Senate Floor

Good morning, everyone. The Senate will call to order. If the secretary would call the role, please.

[Roll Call]

Members of quorum is present with the Members and our guests beyond the rail and in the gallery. Please rise. We will be led in prayer this morning by Senator Eggman, after which, please remain standing. We will be led in the pledge of allegiance to the flag by Senator Laird. Senator Eggman.

O God, who weeps at fractured lives, inspire us to heal the hurting. Help us to seal the cracks created by our complicity in failing to love. May our words and actions speak love and not complacency. May we choose love. When faced with mindless hate, love. When faced with retaliation, love. When tempted by deception, love. When addressing the issues of our time, may we choose love. When facing racism, sexism, heterosexism, xenophobia. In all that we do, in all that we say, and all the places we go, may we choose love and demonstrate our love with action. Amen.

Members, please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Members, I'm pleased to share today that we have a special birthday from one of our colleagues. Let's recognize the esteemed Senator Wilk on his birthday today. Senator Wilk, is he here? Where is he? He's walking in right now. There he is. The birthday man of the day, Senator Wilk.

All right, Members, we're first going to move to privileges of the floor. And with that, we're going to recognize Senator Laird.

Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues in the gallery today are Members from Leadership Morgan Hill. The goal of Leadership Morgan Hill is to deliver a curriculum designed to prepare individuals from diverse parts of the Morgan Hill community to serve as leaders who will augment the community. It's designed to educate and inspire its residents. Candidates are selected on the basis of ability, leadership potential, and demonstrated interest. I and many legislators spoke to them yesterday. Please help me give a warm welcome to the people here from Leadership Morgan Hill.

Thank you. Welcome to the California State Senate. Members, we're going to move on to our agenda. Messages from the Governor will be deemed read, messages from the Assembly will be deemed read, reports of Committee will be deemed read, and amendments adopted. We're going to move now to motions and resolutions. And with that, I believe I'm going to recognize Senator Skinner. Are you prepared?

Yes.

Terrific.

Thank you. Members, there is a letter at the desk requesting withdrawal of Senate Bills 100 to 219, 219, from the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee and order the measures to second reading.

Thank you, Senator Skinner. I see Senator Niello.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. As Vice Chair of the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, I respectfully object to this motion. I request a roll call vote, and I urge a no vote.

Thank you, Senator Niello. Seeing no further debates, Senator Skinner is asking for a yes vote on the motion. Senator Niello is asking for a no vote on the motion. Would the secretary call the roll?

[Roll Call]

Please call the roll one final time.

[Roll Call]

Motion to withdraw passes 28 to eight. Members, we're going to move on to consideration of the daily file. Begin with a second reading file. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 69 with amendments. Senate Bill 367 with amendments. Senate Bill 301 with amendments.

Thank you. We're going to move now to governor's appointments. Going to recognize Senator Grove. Are you ready? Governor's appointments.

Yes, Mr. President. Thank you.

Terrific. The floor is yours.

Thank you. Thank you. Colleagues, file item four is the confirmation of Dr. AnnMaria De Mars for appointment to the State Athletic Commission. She's the President and co-founder of Seven Generation Games. And she was the first, colleagues, che was the first to win a gold medal in the World Judo Championships. She was approved by the Rules Committee on March 1 of 50 vote. And I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Any further discussion or debate? Seeing none. If the secretary would please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Please call the absent Members.

[Roll Call]

The appointment is adopted 37 to zero. We'll move on to file item number five. Senator Grove.

Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, the confirmation of Chris Gruwell is the appointment of the State Athletic Commission. He's the founder of the Chief Executive Officer of New Deal Advisors. He was approved by the Rules Committee on March 1 with a unanimous vote. Please, colleagues, I will respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Any further discussion or debate? Discussion or debate? Seeing none. If the secretary would please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Please call the absentees one more time.

[Roll Call]

The nominee is confirmed on a 37 to zero vote. We'll move now to file item number six. Senator Grove.

Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, Kevin McGowan for appointment for the Seismic Safety Commission. Mr. McGowan is the Director of Los Angeles County's Office of Emergency Services currently, and he was approved by the Rules Committee on unanimous a vote March 1. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Any further discussion or debate? Seeing none, Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

The appointment is confirmed on a 39 to zero vote, everyone here having voted. We're going to move on now to file item number seven. Senator Grove.

Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, this next appointment is a confirmation for Dr. Adonia Lugo for the appointment of California Transportation Committee. She is currently an equity research manager for the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California in Los Angeles. This confirmation or conference, I guess you would call her, she was so impressive. I want you to know that she was extremely impressive. She doesn't predetermine what the outcome is and adjust her facts to make that outcome.

She's an anthropologist by trade, and so she's in that deep, deep study of true facts and determining the facts of how things should be based on the facts that she's researched. And I know that sounds kind of crazy, but there's a lot of times that we set up an outcome that we want and then we adjust the facts to reach that outcome. She is not like this, and she is very studious, and she was pretty impressive in the Rules Committee Hearing.

I would challenge all of you to spend time with her, maybe five or 10 minutes, and I guarantee you, you will learn a lot of things. My colleague from Los Angeles is nodding her head. My colleague, who's the former secretary of Natural Resources, is smiling really big because all of us on the dais were so engaged. She needed no notes. She knew everything. And we asked her a myriad of questions, and she knew everything about every subject matter, and she was pretty incredible. And she's a young woman that has a great future ahead of her. So I ask for your confirmation vote today.

Thank you, Senator Grove. Any further discussion or debate? Seeing none. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Please call the absentees one more time.

[Roll Call]

On a vote of 39 to zero, the appointment is confirmed. We're going to move now, Members, to Senate third reading. First up is file item 17. Senator Dodd, are you prepared? He appears to be. Secretary, please read.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 33 by Senator Dodd relative to Hereditary and Genetic Cancer Awareness day.

Thank you, Mr. President. SCR 33 declares May 3, 2023 and every May 3 thereafter as Hereditary and Genetic Cancer Awareness day. As scientists learn more about how cancer develops, it is becoming clear that many cancer diagnosis have a hereditary or genetic connection. For example, the human gene TP 53 was discovered as a contributing factor to hereditary cancers. When this gene is mutated, an individual's chance of getting cancer one or more times is greatly increased.

There are many more genes like BRCA, EPCAM and ATM that can mutate increase odds of a person getting cancer. Understanding the connection between the genes and cancer is a relatively new science, and more work is needed to bring awareness so patients are informed of the risks early and can take steps to reduce their risk of developing life-threatening disease.

If a person discovers they have a hereditary or genetic condition, they can pursue the necessary testing and procedures to give them the best hope of living a full life. Raising awareness of hereditary and genetic links to cancer can save lives. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, Senator Dodd, is there any further discussion or debate? Any further discussion or debate? Senator Rubio, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mr. President. Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, today I rise in strong support. And as a co-author of SCR 33, I want to thank the Senator from Napa for bringing this measure forward. We all have personal stories that have touched our lives. I lost my grandfather to cancer last year. I lost my best friend's little boy in high school to cancer. We just heard the story of our former supervisor, Gloria Molina, who bravely shared her story.

She's fighting aggressive cancer, and the list goes on and on and on. And it is really important that as legislators, we do a lot more. It is really our responsibility to do our part in supporting research and help diagnose and treat cancer. And hopefully one day we can eradicate this ugly disease. This year, I have co-authored SB 344 to strengthen the cancer registry and improve cancer research. And previously I've had several bills, one allowing cancer medication to be recycled.

We have so much need in this space. So I thank all of you for supporting cancer research and supporting bills that will further help us get closer to a cure. Thank you. And I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, Senator Rubio, any further discussion or debates? Seeing none. Senator Dodd, you'd like to close?

Respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Secretary, please call the role. Oh, excuse me. This is eligible for unanimous consent without objection, 39 to zero. The resolution is adopted. We're going to move now to file item 27. Senator Hurtado, are you prepared? She is. Secretary please read.

Senate Resolution 22 by Senator Hurtado relative to California Agriculture Day.

Thank you, Mr. President and members. SR 22 recognizes Tuesday, March 21, 2023 as California Agriculture Day. For over 60 years, California has been the top-producing ag state in the nation, producing more than 400 crop and livestock products and over 50% of the nation's supply of fruits, vegetables and nuts. Ag Day is an annual celebration recognizing California's agricultural community by showcasing the bounty of crops and ag commodities produced in our state.

This year's theme is cultivating community and opportunity in recognition of the essential role agriculture plays in producing a safe, abundant, and affordable food supply for Californians, the nation, and the world. Please join me in honoring our farmers, farm workers, ranchers and dairymen and women, and all others involved in agriculture for their dedication and hard work to feed our nation and provide clothes on our back.

We also want to give a special thank you to those farmers that are here with us on the red carpet, and I encourage you to vote yes on SR 22 to recognize Tuesday, March 21, 2023 as Ag Day. Also, please come out and celebrate Ag Day with me next Tuesday. There will be food, entertainment, farm equipment, livestock, and more. Time has been set aside for legislators and staff from 10:30 to 11:30 to check out what California agriculture has to offer.

With that, I respectfully ask for an aye vote on SR 22.

Thank you, Senator Hurtado. I see the microphone up for Senator Grove.

Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to thank my colleague for introducing this resolution, and I too ask for an aye vote on SR 22. As a Senator that represents the three top food-producing counties in the world. I'm glad that our legislature recognizes the importance of the agriculture in our state, and I thank my colleague who has a contiguous district next to mine where we overlap a lot of these farms and workers that work in these communities.

California is known for more of its beaches and movies, but it's also the largest food producing state with over $50 billion a year. It leads the nation in dairy products, grapes, almonds, and hundreds of other commodities that really only grow here in the State of California. Even as we feed and fuel the nation, we must realize that food grows where water flows.

And I know we have an abundance of water now, but for over the years, we weren't able to get water and our surface water was delayed, our surface water was delayed and over the years we weren't able to drill for or put pumps in for water on property. And unfortunately, this resolution does mention the fact that 500,000 acres of farmland will be lost by 2050 and over 300,000 acres will be gone for highly productive agriculture land.

So when introducing this legislation this year, I'd like to encourage all you to be mindful about the importance of water. And I know we have an abundance of water now. We need to really look at water storage because we have to have a mechanism to be able to provide for farmers in a long term period.

And I just want to thank my colleague for organizing Ag Day, for making sure that you guys have the opportunity next Tuesday to go out and meet farmers and ranchers and get some wonderful products taken back to your staff that are grown right here in the State of California. So, thank you. And I asked for an aye vote on SR 22.

Thank you. Senator Grove recognized Senator Dahle.

Thank you, Mr. President. Members, as the only farmer, I believe, on the floor or in the Senate, and as my wife, being a farmer in the Assembly, we too have been farming in California, my family, for 92 years. And California, as my grandfather used to say, California is very unique. It has obviously the Pacific, where we get the storms, as we've seen in the last couple of months, the Sierras catch that water.

We have the right climate, we have everything. We have infrastructure like no other place in the world, to be the leading in the world when it comes to agriculture. Not only for our people that work in the industry, but also for the tech side of it. Just to let you know, we have tractors that basically drive themselves. You have to turn them around at the end of the field and they will drive within one inch straight.

And the cost savings for the environment because of the technology is something most people don't know about. You have 20% more production when you have that kind of technology that helps California Ag. We've been faced with droughts and floods and regulation. Quite frankly, many of the members that sit on the committees with me hear me talk about the ability to be able to stay in California and farm and compete.

