Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration and General Government

The number is 877-226-8216 and the access code is 621-7161 we of course, as always, would expect and appreciate that decorum is maintained as is customary. Anyone either participating in person or remotely who is not in order will have their audio disconnected and asked to leave the room to allow public access. We've admitted Members of the public to the hearing room and again we'll use teleconference conference service as we get to that portion of the agenda.

We will take public comment after we have heard the discussion items and with that we will go to the first presentation. We will take up the items on the agenda for discussion and I believe the first is government ops. Good morning and welcome and please proceed when prepared.

Good morning Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. My name is Marianne Bates and I'm the Executive Director of California's Cradle to Career Data System. With me today are Leslie Taylor, Director of operations, as well as Shannon Serato, Director of engagement. As this is the first time I'm meeting with you in this Committee, I'm happy to provide background on our work. Cradle to Career was named in legislation to be California's actionable source of useful data and research on education, economic, and health outcomes for California's communities.

There was a formal 18 month planning process with more than 100 public meetings that preceded the launch of our office. And one outcome of that planning process and the legislation in 2021 that launched our office was a decision to house the data system in GovOps as a neutral entity. For some context on our work, we prepared a one pager that you have and that's also posted online for anyone listening in from the public. And just to touch on.

This cradle to careers envisioned to be the most inclusive data system of its kind in the nation, and part of the vision is to empower individuals to reach their full potential and to foster evidencebased decision making to help California build a more equitable future. And in thinking about the motivation for why this data system is being built, there are a number of problems that C tos C is addressing.

The first one is that data are siloed in different state level entities, making it hard for decision makers to answer important questions such as where do students in my home district go after high school? How do these outcomes vary across different student groups? Are we preparing students for quality jobs? And we're addressing that problem by building a linked analytical data set that connects existing state level data on education and job outcomes and will let decision makers answer important questions.

And we're going to share the insights from that linked data set in three different ways. The first is with dashboards on priority topics that will be available on our website and open to the public. The second is through query builders. This is like the choose your own adventure version of the dashboard, where people can generate their own tables and break down the data by region, or by school district, or by different student characteristics and demographics.

And then the third way we'll make the insights and information available is through a data request process for researchers to conduct studies using the underlying data. The second problem that cradle to career is addressing is that students face confusing barriers in applying for college and financial aid. They need to navigate multiple platforms to complete applications and share information from their transcripts. And these barriers can exacerbate existing disparities.

And what we're doing to address that issue is that we're coordinating with partners to scale practical tools for students. There are two named in the legislation. One is californiacologist.edu, which is intended to be the state's one stop shop for applying for financial aid in public colleges and universities. And the second is e transcript. California intended to be a platform for more seamlessly transferring transcripts across post secondary institutions.

And the third problem we're addressing is that communities lack equitable access to useful information and data to address their priorities. And so the third major area of our work is community engagement. We're listening to communities listening to their needs in a number of ways. One is with user centered design, so that we ensure we're creating useful, accessible dashboards and tools, community engagement and input practical trainings for how to use the dashboards and the data. And our governance structure is really reflective of these priorities.

And I'll just share a bit about our governance structure. I report to a 21 Member governing board, and that includes not only designees of our data providers and partners, but also two appointees of the Assembly, two appointees of the Senate, as well as Senator Laird and Assembly Member Erwin, in addition to the governor's office appointees.

So this governance structure really reflects how Cradle to Career is being built and how it came about which is that it's really a government wide effort and a true partnership between the Legislature and the Administration. I'll share a couple of key highlights from our work. I joined in February of 2022 last year. As of April 1 of this year, we will have filled 12 of our current 16 positions on our staff team. We have six additional recruitments in process.

Last summer, we signed legal agreements with 15 entities which will enable the data sharing to build that linked data set. And those legal agreements enabled us to make progress and complete the CDT's project approval lifecycle for the procurement of our system integrator, and we've also procured the relevant components of the technology stack. We also seated the 32 advisory board Members, which means that our staff is now supporting a total of 53 board Members.

Our budget request is for 4.9 million General Fund in fiscal year '23, '24 and ongoing to Fund and manage ongoing workload related to the Cradle to Career Data System. This includes requesting 10 new positions.

Approval of this request will enable Cradle to career to deliver on its statutory requirement to build and maintain a new statewide data system that prioritizes the security and privacy of the data, the needs of end users, including a focus on advancing equity, a user centered design process, and tools and resources that are accessible and useful to California's diverse students and families. And I'll just close with one reflection, for being a brand new endeavor, Cradle to Career has had an unusually high level of extensive public engagement.

Even our earliest governing Board Meetings had over 100 people dialing in on Zoom. We received more than 90 detailed applications for those 32 advisory board seats. And there are multiple coalitions of researchers, advocates, and practitioners who engage deeply during the planning process and continue to watch our work closely to ensure we're delivering on the promised approach that centers the needs of communities and focuses on building equitable futures. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Director Bates. Are there comments from the Department of Finance?

Natalie Griswold, Department of Finance this proposal allocates $4.9 million General Fund annually and 10 new positions to the Office of Cradle to Career. These resources are necessary to manage increased workload for the C to C office and we are happy to answer any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. LAO?

Ross Brown with the LAO we don't have any concerns to raise with this request.

Thank you. We'll bring it back to the Subcommitee. Thank you Director Bates, there's going to be a drop, obviously, in the delta between current year and ongoing projected funding.

Can you give a little more explanation as to whether there's an internal expenditure schedule with respect to the current allocation, how that might impact the reduction in resources in the next fiscal year, and is there going to be carryover or how are we more specifically utilizing the flexibility that's built in there? Hopefully.

Thank you. So I think what, the question you're asking is how we'll address the fact that we have about 23 million in the current year using some of our rolled over funds, and we would have a total of about 15 million in future years with this.

I think better put would be, how do you plan to manage the rollover funds to mitigate further reductions year over year?

We've requested the rollover funds to be available in the current fiscal year. We're currently using that to be able to set up the initial build of the data system and some of the initial resources that we need, including relocating to permanent space and all of the initial work we need to do to set up a new office.

The request that we have in the budget for the ongoing funding is what we need to have stability for the new positions that we require and the ongoing work of the office at this time. I think we expect to spend approximately $18 million in the current fiscal year, according to our best estimates right now. And we expect that we will be able to do the work we need to do next year with the requested funds as well. Does that answer your question?

