Senate Floor

Roll Call

Members, the quorum is present with the Members and our guests beyond the rail and in the gallery. Please rise. We'll be led in prayer this morning by our chaplain, Sister Michelle Gorman, after which we're going to ask you to remain standing for the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

And let us gather in God's presence. We are all in the same boat and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.

GK Chesterton, Gracious God, in the urgency of our world context below, the violence and turbulence of the waves help us to make evident our passionate commitment to ending all that leads to impoverishment, misunderstandings and judgments of others.

May our growing consciousness of the interdependence among us and with all creation galvanize us in that loyalty that we owe to each other. A loyalty of faith that entrusts our fears to the goodness of those who love unconditionally. A loyalty of hope that impels us to work for a sustainable future.

And a loyalty of love that allows us to be faithful to each other, regardless of real or perceived differences. For we know, thus your love excludes no one. Amen.

Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance. All right, Members, we're going to move to privileges of the floor. We have first up, Senator Limon, for purpose of introduction. Senator Limon.

Thank you, Mister President. Today with me, I have my niece and goddaughter, Emma Limon, who is visiting from Santa Barbara, and she is doing a day in the life of a Legislator. And I picked the best week ever to bring her up. She was in Committee yesterday and she also had the opportunity to testify.

So thank you for allowing me to have her here on the floor.

Welcome to the California State Senate. At this time, we're going to introduce the wife of Senator. No, she's not here yet. Okay. All right.

Members, we have one other item, under privileges of the floor from the majority leader's desk, if we can give our attention to Senator Bradford to recognize his guests.

Thank you, Madam President. Colleagues, today, once again, I have the honor of welcoming to our floor 19 young and dynamic African leaders who are participating in the Mandela Washington Fellowship program. The Mandela Fellowship is a flagship program of the United States Government's Young African Leaders Initiative.

It was created in 2014 as an effort to empower young people through academic coursework, leadership training and networking. Since that time, nearly 6,000 outstanding leaders from every country of Sub-Saharan Africa have participated in the fellowship.

During the program, the fellows are hosted by us colleges or universities for six week leadership institutes studying business, civic engagement and public management.

After completing the course at these institutes, the fellows convene for a summit where they forge connections with one another and us leaders from private, public and nonprofits sectors, setting the stage for long term engagement between the United States and Africa.

The Senate has hosted these fellows on an annual basis in our chambers and organized meetings to encourage their understanding and engagement with our political and legislative process. Please join me in congratulating this special group of fellows on their accomplishments, and let's offer them a warm California Senate welcome.

Welcome to the fellows. Senator Bradford will take the first photo with his special guest.

Now is the time for the group photo if you wish to participate, Members.

All right, Members, we are starting the main show now. Without objection, we will be taking up several items out of order today, starting with file item 83, SB 1327 by Senator Glazer.

Secretary, please read Senate Bill 1327 by Senator Glazer. An act relating to taxation, making an appropriation, therefore, and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately.

Senator Glazer.

Thank you, Madam President.

Members, Members, we are in a moment of peril in our democracy, and our hollowed out newsrooms are in the center of that crisis. Let me provide some context. Democracies are the exception in human history. It's not if they will fail, it's a matter of when they will fail. Ours is 248 years young. 71% of the world's population.

Senator Glazer, give me 1 second here, colleagues. It's going to be a long day. We can give the attention to each presenter.

Thank you, Madam President. 71% of the world's population is under autocracies. Even now, in countries such as Hungary, Argentina and Turkey, we see these democracies teetering. How do we know this? You simply have to see their actions to curtail or take control of their independent news media. That was keeping these democracies honest.

The canary in the democracy mind is independent news. On a Bill like this that's before you today, you might say, wait. Our Constitution defends a free press, but we have always had a hands off relationship with them. That's simply not true. Early history in America shows our leaders actively backing and financially supporting the distribution of news.

They did it by subsidizing postal rates. Thank you to Steve Waldman of rebuild local news for his writing on this history. That value would be in the hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars today. But most of that help has gone away. Today, the United States spends $3.16 per capita to support to support public media.

Canada spends about eight times more than we do. Japan 17 times more, United Kingdom 26 times more than we spend, and Germany spends 45 times more than we spend per capita to support their media. These democracies know, and we know, that an informed citizenry protects our democracy. It is why democracies invest in education.

It is why democracies need a robust, independent media. But the condition of the media today is critically bad. Why is that? The advertising model that has sustained it has been severely compromised due to the ingenuity of social media and sales platforms. These enterprises have successfully connected folks with friends and hobbies and interests, as well as shopping opportunities.

And in doing so, these platforms have mined intimate data on each of us, on each user, and it's allowed them to create an advertising alternative that effectively targets people with ads much more effectively than traditional media. And the impact on our news outlets has been significant.

In the last 25 years, about a third of news outlets have closed nationally. News deserts exist throughout California. I know when you think about your district, you know what I'm talking about. In California, 65% of journalists have lost their jobs. Now, the Bill before you is a rescue effort.

It implies a mitigation cost on the platforms whose activities have contributed to this damage. We already impose mitigation fees on companies that put chemicals in our environment or to developers whose projects impact our roads and our schools. The data extraction mitigation fee in this Bill is assessed when two conditions are met.

A company has acquired data from Californians without compensation and they use it to sell advertising if their advertising revenue exceeds two and a half billion times two and a half $1.0 billion in California, the mitigation fee is the same as our sales and use tax of 7.25%.

The funds are then distributed in a way that fully funds our education and budget Reserve obligations. And the balance. The balance would then be provided in a tax credit for news outlets based on the employment of journalists in news gathering work.

Here in California, enhancements are provided to small community and ethnic media outlets and special projects to support and enhance the hiring and training of a diverse journalism workforce Members. All of this is done in a content neutral way, just as we have funded a movie industry tax credit with no state involvement in content.

The same goes for this journalism tax credit. Now each of us knows how on the ground reporting informs and impacts our lives. The legislative action that we all take each year is so often in response to the stories that are discovered and written about through good journalism. Now you know the saying about journalism.

Their job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Now that sometimes means that we are not always in a favorable light when stories and editorials are written, who hasn't felt at times that one story or another wasn't fair or balanced? Who hasn't had a tough editorial written about them? I certainly have, numerous times.

But the matter before us, the future of independent journalism and the protection of our democracy, is so important that we must look beyond the selfish hurt that we sometimes have endured. Now, Assemblymember Wicks has a Bill that works to assist in the preservation of journalism in a way that is different but compatible with this Bill.

Our Judiciary Committee advanced it on Tuesday in the hope that she and I can work with stakeholders this summer in balancing everyones interest. This Bill would be a Senate vehicle to join that important work.

Just a few months ago, in response to these two bills, these powerful platforms began to curtail links to news stories, their threats elevated to say they would end charitable contributions to news outlets if this Bill became law. Even worse, one outlet proclaimed that they may use artificial intelligence to create news.

So I ask you Members, should information to our citizens and protection of our democracy be put in the hands of a few platforms? Or should we rescue and see the diverse ecosystem of independent news outlets, big, small, print, digital, broadcast, ethnic community, all in a content neutral, ownership neutral way?

Democracies and the personal freedoms and liberties they provide do nothing live forever. Our founders pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to create ours. That torch of freedom is now in your hands. It's vulnerable. It's fragile. I hope you will give me the chance to keep working to protect it by advancing this Bill.

And with that, I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Senator Blakespear, you're recognized.

Thank you very much, colleagues. I rise today in support of SB 1327, and I would like to applaud the author for coming up with a reasoned approach to protecting journalists and journalism. Journalism is frequently called the fourth estate. It keeps an eye as a watchdog on government, and it is critical to our democracy.

As a former journalist myself, I know that the stories that I would write would have an effect on the environment around me, on the policies that were created, on the constituents understanding of the world that they lived in as the author just said, we have had more than a quarter of our newsrooms close.

This means that there are governments that are not being watched by anybody. We need our journalists. We need to protect them. We need to protect them financially. And I strongly support this Bill and I urge all of your. I vote today. Thank you, Senator Padilla.

Thank you, Madam President. I, as a co author, I rise in support as well. Fourth state is precious and important to our democracy.

I think all of us would agree across any spectrum that the state today in our society and our country as to what qualifies as quality journalism, analysis and information gathering and presenting has fallen quite far to new lows.

And having quality, unbiased and a quality analysis of information that can help people be informed, to help our society grow and interact and participate in our democracy is a critical, critical thing. For all of those reasons and more, we should be supporting this. And I urge and I vote.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Niello, you're recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. I rise with an alternative viewpoint.

I completely agree with the principle of what my friend, and I do mean my friend from Contra Costa has, as well as those others that have expressed the same thing, and that is that in our democracy, we do need a robust press for an informed public to hold us accountable. Emphasis on us.

