Senate Floor

The Senate will come to order. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Quorum is present. Would the Members and our guests be on the rail? Please rise. We will be led in prayer this morning by our chaplain, Sister Michelle Gorman, after which, please remain standing for the pledge of allegiance to our flag. Sister Gorman?

We gather in God's presence. We begin our prayer with a quote from Langston Hughes. Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air. And you, gracious God, who is not often called humorous as we move through our days, help us to remember the difficulties we create for ourselves by trying to shape the circumstances around us. And by holding on to the illusions of control. Let us not wither in the triple digit heat of self importance.

Self will and self critique help us to allow humor to refresh our perspectives, to see the humanness of our lives as a blessing rather than a burden. To know ourselves in a new way and to love ourselves with a new kindness. As we respond tenderly to the pressures we place on ourselves, may we release the unfairly high expectations we place on others and rejoice in the joy of our shared, beautiful and limited personhood within the human family. We ask this in your name. Amen.

Thank you, Sister Gorman, for your insightful words. Please join me, Members and guests, with the pledge to our flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag. Thank you. Members, we're going to deviate from our normal order of business today, and we're going to start with an Assembly third reading file. Members, we're going to start with Assembly third reading file file item number 16, your microphone up. From Senator Jones. T

hank you, Mr. President. And Members, I would like to make a motion today regarding AB 610. That we move AB 610 to the inactive file. Members, I supported this Bill as recently as Monday in appropriation.

Senator Jones, if you've made a motion, I want to recognize that motion. Okay. And I want to just say to my colleagues that this is a debate on the merits of your motion to the item to be an active file, not on the Bill itself. Correct.

I'm going to speak to the motion, sir. . Please. Thank you very much. Members, I think it's important for all of us to recognize that a blistering media report published yesterday indicates the exemptions to the original mandate on the minimum wage hike are tied to the governor's campaign contributions. Media outlets, just as recently as yesterday, across the country, national media are paying attention to this specific Bill and calling it pay to play. Put simply, campaign contributions should not buy carve outs in legislation in this Bill or any Bill. That's crony capitalism. It's corrupt and it's unacceptable.

I didn't support the original Bill, AB 1228, that created this minimum wage hike, and I absolutely support more exemptions to that Bill. And we need more exemptions because I don't think that any business should be subject to government mandates that interfere with the free market, especially costly ones that put them out of business. However, I think the Senate would be remiss by rushing to pass this Bill today, the measure providing even more exemptions to a law now reportedly tied to campaign contributions.

We need to send a message that this Senate, that this House, that these Members, that this bipartisan group of legislators that are trying to make California better, will not condone pay to play actions or perceptions. Period. At this point, the cleanest path forward is to scrap AB 1228 and 610 entirely and start from scratch. At the very least, we should hold on moving this Bill forward until there can be a thorough investigation to the allegations at hand. I appreciate that we would move this Bill to inactive.

Thank you. Mr. Motion to move the Bill to the inactive file. I want to recognize the majority leader.

I respectfully ask for no vote on this motion.

All right, any further debate or discussion on this motion? Any further debate or discussion? Seeing none, the secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

On a vote of eight in favor, 31 against, the motion to move this item to the inactive file fails. We're going to now move to the file. Item 16. This is Assembly Bill 610. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 610 by Assembly Member Holden enacting. To employment and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately.

Senator Limon, the floor is yours.

Thank you. President and colleagues, I rise to present AB 610 on behalf of Assemblymember Holden. When AB 1228 came before us last year, we knew that legislation would benefit workers and raise wages. But we also knew that the Bill needed further cleanup. I committed to you then that we would address those areas of conflict while staying true to the intent of the Bill. AB 610 addresses the overlap in AB 1228, as well as workplaces, where AB 1228 may have an established ceiling rather than a floor.

This Bill is consistent with the goal set out in AB 1228, where workers have the opportunity to be heard, engage, and through the fast food council organizations, efforts, representation, or civic engagement. Through wage and benefit ordinances, discussions. This Bill addresses the areas of concerns that we all shared last year while still carrying the purpose of AB 1228 forward. For those reasons, I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, Senator Limon. Discussion or debate. Senator Dahle.

Thank you, Mr. President. Members, I rise today to just. I'm going to actually vote against this Bill. And the reason is that this Bill is a carve out for people who want to pay to play. You know, the Governor just stated today that it's the way sausage is made. Well, there's a lot of pork in sausage, if you know, and a lot of his friends are getting some pork out of this.

