Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. We stand in opposition to SB 53. I'm Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, also representing the California Rifle and Pistol Association and the National Rifle Association.

With regards to the fiscal aspects of this bill, it doesn't make sense to us, at a time when the State of California is tens of billions of dollars upside down, that they would go to court and spend hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars on a lawsuit that they cannot win. It is impossible that this issue will make it through the legal process because the Supreme Court has already ruled twice that this bill specifically is unconstitutional.

So it troubles me that the state will go ahead and spend those resources, and it even troubles me more that it's my tax dollars that are going to the state and then coming back to pay our attorneys fees, which allows us to continue to challenge many unconstitutional laws. So for these reasons and others, we're in opposition to Senate Bill 53. Thank you.

Anyone else opposed SB 53? Seeing none. Any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing none. We will deal with that when we have a quorum. Moving on SB 691, Portantino, State Board of Education, student members. We'll open up the public hearing for support. Seeing no support. How about opposition to 691? Seeing no opposition to 691. Any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing no questions or comments from my colleagues. We will deal with that when we have a quorum.

And again, as noted, Michelle says there are no files from the finance. Moving on SB 230. From my colleague Mr. Seyarto, on income tax, health savings accounts. It's a tax levy. We will open up the public comment with that. Seeing no one come in support. How about opposite? Oh, come on up. We're moving quickly.

I know. Thanks. Senator Tim Madden, representing the California chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, in support.

Mr. Madden?

Yes, sir.

It's a hard question. What is the name of the man who launched Ebay in 1995?

Pierre Odemayer.

Omadire. Yes. Good. That was good. Very good. I thought you wouldn't get that one. All right, anyone else in support of 230? Any opposition to 230? Seeing no opposition. Any comments from my colleagues? Seeing no comments from my colleagues, we will deal with 230 when it comes. When we have a quorum, Senator Wiener has two bills, SB 294, Healthcare coverage, independent medical review.

Support?

Nicole Wordelman on behalf of the Children's Partnership, in support.

Do you want a question, Nicole?

Sure.

Which monarch officially made Valentine's Day a holiday in 1537?

Nope.

Anybody know? Henry VIII. Isn't that interesting? He had a lot of things to talk about on Valentine's Day. All right, any opposition to 294? Seeing no one come to the microphone, how about from my colleagues? Any questions or comments on 294? Seeing none. We will deal with that when we have a quorum. SB 312 from Senator Wiener on California Environmental Quality University housing development projects exemption. It is a suspense candidate. The authors waived presentation.

We have no file from Department of Finance. And we'll open up the public hearing on 312. No one in support? Any opposition? Seeing no opposition, we will come to the Deus. Anyone have any questions from Mr. Weiner's 312? Seeing no hands go up. We'll deal with that when we have a quorum. Senator Cortese has SB 483 on pupil rights prone restraint. It is a suspense candidate. And you are in support.

Nicole Wordelman, the Children's Partnership, in support.

You want an easy one or a hard one? Nicole?

I think I've shown I need an easy one.

Okay. What is the name of the world's largest ocean?

Oh, my goodness. Is it the Pacific? Thank you, sir. Pacific.

You are right. The Pacific Ocean. All right. Any opposition to Mr. Cortese's 483? Seeing no opposition. Let's come back to my colleagues. We have no questions from my colleagues, so we will deal with that in a second. But we do have a quorum, and so please call the role so we can establish a quorum.

[roll call]

We have a quorum. All right. So that being said, let's go back to SB 26, Senator Umberg. Without objection, SB 26 will move to the suspense file. SB 850, Senator Umberg. Without objection, SB 850 will move to the suspense file. SB 53, Portantino, Firearms storage. Without objection, SB 53 will move to the suspense file. SB 691, Portantino, State Board of Education. Without objection, SB 691 will move to the suspense file. SB 230, Seyarto income tax, health savings accounts. Without objection, SB 230 will move to the suspense file. SB 294, Wiener, healthcare coverage, independent medical review. Without objection, SB 294 will move to the suspense file. SB 312, Wiener, California Environmental Quality act, University housing development. Without objection, SB 312 will move to the suspense file. SB 483, which we just took public testimony from. SB 483, Cortese, on pupil rights. Without objection, we'll move to the suspense file. So, we've caught up business. Ms. Wahab, do you want an easy or a hard question? Whichever. Okay. What is the most consumed manufactured drink in the world? [Coca COLA. Coffee.] Close. [Tea.] All right. I'll give you the easy one. What was the first soft drink that was drunk in space? Coca COLA. There you go. All right, moving on to Senator Limon SB 53 on income tax credit, childcare. It is a suspense candidate. The author's waived presentation, and we will open up the public comment right here in this room for 533. Anybody in support?

