Senate Standing Committee on Rules

And thank you for allowing us to deal with some of the Committee business prior to coming into Committee. Let's go to our first order of business. Madam Secretary, can you please establish your quorum?

[Roll Call]

Quorum has been established. Thank you so much, Madam Secretary, to those appointees who are here. Thank you. What we're going to do is deal with some of the administrative items. We'll come right back to you. This should take less than five minutes. We're going to move to Governor Appointees not required to appear in Committee today.

This is items 2D through I. Items 2D through I.

Is it okay with the chair if we do 2D through J?

You better believe item 2d through G. Yes, J. There is no J. Yeah, yeah. It's D through I. Do you have a J that we don't know about? Give us one moment

I'm sorry.

No, no, no. You're good.

All right. So, madam Vice Chair, I understand that's a motion. Thank you so much, Madam Vice Chair. So in front of us today is governor's appointees not required to appear. Items 2d through I, we have a motion by Vice Chair. Grove. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[Roll Call]

It's a 5-0 vote. That motion passes. Ladies and gentlemen, Committee, we're now going to be moving on to bill referrals. We'll take up item number three, reference of bills to committees. We have motion by Madam Vice Chair. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[Roll Call]

That's 5-0 vote. That motion passes. We're now going to be moving on to Senate Rule 26. Senate Rule 26. Is there a motion to approve? We have a motion by Madam Vice Chair. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[Roll Call]

Aye. Dang. Look at that 5-0 vote. We're moving right along. We're now moving over again. I think, Senator Eggman, this is one of the most exciting pieces. The rule waiver request agenda item. Senator Eggman, would you like to offer that motion?

I move.

I like it. We have a motion by Senator Eggman. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[Roll Call]

5-0 vote. Thank you so much. We're now going to be moving on to floor acknowledgments. Floor acknowledgments. It's items six through 10. Is there a motion to approve? We have a motion by Madam Vice Chair. Madam Secretary, can you please call a roll?

[Roll Call]

All right. Thank you so much. It's a 5-0 vote. That motion passes. All right. Look at that. We are set and ready to roll. We're going to be bringing up first individual to be able to appear in front of Committee. We're going to welcome Miss Brooks. Madam Chief Deputy Director, if you could please come forward.

Thank you so much. Miss Brooks is here in front of the Committee as the Chief Deputy Director, Healthcare Programs, Department of Healthcare Services. Miss Brooks, we want to welcome you. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule. It's wonderful to see you.

You're going to have an opportunity to provide testimony, one to two minutes. I'll give you a 30 second prompt as you get close to that two minutes. We're then going to open it up to the Committee to be able to ask any questions, advance any comments in your opening.

We welcome you to thank or acknowledge any individuals who may be here today in the hearing room or watching online. And we'll be keeping time in your opening. Again, thank you so much for being here. The floor is yours.

Thank you, Mister chair. I'd first like to thank you for the opportunity to present myself to be confirmed today as Chief Deputy Director for health care programs at the Department of Health Care Services. As you stated, my name is Sarah Brooks.

I'd like to acknowledge my 80 year old mother, Judith Bodenhausen, who's watching virtually from Oakland, California today. I thought I'd provide a little bit of background about myself to start, I grew up in Oakland, California, and attended school in Berkeley, which exposed me to a diverse community of people and ideas.

I'm a child of two teachers, a New Yorker from Coney Island, Brooklyn, and a Kansan from Topeka. Both of my parents were politically staunch individuals who maintained a friendship circle, including a range of all types of demographics and people.

Early on, I learned that people are just people, that we are all equal, and that we all should treat each other as such. I'm a social worker by trade. I have both a bachelor's and master's in social work. I carry this affiliation with me throughout my personal and professional life.

It is the lens through which I communicate, assess, and evaluate all things on a day to day basis. Placing Californians we serve at the center of everything defines what I do and who I am. It is my mission every day from when I wake up in the morning to when I lay my head to rest at night.

It is the driver of all that I do. I am thankful for the opportunities in life that have brought me to where I am today to have this opportunity. And with that, I'll turn it back over to you and open it up for questions. Thank you.

Chief Deputy Director. Thank you. And know how personal this is for you. And when it's so personal, it exudes passion. And we're really grateful for that. Yes. Happy that you're in state service.

Thank you.

We're now going to open it up for questions. Comments, please. Madam Vice Chair, the floor service. Yes.

Thank you. Thank you, Chief Deputy Director Brooks, for taking on this huge responsibility. It is a huge responsibility, especially where we're at with the uncertainty on the budget and there are cuts going to DHCS programs.

And I guess, is there a way that these, these programs can be run more efficiently so that we can still deliver services to those underserved individuals that are under this purview?

Sure. Excellent question, Senator. And I do believe that the Department is committed to running our programs efficiently. As I stated in my responses, one such opportunity is Calane, California, advancing and innovating MediCal, which is a program that's been implemented by DHCS.

It is a program that offers many different or a myriad of different components, and one such example is community supports and enhanced care management is another example. These are two new benefits that we've brought in that provide new opportunities for members and efficiencies for muembers with respect to how they access services.

They are opportunities for members to have, excuse me. To have, to have the opportunity to access, excuse me. That's the word I was looking for. Opportunities for members to have access to services that provide them with things that they didn't have access to before.

And what that means is that while we may have added new things, they are actually providing efficient new opportunities that will provide for. I'm getting a little tongue tied here. I do apologize, Senator Grove. No, let me take a step back here. I'm good at this, and I will be. So here we go.

We'll start over again for a moment here. Okay, so community supports in ECM. I know these. Okay, so community supports in ECM, ECM are new opportunities for us to provide access to our Members. And essentially they provide new things such as housing and tenancy based services for our members.

These are services that weren't allowed and weren't provided before under our program.

And, you know, before when those services weren't provided, members essentially were accessing services that were the core set of services, but didn't have access to things that looked at things like social determinants of health and went outside of the kind of core set of services that were provided to them.

And so with these new services that are provided to them, I believe that there are new efficiencies provided within the MediCal program.

Thank you. And another question I have regarding the MediCal program.

I am very concerned about MediCal reimbursement rates because the areas that I represented, the Central Valley, which I have a large, high population of MediCal recipients, and the MediCal reimbursements, rates being cut, being delayed, all those things, I have grave concerns that, you know, providers will not stay in that field.

And if they do stay in that field, they're just basically a pathway to bankruptcy. I have a lot of providers that were counting on those rates. How do we address the MediCal provider rates?

Because it's all well and good that we give somebody a card that says, you're covered under MediCal, but if you can't get in to see a Doctor because they're not taking MediCal anymore, or, I mean, I had two doctors tell me this morning they're not going to take MediCal anymore.