Same thing happened last year and the year before when we had a Kaiser Permanente deal that was done behind closed doors and $30 million was behested. I guess if you're in the bread making business, there's a lot of dough to go around. But this is just not right. At the end of the day, we need to pass good laws and we need to not carve out people who are campaign donors. And for those reasons, I oppose this Bill.

Thank you, Senator Dahle. Again, Members, on the merits of the Bill, I want to recognize Senator Wilk.

Thank you, Mr. President. I actually voted for this in the Labor Committee because I didn't support the original Bill. And all we can do to make it better, I'm normally supportive of. But in light of the recent allegations and the long history of some of the things that the Senator for Beaver laid out, I'm just going to lay off this Bill today. I think that we really do need to take a serious look at this issue. Because if what is alleged is true, it is not acceptable. So with that, I'm going to lay off today.

Thank you, Senator Wilk. Senator Seyarto.

Thank you, Mr. President, Members, today I rise to speak about this Bill. And at first I was leaning towards voting for it. Then I was thinking about just laying off of it, but now I'm thinking about voting no on it. I'll tell you why. Because after doing a little investigation just this morning, I find out that what this Bill really represents is people who have the ability to help out in campaign contributions and things like that, they're going to get an exemption.

When you're talking about airports, airports are already unionized, so the floor for their minimum wage essentially is higher than the rest of what California is. And I have that from a source who works at the airports, who understands these. The individual storefronts are owned by a lot are owned by foreign companies, and then they're supposed to lease these individual spaces to underprivileged people in the community. But that's not how it works.

How it works is they wind up leasing it to whoever it is that they're connected to. So I don't know about the malls, but the list of exemptions in there point to one thing. They have the money to carve out an exemption for themselves. But let me talk about somebody who does not have an exemption. And if this had language in it to protect people like that, I'd vote for it. But it doesn't. I have a young man, lives in Murietta, went to our local schools.

Ritas came to town, and he signed up to work there. He became the manager of the Ritas. My daughter got her first job there as soon as she turned 16. She ran around town putting in applications everywhere. The only place she could get a job was at Rita's, because guess what? That's what they do. They hire our young people. They hire our young people at minimum wage. She wasn't there so she could make money to buy a house.

She was there to make money and learn how to be a productive employee. And she has taken the skills she learned from there, and she's taken them to vet school, and she's doing well because of it. But this young man, he wound up buying that Rita's franchise. And when I talked to him just two months ago, he told me that when they incorporate this at April, he probably is not going to make it.

And he's not just going to shut his business down and create another vacancy in one of our shopping centers. He's going to go set up business somewhere else where he can make a living, where he can be successful. Why are we not including businesses like that in this? And I'll tell you why not. Because he cannot donate to a campaign. He absolutely can't. He's on a razor thin margin as it is. And now we're pushing him out. We're pushing him out.

We're denying jobs to our young people. My daughter was not in a union. She's not going to be in a union for the fast food industry. We don't need a council telling these folks how to run their businesses. We need us to get out of their business. Let them be successful. Let our kids have jobs. And for Pete's sake, stop making exemptions just for the people who have the connections and the ability to pay. Because that's what this is. And that stinks. That's bad legislation. And we should be ashamed of ourselves for passing stuff like this.

Thank you. Thank you, Senator Seyarto. Any further discussion or debate on this measure? Any further discussion or debate? Seeing none, Senator Limon may close.

Thank you. Members, the Bill before us today has been through the legislative process. Two separate committees here in the Senate and received bipartisan support. This Bill is clarifying in nature and simply ensures that restaurants operated in conjunction with large facilities will not be subject to the provisions of AB 1228. The Bill and the language before us is not reflective of what Members in opposition have raised. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

All debate having seized. Secretary, please call the roll. Reminder of Members, it's a two thirds vote. It's in urgency. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

It's a vote of 31 to 4 on the urgency, 31 to 4 on the measures. We're going to now move back to our regular agenda. Privileges of the floor, Senator Grove on privileges of the floor. Great. Anything seeing no microphones up, we'll continue on with. Messages from the Governor will be deemed read. Messages from the Assembly will be deemed read, reports of committee will be deemed read, and amendments adopted. Moving next to motions, resolutions, and notices. There are none. We're going to move next to.

We're going to move next to consideration of the daily file. First up, Governor's appointments. With that, we're going to turn to our very alert Senator. Senator Grove, this is file item number two. Senator Grove.

Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, file item number two is a confirmation of the following appointments. There are quite a few. Dr. Nick Boyd and Wendy Strack for the Board of Behavioral Sciences. And Noreena Limon for Housing Finance Agency. And Brigadier General Sylvia Crockett. I'm just going to read that name one more time. Because I think it's pretty amazing that we have a one-star General being appointed Brigadier General Sylvia Crockett, Brandon Shepard, and Veronica Zerrer for the Veterans Board.

Alex Rodriguez for the Central Coast Regional Water Board. And Alexandra Hart for the North Coast Regional Water Board. These appointments were approved by the Rules Committee on February 21 on a 5-0 vote. Respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, Senator Grove. Any discussion on these nominees? Any further discussion? Seeing none, secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

On a vote of 38 to 0, the nominees are confirmed. We're going to move next, Members, to Senate third reading. We have three items on the schedule today. File item numbers 7, 13, and 14. We'll begin with file item number seven.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 106 by Senator Padilla. Relative to GM 1 Gangliosidosis Awareness Day.

Secretary, please read.

Senator Padilla at the majority leader's desk. Senator Padilla.

Thank you, Mr. President. I rise today to present Senate Concurrent Resolution number 106. Which declares May 23, 2024 as GM one gangliosidosis day. GM one gangliosidosis is a rare inherited genetic disorder. That primarily affects children of those impacted. Over half pass away before their fifth birthday. GM one has many devastating symptoms, including developmental regression, mobility deterioration, seizures, visual impairment, and neurodegeneration. GM one is a progressive disorder, and thus early diagnosis is a crucial factor in managing symptoms.

With medications, therapy and palliative care quicker diagnosis is vital to limiting the damage that GM one can inflict. But there are still no approved treatments for this disease. Unfortunately, as rare diseases so often do, GM one patients suffer from a lack of awareness of their condition. GM one often goes severely underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed, contributing to the difficulty in accessing services and treatments. Today, February 29, is a rare disease day.

It's the most appropriate that we bring attention to a disease that has taken so many young lives. The greater awareness that can be raised for this disease, the better chance we have to find a cure and help better the lives of all of those that are impacted. Colleagues, I respectfully ask for your aye vote on SCR 106.

Thank you. Senator Padilla, any discussion or debate on this item? Discussion or debate? This is eligible for a unanimous roll call. See? No objection. Ayes 38. No, zero. The resolution is adopted. We're going to move next to privileges of the floor and recognize Senator Padilla at the majority leader's desk. Senator Padilla, thank you again.

Mr. President and colleagues, I have the honor and privilege today to introduce to you Dr. David Law and Dr. Veena Sisson, the parents of Violet Law, who passed away from GM one in November of last year. Their work with Cure GM one Foundation has helped many families like theirs fight this disease. Joining David and Veena are more of Violet's family who have come here today to celebrate her young life and help bring awareness to the fight against GM one.

I would also like to recognize an abstentia, Christine Wagner, who's unable to join us today, but has been President and founder of the Cure GM one Foundation and has dedicated her life to eradicating GM one. Mr. President, colleagues, let's please give them a warm Senate welcome.

After Senator Padilla has his photograph taken. Members are also welcome to join. Well, do one more picture with Members who'd like to join. Okay, we're all set. Thank you very much. All right.

Good morning, Members of the Senate. I'm here staffing our future Senator Richie Raymond Reyes. He is a Member of Generation Alpha, and much of the work that we do is going to impact our generation, us. So thank you so much for having him here. Today is my first grandson, and as you can see, he's very spirited.

Welcome to the Senate, Members. We have one more important announcement to make. Members, today, this is an interesting day to have a birthday, but today is Senator Blakespeare's birthday. Let's give her our congratulations. We've always said, Senator Blakespear. You're younger than you look. That was the wrong way. I said that backwards. My apologies. All right. Okay. Put it in your evaluation. Put it in your evaluation. We're going to move next to Senate third reading. I haven't escaped this moment.

We're going to move next to Senate third reading. Members, next up is file item 13. This is Senate Bill 66 by Senator Newman. He's prepared. Secretary. Please read Senate resolution 66 by Senator Newman relative to 211 information and referral service. Senator Newman?

Thank you, Mr. President. You are exactly as old as you look. I rise to present Sr 66, which proclaims February 2024 as two on one month in the State of California. Every day, countless Californians grapple with challenges in securing shelter, seeking aid, and accessing essential services. California's two on one system offers them an essential point of entry and a beacon of hope, serving as an invaluable resource for navigating complex systems to access essential aid and resources.