And I have to tell you, it gives me great pause to entertain a proposal that is the us, the entity that we expect this press to hold accountable, to become dependent upon their very existence. There's a bit of a disconnect there, I would suggest. So, the news business is evolving.

It has been evolving, frankly, just like every other industry in the US and in the world. There's been a huge disruption of all industries, a lot of it driven by the rise of the Internet, a significant consolidation of ownership. I see it. I've seen it in the last decade or two in my own industry.

This is not unusual. Yes, the Internet does have a lot to do with it, but it's a larger change in the behavior of the way customers, particularly new customers, consume their news. People get their news in non traditional ways, go back 20 years, and we didn't see a lot of the offerings we do now.

Robust offerings, podcasts, many quality podcasts, some of them questionable, of course, but that happens in any marketplace. They are quite prevalent, as are highly high quality online newsletters. Plus there are full news reporting. Online newspapers like a new model, Cal Matters, which is supported largely by individual donations and grants from foundations. This is a new model.

These are all new models. And very few people under the age of 50, we'll call them youngsters, even pick up a paper newspaper. So this is an evolution of the marketplace. And one of the issues in the analyses I've read is that there's been a huge demise of local, more neighborhood newspapers also.

Now we have our major newspaper here in Sacramento, The Bee, of which I am a longtime and continued subscriber, and for years have been very good friends with the leadership of that newspaper, both on the journalism and the editorial side. But we have a robust network of local news media in our regions.

Here we have a lady named, they're trying to compete with me, a lady named Cecily Hastings has inside Sacramento, which publishes newsletters in land park and several different individual neighborhoods in the area, Gold country media, who's actually grown to own additional publications.

The messenger publisher group out of Rancho Cordova, the Sacramento observer, one of the owners of those groups I talked to, and he is adamantly opposed to this legislation, both the Bill before us, as well as Assemblymember Wick's Bill that our judicial Committee did receive earlier this week.

It's also really important to realize, to understand that, coincident with the evolution and the consolidation going on in the industry, that over half of daily us newspapers are owned by hedge funds and individual investors.

That's one of the things that happens when a, and this industry goes through a drastic evolution, is investors come in to take advantage from potential profit opportunities, investment opportunities. I don't slight that at all. I am an unabashed capitalist myself. But they're not buying these newspaper groups for the sake of the mission of news reporting. To them.

It's a business deal. One has to question with regard to this Bill and Assemblywoman Wick's Bill. Who are we saving? And then there's lastly the issue of the old unintended consequences. The assumption of this Bill, and maybe more significantly, Assemblymember Wick's Bill, is that, that the platforms will just comply and not change their behavior.

But as has happened in European countries, Germany, Spain, France, Australia, and more closely, Canada, the platforms do change their behavior.

To combat what this Bill and the Assembly Bill attempts to do, I would advise a bit more contemplation about exactly what it is we intend to preserve and exactly how to do it and vote no on this measure. Thank you, Senator Dodd.

Thank you, Mister President. I voted for this in Revintax, and I talked to, I spoke to the, the fact that I thought this was a very, very important issue, but I've got some of the similar concerns that my friend from Fair Oaks has, particularly on the hedge funds. And so I. Mister President, question the author.

Senator Glazer, would you take a question, Senator?

So I appreciate the fact that in the amendments you have more emphasis on small media, but I think where you've got so much money at stake, and I don't know if this is truth or rumor, but the LA Times, for example, said that they probably, in order to make this work, would need like 80% of the total amount of money that we were putting forward.

So I guess what I'm looking for, I'm going to support this today because I think it's important to allow the both of you to continue working on this during the break.

But what I'd like to see is by the time this comes back to the floor, that we have an opportunity kind of see, you know, not maybe a firm spending program, but at least something that has been thought out and something that's been thought out particularly so we're not funding hedge funds, you know, across the State of California that have bought out these papers.

So is that something that you can do?

Each media outlet has the ability to calculate how they would do under the terms of this Bill as it's presented today. So that's a calculation that they can make because of their proprietary information they have, of how many journalists would fulfill their obligations under the Bill and the rest.

So that is something that we can work with any outlet to try to understand with them, in cooperation with them.

And the last thing I would say is that, you know, in our history in California, we've had media outlets that have been that, where publishers have been disliked because of their enterprises, that they may be involved in, whether it's the railroad or land ownership or the rest.

And I won't name all the different owners historically of publications in California, but they've always, not always been so popular, sometimes their politics. But this measure is written in a content neutral way and an ownership neutral way not to pick winners or losers. And that's the way the Bill is currently crafted.

Thank you. On my own time, I appreciate the fact that the Senator from Orenda is going to continue working on this. I would suggest, though, that we have a little bit better idea of where we're going to spend the money, where the guardrails are going to be on certain situations.

I do appreciate the fact that we're not going to try to pick winners and losers, but if we have a pot of money that doesn't go anywhere far enough, we've got to really assess what the value of this is. But for today, I respectfully ask for your I vote thank you.

Thank you Senator Smallwood-Cuevas.

Thank you Mister President. And I agree with my colleague enthusiastically asking for an I vote on this. We need alternatives in our news industry. We've lost over 60% of newspapers across the country leaving one message, one narrative.

And we are spend a lot of our time talking about narratives and how narratives drive governance, how narratives drive the ability for the community to participate in their own democracy. The relationship between newspapers and industry. You know, as a former journalist, it was always the advertisers who dictated what happened in the newspaper.

And as Senator Niello mentioned, business far too often made the decisions about the direction of newspapers. And certainly the industry has evolved. And now the industry that is driving how we get our news has found these ways of getting around investing and building and supporting the freedom of our press and the access to information.

I think this Bill gives more tools to deal with the modern day advertisers and industries that dictate whether we have access to free press and alternatives. This Bill, Assemblymember Wick's Bill, these are efforts to make a difference.

And I want to applaud the author for his work, particularly because the alternatives also must include building a representative workforce within the newspaper industry, which this Bill also takes into account ensuring that those who look like California tell the story of California in our press. So these are win win opportunities.

This is about modernizing the relationship between the press industry in ensuring that Californians come out on top with a press that gives alternatives of voice, ideas and the power to drive our democracy. And with that I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you Senator Skinner.

Thank you Mister President. Members, I stand in support of this Bill. I particularly like the features in the Bill that would ensure that any journalistic outlet that is funded with this funds has actual journalists, reporters working.

And I raise that because as I think our colleague from Napa pointed out, I think you did point out that, you know, LA Times described that they might need all the funds to do whatever they had in mind, which I'm less concerned about those, those journalistic outlets that are already have say hedge Fund owners.

And I'm thinking about our different community papers and our ethnic press and that we do not want to be in a situation where the only news we read was produced by AI. We want journalists and reporters producing some of this material and information. I think that this would help us.

I think it's a good compliment to our Assembly colleagues Bill and I ask for encourage and aye vote.

Thank you Senator Laird.

Thank you, Mister President. I was listening closely to the debate, and there was a concern raised about how journalism is evolving. And does this Bill, in fact, keep up with the way journalism is evolving?

And let me give you a very personal case story, because if you look at my hometown newspaper, which was owned for 109 years by the Mcpherson family, Mcpherson sat on this floor for a number of years as a Senator. They've reduced to four reporters.

They are owned by a hedge Fund, and they go to print a at 02:00 on the afternoon, the day before the date on their masthead. By the time you read their newspaper, the whole world has passed it by.

So three years ago, a journalist that had been with McClatchy nationally came back to Santa Cruz and decided he was going to start an online newspaper and Lookout Santa Cruz is three years old. It has tons of subscribers. It is the go to place for so many things now and in the storms.

When the atmospheric rivers ripped us a year ago January, all 10 reporters there in real time were on the storms. When the wharf went down in Capitol, they were up with pictures in the news right away.

When the levee broke in Pajaro, they were there, we had it in real time exactly what was happening when downtown Soquel flooded, they were there, they had it. The mudded out mobile home parks, we all went there. That is where we got our news in the moment.

And it was with great pride that a couple of months ago, I walked over to the Senator who's authored this Bill and said, they just announced the Pulitzers and Lookout Santa Cruz one, a Pulitzer. And so, this Bill would actually apply to them. This Bill would actually go to new services like that.

So, while it was said that it's evolving, this Bill captures the evolution of the news industry and makes sure that those of us that want a service like that, this morning they had a great story on a road outage in the mountains, and exactly what we're doing in a way that nobody else does.

And so I think it's not just there's this view that this just props up an outmoded industry. This actually moves with the industry in a very good way and makes sure that those that are mining this information at no cost, away from other people, are part of the mix.

So I think it's very important to give this author a chance to work with Assemblymember Wicks and see if they can fashion the best thing over the break and bring it back to us, because we need to act. So I ask for an aye vote on SB 1327 thank you, Senator Umberg.

