Senate Standing Committee on Rules

Well, good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Rules Committee. Our First Committee hearing after our summer recess. The Senate Committee on rules will now come to order. Before we begin today's agenda, let's establish a quorum secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call]

Quorum. Quorum is established before we take up governor's appointments for today that are required to appear. We have some administrative items to go over, so please bear with us. If there are no objections, I'd like to take up first on today's agenda. Governor's appointees not required appear items 2d through k.

We will be separating out item 21 for a separate vote. Any Members. Two I two I sorry. Two I. I apologize. Two I for a separate vote. Do any Members wish I would move.

Items to d through k except for I.

Thank you, Senator Laird, for that.

The Vice Chair isn't here to do.

That, so I appreciate that. Thank you, Senator Laird.

[Roll call]

Four to zero.

We will keep that on call. I would move item two.

I for those of you who are not used to this Rules Committee, I will ask my colleague to refrain until I ask for his request. Request for a motion to move forward.

We're determined to get to 05:00 needlessly.

Next, I'd like to take up item three, Bill referrals on convention. Well, we have to vote on two. I separate two. I. You're exactly right. You're moving two. I. Can I have a roll call for two?

[Roll call]

Thank you. Next, I'd like to take up item three, reference to bills on Committee. Can I entertain a motion?

I would move item number three.

Thank you, Senator Laird, for that motion. Please call the roll.

[Roll call]

That's four to zero on call. The next item is. Floor acknowledgments, the items that we have. Excuse me. Floor acknowledgments. Before we begin, we're going to separate out the boats. Item six has been pooled to be rescheduled for another day. And item six is. Is just 1 second is. Senator Newman has pulled that.

We're going to separate that up for another day. And then item five. And seven are separate on these votes as well. Does anybody have an objection to that? Anybody want to separate out any other votes? Can I have a motion?

I would move all the items except 56 and 7. Six polled, 5 and 7 individual.

Thank you, Senator Laird. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

Mcguire Grove. Aye. Grove I Eggman. Eggman I Jones. Jones I Laird, aye.

Laird, I next, I'll take a motion on call. That Bill is on call or that motion is on call. Next, I'll take a motion on item five, so move. Thank you, Senator Laird. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call]

That is two to two. We'll keep that on call. Finally, I'd like to take a motion on item seven.

I will make that motion if necessary.

Thank you, Senator Jones. You're failing me there.

They sued Santa Cruz over Surf City. We're still upset about it.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Jones, for that. Secretary, police.

That's not even in my district.

There's no discussion at this time. Thank you, Senator Jones. Madam Secretary, it's not. Yes. Madam Secretary has said it's not debatable.

Please call the roll. Mcguire Grove. Aye. Grove I Eggman. Eggman. No. Jones. Jones I Laird. Laird, aye. Three to one on call.

Thank you. Now the long awaited time. Governor's appointees required to appear. Item one a. The appointment of Amy Costa. To the California Community College's Board of Governors. Miss Costa, please come forward. We'll give you an opportunity to introduce yourself or make remarks. You have one to two minutes for your opening testimony.

And then we'll open it up to Committee Members. To ask you questions. And advance comments in your opening. Please introduce any of your guests that you have here. And we will look forward to getting to know you today.

Great. Thank you so much. Appreciate the introduction. Madam Chair and Members. Thank you for having me here today. One of my first jobs in Sacramento was as a scheduler. And as such, I will keep my comments brief. Because I know how busy each of you are. Especially in August. Hardest job I had, and I've had many.

I've enjoyed a really wonderful career in a variety of roles. And I take particular pride in my role as a Member of the Board of Governors of the California community colleges. You have my questionnaire, and you have my resume.

So I thought I would just leave you with kind of my personal reason for my service on this particular board. My grandfather, who lived down the street from Santa Clara University.

As a small child would take me onto that campus, and we would walk around the campus, and he would tell me that I was smart and that I could go to college. And he also made me promise that I would not get married before I had my degree, a promise I kept.

He provided me with a really life changing idea that I belonged in college and that I could do it. And so every day, community colleges provide our students with that very same concept. Whether it's a certificate, a training program, or an associate degree for transfer, they are told that they belong in our higher education system.

