Senate Standing Committee on Rules

I am aware that we do have a colleague that's on her way, but we're going to go ahead and call the Senate Committee on Rules to order. Good afternoon. Our Senate continues to welcome the public in person and also via the teleconference service. We're holding our committee hearing in the O Street Building in room 2200.

For individuals wishing to provide public comment via the Teleconference service, the participant toll free number and access code are posted on our committee website and it will be displayed on the screen. The participant number is 877-226-8163. The access code is 694-8930.

And on behalf of our court reporter Ina, I would remind all speakers, my colleagues and witnesses alike, to speak slowly and clearly. Before we begin the agenda, we need to establish a quorum. Colleagues, you'll need to turn your microphones on for the roll call and every time that we vote so, Madam Secretary, we please call the roll.

Laird? Here. Laird here. Ochoa Bogh? Here. Ochoa Bogh, here. Smallwood-Cuevas? Here. Smallwood-Cuevas, here. Grove? Here. Grove, here. Atkins? Here. Atkins, here.

Thank you. I will remind Members of the public, this is the heavy, busy time of our year, and you're going to see a couple of my colleagues coming and going. They mean no disrespect. They are doing double duty on multiple committees.

And I don't know, somebody may have to present a Bill somewhere. But I just want to make sure, you know we will try to be as efficient with your time as well as our own. But if you see people coming and going, there is a reason for that. And I think Madam Vice Chair may have to leave. I'm sure of that. At some point during the hearing. I will go ahead and try to dispense with some quick items.

So let me look at Governors appointees not required to appear. As I understand it, I could do a motion on those for item two. D, E, and G as one motion?

So moved. Madam Vice Chair. Thank you so much. These are Members of the board of Barbering and Cosmetology for the public record. Madam Secretary, will you call the roll?

Laird? Aye. Laird aye. Ochoa Bogh? Aye. Ochoa Bogh, aye. Smallwood-Cuevas? Aye. Smallwood-Cuevas, aye. Grove? Aye. Grove, aye. Atkins? Aye. Atkins, aye. Five to zero.

I would move item two, F.

Thank you so much, Senator Laird, call the roll.

Laird? Aye. Laird aye. Ochoa Bogh? Ochoa Bogh, not voting. Smallwood-Cuevas? Aye. Smallwood-Cuevas, aye. Grove? No. Grove, no. Atkins? Aye. Atkins, aye. Three to one.

Three to one. Okay. I would ask for a motion on referral of bills, item three.

So moved.

Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. Call the roll.

Laird? Aye. Laird aye. Ochoa Bogh? Aye. Ochoa Bogh, aye. Smallwood-Cuevas? Aye. Smallwood-Cuevas, aye. Grove? Aye. Grove, aye. Atkins? Aye. Atkins, aye. Five to zero.

Five to zero. I will separate one floor acknowledgment out. So, colleagues, what I would ask for is a motion on item 4,6,7,8, and 9.

So moved.

Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

Laird? Aye. Laird aye. Ochoa Bogh? Aye. Ochoa Bogh, aye. Smallwood-Cuevas? Aye. Smallwood-Cuevas, aye. Grove? Aye. Grove, aye. Atkins? Aye. Atkins, aye.

I would move item number five.

Thank you so much. Again, these are floor acknowledgments to be scheduled for the floor. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

Laird? Aye. Laird aye. Ochoa Bogh? Aye. Ochoa Bogh, aye. Smallwood-Cuevas? Aye. Smallwood-Cuevas, aye. Grove? No. Grove, no. Atkins? Aye. Atkins, aye. Four to one.

Four to one. Thank you. Okay, so now we will move to Governor's appointees required to appear. And we're going to start with item 1A, and that would be the appointment of Commissioner Sean Duryee to the California Highway Patrol.

Come on forward, Commissioner. I want to say welcome as you're getting set up and seated and ask you to go ahead and introduce yourself. Anyone here that you'd like to acknowledge, opening comments. And after you do that, then we'll go right to Members of the committee for questions and comments. Welcome.

Thank you, Madam Pro Tem, Madam Vice Chair, Members of the Rules Committee, it's an honor to appear before you this afternoon for this confirmation hearing.

And thanks for the invitation to introduce a few people. I'm here with my wife Lisa, on the front row there in the black with our youngest daughter, Kendall. Lisa and I are high school sweethearts, been married over 30 years. Twenty-nine of that she's been the wife of a soldier or a police officer, and to that, she hates the spotlight. She works with children and teaches.

But I want to just publicly thank her for being beside me these times. Our daughter Kendall is 15 years old. She's a sophomore at Liberty Ranch High School where she plays volleyball and basketball. Monday, she's going to the DMV to take her permit test, so we'll see how that goes.

We have two other daughters that are watching on the live stream. One is a freshman at Southern Virginia University, Sydney. She's 18. And our oldest, Hannah, is 20. She's a sophomore at Boise State University. I am an all girl dad, and I went and traded for the world.

I want to take a minute and just thank Governor Gavin Newsom for having the trust and confidence in me to lead this important organization at this time.

We talk a lot about legacy at the CHP. I've heard it said before, and I've used it in teaching our leaders that we're all warming ourselves at the fire that others have built. And that's definitely true in my case.

One of those gentlemen is here in the audience. Commissioner Spike Helmick, retired Commissioner Helmick was the Commissioner when I was promoted to the rank of officer over 25 years ago, and he's been a mentor and a leader for many of us.

Commissioner, can you raise your hand so we can acknowledge you? Good to have you here. Thank you for your service.

Yeah, I was drawn to the Highway Patrol with a desire to serve others. In my 25 years of service, that has not changed. I'm humbled and honored to be named the 17th Commissioner of this great organization. I feel a sincere responsibility to make the legacy of the CHP proud and more importantly, make the people of California proud of their California Highway Patrol.

I commit to you, and I commit to the other Members of the Legislature that I will serve with honor and integrity. There are many opportunities for improvement in law enforcement today, and I'm excited to be a leader to serve during these times. I'm willing to work with any group. I'm willing to have any discussion in the spirit of collaboration, the spirit of making improvements where necessary with the goal of better serving every community in California.

I look forward to answering your questions today. More importantly, I look forward to working with each of you for, hopefully the years to come.

So thank you.

Commissioner, thank you. And let me welcome your family in particular. It's great to have that kind of support. Clearly, they serve as well, given your service. Let me start with our vice chair, because I know that she may have to leave. So, Madam Vice Chair. Go ahead.

Thank you, Madam Pro Tem. I appreciate the opportunity to lead the discussion. Future Commissioner, it was a pleasure to spend time with you yesterday and work with you in the past when you had a position here at the Capitol as a legislative, was it a legislative aid to CHP?

I was the Leg Director, legislative representative for the Highway Patrol.

So it was a pleasure to work with you a few years ago on some subject matters that we actually were able to accomplish here in the building.

I have a deep respect for you. Military. I'm the first female veteran that's ever served in this building. You swore to defend this country, and then you carry it on your public service with your family by your side for all these years at the California Highway Patrol.

That, to me, speaks of leadership. But I'd like you to talk to the dais. Talk to us about your leadership skills and what you view as leadership and where the CHP needs to be led in the direction that you want to take it.

Yeah, I appreciate that, Madam Co-Chair, and it's hard to talk or pin down a type of leader that I am. When you study leadership, there's a lot of different styles or types. But at times, I've been in positions where I definitely have had to be autocratic or demand performance by men and women that work for me in emergency situations, in riots, in critical incidents. And I definitely have that ability, but that's not my role now.

I bring a level of diplomacy. I think if you ask the people that work for me, they would say I demand excellence. And I think that's fair to say because I think the people demand excellence of us. We we have to be spot on with our performance.

And with that, I intend to lead the Department in a way that our men and women are well trained, are professional, that hold high standards and values that the Department is known for. And I think if you asked most of the people, I would be known for that within the Department.

There's a side of me that many of them don't know, some have seen, and that's a side of compassion and empathy. And I love the men and women that work for me. It's hard to say that they work for me, but the ones that I have the opportunity to lead. And there's times where I have to lead with compassion and have empathy, and I think that's equally important.

So I don't know that I have one style of leadership, but hopefully you'll get a sense of kind of the person I am and the direction that I will lead the Department.

Thank you. I do have a couple of more questions. Recruiting and obviously law enforcement, recruitment in all aspects. And I know the CHP has a very good pay program, retirement program, one of the top retirement programs and pay scales in the state, from what I understand. But you still have a huge recruitment deficit. I think you have over 1,000 vacancies. I think the only CHP unit that is covered 100% is one at this Capitol Building.

What's your thoughts about, we talked a little bit about the academy and how you guys have extended the academy program and what's your recruitment outlook? And not just recruitment as far as officers, but also the diversity of California and how do you make officers look like the diversity that we have in California? And what are your thoughts on that?

Yeah, thank you for the question, ma'am. It's a goal of mine, one of my top priorities to have a workforce that reflects the diversity of this great state that we live in. It's been said by one of the founders of modern day policing, "The people are the police, and the police are the people."

To me, that means the police need to look like the people.They need to be from the communities of the people. They need to interact with the people. It cannot be us versus them. It has to be us with them or we are them, really, there is no separation. So that is important to us.

I've had the privilege and honor, and really it's unique in our Department to have the ability to work directly in different capacities with the last three commissioners of the Highway Patrol; Prior to me.

I worked with Commissioner Joe Farrow, I worked with Commissioner Warren Stanley, and I was selected by Commissioner Amanda Ray as her Deputy Commissioner. One of her priorities was developing this workforce that reflects all of California. I shared with her that vision of having equity and having opportunities for all.

Now, how are we doing that? That's the question. How are we doing that and how are we doing at it? I think is a natural follow up question to it. We have a lot of strategies. We have a robust recruitment plan, and part of that is credited to the support from the Legislature and some funding we received over the last, this, current FY and the next two FY's. It's allowing us to do some very specific recruitment campaigns.

We're using digital recruitment. That allows us to target specific communities, specific people, people that do certain searches online and allows us to have a lot of success with this recruitment. It's a priority for me and it's a priority for my team that these recruitment efforts that we do reflect everybody.