So I have huge concerns that we're not going to be able to treat individuals, especially on that, that low socioeconomic, disadvantaged portion of our population. And I have a lot of those people in my district, specifically in the Central Valley, McFarland, Shafter, all the places where a lot of our farmer community works.

So how are we going to address provider rates and make sure that we have sustainable healthcare, sustainable hospitals and medical providers that will work in this space?

Well, I think that there are different ways that we can address those issues. One such thing are supplemental payments. And so, so I think that you're familiar with those. Those are payments that we provide or directed payments that we provide through our health plans to providers, and those help provide increased payments to providers. You know, another opportunity.

And, you know, I know that negotiations are ongoing with respect to the budget. But separately, in 2024, we did implement the MCO tax and targeted rate increases where we had specifically specific increases related to certain different areas of such as specialty care and primary care, maternal care.

So we looked at different areas that we could target for increases where we were able to provide increases to providers to supplement their rates. To respond to your question.

So are you saying that you actually provided those increases or the increases were listed? I know we did over 400 increases and there were increases in targeted rates on numbers, code numbers for those rate increases. But the delivery of those rate increases hasn't stopped.

We established that in Committee when I said, do you venmo them, do you send you a check, any option, or however they receive their money? Those rate increases have not started being delivered as payments yet. That's my understanding.

For 2024, those are in process at this time.

Yes. So they have not supposed to start January and it has not started at all. They said they're going to be retroactive.

So what I'd like to do is go back and just verify whether or not that's happened or not. I just would like to do that. Just to confirm that question, I'd like to follow up with you, if that's okay.

That'd be great. Because my understanding, based on the Committee sub three that I sit on, is that the rates were increased on paper, but providers are not getting those rate increases. But we were guaranteed a retroactive payment once the increases start. So if you could follow up with me, I would really appreciate that.

I would definitely do that, Senator Grove

Thank you for answering my questions.

No great questions. And I apologize that I got a little bumbled at the front. Thank you for your questions.

Thank you. Miss Brooks, nice to see you again. And always nice to see a fellow social worker. I want to ask you. More philosophical questions if I can. And this is just one of my pet roads I like to wander down.

When I first started in the Legislature in 2012, we got rid of the Department of Mental Health, right? So now she's the Department of Healthcare Services. And in the last two decades, almost since I've been here or a decade, I guess we've focused a lot more on mental health.

So now we have a lot of new programs just to do initiative. Can the Department of Health Care Services handle all that or do we need a Department of Mental Health back?

I believe that the Department of Health Care Services can handle that. I believe that integration is better. I don't think that separation is better. I think that handling things as a comprehensive whole and ensuring that we have things together is the better approach.

When we separate things, separate things and we silo things and they're not working together, people talk less, people don't have communities communications. The things aren't working together. Those conversations aren't happening.

The hallway conversations aren't happening that need to happen, you know, with respect to whether or not something's happening in BH connect, something's happening in Prop One that needs to affect something in the physical health world or vice versa.

And so I really think that DHCS can handle it, to answer your question, and that it belongs together as one.

So then are you arguing for same day billing?

That's a trick question.

Talk to me about Prop one and us. Right. So I mean, I've talked to friends who, I have a lot of friends who are practitioners still and who say, you know, I gritted my teeth and you were doing it, so I voted for it.

But people are afraid they're going to lose contracts as people were, and then in the next breath say, and we can be billing for a lot more than we are. We need to get off our butts and do be for service.

And bill, how are you going to help counties and providers make that adjustment from what they were using mental health services dollars for to how they're going to have to shift and start billing and re engineer their approach.

We're going to need to provide a lot of technical assistance. I mean, we're going to need to be on the ground. We're going to need to be communicating. Communication is going to need to be key. It's not going to be about just putting out pieces of paper either.

It's going to need to be about having calls, having webinars, having meetings, having a well layered and outlined communication strategy, if you will. And so I believe that that's going to be our key to ensuring that.

You feel confident you can't let this fail. We can't fail.

No, we cannot fail.

This is important. It's important. So no, we can't fail.

What's the most exciting thing you're going to do the next five years?

In the next five years? That's a, well, that's, it goes fast, girl. Well, it does go you're right. The first six months went really fast, actually, if you want to know the truth, the next five years, I would say the next.

The most exciting thing, I think ensuring that members receive good, quality care, that's going to be the most exciting thing for me.

Good questions. Thank you so much. I'd like to be able to see if there's any additional questions. Comments from Committee. Looking for additional questions? Comments from the Committee here in C nine. What we'd like to be able to do is open it up for public testimony.

We're going to welcome all those who would like to be able to speak in support of Miss Brooks. If you could please come forward at this time, we're going to request that you keep your comments to 30 seconds. If you could please provide your first and last name. And if you're with an organization, please list the organization.

All right. Welcome. It's good to see you.

Good to see you. Good afternoon. Christy Weiss with Capital Advocacy here today on behalf of the California Hospital Association in strong support of Miss Brooks's appointment.

You know, in the time that we've had to work with Sarah, she's always proven herself to be a true collaborator, you know, a true problem solver, and always willing to be available and to be accessible.

And that's really, I think, what those of us in the provider community need as we work to solve the many complex challenges that come up with the many programs that run through the Department.

And most of all, I think we all admire her deep personal commitment to serving MediCal Members and making sure that folks throughout the state can access those services. Thank you very much.

Good to see you, Miss Weiss. Thank you. Hi. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. Linda Wei with Western Center on Law and Poverty. Having the pleasure of working with Miss Brooks in her previous role with the Department, I have appreciated her responsiveness, her in depth knowledge of a very complex program that provides coverage to over a third of Californians, as well as her passion. And welcome her return.

Western Center is pleased to support her confirmation.

Thank you so much. Hey, good afternoon.

Hi. Good afternoon. Michelle Gibbons with the County Health Executives Association of California, also on behalf of the county supervisor. Excuse me, I'm going to mess this up, but the California State Association of Counties, it's been a while here to support Miss Brooks confirmation.

I will just say, as you've seen demonstrated here, Miss Brooks comes with this honesty and a transparency and a true spirit of collaboration. When in doubt, she's always happy to circle back with her team and other Members and then really bring back the answer that's needed.

We appreciate her spirit of collaboration and partnership, which is necessary as we continue from a county perspective to engage in many of the initiatives. So we really appreciate it and here to support.

Thank you so much. Hi, good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Mister chair Members. Connie Delgado, on behalf of the District Hospital Leadership Forum, these are the 33 district and municipal hospitals here in support of Miss Brooks. We would like to echo a lot of the comments that have been made here.