And so, as a board Member, I take great pride in having just a small role in that very transformative idea. It was, I'm first generation to graduate from college. It was absolutely transformative for me, and I truly believe that it's transformative for all California students in our community colleges.

I'm joined by my husband, Josh Costa, by my mom, Janelle Pierce. I would not have been able to have any of these roles without each of their support. And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions of the Committee.

Thank you, Miss Costa. Thank you very much. And I appreciate your personal testimony in incorporating the thoughts of your grandfather, who gave you this opportunity and instilled this into you. Welcome, John and mom. Appreciate you guys being here in support, and I'll bring it back to Committee Members. We can start with, obviously, Senator Laird.

Thank you very much. And thank you for the meeting. Thank you for your willingness to serve, and I've worked with you in a number of your incarnations, and so I have confidence in you, unrelated to this, knowing I, your abilities and your ability to do things. Let me just ask a few questions.

We talked about it, and it came up in your comments and your questions. One is you made a comment that you thought there could be a lot better collaboration between the three branches of higher ed. How do you see that problem, and how do you see the better collaboration?

Thank you for the question, Senator. I think much like the work that you do here every day, there are kind of different levels of conversation happening all the time. At the staff level, I think across the three segments of public higher ed, our staff are constantly working together.

One of the areas that I've tried to work on is better board collaboration.

And so, you know, I've worked with meeting with the heads of both the CSU and the UC board, and we've set up a process to do that because I think, as you see in your everyday roles, sometimes the conversations are a little bit different at different levels of the organization and ideally, especially for us, in which we're providing students for the transfer pathway, that coordination is really essential, and everybody's busy, but you have to make time to ensure that we're all kind of working towards a common goal, ensuring that our students have a clear pathway to transfer.

Good. And encourage you to do that, and let us know what you need. Another major issue, it's partly demographic, but it was really accentuated by the pandemic, was the loss of enrollment at community colleges, and it is in some places really bounced back. You had a high statistic.

I know at my home college where I was on the board, it's 10% up this year. How do you see it long term? Because it is sort of part of the challenge for what you have to do to get people to come.

Yeah, thank you. That's a great question. So when I started on the board, our enrollment was at about 2.2 million students. During the pandemic, we got down to about 1.8. Currently, we're around two.

My staff might get mad at me for saying this, but I know that we're looking to finalize our year over year spring enrollment numbers, and we're looking at about a 9% increase. The numbers aren't final on that, but I think we're going to get back to kind of where we were as far as total enrollment.

But long term, I think the demographic trends are really clear. When I started in this policy area, we were talking about the baby boom echo. So we had a lot of students, and that's not the demographics of the state anymore for a variety of factors.

And so in our vision 2030 plan and in some of the work that we've done with our districts, we're looking at other students to bring in in a more thoughtful way. And one of those areas is dual enrollment. And my middle son, he participated in dual enrollment.

And I think, a, it helps with enrollment, but b, kind of getting to my opening statement. It provides early exposure to high school students into college and seeing whether or not that there's a pathway. And for my son, you know, he took an auto course and he loved it.

And so I think it's great to expose our high schoolers to those opportunities really early. But I do think across public higher education, we're not going to have the steady stream of students that we once had.

And so I know our system, we're really thinking about other enrollments and ways to change the way that we're operating because we're not going to be on the same growth trajectory. We've been on basically since the 1960s.

So, in many ways, you're saying you're going to have to be more entrepreneurial in what you do.

Absolutely. And I think it can be dual enrollment. I can think it could be better formalization of two by two programs with UC and CSU. But we're. Absolutely.

And our districts are great at this being more entrepreneurial and things like certificate programs and, you know, kind of the whole, you know, community colleges, we do it all, and that includes certificates, which sometimes get lost in the mix but are equally important and provide great economic mobility for Californians.

And then lastly, housing. Because as I was telling you, when I was on a board for eight years, and I haven't been on in 22 years, I never heard of homeless or unhoused community college students. And now when I go to the campuses in my own district, I will ask, and they'll say between one to 4%.

And there's this whole level of housing insecurity that exists above it.