So when my daughter Kendall looks at these recruitment campaigns, she could see herself in that. When a young man from South Central Los Angeles looks at them, he could see himself in those campaigns. So that is a priority.

One example is a facet of it is women in the CHP. We have a portion of our campaign that highlights women and the job that they're doing in the CHP in an effort to recruit women to show them the opportunities that are in the Department.

We have worked hard to get insight from others on how we could do this, how we could have a diverse workforce. We have a citizens advisory board that we've worked hard to pull from all facets of the community.

I'm proud of the fact that Commissioner Ray and I instilled the last Member from the LGBTQ community, and we get that input now on our citizens advisory board and allows us to have that insight.

As Commissioner, I recognize that working with youth is important in my personal life. I've been a coach for many years, and I've seen the value of working with our young people. We have an explorer program that focuses on kids from 15 to 21. It's not just for recruitment. I think one of the biggest benefits that comes from that is the ability to build relationships with these young people, their families, as we serve the community together.

So we've seen some fruits of our labor. The recruitment campaign has been going very, very well. We launched it last May. We've had a 40% increase in applications. We have in our last four Cadet class graduations, we have had over 50% minorities reflected in those graduating cadets, now officers. And so we're committed to that. I'm committed to it and my team's committed to it.

The vacancies and the issues of staffing and recruiting a police officer is something that's plaguing law enforcement across the nation. And I think the Highway Patrol is in a good place that we're going to start turning the corner and seeing some benefits from it.

Thank you. I think you have big shoes to fill with Commissioner Ray. We had the opportunity to appoint her and she was an incredible individual in front of us and was here during the Black Lives Matter riots that were going on and the protests that were going on in the Capitol. And she was very, very well balanced and had a good forethought to protect not only the law enforcement but to allow freedom of speech to take place on the campus.

So. The last question I have and we didn't talk about this, and I kind of feel bad throwing it at you. If you can't answer it for whatever reason, I totally understand, but I am curious.

There's a number of bills going through the building that were introduced over the last several years, and there's one specifically going through the building now that make me concerned about some of the tools in your toolbox to keep all of us safe.

Obviously, it's not a big secret that what happened here last Thursday and with that threat. And that threat was identified by the California Highway Patrol because of license plate readers around this building. And a certain license plate came through the perimeter of the geofence and that person was identified and it was identified as a threat of the previous actions that he had taken in Roseville and all those other things that he was doing aside from what he was possibly doing here in the building or could have been doing here in the building.

Is there a concern or if you can't answer it, I completely understand, but I would like to know if there's a concern about removing those types of tools from your toolbox in order to continue to keep the public safe?

It's probably inappropriate for me to comment

Okay.

on pending legislation, ma'am, all due respect,

Totally understand

but I will say we are always willing to come to the table and talk about what our perceived consequences of any piece of legislation that's pending and give advice on that in our role. We are happy to be part of the conversation with that.

Thank you. I look forward to your confirmation. And thank you, Madam Pro Tem, for letting me go first, because I.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. Senator Smallwood-Cuevas, why don't you go next?

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for being here with us today. I looked through, we didn't get a chance to meet beforehand, but I did get a chance to look at your responses, and I really appreciated your thoughts on the views of use of force.

You talked about how there is an expectation for officers to use sound judgment and to make decisions that are about their professionalism, about fairness, about being unbiased and objectively reasonable and behaving in that manner. And that based on the facts and circumstances, that is what the expectation is for the CHP.

I know seven of your officers were recently charged with involuntary manslaughter in Los Angeles as the result of a 2020 death of a man in CHP custody. I understand it's a criminal case, and it's moving forward. But can you talk about what happened to those officers throughout this process? I'm curious about what happened between the incident and when they were actually charged.

And would you have considered that a case that was a use of force incident, and then what kind of corrective actions were taken, both against the officers, but also as a Department in terms of training, in terms of new metrics for accountability, in terms of use of force?

Madam Senator, there's a few questions there. If I miss them, I'll come back to you. But there is a pending criminal trial on the case. You're referring to Mr. Edward Bronstein, who was, died while in our custody at the Altadina area.

It would be inappropriate for me to talk about anything that would influence the criminal case. And there is a pending still civil litigation that the Department is in regarding the case. However, I think I can acknowledge that there were things that, as I look at as the Commissioner, that we as a Department could do better in that case.

And let me just offer my condolences to the Bronstein family anytime somebody passes in our custody. That's tragic for us. It's tragic for the officers involved. It's obviously tragic for the family. And our thoughts go out to them.

And I look at these incidents if we could just put Bronstein aside. But it definitely applies to this incident, too. I look at these types of incidents and how do we learn from them, how do we move forward? We're not perfect.

Let me start by acknowledging that we have men and women that go out and make split second decisions in some very tough, and the expectation is high that they go out and perform very high every day, and we hold them to that expectation.

But as a Department, there's things that we could do better. There's things we could have done better when it comes to training, when it comes to tactics. Since that incident, I have implemented some policy changes revolving around the forced blood draws.

We are considering other options right now regarding forced blood draws and how we go about doing forced blood draws. And so whether it was this case in particular, the Bronstein incident or others, we are committed to learning from those incidents and moving forward and better serving the public.

We've done that historically in the past. A case you may be familiar with, Marlene Pennock, where a CHP officer used force and the Department implemented a mental health training, critical incident training with officers so that we could go out and better prepare our officers how to deal with and how to work with mental health consumers or people having mental health crisis.

And we rolled that out. And that program was modeled by other law enforcement agencies. So those are the types of steps that we're willing to take, and those are the types of steps that we're willing to learn from our mistakes and move forward.

And when the case is adjudicated, I would love to visit and talk about the specific steps that we've taken in regards to this case and how we'll move forward and learn from that.

In the case of these officers, and I know this is a criminal case that's moving forward, but I'm concerned about what happens when officers have found to act out of compliance by the Department and between that moment and when actual charges are filed, are they on leave and what is that process? Were these officers actually on a paid leave during that period that they were found out of compliance and when they were charged?

Yeah. So not talking about this specific case. When an officer is found out of policy or does a mistake and they're pending criminal charges or administrative punishment in a case of this magnitude, they are placed on administrative time off until the case can be adjudicated one way or the other, and their peace officer powers are removed. Yeah, that is standard protocol in instances like this.

And this administrative leave is a paid leave or it's a leave without pay?

It is a paid leave.

It is a paid leave. And my other question, you mentioned the Marlene Pennock case, and in that case, the family ended up settling with CHP for $1.5 million. And we know that in many cases, there will likely be civil charges.

In case filed, in the case of the seven officers as well, is it fair that the state ultimately, and the taxpayers, are responsible for footing the bill for those kinds of cases where there has been out of compliance actions that have led to charges and then the family can sue the Department? Is it fair that the taxpayers take that hit?

Yeah. That's a tough question for me to answer. I don't know. I'll answer it that way. I don't know if it's fair. I know that's the process in place now that civil settlements and sometimes it's not always put on the shoulders of the officer. Sometimes the Department has some culpability in that as well.

So not talking about any specific case, but oftentimes when the Department settles civil cases, there was some responsibility on the Department. This is not always on the officer's shoulders.

My final question. In these instances, what structural changes do you think have been made or should be made to the academy in particular? To address some of the instances that we just discussed.

One where you mentioned working directly with folks who are in some sort of mental health crises and others where officers are out of compliance and ting state violence that ends in the death of an individual.

In your view, what changes have been made in that process in the Academy of Training? And then what should we be doing?

Yes, ma'am.

To prevent those instances?

No, I appreciate the question. Senator. And we are constantly evolving. We have to constantly be adjusting and evolving how we teach at the academy and the CP Academy, we're very proud of. We feel like it is one of the best law enforcement academies in the nation.

It played a big role in my personal decision to join the High Patrol when I was looking at law enforcement as a career because of the professionalism and training. But we are constantly evaluating.

In the case of Marlene Pennock, the officer or cadets at the time of 26 weeks were introduced, I believe it was 40 hours of how to deal with people dealing with mental health issues at the academy. But we don't stop there. We continue to, we brought the officers back in their first year, and we gave them additional time. I think that was an additional 24 hours off the top of my head that they received in mental health training.

And we do constant training every year. These are perishable skills and the use of force and the ability to use force safely for the officer and the people they're using force against requires constant and ongoing training. So these are trainings that we engage in monthly and annually and ongoing.

We're constantly evaluating and constantly adjusting them to meet the needs and the expectations of the people that we serve.

Thank you.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Ochoa Bogh.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning. Good afternoon. Great to have you here. And thank you for the time that you spent in our office answering various of our questions.

I'm very grateful. I wanted to highlight some of the concerns and issues and questions that we addressed during our meeting to have it here on record and for the public to hear. So it's nothing out of the ordinary, but as we discussed, the Inland Empire, which represents San Bernardino and Riverside County, are growing regions and they're growing exponentially. And of course, we're trying to work towards building out the infrastructure that can meet those needs on that front.

We had an accident just a couple about a month or two ago within the last two months in which the 10 corridor, which is one of the main thoroughways that connect the ports to our current region and outward was impacted greatly by several hours of the freeway being shut down. And in that case, there was a Caltrans death along with a family, dad and some children in that. So it was a very sad event that happened in that area.

But it goes to highlight the fact that we just don't have the infrastructure to really facilitate the vehicles being traveled in that area and in the in our in my attempt to understand what the situation was, I asked the first opportunity I had. I ask a lot of questions, as I do with many issues within my district, just so that I can understand where the root of the problem comes from and how can we best address it moving forward.

I was educated on understanding that because it was a Caltrans employee who was fatally struck that day. There's a special investigative unit that is assigned to the investigation and in learning where and low that was assigned. I wanted to give you an opportunity to explain to the public how that comes about, why that is the case.

When was the last time that we assessed and designated the different areas to the investigative units and what is the plan moving forward as you are taking this role in order to be more effective min effective, but more efficient in doing investigations in the area?

