Assembly Floor

The Assembly is now in session. Assembly Member Zbur notices the absence of a quorum. The sergeant in arms will prepare the chamber and bring in the absent Members. The Clerk will call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Members, a quorum is present. We ask our guests and our visitors in the rear of the chamber and in the gallery to please stand for the prayer. Today's prayer will be offered by our Assembly chaplain, Imam Yasir Khan. Imam yes, sir.

In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful, o God who knows all things, knows all our hearts, is in control of all things and who allows each of us to have a measure of power and position. We acknowledge your gifts to us and give you thanks.

We thank you for the bountiful blessings you have poured out upon our state, its people, and each of us in this Assembly lead each of us to a common goal of doing our best, doing the best for our fellow human beings and doing the best we can to promote love, peace, and justice for all people. Amen.

We ask our guests and visitors to remain standing and join us in the flag salute. Please join Assemblymember McCarty as he leads us in the pledge.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible liberty, and justice for all.

Thank you. You may be seated. Reading of the previous day's Journal.

Assembly Chamber of Sacramento Thursday, February 22023 the Assembly met at 09:00 a.m. The Honorable Stephanie Quinn, assistant speaker. Folks in poor of the Assembly presiding Chief Clerk Sue Parker at the desk reading Clerk David at Bowman Reading.

Mr. Gallagher seconds that the reading of the previous day's journal be dispensed with. Presentations and petitions there are none. Introductions and references of bills will be deferred. Reports of committees will be deemed read and amendments deemed adopted. Messages from the Governor? There are none. Messages from the Senate there are none. We are moving to motions and resolutions. The absences for the day for illness are Assembly Member Calderon and Assembly Member Rubio. And absence for legislative business is Assemblymember Bennett and Majority Leader Reyes. You're recognized for your procedural motions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I request unanimous consent to suspend Assembly rule 45.5 to allow Assembly Members Ortega, Bonta, Lee, and Connolly to speak on an adjournment in memory today.

Without objection, such shall be the order. And Members, we have a birthday to announce an early birthday this Wednesday, February 15. Please wish a happy early birthday to Assembly Member Josh Lowenthal and Assemblywoman Wilson. You are recognized at the majority leaders desk for your guest introductions.

Well, good afternoon, Members. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have special guests in the gallery with us today as chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus. On behalf of the entire caucus, we welcome the attendees of the annual black business Brunch held by the CLBC and the California Black Chamber of Commerce to our space. This event celebrates black owned businesses and allies. As we welcome our guests, please hold your applause until they have all been introduced. The honorees and their sponsoring Members are Reggie and Nicole Borders Assemblymember Bonta.

Keith Corbin, Assemblymember Bryan. Lee Williams, Assemblymember Gipson. Anne Hamilton, Assemblymember Holden. Twina Brown, Assemblymember Jackson. Austin Clements, Assemblymember Jones Sawyer. Zion Tedesi, Assemblymember McCarty. Tyre Lacey, Assemblymember McKinnor. Leonard Thompson, Assemblymember Weber. Deborah Day, Assemblymember Wilson. Clay Ron Clark, Senator Bradford. Bo and Kay Anu, Aloha, Senator Smallwood-Cuevas. Please stand and Members, please honor our guests today.

Thank you, Ms. Wilson. Members. Also joining us today in the gallery are the 2023 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award winners. The foundation recognizes leaders whose innovative solutions to critical challenges improve people's lives, create opportunity, and contribute to a better California. Please hold your applause until they have all been introduced. Maimafood and Dorsey nun, from constituents of Assembly Member Bonta, Linda Ventriglia Navarette, constituents of Assemblymember Essayli Chris Contreras, constituents of Assemblymember Jones Sawyer, Sehru Gyraman, constituents of Assemblymember Kalra and Blair Cruiser and Delia Sharp.