Seeing no support. Any opposition to 533? No opposition? All right, we'll come back to my colleagues. Any questions or comments on 533? Seeing none. So, without objection, 533 will move to suspense. SB 782, Limon, on Gubernatorial appointments. It is a suspense candidate. The authors waive presentation. We will open up public comment with support.

Hi. Good morning, chair and members. Very quickly, Carol Gonzalez here. On behalf of HOPE, Hispanics Organized for Political Equality. In light of the latest veto from the Governor, HOPE initiated a quick, thorough analysis on the governorial's appointment this last year. They uncovered very critical data points that show that there are still great gaps in representation across the state. If HOPE was able to curate this kind of report for SB 700 and 782, despite not having direct access to data and limited funds, we certainly think that Administration can lead this effort and publish an in house report. SB 782 only requires that Administration to annually report this data, which means that this simple but effective bill can come at nearly no cost to the Administration. And for those reasons, we proudly sponsor this Bill and hope for your support.

Do you want a question?

I'm okay.

Really? All right, Mr. Wiener, here's a question for you. Which is the only Edible food that never goes bad? Any food that you eat. The only food product that never goes bad never spoils. I heard the audience say it. Who was it? Honey. Honey never goes bad. How about that? All right, here's another food related question. Which country invented ice cream? Who knows who invented ice cream? The store in China. China invented ice cream. All right. Moving on to any opposition to SB 782, Limon. Seeing no opposition. Any comments from my colleagues? Seeing none. Without objection, 782 will move to suspense. SB 546, Alvarado gill sales and use tax law exemption. Dedicated snow removal vehicles. It is a tax levy. We'll open up the public comment with support. Seeing no support. How about opposition to 546? Seeing no opposition. Do my colleagues have any questions about SB 546 or comments?

Seeing none. So, without objection, SB 546 will move to suspense. SB 559 Min, offshore oil drilling leases. It is a suspense candidate. The authors waive presentation. And you are in support?

Yes. Thank you. Good morning, Christina Scaringe with the Center for Biological Diversity. Also noting support from Heal the Bay. California oil and gas production is at the end of its lifecycle, and this bill is important to minimize the economic damage the industry does on its way out the door. Oil and gas production is a public nuisance. No compensation is warranted where the commission acts to abate environmental and climate harms.

These leases and the remaining active offshore platforms pose ongoing and unacceptable threats to California's $44 billion coastal economy. The risks of another spill and related catastrophic costs to the state are not mentioned in the committee report, but they escalate each year with this aging, corroded infrastructure, and recent high-profile bankruptcies underscore the need to act to protect public funds.

The costs to decommission and remove the platforms and other infrastructure and to remediate the area are the legal responsibility of the industry and likely exceed future profits from their continued operation. With oil revenues in California making a sharp downturn, allowing operators to continue to drill prolongs these significant risks to the state and our current fiscal situation demands that the polluters pay for their cleanup and don't dump their costs on Californians. Thank you.

Would you like a question?

Sure. I have no pride.

You want an easy one or a hard one?

Go for it. Probably won't get either.

All right. The hard one is, who wrote the first dictionary?

Merriam?

Robert Cowdry. Did anybody know that? That was a hard one. The easy one is, who was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize?

Oh, I wish I knew that.

Marie Curie. All right. Anyone else in support? Any opposition?

Mr. Chair and Members, Paul Deiro, representing the Western States Petroleum Association. We have a fundamental opposition to the bill. We believe the mandatory termination of offshore leases in state waters would essentially be a taking. We have no problem with the free and negotiations between the parties, but the bill would, if there is no agreement, there would be a mandatory termination of the offshore leases. Our estimates that the state liability would be between 260,000,000 and 330,000,000 based on the price of crude at the time. Thank you.

All right, anyone else in opposition? Do you want an easy one or a hard one?

An easy one.

I'm going to give you a hard one.

Okay.

Just because you're in opposition. What are Cinderella's stepsisters' names?

Cinderella's stepsisters' names? I don't know.

Anybody know? There you go. She got both of them.

That was hard.

All right. Anyone else opposed to 559? Seeing none. Do my colleagues have any questions or comments on 559? Seeing none. Without objection, 559 will go to suspense. SB 571 Allen, on fire safety regulations, development projects, and ingress and egress route standards. It is a suspense candidate. The author has waived presentation. And we will open up the public comment here for support. Seeing no one rushed to the microphone in support, we will go to opposition on 571. Seeing no...