Yes, Senator, thank you for the question. We discussed that day how the High Patrol is organized geographically into eight geographical field divisions and 104 different area offices. And those offices have been established flora quite some time. I don't know the exact time, but decades without adjustments and min the meantime, there has been growth in the area you're describing in other areas of the state and it is probably time for the Highway Patrol to do a workforce analysis and look and see.

Do we have sufficient resources in the areas based on the current population and trends and vehicle miles traveled and the such? I committed to you and I'll commit today publicly that we have a plan to do a workforce analysis. Right now we have just growth of 1000 vacancies that we're attempting to fill. And that will provide some immediate relief, I guarantee you.

As we do the things we've done to get more cadets and officers out of the academy, you will see relief in the form of more officers on the streets in the areas that you serve.

But once those officers are in place, we still need to do that workforce analysis and see are we best serving the communities, do we have our resources in the best places? Are there some areas that are underserved? And we're committed to doing that once we get those vacancies filled. The other thing I committed to you was in the area that you're describing. The team that we roll out is the Multi Accident Investigation Team. It's housed at our division headquarters.

And there is a division closer to the area that you're discussing, but it's outside the division of the one that the area is in, if that makes sense. And so the team that was coming to serve here was coming from San Diego and there was one closer. And so we're looking at that internally if there's anything immediate we could do.

And I had mentioned that my deputy commissioner had worked down there for decades and actually brought mathis up prior to our conversation that there may be an issue there. And so I'm committed to you that we'll look at that and see if there's some efficiencies we could do in the short term while we work to fill those vacancies.

Thank you for that feedback. And I just want to make sure that I don't highlight it here that I need to publicly commend CHP Commander Captain Gil Kalra for his work. And in the area I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the work. But I have to say that everyone that I've worked with in the area min the CHP Department has been incredibly professional, very helpful in helping me understand the system and how they work in the area.

And even though they may feel uncomfortable in answering the questions because they might not feel that it's within their purview or they may feel that may come across a runner, I just want to appreciate and just let you know that they've been wonderful to work with and answer any questions. So thank you so much.

I appreciate that.

Wish you the best.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Senator.

Senator Laird, thank you very much.

And it was great to have a chance to spend a bunch of time with you yesterday. And I thought I would follow up on some of the themes of the other Members. And it's one of the things we talked about yesterday because we had the Caltrans Director here last week. And one of the things we asked him is there are these historic cultural issues within Caltrans where they I think, the diplomatic way of saying it, they might not always be as responsive in the deep parts of Caltrans as some of us might want them to be.

And there are moments you had an organization of thousands of people that is decentralized across the state. How do you deal with the notion of the culture of the agency and being able to feel like you reach it and know it and deal with it from where you aye as commissioner?

That's a great question, Cinder. Thank you.

One of the priorities I've taken from day one was communication from the top. And I know the biggest complaints from our line level people is not enough communication. And that was one of the things that I took on. And so I've really taken that personal.

I've filmed more videos than I wood like and have put those out statewide and I think it's helped to get the word out. The one culture I would love to safeguard against in the Highway Patrol is this notion that we've always done it that way or we're going to continue to do it that way because that's the way we've always done it. Tradition, I respect tradition, I respect legacy.

I think tradition is important until tradition stands in the way of innovation, until tradition stands in the way and becomes stifling of change that is expected by the public, that is demanded. And so I think if there was one culture that I would want to get out to avoid and safeguard from, that would be it a negative culture and then just have a positive culture of supporting our employees and communication from the top.

And I look forward to doing that. It's been fun so far. It's been a short time, but it's been fun.

Good. I want to ask a follow up question that also plays on what other people asked about because we talked about in the latest class, cadet class, 75% of the cadets are people of color or women. It's a very diverse class and I joked with you that for eight years Cal fire, wanted to be indexed to your salary and benefits. So it must be something that's very desirable.

And yet you are the first in four commissioners that's not a person of color or a woman. So how do you send a signal in a clear way that that wasn't an anomaly, that that is sort of at the top of the agency diversity and making sure it reflects is something that they see in you or they hear from you.

Yeah, thank you, Senator, for the question. And it's exactly that and they will see it from me. They have heard it from me already. It is one of my top priorities.

I listed in my written response to you, to this group, my priorities. And number two was having a workforce that is diverse and reflects the people of California. I chose the Highway Patrol because of the organizational values that it has of fairness, equity, treating people with respect.

And those are the same values that were instilled in me as a young child from my parents. And those are values that I'm going to holden everybody min the Highway Patrol to the Highway Patrol is a place for everybody. Whether your sexual preference or the color of your skin, there is a place, there is an opportunity.

My current team reflects that diversity. I'm proud of that. It makes us better. And it is a priority for me. I'll say it publicly and I'll reinforce that time after time after time with my leaders.

I appreciate that very much.

Thank you.

I'm sure we want to be partners in that and however we can be. And I think my last question is sort of a management question along the lines of some of the things that were talked about of maybe officer based issues. You have an employee assistance program and you want people to go and you don't want it to be a stigma.

And at the same time, you want it to be confidential because you're dealing with the issues and you really want somebody to go in and do it. You have all these competing forces. You have competing forces of use, of force cases, other things where you want the right thing to be done. How do you thread that needle? Min making sure that people use those kind of programs and use them in a way that it doesn't cause others not to use them at some point.

Thank you Senator, I am proud of the employee assistance program that the CHP has. And this is done on the works of folks well before me. But we have a robust employee assistance program in place that includes a most recent we added an app that they can use to access these services.

They are confidential. We do feel it's important for it to be confidential so that it does not carry a stigma. And they think there's going to come some retaliation from management on their choice to use these services. There are instances where work is involved in the injury or the incident where we could request and play a bigger role in using those services.

So threading the needle is a great way to put it because there's two ways the employees can get it. They can choose those resources, which there's several ways that they could go about in getting them or we could help them achieve that, too. And so employee safety and employee wellness and employee resiliency is a huge priority for me, and it's important.

And I'm proud of the work that we've done on the Highway Patrol to make those programs available to our people.

Thank you. And just a closing comment, which is one of the things we talked about was the fact that the Commissioner of the Highway Patrol plays a major role with the Director of Cal Fire, the General of the National Guard, and the head of Emergency Services in responding together to disasters and crises. And what it means is you haney your rank and file people right there seeing incredible misery and rescuing people and dealing with people that have lost their homes or lost loved ones.

We talked about just the role of the CHP in disasters because it is that we could have a longer conversation but we need to limit the hearing. But I wood just acknowledge that we had that conversation and you acknowledged it was a very important role and it fits to the previous question. So I really appreciate the chance to meet with you and look forward to working with you.

Thank you sir.

Thank you Senator. I will just close out before we go to public the public for comments. We had a good meeting and a number of the questions that came up around use of force diversity, how you continue to try to diversify the officers.

We talked about all of that and I appreciate your comments on all of that. I think first and foremost I think there is a public expectation of culture change within law enforcement generally and you're seeing that play out across all parts of law enforcement. We're having to make culture shift here in the Senate in our institution as it relates to hiring practices and staff and we haney issues with recruitment also.

Of course, ours aren't necessarily always felt to be life or death although it's critically important but in your case it can be much more serious. So I enjoyed the conversation. I really appreciate you for your thoughtful responses. I think to my colleague Senator Laird to his point in this day and time it is very much important to reflect the diversity that you have been selected is telling and so we appreciate your commitment to those things.

I have to on behalf of the Secretary of the Senate who has a responsibility to keep this building safe and our employees safe and the Senate safe. I have to express my incredible thank you for not just last week but today for last week, but previous situations where we've had to call on you. You are our law enforcement in detail to help when we have issues and you were incredibly responsive last week.

I thank you for continuing to work with me throughout the day and respond to me so we could do that as of course we're your officers but that you did the personal touch. I really appreciate the commissioner before you and the one before her did that with me as well and I appreciate it. As I told you on the phone, I don't ever intend to call you unless I absolutely have to.

So I really appreciate that. On behalf of the Secretary, I want to say that with that we are going to go to Members of the public.

Let me remind folks that there is a call in number via teleconference which is 877-226-8163 access code 694-8930.

But we're going to start with Members of the public who would be here in person in room 2200 in support if there are folks who would like to come. Your name, organization you represent, and your support. Come on forward. Welcome.

And let me tell your family, you don't have to get up and speak in support of him. You could just smile. Welcome.

Thank you. Madam Chairman. Terry McHale with Aaron Reed and associates representing Cal Fire Local 2881. This is a wonderful job we have.

If you stay around min this job long enough, you get to see really talented people start making remarkable contributions. And that's what we see today. I met the commissioner, I think, 20 something years ago. It was a windy afternoon and we were in the same office together, and he asked to borrow my comb.

I've always felt a little guilty. I thought the wild animal stuff I put on my hair may have caused some consequences. If it's true, he's never held it against me.

Let me say that it was nice to hear the former resource secretary point out that Cal Fire and the Highway Patrol work extremely closely and collaboratively together during times of emergency. And I know that this commissioner recognizes the importance of enforcement.

But even more, he recognizes the importance that in this day and age we need law enforcement that is compassionate and law enforcement that is caring and law enforcement that is not afraid to subscribe to the idea that we are a community that should love each other and uplift each other and do things that make us a better society. And this individual will make that happen. Thank you very much for letting me be here.

Next witness.

Thank you.

Chair Members, good afternoon. Jonathan Friedman with Arc Strategies on behalf of the California Police Chiefs Association. I've represented the police chiefs for almost ten years now. I've worked with every legislative liaison that CHP has put forward through the Brown Administration and this Administration. I worked with the commissioner in that role and in that capacity, I can tell you he's knowledgeable, pragmatic, helpful, always willing to assist.

I just can't think of anybody else that would do a better job as a commissioner for the agency. And we look forward to the partnership moving forward, knowing that the state and the agency is in good haney.

Thank you. Next witness.

Madam Chair and Members of the committee. Tim Chang for the Auto Club of Southern California. I have not known the commissioner for 20 years.