Constituents of Assemblymember Ramos. Welcome to the California State Assembly. And Members will be moving to business on the daily file. We will pass and retain on file items one through three. And that brings us to the end of the agenda for today's session. So, Members, we will now move to adjournments in memory. Members, please give your respectful attention to those granted prior permission to speak on an adjournment in memory.

Members, take your conversations off the floor and Assemblywoman Ortega, you are recognized at your desk for your adjournment in memory.

Good morning or good afternoon. Thank you. Speaker and Members, I rise today with a heavy heart in memory of Alameda County supervisor and Vietnam veteran Richard Valle. His loss was felt deeply across the East Bay. Supervisor Valle was a longtime advocate and fighter for working families and those most vulnerable in our community. Supervisor Valle was a proud veteran of the Vietnam War and a lifelong Member of veterans of foreign wars.

Post 7906 when his service ended in 1970, he returned to the East Bay to pursue his education and to marry his high school sweetheart and the love of his life, Barbara. Together, the two built a family and a life of public service, celebrating their 44th wedding anniversary just a couple of weeks ago. The supervisor is survived by Barbara, his two children, Andrew and Monica and three beautiful grandchildren. Supervisor Valle achieved many milestones in his life.

He earned an associate's, bachelor's and master's degree at excellent institutions of higher education in Assembly District 20. He served more than 23 years combined on the Union City Council and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, advocating for and creating policies to expand affordable housing, improving neighborhood safety and supporting our local schools. He won many prestigious awards throughout his achievements.

But what I will remember about Richard the most is his dedication to a life of service to the workers and working families of our district, a mission that was at the center of every single thing he did. In 1980, he founded Tri-CED Community Recycling, California's largest nonprofit recycling company and a community institution dedicated to improving the environment while also employing at risk youth and creating good union jobs for local residents.

Supervisor Valle was one of those rare employers who was also an active supporter of the labor movement. He served as a trustee on the Teamsters Health and Welfare Fund and received the honor of outstanding employer for Teamsters Local 70 for his leadership at Tricet. In his 10 years as supervisor, Mr. Valle was the heart of Alameda County supervisors and could be counted to stand up for working families and vulnerable communities. Supervisor Valle was a Buddhist.

His faith helped him keep justice and kindness at the center of everything he did. He remained dedicated to life of service, even attending his last hearing the day before he passed away. On the day of his passing, my staff kindly asked if I wanted to cancel any meetings. My response was absolutely not. Supervisor Valle worked until the very end and serving his community and dedicating his heart and soul and so will I. Supervisor Valle's legacy is not just about his accomplishments.

Again, he led a life of example by mentoring and lifting up those around him in our district's Latino community. Mr. Valle was the founding Member of Centro De Cervicios, the oldest Hispanic social service agency in southern Alameda County. Throughout his career, Supervisor Valle mentored many Latinos, leaders in the East Bay, and I feel incredibly honored to be among those, a Latina who he always supported 100%.

Today, I am honored to stand to continue that legacy of Supervisor Valle and standing up for the working people of our district and lifting up our community. I thank my fellow Members of the Assembly and joining with me to honor this great man, a tireless public servant, who I'm grateful and humbled to call my friend, Alameda County Supervisor Richard Valle.

Thank you, Ms. Ortega. Assemblymember Lee, you're recognized at your desk for your adjournment in memory.

I also rise in adjournment in memory of our greats. Alameda County Supervisor Richard Valle. As you heard, he lived a wonderful life, full of real passion. And he really was a person who put his values into practice, not only as a large employer of the only community recycling plant in our entire community. He really made sure that he was putting his environmental creds, his union creds, and making sure that he was uplifting communities of color, especially young people. He really put all those into practice.

Supervisor Valle and I shared parts of the district together when we were overlapping in south Alameda County. And I was struck that even during the pandemic, he made it a point to show me the recycling plant and to also show, on the very sides of the trucks, inspirational young people from across the world and the district. And he really was someone you strike with as who said very little, but put everything in practice into action. I remember that even my staff were telling me, too.