Thank you, Mister President. Colleagues, there are many important issues that we consider. There are few important issues that will have an impact beyond our next generation. And this is one. The issue of what we do to support credible journalism has reverberations for well, well beyond our time here and beyond our grandchildren's time here.

And there's no doubt that folks are not reading newspapers like they used to. My granddaughter saw me reading a newspaper and asked me what it was and why I was reading it.

When I explained what it was and why I was reading it, she came to visit from San Francisco and she brought me an entire pile of newspapers that she collected from driveways because she thought they were abandoned property. They were all a month old.

So no concept, no concept of what a newspaper is and why it's important people now get their news online. That's a given for the most part. What's also given is that we're seeing a dramatic decline, certainly in the number of employees, a dramatic decline in coverage.

If you've seen your newspaper, if you actually read that paper product that I do, you've seen it's gotten thinner and thinner and thinner, and that local coverage is, local coverage is now fairly De minimis. I was talking to George Skelton, who told me at one time there were 17 LA Times reporters here covering the Capitol.

There aren't 17 here anymore. And that's a problem. That's a problem for democracy. One of the challenges that we have, though, is coming to a place where we support credible journalism and we make sure that content is still available online.

And I don't believe that no matter what we do here, that the platforms will continue to carry content. If we overreach, if we try to strike an amount or a place that's too far, we'll see that there'll be no coverage, that content won't be carried, that the marketplace will make that determination.

So our challenge, our challenge is to find the sweet spot where we support credible journalism, but we basically don't drive it from the platform. And that's why I think it's so important that we support this effort.

I think it's so important that we, in combination with Assemblymember wix, that we provide various alternatives so that we can get to a place, so that we can get to a place by the end of August, where we've arrived, where content will still be available online, and that credible journalism will be supported. It's a public good.

It's important. It's important for us to recognize that this is vital to democracy. And for those reasons, I don't typically support taxes. I don't typically support this sort of leverage tool. But in this case, it's critically important. I urge and aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no additional microphones up, Senator Glazier, would you like to close?

Thank you, Mister President. Thank you, Members, for the robust conversation this morning. Even when there are some points that are made where we disagree, I would say just to remind people that this measure is content neutral, ownership neutral.

If a publisher of an outlet doesn't want to have the connection with the government through a tax credit, they don't have to take the money. All platforms are eligible.

As the Senator from Santa Cruz mentioned, the Bill has been written in a way that it supports working journalists at any level, at any platform, as long as you're working in California, for Californians.

And that one of the elements of the Bill that I didn't mention in my opening that's important is that it's written to not just try to stabilize, but it's written with incentives to grow. That's really what we need. We need these newsrooms to grow again. And I think that has been built into the Bill.

Work like this doesn't come in an instant. It takes years of engagement, and this Bill certainly reflects that. I want to call out our pro tem emeritus, Tony Atkins, who worked with me on this issue a number of years ago to try to see the problem and do something about it.

I want to acknowledge pro Tem Mcguire, who's been a great partner, co author of the Bill, and a great partner as a former journalist himself, to trying to find ways to pathways to help do something where we both see such a serious problem. I want to thank all the co authors that have joined.

Certainly, thank you to the Senators from Encinitas, San Diego, Napa, LA, Berkeley, Santa Cruz and Santa Ana, who spoke today. This is a work in progress. It's a big problem, and it's going to require a lot more thinking to find the right pathway forward.

I'd be grateful if you would allow me that opportunity to continue to work on this. And with that, respectfully, and I ask for an aye vote on SB 1327.

Members, this requires 27 votes. Secretary, please call the roll. Allen.

[Roll Call]

Secretary police call the apps of Members.

[Second Roll]

Please call the absence Members one more time. [Roll Call]. Ayes 27, noes, seven on their urgency. Ayes 27, noes, seven on the measure. Measure passes. I'm sorry. No applause, please.

Members. Now we're moving to Assembly third reading file item 205 AB 2288. Senator Umberg, he's prepared. Secretary, you may read.

Assembly Bill 2288 by Assemblymember Kalra an act relating to employment and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately.

Senator Umberg, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Mister President and colleagues. In 2004, the California Legislature passed the Private Attorney General Act to bolster the state's labor enforcement capabilities. And this has been an item of controversy for at least the last decade, if not more. The original purpose of the PAGA law was to basically create an enforcement mechanism for labor violations.

Since that time, there have been some abuses and there's been a number of actions that actually have provided that requisite level of enforcement for labor violations.

As a tribute to the stakeholders, the Chamber of Commerce, the consumer attorneys, the labor, labor fed, they have all come together over the last several months and hammered out a compromise which is a huge, huge tribute to their passion and pragmatism and their dedication to make sure that we do the right thing for California.

What this bill specifically does is encourages employers compliance by reducing penalties for employers who take reasonable steps to quickly fix unlawful policies and practices, while creating higher penalties for bad actors who act with malice.

AB 2288 by Assemblymember Kalra improves overall outcomes by adding injunctive relief as a remedy, updating the split of PAGA penalties, increasing workers ability to get back wages with interest, and allowing judicial discretion to increase penalties where the outcome would otherwise be unjust. This bill will protect workers and promote early resolution of violations.

There's a companion bill by Senator Umberg that is the other component of that compromise that we'll hear, I think, later on today. With that, I urge an aye vote any further discussion debate on this item?

Hearing and seeing none. Secretary, please call the roll on file item 205.

[Roll Call]

Secretary, please call the absence members.

[Roll Call]

Ayes 39, noes zero on the urgency. Ayes 39, noes zero on the measure. Measure passes now, Members, we're moving on to file item 208. Senator Glazer, are you prepared? File item 208, ACA 10.

Assembly Constitutional Amendment 10 by Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry, an accolade into local government finance.

Secretary, you may read.

Senator Glazer.

Thank you, Mister President. Members, on behalf of Assembly Majority Leader Aguiar-Curry, I'm presenting ACA 10 to remove the special tax provision currently in ACA 1, which this body passed last year.

ACA 1, which will appear on the November ballot, helps local government fund critical housing and public infrastructure projects by reducing the vote threshold from two-thirds to 55% for both special taxes and bonds. This measure removes the special taxes.

With this change, ACA 1 continues to help local government obtain funds by reducing the vote threshold for general obligation bonds. I supported ACA 1 last year. I support ACA 10, that takes a modest yet impactful approach to build our solely needed housing and infrastructure.

And to remind members, this is all determined upon a local vote of the communities that want to advance this work. I commend the author for her work on these measures. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Any further discussion or debate on this item? Hearing, seeing none. Secretary, please call the roll on file item 208.

Allen, aye. Alvarado-Gil. Archuleta, aye. Ashby, aye. Atkins, aye. Becker, aye. Blakespear, aye. Bradford, aye. Caballero, aye. Cortese. Dahle, no. Dodd, aye. Durazo, aye. Eggman, aye. Glazer, aye. Gonzales, aye. Grove, no. Hurtado, aye. Jones, no. Laird, aye. Limon, aye. McGuire, aye. Menjivar, aye. Min, aye. Newman, aye. Nguyen, no. Niello, no. Ochoa Bogh, no. Padilla, aye. Portantino, aye. Roth, aye. Rubio. Seyarto, no. Skinner, aye. Smallwood-Cuevas, aye. Stern, aye. Umberg, aye. Wahab, aye. Wiener, aye. Wilk, no.

Please call the absent members.

Alvarado-Gil. Cortese, aye. Rubio, aye.

Ayes 31, Nos 8. The measure passes. Now, members, we're moving to file item 207.

Senators, the next two file items on deck are File Item 207 and File Item 202. Senator Bradford is ready for File Item 207.

Assembly Constitutional Amendment 8 by Assembly Member Wilson an act relating to slavery.

Secretary, please read

Senator Bradford.

Thank you, Madam President. I rise today as Vice Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus in support of ACA Eight, a California Legislative Black Caucus priority that would allow voters to once and for all ban slavery and involuntary servitude without exception in our state.

This measure would, if passed and approved by voters, amend Article one, section six of the state constitution, to remove the existing exceptions to ban on involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime and would ensure that prisons cannot punish incarcerated individuals for prioritizing rehabilitation over assignments.

Today, slavery takes on modern form of involuntary servitude, including forced labor and prisons. Slavery is wrong and all forms and California should be clear denouncing that. In our Constitution, this should not be a controversial issue. It is often assumed that slavery and forced labor are things of the past, but to our detriment.

We continue to practice today that have their roots in carceral system that maintains vestiges of slavery. After the Emancipation Proclamation and the passage of the 13th Amendment, the former slave states, even free states, would target black Americans for criminal prosecution and use that exception of involuntary servitude to exploit former slaves and their descendants through forced prison labor.