So I just want to say, a lot of legislation comes through here that we are trying to save the environment. At the same time, we need to save those jobs and make the ability for food production, which is something we all have to have. We need water and food to survive, that's for sure. We know that. But we need to be conscious of the fact that the regulations that come out of here make it very difficult for family farms and corporate farms as well.

And we've seen a change as a family farmer. Many of the family farms are not able to survive against corporate farms in California. And the reason being is because the size of a farm matters. So give you an example. A harvester is a combine, which I use a new one today with all the regulations that we have on it is $3,000. We use that for two weeks, and we can harvest a lot of crops in two weeks.

Well, if you have to spend that kind of money for one piece of equipment, when I have 50 pieces of equipment on my farm and have to upgrade those, you have to increase your land size to make it work. And so that's why we see family farmers selling out to corporations and actually operating their farms, and we're losing that learned trade. It's a learned trade. You can go to Cal Poly. My sons went there. It's a great school. It's a good ag school.

We have many of those in California, but at the end of the day, it's still learning that on the ground tradition and learning that knowledge from handed down by generations. So we need to focus on keeping those family farms because they're the backbone of California. I think it was mentioned a few days ago, about 500 acres and smaller farms are the largest farms in California, but they're being gobbled up by national corporations and hedge funds, quite frankly, are buying most of our land in California.

So we need to be conscious. Ag Day is a great day to come out and see what all the technology is and what we do here in California. It's an awesome story about California, and we need to continue to make sure we have water infrastructure and take care of the environment at the same time. So I, too, would like to stand and support SR 22 and thank my colleague for bringing it forward.

Thank you, Senator Dahle. We'll go up next to Senator Alvarado-Gil.

Good morning. Thank you. I would like to acknowledge my colleague, the Chair of the Agricultural Committee, and thank her for bringing this forward. I am extremely excited to celebrate, as a State Senator, Ag Day here in California. One, because this is a phenomenal opportunity for us to bring education into Ag Day. How many of our kids actually know where our fruits and vegetables come from? No, it's not from the grocery store. No, it's not from the back of our SUVs or our vans.

It comes from the fruit, from the labor, from the everyday work of our farmers and our agricultural growers here in California. So I challenge us all to use this day to educate our minds and our bodies and bring that into our families and to have those conversations where our fruits, our vegetables, our nuts, our dairy products come from. I've never met a charcuterie or a cheese board that I have not loved.

Every single item on there comes from the benefit of our ag community for us to nurture our bodies. The other piece of this day that I feel is so valuable to mention is the nutrition and the education that we bring into the classroom for our kids. Do you know that in California, every single day, our kids have the ability to have multiple servings of milk, wholesome milk, so that they can nourish their bodies and their minds and be ready to learn in the classroom?

That is California, because here in the legislature, we voted on universal meals in schools. So that's wholesome, nutritional ag products that we are serving our kids to help them grow strong in California and for them to follow in our footsteps, to lead in California as the next State Senators, the next Assemblymembers, and the next Governors and state leaders. So thank you.

I urge you to vote yes on this resolution and encourage you all to use World Ag Day or National Ag Day to educate on where that food and produce comes from. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Alvarado-Gil. Next up, Senator Durazo.

Thank you, Mr. President. I, too, rise, in support of SR 22. And I thank the author and all my colleagues for your comments. I want to thank everyone in the agriculture industry for what you do, for not only the people of California, people throughout the country and throughout the world, by giving us the foods that we need.

Having been a farmworker myself through high school, I know what it takes for a family to get through, not only working every day, but living in the conditions and working and living conditions, how difficult it is for your family. So I rise on this occasion not only to thank everyone in the industry, but also to remind us that when they need us, that we need to be there for them.

And at this particular time, for the last several months, we've had rains and storms, which is making it extremely difficult for the working people in the fields, in agriculture to even go to work. And yet many of them, a predominant number of them, do not have the safety net to rely on to survive in between the storms and in between this weather so that they could stay put food on the table for themselves.