Across the nation, 50,000 people use 211 each day to connect with agencies that aid with utility bills, treat mental health and substance abuse, provide food and clothes, and deliver disaster relief. The 211 system can be likened to 911, but for social services. Since its inception in 2006, California's 211 network has fielded more than 20 million individual requests while assuming an indispensable role in our state's infrastructure and social service delivery networks.

The statewide 211 systems, partnerships with local nonprofits, ensure that assistance is available and tailored to each unique circumstance and location. In 2022 alone, the 211 system facilitated more than 2 million connections across California, addressing critical needs like housing insecurity, hunger relief, healthcare access, utility assistance, financial coaching, and pandemic response. For those in need, 211 has become a lifeline with around the clock access to highly trained staff, fluent in over 200 languages, as well as access via text and the Internet.

I'm very honored to introduce Sr 66, which designates February 112024 as 211 day in California and the month of February as 211 month, to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of 211 to our communities and to our state. In recognizing the contributions and essential role of 211, I would also like to commend the United Ways of California, which provide essential financial and organizational support to 211 and its partners up and down our state.

I ask you to please join me in saluting the work of 21 with an I vote this morning.

Thank you, Senator Newman. Any discussion on this resolution? Any further discussion? It is eligible for a unanimous roll call, seeing no objections. Ayes 38, no zeros. The resolution is adopted. We're going to move next to file item 14. This is Senate Concurrent Resolution 113. Secretary, please read Senate Concurrent Resolution 113 by Senator Smallwood-Cuevas relative to state government. Senator Smallwood-Cuevas, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Mr. President, and good morning, colleagues. I rise today to present Senate Concurrent Resolution 113. This resolution challenges all of us to recognize and acknowledge the appalling history of slavery in California. My hope is that it will challenge us all to begin the healing process by openly discussing the truth which we know will lead to reconciliation, atonement, and greater unity in this great state.

This resolution is rooted in the recent efforts of the Reparations Task Force, which was established in 2020 to create a comprehensive report of all the impacts of slavery and the effects on Black Americans throughout California's history. The task force dedicated themselves over two years to thousands of hours of research, academic hearings, and community input from across this state, representing so many of your constituents. In short, this exhaustive report details what black people in this country and in this state know all too well, the violence and the harms of slavery did not end in 1865.

It simply mutated into more deadly policies and blatantly restrictive actions that purposely truncated all aspects of the black community's ability to develop, to grow, to contribute, to prosper, to be full, fully California citizens. The task force uses the guidelines set by the United Nations as their standard for addressing reparations under its International Humanitarian act. And the first step is acknowledgment, and that's what today's resolution is about.

These harms against black people date back to 1619, when Africans were brutally brought to America against their will.

Unlike no other human experience in America, millions of black people were ripped from their homelands 5,000 miles away, auctioned off like cattle, and terrorizing bondage and forced to endure genocidal labor under the most humane conditions, amassing upwards of estimations of $20 trillion in wealth on the backs of enslaved people, women, men and children, making the US the largest economic power in the world, but also creating our nation's oldest wage theft claim that has yet to be paid.

California further perpetuated the harms of Black Americans by enforcing racist laws and discriminatory practices, I should say emanating from the state's origin. While California entered the union in 1850 as a free state, it did not enact laws to guarantee freedom for all. California's first elected Governor in 1849, Peter Hardeman Burnett was a white supremacist, and he encouraged laws that excluded black people from living in the state.

And in fact, they called him Whiplash Burnett because if you didn't leave the state, they would whip you until you as a black person-they would whip you until you were out of the border, across the border. In 1852, the California Supreme Court enforced the federal Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed for the capture and the return of any runaway slave found in California. And then the California State Legislature prohibited things like interracial marriage and the right to own property in the state.

The harms to black people in California continued to reverberate in the 20th century, barring voting for black residents and enacting poll taxes and literacy tests. So this was not in Alabama. Poll tests were right here in California, disenfranchising black communities. California propagated discriminatory housing policies through redlining beginning in the 1930s, when the state enabled companies to redline communities, preventing black people from securing home loans, much less obtaining home ownership.

And later in the 20th century, when black folks were able to obtain home loans, their homes were deeply devalued within the red line. We enacted restrictive covenants. We barred licensing laws for professionals. We did not enforce fire and safety codes and anti nuisance laws to protect black businesses. The chains of bondage took on many forms, and the list is long.

And I hope you all received a copy of this 1,100 page task force report that outlines in detail every single atrocity that was committed by the state against black people here in California. From the lack of access to quality health care and educational resources, to involuntary scientific experimentation, to the assassination of black leaders and lynching here in California. We know the ruthless practices far too well, and we know they are too many to list, and we know the price is too great.