California is among only 16 states with an exception clause for involuntary servitude in the state's constitution. Most recently, voters in Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont removed involuntary servitude language from their state's constitution. Incarcerated people have long faced cruel treatment for any work absence.

This includes physical violence, solitary confinement, the now of phone calls and family visits, limiting participation in self help groups, and disciplinary write ups that result in longer prison terms. Such punishments or threats of such punishments are often issued even when absence are due to illness or injuries sustained through work.

The current practice of forced labor does not prepare incarcerated people for success upon reentry and often prevents participation in rehabilitative services. Incarcerated people's relationship to work should not be one of exploitation and little to do with agency.

Thank you, Senator Bradford. Senator Smallwood-Cuevas you're recognized.

Let us take this step to restore some dignity and humanity and prioritize rehabilitative services for the often forgotten individuals behind bars. This Bill has no opposition and has received bipartisan support in this Assembly, and I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, Madam President, and I want to thank my good colleague from Gardena for his words in terms of the history and the roots of indentured servitude and why we must stand and support ACA Eight, which is our priority Bill of the Legislative Black Caucus's reparations package.

ACA Eight is long overdue in preventing involuntary servitude, which undermines all work in California. When you have folks in a prison who are making 2 and 5 and $0.08 an hour, it undermines everyone's ability to earn a living wage in California, and it also normalizes exploitation. It normalizes indignity and inhumanity.

It normalizes the very things that we work for in our Legislature in terms of what is a wage standard, and that all work has dignity. As we do the work of reparations, we refer to slavery as a relic of the past.

But as I stand here today, we have thousands of indentured servants in our penal system who, when asked about their work, I had the opportunity to actually speak to some folks down in Lancaster who were housed in residence of the prison there.

And they were telling me about the work they were doing as plumbers in that prison and that they were making what. This was the most popular job, a lot of competition for this job, because it paid $0.08 an hour. And when I asked this individual, well, have you ever heard of the plumbers union?

Did you know that there is actually a certification and apprenticeship to become a plumber? They did not. So when we say indentured servitude, we are creating not just that reality for folks in our prisons, but a mindset for when they come out of prison.

And so it's upon us to take up this issue, that free labor of black people that built this nation, that we are trying to repair so many of the harms of, that we take the step to eradicate and remove this language from our constitution.

In a time where we are enforcing more laws to push more people into our prisons in this very moment, we have to ensure that these institutions really are about rehabilitation, normalizing work, normalizing the idea that folks can have and reach a quality job, and ensuring that we restore the values that we stand on outside of our prisons, that we build our values inside of our prison by removing indirture servitude from the language of this great state.

And with that, I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Senator Dodd you're recognized.

Yes, Madam President, I'll be brief. I appreciate this resolution or this ACA 8 in supporting it today, but this is kind of not customary. This came up before in our house, and it did not pass.

And I just think the Assembly Member from Suisun, California, did a wonderful job negotiating with the governor's office and the leadership between the two houses. This was great work on Assembly Member Wilson's behalf, and I asked for your I vote.

See no further mics going up. Senator Bradford, you may close.

Thank you, Madam President. And I want to thank my colleagues who let their voices on this issue. Again, we need to understand that mass incarceration was a direct result after the ending of slavery, after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, and amendment amending Proposition, I mean, the 13th Amendment, on our constitution.

Prior to that, we didn't have the type of incarceration that we had. And the sole purpose of that was just to force those individuals who were just recently free to go back and work on those same plots, plantations that they were liberated from the legacy of slavery.

Enforced labor runs deep in California, California's history, from the exploitation of our indigenous brothers and sisters, to the exploitation of our Chinese brothers and sisters who were forced to work on the railroads, our Latino brothers and sisters and Filipino brothers and sisters who were forced to work on farmlands, and to black slaves forced to mine for gold.

Here in the State of California today, we have the opportunity to take a step in the right direction towards ending that legacy. Members, I strongly ask for your aye on ACA 8. Three.

Reminding our guests for no clapping at the end of the vote. Secretary, please call the roll.

Roll Call

Please call the absent and Members.

Roll Call

Aye's, 33 no's, 3. The measure passes. Our guests, please stay quiet. Our guests respectfully asking if we can please stay quiet. We have further business to continue. We're moving on to file item 202. Senator Bradford is once again ready. Secretary, please read. As our guests, if we could please remain quiet.

We have more business to move forward with Assembly Bill 628 by Assemblymember Wilson and not relating to prisons. Senator Bradford.

Thank you, Madam President. AB 628 is the companion Bill of AC eight. ACA Eight that we just passed. Continuing upon the pass,

Senator Bradford, Senator Bradford. we're gonna take a quick.

Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah.

One moment, Senator Bradford. You may proceed, Senator.

Continuing on the passage and approval of ACA Eight by the voters, AB 628 would require the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, better known as CDCR, to create a voluntary work program. Furthermore, it clarifies that CDCR and the local jurisdictions are responsible for setting compensation for incarcerated individuals.

By removing the longstanding exception to involuntary servitude for punishment of a crime, we have the opportunity to restore some humanity to individuals that have been subjected to dehumanizing practices. We know that our criminal justice system impacts black, brown, and indigenous communities at a level disproportionate with the crimes committed.

Black Americans are incarcerated in this state prisons at nearly five times the rate of our white brothers and sisters. Once arrested, black Americans are more likely to remain in prison longer and await trial for minor offenses at a higher rate than our white counterparts.

If we cannot recognize these facts, then we blind ourselves to the continued dehumanization of black and brown communities through the use of forced labor that is tied to our racist history of slavery and involuntary servitude.

There is much work to be done to right these present and historical wrongs which cannot be accomplished with these measures alone, but this bill is a significant step toward restoring the humanity and dignity of all humans, even those guilty of crimes.

This bill would require the work assignments for incarcerated individuals are voluntary, and they would not be subject to discipline for refusing a work assignment, allowing for greater participation in rehabilitative services and programs, and helping restore dignity and bodily autonomy in incarcerated individuals.

The current practice of forced labor does not prepare incarcerated people for success upon reentry and often prevents participation in rehabilitative programs. This bill clarifies the implementation of ACA eight and has no opposition. And I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, Senator. I'm seeing no mics going up. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Please call the absent members.

[Roll Call]

Ayes. 33. No, two. The measure passes. Coming up. Colleagues, we have file item 206, AB 2927.

Secretary, please read Assembly Bill 2927 by Assemblymember Mccarty. An act relating to pupil instruction, making an appropriation, therefore, and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately. Senator Lamone, the floor is yours.

Thank you. Colleagues, today I rise to present AB 2927 by Assemblymember Mccarty. A bipartisan Bill with no votes in opposition, AB 2927 introduces young Californians to financial literacy by requiring a semester of personal finance to graduate from high school, starting with the 2031 class.

California has fallen behind as 17 other states in the US already require a course. Only 1% of California students are guaranteed a personal finance course, compared to 53% of students nationwide. Over 75% of students surveyed answered that they gained their financial understanding from unchecked social media platforms.

A majority of our students enter higher education and the workforce without basic financial literacy and don't know the difference between things like a debit card and a credit card. Those with higher financial literacy are more likely to invest in savings, prepare for retirement, and manage their debt.

The Titan partners reported that the lifetime benefit of taking this course for each California student is $127,000. Schools with predominantly higher income are three times more likely to offer finance courses compared to lower income schools where there are many students of color.

Early polling shows that 85% of Californians support the implementation of a personal finance course in high schools. AB 2927 is overdue investment and as chair of the Senate Banking and Finance Committee, I ask that we invest in future generations with this and respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Any additional debate or conversation on this item? Senator Dahle?

Thank you, Mister President. I also rise in support. I think this is very critical to teach our younger generation the ability to understand, even interest, how it compounds against you and how it can compound for you. So for many other reasons, I rise in support of this Bill.

I think we need to be doing this, just the ability to even balance the checkbook. My own children started out young, learning those life skills that they need. If they don't go further than high school, they definitely need those. So stand and support.

Thank you. Any additional comments? Discussion by authors? Senator Seyarto?

Thank you very much, Mister President. I too rise in support of this Bill. It's very similar to some bills we've seen in the past that have somehow failed out of Committee. And, you know, the longer we wait, the less literate our kids become in financial literacy.

When you talk to young people, I've talked to some people that are athletes that are suddenly making a lot of money, and one of their shortcomings that they say they wish somebody had taught them something about financial management and literacy. And that's why this has been something that other people have attempted.

I'm glad that we have finally decided that it is something that we should put into our curriculum.

I'm afraid, you know, if it's just in lieu of something else that we're missing something else, this should be introduced into the curriculum that we currently have and not be a requirement, but it should be in what what we already require, because then we're extending people's the difficulty and some of our kids even trying to graduate as they, they accumulate all these different required courses before they graduate.