Her commitment to serving the MediCal patients and all patients in California and working very diligently to always keep a focus on the best care and working with the challenges of providers in this state as we all work towards a common goal. So we wholeheartedly support her appointment today.

Thank you so much. Hey, how's it going?

Kelly Brooks on behalf of the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, we're thrilled to be here today to support Miss Brooks's confirmation. Public hospitals have a long history of working with her. She's very thoughtful and policy oriented. She knows that state policy making will impact Low income families, seniors and persons with disabilities.

And on a personal note, I've been lucky enough to work with her for a decade and a half. She's collaborative and everything you could ask for in a public servant. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Hi, good afternoon.

Good afternoon. Rebecca Sullivan with Local Health Plans of California. We strongly support the appointment of Sarah Brooks to the Chief Deputy Director of healthcare programs at DHCS.

Not only does Miss Brooks have a long history at the Department that she brings her expertise to, but a proven commitment to collaboration and stakeholder engagement, which is really vital to ensure that we build upon on previous successes and have all the right folks at the table.

Miss Brooks has played a huge part in the transformation of MediCal over the last several years and we are so glad to see her continuing to support and lead the work back at DHCS. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Good afternoon. Welcome.

Thank you. Nicette Short, representing Peach, the Association that represents community safety net hospitals. We're also in strong support of Miss Brooks confirmation. As Senator Egmond mentioned, we are thrilled with her combination of social work skills and experience and expertise coupled with kind of an unparalleled experience and expertise in hospital financing and Medicaid programming.

We know she's going to be an amazing champion within the Administration for our safety and at hospitals, our disenfranchised patients and our under resourced communities. So we're in strong support of her confirmation. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Good afternoon. Welcome.

Hi. Good afternoon. Thank you. Excuse me. Rachael Blucher. I'm actually here on behalf of two individual MediCal managed Care plans, LA Care and Community Health Group. I will echo the sentiments on Miss Brooks ability to collaborate, I think, respectfully collaborate, with the many stakeholders that she has to deal with at the Department of Healthcare Services.

I will also add that she is incredibly thoughtful about implementation, something that's very important in the MediCal program. And we look forward to continuing to collaborate and work with her in the future. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Good afternoon. Welcome.

Good afternoon. Thank you very much for your time today. Amer Rashid with the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California, very much in support for the.

I'll echo the many reasons that were listed here today and looking forward to our continued collaboration together as we implement the many programs that the state is working on in behavioral health. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Good afternoon

Good afternoon. Thank you. Val Sheehan, CEO, Cal Pace, the Statewide Association of Programs of all Inclusive care for the elderly. We are in enthusiastic support of Miss Brooks nomination to this role, and we, too, feel that she is not just a wonderful advocate, but a truly committed staff, state service representative who wants to seek quality care.

As we do, too. And as we continue to serve our most vulnerable older adults in California, we look forward to partnering with Miss Brooks. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam CEO. Appreciate that. We're going to do a last call for those who may want to speak in support. We're going to do a last call for those in support. If you could please come forward. At this time, seeing no one rise, we're now going to be looking for those who may be in opposition.

If you could please step forward at this time. We're going to do a last call for opposition. All right. We're going to bring it back to Committee to better see if there's any additional questions, comments and or we'll offer.

A motion, offer a motion to have it. Miss Brooks, move to the full Senate Floor.

Sir, thank you so much, madam Vice Chair. We have a motion by Vice Chair Grove and Miss Brooks. Thank you for being here. It is amazing to see the coalition behind you in support of you, and I think you have some of your team who is here today as well.

We also want to say thank you each and every day for what you do for the most vulnerable in the state and especially during the pandemic and some of the toughest time. I think that you're going to see, I'm going to knock on Wood in your career. Let's hope right. And really grateful for that. Thank you.

All right, we do have a motion by Madam Vice Chair. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[Roll Call]

That's a 5-0 vote. Congratulations. You are heading to the Senate Floor. Appreciate that. We're going to take a quick pause to check in with Miss Leblanc. How you doing? Good to go for another. That's great. All right, so we're now going to bring up Miss Sunquist. Miss Sunquist, if you could please come forward.

Miss Sunquist is here as the real estate Commissioner in the Department of Real Estate. We're going to take a 30 second pause, get her set up, get her some water, and we'll be right back with you. 30 seconds.

All right, Miss Sunquist, we welcome you. Thank you so much for being here. It's good to see you and talk about working your way through the ranks. It's impressive. We're going to provide you up to two minutes for your opening testimony.

During those two minutes, please welcome any family, friends that may be with you here in Committee and/or watching online. And we're going to just ask when you hear a 30-second prompt, just know I'm not trying to be rude, but I may interrupt when you hit two minutes. Director Sunquist, the floor is yours.

Thank you very much. Good afternoon, honorable chair and members of the Committee, thank you for considering my confirmation as real estate Commissioner of the Department of Real Estate.

It's an honor to be here and to work with my fellow public servants to support the mission of the department to safeguard and promote the public interests in real estate matters through licensure, regulation, education and enforcement. Here with me today is my son Nolan, sitting back here, and the amazing leadership team from DRE.

Watching are my husband, Eric, my sister Aya, my parents, Tatsuo and Tomomi, and my father-in-law, John, and the amazing staff from DRE. I am eternally grateful for everyone's support. I would also like to thank Governor Newsom for entrusting me in this very important role.

And I'm here today from a position of humility and pride for being the first Asian American woman to be in this role. I don't take this position lightly, and I am truly committed to the mission of the Department of Consumer Protection. I appreciate your consideration and I look forward to your questions.

Commissioner, thank you so much. And it's great to have Nolan here. Nice to see you, Nolan. Thank you. Why don't we open it up for any comments, questions, please. Senator Laird.

Thank you. I appreciated reading about you. You have a very schooled career. The one thing I was going to ask is, you were at the enforcement division, and there have been many advances in technology.

How do you, given the advances in technology and enforcement, keep up so that you can keep up with the technology that you have to enforce against?

Absolutely. It's a great question, and it can be a difficult thing to do because we are dealing with an industry that is so creative and so innovative, and we especially saw that during the pandemic.

So we take a lot of steps to ensure that we are aware of what new technologies are emerging within the real estate industry so that we can provide that information to licensees and identify consumer risks and be preventive and proactive with consumers.

For example, we are constantly meeting with industry members to learn about what software programs they're using, what innovations they're seeing in technology.

And then we follow up with those companies themselves to meet with them to engage, to learn about their business models and identify any potential consumer risks or compliance issues that may not quite fit with the real estate law, and have those discussions and engage with them when we're out in the field with visiting brokers, with our enforcement staff, they're also engaging with brokers on individual bases to determine what technologies they're seeing in the industry, what new software programs they're seeing, what concerns they have, because they're also very interested in consumer protection.