It does. Thank you, Director. Other questions from Members. Senator Niello.

Kind of along that line. I think the objective of the system, I think is good, but we are going to have difficult times with our budget this year and maybe next year. And so we need to set priorities. So if your funding request is not granted, how will you handle that in terms of your ongoing effort?

So my honest answer to that is, I think it would be challenging to completely fulfill the mission that we have as a data system in terms of the focus on user centered design, inclusivity, and ensuring that we're sufficiently engaging with communities and building the work. If the request were not to be granted.

I think this is a request, given the complexity of the data system, the number of partners that we have, the number of data partners that we have, and the complex governance structure. The resources that we'll need moving forward, this is a reasonable estimate of the resources that we'll need to be able to do that work effectively.

I think if it weren't approved, we would have to cut back the number of activities we can do in terms of engaging with communities, user centered design, and potentially have to slow the build of the link data system.

Thank you Senator Caballero.

What I'm trying to get at is you're building the organization, you're moving expeditiously, which is what we'd like to see happen. But if we have to make some difficult choices up here, we'd like to make the choices so they have the minimal impact on contracts that have been committed.

I appreciate the information and the questions that have been asked. And in regards to the latter part of your answer, slowing down the data system can come with costs as well. And so are there contractual obligations that have been embedded in the contracts that have been signed on the 15 contracts that you talked about? I'm assuming they're the technology contracts. If they're not, please let me know.

And really, where I'm going with this is that many times when we do a technology contract to start building a system, it requires staff on the inside to be able to get the data and the information necessary to meet the contract. And so are the positions that you've identified in the budget request related to those contracts so that if, in fact, we were not to Fund it, you'd have to go back and renegotiate those 15 contracts, maybe at a higher cost?

Yes.

And I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I'm just trying to understand where the positions that you're, that are existing, that you're going to be using. And then the new positions, are they related to any of that?

Thank you for the question. When you're referring to 15 contracts, I'm wondering if perhaps that was my reference to the 15 data sharing agreements that we've signed. Those are with different state entities that provide the legal framework for enabling the data transfer from them to us. But yes, to the broader question that you're asking, it is true.

In regards to that, that's internal data sharing that doesn't require any additional people, sorry about that. From the outside to come in and help to manage it and rearticulate it, for lack of a better word.

So the work that we're doing right now requires both the staff team that we're building and that we're hiring to have the expertise on our team to be able to receive the data and to manage the work of the contractors. Yes.

So the work with the system integrator and a number of other contractors, from our security consultant to project manager to all of the related contracts that we worked very quickly to put in place over the past year, you're right that having staffed up and put those contracts in place, the best way forward is to continue to build the data system as expeditiously as possible.

I will also note that our data partners across the state, right from CDE to the different higher education segments, and all of those have also prepared their staff to be ready to share the data with us. So there's a lot of momentum and work that is already underway to build the data system.

Thank you. I appreciate that.

Thank you, Senator Caballero. This item will be held open. And thank you for your presentation.

Thank you.

We're going to take up the military Department next and welcome the adjutant General, Major General Matthew Beavers and staff. Please come forward and proceed when prepared.

Morning, Chair and Members. Good to see you, ma'am. Great. So, our first budget item on the agenda today is for our new headquarters complex. It's three positions, 448,000 in 2023 and 441 ongoing. And that's to provide capability to ensure that we are meeting our requirements for zero net energy.

So ensuring that the department maintains its sustainability goals based on the construction of our new headquarters and also to build out the remainder of our team to work on work orders to ensure that challenges within building are worked on and fixed expeditiously. You want me to keep going, move on to the next one?

Absolutely. Please.

Okay, sure. Too easy. Our next budget item is-

Getting ahead of me, sorry. Generally, I appreciate it. Forgive the interruption. Before we go any further, are there any comments from DOF on that particular issue or from LAO?

Anthony Franzoia, Department of Finance, no additional comments.

Jared Sippel from LAO. We don't raise any concerns with its proposal.

Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. Next issue?

No worries. So, our next budget item regards our Grizzly Youth Challenge Academy. And that's 12 positions, 1.5 million in federal trust fund authority, $500,000 in the general fund, and that's to build out an additional platoon in that organization.

I think most of the folks know that these programs, that we have three of these programs statewide, they are wildly successful, wildly oversubscribed, and if we can get this work done, we'll be able to not only add the 100 that we expect to do in the first year, but the following year to add another 100. So, 200 more students in the program.

Are there comments from DOF for LAO?

Anthony Franzoia, Department of Finance, no additional comments.

No comments from the LAO, thank you.

Are there questions from the subcommitee? Absolutely. Senator Caballero.

This is an expansion of the program, correct?

Yes, ma'am.

It is wildly popular and it's hard to get young kids into the program. So, thank you for doing this. It's really an opportunity, I think, to train up young people that have a promise.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

Thank you. That item will be held open. That takes us to issue 14.

The next item is our STARBASE. Two STARBASE academies we intend to grow. One at Porterville and one at Camp San Luis Obispo, adjacent to the Grizzly Youth Academy. Our ask here is for four positions, and that's 100% federally funded. So we're asking for the federal trust fund authority, 1.3 million for 2023, 1.5 ongoing. These programs target fifth graders primarily in STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering, math. And they're really targeted at low SES, underrepresented priority populations across the state.

Thank you, sir. Comments from DOF or LAO.

Anthony Franzoia with the Department of Finance. No additional comments.

And Jared Sippel with the LAO. We raise no concerns.

Thank you. Questions from the subcommittee? This item will be held open. Take us to issue 15.

Next items are state active duty pay adjustment. This occurs generally every year. Our state active duty service members are paid at the same as their federal counterparts. So as cost of living goes up and pay increases for our federal military, it commensurately goes up for our state active duty service members as well. And likely, we'll have - I'm sorry, likely the numbers will get just adjusted a little bit, and they may revise as generally it happens because we don't have the federal numbers quite yet, especially on basic allowance for housing.

Which is why the recommendations hold. DOF?

Anthony Franzoia with the Department of Finance. I was going to mention the adjustment, but other than that, no additional comments.