So very happy to see this move forward. I hope the Governor signs it. And I applaud all the people who finally let this through. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Ochoa Bogh.

Thank you, Mister President.

So this is going to come to an irony, because I've been an advocate for financial literacy at every course, every single year that I've been here in education, supported every single Bill with regards to financial literacy as being something that's incredibly important for every senior or every high school graduate to move forward with, especially in real estate.

I remember when I first started working in real estate over 20 years ago, I remember thinking, how do these people afford? Are these beautiful homes and, and cars and so forth? And when the recession came in, 0708, I think it was 08.

I remember the debt that people went into and the default and how people lost their homes and had to sell their cars and had to move out of state.

So financial literacy has always been at the bedrock of importance for me personally to ensure that everyone, including my clients, including my children, understood a little bit about financial literacy. However, with this particular Bill, and I have in Committee, have supported every financial literacy.

However, the concern that I have with this particular Bill, and it just absolutely disappointed me, was the fact that it was in lieu of taking economics in high school.

And so with that, I was so disappointed to see that, because if we have our seniors, our high school graduates finishing high school and they don't pursue any other academic endeavor, the opportunities to take economics and understand economy in how it works in our state and in our nation and so forth, actually goes by the wayside.

So the only and the one and only opportunity that they have to take economics would be in high school. So this would be in lieu of taking economics, which I think is also incredibly important to understand our economy in our state.

So with that, I will be abstaining from this Bill so dishearteningly because I truly, truly in all my heart believe that financial literacy is important, but not in lieu of understanding economics and how that actually impacts our daily lives in our state and in our country and in the world.

Thank you, Senator Becker.

Thank you. I do rise in support of the measure. I do hear my colleague just said about economics, which I do believe is important as well. But I do rise in support of this measure.

I wanted to note, because there's really an advocate, Tim Ranzetta, from my district who started next gen personal finance and really has led this movement. There's now 25 states that require this. Quite remarkable 25 states. We'll be joining these 25 other states in taking this step. I do think it's important, and I urge and aye vote.

Thank you.

Thank you. Any further discussion or debate on this item would you like to close?

Thank you. Members, I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Secretary, please call the roll. On file item 206.

[Roll Call]

Please call the absence Member Ocho Bogh. Ayes 39 no zero on the urgency. Ayes 39 no zero on the measure. Measure passes.

Next up is file item 204. Okay, Senator Becker, he will be handling this issue.

Secretary, you may read Assembly Bill 20. 113 by Assemblymember Garcia. An act relating to pesticides and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately. Senator Becker.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, the Senate I rise to present AB 2113 by Assemblymember Garcia which makes policy and mill assessment changes under the Department of Pesticide Regulation to ensure that it can adequately support its statutory and programmatic responsibilities.

This measure was introduced to provide the Legislature an opportunity through the policy Committee process to hear from stakeholders and further refine budget implementing language included in a trailer Bill proposal this Bill represents an agreement between the Assembly, Senate and the governor's office. Recent amendments strike a compromise that has resolved opposition to this Bill.

Amendments include requiring the Department to complete the registration of pesticides by within a specified timeframe beginning in 2027. Second, removing the authority of the Department to raise the mill assessment in the future.

Third, requiring the Department to initiate an additional reevaluation of a pesticide a year until 2029 and then initiate an additional two re evaluations of a pesticide per year and finally raise the mill assessment incrementally over four years to a maximum of 30 mils.

The Bill also includes transparency and accountability measures requires DPR to post registration pesticide registration timeline and estimated timelines for completions of revaluation information on the website. The measure is critical to addressing DPR's funding shortfall so that it does have the proper resources to carry out its mission and respectfully ask for an I.

Vote any further discussion or debate on this item hearing c none. Secretary, please call the roll on file item. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry Senator Niello.

Sorry. Thank you. Mister President, I rise to suggest that we are premature on this. I had requested an audit of the Department of Pesticide Regulation and the process behind this particular measure. And that audit has been completed and the results are going to be published next week. Tuesday morning 9:30 I believe.

So I would suggest that we table this measure until we find out what the audit says so that we can better assess the efficacy of this particular proposal. I suggest that you either abstain or vote no.

Senator Niello, is that a motion? Senator Niello, was that a motion?

I am speaking to the motion on the floor.

Okay. All right, fine. Great. Any further discussion or debate on this item hearing? Send on Senator Becker. Would you like to close?

Yeah. I appreciate the concern. I will say the Bill does require the agreement which was after much, and this came through my Subcommittee and a lot of debate and discussion. And I appreciate the concerns this does. Also, I'll note, in addition to the other things I mentioned.

Require the Director of the Department to appear before the respective legislative policy committees of the Assembly and Senate. No less than at least once every two years. Again, there's a lot of other provisions that were put into this. I understand the concerns, but I do think this is important to address the funding shortfall.

And I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Secretary, please call a roll on file item 204.

[Roll Call]

Senator Becker moves the call. Now, Members, we're moving on to file item 203. Senator Dodd, are you prepared? File 203.

You may read Assembly Bill 1935. By Assembly Member Blanco Rubio. Enact relating to tribal gaming. And declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately. Senator Dodd.

Mister President, Members AB 1935 would codify a recent agreement between the Administration and California's federally recognized gaming tribes. On how to deal with the excessive surplus on the SDF. Currently exceeding $160 million in non General Fund monies. This Bill takes into account the interests of the respective parties. As well as the future solvency of the Fund.

While allowing for over $80 million in surplus to be suspended and refunded back to those tribes that paid into the Fund. There's no opposition to the Bill. Respectfully, I ask your aye vote.

Any further discussion or debate on this item. Hearing, see none. Secretary, please call the roll.

On file item 203. [Roll Call]

Senator Dodd moves the call. Next up is file item seven. Yeah, file item 79. Senator Dodd, he's prepared. Secretary, you may read.

Senate Bill 1524 by Senator Dodd, an act related to unfair business practices in declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately.

Senator Dodd, floor is yours.

Yes, Mr. President and colleagues, SB 1524 is before you today to address questions and unintended consequences surrounding SB 478. SB 1524 would require the clear and conspicuous disclosure of all mandatory fees for food or beverages sold directly to a consumer in a restaurant, bar, food concession, caterer, grocery store, or by a grocery delivery service.

This clear and upfront disclosure of any fee and a description of its purpose would be required on all advertisements, menus, and other displays that contain the price of a food or beverage item. SB 1524 upholds the principle of providing consumers with upfront pricing transparency without inadvertently harming food service workers or small businesses.

This measure's had unanimous bipartisan support. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Any further discussion or debate on this item. Hearing, seeing none. Secretary, please call the roll on file item 79.

Alle, aye. Alvarado-Gil, aye. Archuleta, aye. Ashby, aye. Atkins, aye. Becker, aye. Blakespear, aye. Bradford. Caballero, aye. Cortese, aye. Dahle, aye. Dodd, aye. Durazo, aye. Egmman, aye. Glazer. Gonzales, aye. Grove, aye. Hurtado, aye. Jones, aye. Laird, aye. Limon. McGuire, aye. Menjivar, aye. Min, aye. Newman, aye. Nguyen, aye. Niello, aye. Ochoa Bogh, aye. Padilla, aye. Portantino, aye. Roth, aye. Rubio, aye. Seyarto, aye. Skinner, aye. Smallwood-Cuevas, aye. Stern, aye. Umberg, aye. Wahab. Wiener. Wilk, aye.

Senator Dodd moves the call.

All right, Members, I know we've had a lot of activity moving back and forth on the agenda today, and we're going to just ask for your patience. Now. We're just going to move back to file order, and we're going to move now back to.

Messages from the Governor will be deemed read, messages from the Assembly will be deemed read, reports from committees will be deemed read, and amendments adopted. Motions, resolutions, and notices. The following bills are referred to the Committee on Rules. File item 77 SB 739. Pursuit. I'm sorry. To Senate 29.10 D.

And after we finish our activity here, we're going to break for lunch and then take up the remaining bills for the day. So, Senator, Majority Leader Gonzalez.

Thank you, Mister President. Members, I move the adoption of amendments as approved by Senate leadership that cross the desk on Friday through Sunday, June 28, through the 30th, 2024. These amendments will be adopted and published.

Motion to amend. Senator Jones.

Mister President, I'd like to make a parliamentary inquiry.

Please state your inquiry.

Does the desk or can the motion maker give us a list of those bills so we expect to be amended over the weekend?

We have no answer for that at this time.

Okay, so I just want to make sure that I clarify for the body that we are making a motion to amend bills that we have an unknown list of and unknown amendments. Is that correct? That is correct. Thank you. Mister President. I would ask for no vote on this motion.

And, Mister President, if everyone usually knows during the break. All Members are notified of the bills prior to during this time.