I've only known him maybe going on ten years. But when I did meet him min his capacity in the office of Special Representative, I knew he had something on the ball and he had much better and brighter things in the future. And on behalf of the Auto Club, we can enthusiastically support his confirmation as the next commissioner. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Next witness.

Good afternoon. Chair Atkins committee Members. Eric Sour, CEO of the California Trucking Association. I'm here today on behalf of our organization to express our support for the confirmation of CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee.

CTA has enjoyed a great working relationship with the commissioner and the agency for many years. Both CTA and the CHP are committed to improving safety in the trucking industry. Commissioner Duryee is a proven record on being a tremendous leader and for implementing policies that improve public safety.

He's also deeply committed to community engagement and building positive relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve. California Trucking Association supports Commissioner Duryee's appointment and confirmation as Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Other witnesses.

Good afternoon. My name is Carrie Lane. I'm the CEO for the California Association of Highway Patrolmen. And I'm here today on behalf of the 14,000 women and men who are Members of the CHP. And that includes our 7000 rank and file officers that the CHP is responsible for conducting collective bargaining on behalf of as well.

I'm here today to express our wholehearted support for the appointment of acting CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee to the position of CHP commissioner, the highest rank on the Highway Patrol. I've known acting Commissioner Duryee for many years. Through my work with CAHP.

In all of our interactions, I have fong him to be an individual who is always willing to speak openly and honestly about any issues brought before him. It is his true desire to ensure the CHP's work is always put through the filter of its mission to serve the public first and foremost. Both his actions and his words have demonstrated this to me and our organization time and again.

Acting Commissioner Duryee deserves this appointment. He has earned it through years of dedicated work serving the citizens of California. His unwavering leadership in times of challenge has been an example to his employees and to our Members. And I strongly recommend you move his confirmation today.

Thank you very much, Commissioner. Former commissioner. Welcome.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Madam Chairman, I would just like to be very quick.

Go ahead and give us your name for the I'm sorry. Even though we all know you.

I apologize. Mike Helmick retired from the Highway Club after 35 years. I was very fortunate to spend nine years as a commissioner to two different political party governors. I, more importantly, had a chance to know this gentleman all those years.

And it's very exciting for me and people that were from the past to see. All the things and changes that, quite frankly, we tried to get done back then weren't real successful. It takes time sometime to educate people and to move them.

And this gentleman has been moving those programs ahead. I can assure you the retirees from the Executive ranks are very familiar with him, are very supportive of him, and I'm convinced he's a fair, equitable man that will be fair to everybody and give them a chance. And I know the Department will be better under his command. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Others in support? Okay, in room 2200, anyone in opposition that would like to come forward and make some comments? Opposition.

Okay. Seeing no one approach the mic, I'm going to turn it Hoover to our teleconference and welcome our moderator today to lee up folks who wish to speak in support or opposition.

And as a reminder, your name, please? Organization, if any. And at this point on the teleconference, we go to just yes, I support no, I oppose. Not extended comments.

Thank you. Moderator welcome.

Thank you. Madam Chair, if you would like to provide public comment today, please press one then 0 at this time. And we do have a line queuing up. It'll just be one moment, please.

while we provide them with their line number? And first we will hear from line 169.

Thank you. Go ahead.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and Members. My name is Rick Levesky. I'm the President of the California Association of Highway Patrolmen. On behalf of more than 14,000 active and retired CHP officers who are all Members of the California Association of Highway Patrolman, it is my pleasure as a President to inform you of our support, strong support of Commissioner Sean Duryee confirmation as the new commissioner of the CHP.

We have known and worked with the commissioner for many years in his various positions in the Department. Commissioner Duryee has the knowledge and history of the CHP, extensive experience in law enforcement and temperament to lead one of the most recognized law enforcement organizations in the United States. One of his past assignments, as was mentioned before, was a special representative of the CHP to the Legislature.

That assignment added immensely to his ability to understand and appreciate the Legislature for all oversight, the Legislature provides to the Department on policy and budget and much, much more. Not all past commissioners have served in that role. In closing Commissioner Duryee is highly qualified to assume this full range of duties of the Commissioner of the Highway Patrol.

As the President of the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, I fully support Commissioner Sean Duryee for his commission today. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you, mr. Moderator, next witness, line 170.

Hi, Madam Chair, Members of the committee, Aaron Reid, the legislative advocate, proudly for the CAHP. For 45 years I worked with Sean Duryee when he was special rep side by side. You can't do better than Sean.

He's going to be a great commissioner. And we apologize. We are both out of town at a board of directors meeting, so we could not be there in person. We apologize for that, but we're strong support.

Thank you very much. Any further witnesses, Mr. Moderator?

Madam Chair, we have no further comments at this time.

Thank you. I'm going to bring it back to the Members. Madam Vice Chair,

I would like to move that move this go forward to the full Senate, even though he was a motorcycle officer. Not everyone is perfect. I promised one of your colleagues I would get that in somehow today in the hearing, but I moved in confirmation.

Thank you.

Before we call the grove, I just know and figure I'm going to get a good response on this. On some of the issues you weren't able to speak as more freely about today because of circumstances, I would ask if maybe I might invite you to have conversations with one or two of us going forward and maybe share some of your thoughts that you're precluded from being able to do today.

Absolutely.

I appreciate that. I felt surely that you would agree to that because you seem really invested in the outcome of many of these issues. So thank you for that.

Madam Secretary, we call the roll.

Laird aye. Laird aye Ochoa Bogh aye Ochoa bogh aye. Smallwood-Quavas aye, Smallwood-Cuevas. Aye Grove. Aye. Grove Aye, Atkins. Aye. Atkins Aye, Five to zero.

Five to zero.

We will move this to the full Senate for confirmation, and thank you for your time. Congratulations.

Thank you, madam Pro TEM.

We're going to take just a couple of minutes so we can do an adjustment, and we'll be right back.

Okay, let me try this one more time. Thank you. We're good to go. So we're going to move to our next governor's appointee required to appear, and that is the appointment of Joe F. Stephenshaw, Director of Department of Finance.

We want to say welcome. Come on up. And, Director, we want you to also acknowledge anyone that you would like to acknowledge. Opening comments, and then we'll go right to questions and comments and welcome it's good to see you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you to the rest of the Senators on the committee for considering my appointment this afternoon. I want to start by acknowledging my family who's here. My mother, my wife, Quinn, my two kids, Sylvia and Jack.

I want to first thank Quinn for all the support that she's provided me throughout my career through going back to school while I'm working and having our family to really being the rock of our family and taking care of our children as I am working and filling gaps that I will be forever grateful for. My children are eight and six years old.

In preparing for this afternoon's hearing and thinking about both of them, it made me reflect on the incredibly important work that we do here to advance initiatives and priorities that individually and collectively contribute to ensuring that the state provides their generation the opportunities to thrive.

But on a more personal level, as I thought about my kids presence here today, it was a reminder that I was raised by a single mother who's here today, who took three small children and went back to college as a single mother, went to medical school as a single mother and sacrificed her life to provide a better life for her kids.

But I didn't have the presence of my father throughout my childhood, and this makes me acutely conscious of my presence in my kids lives and in hopes that they will always know that they have a father who loves, supports, and is proud of them.

And today I hope that they are proud of their father. So getting through that without completely breaking down.

Well, you know, Jack only smiled when he heard his name. I'm pretty sure he and Sylvia is following the whole thing.

And Jack did ask if he was going to come up here to testify.

If it gets rough, we'll invite him up.

Well, I'm going to give the opening and he's going to come up here for the Q and A next. Next I'd like to acknowledge and thank the Department of Finance. Many of the Executive staff and the leadership of the Department are here today. I truly have the utmost admiration for the people of the Department and the incredible work that they do for the state.

Most of them often work long hours, missing holidays and time with their families to ensure that the state's budget and fiscal affairs are in order. Beyond that, the support that they've provided me since being appointed and assuming this position has just been incredible.

I couldn't have expected or asked for a better team and I am very grateful to all of them. I'd also like to acknowledge in my career and working on state budget issues, most of that time was spent in the Legislature and just want to also acknowledge all of the Legislative Budget staff, some of whom are here today in both the Assembly and the Senate.

From both parties that I've worked with through the years and that have showed me support as well as I've taken on this new role and truly appreciate the time that I had working with them in the Legislature and really grateful that I get to continue to work with them in this capacity.

And finally, and most importantly for the reason I'm sitting here today, I want to thank Governor Newsom for appointing me to this position and want to acknowledge the historical significance of Department as the first African American person to serve in the role as Director of Department of Finance for the State of California.

I know that there have been a number of folks that have paved the way for me to get here and I hope to make them proud.

I also want to say that just acknowledge two people, Vince Van Brown and Stan Sansel, who were Chief Deputy Directors of Department of Finance, and just knowing that there were people before me who were capable of this role.

And and for me, that's another reason why I really have to give the utmost thank to this Governor for providing me with this historic opportunity.

Having worked on state budget issues for the better part of almost 20 years and beginning that journey here at the Department of Finance, it's truly an honor to be here in front of the committee today.

And with that, Madam Chair and committee Members, thank you again and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Senator Laird, let me kick it off with you this time.

Thank you very much and thanks for that incredibly wonderful opening statement. And I too would like to thank the Department of Finance for not kicking up a big stink when we hired you away to the Assembly Budget Committee when I was the chair.

You were headed in the right direction that time and I feel therefore because I worked with you for a number of years there and then worked with you here, that I am confident of your ability and I am confident of your integrity and do not feel like I need to pursue those parts of your resume.

But a few questions just on current issues and I thought I would ask one. You're going to have to prepare a May revise budget, for the Governor, with the tax state being extended and not really knowing what the revenues might actually be at the time you have to shut down the May revise.

How are you going to navigate that? What do you think you're going to do to give the best a budget based on what you do know at that time?

So the extension of the tax fine filing deadline to now, October 15 does have a significant impact on our budgeting here in California, particularly as it pertains to our financial fiscal forecast for the May revision.