Are you moving out? All right. Questions were too hard. All right, seeing no opposition, we'll come back to my colleagues. On 571. Seeing no hands go up. Without objection, 571 will go to suspense. All right, moving on to SB 575 Wahab, on marriage, underage marriage. It is a suspense candidate. The author has waived presentation. We will open up the public hearing for support on 575. Seeing no one here in support, how about opposition? Seeing no opposition.

So we'll come back to the deus. There are no questions or comments from my colleague. So without objection, SB 575. We'll move to suspense. And we will move on to, we're going to skip the next 1625. We're going to do that last so we can get through the rest of the business. So we're going out of order. We're going to go to 733 Glazer, which is on solitary confinement. We'll open up the public hearing. It's a suspense candidate. The author's waived presentation.

Anyone here to speak in support of 733? Seeing no one in support, any opposition on 733. Nobody here, we'll come back to my colleagues. Any questions or comments on 733? Seeing none. Without objection, 733 will go to suspense. SB 869. Glazer, commercial financing. It's a suspense candidate. The author's waived presentation will open up the public comment on 869. There's no one here to speak in support. How about opposition? There's no opposition. So without objection, 869 will go to suspense.

And again, for folks, finance is here for any questions but has no files on any of the bills. But we will put Michelle on the spot and ask a question since finance is here. I was surprised. I didn't think this was the answer to this question. But what is the single biggest selling music single of all time? I always thought it was "White Christmas", but it's not. I'm surprised by this one.

Can you give us a hint?

It's somebody who was recently at the White House.

No. Everybody give up? "Candle in The Wind." I didn't know, that surprised me. I thought it was "Stairway to Heaven" and "White Christmas", but it's actually "Candle in The Wind." Who knew? Anyway, let's move on to 875 healthcare facilities, residential care facilities for the elderly. It's a Glazer bill. It is a suspense candidate. The author's waived presentation. And it looks like we have support.

Mariah Carey.

Yes. Roxanne Gould, representing Six Beds, which is an association of small six-bed or fewer residential care facilities for the elderly. In support.

And do you want easy or hard, Roxanne?

let's go hard.

Let's go hard. All right. Which former NBA player was nicknamed Agent Zero?

Wilk Chamberlain.

Bradford, Seyarto? Anybody know? Gilbert Arenas. Agent Zero. All right. Anybody else in support of 875? Any opposition to 875? No opposition. Anybody here have any questions or comments? Seeing no objection, we'll move 875. To suspense. SB 764 Padilla, minors online platforms. It's a suspense candidate. The author's waived presentation will open up the public comment. There's no one here to speak in support. Any opposition to 764? Seeing no opposition, we'll come back to the deus.

Anybody have any questions on 764? Seeing no questions without objection. 764 will move to the suspense file. SB 768. Caballero, California Environmental Quality Act State Air Resources Board vehicle miles traveled study. It's a suspense candidate. The author's waived presentation will open up public comment here. Seeing no one come in support. How about opposition to 768? No opposition. We'll come back to the deus. There's no questions or comments without objection. 768 will move to the suspense file.

Our final bill is, final bill then we're going to go back to 625, is 784 Becker healthcare districts employment. It's a suspense candidate. The author's waived presentation. We're going to open up public comment with support. Seeing no support. And I think we have opposition to 784. So come on up I'm sorry. Your support? Support. Let's do support.

Sorry about that. Good morning Chair, members of the committee, Ronnie Berdugo here on behalf of the California Hospital Association and the Association of California Healthcare Districts in support of SB 784, a bill that gives healthcare districts the ability to directly employ physicians. This is a strong tool in helping recruit and retain physicians and to help close the physician shortage gap that we have here in California. So with that, we are in support. Thank you.

You want easy or hard?

I'll do an easy one.

An easy one. All right. Which is the only football team to go an entire season undefeated?

That's the New England Patriots. An entire season?

Miami Dolphins.

Through the Super Bowl?

They won the Super bowl. Yeah.

Got it.

Yeah, that was the easy one. All right.

You got the wrong. All right. Anyone in opposition? And you got it. I know.

I got it wrong.

Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, Brandon Marchy with the California Medical Association, in respectful opposition, want to thank you and the committee staff for your thorough analysis and would ask for your no vote at the appropriate time. Thank you.

All right. Easy or hard?

Dealer's choice.

All right. Which two countries have not missed a modern Olympics? Only two countries have been in every single Olympics in the modern times. It's a hard one.

Yeah, it is a hard one. I'm going to go with England and France. That's wrong, though.