Jared Sippel with the LAO. We raised no concerns. Thank you.

Thank you. Members of the sub, item will be held open. I think that takes us to issue number 16.

So this one is the additional staff for our comptroller department. Our practice there. We're requesting nine state active duty or state civil service positions. 1.483 for 2023 and 24, and then 1.64 million ongoing. The fundamental back end challenge that I have in the military department is I can't get my bills paid on time. I can't pay my contractors on time. I got folks working 12 hours a day.

I get a high rate of turnover in these organizations because we don't have enough people to do the work. And this is a huge requirement for our organization. We need to treat our people better than the way they're working right now, which is they're just slugging it out. It's incredible. So, we appreciate your support on this.

Department of Finance.

Anthony Franzoia with Department of Finance. I'll just reiterate the challenges that general beavers noted, but no additional comments.

Thank you. Lao.

Jared Sippl with the LAO. We raised no concerns with this proposal.

Thank you, General. Are there actions that the Department internally can take to try to see that federal funding resources are absorbing a greater share of administrative costs?

Absolutely. We expend our federal funds up most and upfront. We have many, many of our programs, as you know, are both federally and state-funded. Many are 75, 25: 75 federal, 25 state. And we expend all the federal resources that they give us.

Thank you, sir. All right, questions from members of the sub? Senator Cabiero.

Well, I'm glad to hear that we're expanding the federal resources expeditiously. I always appreciate receiving federal funds, and it's frustrating when we have to return them. This is just simply a workload issue, as I understand it. It's taken you so long to come back and say, please, we need some resources.

You're putting me in a weird spot. This may not have been the first time that we've asked.

I understand.

It may well have been the first time it got here.

You don't have to answer any further. Having worked in an administration. I understand that completely. Well, so appreciate it. Thank you. The programs that you run are really incredibly important, especially the ones for kids. I think it's really important now that we don't have a mandatory military service requirement for young men or young women.

It's really important that young people have an opportunity to see what service above self is and to understand that part of that responsibility is to participate in a democracy where you actually give something of yourself and so appreciate both the Grizzly program as well as the programs for fifth graders.

Yes, ma'am.

Senator Neillo.

I appreciate the reason for the request. And is this workload level a recent spike for some particular reason? And if not, why weren't you requesting this before last year?

So it's not new, and it's really a function of a dramatic increase in our operational tempo, which provides for a commensurate increase in our spending authorities. So we've just kind of outgrown our back-end process.

A year ago, two years ago, you weren't having the difficulty in keeping up with the workload that you are now?

No, we were, sure.

All right. Thank you, Senator. No further questions or discussion. This item will be held open. General, thanks to you and your staff.

Thank you.

All right. That'll bring us back to the Office of Planning and Research and with. Yeah. With respect to Office of Planning and Research, presenting on issues six through nine will be Samuel Asifa, Director. And before we begin, let's go ahead and establish a quorum, if the consultant will call the role.

[Roll Call]

Thank you. Forums established. Please proceed, Director when ready.

Good morning, Chair and Senators; thank you for having me here. Can you hear me? I'm again Sam Assefa, the Director of the Governor's Office of Planning and Research. I'm joined here today by Josh Fryday, Director of CV, Saharnaz Mirzazad, Chief Deputy Director, which will join you later. Scott Morgan, who is the chief administrator for OPR and Yumi Sera, who is the Executive Director of the Office of Community Partnership and Strategic Communications.

So they will be here following the CB discussion to discuss the budget OPR's budget requests this year balance not only a response to the increased roles the legislature and the administration have asked OPR to play in multiple policy and program areas but also the realities of the state's leaner budgetary environment that we find ourselves in. This year. OPR has also been asked to stand up and administer two new commissions important to the legislature and the Governor.

This include the Racial Equity Commission and the Youth Empowerment Commission. The Racial Equity Commission was created through Executive Order N16-22 last year, and it's also informed by the proposals in SB 17. It is tasked, among other deliverables, to develop a racial equity framework to promote racial equity and address structural and institutional racism in state government more broadly. The commission will recommend tools and methodologies to advance these priorities.

It will also provide technical assistance on implementing strategies for racial equity consistent with the racial equity framework that it is tasked to develop, and it will respond to these issues as it is asked by state agencies to advance racial equity in each of government agencies. Second, the Youth Empowerment Commission is created through legislative action and will be tasked with examining and discussing policy and physical issues affecting the interests, needs, and conditions of the youth in California.

It is also tasked with advising and making recommendations to the legislature, superintendent of public instruction, and the Governor on specific legislative and fiscal issues affecting our state's youth. I'll briefly talk about the SGC Strategic Growth Council and the Office of Community Partnership and Strategic Communications. SGC the changes in this year's budget acknowledges the state's challenging fiscal situation while preserving our ability to continue advancing the goals and objectives of the Governor.

This includes through leveraging the success we've seen in the various SGC programs over the last few years, including its transformative climate communities program, to better coordinate with local partners and also to take advantage of other resources, including applying for an increase in available federal funding and bring those dollars to California. So we'll be focusing and pivoting in that to not only fill in the gap but also to get more resources based on some of the successful programs.

With Office of Community Partnership and Strategic Communications, it's a mouthful, which was established in the 2022-2023 budget and now manages the state's highest priority, community engagement and public awareness efforts. It is continuing its work in developing networks of trusted messengers and community partners around the state to ensure that critical public engagement around COVID-19, droughts, resilience, and extreme heat are communicated to communities throughout the state. So with that, I'm happy to take any questions.

And the OCPSC Executive Director and my other staff will be here for the second part of our budget discussion.

Thank you. I don't know that there'll be a need for comment from the departments on the general overview. I'll ask for it as we take each issue in turn. Okay, that'll bring us to issue six. Please proceed with any additional presentation from your staff, if any.

Good.

All right, any comments from DOF as to issue six?

Kevin Clark, Department of Finance. And no additional comments.

LAO

Rachel Ehlers with the Legislative Analysts Office. No comments on issue six. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll bring it to the subcommittee. Are there questions from Members? Seeing none, oh, I'm sorry. Senator Caballero.

Yeah, it's not a question relation to this, but the legislature always has great ideas about things we ought to be looking at and funding. And this is where the rubber meets the road, where you actually have to look at how many staff do we need? What are the resources we need for that staff? And when the budget is difficult, it's a difficult process to figure out. Okay, how do we set priorities within these budget requests?