Okay, thank you. Senator Gonzalez is asking for aye votes. Senator Jones is asking for no vote. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Aye's 31. No's eight. Motion to amend is adopted. Senator Gonzalez.

Thank you, Mister President. Members, I move joint rule 62 A to be waived for the education Committee to meet in here AB 247 on Monday, July 1, 2024. With four days notice. Without four days notice in the daily file.

Thank you, Senator Jones.

Mister President. Thank you. I would move that the prior roll be substituted for this roll call.

Okay, thank you. Eyes 31, No's. Eight, joint ruse are suspended. Senator Gonzalez.

Thank you, Mister President. Members, I move AB 247 to be given a second reading upon being reported by the Appropriations Committee. Committee and order to third reading.

Senator Dali. Oh, I'm sorry, Senator Jones.

All right. Senator Dahle tried to cut in front of me there. Thank you, Mister President. I would also move that the prior roll call be substituted for this motion as well.

We'll do eyes 31, no's eight. Motion carries.

Senator Dahle.

Thank you, Mister President.

Motions and resolutions.

On behalf of Assembly Member Wood, I would request that file item 158, SB 227-2276 be removed from the consent calendar for purposes of amendments addressable.

No. Thank you, Senator Limon.

Thank you. At the request of the authors, I would like to remove items AB 3121, file item 248, AB 2574 file item 239 and AB 2680 file item 242 from the consent calendar.

Thank you. The ddesk note Senator Skinner.

Yes. At the request of the author I am asking that we pull AB 440. It's a file item a 14 from the Senate's inactive file.

Thank you. The desk note. Senator Laird.

At the request of the author, please remove file item 233 Assembly Bill 2176 from the consent file. And also at the request of the author, please remove file item A 32, Assembly Bill 1113 from the inactive file.

Thank you. The desk will note. Senator Umberg

Thank you, Mister President. Please remove file number 226, AB 1785 from the consent calendar. The request the authorization thank you.

The desk will note. Senator Wilk.

Thank you, Mister President. At the request of the author, please remove file item 250, AB 3276 from the consent calendar.

Thank you. desk will Note Senator Rubio.

Thank you, Mister President. At the request of the author, I would like to request file item 228, AP 1906 from Mister Gibson be removed from consent file for the purpose of amendments. Thank you. Thank you.

To desk will notes. Senator Newman.

Thank you, Mister President. Please remove AB 1983 from assemblymember may Enshrine so the author can make amendments from consent. Sir.

Thank you. Desk will note Senator Alvarado-Gil.

Thank you, Mister President. At the request of the author, please remove file item 152, Assembly Bill 1954 from the consent calendar for purposes of amendments.

Thank you. The desk will note. Any other Members wishing to remove items, Senator Becker?

Yes. I'd like to move AB request we move AB 437 by Jackson to the enacted file to request the author.

Thank you. The desk note. Any other Members wishing to remove item seeing a hearing on. Okay.

All right. All right, Members, we're going to the consideration of a daily file. We're moving to second reading file. Secretary, please read.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 159 with amendments. Senate Joint Resolution 18. Assembly Bill 2645 with amendments, 2503 with amendments, 2697 with amendments, 3179 with amendments, 2583 with amendments.

Second reading follows. Dean Red now moving to governor's appointments. Senator Grove, she's prepared. We have three items. First up is file item 69. Senator Grove.

Thank you, Mister President. Colleagues, file item 69 is a confirmation of Sheriff Ingrid Braun and Sheriff Shannon Moon for appointment to the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Mono County Sheriff Braun is first appointed to the post in 2020, and Nevada County Sheriff Moon is new to the Commission. These are two incredible appointments.

Women in law enforcement leadership that are strategic, out of the box thinkers want to make sure their communities are safe and just make sure that law enforcement is trained to deal with our communities. And I can't even speak. There's so many good things to say about them.

And I know we're on a time schedule, but I want you to know that these are two incredible confirmations that we should definitely support today. They were approved on the Rules Committee on June 19. And I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

I would just like to also rise and recommend that we approve Commissioner Moon. Sheriff Moon. She's awesome. She represents Nevada County. She's in my district. So respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Senator Dahle, on the appointment.

Thank you, no further discussion or debate on the appointment. Secretary, please call the roll.

Roll Call

Senator Grove moves the call. Next up is file item 70. Senator Grove.

Thank you, Mister President. Colleagues, file item 70 is a confirmation of Doctor Alexander Sheriffs, to the appointment of the San Joaquin Valley Air District board. He's a physician in the Central Valley California Faculty Medical Group and a Clinical Professor at UC San Francisco. He was approved by the Rules Committee on a 50 vote June 19.

Respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Any further discussion or debate on the appointment hearing. Seeing none. Secretary, please call the roll.

Roll Call

Senator Grove moves the call. Next up, file item 72. I think you did it, Senator Grove

Thank you, Mister President. Colleagues, file item 72 is the confirmation of following appointments: Ken Tang and Karen Yamamoto for the reappointment of the State Teachers Retirement Board. Maggie Hallahan and Katie Hawkins for the Boating and Waterways Commission. Sandra Montes one more time. Montesmudo. Yes. Sandra Matsumoto and Kate Moulène for the California Water Commission.

Doctor Phuong Uzoff for the Commission of Teachers Credentialing. And Christina Jaromay for the State Park and Water Recreation Commission. These appoint. oh, let me see if there's one more. These appointees were approved by the rule Commission on Committee on June 19 on a 50 vote. Respectfully ask for aye vote. And respectfully ask for grace on the names.

Thank you. Any further discussion? Debate on the appointments hearing seeing none. Secretary, please call the roll on file item 72.

Roll Call

Senator Grove moves the call. Now, Members, we're going to ask you to take a conversation off the floor or return to your desk. We're going to move to adjourning memories right now. First up, we have Senator Blakespear.

Thank you. President and colleagues, I rise today to adjourn the Senate of the State of California. In honor of James Jim Hubbell, an extraordinary artist recognized internationally for his imaginative style of art and architecture and his Pacific Rim Peace Parks.

Jim passed away in Chula Vista on May 17, 2024 at the age of 92, surrounded by his wife, Ann, and his sons, Tori, Drew, Lauren, and Brennan.

Born in the village of Mineola on Long Island, New York, in 1931, young James was likely more influenced by his exposure to the three art galleries that his art owned than by sitting in a classroom. After high school, he met Quentin Keynes, the grandson of Charles Darwin.

Together they embarked on a year long adventure, visiting great works of art in Europe and studying tribal cultures in Africa. As a young man, he moved to San Diego, where he would live, work, and leave his mark on the world.

In 1958, he married Ann Stewart and built a one room cabin on land they purchased in Santa Isabel in the county's rural backcountry. Eventually, their home would grow into an internationally renowned center of art and creativity.

The 14 Hobbit like residences, studios, and galleries follow the natural contours of the land, incorporating huge boulders and featuring swooping roofs, streaming mosaics, and sunlit stained glass. Today, their beloved home is called Elan Lael, after the foundation that Ann and Jim started in 1983 to bring art to the masses.

It is a Hebrew phrase meaning tree that is a gift from God. Visitors from around the world arrive at Elan Lyell in search of inspiration and a connection with Hubble's seamless fusion of art, culture, and nature. Hubble had his first solo exhibition at the Capri Theater in San Diego in 1956.

His creative use of resins, plastics, welded metal, and other new materials combined with his experimental style attracted a great deal of attention. Hubble inspired an artistic movement that flourished in San Diego and beyond.

Working with his studio of artisans, Hubble created hundreds of works that were installed in homes, schools, gardens, pavilions, nature centers, churches, palaces, monasteries, and museums worldwide.

He may be best known for two his enchanting sea ranch chapel on the rugged Sonoma coast in Northern California, whose exterior resembles an elf's pointy cap, gives way to an intimate sanctuary that marries stone, Wood, and glass with the windswept surroundings.

And the second is the doors of Abu Dhabi are 18 exquisitely carved doors infused with jewel toned glass and dramatic light designs that adorn a palace in the United Arab of Emirates. Jim's vision for world peace and the nature that nurtures us all came to fruition through his masterwork, the Pacific Rim Park Project.

From 1994 to 2018, he designed, supervised, and worked on a series of eight seaside parks with local volunteers from the Pearl of the Pacific park on Shelter Island in San Diego, the Vladivostok, Russia, and Puerto Princesa in the Philippines.

Art and nature coexist in these sanctuaries that feature orbs that connect like a string of pearls around the Pacific to foster international peace. I have visited Jim's properties and was very impressed by these structures. They are truly remarkable. Jim left us more than art and buildings.