How about Greece and Australia?

All right.

They're the only two that haven't raced. You want an easy one?

No.

Who's won more tennis grand slams, Venus or Serena?

Serena.

Serena. See, I told you that was an easy one. All right. We've taken support in opposition 784. With no questions from my colleagues. Without objection. 784 will go to suspense. We're going to go back to SB 625, Senator Nguyen, on newborn screenings, genetic diseases. It's a suspense candidate the author wants to present. So wherever you're comfortable.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and senators. I'm here to present SB 625, and the comments I'm going to make is really touching on whether this would be a cost to the state or not. SB 625 clarifies and expands the law relative to handling blood samples that are taken from newborn babies during genetic screening tests for treatable inherited conditions and disabilities. Current law mandates that all infants born in California be screened for inherited condition that can be treated if identified early.

SB 625 does nothing to change the current law regarding the screening test. However, current law is vague about what can and will be done with the leftover blood samples after the screening test. Has been completed unbeknownst to most people, including myself, when I had my two boys. California currently retains and stored those blood samples for an indefinite period of time and allows them to be used by researchers. SB 625 will allow parents to opt out of the process of the process of retaining, storing, and using their baby's blood for research purposes if they so desire. It also makes other changes that clarify the authority of the California Department of Public Health to manage infant blood samples. Current law authorizes the Department of Public Health to collect fees to cover the cost of the screening tests. These fees are nearly always billed and collected by the birthing centers where the mother delivers the baby. This is most often ultimately paid by health insurance companies.

The estimated cost to implement the provision of SB 625 will remain the same as will be paying the same way. I wanted to make clear that SB 625 will have no impact on the state general fund nor the estimated budget deficit California is slightly facing this fiscal year. SB 625 requires that an informational brochure that has currently been given to expecting parents to be modified to include more information about the future use of their child's blood sample to include being used for research purposes by third-party researchers. So SB 625, there is currently informational brochure already. All this does is just add some more information onto the brochure. So there's no additional costs in terms of adding a brochure. It's already there.

So really the one-time cost is the design and et cetera, just to add the information in. Again, this would be a one-time cost because the Department already annually hands out over 500,000 forms per year. The new cost would be just to redesign the brochure. The Department of Public Health advertises that parents may request that their child's blood samples be destroyed. This process is nothing more than a policy that is not incorporated in either statute or regulation today.

SB 625 qualifies this policy with the added information, with the added requirement that the department notify the parents within 30 days that the sample has in fact been destroyed as requested. However, since this is current policy, additional employees should not be necessary since the department is already conforming to their own policy. Again, all these costs should be covered by the fees charged and collected currently already by the birthing centers for the initial screening test. No new or additional cost will be incurred.

The department charges researchers for the use of these samples as well. So, in conclusion, I'm just asking. Well, in conclusion, SB 625 will only help to increase parental information and empower them to limit the use of their baby's blood sample after, if they choose to do so with no additional cost. I respectfully ask for your support on SB 625. And, Mr. Chairman, for the record, this is my first time ever not waiving my. Because we've been working on this bill for two years, and I really want to be able to make those comments so everybody knows.

All right, thank you. Do you have any witnesses?

All right. No. Is there opposition? No? You're opposition? Support. Come testify in support.

I don't.

Roxanne Gould, representing the American Nurses Association, in support. And I have a trivia question for you.

All right.

So nurses have been the most trusted profession for the last 22 years. Who did they unseat?

Firefighters. There you go. It was a hospital takeover.

Nurse versus firefighters. I had nothing to do with that one.

22 years. Good question. All right, anyone else, or we have somebody behind you. All right, come on up. Tweeners will take.

Yeah. Good afternoon. Chair, Ron Berdugo here with the California Hospital Association. With the amendments from January 11, CHA is pleased to move our position to neutral. Appreciate the author working with us to address those concerns, and thank you for the time.

You want an easy one or a hard one?

Might as well go for the hard one.

All right. Dump, floater, and wipe are terms used in which sport?

No clue.

Volleyball. Volleyball. Wipe, dump, floater and wipe are terms used in which team sport. All right, anyone else opposed? Who says government is boring? Not in the Appropriations Committee. All right. No other comments. Any questions from my colleagues? Without objection, SB 625 will move to suspense. That is all we have on our file. Mr. Wiener, I've got one hard question left for you just because you were late. Which country? Which country does Gouda cheese originate? Who knows who invented Gouda cheese? The Netherlands. Gave you some help.

Netherlands.

There you go, Netherlands. All right, without further comments, this meeting is adjourned.