And while we'd like to think that enslavement of Black Americans and its ensuing impacts are relics of the past. We know that when we look underneath every crisis in this state today, we're going to find a slave era. And we've got to make sure that we address these traumas, these traumas that run deep in the financial and the psychological health of Black Californians. The truth of history is indisputable, and accordingly, we must acknowledge the role of the state, our government, our officials in perpetuating these harms.

And that's what this resolution does today. It's a chance for us to say we know and we recognize. This resolution is just the first step in acknowledgment, and we know the next steps will be action. And so today, we are acknowledging the facts. We are not subscribing to fake scholarship and fake news. We are understanding the deep and generational effects of harm that we see every day in our communities as a result of this horrific, horrific practice of slavery. This resolution is about healing.

It's a foundation for all of us to move forward and to build the real wealth of California. And with this, I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, Senator. Any further discussion on this resolution? Senator Niello?

Thank you, Mr. President. It is certainly true that African Americans have suffered significant discrimination and disadvantages in California and in the United States. I certainly can't oppose that, but I can't support the resolution. First of all, I think by taking official action of the role of the state in these issues, I think we open ourselves up to allegations from a clever enough attorney for a civil rights suit.

But more importantly, what concerns me is what is not said in this resolution, and that is our K through 12 education system. Black students in the K through 12 system in California are the lowest forming ethnic, racial cohort in the state. I should say the lowest achieving, with the exception of English learners. Now, this is not because of native ability. It is because our K through 12 system in this state fails our minority students, especially black students.

And the fundamental problem from that, from my standpoint, from my opinion, is that if we could erase all of the ills, all of the, whereas in this resolution, black youth would still be disadvantaged as adult success because our education system fails them. We cannot fully overcome this until we fix that.

It is, in my opinion, almost scandalous, and I have committed to discuss what it is that we can do about this, but I think that is an absolutely essential part of what this resolution is attempting to get at.

Thank you, Senator. Any further discussion on this resolution, Senator Bradford?

Thank you, Mr. President. As Vice Chair of the legislative Black Caucus, I rise in support of this common sense SCR 113 to acknowledge, as stated, the harms and the atrocities committed by the State of California against enslaved people and their descendants. Over the last two years, I had the distinct honor and privilege to dedicate a great portion of my life on serving on this California reparations task force.

The first in the nation we studied, we'd heard testimony, we gathered evidence and ultimately documented the harms caused by both the Federal Government and the State of California.

This 1,100 page final report identified the harms to African Americans and their descendants, which include devastating health disparities, disproportionate over policing and mass incarceration, discriminatory housing practices, unequal education as stated, and the racially motivated unjust taking of property. And although California entered the union as a free state, they were a free state in name only. The state government still took part in the injustices, just like any southern state did.

Injustices which included the passage, as stated as a fugitive slave law to return slaves to their masters, the use of imminent domain to displace communities and confiscate property. This created negative disparities in wealth and quality of nonwhite neighborhoods.

Many people are not aware that California didn't even ratify the 14th and 15th amendments that was passed in 1868 and 1870, until 1959 and 1962, almost 90 years, to ratify those two constitutional amendments that promised equal rights for all citizens and prohibited states from denying a persons the right to vote on the basis of race. If California hopes to acknowledge and repair the damage and begin the process of healing, we must take action today.

One of the first recommendations of the task force is this official recognition of the harms caused. There are still people in this country and state who are either not aware of the state's real role, or they just choose to look away and live in a fantasy world. I encourage each and every one of you to read the 1,100 page report. If not the 1,100 page report, at least the Executive summary. And I'm happy to report that our Governor has read all 1,100 pages.

But I'm encouraged by the findings of a recent statewide poll that shows the majority of Californians believe the harms caused by slavery continue to impact black residents today. For me, that is a good place to start the conversation about the steps we should take to repair and heal these ongoing harms. Educating all Californians about the enduring harms of slavery in our state and the racially discriminatory policies that were implemented will be critical if we are ever going to fulfill the promise of equal treatment for all.

Mr. President, permission to read?

Without objection.

I would like to recite a poem by noted educator, poet, author, Dr. J. John simply entitled the Cotton Field. Rows and rows of Negroes and afros and cornrows, elbows to elbows dragging pick holes in the throes of who knows?