The April tax receipts are a big input part of the data that we use in developing our revenue forecast for the May revision and not having that information at this time obviously is not ideal and presents a little bit more uncertainty into our fiscal fork test.

With that said, we were able to account for the delays, in our cash flow projections and make assumptions on how those delays will affect cash flow to the state over the coming months into October.

But it still, as I said, is not ideal, presents a problem, we will still have a fiscal forecast.

We hope that our assumptions bear out to be as accurate as we would hope, and we will finally learn in October what the impact truly is and have to make adjustments at that at that time if they are significant.

Well, thank you, I appreciate that and I can only imagine that's not the position you want to be put in the minute you get appointed to the Director of the Department of Finance.

And then on another subject we talked about and thanks again for meeting and I bring it up with some of the other people we confirm, brought it up with the Department of Transportation Caltrans last week and the Director is that we are facing a changing climate and it really changes how we budget for certain things.

And the example I sort of used when we talked and in the hearing last week was in these atmospheric rivers.

There were a number of bridges, at least on the central coast, that were constructed in another time and they acted as dams for debris and even in one place, water, where they were almost going to blow the highway away for a while to let the lake through after the levee broke.

And what it means is that right now, when you budget, if you try to protect a bridge to keep flood from having in a residential neighborhood or build a highway widening project, they compete against each other.

And there's not some consideration given for the fact that we have to keep people safe. And that needs to be a priority. But we shouldn't stop our other transportation projects. How do you start to feel about having to deal with climate in what used to be a fairly straightforward series of budget processes.

Combating the impacts of climate change is still one of the top priorities of this Governor and this Administration. We at the same time, as you all are aware, we faced a 22 and a half billion dollar budget problem at the Governor's budget but we were still able to maintain a significant climate package.

Beyond that, we are focused on taking advantage and maximizing our receipts of federal funds through the IJA and the Infrastructure Reduction Act. In particular, we are going to receive about 2.2 billion in additional just formula funds through the IIG the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act over the next few years and we have an opportunity to compete.

For a number of competitive funds as we still assess how to prioritize the significant state investments that we can still make through the General Fund and also discussions of a bond that are currently going on.

And so being in this position since August and building the Governor's budget and assessing how we're looking at the climate budget globally in the budget given the situation we are facing prioritizing water and fire at the time and then going through the events of the last couple of months really eye opening in terms of the conversations, we need to have to make sure that we're able to not only address, but mitigate some of the harms that will come our way from future events.

Broadly understand the direct issues that you are facing in your district and was happy to learn about the concerns you have when we talked and having those conversations now with my staff and making sure that we're aware as we're having our conversations internally.

All right, thank you. I really appreciate that. And let me just say that normally we're supposed to be really circumspect and wait till we hear from the public before we sort of commit ourselves. But in this one instance I'm going to say I really look forward to casting a vote for your confirmation. Thanks for being here today.

I appreciate that Senator.

Thank you so much. Senator Ochoa Bogh

I'm still trying to hold myself emotionally. I loved your opening statement today. It was richly moved me. It was a reflection of your values, who you are as a person. And I was impressed with our conversation, our meeting. Thank you for meeting with me and I was so impressed with your demeanor, your level of integrity and composure. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to meet you.

And this is, I have to previsit I did had a little input as to who you were as a person from Kirk Feely who just spoke so highly of you. And so I'm grateful.

I don't have a lot of questions because Senator Laird actually asked the question that I was going to ask. But I just wanted to take the moment to just say how impressed I am with you as a person, as a human being and as a professional.

I really appreciated the conversations that we had, your insights, your wisdom. You are a genuinely good, kind, authentic person and I'm grateful that it is you that it will be taking the spot the Governor appointed you and to your mom.

Thank you for raising an amazing man and kudos. And congratulations on being just a super mom and everything that she had to overcome in order to raise him in today's grove.

So congratulations on raising a fine man and thank you for being an amazing mom and to your wife, thank you for being that wind beneath his wing and raising those beautiful children.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Smallwood Cuevas.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And it was so good to have spent some time with you this week.

And I want to say 100 plus days here in the State Capitol and had a chance to meet you at one of the Governor's receptions and was really good to meet a finance person who felt very accessible and to really be able to communicate the values and the vision behind the numbers that we see every day.

And in our conversation, it was clear that you recognize the humanity that is underneath the funding that we are providing to our communities as a way of lifting them up. I want to start by saying because Senator Laird was claiming you for the Assembly side. And I got a text before this hearing from Supervisor Holly Mitchell.

My LA. County Supervisor, who wanted me to share how she is so honored to be able to give her recommendation and support for your nomination today and that she had the privilege to hire you and worked with you as the Senate Budget Committee Director when she chaired that committee.

And she again talked about the excellent service you provided there and that you will continue to serve with excellence. So that is, quote end quote from Holly Mitchell. In our conversations, we talked a lot about how important it is for us, particularly in this moment in the state of California, to make investments that have multiple impacts.

That it's about moving the needle on a particular issue. But also how do we move the needle on equity how do we move the needle on economic equity and opportunities? And I really appreciated the state's commitment to investment in green infrastructure and to see how we get California on a path to true climate resiliency and build a whole new economy around that.

We know millions have been allocated across a number of sectors. We're expecting 43 billion. And you mentioned the IJA money also in the climate resiliency funds that will come in. But I also represent one of the most diverse social and economic districts in the state and in the country. And as we are in such an excited way moving toward this revolutionary economy, we know many communities could in fact be left behind.

And in fact, in parts of South Central, which is a real bonta fide industrial corridor, if you drive in South Central, you see factory shell after factory shell after factory shell, which is testament to an industrial shift that left so many of those communities behind and in crisis.

As we're trying to figure out how do we build out a labor market and industrial infrastructure that can really support those families with good jobs. So my question is, how can we ensure that people in these kinds of marginalized communities, in communities that have been impacted by the last industrial shifts, who are overburdened with many overlapping barriers, including environmental impacts, how can we ensure a fair and equitable participation and that they benefit in this transitioning economy, and how will workforce development in your view I know that was one of the areas that we saw severely delayed in this last budget.

But how do you see workforce development supporting that pathway for opportunity?

So first, I would say that, yes, to address the significant budget problem that we faced in the governor's budget, there were some delays in some of the workforce programs, but most of the programs were maintained in whole. And if they weren't maintained, then the funding was just spread out over the next couple of fiscal years.

With that said I would say that also broadly, this Governor has focused on equity as not only a priority in the budget investments that the state is making, but also throughout the state's policies and programs. In the fall, he issued an Executive order that required all state departments and agencies to embed equity into their policies, programs and mission.

And I know as we are working with departments and agencies on their budgets that there are staff are being brought up if they don't have them that specifically focus on this.

So it is really something that this Governor has expressed as a priority throughout the whole Administration and that the Administration is actively making efforts to improve how we consider equity in really everything that we do with that, that also pertains to the workforce.

I know with some of the work, many of the workforce investments and programs that we have funded are focused on underrepresented individuals, communities, folks who formerly incarcerated folks. And so those are have been targeted through some of the investments in recent budgets

And I think it's a matter now of really ensuring that as these programs are implemented and carried out because a lot of this has just been done in the last couple of years in terms of the resources that are committed, that they are actually reaching those communities, those folks and addressing the concerns that you're raising now.

And as you said as we talked about it and just as Senator Laird his concerns in the meeting, as we talked about it in the meeting, happy to continue to have those conversations as we move forward as I'm in this role,

I look forward to that. It is about bringing all of our economies together and the more we can focus on those disparities and we know some of those communities are already in recession with five plus unemployment levels, how do we bring them together into the opportunity? And my final question is similar and along those lines as we're tackling another crisis across the state, but particularly acute in LA County and that's the issue of homelessness.

And on any given night there are tens of thousands of Angelinos who are sleeping on the street. And in the state of California though the black population for example, is 9%, we represent about 40%, 35% to 40% of those folks who will be sleeping on the street tonight.

And we have certainly made contributions, the Administration, the Legislature to address the homelessness and the housing crisis. But as we just got a recent report, as we're looking at these numbers, one of the fastest growing homeless populations in my district now are black seniors. And so as we're looking at this crisis, there are crises inside of the crises, there are disparities within that.

And trying to think about from your vantage point, what is the way in which we can really start to analyze target populations and think about what kinds of investments can be made to really be intentional about populations that are overburdened by this crisis.

And it could look different in different places but this is the realities of LA County. How are we giving direction around the cultural competency tools that we need to embed inside of our investments to sort of get to the unique crises that folks are experiencing. And your thoughts on ways that we can better develop these financial tools that get at that in an intentional way?

Yeah, my staff provided me with similar data. As you mentioned, that the proportion of the African Americans of the state as compared to our homeless and it is striking not just in LA. but throughout the state or in other communities in the state.

The Housing Homelessness Assistance Prevention Program, our main budget program over the last few years, which provided I believe about 2.9 billion since 2019, another billion scheduled for this next upcoming budget year.

The locals are required to develop plans associated with that funding that address the populations that are overly represented. And it's no secret that the Governor is focused on more accountability of these dollars and those plans.

And so I do think as really beginning to understand this particular issue more, that definitely should be part of this conversation and aligns with what this Governor has been pushing for and prioritizing.

And so those are that's kind of been the main resources that are dedicated to addressing the problem. Again, a lot of it goes to local cities, county COCs they're developing plans.

But we are searching for ways for the state as we continue to all partner together to hopefully be helpful in understanding more how we reach those desired outcomes with the money that we are providing.

And so that is definitely something that's been part of the conversation now and will continue to be going forward as we continue to provide more money to address this problem.

I thank you for that answer and I look forward to working with you on that. Madam pro Tem has been very clear about our role in terms of oversight and accountability on all of the resources that we here at the state Have put on the ground in communities to make sure those dollars are actually having impact and an effect on the crises that we are trying to reverse.

And from what you're saying, that sounds like we share similar goals and looking forward to working with you on that to ensure that we are being intentional about addressing the disparities within the crises that we see. So thank you so much.

Thank you. I only have one question, and it really has to do with what can you share with us or put our mind at ease related to the cybersecurity incident that hit the Department of Finance in December.