And so having those engaging conversations, bringing that back to the Department of Real Estate and then learning about those, again, going back to those technology companies and learning from them.

So it's a very important effort for us to stay on top of what's happening in the real estate industry and technology so that we can provide that education to consumers and licensees alike. We've also had the opportunity to work with Cal Poly to do PropTech research.

I'm sorry, unfortunately, there's an extra Cal Poly now, and you have to identify which one you're talking about. You're probably talking about the Cal Poly.

The Cal Poly.

Okay. Somebody might disagree, but that's the correct Cal Poly.

The Cal Poly. Wink, wink. We had two amazing professors that did, as I understand it, first of its kind, research into how PropTech affects the real estate industry, our licensing population, consumer protection, and also affects the Department of Real Estate. So it's been very engaging work and very excited.

If you'd like to see a copy of that study, I'm happy to provide it to you as well.

Thank you. And you presupposed my follow up question, which was to give an example, and then you did. So I very much appreciate your response. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Madam Vice Chair.

Just a comment. I don't have any questions for your, I read your bio. I looked at some stuff that you've already put out online, and I think you're very well qualified. I talked to my realtors. They love you from all parts of the district, whether it was Kern, Tulare, or Fresno counties. Several of them were like, she's awesome.

She works with us, she's collaborative, and they have a deep respect for you. So I'm all in.

Thank you very much, Senator Grove.

Thank you so much. Senator Eggman, Senator Johnson.

Thank you very much. And I'll just be brief as well. You seem incredibly qualified, and we're grateful to have you. I know that there's, people can work under a broker's license, and I was briefed on there's one, like one broker's license for 31,000 licensees.

So like in the medical field, which I'm more used to, or in the clinical field, we do oversight with our license of other people. But what kind of oversight is done then for the individual licensees? Is it just review a paperwork or what can it be? Because I don't know how one person does 31,000.

Absolutely. There are ranges of sizes of brokerages within our licensee population. A vast majority have zero to 99 salespersons working under them. But the real estate law is very strict on the requirements for what reasonable supervision is required of a broker.

And so there are requirements to have systems and policies and procedures to supervise all of the activities that are happening under that brokerage, to provide training on fair housing, and bias, and implicit and explicit bias. There's a whole list within our regulations and statutory requirements.

Most of them are flying out of my brain for the moment, but we have very strict requirements for reasonable broker supervision. And then there are also abilities for a broker to have division managers and branch managers to assist with that supervision. So it's not necessarily one person that is on a day-to-day basis engaging with salespersons.

They have systems in place to monitor that all the policies and procedures of that broker are being followed.

And then we, as the Department of Real Estate, obviously provide compliance guides, provide information about how that reasonable supervision should work, and then work with our licensees to learn about whether or not there should be changes, or whether or not we are appropriately enforcing the law. So there's continued engagement and re-evaluation of those requirements.

And as I reviewed the materials, it looks like the amount of people with licenses has gone down, but the amount of sales has gone up. How do you account for that? Is it concerning and is it just due to technology?

Sure. The number of new licensees coming in seems to be declining in the last few months, but our renewal rates have stayed at historic same levels. We're about 76% of our salesperson still renewing and 94% of our brokers still renewing. So we're carefully monitoring our licensee population.

There are probably some outside influences that are affecting interest in the real estate industry, but again, those who are in, tend to stay in.

And then finally there was a, it was in the news for a while, but people of color getting different appraisals on their houses. It happened with my former mayor Michael Tubbs in Stockton. Can you talk a little bit about that, about how we, how we make sure equity is equal?

Absolutely. I am committed to ensuring that people who are working with licensees and licensees working with one another are treating each other fairly.

We do a lot of work in collaboration with the Civil Rights Department to train our staff to provide training to licensees and housing providers on what rights they should be affording to the clients that they work with.

We have done a lot of work within implementing bills that require new implicit bias, explicit bias, requirements for continuing education and pre licensed education. So, absolutely, I'm with you. We're committed to ensuring that everyone is being treated fairly. Investigating complaints, obviously, is a component of that.

But we try to do a lot of preventive and proactive work before any violations occur.

Thank you very much.

Thank you so much. Please, our resident realtor.

Thank you. Looking at your license number, yours and mine are from the same era of the state. Mine might be just a little bit newer than yours, but there's still both lots of experience behind those numbers. And I'm going through the continuing education process right now.

So I'm actually in the probation period of being passed my due date, but I'm not practicing right now, so we're all good. This is all off the record, by the way. I've said it on the floor of the Senate. I'm trying to get somebody to take the test for me. That is a joke. To be very clear, that is a joke.

Oh, I would open an enforcement proceeding. See, there we go.

No, what I'd like to ask is there's a recent, you know, major disruption in the real estate industry in the United States of America with the settlement that NAR had to participate in.

I think CAR and some of the locals are working their way through that with how they're going to redefine a seller's broker versus a buyer's broker. I worked in commercial real estate. I don't know. I haven't paid as much attention to that, currently if it's going to affect the commercial real estate market as much.

So I guess two questions. Do you have some thoughts on how that went, how it's going?

Does DRE have a role in that, as the real estate industry is trying to figure out how they're going to move forward with whatever the new parameters are that I guess are going to be figured out as we go over the next several months or years?

Sure. No direct comment on how it's going because the lawsuits are really specific to the trade organizations and their practices and their Members and then the systems they use within that trade organization. So about half of our licensees are members of those trade organizations and the other half are not. It is interesting to see what's moving forward.

I understand that the settlement is kind of on hold. As the settlement was moving forward, it was moving forward on the seller's side lawsuit, but then there's also a separate buyer's side lawsuit who's now trying to influence the settlement on the seller's side.

So we're monitoring what is moving forward with the lawsuits while also meeting with stakeholders, meeting with industry members to learn what they think are going to be changes in practice so that we can learn what those are and then provide that education to consumers so they know what to expect moving forward.

Unfortunately, there's not a lot of clear direction on what that's going to look like.

So I see our role as really just making sure we're aware of what's happening, identifying what potential changes in practices will be, how that kind of interplays with the real estate law, and then being proactive in letting consumers know, hey, this is how it's going to potentially look, and these are the things you need to look out for.

Or hey, licensee, I know you're used to doing things this way, but these are the things that might be coming about and how you should make sure that you're still compliant with the real estate law and treating your consumers and clients fairly.

I appreciate you explaining that half your licensees are in these organizations. I think that's an important statistic to share. I think the thing that I would be most interested in, and, you know, the folks that are in these associations is your Department. Obviously you're paying attention. I appreciate that. Your explanation is very good.