He was working right up until his passing, and he never at all let you know that he was ever feeling unwell. He just said, I'm feeling under the weather. I'll be there next time. He always was the first one to congratulate me, to tell me to keep going. And I always tell him I'd always miss him at every event. I didn't know the last time I texted him that I would miss him. I hope to see him.

The next one was the last time we get to say that. But he really was a great mentor to so many of us in politics, in the community, and I hope to be able to live up to that dream. Of putting our actions or putting our values into words like that so subtly. And as our brothers and sisters in LMA Labor Council put it, he was definitely one of the greatest human beings we ever met. And I ask that we adjourn in memory, in the memory of supervisor Richard Valle.

Thank you. Mr. Lee and Assemblywoman Bonta, you're recognized for your adjournment in memory.

Members, thank you. I also ask that you adjourn in memory of supervisor Richard Valle. I had the honor and privilege of knowing Mr. Valle in his role as a supervisor. First when I was working in Union City and helping to establish one of the to go to an opening ceremony for the New Haven Unified School District Union City family resource center. He was always an incredibly thoughtful Legislator.

He made sure to deeply understand what people needed, and he did it with humility and grace every single day. My fondest memory of him was when I was kind of in the middle of facilitating a big conversation about the work that New Haven unified was doing. And he pulled me aside and he said, always remember to lead first with kindness.

He was somebody who lived that value every single day, somebody who stood up for working people, working families, and always remembered to take the time to make sure that the people that were coming after him knew what their job, what their responsibility, and what their duty was, which is to always lead with kindness. And for those reasons, I ask Members that you join me in an adjournment in memory. Thank you.

Thank you. Ms. Bonta and Assembly Member Connolly, you are recognized at your desk for your adjournment in memory.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Members, I speak today in the memory of Carol Singer Peltz. Carol was a fourth generation San franciscan. Born on February 22, 1940 she was raised by a single mother, Carol Ackerman Singer. She was a bright young mind and went on to earn a degree in French from Stanford University and a teaching credential at UC Berkeley. From there, she started a wonderful career at John Sweat School in San Francisco.

In coordination with the local NAACP, Carol formed and ran a mentoring and private school placement program for gifted African American students. In 1963, she married Dr. Morris Peltz, a prominent psychoanalyst, and the two moved to Sausalito, where they lived for most of their lives. In Sausalito, Carol began a new chapter in her life of local activism and involvement in politics. Her first election was to the Sausalito Marin City Sanitary District board of directors in 1979, the first woman elected to the position.

She then went on to serve eight distinguished years on the Sausalito City Council, including two terms as mayor from 1982 to 1984 and from 1986 to 87. Carol was a fervent environmentalist and a champion of the city's open spaces. It was her work that launched the city's first curbside recycling program, brought in more public art and protected its undeveloped shoreline. Always accompanying her to City Council meetings was Charlie, the family's floppy little black dog. Those who knew Carol well will tell you how insightful she was.

She also had a great sense of humor and a theatrical side to go along with it. When Carol was on the Waste Management Commission, she once wore a Merlin like robe and beard for a character known as the wizard of Waste to promote recycling. Carol passed away on January 72023 at the age of 82. She is greatly loved and will be greatly missed by her three children, four grandchildren and many friends. Thank you, colleagues, and I ask that you join me in sending heartfelt condolences and prayers to her family and friends as we adjourn in memory of Carol Peltz.

Thank you, Mr. Connolly. Members, please bring the names to the desk to be printed in the journal. All requests to adjourn in the memory will be deemed read and printed in the journal. Moving to announcements. Friday, February 17, is the last day for bills to be introduced. The session schedule is as follows. Tuesday, February 14, check in session. Wednesday, February 15, check in session.

Thursday, February 16, check in session and Friday, February 17, floor session at 09:00 a.m. Seeing and hearing no further business, I am ready to entertain a motion to adjourn. Majority leaders Reyes Majority Leader Reyes moves. Mr. Gallagher seconds. The House stands adjourned until Friday, February 17, at 09:00 a.m. Quorum call is lifted. All.