So I urge us to remember, as they provide for us, we have to be ready to provide for them. Thank you.

Thank you. Senator Durazo, any further discussion or debate? Seeing none. Senator Hurtado, you may close.

Thank you. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Members, this is eligible for a unanimous roll call. Seeing no objection, the resolution is adopted. 39 to 0. Members we have two consent calendars today. Two different consent calendars today. Give everyone an opportunity to remove anything from the consent calendar when we address it. The first one up is file item number 30. Consent calendar number one. Anybody want to remove that item? All right. Seeing none. Secretary, please call the roll. You want to read the item first? Oh, you're going to read both together?

Okay, we'll read both. Well, let me just ask then again, if anyone wants anything removed from the second consent calendar. I've seen none. That's the special consent calendar? That's correct. Okay, seeing none at the secretary, please.

Read Senate joint resolution one. Assembly Concurrent Resolutions 10, 11, 8, 9, 13, and 15.

All right, so we'll take a vote on those. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

On a vote of 39 to zero, item 30, that consent calendar is adopted. On a vote of 39 to zero, the special consent calendar is adopted. Members, prior to moving back to motions and resolutions for adjournment memories, we're going to go to Committee announcements. Committee announcements? I know Members have a number of Committee announcements. We'll start with Senator Laird.

Thank you, Mr. President. Budget Subcommitee one is now going to meet upon the call of the chair. That will probably be approximately 10:30 this morning. It'll be in room 113 here in the Capitol.

Upon the call of the chair, room 113. Very good. Thank you, Senator Laird. Next up, Senator Becker.

Thank you, Mr. President. Senate Budget Subcommitee two will meet in room 2200 in the swing space 20 minutes after the German assertion.

Thank you, Senator Becker. Senator Menjivar.

Thank you. Senate Budget Committee number three will be meeting 15 minutes after session in room 1200.

Thank you, Mr. President. Senate Budget Subcommitee number four will convene 15 minutes following recess of the full Senate in room 2100. There is a change in the room, room 2100 in the swing space. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Menjivar. Senator Padilla.

Thank you, Senator Padilla. Senator Durazo.

Thank you, Mr. President. Budget Subcommittee number five will meet in room 112 in the Capitol five minutes after adjournment.

Thank you. And Senator Roth, you also have announcement about a Committee today.

Thank you, Mr. President. The Senate business, professions, and economic Development Committee will meet at 1:30 in room 2100, O street building.

Thank you, Senator Roth. I see no other Committee announcements. We're going to move now to motions and resolutions. This is the time for adjourn in memories. We are going to begin this morning with Senator Newman.

Thank you, Mr. President. I rise to adjourn in the memory of Bob Blattner, a larger than life figure in the education advocacy world whose work over nearly three decades, accomplished so much and inspired so many. Robert William Bob Blattner was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, on March 6th, 1955 to Bill and Mary Lang Blattner. Bob spent his early childhood in Walnut Creek, where he gained his lifelong affection for Northern California. The Blattner family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1964.

Bob attended Shadyside and then Andover high schools, followed by college at Yale University, where he studied medieval European history and captained the swim team. Following his graduation from Yale in 1976, Bob worked as a swim coach at Pleasant Hill Aquatics and as a composer and occasional performer of musical theater in San Francisco. In 1986, Bob began journalism school at UC Berkeley, where he met his future wife, Anne.

After earning his master's in journalism, Bob worked as a reporter with the Sacramento Union, the Daily Press of Newport News, Virginia, and with the Sacramento Bee, where Bob was the founding editor of Education Beat. During his time as a journalist, Bob earned numerous awards, including the California Teachers Association's John Sweat Award for outstanding coverage of California education issues. In 1994, Bob embarked on his final career as an education consultant, helping public schools and county officers navigate the intricacies of school finance.