Is your staff, I mean, this could happen quickly, whatever the changes are going to be, or it could be drawn out, as you said, with these other cases, who knows how long they could be drawn out for a period of time and then happen quickly.

Is your staff ready for that, to react and be responsive to the citizens of California and the licensees when they need something to happen? You guys are ready to go, you're prepared, and you'll be able to be nimble when that time comes?

Absolutely. We have project plans in place. We have executive leadership and then management and staff working to identify all those key areas and key components and have advisories ready, have things ready to go on the flip of a switch.

Just, you know, my experience with the DRE has always been very good from the very beginning when I took my first test, however many long ago, two decades ago, whatever it was, up until most recently, the associations in San Diego County have invited your staff.

The commissioners come down in the past to participate in their events, and it's always been very professional and very well done. So thank you.

Thank you very much.

I hope you'll keep that up. All that to say, I hope you keep that up. Thank you.

Any additional comments, discussion? Hearing, seeing none from the committee, we're now going to open it up for those who would like to be able to participate in public comment. We're going to welcome folks who are in support. If you could please come forward to the podium.

If you don't mind providing your first and last name, if you're with an organization, if you could please provide the organization's name. It's good to see you. You have 30 seconds. Thank you so much for being here.

Very nice to see you. Thank you so much for allowing us. Jennifer Svec on behalf of the California Association of Realtors, we would like to actually echo Senator Grove's comments with respect to the access and ability to communicate with the pending appointment of Commissioner Sunquist.

We've had an amazing opportunity over the last six months, especially in her current role, to be able to collaborate with her and her staff to address a variety of market changes that are happening.

Additionally, in her prior service within the Department of Real Estate as the enforcement division head, she's always been extremely accessible to our Members, participated in our board of directors meetings, offered insights and and information, and been extraordinarily responsive when we've asked questions about either enforcement or other issues that she could be of assistance with.

So her longevity with the organization within state service has been of extreme help to us. It is also helping us go forward as we navigate the complicated world that's coming forward with us with new negotiations, conversations, as well as transparency.

Transparency is not just important in the legislative process, but it is also important within the real estate transaction process, and that goes to all of the comments made by the Senators today.

I would also personally like to make myself available to assist with any questions with respect to real estate scope of practice from the ground level, especially as it comes to large broker supervision and how the office manager provisions work within the state law in practical applications.

Minority Leader Jones, also happy to meet with you to discuss what's happening within the news between NAR and California.

But I would also like to note California is different than every other state. I've had the opportunity to go to our national Association of Realtors and can tell you that consumer protections in California far and away exceed any other state. And we are proud of that fact. So thank you for all of your assistance.

Very grateful. Good to see you. Thank you so much for your testimony today. Good afternoon, welcome.

Mr. Chair and Members. Mike Belote, speaking on behalf of the California Mortgage Association. Our intersection with Miss Sunquist over the years has been through the mortgage lending regulation activities of the department. And to be frank, that is a small but critical element of DRE mission. And to be more frank, probably takes a disproportionate share of resources.

Mortgage brokering is a high dollar, very sensitive activity. And we have over the years, found DRE and Miss Sunquist, through her leadership, to be tough but fair, accessible, focused on education and prevention, and always willing to collaborate with us to make sure that people are not harmed through the mortgage lending process.

By mortgage brokers, I hope not by our members, but it can happen. And we just could not be more supportive of her leadership throughout that process. It's important, and she's done a fine job. She'll make a terrific Commissioner. Thank you so much. It's good to see you.

We're going to see if anyone else would like to be able to come up and support. If you could please step forward to the podium. Seeing no one rise, we're now going to ask for those who may be in opposition, if you could please step forward. We're going to do a last call for opposition.

Hearing, seeing no one rise, we're now going to bring it back to Committee. We'd like to be able to see if there's any last-minute discussion or debate. We'll also see if there's a motion.

I'd like to move to the full Senate Floor for a vote.

Thank you so much, Madam Vice Chair. We're very grateful. Let's go to our secretary. If you could please call the roll.

McGuire? McGuire, aye. Grove? Grove, aye. Eggman? Eggman, aye. Jones? Jones, aye. Laird? Laird, aye. Five to zero.

That's a 50 vote. Congratulations, you're heading to Senate Floor. Thank you so much, Madam Commissioner. And I'm sure your parents are so incredibly proud, so thank you.

Thank you very much.

All right, thank you so much. We're going to take a 60-second break. We're going to let Miss Leblanc just chill for a second if that's all right. In the meantime, we're going to have. Mister Maguire, you're missing the c in the name. There we go, we're going to have you come on forward.

We're going to do our switch out and then we'll be right back with you in 60 seconds.

Bringing it back here and have our final appointee required to appear. We are going to welcome Mr. Maguire to Committee. Moving forward as a Member of the State Water Resources Control Board. Mister Maguire, you will have up to two minutes to provide your opening remarks and we welcome you. Thank you so much for being here today.

During your opening remarks, please welcome any friends, family that are either here in person or watching online. And of course we'll give you a 32nd prompt as you get close to the two minutes. Member Maguire, thank you so much. We're grateful. The floor is yours.

Thank you and good afternoon Mr. Chair and Members of the Committee. I appreciate the opportunity to be here before you today for consideration of my confirmation of reappointment to the State Water Resources Control Board.

I've worked my entire career as a professional engineer to advance water solutions that meet the needs of California's economy, its people and its ecosystem. And for that reason, I am greatly honored and thankful to the Governor for my reappointment.

And although they aren't able to attend in person today, I would like to acknowledge and thank my wife, three sons, and parents who have all supported me consistently through the past five years. I've had the privilege of serving on the board

Looking to the future, I'm excited for the opportunity to continue my service because I feel we are making progress to address the admittedly immense water challenges we face, such as ensuring safe drinking water for all, achieving sustainable groundwater, and mitigating climate change impacts.

In one of the engineer seats on the board, I strive to bring technical and practical perspectives to the tough decisions that we face. I also believe the board provides an open and transparent forum for the public and other interested parties to weigh in on critical water issues.

And I work every day to listen and learn with an open mind. And with that I thank you and happy to take any questions.

Thank you so much Mr. Board Member. We're going to open it up. We're going to start with Mr. Laird and look to the Madame Vice Chair. Mr. Laird.

First, thanks for the helpful meeting. And I did comment during that meeting that it's been my experience that the engineer seat that you occupy has historically been tough to fill with people that are operational. And you have been, and I salute you for that.

I want to ask about two subjects we talked about, and the first one is the safe drinking water. Because when the safe drinking water program got transferred from Public Health over to the Water Board, I think there were 1.6 million people without safe drinking water in California. And the Water Board has worked to reduced that by 600,000.