But I suppose they knows cotton always grows and there ain't no chance a winter snows, no hurricane blows to pause their woes or the bloody footprints they souls so they just keep on singing from heads to toes carry they blows on their back scarred like tracks, like broken arrows wishing they were Arapahoes or Seminoles, anything but whiplash negroes and there ain't no, no shows. They all keep standing as the sun blazes and steals life from their bone marrows.

Their eyes narrow, sweat falls from burnt skin like nervous sparrows, because if one falls, they all falls like rows and rows of dominoes. One does fall, but he quick to rose, he rose, then another fell, but she quick to rose, she rows, she rows. And he rows. Rows and rows of negroes and afros and cornrows, elbows to elbows, dragging pickles in the throws a who knows? But I suppose they knows. They knows they live for their children's better tomorrows. They knows that their lows are for souls.

You and I can live like we suppose. God bless those beautiful negroes. Members, let's take the first step. Let's recognize the real history of our state. Let's come together and vote aye on SCR 113.

Thank you, Senator Bradford. Next up, Senator Wahab.

Thank you. I rise today to specifically request an aye vote for SCR 113. I do just want to highlight that one of the things that we all have to do as policymakers, but as human beings, is acknowledge wrongs that were done. Whether we were a part of them, or whether we agreed with them or whether it happened and we have been impacted by them. It's important to learn from the past and also ensure that all of us are healing.

And when we talk about how diverse California is, our diversity is only beneficial if we all ensure that we love each other. And I think that one of the things that we all try to do here in this Legislature is create policies that better impact other people's lives and 40 million Californians. And this comes again with a strong history in doing what's right, but we can only do what's right when we actually learn from the past.

And SCR 113 is an acknowledgment of the wrongs done for years by this great state. So I fully support SCR 113. I appreciate the Senator from LA and I just want to say that we can all do better. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator. I have Senator Durazo, followed by Senator Stern. Senator Durazo.

Thank you very much. I rise in support of SCR 113 and my sister, Senator from Los Angeles. I know this bill will pass. We have the votes here, and there are a lot of bills that come through, and we, as a group, we do it. But I feel like I have to individually raise my voice. What we are asking, this resolution is merely asking, is to acknowledge the harm committed by representatives of the State of California. Think about it.

Who promoted, who facilitated, who enforced and permitted the institution of shadow slavery and the legacy of ongoing badges and incidents of slavery that form the systemic structures of discrimination, to accept the state's responsibility for all of these harms and atrocities. That's what we're asked to vote on today, and I cannot imagine the slightest hesitation to come forward and speak up and also to vote the right way. Thank you to the author.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Stern, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Mr. President. I rise in support of this resolution and giving a little bit of similar perspective to my colleague from Hayward. Suffering is halved when it's shared.

There's a sense of atomization, I think, in our politics right now, that each person should be in their own silo and that Black Americans should have to deal with the issue of reparations and of slavery, and that Jewish Americans should have to deal with their issue, and that everyone's sort of on their own to deal with their own carried legacies. That's not how this country works. That's not how we're built.

There's a complicity that we all share in benefiting from the institutions that have been built on the backs of slavery and of slaves. I have a problem, I suppose, with the assertion that this is an exposure to civil rights litigation or part of me wishes it was, by the way, part of me thinks there needs to be. But it clearly says in the analysis here that this is not getting into the financial responsibility issue or even the legal responsibility per se. It's a moral responsibility.

It's in the analysis of the bill, it's in the specific language of the bill. That's the hard part here, is if we can't get to the point of just a basic moral acknowledgment and we're going to get to the apology next with the Assembly Bill coming our way, if we can't even get there, it's really hard to know where we can go. So I hope as a body, we can at least acknowledge facts and start there. And maybe through that, there's a reconciliation process.

But we are certainly still-we have wounds that have not even healed. There aren't even scars yet because it is still being perpetuated, and there are still inequities embedded in the system that makes this systemically, economically, and morally unequal. Let's at least deal with the moral part. Respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, Senator Stern. Any further discussion on this resolution? Any further discussion? Seeing none. Senator Smallwood-Cuevas, you may close the debate.

Thank you so much, Mr. President. I want to really thank my colleagues from across the state for standing with me on this acknowledgement. I grew up with my mama, my great great grandmother. When I went home to North Carolina in the summers and stayed with my great and great aunts, her mother was a slave. And this woman taught me how to blow a kiss. So we're not talking about how far removed and when this happened. This is in our lives now.

And she told me her pain and the experiences that her mother went through. And my mother, she told my grandmother, and my mother told me.