In 2006, he founded Blattner and Associates. It actually never had an associate. Bob Balttner believed deeply in the importance of public education and its essential role in a functioning society. Over the course of his nearly three decades as an educational advocate and consultant, Bob played an instrumental role in the development of virtually every major education initiative in California, from the development of the Local Control Funding Formula to last year's budget proposal to increase funding for school transportation services.

Perhaps more than anything else, Bob treasured his firm's annual event, which brought high school students from the Irvine Unified School District to the state capitol to meet with Members and staff of the Legislature to both learn from us, but also to educate us on the issues of greatest importance to students in California. Bob died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Davis on February 2 at the age of 67. Those who knew Bob will forever remember him as smiling.

He enjoyed spending his time and energy on the things he so valued, music, good food and drink, history, time in the water, and above all else, his friends and his family. He was married to his beloved wife, Anne for 30 years and leaves behind Anne, their sons, Jack and Robbie, and a brother, John. We're honored to have Jack with us in the gallery this morning. Bob Blattner will be greatly missed by the entire education advocacy community.

We have lost a great champion for schools and students in our great state. We extend the Blattner family our deepest condolences, and I ask that we adjourn in Bob's memory today.

Thank you, Senator Newman. To the Blattner family, our condolences on your loss. Senator Newman, if you would bring his name forward so he can be properly memorialized in our Senate proceedings. We are going to move next to Senator Skinner.

Thank you, Members. I rise today to ask the Senate to adjourn in memory of a Berkeley icon and nationally known graphic artist and printmaker, David Lance Goines. David's work came to symbolize Berkeley and many of its institutions, including the famous restaurant Chez Panisse. His artwork for Chez Panisse started in 1971 when he created the poster for its opening, which is a flame haired woman with a plume of feathers coming from her, not sure if she was wearing a hat.

But anyway, he created it for Chez Panisse's opening. Over the next five decades, David created distinctive posters for institutions like UC Berkeley School of Optometry and Acme Bakery. He did for political movements like the farm workers, for a public service announcement, like the AIDS prevention poster that he designed for UC Berkeley's health services. David's work has been the subject of solo exhibitions, and it's in permanent collections in the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress and the Louvre.

His powerful response to the 1991 Persian Gulf War, a faceless soldier in camouflage holding a skull titled 'No War,' is in the permanent collection of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. David was born in Oregon. His family moved to Oakland when he was young, and in 1964, when he was 19, he began working at the Berkeley Free Press as a printmaker's apprentice. He eventually took over that business and renamed it St. Hieronymus Press, and he worked at that.

It was a little storefront in downtown Berkeley where he cranked out posters and prints until his stroke just two months ago. In 1964. As a student at Cal, David was among the group of students who launched the free speech movement, and he was eventually expelled from Cal after being repeatedly arrested because he was distributing posters that he made. He then started working full time as a printmaker, and during a chance meeting in his shop, he met Alice Waters.

She was not yet a famous chef, but she fell in love with his work and their friendship lasted for five decades. And in addition to that well known poster of the red haired lady, he made 46 posters for Chez Panisse. While I didn't know David well, I saw him regularly around town. He was a fixture. He had distinctive style, handlebar mustache, he wore a dark suit with a vest, a pocket watch, a bowler hat, and he always carried a fountain pen that he refilled by hand.

He died February 19 at his home in Berkeley. He was 77. He's survived by three brothers, 21 nieces and nephews, his press, St. Hieronymus, and his original Heidelberg Cylinder Press. And I ask that we adjourn in his memory.

Thank you, Senator Skinner. If you could bring his name forward so he can be properly memorialized in our Senate proceedings. Next up, Senator Atkins.

Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, I rise to adjourn in memory of Charles Harrington Elster of San Diego, who passed away on March 1 at the young age of 65. Charlie was a renowned author broadcaster, logophile, which means lover of words. He described himself as a man seduced by the sound of syllables and caught in the web of words.