So it's a million, but now it's tougher. The easier ones were dealt with and now it's tougher. What sort of, as a member of that team, are your plans to try to attack the remaining people that don't have safe drinking water?

Yeah, thank you for that question. 10 years ago, this was new to the Water Board. We didn't have a drinking water program, and in many respects, we're starting from the ground floor within our organization.

So I'm very proud of the progress that we've made, and no small thanks to SB 200 and the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Act to be able to help support that need. We're now five years into that program and, as you say, have been able to help over 600,000 Californians get access to safe drinking water.

You're also right in pointing out that we have a lot of challenges ahead of us. We have 3000 public water systems in California, 3000. And the vast majority of those are very small, less than 500 connections.

And yet each one has its own challenges, its own unique water supply challenges, its own management in many boards and communities that each have unique needs and are deserving of safe drinking water. What I can say is that we're making incredible progress. We've been able to support over 100 water system consolidations in California in recent years.

We're currently working with nearly 400 of those water systems that are on the failing or at-risk level. So you're right, I can't snap my fingers overnight, ensure that each of these systems, although very deservedly, should have safe drinking water, immediately have that.

But a lot of the provisions that we're putting in place, such as an expedited drinking water grant program and other measures I feel are kind of flywheeling and accelerating our ability to move these projects forward more quickly.

Well, I know we talked, and I gratuitously can say that I have a bill to try to do minimum standards of Administration ability for small water systems. But I had a water system in my district where they didn't even know. They just didn't know basic things. They didn't even know who their customers were.

They didn't have an up-to-date list. And there were things that made it really hard to try to help after a fire destroyed part of it. And so I appreciate that you're sort of tuned into that.

If I could just add.

So, yes, I would agree that having appropriate technical, managerial, and financial fundamentals in place for water systems is incredibly important because the one thing we want to do is get these systems off the list, get them to save drinking water, and then, importantly, ensure that they don't come back on the list ever again.

And I think it's those sort of principles that are going to help do that. And I hear stories like the one you just shared all the time about systems all around the state that have the similar struggles.

And what happened when that happened. It was the state that had to come in with hundreds of thousands of dollars and try to protect the drinking water when they failed the basic ability to do it. The other thing I wanted to ask about is water recycling.

And the reason I wanted to ask about it is it's about the only unique water source that applies to almost any water district in California while they struggle for surface storage or groundwater management.

And I know the Water Board administers the revolving loan program, and when it was in the water bond 10 years ago, it was the one pot that was subscribed almost immediately.

And how do you try to advocate for the additional need or the fact that there's a need there that we just don't seem to be meeting when it's the only water supply available to some new water supply available to some areas?

Well, this is where I get excited as an engineer, because I'm always looking at new sources of supply and solutions. I think the Governor's water supply strategy when it comes to recycled water really speaks to this and sets fairly ambitious goals.

Looking to have 800,000 acre feet of recycled water by 2030 and 1.8 million acre-feet of recycled water by 2040. And how we get there does not come cheap and does not come without innovation and the willingness to really invest in our future infrastructure. And we're seeing that.

I think you look up and down the coast to many communities in your district, I would say Soquel Creek Water District, Monterey, Morro Bay, there's many that are really leaning in to recycled water and looking at reuse as the future water supply resiliency, where they have those resources.

So I think our job at the Water Board is to help tell that story about what that opportunity is, what the future of water can be when it comes to reuse and identify those needs.

We're in the process right now of doing a wastewater needs assessment around for the entire state, which is focused on wastewater collection and treatment. But I think also help identify where there's additional reuse opportunities. And we, we are just.

I think I just look forward to this coming decade as we're able to help, hopefully articulate better and achieve some of the alofty goals that have been set.

Well, thank you. And I should just note that the Morro Bay one was contentious, and it opened three weeks before the atmospheric rivers had transferred. And if it hadn't, there would have been a catastrophic failure right into the ocean in those atmospheric rivers.

And the Water Board being willing to help move that along was a key partner in that catastrophic failure not happening. So thank you. I really appreciate your response.

Thank you so much, Mister Laird. Let's go to Vice Chair Grove.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Commissioner Maguire, for, or board member, I apologize, Maguire, for meeting with me and spending the time with me that you did. I mean, we had a lot of different discussions and obviously representing the top three food-producing counties in the entire world. Water is very important to my district.

There are some questions that I have around the Kings River situation. The State Water Resources Control Board applications and permissions process related to water diversions along the Kings River. And now the river designated points for diversion, whether it's upper river, which is all man-made diversions, or the lower part of the river.

What's the board's process for approving diversion applications and approving requests for diversion changes.

So one thing I want to say specifically about. Thank you for that question, by the way, when it comes to the Kings River, there are a lot of interests in that river, in the resources that it provides, certainly.

And because of that, there is actually a hearing process underway before the State Water Resources Control Board's administrative hearings office right now to determine whether there is and to what extent there is water available in that river system. So because of that, I am prohibited from speaking more as it relates to that hearing process.

But when it comes to just water, right applications in General and change and petitions that you asked about, we do have quite a bit of information on our website and very willing and helpful staff that I'm sure would be we could connect you with, if interested, to find out more about what that process would entail.

I appreciate that very much. Thank you. And I understand, I totally get it. It's in a hearing process or litigation hearing process or whatever now and so I get that we need to wait for the outcome. On the SGMA, the Self-contained ground or excuse me, Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. I feel like it's entering a new stage.

You know, individuals had to come together in the local level, but we do have basins that are now being, I don't want to say taken over by the board, but going into probation with the board, what do you think is the biggest challenge for the State Water Board in this new role to bring local control, if they can't manage it themselves, into the purview of which you sit on.

Yeah, thank you for that question. It's a tough one. It's one I've been wrestling with for the past several years. I think the intent of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act has been clear all along, which is it's the desire for groundwater sustainability, groundwater sustainability agencies to manage themselves and find pathways, meaningful pathways to sustainability by 2040.

I didn't wish any of these basins to come to the State Water Board. We do have six basins that are under, potentially under consideration for probation. The first one we did vote on here recently.

But whether a basin is in probation before the state board or currently, or being considered for potential probationary action, the whole point is to get them out of that process as quickly as possible. That is my goal.

I've spent a lot of time in the San Joaquin Valley meeting with those very affected groundwater sustainability agencies to try and work through and identify pathways to move them out of probation, ideally before a hearing might be needed.

But even for the one that we did have to make a decision on here last in April, probation is not a state takeover of groundwater in that basin. It's exactly what it sounds like.