Because it seems like we've started off the year with a couple of disasters that are going to hit us right in the stomach, and that's going to have an impact on our residents income, which then is going to impact our income that comes to the state. It's one of those theoretical issues, which is we're going to have a hard task in front of us. And so we're keeping a lot of stuff open.

I keep hoping that the market is going to improve, and then we have bank failures and flooding and disasters all over the country, and I'm not sure that's going to happen, but I appreciate that a lot of this comes from work that the legislature has done that's been exciting and new, and I'm not sure we're going to be able to afford to tell you the truth. So I'll leave it at that.

Senator Neillo.

Just a point to add on to Senator Caballero's issue. This is going to be a difficult budget. This is a broader question than just this issue. But there are only about six of us in the legislature, all of us in the Senate, who have been through a difficult budget cycle. The last five have been flush with money, and priority setting is going to be very difficult, but it's going to have to be something that we immerse ourselves in and a lot of difficult decisions.

So, I just wanted to make that comment. It will be a budget environment that very few of us are used to.

Thank you, Senator. This item will be held open. Take us to issue number seven. Are there any additional comments or testimony on that issue item? Legislative and legal staffing from the department, I don't see any. How about from the Department of Finance or LAO?

Kevin Clark, Department of Finance. No additional comments.

Thank you.

No comments from the LAO on issue seven.

Bring it to the sub. Are there questions from members of the subcommittee? Seeing none. This item will be held open. That'll bring us to issue eight. Racial Equity Commission and Youth Empowerment Commission transfer. I know we touched on that in the overview. Any additional comments? Director?

Yes. So I'm going to have some of my staff here. Scott Morgan, Chief Administrative Officer with OPR.

Thank you very much, Senator. Scott Morgan, Chief Administrator with the Governor's Office of Planning and Research. As Sam mentioned, on the Racial Equity Commission and Youth Equity Commission, those are proposed to be housed at the office planning and research. We are requesting $3.7 million in general fund in 23-24 and 3.1 million 24-25 through the sunset of those proposed sunset proposed year of 29-30 and 12 positions to support the work of both those commissions, including executive directors.

Obviously for both commissions, as Sam mentioned, the Racial Equity Commission will be tasked with developing resources, best practices, tools, and advancing social racial equity effort will ultimately result in the development of a racial equity framework that will be presented to the legislature and the Governor. So a lot of work involved in that entity, stakeholder outreach, meetings, development of tools, publications, technical assistance, things like that. The Youth Empowerment Commission, as Sam mentioned, was created by AB 46.

It currently doesn't have a home, so it's kind of floating out there on its own. And so this proposal will include trailer bill language to place it at OPR so we can administer that commission for you all and have it set up and get running. And there is currently 1.5 million of this total that was already dedicated to the Youth Equity Commission that will be rolled into that overall budget. So the ask is 3.1, but part of that has already been considered by the legislature.

And I do appreciate that the Senate has already appointed the two members to the Racial Equity Commission, so appreciate your timeliness on that and look forward to any questions you may have on this proposal.

Thank you, sir. Are there comments from DOF?

Kevin Clark, Department of Finance. No further comments.

Thank you. LAO.

No comments from the LAO. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll bring it to the subcommittee. Senator Caballero.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So both of the commissions, as I understand or read this, are budgeted for $1.5 million. But what are the 12 positions for?

So the 12 positions include two executive directors, one for each commission, and then support staff to support the work of all the commissions, including the development of the tools, the resources, the reports to the legislature, legal interpretation of some of the constitutional and other requirements involved in racial equity work, and how that advice can be provided to you all in timely manner.

And the reason I asked this, and it's the danger of having served in the administration, is that when the state had a $26 billion deficit, and if Governor Brown is watching: no, I took my role very seriously to look internally within the agency to determine which commissions, boards, or I think one of them was an office, they're very similar to a commission, should be eliminated. And we eliminated four within my agency by itself. And the total number of staff in those four entities was not 12.

So I'm just trying to get a bead on why 12 in a good year? Yeah, 12. But in a bad year. Is 12 the real number that you should start off with in order to institutionalize the work?

So we believe. So, yeah. We took a hard look at the language in the executive order, the language in AB 46, and the expanse of requirements of the two commissions, the extended stakeholder involvement and outreach that both commissions are required to go through, as well as the makeup of the commissions. We think the Youth Equity Commission or empowerment Commission is a first in that it includes members that are 14 to 25 year olds.

So we think there's going to be a lot of work dealing with how do we work with that age group from both a legal standpoint and a commission meeting standpoint. And the issue areas involved with a racial equity commission, I think, are going to be extensive and complicated, and we think are going to require this amount of staff and yes.

Okay. All right. I don't have any further questions.

Thank you, Senator Caballero. All right. I appreciate that. We'll move to the next issue. That item will be held open. Issue nine is Office of Community Partnership and Strategic Communications update as an information item. Is there additional testimony?

So I'll ask the executive director, Yumi Sera, to come here.

Thank you. Welcome.

Give me an overview.

Good morning. Thank you, chair Padilla and the Members of the Subcommitee. Before I begin sharing a bit of the Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications, I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Yumi Sera. I'm the new Executive Director and I really have the honor to serve this office and just a little bit about my background. I come to this role with over 30 years of experience, working deeply in communities and with community based organizations.

I served as a senior advisor for the vaccinate all 58 campaign, formulating strategies based on innovation and good practices. I also served as deputy secretary for statewide outreach for California complete count Census 2020, and even before that I was at the World Bank shaping civic engagement and participation initiatives, and I've guided philanthropy for funding to vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities and indigenous peoples around the world.

Most importantly, though, I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Senegal, in a rural village working on community development in an area devastated by climate change. And lastly, I'm a daughter of public servants. I'm incredibly grateful to the Governor and Legislature for your commitment to investing in and establishing this new office, and I look forward to really getting to know you, your perspectives, and finding ways to partner over some of the most pressing issues facing California.

The Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications is responsible for managing the state's high priority campaigns around Covid-19, drought resilience, and extreme heat. We serve as a coordinating partner with other state agencies, utilizing their expertise to ensure that we do not duplicate efforts and we conduct their campaigns with their subject matter expertise and just a little bit about how we were sort of formed.

