Senate Floor

[Roll Call]

Would our members and our guests be on the rail and in the gallery? Please rise. We'll be led in prayer this afternoon by Senator Becker, after which we're going to ask you to remain standing for the pledge of allegiance to the flag. Senator Becker.

Merciful and mysterious God, you who never cease to practice the art of creating, keep us ever at the edge of our skills, our habits, our vision that we may never grow so content in our creating that we miss your presence. You who are ever about to do a new thing in our world, we ask this in your name. Amen.

Members now join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance.

Senate Resolution 94 by Senator McGuire, relative to animals.

Senator McGuire.

Thank you so much, Mr. President. Colleagues, I rise today for a cause that's warm and fuzzy and that's going to leave you howling with excitement. SR 94 is going to proclaim June 1 of California Adoption a Pet Day. Now, it's very personal for me. This is extra personal because my mom, my mom has been a lifelong foster mom for cats and dogs at our local shelter. In fact, grew up with litters of cats and puppies and dogs my entire life. And they continue to be at our house.

And while local shelters saw great increases in adoptions during the pandemic, those adoption rates have now slowed. And many areas of our state shelters are overcrowded. And to help ease this overcrowding, to provide some of these amazing fur babies a forever home, the California Animal Welfare Association, known as CalAnimals, which is the umbrella organization for numerous shelters and humane societies across the state, is hosting the first-ever California adopt a pet day on Saturday, June 1. Here's the goal.

The goal is to be able to help 2024 shelter pets find homes this Saturday with more than 150 animal welfare organizations participating for free adoptions, all underwritten by generous organizations and individuals. So if any of you have a need to be able to bring a four-legged family member into your home, heads up, head on out to your local shelter or Humane Society this weekend.

And I'm proud to be able to note in our office we currently have 28, 28 rescued animals at our respective homes, including dogs, cats, pigs, chickens, and a few goats. So whether you're an animal lover or an animal owner or just a party animal, this is a small effort that can make a big difference for pets in the Golden State. Would respectfully ask for an aye vote on SR 94.

Thank you. Any further discussion or debate on this item? Any further discussion or debate? Hearing and seeing none, Secretary, please call the roll on file item 10.

[Roll Call]

Secretary, please call the absent members.

[Roll Call]

You want to wait on Menjivar? No. Ayes 34, noes, zero. The measure passes. Now, members, we're going to move back to privileges of the floor. We're going to recognize Senator McGuire for purposes of introduction. Senator McGuire, the floor is yours.

Mister President. Thank you so much. In coordination with adopt the pet day, we have some wonderful advocates who do so much for animals across the state. In the gallery we have Jennifer Scarlett coming from Senator Weiner's backyard. She is CEO of the San Francisco SPCA. We have Jill Tucker, Executive Director of Cal Animals.

Melanie Sadek, President of Cal Animals. And of course, Brittany Binse, California senior legislative advocate for the ASPCA. Up to my right, if we can, please put our pods together and give them a warm welcome, the California State Senate, and thank them for their incredible work. Thank you.

Welcome to the California State Senate. All right, Members, we're moving back to file. Item four. Messages from the Governor will be deemed read. Messages from the Assembly will be deemed read, reports of committees will be deemed read, and amendments adopted. Motions and resolutions without objection.

The Senate journals for May 20, 2024 through May 24, 2024 will be approved as corrected by the Minute Clerk. Now, Members, consideration for the daily file. We have unfinished business. We have one item. Item two. Secretary, please read

Senate Bill 301 by Senator Portantino in accolade to air pollution.

Senator Portantino.

Thank you, Mr. President and members. I'm presenting SB 301 on concurrence where the Assembly amendments remove the requirement for CARB to allocate a specific dollar amount. SB 301 creates a new pathway towards zero-emission vehicles that, when funded in better economic years, will accelerate our progress toward a cleaner future. And respectfully ask for your aye vote on concurrence.

Any further discussion or debate on this item? Hearing and seeing none, Secretary, call the roll on file item two.

[Roll Call]

Secretary, please call the absent members.

[Roll Call]

Ayes 36, noes zero, the measure passes. Now, members, we're moving to senate third reading. We have two items. First up is file item 15. Senator Wiener, he's prepared. Secretary, you may read.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 141 by Senator Wiener, relative to Mental Health Awareness Month.

Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, arise today to present SCR-141 to recognize May 2024 as National Mental Health Awareness Month in California. This month allows us to celebrate the tremendous strides we have made in promoting mental health and increasing awareness that effective services and support are available.

Senator Wiener, floor is yours.

We must acknowledge that today our country is in the grips of a rapidly evolving mental health crisis. We must prioritize increasing access to mental health services and work to change the stigma around mental health treatment.

Over half of adults in the US, more than 27 million who have a mental health disorder, do not receive treatment, and the percentage of adults who report an unmet need for treatment has increased every year since 2011.