And I want to appreciate the heads up that I'm sure the speaker got as well as I did, but anything you can share to put our minds at ease? I know we live in an error and every time we have an appointment or a confirmation of someone that oversees technology and those kinds of issues, I always say what is the thing that keeps you awake at night? And I've heard that answer more than once.

So anything you want to add or you want to defer to? No, go ahead.

I would definitely defer to you're reading my mind here. I would just say first that obviously this event happened a couple of months into my role here at the Department of Finance. And at a time where we were really in the middle of our work in developing the governor's budget, it was very disruptive. I will say that we learned a lot.

I personally learned a lot just in terms of how these acts take place, I think how prevalent they are. But coming out of the other end first, I really have to thank my colleague who's coming up next, her Department Gov Ops Agency OES Military Department CHP it really showed that the efforts the state has taken to this point to protect ourselves from these incidents, but also to be prepared when they do happen.

We were able to get our Department running and obviously we were able to meet our constitutional obligation for the Governor to present his budget by January 10. And coming through it, we feel like we are in a much better position in terms of how we are now built our system.

And so I think in terms of putting at ease not only lessons learned, but I think accelerating plans of where we would have went anyway in terms of implementing new technologies that really move us to a place where we're better protected or can better respond to these types of incidents going forward.

Also, last thing, I will add is that we have great IT staff in our Department as well, who worked around the clock as well as the Department of Technology and all the other entities that I named who all worked around the clock and to make sure that we were able to address the problem that we were facing.

But the need to and how to provide communication to our staff in terms of vulnerabilities also was a lesson learned out of this and something that we've been able to improve and hopefully will be improved going forward. Lastly, we also were able to it was something that made us reassess our resources in this area and that's also something that we plan on addressing going forward.

Thank you. I appreciate that very much. That was the only question I really wanted to ask because like my colleague, the former I have to say this, she's the Vice Chair so the former Secretary of Natural Resources, but also the former Budget Chair.

For, the Assembly. I know you well. I know your work ethic, I know your passion, I know your empathy. I was honored to be able to work with you as speaker of the Assembly. The assembly's loss was the Senate's gain.

The Senate's loss is not only the Governor's gain, but I think the state of California. I can't say enough good things about your work and just your degree of commitment to public service. And certainly I agree with my colleagues who said good things. It is reflection of upbringing and commitment by your mother.

And I have the doctor, I'm going to say the doctor, she worked very hard for that title. But also the support you get from your family is so important. And so I couldn't be more happy to support this. And I will say this as we go to Members of the public.

I have every reason to expect there are so many people that wish to speak, but the next appointee conferee obviously wants to get home for dinner herself. So with great respect for everybody who's going to speak, the first two people run now.

The first two people who wish to speak in support can say a few things, but then I really am going to say your name, your title or who you represent, if any, and support only.

And I know that that's going to cause great angst, but I think you understand we've got more work to do and with respect, so I see Dean you coming forward quickly. He nudged people out of the way. So make it good. There's only two of you that get to do this. Make it good in support. Welcome

Senator. I want to thank you Senators. My name is Dean Grafilo. On behalf of the California Hospital Association, as well as Ember education and his school San Joaquin Valley College. and Carrington College. We are in support of the confirmation of Mr. Joe Stephenshaw as Director of the Department of Finance.

Clearly Mr. Stephenshaw is well qualified and is equally important demonstrated a commitment to public service personified this is an inspired choice by Governor Newsom, and he deserves much praise for this appointment.

On a personal note, despite sharing the same halls and tenure in the Legislature as Joe for these nearly two past decades, it wasn't until just a few years, few years ago, that the privilege of working directly with him, his fine reputation, precedes him. What is most striking is the poise and grace he maintains, despite how complex, trying and dynamic the issue at hand may be.

These are the exact traits needed to run the Department of Finance. And I'm confident he'll be able to shape a culture and environment best for the Department and for the state of California. Senators, I respectfully ask you confirm the appointment of Mr. Sephenshaw as Director of Department of Finance with your aye vote today. Thank you.

Thank you. Well done. Welcome to position number two. And then we move to.

Thank you, Jacqueline Wong Hernandez with the California State Association of Counties, representing 58 counties and the elected supervisors that serve there, including Senator I still call her Senator Holly Mitchell, and wanted to say how we are so honored and pleased to support the confirmation of Joe Stephenshaw as the Department of Finance Director.

He is a collaborative and thoughtful leader. He is smart, he is calm. He has all of the qualifications and also, we really believe has the right skills and temperament to solve the complex problems that face us as a state and as a point of personal privilege, because everyone's got one here.

I've had the honor of working with Joe Stephenshaw throughout my years in the Legislature as well, in all of his various roles. And he is the real deal. He is every ounce of integrity. He is honest. You know what you're dealing with.

And he is a smart and creative problem solver. He will be so great for the state of California and move our state and all of the people who live here along, and he's in every interaction, on every issue, in every role he's had. So thank you for all of us. In support.

In support. Thank you. Next witness with my apology,

Madam pro Tem. Good afternoon. Members of the committee wouldn't want to follow those two speakers, to be quite honest. Alberto Torrico, testifying in support of the nomination on behalf of the United Food and Commercial Workers, Western States Council and ESO Ventures, who owes almost everything to Mr. Stephenshaw. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much. That was a good example. Welcome.

Kelly Beam, with HealthNet of California serving almost 3,500,000 Members, primarily Medical Members, in support of Mr. Stephenshaw's appointment. Thank you.

Thank you. Welcome.

Thank you. Darby Kernan, testifying in support of Mr. Stephenshaw for Amity Foundation and as well as a former colleague of his. Thank you.

Thank you. Welcome.

Hi, Dan Seaman on behalf of End Poverty in California, as well as Catalyst California, and also as a former colleague and strong support.

Thank you. Welcome.

Angela Williams. First off, California and support.

Thank you so much.

Kim Lewis, representing the California Coalition for Roth and Support.

Thank you so much.

Okay, in room 2200, anyone in opposition? Thank you. You'd have to get past mom.

Let me go back to our moderator and welcome you back and ask if you could tee up individuals to speak in support or in opposition with the same advice, name, organization, if any, and position of support or opposition. Welcome.

Thank you. Madam Chair, if you would like to provide public comment in support or opposition, please press one, then zero at this time, and we have no comments.

Thank you. We will be back with you a little bit later. Appreciate it so much. I will bring it back to the committee. And let me just say, Mr. Stephenshaw, I would have loved to have spent all afternoon actually hearing everybody's great comments about you. Nothing would have made me happier.

But I have to be responsible and continue on with the committee. But I couldn't be happier to see you here before us today.

Okay, Senator Laird

If we had time, I'd ask for a show of hands to anybody that wasn't a colleague of Joe's that came with great pleasure. I moved the confirmation of Joseph Stephenshaw's, California. Finance Director.

Thank you, Madam Secretary. Will you please call the roll.

Laird.

Laird Aye Ochoa - Bogh.

Aye.

Aye.

Ochoa - Bogh Aye. Smallwood - Cuevas.

Aye.

Smallwood - Cuevas Aye. Grove Atkins.

Atkins aye.

Aye.

We will be thrilled to move this on for our full Senate's approval and congratulations. And we didn't give Jack the last word, so you're going to have to do something about that

I'm sure he'll get tonight. Thank you, Madam Chair, and all of the committee Members that truly appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for everything that you've done and will do. Okay, we're going to take two or three minutes very quickly, and we'll allow people to adjust and shift, and we'll be right back. So, colleagues, don't go anywhere.

We're going to get right back to it. In just a few seconds or minutes.

You're holding the roll of them.

Liana M. Bailey-Crimmins, Director of the Department of Technology. Let me welcome you up and as you come up, I will say the same thing I said to the other conferees, which is, love you to be able to introduce yourself, acknowledge anyone you would like to and make opening comments and then we'll go right to committee Members for comments and questions. Welcome.

Good afternoon, Madam Pro Tem and Members of the Senate Rules Committee. Leanna Bailey Crimmons. Thank you for considering me for the Director of the Department of Technology and the state Chief Information Officer. It is an honor and privilege to be in front of you today.

I've served the state of California for over 30 plus years at eight different state departments. And as my predecessors talked about their family, I want to just say family is our guiding light. I am joined today by my husband, Arthur Crimmons.

He has supported me. We talk about in health and in sickness. And five years ago I was diagnosed with stage four cancer. And you learn about a lot about yourself, you learn a lot about your family and holding your hand through good times and bad times. It also gave me a perspective of how important public service was. I had a 97% chance of not being here today, five years ago, and I am proud to say that I am and I'm thriving and I am a survivor.

I also would like to acknowledge my son, Chase Crimmons. He is a captain in the Air Force. He couldn't be here today physically, but he is here virtually and supporting me from Texas.

I also like to support, well, thank Governor Gavin Newsom for his support in my appointment and also believing in technology and what it can do when it comes to economic development, addressing the digital divide and obviously giving broadband for all.

A leader is only as successful as the people that they surround themselves with. And I want to also acknowledge the State IT community that I've had the honor of working alongside and the vendor partners, that because of them, we were able to move at breakneck speeds to keep the state of California operational seamlessly during the pandemic. And we also protect, detect and respond to over 400 malicious probes that are trying to attack our vital IT assets on a daily basis.

My vision is people first, security always. People are at the heart of everything that we do, the public that we serve, the team members that we work alongside, and technology, modernizes society, but we must do it in a safe way.

We must make policy decisions with residents' data and privacy in mind. And so I'm committed to addressing the state's technology challenges when it comes to cybersecurity, workforce development, technology modernization, diversity, equity, inclusion and Madam Chair, that concludes my opening remarks and I am available for questions.

Thank you so much. Actually, it might have been you. I ask what keeps you up at night? I remember because we had occasion a couple of years ago to go through this process. So you're an old hand at this. Let me go ahead and start. Senator Smallwood-Cuevas kick us off this time again.