We were built on the success and foundation of the recent census and Covid vaccination efforts, and I'd like to take some time to describe how these two campaigns guide our work due to our state's size and diversity, which obviously you know very well. The California Complete Count Census 2020 campaign placed special emphasis on educating, motivating and activating residents least likely to participate in the census. The effort was tremendously successful.

California achieved the number one response rate in hardest to count census tracks among the nation's 10 largest populous states. The vaccinate, all 58 effort in reference to our state's 58 counties, was launched to encourage Californians living in places with low vaccination rate and high social and health inequities to get vaccinated against Covid.

The campaign, which still continues today, works with community based organizations to connect vaccine hesitant people to make sure folks get boosted, and trusted messengers who provide culturally appropriate information to address their questions and share actionable information on how they can protect themselves and their families. Since the vaccine campaign launched in December 2020 under the California Department of Public Health and now under our office, the program has funded more than 225 community based organizations.

We've provided messaging and materials in more than 14 languages and made or referred 7 million vaccine appointments and made 28 million doorknock contacts and events with peer to peer outreach events. And as we move forward with this new office, we're tasked with managing statewide outreach efforts with trusted community messengers. These messengers directly engage Californians, including those experiencing the greatest health and social inequities.

We provide them with culturally relevant and accessible information and resources, and we focus our efforts on reaching people where they are in a way that resonates with them from both a cultural perspective and in the language perspective. I was appointed just seven months ago, and since then we have onboarded 85% of our positions we received on July 1 of last year.

We work hand in hand with Dr. Asepha, with Director Asepha and other teams within OPR to build administrative systems and transition the management of the vaccine campaign to OPR from CDPH. We embedded and worked alongside the team at the Department of Water Resources to scale the existing save our water public awareness campaign, and we've begun the important work of preparing for the extreme heat that communities are likely to face this summer. And we're really building on some of our lessons that we've learned.

We've spent time being really intentional, looking at intended and unintended outcomes from the vaccine campaign and understanding what lessons we can take to inform future campaigns. I've also conducted 20 community connections with over 120 CBO's in very small groups all across the state, representing their communities, really to hear from them about their reflections and their perspectives of how some of these issues are affecting them. The biggest takeaway from both census and vaccine work is that there's no one size fits all in our approaches.

In our solutions, we need to be surgical, we need to make sure we have impact, and we need to make sure we listen to our communities. And trust really goes both ways, right? They need to trust us, and the communities need to trust them.

So we've really gone into working heavily with community based organizations who are trusted messengers, with local nonprofits, with elected officials like yourselves, with faith leaders, with ethnic media who directly engage with the residents. And ensure the message is timely, accurate, and culturally appropriate. Second, we need to be intentional to ensure we are both meeting the needs of community Members and ensuring equitable access to information.

This means using data, research, and user centered design to create messages, and these actions take into account unique cultural resources and dynamics that help information resonate with different audiences. And since I did have to work during the pandemic and the wildfires and a lot of other interesting twists and turns around the census, this resonates. The idea of really reaching out through our CBO's, through our community based organizations and our trusted messengers is really, really important to us. Lastly, we need to have a learning centered approach.

And with limited resources and so much need, we have to prioritize and focus our resources to make the biggest impact on the communities in need. We have set together clear goals, we have outcomes, result space, and measurements to know we're on the right track and when we need to adapt or pivot like we did for the vaccination and census campaigns. Thank you for your time and I look forward to really meeting with you and answering any questions you might have.

Very much appreciate the update and the work of the office. Are there any comments from Department of Finance?

No comments on this item. Thank you.

Kevin Clark, Department of Finance no further comments.

LAO?

The work, particularly around strategic comms, around vaccinate and particularly vaccinate 58, for example, was transferred out of public health. Do we have any data here in the office about whether they had a corresponding reduction in their budget demand, given that the program was moved?

I'd be interested in understanding a little bit about that. Preface that by saying that I'm a big fan of the office's work, particularly around this subject matter. It's very personal to me, particularly as we're here in March on the third anniversary of was a very difficult time for all of us here in the state. So I'd be interested.

We'll definitely be able to get you that information.

Thank you for that. Are there questions for Senator Caballero?

So I really appreciate you telling us a little bit about yourself. Sometimes we don't end up getting information, or if we do get it, it's filed somewhere way back.

One of the things that I really appreciate your commitment to communicating with community based organizations and outreach in all of the communities, and maybe would be appropriate to have a sit down conversation at some time to kind of go over some of the organizations you've identified and maybe have staff compile a list for me of all the different organizations.

And the reason this becomes really important is that there have been seminal times in our disaster readiness or outreach that have been disappointing because it's not what we do right. We have to rely on our county partners, and sometimes the counties are so caught up in whatever the disaster is that they don't see the world the same way we do.

And so when we did the resource of making $500 available for undocumented workers, we had to rely on some traditional partners that had their own way of communicating with the community. That left lots of people out. Now it wasn't enough. So you had to make choices about who was going to get $500 and who wasn't. It was a relief during COVID when everybody was unemployed or everybody was sent home and many people were not working.

And when we were trying as a legislative office, trying to interact with the CBO, some of them really didn't have the capacity to reach really deeply into the community. And in particular, an area that was missed fairly significantly was the indigenous population that works the hardest jobs and don't have any of the safety nets. I'm glad we're setting up the infrastructure to be better prepared. It was the same way with the vaccine.

There was a lot of trepidation about a vaccine that had been issued through emergency FDA processes. And so it's a process to go out and convince the community that it's the right thing to do and that it's safe and that there are places they can get their questions answered. And so there have been different periods where it's been frustrating to try to get out from my position and to see that we can do a better job.

So I'm relying on you because I think this is the opportunity to really create a network and have some of the smaller CBO's that are targeted to very distinct populations. When you realize how many languages are spoken in California, that, quite frankly, we've been a haven for asylum seekers that get integrated pretty significantly into communities and they become just like everybody else. But communication is entirely different. So it's understanding that, I think is really important.

So I appreciate your information today, again, we're going to have to make some really tough decisions about where we're putting resources and, yeah, just going to be tough.