These unaddressed mental health problems are exacerbated when crises like homelessness, poverty, unemployment, lack of safety, and local economic challenges are taken into account. Colleagues, we must acknowledge the behavioral health crisis among our young people as well.

A 2021 report by the US Surgeon General found that nearly one in five school-age children suffered from a mental health disorder, and almost half of children with a treatable mental health condition did not receive mental health services in the last year.

We know that about one half of mental health disorders manifest by age 14 and 75% by the age of 24. This widening gap has contributed to a devastating increase in youth suicide rates, suicide being the leading cause of death for teens and young adults aged 10 to 34.

On your desks, colleagues, you'll see a lime green ribbon and a card from the California Alliance of Child and Family Services. The sponsor of this resolution. I want to encourage you to wear your ribbon today. In honor of National Mental Health Awareness Month. Thank you to the California Alliance of Child and Family Services for your sponsorship.

And to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing's California Member organizations for jointly supporting the resolution. Including the California Council of Community Behavioral Health Agencies. And the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Any further discussion or debate on this item? Hearing and seeing none. Secretary, please call roll on File Item 15.

[Roll Call]

Ayes 37, noes 0. The measure passes. Now, Members, we're moving on to File Item 19, by Senator Cortese. He is prepared.

Secretary, you may read.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 149 by Senator Cortese. Relative to California Recommerce Day.

Senator Cortese.

Thank you, Mister President and members. I rise to present SCR 149 which declares May 21 as California Recommerce Day. California Recommerce Day recognizes the importance of supporting sustainable practices that benefit both the environment and the residents of the State of California. Recommerce refers to the buying, selling, and trading of pre-owned goods.

By encouraging the reuse and recycling of products, recommerce fosters sustainability and resource efficiency. Recommerce plays a significant role in waste reduction. In 2022 alone, recommerce cut down 73,000 metric tons of waste. And 1.6 million metric tons of carbon emissions. On top of being environmentally friendly, recommerce offers consumers affordable alternatives to purchasing brand-new items.

In honor of California Recommerce Day, I encourage all Californians to support activities that celebrate recommerce. Including purchasing pre-owned goods, donating items for reuse, and advocating for policies that promote sustainability and resource conservation. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Any further discussion or debate on this item? Hearing and seeing none, members this is eligible for a unanimous roll call. Is there any objection to applying a unanimous roll call to file item 19? Hearing and seeing, none. Ayes 37, noes zero. The measure passes. Now, members, we're moving on to committee announcements.

Now is the time for any Committee announcement. Senator Cortese, you recognize?

Yes, Mr. President. Thank you very much. Senate Transportation Committee will convene in room 1200 immediately after the Democratic Caucus meeting. Thank you.

Transportation Committee will meet immediate after the Democratic Caucus in room 1200 in a swing space. Now, Members, now is the time for motions and resolutions. We're returning to that portion. First up is Senator Blakespear for our journey of memory.

Thank you, President and Colleagues. It's my honor to adjourn the Senate in memory of James H. Fallon, a distinguished Neuroanatomy Expert and Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. James' career at UC Irvine spanned over 35 years. The unique characteristics of his own brain brought him unexpected fame and resulted in breakthrough research.

His brain led him to coin the term prosocial psychopath. Professor Fallon died at the age of 76 on November 20, 2023. He is survived by Diane, his wife of over 54 years, two daughters, a son and multiple grandchildren, and an infant great-grandson.

He also had a lasting impact on many others, including PhD students and post-doctoral fellows, and approximately 3,000 medical students and residents who received training in neuroscience from him. These students appreciated his colorful and entertaining lectures and in return honored him with several student-driven awards.

James earned his degrees from the universities in Vermont, New York, and Chicago, but he found his academic home at UC Irvine, where he served as a popular Professor in the School of Medicine.

He Chaired the UCI Faculty and Academic Senate and the UCI College of Medicine Faculty, and he completed his career as a Emeritus Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology. He was a leader in his field with extensive knowledge of the pathways of the brain.

He was the first to demonstrate the large scale presence of stem cells in the injured adult brain. His research encompasses schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, addiction, mental health, language disorders, and magnetic resonance imaging. His work also delved into the realms of personality, intelligence, consciousness, anesthesia, sleep, emotional memory, and the modeling of neurocircuits.

He authored over 300 papers and books. James served on a wide variety of books of boards and committees, including the American Land Forces Institute through his work as an advisor to the Pentagon and on the Vatican Arts and Technology Council.

His academic career was illustrious by any measure, but he found extraordinary fame through an Anomaly that he serendipitously discovered during a research project that forever changed his life. In 2005, while researching Alzheimer's. He used brain scans of his healthy family members as a control, while simultaneously reviewing the MRIs of murderous psychopaths for another project.