So we are talking about a pain that is so raw and an economic, psychological health reverberation that is felt so deeply that if we could just acknowledge what has happened to black people, we would know whether it's homelessness, whether it's infant mortality, that if we could just address the conditions that have existed from the legacy of this horrible economic system, that we wouldn't have the crises that we have in California. We'd have a problem, but not a crises, but because black people are so overrepresented. So overrepresented.

This legacy of slavery we are fighting every single day because black people are so overrepresented in these conditions. And it starts with stories and families like mine, my mama. So I just want to say we have work to do. And, yes, this is not binding. This is not binding. But those bills will come. And as a body, we have to straighten our backs and do the work of justice. It will free us. It will free California, and we will have a new day.

When we said we acknowledged, we acted, and the days of ignoring and mischaracterizing facts are over, giving us a new beginning. So I just want to say thank you, and I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

All debate having seized, Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Please call the absent Members.

[Roll Call]

On a vote of 31 to one, the resolution is adopted. Members, we're going to next move to Committee announcements, followed by turning to motions and resolutions for adjournment memories. But Committee announcements, aye understand that there are four of them. Budget subchair announcements will begin with Senator Laird.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. Budget Subcommitee one on education will meet in room 2100 in the swing space upon adjournment.

Thank you, Senator Laird. Senator Becker.

Thank you, Mr. President. Budget sub two will begin 15 minutes after session adjourns in room 1200 in the swing space.

Senator Wahab.

Thank you. Budget Subcommitee number five on corrections, public safety, judiciary, labor and transportation will meet 15 minutes upon adjournment of session in room 112.

Senator Menjivar at Senator Cortese's desk.

Thank you. Mr. President's budget Subcommitee number three will meet in 10 minutes in room 2210 minutes after adjournment.

Okay, so noted. All right, Members, we're going to move next to motions and resolutions. This is the time to address adjourn in memories from Senators. I want to first recognize Senator Padilla. Please give him your attention, Members.

Thank you very much. Mr. President, I rise to adjourn in memory of Violet law, who passed away in November of this past year, the age of four. She was born with the rare neurological condition I had described earlier, GM one gangliozidosis. During her life, young Violet enjoyed swimming, music, trips to Disneyland, for sure, and spending time with her amazing and loving family and friends in her short battle with GMI.

She also was a participant in a clinical trial that brought value and understanding and will help patients with GMI in their fight against this horrific disease you met earlier. Her parents, David and Vina, and the rest of her family, who I introduced on the floor and still remain with us in the gallery, who cherished her every single day of her life and found ways, in the midst of some of the most unique challenges that any parent would ever have nightmares about.

To touch her with love. After her passing, David and Veena decided to use their experiences to help parents and families impacted by GM one. Through their advocacy, they are able to continue Violet's legacy and increase awareness for GM one patients around the world. Her young life was short, but during that time, she touched so many others, and her impact will continue to be felt through the work of cure GM one foundation with her father, who is a board Member. Please join me today in honoring Violet by adjourning in her precious memory.

Thank you, Senator Padilla. Please bring her name forward so she can be properly memorialized in the Senate Journal. Next, we want to recognize Senator Allen.

Members, it's with great sadness that I rise today to ask that we adjourn in the memory of a true exemplar of public service, Mayor Bill Brandt, who passed away earlier this month. Bill was best known as the outspoken mayor of Redondo Beach, a vibrant coastal city in my district. That was everything to Bill. Throughout his two terms on the City Council and his subsequent two terms as mayor, Bill stood as a dogged champion for the preservation and restoration of the South Bay's coastal lands.

Despite being born in Dallas, Texas, an eight year old Bill was metaphorically baptized in the waters of Redondo's seaside lagoon as a permanent citizen of the South Bay community. And from that day on, he devoted every moment to immersing himself unconditionally in all that makes the region special. As if to make up for those first eight years away from his home, Bill spent his formative years swimming and surfing in the waves of the Pacific.

And while they didn't necessarily smooth over his edges, they did instill an understanding of his place in the larger ecosystem. And over the next four decades, through his education and engineering career working in aviation, his sense of wonder and reverence for the water and the coast never faded. Over the years, Bill's devotion to the Waterman lifestyle led him to every major us surf destination.

To swim 3 miles in the Sea of Cortese, to travel to the far reaches of the globe in search of a memorable swell. And it wasn't until 2001, with the plan for the heart of the city development impacting the Redondo waterfront, that his love was catalyzed into the tenacious fighting spirit that would come to characterize the Bill Brand brand.