Thanks, Senator, for your comment. I think part of the reason the Governor conceived this about a year and a half ago was for the same reason that you mentioned. Government is good at sometimes responding during disasters. We get all our resources together or every 10 years to get the census, and then we do it again. We go back to the same community organizations, take their resources for every response. And his ask at the time was, how can we institutionalize the lessons learned from that?

This is a unique, one of a kind office throughout the country. Other states have really looked for ways to institutionalize their nimble response or great response during disasters. Now there is a structure that could be transformational from that perspective and engagement perspective.

I appreciate your comment about the census because that was another startup that was tough. Because you ask yourself, we do this every 10 years. Why do we have to start from scratch every time we do this? Right? People ought to be used to filling out forms, but there was a fear factor involved in many of our communities of being counted and what that means. And are people going to be deported if they give information? And families that are of mixed status.

Status, but there's a better word for it. In any case, it was for many, many rural communities, agricultural communities. The whole issue of the census was very scary. And so to have to start all over is painful. So we'll be better prepared next time. Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate that.

Thank you. Senator, I'm reminded that there was provisional language in '22, '23 that dealt with specific outreach to communities that make, with respect to qualification and assistance, qualify for an ITIN to give them better access, maybe to take advantage of crediting and other sort of benefits. The provisional language required that the office would report out with some specificity at the time of budget review. And so a thanks to staff for highlighting that.

And I would ask that you would address that here if possible with some specificity as to the actions that the office has taken.

Again, we'll be likely building on what we have already built. We do have such a trusted messenger of the CBO network. We'll be going through our CBO network also to hear from them also. Well, it's not really here, but really listen to them about how to reach their community members around ITIN.

And we'll also partner with relevant state agencies and gather all of the resources that are available to some of these community members to provide the resources through our CBO's and really use the same model that we've been using all along to provide this information.

And how would you characterize the progress up to this point specifically?

Regarding ITIN? Because we have that. We have not started to ask the questions yet, but we can start next week on asking these questions as well around ITIN, just because we do have our CBO network.

Thank you. Any other questions from Members? That is an information item and update. Thank you for that. It will take us to issue 10 California volunteers, California Climate Action Corps.

Thank you. Good morning. Turn that on. Get started. Thank you, Mr. Chair and Members of the Committee. Good morning.

My name is Josh Friday and I'm joined by my colleague Anthony Chavez. And we were with California volunteers, which is the Department tasked with really providing paid service and volunteer opportunities to unite and mobilize and engage Californians to take action around tackling some of our biggest challenges?

And we understand very well, California volunteers, that one of the biggest challenges we face is the reality of an economy that's leaving too many behind that often don't have the opportunity and a sense of hope for a career with dignity and meaning and purpose, especially in a tough economy. So California volunteers has two unique program budget proposals in front of the Committee today.

And really, they are focused on creating economic opportunity in a future workforce, while also inspiring young people to serve, to create the future leaders for our communities, especially in the communities that are too often underinvested. And Senator Caballero, as you powerfully stated this morning, without mandatory national military service, many young people don't get to have the kind of experience I had serving in the military.

And we need to create those opportunities so that young people feel like they have the ability to be part of something bigger than themselves. So for the California Climate Action Corps, we request $4.7 million annually and ongoing to expand and to continue the proven and successful Climate Action Corps program that we launched in 2020 as the country's first statewide Climate Action Corps, which is really focused on empowering Californians to take meaningful action in their communities.

And the Climate Action Corps fellows, they can work for a summer, or they can commit to serve for an 11 month term of service. And they work with public agencies, cities and counties. They work with tribes. They work with nonprofits and educational institutions all throughout the state to support community climate engagement and climate action. And they particularly are focused in those communities that are hit hardest by our climate crisis.

The Climate Action Corps leverages significant federal AmeriCorps funds to run, and to date, we've had literally hundreds of California Climate Action Corps fellows serve in these frontline communities throughout the state, and each of them receive a living stipend. And like a GI Bill, they receive a scholarship to help them either pay for college in the future or pay down their student debt for their service.

And in part, we are requesting funding because really, the demand for this program is greater than what we can accommodate at this point. For the current term fellowship term, eligible public agencies, tribes, nonprofits, and educational institutions applied to host over 450 full time fellows. Currently, we only have 115 full time fellowship slots available.

In addition, California Climate Action Corps received five applications for every slot available, which is really indicating to us that Californians are eager and they're hungry for these kinds of service opportunities where they can protect their community and contribute in a meaningful way, but also be put on a pathway to a meaningful career in our new clean economy and in the climate field.

And I was recently in San Diego where a young man came up to me and introduced himself as Anthony and said, I am a former Climate Action Corps fellow. Because of my fellowship I now work at the Audubon Society and I just applied for a job to be an environmental scientist with California State Parks. And he wrote me and said, quote unquote. "Serving as a fellow has really helped me to open the doors that have gotten me on this path".

For the second budget request we are requesting for the Californians for All Youth Jobs Corps program, $78.1 million in ongoing General Fund in 2022. California volunteers launched the Youth Jobs Corps, which is a partnership between the state and local governments that gives underserved youth a meaningful service experience while allowing them to live an earning wage while and gave valuable skills that will launch them on a successful career.

To date, we have funded 27 local governments and they have employed youth aged 16 to 30 who are, and we are very intentional about the focus of this program. This program is focused on employing low income youth, justice involved youth, current or former foster care youth, and those youth who are engaged with the mental health or substance abuse system.

And so with this request, our hope is to also in the coming year, focus our intention to expand the focus of the Youth Jobs Corps to include DACA recipients and AB 540 eligible dreamers, which, as we know, is a population that is often not included in fellowships, that they don't receive national service opportunities because they're federally funded or other professional opportunities.

And the way the youth job score is structured, in addition to a competitive wage, these young people receive wraparound services, everything from emergency housing assistance to childcare, resume preparation, leadership training. And they end up focusing their work in a variety of critical areas that are critical to the community. Food insecurity, climate action, working on education disparities and many more. And the demand for these opportunities are real. We're seeing it.

Over 6000 young people have already applied to be a Member in the youth Jobs Corps and to illustrate just some of the impact that we're already seeing. Senator Padilla, in your district, the City of San Diego has already hired nine youth Jobs Corps participants for full time employment to meet the city's needs and the community needs, and to start these young people on a path in public service.