The results seemed to indicate that one of the killer's scans had been mistakenly shuffled into the batch with his own family scans. But as it turned out, no mistake had been made. The brain scan that mirrored those of the psychopathic murderers was in fact his very own brain.

This prompted James to delve into his family tree and speak with experts, colleagues, relatives, and friends. Ultimately, his research led him to categorize himself as a prosocial psychopath. His studies led to a better understanding of psychopaths, sociopaths, and the direct impact that pre-adolescent trauma has on those with psychopathic brains and their behavior.

James wrote about his research and findings in the very personal book, The Psychopath Inside. A neuroscientist's personal journey into the dark side of the Brain, which was an Amazon bestseller and available in eight languages.

His research revealed that the nurturing support he experienced as a child and his happy, stable adult life enabled him to be healthy, stable, positive, and productive instead of a murderous psychopath. Growing up, Jim enjoyed close and loving relationships with his large, immediate, and extended Italian American family. He and his future wife, Diane, met at age 12.

He fulfilled his dream of becoming a scientist, and he flourished during a long and successful academic career, James appeared in over 370 national and international TV and radio specials, speaking on war, dictatorships, psychopathic behavior, murder, violence, and terrorism, as well as the future of biotechnology and modification of behavior.

In 2009, he appeared as himself on the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds, which explored his theory of transgenerational violence in areas of the world that experienced continuous bouts of terrorism, war, and violence.

James' life is an incredible story of a talented scientist who, through an unexpected and shocking personal discovery, expanded the formidable research of his academic career to include transformative studies in human behavior.

Jim will always be remembered for his wit, laughter, outsized personality, intellect, and generosity of spirit by his family, friends, colleagues, students, and the many others that he touched with his presence and research. With that, I ask the California State Senate to adjourn in his memory today. Thank you.

Thank you. On this aim. Senator, Min.

Thank you, Mr. President, Colleagues. I want to thank my colleague from Encinitas for summing up the career of a really remarkable academic citizen. I rise also to adjourn in memory of James Fallon, a Professor and former colleague of mine at UC Irvine. My colleague from Encinitas laid out what is truly a remarkable academic career.

His writing celebrated TED Talk several hundred appearances on national, international TV, the books, all of that reached millions of people. He was a brilliant and remarkable Professor. But I really just want to note what a good academic citizen he was. Someone with his accolades, someone with his accomplishments, doesn't have to be engaged in the academic community.

Certainly there are many examples of professors with his fame who don't engage, but he was remembered for also being a wonderful academic citizen. He was voted teacher of the year several times within the school of Medicine at the University of California Irvine, was President of the Faculty and Academic Senate.

He was someone who gave to our community over and over. And so his loss was a huge one for our community.

So I join my colleague from Encinitas in asking the Senate to join me today in offering our most sincere condolences to his wife Diane, their sons and daughters, family members, friends, colleagues, and students, and ask that we adjourn to his memory. Thank you.

Thank you. On behalf of the California State Senate, we extend our most sincere condolences to the Fallon family and ask that you bring his name forward so he can be properly memorialized. Next up is Senator Min.

Thank you, Mr. President and Colleagues. I rise to adjourn in memory of Sun Xiaoguang, known as Don Sun. Don served as President of the Bay Area Chapter of Apapa and was the Director of the Asian American Pacific Islander Fund, as well as the Development Chair for Andrew Yang's Humanity Forward movement in 2020.

He previously served as the Executive Director of the Asian Americans for a Good Government PAC, and at the time of his death, Don was the CEO of the Chinese American Youth Community Leadership Institute.

Don was a deeply devoted community leader and organizer who was deeply beloved in the Bay Area AAPIP Community and was passionate about the cause of having more Asian American representation in politics.

This was also a deeply humble man who, despite his many accomplishments in life, lived a very simple life, living in a small cottage in a recreation center in Los Gatos beginning around the time of the pandemic, he spent his time and energy trying to empower and lift up the AAPIP Community, especially young people.

I saw him most recently last year in an event he had put together for young women and girls interested in politics. He always tried to include young people in his events and make sure that they had a role and were explicitly recognized.

Don was also incredibly generous, not just with his money and time, but also in every other way. One time I stayed over in the Bay Area and I had a 07:30 a.m. flight back home after one of his events, and he insisted on getting up at 06:00 a.m. and driving me personally to the airport.

That was just the type of person he was so generous and giving. His dedication to supporting AAPIP leaders was unmatched, and he truly wanted to help everyone he could. He passed on March 13 after a prolonged battle with cancer.

His family was with him at the end, and his loss leaves a huge hole in our hearts and in our community. I ask the Senate to join me today in offering our most sincere condolences to his sons, family members, friends, and colleagues and ask that we adjourn in his memory. Thank you.

