearing by visiting the Committee website at apro.assembly.ca.gov. Please note that any written testimony submitted to the committee is considered public comment and may be read into the record or reprinted. The hearing room is now open.

All are encouraged to watch the hearing from its live stream on the Assembly website. assembly.ca.gov/todays-events. We encourage the public to monitor the Committee website for updates. We will accept public comment on any bill placed on the Suspense file by the Committee today for which the author weighed presentation before the close of the regular ordered hearing. Testimony on any such bill will be limited to statement of name, organization, if any, and position on the bill.

The Committee will allow no more than 40 minutes of testimony in total. As you came into the hearing room today, the Sergeants directed your attention to the rules for public attendance and participation which were posted outside the door. I encourage members of the public who are in attendance to be aware of and observe those rules. Please be aware that violations of these rules or other violations of General courtesy or decorum may subject you to removal or other enforcement process.

With that, we'd like to establish a quorum so we can begin the meeting. Madam Secretary. Call the roll.

[Roll Call]

We have a quorum. Senator, before we begin, and you can come forward, Senator Lair, we are going to dispense with a consent calendar. Madam Secretary, read the consent calendar.

SB 39, Lead. SB 275, Grove. SB 290, Min. SB 304, Lead. SB 376, Rubio. SB 421, Limon. SB 437, Dodd. SB 448, Becker. SB 56, Jones. SB 748, Roth. SB 789, Allen. SB 790, Padilla. SB 835, Smallwood-Cuevas.

Is there a motion on the consent calendar? It's been moved by Carillo, seconded by the Vice Chair. A roll call.

[Roll Call]

10-0. The consent calendar is adopted. We have one item on the suspense file. If we can dispense with that. If you would read the one item.

SB 703, Limon.

Suspense file is adopted. Senator, you're here to present SB 80. There was a do pass.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. SB 80 will help all parties be aware of and mutually agreeable to the provisions within the retail installment contracts by increasing the font size. This is a consumer bill. There are still a couple of concerns from the California Retailers Association and wireless industry. I commit to not move the bill on the floor until we find a balanced approach to solve the opposition's concerns. Unlike last year's bill, this bill has a six month delayed implementation. It's had unanimous bipartisan support and no no votes, and I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Do you no witnesses today?

No witnesses.

Department of Finance.

Good morning. Michele Perrault, Department of Finance. Finance has a neutral position on the bill, and we do not anticipate that this would create any type of a state reimbursable mandate.

Thank you. Is there anyone from the public that would like to comment on the bill either in favor or opposed? Seeing none, we'll bring it back to the Committee. It's been moved by Pellerin. Second by Rivas. The bill is out on a do pass with the--all right--on a B roll call with Ms. Sanchez not voting.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. See either--Mr. Low. Mr. Low, you're here to present ACA 5 that also enjoys a do pass.

It's always the right time for love. Thank you for allowing me to present Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5 to repeal Proposition 8 and enshrine protections for love in our state constitution. I respectfully ask for aye vote.

You have a witness?

Becca Cramer Mowder on behalf of ACLU California.

On behalf of ACLU California Action, proud sponsors of ACA Five. While marriage equality is currently the law of the land, thanks to past US Supreme Court decisions, recent decisions issued by the current court demonstrate a willingness to overrule its own long standing precedents protecting civil rights. If the Supreme Court were to overturn its marriage equality decisions, marriage rights for California same sex couples, like my wife and I, would be in jeopardy due to the exclusionary language added to our Constitution by Prop Eight in 2008.

ACA Five would put on the ballot a constitutional amendment to protect the fundamental freedom to marry as part of the existing rights to due process, equal protection, enjoyment of life and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and privacy. This will help ensure that everyone in California continues to enjoy the freedom to marry the person they love, regardless of whether the Supreme Court revisits its decisions in Obergefell or Loving.

ACA Five is an important opportunity to reaffirm the freedom to marry and protect loving couples and families across California who deserve to have our marriages protected and respected under the law. Administrative costs associated with putting ACA Five on the ballot are worthwhile to ensure Californians continue to enjoy the freedom to marry, and they represent a smaller price tag than the potential cost of trying to defend marriage equality in litigation in the absence of ACA Five, should the Supreme Court overturn Obergefell or Loving.

Our California constitution should protect fundamental civil rights for all people and ACA Five will help protect the freedom to marry for same sex couples as well as interracial couples. For these reasons, we respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Department of Finance?

No file.

Okay. We'll open it up to the public for comments in favor or in opposition.

Craig Pulsifer. On behalf of Equality California, proud co sponsor. In strong support.

Mitch Steiger with the California Labor Federation. Also in support.

Good morning, Chair and Members, Genesis Gonzalez on behalf of Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, as a proud co sponsor. In support. Thank you.

Good morning. Kelby Lind with Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. In strong support.

Good morning. James Michael Agpalo with AFSCME California. In strong support of ACA Five.

Thank you. See no other member of the public that would like to comment. We'll bring it back to the committee. Are there any questions? It's been moved by Carillo. And we have a second? Yes, we have a motion and a second. I didn't catch the second, though. Okay, Member?

Good morning. I've spoken with the author a lot on this Bill, and I know many of us have. I appreciate your willingness to engage on this measure. I think it's commendable to want to ensure two consenting adults, whomever they may be, be allowed to spend their lives together and enjoy the same public benefits that everyone else can. I certainly don't disagree with that.

But at the same time, I want to make sure we're able to ensure the Bill does not negatively impact the constitutional protections that are currently afforded to businesses, nonprofits, and religious establishments by California's Constitution. So I would highly encourage the author to continue working on this and to specifically look at incorporating language to explicitly guarantee that existing constitutional rights will not be negatively impacted. Thank you.

Okay, seeing no other Members that would like to comment. Would you like to close, Mr. Low?

Thank you very much. I know that this is the Appropriations Committee. With respect to the price tag, love is priceless. And I respectfully ask for aye vote.

Okay. The Bill is out, with Republicans not voting, with Dixon and Mathis voting aye. Thank you.

Congratulations. Okay, we will open up the consent calendar for Members to the consent calendar. And we are looking for Mr. Allen. Senator Allen.

[Roll Call]

Okay. We're waiting for Senator Allen. I don't think we've gotten feedback from his office that says he's on his way. So I'm going to, we'll give five minutes this is what we'll call a five-minute warning to the Senator, and then we will move to public comment and then adjourn the meeting. Okay, Committee, we're going to roll SB 297 over to next week's agenda, and we'll move now to public comment.

And we'll receive comments from the public on any item that was not presented before the committee today. Seeing no one approaching. This meeting is adjourned.