And Senator Caballero, next week I get to attend the graduation of the Monterey County Youth Jobs Corps, which are the Members that you and I got to induct and kick off just last October. And already we know that out of the group of Monterey Youth Jobs Corps Members, four are going to be working full time with the California State Parks, and one of the Members is going off to work for Tesla. So we're all very proud of them and their futures.

In addition, Senator Niello, I know that civic engagement and volunteerism has been an important part of your career. And one of our focuses is really making sure that these young people understand the impact of giving back to their community, understand the joy, but also the responsibility to contribute to society in a meaningful way. And they are learning that through this program.

So this budget request looks to extend the current youth Jobs Corps program beyond fiscal year '24, which allows our state to one build on the foundation of this current program, but also to ensure that there's no future funding gaps in programming operations, and provides our partners, the cities and counties and nonprofits and tribes that we are working with the continuity and sustainability necessary to support the literally thousands of young people participating in this program already.

So lastly, we believe that the Youth Jobs Corps program and the Climate Corps program are really a win, win, win. They're a win for the young people who get to have these opportunities, launch them on a career, gain the experience to pursue their passions and contribute to society. They're a win for our communities because they're doing really incredibly important work right now and will continue to do so.

And it's a win for our entire state because we're now providing real economic opportunity while also inspiring the next generation to serve and give back and contribute in a meaningful way. And we thank you for your consideration and time today.

Thank you for the presentation and with respect to both issues. 10 and 11, their comment from the Department of Finance.

Yeah. Kevin Clark with the Department of Finance. So you'll be hearing from the LAO momentarily about a few of their concerns with both of these proposals. First, for the California Climate Action Corps, LAO recommends to reject the proposal because it is unclear if a volunteer based approach is affective. And we would like to just offer up the idea, and we know that climate mitigation, and adaptation is not really an either or strategy, but really rather multifaceted approach and coordinated approach across state entities.

And so in this particular program, as your pamphlet shows, has already been begun making a difference throughout California. So just like to note that the Climate Corps has planted more than 139,000 trees, diverted 1.2 million pounds of food and organic waste, and also has treated 36 homes and structures for wildfire risk. So Cal Volunteers is enabling a volunteer base to become proactive in their local communities and is reaching Californians in ways that perhaps other strategies may not be.

On the second item for the Youth jobs Corps, you'll also be hearing from the LAO to reject the Youth Jobs Corps proposal. And really, the focus is around the availability of data pertaining to the program. And we just highlight that since its inception, the Youth Jobs Corps program has engaged about 2000 youth who have collectively contributed roughly 259,000 hours across the state and into their communities.

And we also know, as Mr. Friday pointed out, that youth who participate in the program, roughly 75% of them, identify as low income former foster youth, youth who have been involved with the health and substance abuse systems. And so we know from some of these points that we're connecting with the right groups and the folks who could benefit the most from these types of opportunities. Happy to answer any questions, and I'll stop there.

Any questions for Department of Finance? Is there any comment from LAO?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning again. Rachel Ehlers with the LAO. As was noted by the Department of Finance, we do have a recommendation on this, and we recommend you reject both proposals, really for a few reasons. First, we think it's premature. These are both pilot programs that the state is in the middle of operating. We have some initial kind of participation numbers, but we don't have outcomes about the effectiveness and evidence about how effective these programs are at their goals as compared to other programs.

And we think that that information is really critical for you before you make ongoing commitments to funding these programs with the General Fund, in the case of the Climate Action Corps, to double the existing program and make it ongoing. And second, really, as was noted by many of you on the dais already this morning, we are in the context of a budget problem.

And really, in that context, every dollar of new spending that you spend on a new program necessarily means a dollar less that you are having to cut or make reductions elsewhere to your existing commitments. So the governor's proposal makes room for these new expansions by making reductions in other programs to which the state has already made commitments. And we think that some of that really, you need to have a higher bar for making new spending decisions in this context.

And we don't think these proposals quite meet that higher bar, particularly given the lack of outcome data. Yet also, they both could continue even without these augmentations because they have existing funding. In the case of the Climate Action Corps, they're in the middle of a five year pilot with federal funds and General Fund through 2526. In the case of the youth job corps, they still have funding to operate for another year, and there are many other youth workforce development programs.

So really, the context of our recommendations is just the budget context that you're in and whether it makes sense to expand and make programs ongoing given the other difficult choices that would result from that.

Thank you. Other questions for LAO on the recommendation. All right, bring it back to the Subcommitee. Senator Caballero.

Very briefly, I think I appreciate the anecdotal comments about people getting jobs and stuff. That's great. That's really, I think what we're talking about, long term analysis of, well, at least short term in terms of immediate, and then over time figure out a way to be able to communicate.

It's one of the frustrations that I have with some of the programs for youth at the local community level is the youth will say this was a life changing experience, and then you would know nothing beyond the first finishing or graduating. And the reason this becomes important is long term, there may be things that could be added to the program that end up providing the either educational background or structure, or it could be the element that helps students that have struggled. Right.

You talked about the different disadvantages that students face, and it seems to me that more and more students are facing real crisis, either in their home life, in their environment, in their community. And so the more that we can understand what helps them achieve success along the road would be greatly important. My guess is it's mentoring. And so it may be that setting up adult mentors in the community as they're going through their process would be one of the elements that could make a difference.

But it may be that it's something entirely different. So we're not making a decision today, but it's just a suggestion to follow some of the students a little bit long term, and it's hard because it means you've got to stay in communication with them. But with electronics, it ought to be a lot easier to do that long term. So thank you for your presentation today.

Thank you. Thank you, Senator Caballero. Senator Niello.

Yes, you made an excellent presentation of a program that in and of itself is admirable, actually great program. But if we're going to have augmentations of spending in a challenged budget, it needs to be real core mission of state government. And these really aren't core mission programs for the state. They're great programs, I will admit that. But it's not really the core mission of the state to provide these sorts of programs.

It's sort of more of the education nature. So I just think we need to be very careful in our priority setting this year's challenge budget that we keep the focus on the state's core mission. And as was pointed out, your program can continue.

Thank you, Senator. I would just close with the comment that for this Member, I think taking a very close examination of, with respect to priority setting in a constrained environment. Prioritizing pipelines to workforce development is a huge priority for this Member.