Those who knew him best will cherish his kind, generous spirit and his humanity. He helped us to understand that nature inspires art and that art can inspire the best in us to build a better and more compassionate world. I will conclude with Jim's own words that beautifully embody his profound oneness with nature.

Upon death, my ashes will be scattered from the hillside chapel of our property that faces southwest toward the Sandogito river. Water from Vulcan mountain flows through this river about 55 miles before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. My ashes, containing my life's elements, will thus be united with the Pacific.

From there, they would follow the ocean current to South Korea's Jeju Island and eventually end up as grist for a pearl in an oyster yet unborn. There, the circle of one's life is complete. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Our deepest condolences to the family, and we ask that you bring the name forward so you can be properly memorialized. Next up is Senator Dodd.

Mister President and Members Warren Wynowski passed away on Friday, June 7, 2024. At 95 years old, Warren will forever be remembered for his role in the 1976 Judgment of Paris, a competition that pitted the most prestigious French wines against new efforts from California, then disregarded in Europe as a little bit more than hillbilly juice.

In applying tasting, French wine experts judged the 1973 Napa Valley Stags leap wine cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, superior to Cabernet's from Bordeaux, France. That put Napa, and with it, California, on the national stage as a leading premium wine growing region. He was truly a pioneer and founder of the California wine industry.

In his later years, Vernarski became a philanthropist, endowing a position for a curator of food and wine history at the Smithsonian Institution and funding a revision of the Winkler Index, a groundbreaking study on wine and climate at UC Davis.

He was in the 11th class of the California Hall of Fame, and he was known as a compassionate conservationist, advocating for environmental causes, and remained a lifelong sustainable farmer. Please join me in a journey in memory of Warren Wernowski. Thank you.

Thank you. On behalf of the California State Senate, we extend our most deepest condolences and ask that you bring the name forward so he can be properly memorialized. Now, Members, we're going to move back to Senate third reading. We have three items that will take up, first being file item 88 by Senator Caballero. She is prepared.

Secretary, you may read

Senate Resolution 100 by Senator Caballero relative to Native American women, equal payday. Senator Caballero.

Thank you very much, Mister President and Members, I rise to present SR 100, which recognizes a special day in November as Native American women Equal pay Day in California. Unfortunately, the fact remains that in our great state, equal pay for Native American women is still an uphill battle.

Despite the enactment of the Federal Equal Pay act of 1963, Native American women confront a substantial wage gap, earning just $0.59 for every dollar earned by their white male counterparts. In order to achieve parity with what a White, Non Hispanic man earns by the age of 60, Native American women often find themselves working well into their nineties.

This discrepancy translates to a staggering loss of $2,396 per month, or $28,747 annually, significantly impacting the economic stability and well being of Native American women and their families.

Native American women are less likely to be covered by a union contract than other women in the state, with 11.5% of all women covered by a union but only 5.8% of Native American.

The lack of union representation usually means lower wages, larger wage gaps, less labor protections, and reduced access to benefits such as paid leave, quality health care, childcare, and pensions.

When a woman suffers from financial disparity and instability, the children, the family, and the community around them suffer, as well as carriers of tradition and the educators of future generations. This inequality translates to generational losses that can destroy healthy families and communities. A slow dissolution of heritage and a community begins to occur.

Colleagues, we have to do better. As the Legislature changes and as gender parity is achieved, we need to do more than lament, call it out, or move on.

We need to put our money where our mouths is and partner with our Native American sisters to recognize opportunities to lift them up and help them achieve the pay equity they deserve.

Please join me today in recognizing November 30, 2024 as Native American women equal pay day in California to acknowledge the need to eliminate the gender gap and commit to change. Thank you, and I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Any further discussion or debate on this item hearing seen none. Secretary, you may call the roll on file item 88.

[Roll Call]

Senator Caballero moves the call. Next up is file item 89. Once again, Senator Caballero, she's prepared. Secretary, you may read.

Senate Resolution 101 by Senator Caballero, relative to Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month of 2024.

Senator Caballero.

Thank you, Mister President. As we approach September, and it's coming faster than you think, I want to emphasize the significance of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. It's crucial for us to come together and raise awareness about ovarian cancer and its impact on our mothers, sisters, wives, aunts.

Colleagues, did you know that ovarian cancer ranks as the fifth most common cancer amongst women? Unfortunately, it also holds the highest mortality rate among all gynecological cancers, making it a pressing concern for women's health. It's important to be aware of the risk factors associated with ovarian cancer, including family history, age, and genetic mutations.

Ovarian cancer can go from early stage to advanced stages within a year, and it's highest in women aged 55 and older. Patients with very high risk are those that have endometriosis or diabetes. Recognizing the symptoms early is key, as they often can be vague and easily overlooked.

Early detection plays a crucial role in improving the outcomes for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer. And screenings such as colonoscopies, mammograms, pap smears, blood tests, and ultrasounds can detect the cancer early on. And as I indicated, it's really critical to catch it early on.

We must ensure that women diagnosed with ovarian cancer receive the support and the resources they need. Access to comprehensive healthcare, specialized treatment centers, and support groups are all essential. I invite each of you to join me to raise the awareness about ovarian cancer and support those affected by the disease.

Let's rally behind initiatives and organizations dedicated to funding research, providing support services, and advocating for better policies to educate, detect, and eliminate ovarian cancer. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Any further discussion or debate on this item. Hearing and seeing none, Secretary, please call the roll on file item 89.

[Roll call]

Senator Caballero moves the call. Now, we're moving on to file item 90, Senator Seyarto. He is prepared. Secretary, you may read.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 111 by Senator Seyarto. Relative to Purple Heart Day. Senator Seyarto.

Thank you, Mister President. I stand to present SCR 111. I am proud to bring this resolution before you today. To declare this coming August 7. As recognized as Purple Heart day here in California. The Purple Heart is a medal given not in achievement, but in honor of sacrifice.

While the Purple Heart Medal was originally created by our first President, George Washington. And was created to recognize the bravery in combat, today. It is used to recognize those who are injured in service to our country. By the actions of our enemies. This simple purple ribbon, trimmed with white, holding a bronze heart.

With a portrait of President Washington. Denotes the highest respect and honor we as a country can bestow. It is estimated that over 1.8 million service Members. Have been awarded this medal, many posthumously. I think it is important that we remember our service Members and their families. For their sacrifices.

For without their sacrifice, we could not enjoy the vestiges of freedom we have today. It is with those thoughts that I respectfully ask for your aye vote and recognize August 7 as Purple Heart day. In honor of its creation in 1782.

Any further discussion or debate on this item? Hearing and seeing none. Secretary, you may call the roll-on file item 90.

[Roll Call]

Senator Seyarto moves the call. Members, now, we're going to take a quick 30 minute break for lunch. We're going to ask all Members to stay in the building. Upon our return, we should have a quick agenda. We are waiting for items to come back over from the Assembly.

We're taking a break for 30 minutes and should be back on the floor at 1205. Thank you. Return to the floor and we will first start with file item 204. Vice Assemblyman Garcia, AB 20113. Secretary, please lift a call. .

[Roll Call]

[Second Roll] Okay. Ayes 29, noes, nine on the urgency. Eyes 29, noes, nine on the item. Measure passes. Now moving on to file item 203. Secretary, lift the call.

Cortese. Aye. Grove. Wahab?

[Roll Call] Ayes yes 40, nos zero on the urgency. Eyes 40, no zero on the measure. Measure passes. Now moving Members to file item 79. Secretary, please lift the call.

[Second Roll]

Call the opposite Members. Eyes 39, no zero on the urgency. Aye's 39 no zeros. The amendments are concurred in. Now we're moving on to file item 69. Appointment. Please call the APPC Member. Wahab. Aye, ayes. 40 no zero. The appointment is confirmed. Moving on to appointment file item 70. Please call the absent members. Wayne?

[Second Roll]

The appointment is confirmed. Now moving on to file item 72. Please call the absent members. Member Wahab. Aye ayes 40 no zero. The appointment is confirmed. Now moving on to file item 88. Please call the apps of Members. [Second Roll]

The measure passes now. Members, we're moving on to file item 89. Please call the apps of Members. Mcguire. Aye. Wahab. Aye ayes 40 knows zero. Measure passes. Now our final item on call file item 90. Scr 11111.

[Second Roll]

Aye's 40 nos zero. The measure passes. Remember? That concludes our items on call. All right, Members, we're moving to the supplemental file. We're moving now to file item 159. zero, yeah, I'm sorry. File item 260. Senator Wiener, are you prepared? Yes, he is. Secretary, you may read a Senator Bill.

159 by Budget and fiscal review and act relating to health and making an appropriation, therefore, to take effect immediately. Bill related to the budget. Senator Wehner.

Thank you very much, Mister President. Colleagues, SB 159 is the health omnibus trailer bill. This bill implements the Medi-Cal Provider Payment Increases and Investment Act, which utilizes revenue from the tax on managed care organizations to increase reimbursement rates for Medi-Cal providers and makes other essential program improvements.