Thank you so much and thank you for sharing your story and experience and glad to have you here with us. Digital Divide, we are working on the last mile, we are doing all that we can to make sure that communities of color and particularly lower wage working communities have fair access to technology.

And in my district there are more and more sort of small business and growing industries that are hoping to be part of this emerging technology and growth that we are embarking on.

I know within the CDT there are a lot of network partnerships that are built and particularly construction contracts related to different purchase agreements in terms of the architecture that's needed to build out these kinds of technological projects and supports, both standalone and more infrastructure projects.

One of the challenges that we have heard many times is the difficulty of building relationships, small businesses, emerging enterprises, building relationships with the state.

Within the contracts that are within the CDT Purview, do you look at how to make sure you mentioned DI? How are you making sure that minority and women owned businesses are having fair access to these kinds of contracts and then also looking a little deeper in terms of the workforce and how we are bringing in?

And these are two separate questions. Bringing in firms that are local in California based and where we are seeing a workforce that is reaching into some of those underrepresented populations who don't typically have an opportunity to work in the tech infrastructure building field.

How do you think about, one those partners that you bring into CDT, but also how those partners are helping to grove the access and opportunity to jobs in this field?

Thank you Senator, for the excellent question. So Director Tony Tavares and myself from Caltrans are obviously in partnership when it comes to building the 10,000 mile super highway, digital highway that we're working on.

But that highway is just the backbone. Part of it is also working with CPUC and local communities to connect and provide affordable internet to unserved and underserved communities.

One of the things that we are working in partnership, both he and I, is ensuring that all the construction contracts have in their terms, 25% at least, a minimum 25% small business and also 3% of veteran owned businesses as well.

And what we are requiring is that if these large firms are coming in, they actually have to have a plan on how they plan to meet those metrics. And in addition, through, again, Caltransit, they're doing kind of a connection. So when a big firm is actually putting out construction, they have an opportunity to see small businesses there's like a matchmaker type of program that they have so they can reach out to locals and small business to partner on that construction effort.

And in addition, for us, as the Department of Technology, we obviously follow the Department of General Services' guidelines for small business and veteran owned. So that is one of the things that we do to ensure that at least our contracts are in that compliant.

The other piece that's important is working with vendors to ensure that they do focus on DEI initiatives. And so when we do have our monthly or quarterly portfolio meetings, we talk about what they're doing in relation to bringing DEI as a part of their core value and how they are embracing that in the tech community and then from a workforce perspective.

One, the last number that I saw was about 250,000 tech experts had been laid off recently in the industry. We think it's a great opportunity for the state since we have typically in the technology industry, five to a 20% vacancy rate. So getting an opportunity to not only hired experts, but also focusing on the ability to do outreach to make sure that we are adhering to focusing on unserved and underserved communities.

I am proud that Department of Technology, the industry when it comes to women, and an average in tech, one in every seven engineers is a woman. And in addition, the average woman in technology is about 27%. State of California is doing better at 33% and Department Technologies at 37%. But there's a lot more that we could be doing to do outreach.

Thank you for that. And just one quick follow up. You talked about the plans that you have in terms of the DBE, minority women owned businesses. How do you ensure compliance with those? What is the mechanism by which because we've seen a lot of sort of plans and there's the good faith effort and then folks in the community will say, "well, there's always the good fake effort." It's never really realized.

So just how do you actually make sure that the plans, in fact, are meeting the goals that are set by the Department?

I'm a firm believer, you manage what you measure. And so obviously, as a part of the terms and conditions of the agreement at the onset, it's important to have the metric. It's also important to be checking in throughout the entire contract. And if we're running into issues, we deal with them early. We don't wait and hope at the end of the contract that they did everything that they were supposed to do in relation to diversity, equity, inclusion.

So it's the regular check ins and then making those adjustments early. Typically, most of these construction contracts or contracts that we have with technology are multiple years. So it does give us an opportunity to make those adjustments when we see that a vendor is struggling, and then those are opportunities.

If they are struggling, they're not by themselves. Then we work with others to say, how can we actually get more diversity into some of your suppliers, into your supply chain in general, so that we can make sure that we're adhering to that metric?

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Ochoa Bogh.

Good afternoon. Ms. Crimmins, Ms. Bailey-Crimmins, pleasure to have you here. I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to really have a conversation, but I'm grateful that you're here and you have an amazing, incredible story. Obviously, there's a huge plan for you being here.

My following question is with regards to the state audit, and we're currently, we're kind of curious as to what is the current status of the audit and the department's efforts to implement the auditors most recent recommendations with regards to the Office of Information Security and Statewide Information Security compliance on this end.

Great. So this time last year, we did have a security audit. We've been looking at it multiple folds. First, thanks to the Administration and to the Legislature, we have basically the Security Operations Center, which is called the SOC that was 100% General funded. And so what we've been doing is onboarding those departments for the Executive branch.

We have currently, I believe, about 70 departments that we're in the process in the next few months to add 40 more. What that does, it means it has eyes not only at a Department level, but at a state level of any threats, vulnerabilities, and we can quickly adjust and mitigate vulnerabilities as they come through the door.

So Secure Operations Center is one. The other is the maturity metrics of each Department. What we found is that as the Department military goes out or we go out, one of the findings was that the numbers were either flattened or they were going down.

We do realize the threat landscape is continually evolving, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be continuing to mature our operations.

So one of the things that we've also been doing is, again, thanks to the Legislature and Administration, we have the Stabilization Fund, which allows us to go in and assess mission critical systems.

And by assessing the mission critical systems, we look at not only what potentially is a vulnerability or an area of improvement, we also have resources to actually help a Department overcome that, because it's one thing to point out a problem, but then leaving a Department by themselves to hopefully mitigate that. And so we're very proud that the Stabilization Fund has been able to make progress.

We've been able to do 15 mission critical systems to date and plan to do more. But, yeah, it's more than just pointing it out. We think that it's important to also, if someone has the same finding over and over, we need to make sure that we're going in and talking to their directors, talking to the secretaries. It's not just tech team Members talking to tech team Members.

We need to involve the leaders of that organization because that's where they can prioritize funding and ensure that that is being addressed at all levels.

Wonderful. And then my last question is, what do you estimate the final time? What will be the timeline to fully implement all of the auditors recommendations?

In the middle of that audit, we just recently had another audit of the security. So the goal was to within the next year to start at least have the corrective action plans in motion. I'll have to get back to exactly on that date, but I thought it was 2024, and 2025 was the majority of the findings were going to be resolved.

Okay, perfect. Thank you.

Thanks.

Senator Laird.

Thank you very much, madam Chair. Thanks for the rapid meeting we had yesterday. We covered a lot of ground in a brief amount of time, and I thought, I'd just like to ask about one subject, and it might be multiple questions, but it has to do with big IT projects.

And when you start, how do you first decide, or what's the assessment process to decide that some previous system has really run its natural course and you have to design and implement a new one?

Well, I believe technology needs care and feeding from the moment. A lot of times we think we do one and done, and we have to continually care and feed to ensure that it's as relevant the day that we Fund it in two, three, five years.

But in reality where it, is the value, is the value to the public and the value to the Department. So that's where we would start. Technology is the enabler of the business. But where I start and find out if we're actually being effective is working with business leaders.

So typically, directors making sure business programs are being streamlined, that they're able to utilize the technology. If for some reason that it's not able to be updated, or, then we would obviously look at establishing a project around that. Typically, departments establish what they need from a business requirement perspective.

And then on the technology side, we approve and review the BCPS and help departments along their project lifecycle path to ensure that they're addressing incremental wins and making sure that that project succeeds. Since the Powell process, the project approval lifecycle, we've had 251 projects go through that successfully. So we've been very successful in our program.

And then there are articles written all the time about some of the big projects that had big problems, didn't move ahead or whatever reason. How do you assess the risk in a way that you decide that it's worth going ahead with, and you don't want to be risk adverse on a big project because of some of that prior stuff.

How do you make that decision to go ahead on a huge project?

Well, we always think about projects and how do you mitigate or accept risks, and at some point large projects that I've been a part of, it's, technology is just a part of the conversation.

One of the things that we found, even with my CALPERS, was the example that we used was you have starts and stops in some cases, but it's not a decision in technology by ourselves, it's a decision by a board, it's decision by program to decide the state of that particular project and determining if, it's, are you on a path to success or is it time to potentially terminate it, have a minimal viable product, and do something different. In that particular case, we decided to move forward and then decide to do enhancements over multiple years afterwards.

Although other people may say, this is a really good idea, we need to do this, and then it's in your lap and you're the one that's responsible and you're the one people write about if it doesn't go well, how do you balance that? How do you make sure that there's all these enthusiastic people that aren't the ones that have to implement it? It's you. How do you decide to balance that?

Well, one of the things we've adopted was an agile project method, which means that we're doing incremental wins. It's not that you have to wait 3, 5, 10 years before you actually see something. So as we get to a point and the risk actually exceeds the reward, then we have conversations on what was the best avenue.

If it's again an opportunity to terminate a project, we would do that if we had to. Most of what we try to do is find an avenue to achieve success. We don't look necessarily at avenues for termination, but if I had to terminate, I would have no problem with doing that.

You went right up to my next question, which is what is the standard or what would be a decision making process that would lead you to terminate a project because it is not working as you're moving through it?

Well, we typically have twelve variables that we assess a project. One, obviously the key result. Is it delivering what it was expected to do within the time frame and the money that it received?

The other is, does it have the right relationship between the business and technology? It's important to govern and make the right decisions. If a project is swirling and ends up not mitigating risk and you start seeing a significant number of issues and those issues can't be addressed, we would then consider potential termination.

And then obviously, at the end of the day, it's not just a technology decision, it is a decision that has to be governed by multiple bodies to make sure it's the right one for the state, including in many circumstances, a Legislature that has an oversight responsibility to help us make sure we're doing the right thing on behalf of the residents of California.

And then my last question is specific about one. And we talked about the fiscal system. And in our meeting, you corrected me, just for the record, because I thought it was spinning out even much further than now. And you corrected me. And I recall it starting somewhere around 2005 that we were first doing budget things for it.