And so we, as the Legislature, put a lot of money in because there were only 15 of the campuses that had housing, but it was mostly like Sierra foothills, where there were long term commuters, and they needed housing at the campus so that they could actually be there during the week.

And you said in the meeting that it improved outcomes. So how do you see, as a board Member, your commitment to sort of changing the paradigm a little on housing at community colleges?

Yeah. Thank you. I'm really committed to affordable student housing, and it was one of my ideas that I worked with my former colleagues at the Department of Finance on.

I want to thank policymakers, because even though this budget was difficult, we found a different financing mechanism to make it happen, which will actually put more responsibility on the Board of Governors, which I'm happy to take on.

But it actually started when I was at the Department of Finance, and Willie Duncan, the President of Sierra, invited us out there, and we looked at. They had a housing facility that traditionally had housed student athletes who needed to be there during the summer for their training.

And he was able to show us the data that the students that were provided housing did have better outcomes. They were able to meet their educational opportunities, which really stands to reason. Right. It's one thing they don't have to worry about. I think our schools are a microcosm of the state.

So to the degree we have unsheltered people in the state, our schools are going to reflect that. Our students, in particular, have price sensitivity. I mean, it's one of the biggest barriers for them. To complete kind of their education course of study. And so right now, we have a lease revenue program. Thank you.

That was passed as part of the budget. And, you know, my hope, though, is that as our economic tides turn, you know, we'll be able to Fund more of these projects. I always looked at it as a win win.

One, it was a win for our students, but two, it's a win for our communities in which we're building this student housing, because we're taking some of the other pressure off of the housing in that community by housing our students, and especially in core urban areas. You know, I live in the Bay Area. It's a huge issue.

There's simply not enough housing units for everybody who wants them, and certainly not subsidized or very Low income housing.

Thank you. I appreciate that commitment. Look forward to working with you. Clearly, your testimony shows you're on top of this. So thank you. Thank you for your willingness to do this again. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Senator Laird, Senator Eggman.

Thank you. How do you measure success?

It's a great question. I will say it's complicated. You know, for me, success is really simple, which is that each of our students comes to us with a goal I am agnostic on.

If that's a certificate, if that's a degree for transfer, really, at the end of the day, I think community colleges really are the economic engine of our state. My goal is that it puts people on a trajectory for economic stability and mobility. I think, you know, we have vision 2030.

Before that, we had a vision for success, and so we do measure those things. I think right now, one of my core measures of success, and it will come as no surprise, since I come from finance, is to better leverage all of the funding streams available to our students.

And so we have a goal in Vision 2030, which comes from me, which is. And some of our colleges do a really good job here, but utilizing social services. I know there have been a lot of debates about Calfresh and our students, but that's but one program, and that really requires partnerships with counties.

Counties are, you know, who determine eligibility, who. And some of our schools do have MOUs with their counties. I'd like to scale that, because one of the things that I use to measure success is in listening to our students, trying to push aside the barriers that are within our control that can help them finish their educational journey.

And most of them, candidly, are financial. And, you know, I think we have a tendency in policy worlds to get into our silos where we only look at education funding. And I think we need to look beyond that to make sure our students are getting the full complement of financial support for which they're eligible.

How about success for California? And I'm thinking specifically just in a lot of legislation over the last couple of years, especially as it relates to healthcare and mental health care, and we need a huge influx of workforce and training programs at all levels. How do you see the community college being prepared to help with that?

Great question. I think, you know, the pandemic really highlighted some gaps that we have in certain sectors, healthcare being one, both behavioral health as well as kind of traditional medical health. You know, we have some constraints, candidly, you know, there's a statute that dictates what we can do in bachelor degree programs.

You guys have a Bill before you right now by Senator Roth that would do a pilot program specifically for nursing. So in some ways, you know, we rely on policy makers to tell us sort of, you know, what we can participate in.

I also think that there are probably more two by two programs that we could use with CSU in particular, because they're very strong in the healthcare sciences. And I think one of the areas is that academia can be slow.

Curriculum development takes a really long time, and sometimes it's not responsive enough to these kind of market forces that are happening immediately.