These include increases for physicians and non-physician professional services, such as office visits, prevention, primary and specialty care and obstetrics for abortion services and family planning, for emergency department physicians, non-specialty mental health services, directive payments for community clinics, air, and ground ambulances, community-based adult services, congregate living health facilities, pediatric day health centers, private duty nursing, community health workers, and continuous medical coverage for children ages zero to five.

It delays the healthcare minimum wage increases provided for in SB 525 until either one cash receipts exceed budget estimates by at least 3% in the first quarter of the state fiscal year or the Medi-Cal program has made necessary preparations to expand the hospital quality assurance fee, which will provide billions of dollars in new revenues to hospitals that they can use to defray the cost of the new minimum wage increases.

It implements program enhancements for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, expanding income eligibility and premium assistance for ADAP and prep assistance, moving to an open formulary, investing in TGI wellness and equity, supporting the harm reduction clearinghouse, evaluating future needs in the ADAP and prep assistance programs, and expanding availability to have condoms in educational settings.

It implements a new $115 million annual directed payment to support children's hospitals. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

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

[Roll call]

Please call the absent members.

[Roll call]

Ayes 32, noes eight. The Assembly amendments are concurred in. Now moving on to file item 261, Senator Umberg. Is he at his desk down? All right, we're moving on to file item 261, Senator Umberg. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 92 by Senator Umberg enact relating to employment and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately.

Going to give him a minute to find his file.

All right, thank you, Senator Humbert. President and colleagues this morning we discussed the companion bill concerning PAGA reform. This is a monumental reform that came about because of compromise with the various stakeholders. The Chamber of Commerce, Consumer attorneys, the Labor Federation, and all the other stakeholders came together to reform PAGA.

What this reform does is provides a period, for example, for businesses to cure any violation. It provides relief for small businesses, but it also provides an avenue for those employees who are grieved and have suffered a labor violation to enforce and seek recompense for that labor violation. I congratulate all the stakeholders. This is how government should work.

With that I urge an aye vote.

Any further discussion or debate. Senator Atkins.

Mister President, thanks so much. Members. I'm going to be so bold as to say this might be one of the most significant accomplishments we enact this year. I applaud the state Chamber of Commerce and the Labor Federation in leading these negotiations.

This agreement is a win win for employees and employers, which, unfortunately, is something of a rare occurrence in politics. Small businesses have long complained about being the target of frivolous lawsuits and litigation.

This agreement broadens the opportunity for small businesses to correct labor law violations before being sued, while at the same time capping the penalties for employers that take these proactive steps. Workers will benefit by gaining greater percentage or penalty proceeds and will be made whole more quickly.

This outcome is good for our state, it's good for our economy, and good for employers and good for workers. I urge an aye vote.

Thank you, Senator Grove.

Thank you, Mister President. I, too, rise in support of SB 92, and I want to thank the author for working hard to make sure something like this got across both houses into the governor's desk and the negotiation that took place with all stakeholders. PAGA has been a problem in this state since Governor Gray Davis left office.

It's been an extortion mechanism by attorneys and additional taxes on business. Employees were not treated fairly even in the negotiation practices and even in the settlement practices, $1.0 million settlements. And the employees would probably get $5, $6 maybe $20 each in some cases, not all cases, but in some cases.

So a law that was intended to make sure that employees were made whole on bad actors for employees, employers from employers became a tool to extort resources out of employers up to above $10 billion over this time. That PAGA has been enacted is just another tax.

It's labeled as the litigation hellhole in the United States for the last, I believe, eight years in a row. There are thousands upon thousands of PAGA cases, and the majority of those PAGA cases are for minor infractions, like a Wells Fargo logo versus a Wells Fargo address in your weekending pay stubs.

If you didn't have inclusive dates, that was a penalty per every employee going back one year times every pay period. And even though there was no harm to the employee, the penalty phase still stood. And I want to thank the author for limiting the scope of who can file a PAGA lawsuit.

I want to thank the author for negotiating the deals, make sure that discovery was fair. I want to thank the author for even making sure, and making sure that employees have an increased percentage and it doesn't all go to trial lawyers.

And so I just, I think this is like my, the former pro tem emeritus, the pro tem emeritus said, this is monumental legislation. It was something that needed to be addressed. It's been needed to be addressed for several years because of the abuses that will be taking place.

And I specifically want to just thank the author for a strike date. And the reason why that's important is because last week, 678 or 648 PAGA cases were filed and over 1000 were filed on Monday just to see if they could get ahead of this legislation. And that's just not right.

That's modern day extortion, additional tax on businesses. This is good policy, and I'm proud to be a co author.

All right. Additional authors. Senator Blakespear.

Yes. Thank you. I just wanted to affiliate my comments with my predecessors. I saw this as one of the biggest problems that needed attention. And I'm so grateful that the parties were able to come together and meaningfully negotiate and reach a compromise. As the author said, it is government at its best when we see that.

And this is something that really needed to happen. And I'm just very grateful it did. Thank you.

Thank you. Any further discussion, debate on this item? Hearing, seeing no more microphones. Senator Umberg, would you like to close?

Sure. Thank you, Mister President College. I especially want to thank my staff for getting me my talking points just minutes after I was called upon. Number one. Number two is that this again is a testament, a monument to the stakeholders.

The Labor Federation, the consumer attorneys, the employment lawyers, all those, the business community Chamber of Commerce, all those who came together, who recognized an issue and after months of difficult and challenging negotiations, came to a compromise that accomplishes the objectives, protecting employees, at the same time providing employers an opportunity to cure any violations.

I urge an aye vote.

Thank you, secretary. Please call the roll on file item 261.

[Roll Call]

Please call the absent Members.

[Roll Call]

Give us a minute.

[Roll Call]

Aye's 40, No's 0. on the urgency. Aye's 40, No's 0. The Assembly Members are concurrent in. Now, Members, we're going to move to the consent calendar. We have a number of items on consent calendar.

Anybody wanting to remove items off the consent calendar, now is the time. Senator Menjivar?

I'd like to remove File Item 254 from the consent calendar.

Desk will note. Any more members wishing to remove an item from the consent calendar? Hearing, seeing none. Secretary, please read the consent calendar.

Assembly Bill 2759, 1849, 2114, Senate Concurrent Resolution 151, Assembly Bill 1790, 2001, 2011, 2197, 2267, 2393, 2531, 2582, 2608, 2689, 2767, 2835, 2841, 2979, 3258, 3286, 3287, Assembly Concurrent Resolution 121, 169, Senate Concurrent Resolution 158, Assembly Joint Resolution 10, Assembly Concurrent Resolution 204, Senate Bill 948.

Okay, consent calendar read and special consent. They're together. Secretary, please call the roll on consent calendar.

Allen, aye. Alvarado-Gil, aye. Archuleta, aye. Ashby, aye. Atkins, aye. Becker, aye. Blakespear, aye. Bradford, aye. Caballero, aye. Cortese, aye. Dahle, aye. Dodd, aye. Durazo, aye. Eggman, aye. Glazer, aye. Gonzales, aye. Grove, aye. Hurtado, aye. Jones. Laird, aye. Limon. McGuire, aye. Menjivar, aye. Min, aye. Newman, aye. Nguyen, aye. Niello, aye. Ochoa Bogh, aye. Padilla, aye. Portantino, aye. Roth, aye. Rubio, aye. Seyarto, aye. Skinner, aye. Smallwood-Cuevas, aye. Stern, aye. Umberg, aye. Wahab, aye. Wiener, aye. Wilk, aye.

Please call the absent Members.

Jones, aye. Limon, aye.

Ayes 40, nos 0 on the consent calendar. Ayes 40, nos 0 on the special consent. Consent calendar is adopted. Now, members, we're moving to motions and resolutions. Pursuant to Senate rule 29.10C, the following bills will are referred to the Committee on Rules, AB 440. Senator Seyarto.

Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to remove the following bills from the inactive file. SCR 114, SR 68, SR 71.

The desk will note. If there's no other business, Senator McGuire, the desk is clear.

Mr. President, fantastic job here today. Grateful for all the work. I want to look at the time. It is 12:28. We had originally discussed that we would be here till 3:00 thanks to the efficiency, the hard work of this body, we are grateful that we are getting out of here a couple hours early. Number one.

Number two, want to say thank you to the floor team for all their fantastic work. Madam Majority Leader, to our assistant majority leaders and to all the whips. Thank you. The next floor session is scheduled for Monday, July 1, at 2:00 p.m. have a wonderful weekend, members.

The Senate will be in recess until 3:30 p.m. at which time an adjournment motion will be made. We will reconvene on Monday, July 1 at 2:00 p.m. Thank you, Members.