My respectful assessment as sort of a semi new, in quotes Member to the Legislature is that we've done a lot of great work holistically, but we haven't been as strategic or intense in areas where we're developing a pipeline for workforce development, particularly being strategic about the overall California workforce that's going to be necessary to be part of the infrastructure that's going to support and implement so much of the programmatic and operational demands that the Legislature has placed.

And workforce development for this Member is a huge priority. Appreciate the presentations. Both these items will be held open. I thank you all for your work and for your time. We will move to public comment. And again, the Subcommitee welcomes everyone's participation both in person and remotely. And again, for those that are dialing in to provide testimony, that number is 877-226-8216 and the access code is 621-7161 we will begin with testimony from Members of the public present in the hearing room.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and Members Chris Grogan with Pray and McKaylee on behalf of the California Workforce Association in support of issue 11, the $78.1 million General Fund to extend and make ongoing the California for all Youth Job Corps program. CWA's mission is to support the 45 local workforce development boards and their partners through strategic advocacy and partnership convening and capacity building.

Please come forward, state your name for the record and limit your comments to 1 minute, please. Thank you and welcome.

And the California for all youth Job Corps program has already shown promising results and has been effective in providing technical skills and workforce experience to young people in California.

Just one example, in Anaheim, 50 young people have enrolled and participated in the program to date and ages ranging from 16 to 30, with an average age of 21, and one of those groups included 10 high school students, youth and one recent graduate who participated in an urban gardening project where they learned gained technical skills in regenerative and organic farming practices, irrigation systems, and crop rotation, and as a result, 3000 pounds of produce have been harvested and donated to local families.

We support this program and think that it's innovative and impactful and request that you prove its ongoing funding. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, Raquel Morales on behalf of the Education Trust West as an organization whose work is rooted in research, we want to express our support for the office of Cradle to Career. We believe that California needs a longitudinal data system to help us make better informed policy decisions around education. A linked data system can show us trends and barriers that students and communities are facing.

This would be a powerful tool when it comes to answering policy questions like what is happening with the teacher shortage and who is graduating and what programs are benefiting our communities. We ask that you support the continued funding and the funding to expand the office. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning. Chair and Members Rita Medina on behalf of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, CHIRLA we are here to support the expansion of the Youth Job Corps, specifically its goal of including undocumented youth.

We're very excited about this proposal. We hope to see this move forward and as broadly as possible and take into consideration the programs and services that California has created through our higher education systems, that will be models for how we can implement this. It's time for us to be able to think creatively. We know that our young people are hungry for opportunities. Not everybody pursues higher education, and we celebrated their inclusion in programs like College Corps, which is also under the same Department.

But their inclusion in youth jobs Corps is another commitment to equity in our state, and it will set our undocumented youth up to better contribute to our state in the future. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else present in the hearing room would like to testify in person under public comment, saying none. I'll ask our moderator to advise with respect to call-ins.

And ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to speak on this issue, please press one, then zero at this time. We'll go to line 17. Please go ahead.

Good morning, Mr. Chairman. Members Anna Alvarado on behalf of the California Edge Coalition, in support of the proposal to permanently Fund the Youth Jobs Corps program. As mentioned, the Youth Job Corps is intended to create and expand youth employment opportunities that provide valuable job skills and career pathways for opportunity youth. In order to achieve and surpass our state's economic and workforce goals, it is crucial to prioritize and engage our youth, especially those who have become disconnected from our education and workforce systems.

Programs like the youth job course are essential to provide workforce opportunities for underserved youth, particularly young people of color and immigrant youth who continue to face socioeconomic and systemic barriers. Big, big thank you to the Senate for prioritizing apprenticeships and career pathways for youth in the Protect our progress budget plan. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Next caller.

And we'll go to line 14. Please go ahead.

Good morning, Mr. Chair and Members McKenna Jenkins with Next Gen California.

And we are in support of issue eight. Next Gen California supports the governor's investment of $3.8 million for the Office of Planning and Research to begin the staffing and implementation of the Racial Equity Commission and the Youth Empowerment Commission. We hope funds will be utilized judiciously to meet the critical goals of both commissions to meaningfully put California on a path to be just and inclusive.

We look forward to continuing our work with the Office of Planning and Research, the Legislature and the Administration to ensure that the implementation of the Racial Equity Commission and the Youth Empowerment Commission is a success.

Next we move to line 18. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Next caller.

Good morning, Mr. Chair, my name is Meront with the California Black Health Network calling in support of the governor's investment of $3.8 million for the Office of Planning and Research to begin the staffing and implementation of the Racial Equity Commission. The Commission will develop resources, best practice and tools for advancing racial equity based on publicly available information and idea. We look forward to continuing to work with the Office of the Planning, research, the Legislature, the Administration to ensure the implementation of the Commission. Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you. Next caller

Line number 12, please go ahead.

Good morning, Mr. Chair and Members. The California Alliance of Child and Family Services supports item number eight, the governor's investment of 3.8 million for the Office of Planning and Research to staff and implement the Racial Equity Commission.

The California alliance is a statewide Association of 160 nonprofit, community based agencies serving youth, children, and families in public human services systems, and we respectfully request the inclusion of behavioral health and child welfare as areas of focus for the Commission in the budget trailer bill language. Systemic inequities continue to cause harm for children and youth in both systems, and it's important to address these inequities to better serve young Californians in need.

We look forward to working with the Administration and the Legislature to ensure the meaningful implementation of the Commission with community input. Thank you.

Thank you. Next caller.

And we'll move to line 19. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon, Chair and Members. Jose Torres with Health Access California on issue eight, Health Access is supportive of the funding for the office Planning and research to begin staffing and implementation of the Racial Equity Commission, as this is great work that the Commission is assigned to be doing, and I thank you for your time.

Thank you. Moderator are there any additional callers?

And, Mr. Chair, there's no one else in queue at this time.

Thank you very much for your assistance, and thanks to everyone who participated. The items that have been noticed for vote only calendar will be continued to the docket for the next Subcommitee hearing. If you haven't been able to provide testimony remotely or in person, you are able to provide your comments in writing to Committee staff. We thank everyone for your participation and engagement, and the budget sub four will stand adjourned. Thank you.

We're not taking up the vote only.