It's a one-year timeline to fix their plan, to fix the issues that were found in their plan, and to get them back under local control. So I'm hopeful I'm going to be working towards that end. And fingers crossed that's where we end up here with all these basins.

Thank you. Thank you for that response. I have a lot of farmers in that area that are very concerned about, you know, being able to grow food because they have to have water to do so.

I have a number of small farmers in the Tulare Lake sub basin, which is the one that was voted on and now on probation, and they're extremely fearful that there's not going to be a path forward for them.

So I appreciate your response, explaining that it is just a one year probation and that it's not a state takeover and your actual goal is to return it back to them after you fix the issue so that everybody has adequate access to water.

Absolutely. It is going to take all hands on deck. So it is going to take participation from those agencies, from the locals, to really identify and correct those issues with the plan and get them back where it belongs.

I do have one question I want to ask you. Actually, I have two, but I probably will get in trouble for asking you the second one. In your opinion, should GSAs stop exporting water for profit?

I mean just large farmers have larger bunch of water and they export that water for profit instead of using it within the GSA community that they're in. What's your thought on that? Or can you even answer?

Well so what I will say is it's important to follow the rules. I think there's multiple levels of jurisdictional oversight here. Counties can certainly have ordinances in terms of water exports and different types of actions. I have to ensure that groundwater agencies comply with state laws and regulations.

So that's an area where I perhaps don't have as much of a direct opinion on whether it should or shouldn't happen, so much as we need to ensure that any movement of water follows all of the rules that do exist.

Thank you. Thank you sir very much.

Thank you Madam Vice Chair, Mr. Maguire. We're going to turn it over to Mr. Jones.

Thank you Mr. McGuire, or Mr. Chair. Mr. Maguire. A couple questions and then some concerns and maybe some history, particularly regarding San Diego.

I've not been a big fan of the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board in San Diego and I will admit today that many of my concerns and challenges with them are maybe old because I haven't really heard much recently.

But there seems to be a sense that they're not responsive to the community when there are problems, they're over-enforcing when there is a violation.

I'm not a big fan of deputizing or requiring the cities to do the code enforcement and do their job, but I think the things that are most disturbing to me about it, again, I will admit that these complaints have got some years behind them. So maybe things have changed and they're better now.

But when developers or land users were fined for runoff of whatever kind and were given a citation, the board wasn't very responsive in allowing it in the appeal process or when somebody was coming to the board meeting to present their case, the board wouldn't have a quorum so that they would get put off for another three or four months until there could be a quorum.

So I'm just wondering if you're familiar with those issues. Is that news to you? And do I need to do some more research to come back with some more current information?

I would love to follow up with you on that to get a little bit better understanding of what's happening currently.

Certainly I think everything I said in my opening comments about the importance of being open and transparent, and I would add responsive and customer service based in my view applies to the State Water Board and should also apply to the regional boards.

I haven't heard a whole lot of those types of views recently, but happy to follow up with you.

And I'll follow up too, and do some research on my own with some of my constituents back in the district. One thing that is coming up is there's a new regulation regarding nitrogen, and I think as runoff in groundwater in San Diego, our farms are considerably different than, I think, most of the rest of the state.

Our average farm size is four acres, which I think most farms in the Central Valley and the coastal area, their driveways are four acres. So San Diego is very unique in that. And a lot of our farms are actually in suburban areas or the interface between suburban and rural areas.

So there's some concern in San Diego that this nitrogen regulation is actually going to be over restrictive and, and cause more paperwork, basically unnecessary paperwork on the side of the farmers than really is going to solve any problem that's being presented. Are you able to speak to that at all?

A little bit. So for one, the State Water Board provides oversight, as I'm sure you're aware, of the nine regional water quality control boards. So what can happen is when a regional board has a permit, makes a decision, that can be petitioned for review by the State Board.

So what I don't really want to do is step in and opine about their permit that's before them at the moment. But I am very familiar with nitrogen management challenges and the uniqueness of agriculture around the state. I agree with you. It is wide and varied.

There is lots of different types and sizes of farms around the state, and there should be rules in place that reflect those differences. So we've tackled these issues in the Central Coast region and in the Central Valley region.

And the reason I believe the San Diego Regional Board has a permit amendment moving forward is because of a presidential order from the state board in the Central Valley region.

We're in the process right now of convening an expert panel, an independent expert panel, to weigh in on exactly some of the questions you bring up, including what types of nitrogen management practices would make the most sense for smaller farms. So I appreciate you bringing up the question.

And that's also in my notes. So regarding the expert panel, do you think that there's going to be sufficient representation from all the water regions to be able to get a well-rounded perspective on what those answers are going to be?

Yes, that's very important to me. We are contracting with Sacramento state to hire and retain the expert panel. So we want to make sure there is some independence there, but we're soliciting statewide for experts that can bring this type of knowledge to bear. So I will be looking for that personally.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you so much Mr. Jones. Board Member Maguire, just a couple of items and these are going to be more comments. What I have appreciated is that as you know, the Russian River basin has been one of the more challenged and has received a lot of attention.

One for the need for municipal supply, but then also obviously for agriculture, focusing on viticulture. And what I've appreciated is that Chair Esquivel has made his time available, especially to growers, on how to be able to comply and especially when we're going through some of the more challenging times.

I would say want to make sure that that continues because just being really candid, some of the rules, regulations, and laws that have been advanced here in California take time to be able to adjust to.

Which then brings up my second piece, and this is more of a North Coast board, but also the regional board, but has also been with some of the state staff and that's septic tanks within the Lower Russian River. And you have some of the poorer communities within the Lower Russian River.

Could be Forestville, Monterio, Rio Nido, going through Guernville, et cetera, and aging and some challenges in regards to nitrate levels within the Lower Russian.

And while there needs to be a long-term solution, just being candid, a quick fix simply is not going to work because it's going to be a shock to the system and I think create more challenges than actual solutions.

I just wanted to put that down as a marker because that is an issue that we're tracking very closely. And again, a lot of the work is being done at the regional board level. But know that this has been an issue for the state board as well. If you want to comment, great, I welcome that.

I thank you for that comment. And it's an issue that I've been tracking very closely as well.

Yeah, more to come, more to come.

Yeah.

Yes. And I think big picture is being able to assist residences with what that transition looks like. And I think we're going to need to be able to look at some type of unique opportunity to help fund that transition, whether it's new septic and or assisting with plugging into a current wastewater district. So that's, it takes some time.

I agree. And I think I would also say we really need to be confident in the science that the water quality information really supports moving forward with those types of investments. Thank you.

You may be hearing from us on that issue again as it starts to heat up. Thank you so much, Mr. Board Member. What we'd like to be able to do is open it up to any individual who would like to be able to offer public comment.