Then we're doing things for it when I'm in the Administration. And here we are, we're 18 years after it was first a budget item in the Legislature and my question to you initially was, taken 18 years from the start, is it already getting obsolete? We have to think of the next one. We haven't fully implemented this one, and you spoke about where it is and how you might assess that.

So the project is currently in a closure state. There are several departments that are in the process of continuing now that the project is shifting from project mode to basically maintenance and operation

And closure mode in this thing doesn't it mean you're shutting it down?

No,

it's closing.

Thank you.

Or whatever it is.

Basically, we'll be no longer in a project mode. It's basically a viable product that's continuing to provide the state of California a value add. And so there are several departments that are currently migrating. And then where you run into a cycle is that in some circumstances, there will be a time where that software is no longer supported.

Yeah.

And we'll look to work with fiscal to make sure that they continue enhance that system. If it needs to move to the cloud or if it needs to change its software, we will work side by side with them to make sure that they continue to have a valuable product for the state.

Great. Thank you. I've exhausted the questions I can ask, but we did talk about how you measure 70% of the broadband money has been deployed, how you measure who actually benefits, at what level from that. And I know that I'm channeling some of the colleagues in the Senate that aren't sitting in this room right now that are very concerned about that and want to know who it's reaching and how much. And I'm sure we'll want to continue those conversations.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you. And Senator, that's actually a good question, and I'll add a little bit to it in terms of kind of a second question related to interdepartmental coordination, because broadband is a key example.

And what we were most concerned about is when you've got multiple entities, the PUC, the Department of transportation I think I'm forgetting somebody. Anyway, the interdepartmental coordination, particularly on something like broadband, I know my colleague asked about generally some questions, but I would be interested in how that's going, because we are under.

I mean, it seems like a date down the road. It might be 2026, if I remember correctly. The federal funds and the fear of will we meet those deadlines given all of the complexities of what each Department is responsible for. Talk a little generally about that.

Sure. So, yes, great partnership between CPUC, Caltrans, CDT, and also our third party administrator, Golden State Net. So it does take all of us. We meet on a daily, if not weekly basis, daily with the staff, at least weekly with leadership, with all of those departments to make sure we're in lockstep. In fact, our digital equity, we're doing 20 in-person events.

And that is actually a partnership between CPUC and CDT, where we're going out into the community and talking about digital equity and the barriers and then when it comes to the 70%, one of the things that's important is we plan. We're not treating it as a sequential set of contracts; It's all putting out to construction. The goal is to have all contracts under, basically inked by the end of the year. And construction is already starting.

So the 70% is more of an encumbrance. We've already broke ground at Poway in San Diego, but there is continuing opportunity that we're starting to not only build, but we're also looking at leasing lines. So in some circumstances, we're doing private and public partnerships where they've already done the environmentals, they just needed necessarily to partner with the state. And so we're getting hundreds of miles there.

We're also looking at buying in some circumstances where there is already dark fiber and we can make that available faster to communities because sometimes it takes longer to build. And in some cases, we're also looking at leasing lines. So all, four different avenues running simultaneously to meet the 2026 date.

Thank you. That's really helpful. And I appreciate my colleagues comments about fiscal because I didn't realize you dealt with it before I got here too. And anyway, appreciate that.

Do you want to talk about cybersecurity for a minute or two and just kind of give me your assessment there?.

Sure. So as Director Stephenshaw was discussing, one of the things with the State is that no matter what happens, we know Department stands alone. And so we have CHP, we have Department military, CDT, Cal OES, we run an organization called Cal-CSIC. And so as a part of that, as incidents and vulnerabilities are coming in, they are dealing with the forensics and they're handling that piece of it. So we have a part in making sure that we're identifying threats and mitigating the threats.

But the one role that maybe people aren't aware of at the Department of Technology is also sitting side by side with directors. If we do have a cyber threat or ransomware threat, it's also the fastest speed with which we recover and restore those services.

So in Department of finance's situation. We stood 24 by seven, around the clock as we had military in them dealing with the forensic side.

In fact, the White House said California was actually a model that all states should follow of how we were communicating what we were seeing and giving the information back to the White House so that they could make sure that if there are other attacks similar that they could address that quickly.

But while we were doing that, we were also making sure that we were meeting the Jan. 10 budget and restoring services as quickly as possible. And again, no Department stands alone. We had DGS, we had FTB even volunteering staff.

Vendors were texting me and calling me and saying what can we do? And they weren't necessarily looking at profiting from it. They were looking truly at making sure we were able to get services restored in a timely manner for the state. So it takes a village and I'm lucky enough that we have a great IT community that rallies around each other when we need it most.

Well, thank you for helping enlighten us a little bit on that process and thank you for putting a silver lining on the layoffs in the tech industry. I hadn't quite thought about opportunities but I know that we often ask about vacancies and critical workforce issues with various professional careers and so thank you for giving us that. At least we can put a silver lining maybe on it as long as you're prepared to hire.

I think that my colleagues ask other questions. So I think we'll go ahead and go to the public.

But I forgot to acknowledge your spouse. Kids are easy. They're like look at me, look at me. Your spouse is not saying look at me, look at me. But we're going to look at him and thank him for his support. Your opening comments were really pretty heartfelt and I always want to acknowledge that it's the important stuff in life. So thank you.

We're going to go to Members of the public right here in 2200. Those who wish to speak in support please come forward. Name, organization and comment or two. Welcome.

Madam Chair and Members. Courtney Jensen with Fernández Cervantes Government Affairs. On behalf of Tech CA.

Today, Tech CA represents California's technology industry ranging from the world's most recognizable technology brands to small local consulting firms that support California state and local agencies.

On behalf of the industry and Tech CA, we support Director Bailey-Crimmins. With 30 years in public service, she has the experience, vision and leadership qualities to lead California's technology program.

We are confident in her ability to serve in this critical role as Californians expect more from their government, including modern and secure digital services to interact with government programs across the state. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next witness.

Good afternoon Madam Chair and Members of the committee. My name is George Akiyama, and I'm presenting on behalf of Pinnacle Advocacy, to urge you to confirm Director Bailey Crimmins.

Our firm represents many technology entities supporting the State of California. By nature of CDT's oversight role and direct IT leadership authority for the State of California, we're constantly engaging the Department of Technology.

We wholeheartedly endorse the confirmation of Director Bailey Crimmins. She is a measured, thoughtful and fair leader who has demonstrated a commitment to treat all partners fairly while holding the industry accountable for driving innovation and ensuring our mutual commitment to provide world class service for California.

Over 30 years with the state, she has been able to achieve success in a variety of settings, whether it's corrections and rehabilitations, health care or pensions, her engaging communication style has always led to meaningful changes.

California is a large state, and our problems are very complex. Director Bailey Crimmins is up to the task and in her short tenure at CDT, she has proven that her confirmation would be good for California.

Okta, one of our clients would also like to go on record supporting confirmation. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much. Next witness.

Hello, Jon Restani representing Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP. As a Fortune 50 company in the world and a company born and raised in California we'd like to endorse Liana as someone that has been a great leader working with the vendor community.

Her collaboration, her focus on security, and most importantly given us the open door and the ability to communicate effectively with the IT community at the state has been greatly appreciated. So we'd like to endorse. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Next witness. Hi, welcome.

Hi. Chad Hodges, President and CEO of HSB Solutions. I've had the esteemed pleasure of having Liana, not just as a partner in the public private partnership that exists between State of California and the vendors that serve it, but she's also been a mentor and a friend.

And I'm here to wholeheartedly acknowledge and hope that you guys confirm her today because she deserves it. She's amazing and her husband is amazing as well. They're a true team and it's great to be here and I appreciate you guys letting me speak. Thank you.

Thank you for being here today. Anyone else in support? Okay, we will give anyone in. Oh, you want to support? Come on up.

Absolutely. I don't follow the rules. I break the rules all the time.

Come on to the mic so we can get you here with the court reporter. Give me your name.

My name is Kais Menoufy and I was not planning to speak, but I think I need to speak. And I know Liana through work that she was my clients years ago. Over the years, in the last 20 years, I watch her how she developed.

As somebody who is in technology for many years, I believe she have a lot of skills to run that Department. This is not an easy job, this is a tough one and nobody will be perfect for it, but we're going to look to that. She's one could do the job very well. For that. I endorse that.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Anyone else in support? Okay, let me offer the same opportunity for anyone who would like to speak in opposition. In opposition? Okay. With that, we will go back to our moderator. I put the number up there earlier, but now I've lost it, so I'm sure the magic of technology will put it right back up there. Thank you.

So with that, Mr. Moderator, if you could tee up anyone who would like to speak in support or opposition, name, organization, if any you represent, and your position.

If you would like to provide public comment in support or opposition, please press one then zero at this time, and Madam Chair, we have no comments.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much for your help and assistance today. We always appreciate you.

Let me just say, long history of service. And as pointed out by our last speaker in support, I do believe experience matters, particularly in issues like this, the understanding of government, as well as the ability to have private partners and to know how to integrate between those worlds. I just want to thank you for your service.

Let me look and see who would like to make the motion. Okay. Senator Ochoa Bogh makes the motion. Madam Secretary, will you please call the roll?

Laird? Aye. Laird aye. Ochoa Bogh? Aye. Ochoa Bogh, aye. Smallwood-Cuevas?Aye. Smallwood-Cuevas, aye. Grove? Atkins? Aye. Atkins, aye. Four to zero.

Four to zero. We will move this on to the full Senate for confirmation with our thanks for your patience today, for your conversation, and for your service.

Thank you, ma'am chair. Thank you, Senate Rules Committee. It has been a pleasure.

Thank you. So this concludes today's public portion of the agenda. Let me just thank all of the individuals who participated in public testimony today. If you were not able to testify today, but would like to, please submit your comments or suggestions in writing to the Rules Committee. You can visit our website for instructions. I assure you, your comments and suggestions are really important to us, and we want to include your testimony in our official hearing records. So thank you, everyone.

The committee, the Senate Committee on Rules will now move to Executive session.