But I do believe one of the important things and a measure of success for California is that we offer affordable higher education pathway for students when we do have bachelor's degrees and we have several that have been allowed by law. I think the average cost is $7,000.

And, you know, for many Californians, that's the ultimate gate is, you know, because it's not just tuition, of course, it's housing, it's transportation, it's the whole, it's everything.

And so, you know, I do think, you know, going back to my comments with Senator Laird, you know, we are in a world in which we're in an inflection point in higher ed.

And so I'll be looking forward to policymakers thinking through with, well, as Californians that are college age like, what does this look like in our coordinated system in California, and what roles should we be playing that maybe we're not right now?

Thank you, Senator Eggman. Senator Jones, you good? I want to thank you for your testimony and what you've brought to the table. I really do. And all without any notes. Right. That shows somebody that knows their business. I do have one question on the transfer numbers of a four year University.

The numbers remain really Low lower than 20%, around 19% for those individuals who've indicated that they do want to transfer. 10% for three years, 4% for two years. The State Auditor is expected to release a report coming out this fall.

And without knowing the State Auditor's recommendations, what's your thought, and are you guys working on a plan right now to make sure that those students who wish to do a transfer have the ability to do so?

Great question. I'm very committed to the transfer pathway. I think it's one of the most important parts of the master plan in California. I would say that there are complicating factors both on our side and the receiving institution side, be it UC or CSU.

You know, there are CSU campuses that are at full capacity and have, you know, more demand than they have slots. And many of our students are placebound. So when they don't get into the CSU that is in their home, that's kind of the end of their educational journey until they can get that slot.

And so, you know, and certainly that has to do with, you know, their resources on the CSU side, I also think, and again, this is up to policymakers, but, you know, we've made great strides in the associate degree for transfer. That was really landmark legislation when it was passed. We only have 40. I think that's Low.

And I also think, you know, it's not accepted at UC. In my dream world, if I could wave a magic wand, which I don't have the power to do, the ADT's would be accepted in any higher education institution in the state. That takes state dollars. It's what's easiest for the student, and we're not there yet.

But hopefully, as we have these conversations about the next iteration of higher ed, we can have that conversation. I think specifically making sure our students have a slot in a public institution that doesn't cost a lot of money is really important.

And so, you know, we're continuing to work on it, and we're always trying to create more ADT pathways, but I also think they would be much more powerful if they were completely portable.

Thank you. It is very clear that the governors made the right decision pointing you to this board, and I look forward to your confirmation. We will now go to Members of the public who wish to comment on this appointment. We'll take Members in support. There's a microphone right here if you want to come up to it.

Members in support of Miss Costa. Hi. Welcome.

Hey, good afternoon, chair Grove Members Larry Glizio. I'm the President and CEO of the Community College League. We're the statewide independent Association. All 73 districts and 116 colleges are Members. And here in strong support. Amy Costa, as President of the Board of Governors, is uniquely qualified, as you all know. So we're in strong support.

Thank you for that. Thank you. Welcome. Hi there. Valerie Johnson with the campaign for college Opportunity. The campaign is honored to express our strong support for Amy Costa's reappointment to the Board of Governors.

Her leadership and depth of experience as a Member of the board have been critical in supporting the colleges and maintaining a dual focus on student enrollment and improved success in outcomes, including the implementation of the ADT. Thank you for your mention.

And her strategic guidance in securing and maximizing the impact of funding for higher education demonstrates her invaluable contributions to our students, to our community colleges, and to the broader education landscape in California. And we look forward to her continued leadership. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being here.

Anyone else in support? We will take opposition. Anybody in opposition to Miss Costa's appointment, please come to the microphone. Seeing none, I'll bring it back to the dais.

Senator Lehrer, I would move confirmation of Amy Costa and that we forward it to the floor.

Thank you, sir. Comment? Mister Jones. Senator Jones, thank you.

I'm happy to support the nomination and the motion and just wanted to say that myself and all three of my kids are community college kids. And I really appreciate what you said about affordability.

I think as the national debate continues regarding government paying off college debt, that's certainly not a step I support, because it's very doable in California to go to the community colleges for two years and then transfer into the CSU system or the UC system, or, if you can afford it, private colleges and avoid, you know, those large debt numbers.