I enjoyed listening to his weekly radio show even before I met his wife, Myrna Zambrano, who would become my supervisor when Chris Kehoe was on the City Council in San Diego. Myrna would go on to become Chris's Chief of Staff in the Assembly and her district Director in the Senate. She became my Assembly District Director and Senate District Director for a number of years. Myrna is a Member of our Senate family.

Charlie, an incredible man, was born in Queens, New York, in 1957, the only child of Reinhardt Elster. He was a principal harpist for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. His mother, Nancy, was a piano teacher. Charlie was educated in New York City public schools, at Buxton School in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and at Yale University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies in 1981. It was at Yale where he met Myrna. They married in 1984 and moved to San Diego, Myrna's hometown.

Charlie is the author of several books on the English language vocabulary building, the origin of words, wordplay, the proper use of words, and correct pronunciations. You can imagine that always got me in trouble. I have a hard time pronouncing simple words, but he also wrote frequent columns on these topics that appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the San Diego Union Tribune, among other publications.

And he had a blog. I recall in 2018, the day after I was sworn in as Senate President pro temporary, he published a delightful essay, a pronouncement on the pronunciation of pro temporary, where he took various speakers to task for mispronouncing the title by placing the accent on the pro instead of tem, I was enthralled. Public radio listeners in San Diego may remember him as one of the original co hosts with fellow logophile Richard Lederer of the popular weekly show 'Away With Words' on KPBS.

That show, with new hosts, still airs weekly on 80 stations across the country. Charlie also served on the City of San Diego's board of Library Commissioners as it worked towards our new downtown central library that opened in 2013. On a more personal note, Charlie became my lifeline call on many a Sunday afternoon when my spouse, Jennifer, and I played Scrabble, something I know the presiding officer will take great interest in.

It was a Sunday afternoon, and a triple triple was riding on the outcome of this moment. I put forth a word not found in our dictionary. I'd seek help immediately by calling the master to authenticate that this was an actual word. Now, of course, it came with an incredibly long email describing the etymology of the history of the word. And yet I prevailed on the triple triple. Charlie was an incredibly kind soul, thoughtful, humorous, a man who truly did have a way with words.

He's survived, as I said, by his wife of 38 years, Myrna Zambrano, by his two incredible daughters, Carmen Elster of Oakland and Judith Elster of Manhattan, New York. Please join me in recognition of an incredible human being, a wonderful person, and my friend, Charles Harrington Elster.

Thank you. Thank you, Senator Atkins. Please bring his name forward so he can be properly memorialized in our Senate proceedings. And a triple triple is pretty impressive. Members, as we finish our business today, I'd like to make mention of an important event in our state and country that begins today. It's the NCAA basketball playoffs. And I know we are very proud to note that there are seven colleges and universities here in California that are competing in both the women's and the men's competition.

On the women's side, we recognize the students and communities from the universities of UCLA, Stanford, USC, and in particular the community here surrounding Sacramento State. And on the men's side, we want to acknowledge and recognize the student athletes at UC Santa Barbara competing, USC, St. Mary's College here in my district, UCLA, and maybe the most esteemed basketball power here in California, San Diego State University. So with that, if there is no further business facing the Senate, Senator Atkins, the desk is clear.

Thank you, Mr. President. That was incredible. And as we wind down today, I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge that on Saturday, we will also be celebrating the birthday of the Vice Chair of Rules, our colleague from Kern County. So I want to make sure we wish her a happy birthday and have a wonderful weekend as we continue to brave what is going on throughout our state with weather. Be safe. Enjoy the weekend.

It is the beginning of March Madness, so lots of great things to do this weekend in addition to being out in our communities. So the next floor session will be scheduled for Monday, March 20th, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.

The Senate will be in recess until 3:30 p.m. And at which time the adjournment motion will be made. We will reconvene Monday, March 20, at 2:00 p.m. Members, have a nice weekend.