Thank you. Senator Becker.

Thank you, Mr. President, to the Senator from Irvine for these kind words. Don lived in my district. He had some shared experiences from Philadelphia, where he earned his Master's degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. And as mentioned, his Asian American forward pack became one of the most influential campaign organizations nationwide.

But he never lost connection to the local community or the dedication to service and education that made him so inspiring. He was a 16-year Board Member of the Rotary Club of Cupertino, and he addressed social issues worldwide while simultaneously tackling problems in our local community.

In 2017, he was recognized Asian Community Leader award by Congressman Ro Khanna, and this award only further elevated Don Sun's standing as a voice for change in the community. After he passed, one of our friends said something that really resonated with me. Don was always pursuing the spirit of life.

He never lost sense of his optimism about this country and its future, and this ability to see the best in everyone and willingness to share his time, energy, and insight is something we all should strive for. So I join my colleague from Irvine asking the Senate to adjourn in his memory. Thank you.

Thank you. We extend our most sincere condolences to his family and ask that you bring his name forward so he can be properly memorialized. Next up is Senator Skinner.

Thank you, Mr. President and Members. I ask that we rise to adjourn the Senate in memory of Peggy Moore and her wife, Hope Wood. Peggy was a dear friend and a fierce advocate for LGBTQ rights, democracy, equity, and social justice.

A longtime resident of Oakland, Peggy and her beloved wife and her business partner Hope Wood, were killed tragically on May 10 in a car accident in San Diego County. The crash took the lives of four people. Peggy had just recently celebrated her 60th birthday there on their way back from a concert. Peggy and Hope first met in 2008.

They were field organizers on Barack Obama's successful presidential campaign. In 2012, for Barack's reelection campaign, Peggy served as the State of California Campaign Director for that reelection. And she held that same position, State Director for the California presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton in 2016. Now back to Peggy and hope.

While they were being field organizers for President Obama, who was not yet President, this is in 2008, they were also working on the no on Prop-8 campaign. And that's when I first got to know them because I was running for the Assembly.

And in those days before we had the top two primary, I had, in effect, won the primary. And even though I was on the ballot in November, that campaign period between June and November was pretty much, I didn't really have to do much, but I still had headquarters.

So I turned my headquarters and my volunteers and my phones and such over to the NOH8 Campaign. And Peggy and Hope were there quite frequently. Unfortunately, as we all know, that ballot measure passed. And then while Prop-8 was challenged in court, gay marriage was illegal in California for a good number of years.

So it wasn't until 2013, that Peggy and Hope were married at Oakland's Lake Merritt. And they did that after the Supreme Court struck down the Federal DOMA Act. So it wasn't the Supreme Court decision that made gay marriage legal across the whole country, but when they. But that decision in 2013 that struck down DOMA.

Over the years, Peggy was known for her tireless efforts, working for political leaders for civil rights campaigns. In 2014, she was the manager for Libby Shafts success successful campaign for Oakland Mayor. She went on to work as a senior advisor for Libby Schaff in the mayor's office.

And in 2018, Peggy coordinated Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton's winning campaign, which made Becton the very first woman and first black DA for Contra Costa County. In 2019, Peggy worked for the California Democratic Party as a Training Director. The following year, she and Hope launched their own political consulting firm, which they named Hope Action Change.

In recent years, they split their time between Oakland and San Diego because San Diego was where Hope's family lived. So Peggy was well known in the East Bay for all of those reasons that I described, but also for co-founding Sistahs Steppenin Pride, a queer woman's march that was held in Oakland throughout the 2000s.

And at her memorial at Lake Merritt on May 12, there were several mourners who were there wearing Sistahs Steppenin t-shirts in her honor. She had an ebullient smile. She had an easy manner. She knew everyone, but she was particularly committed to supporting women in color.

Our mutual friend BART Board Director Latifah Simon called Peggy a friend, an activist, and one of the best organizers that she knew. And former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff said that whenever she walked with Peggy, it would take much extra time, because wherever they went, people would stop and know Peggy. They knew Peggy better than the mayor.

But Libby added that Peggy was someone who believed everyone should have a voice in government. She never gave up on the beautiful essence of democracy, even when it gave up on her. The beautiful essence of Peggy Moore will never be forgotten. And I ask that we adjourn in her memory and in her wife Hope Wood's memory. Thank you.

Thank you. Our deepest condolences to the loss of an amazing individual. And we ask that you bring her name forward so she can be properly memorialized. If there's no other business. Senator McGuire. The dust is clear.

Mr. President. Thank you so much. The next floor session is scheduled for Thursday, May 30, at 09:00 a.m. enjoy this short week.

The Senate will be in recess until 03:30 p.m. at which time an adjournment motion will be made. Will reconvene Thursday, May 30, 2024, at 09:00 a.m.