After the plan sailed through both the Planning Commission and the City Council, the ensuing battle alchemized Bill the Waterman into Bill the activist and advocate, and the relationships that he formed through the course of that year with like minded activists such as Jim Light at the Surf Rider foundation, and then Council Member Chris Kagle would permanently change his life's trajectory. Bill's newfound zeal for conservation didn't subside after the project was quashed.

Instead, it sent him looking for more ways to support and engage his community and to defend his hometown and home waters. In 2004, Bill founded the South Bay Parkland Conservancy to serve as the voice for local land preservation across all fora, from local to federal. The AES power plant, the coastal site of the original heart of the city project, eventually became the target of Bill's focus.

Built on a historic tribal saltwater wetlands, the power plant was a tremendous eyesore, a behemoth providing very little power that was an unsightly polluting holdover from a different time. Bill finally decided to bring his fight to the dais, like so many of us running for office in 2009, winning a pivotal seat on the City Council.

Now, upon hearing that her brother was going to be serving on the City Council, his sister Sally said, really, Bill, the guy who wouldn't show up for dinner because the waves were good, is going to help run a city? Well, what quickly became clear was that Bill's unconditional love for surfing, love that was worth skipping dinner over, was the same ferocious love that he felt for the entire community. And that love was his sustaining force in politics throughout his years of redondo leadership.

Bill's activism and heart for his community was offered to any and all who needed it, always, fully and freely. It was his willingness to fight battles that he knew wouldn't come to fruition until the next generation that really empowered him to affect such powerful change in his own lifetime.

And during his tenure, he fought tirelessly to secure state funding to restore the same seaside lagoon that changed his life as an eight year old, to keep it open year round for folks from all over LA to enjoy. We know that it's a place where kids, oftentimes from all over Los Angeles, get to experience the beach and the magic of the water for the very first time.

He brought the wonderful Beach Life music festivals to Redondo Beach, boosting the local economy, sharing the beauty of the South Bay with visitors. As was his style, he wanted to take a proactive approach to address and support the local homeless population, including the installment of tiny homes for temporary housing, bringing in homeless courts, and other innovative solutions.

And perhaps most meaningfully, Bill was able to oversee the decommissioning of the AES power plant, which was the culmination of decades of activism and a major step towards the restoration of the land on which it sits. The goal of taking the plant offline, which just seemed impossible 20 years ago, has been achieved and ceded a new generation of activism at the site, all due to Bill's unwillingness to give up. New Year's Eve, December 312023. It was the last time I saw Bill.

We all gathered to mark the decommissioning of the plant the next day, New Year's Day this year, 2024. And there was this wonderful outpouring of support, and I'm so glad Bill was able to be there. Lots of people telling the story of the decommissioning of the plant. So many of the accolades focused on him and his role and his leadership.

So justifiably, I was able to stand up there and speak of our decade of work and partnership from the very first time we got together for dinner at Captain Kids on the harbor when I was first running for office, through all the work coming up here to the Senate, working on funding for the seaside lagoon, the AES plant, all sorts of matters of import to the Redondo community, Bill was relentless. He was dogged.

He was determined, so deeply committed to his city and its know, many of you know, I lost my father last year. And in the years building up to his passing, we all knew he was sick, but he would always come back and he'd be better again. And that's what happened with Bill. I found out several years ago that he had cancer. And he would go offline for a little bit, get some treatment, but then he'd be back.

He'd be back at an event, back calling me, asking for something, back, advocating, and I just thought that this was the new normal and would go on forever. But of course, cancer catches up with everybody, and Bill ultimately left us way too soon at the age of 66, at peace and comforted by his wife, Deirdre, family and close friends after a valiant four and a half year battle against cancer. Up until his final day, his first and last question was always, what can I do?

His selfless commitment to his community will not be forgotten. Through all the life and lands that owe their preservation to him, Bill's heart will remain indelibly, inextricably woven into the South Bay for generations. And I ask you to join me today, colleagues, in commemorating Bill Brandt's lifetime of passionate advocacy and public service by adjourning the sentinel's memory. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Allen. Our condolences to Bill Brandt's family and friends. Please bring his name forward to the Senate desk so he can be properly memorialized in the Senate Journal. If there's no other business before the Senate. Senator McGuire, the desk is clear.

Mr. President, really nice job today. Thank you so much. And to the Members of this esteemed body, hope you have a wonderful weekend with your family and friends. The next floor session is scheduled for Monday, March 4, 2024 at 02:00 p.m. Have a good weekend.

The Senate will be in recess until 330, at which time the adjournment motion will be made. We will reconvene Monday at 02:00 p.m.