Hearing and seeing no additional individuals here on Committee, wanting to be able to bring forward discussion and debate, we're going to ask those. We welcome you. Ask those. Keep it to 30 seconds. We'll give you a quick prompt. First and last name and organization. It's good to see you, as always.

Good afternoon. Robert Gore from the Gualco group. On behalf of the cities of Santa Cruz, Fresno, Long Beach, Woodland, Antioch and water districts, including Kings River and Soquil. Water is hard. It's multilayered. It's probably one of the most permanent critical issues. There is no better set of ears, heart and mind than Sean Maguire.

We're all strongly supportive of him.

Thank you so much. It's good to see you. Hi. Welcome. Good afternoon.

Hi, good afternoon. Tia Fleming with the California Water Efficiency Partnership, formerly the California Urban Water Conservation Council, and we are here in strong support of Board Member Maguire.

He's really proven to have both the technical expertise and collaborative skills to tackle the complex water challenges that we're facing, especially as we face climate change, more extensive droughts, more intense flooding, a dwindling snowpack. I have no doubt that Board Member Maguire will use his exemplary skillset to help us create a more resilient California.

Thank you so much for being here. Appreciate your comment. Good afternoon. Welcome.

Hi, Chelsea Haines, regulatory relations manager for the Association of California Water Agencies. We strongly support the reappointment of Board Member Sean Maguire. We appreciate that Board Member Maguire consistently dives into the technical details of regulations and programs in front of the board.

He works hard to understand the diverse perspectives of all interested parties and is the true definition of a public servant.

Very kind. Thank you so much. Good afternoon. Thank you for being here.

Good afternoon. Pro Tem McGuire and respected Members of the Committee. I'm Danielle Coates with Rancho California Water District in Southern California. Rancho California Water District strongly supports the confirmation of Board Member Sean Maguire to the State Water Resources Control Board.

Board Member Maguire is a thoughtful and deliberate and fair regulator who has been at the forefront of advancing critical initiatives, including direct potable reuse, safe and reliable drinking water, and moving on to safe and reliable wastewater initiatives and many others. While making the state while moving the state forward to address critical California water issues.

Board Member Mcguire listens to the input of all those across the spectrum on issues of concern and we are pleased to support his confirmation. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Hi, good afternoon. Thank you for being here.

Good afternoon. Rosario Cortes, Water Reuse California. Thank you for the opportunity to speak in support of Board Member Maguire's reappointment. Most recently, Mr. Maguire helped oversee the adoption of the direct potable reuse regulations.

And for those two years there was a robust stakeholder process and he was very instrumental in ensuring that waterboard staff and local agencies had opportunities to just have a really open public process. And we're really thankful for that, that those regulations will really become a model for the nation and really the world.

We thank Mr. Maguire for his leadership on all types of recycled water and really fully support his reappointment. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. I'm Todd Manley, I'm with the Northern California Water Association and I'm here happily to support Mr. Maguire's reappointment to the State Water Resources Control Board. We've really appreciated working with Mr. Maguire over the years and his sound and balanced approach and the leadership that he has displayed on the board. So thank you.

Thank you so much. Good afternoon, sir. Welcome.

Good afternoon. Chairman and Members of the Committee, Eric Orellana. Here on behalf of Community Water Center, I serve as a Safer advisory group member which directs the $130 million investment that the Legislature has made into safe and clean drinking water.

I represent Community Water Center, a community-based environmental justice organization working to advance solutions for the nearly 1 million Californians living with unsafe drinking water. We're here in strong support of Mr. Magure's reappointment to the State Water Board.

Mr. Magure's leadership on advancing and developing the racial equity action plan, advancing, promoting transparency and then advancing drinking water projects is critical and super important as the State Water Board has released a draft needs assessment which identifies more than $10 billion needs in drinking water investments. And so we're really excited to see this leadership continue.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. Hi, good afternoon.

Good afternoon. Jamie Miner on behalf of the California Stormwater Quality Association, Casca and Santa Margarita Water District, we'll just throw in a few additional adjectives to everything that's already been said.

We found Board Member Maguire to be very collaborative, deliberative, engaged, informed, thoughtful, focused on solutions, able to integrate very complex information and identify the fundamental questions that need to be answered. And we just really appreciate his leadership. Thank you.

Thank you. Good to see you. Good afternoon. Thanks for hanging with us.

Yes, sir. My name is Joe Garcia and I'm a City Council Member in the City of Escondido. And as a local jurisdiction, we have invested a lot, a lot of taxpayer money into a water recycled program. And this program has been specifically developed to help the farmers which are suffering incredibly in San Diego.

So I would, mine is more of a comment, I would like to request that the state continue to develop partnerships to create creative ways in which we can continue to partnership to help our constituents, to help our country, to help our state. So anyway, we're working very hard.

We've lowered the price of the water for the farmers and Escondido, particularly the avocado farmers, and I hear wonderful things about you and I would stand in support. Thank you.

Thank you so much councilman. Appreciate it. We're going to do a final call, last call for anyone who would like to speak in support. If you could please come forward at this time, hearing, seeing no one stand, we're going to look for those who may be opposed, looking for opposition. If you could please advance at this time.

Seeing no one, we're going to bring it back to Committee. Any final discussion or debate, we'll also welcome a motion. All right, we have a motion on the floor, but first let's go to Leader Jones.

Thank you Mr. Chair. Mr. Maguire, thank you for your presence this afternoon. Appreciate it. Was coming in this afternoon, kind of leaning towards abstaining on the vote and kind of looking forward to moving on some other things.

But I've done some research while I've been here and I've gotten some thumbs up from some folks, important constituents in San Diego. You heard from one of my constituent City Council Members.

I will do my research on figuring out how many of those concerns I raised are still valid, and then I'll look forward to following up with you and hopefully having a robust conversation about it. And I'll be supporting.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Leader Jones. Members of Committee, we currently have a motion on the floor, a motion on the floor by Mr. Laird, seeing no additional discussion or debate. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[Roll Call]

That's a 4-0 on call. 4-0 on call, Mr. Maguire thank you so much. We're going to have Vice Chair Grove add on when she gets back from Health Committee. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to be recessing the public portion of the agenda and go into our executive session.

We're going to say thank you to each and every one of you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be here. We're going to take a quick recess to allow folks to file out of the room, and we'll be back with Executive session in about one to two minutes.

All right, so we are back from recess. Currently, there is one appointee on call. That's item 1C1 under Governor's appointments. The current vote for item 1C is four to zero. Madam Secretary, can you please call the absent Member?

[Roll Call]

That's a 5-0 vote. The motion passes.

We are now going to officially adjourn the Senate Rules Committee for June 12. Thank you, everybody. We'll see you next week.