And so thank you for having that perspective. I appreciate that and happy to support you today.

Thank you, Senator Jones. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

Mcguire Grove, aye. Grove, I. Eggman, aye. Eggman, I. Jones. Jones, I. Laird, aye. Laird, I. Four to zero on call.

That is on call. And we look forward to moving your full confirmation to the Senate Floor.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair Members. Thank you.

Next item is governor's appointees. Required to appear is item one B, the appointment of Darius Anderson to the Fish and Game Commission.

Senator Jones is out of order, and I'm going to start on my right this time so that we don't have to belabor all the comments that are going to come from the former secretary of natural Resources. Maybe some of his questions will be answered. Senator Eggman. zero, I guess. Yes. zero, yes. Okay.

God, I wanted to do that without him correcting me. Mister Darius, you do have two minutes. You could say that one more time.

Madam Chair, thank you so much. And Senators, I am really glad to be here today. I want to mention that I'm here really for two reasons. One, on the gracious appointment of the Governor. So I want to say thank you to Governor Newsom. Secondly, I used to be on Amy's board, but she threw me off.

But I want to commend you for the amazing appointment of reappointing Amy. Because I had six wondrous years there. And like Senator Jones, I am a direct product of the community colleges and I went to Santa Rosa. JC loved my experience there and then had the good opportunity of being able to transfer. So, job well done.

I am honored to be appointed today. As many of you know, I have a day job here in Sacramento from time to time, but I do have a personal passion and that's everything having to do with the out of doors.

And I recently took on the task of trying to establish a sporting club in Sonoma county on the San Francisco Bay. And it took us seven years to go ahead and title this property. And we're very proud of what we're able to do there.

And I am really excited about serving, if you nominate me or vote for me. Because in looking at this board for a long period of time, one, I want to commend the Commission staff, but also the other board Members, because for many, many years, there was a tension on the Commission.

And I think that the group of people that are serving today, that would be my colleagues, are really doing an amazing job. In the few meetings that I've attended, I've been very impressed with their intelligence, their vision, their implementation of very, very difficult aspects.

Because as we balance the very sensitive environmental nature of what's happening with the state, as we continue to build housing, energy policy, it's a difficult task to go ahead and manage the Flora, fauna and critters that are out there. So I want to say thank you for allowing me to be here, and I look forward to questions.

Thank you. Thank you, Mister Anderson. We will come back to the dais and start with Senator Eggman.

Hi, Mister Anderson, nice to see you. Can you talk a little bit about abandoned vessels? I, as you know, represent the delta area, and frequently we have a vessel that goes down, we don't, you know, and it is very difficult to remove them. I've done a little bit of legislation. It's never quite made its way.

So can you talk about that and the problem with pollution? And then how do we get them out and what do we do for them?

Sure. And in my home County of Sonoma, we had a very high profile case that was recently a fishing vessel that came ashore. You know, it's really a two fold. The Commission doesn't oversee that. It's really the Department that goes ahead and works on that.

And I think that they do a really valuable job in working with other agencies to make sure the cleanup is done properly. It's done swiftly because in your situation, as well as what happened with us, it was there for several weeks.

And not only did you have issues with gasoline and oil and other things, but just the General debris issue.

Okay. Thank you. And then talk a little bit more about your passion for this and where did it come from? Fishing.

So my dad was a policeman in San Francisco, and he brought me out when I was 12 to my first club to teach me how to shoot a service revolver. And I saw all these guys and gals in orange, and they were all having orange and they were all having a great time.

And I thought, I want to go and do that. And so my dad said, well, if you get a lesson, I'm happy to go ahead and bring you out here and allow you to do it. And he did. And still to this day, my dad's still alive. At 89 years old. He's never hunted.

But anytime that I go out, he comes out with me and walks. And I now have the pleasure of bringing my 14 year old out into the same fields that my dad brought me out when I was 12.

So it was that passion and that history that brought me, when asked to go ahead and serve, I was so excited of doing this. I've been a Fish and Game Commission watcher for many, many years. Really admired some of the great things that they've done, as well as especially being in the industry.

There's some things that I hope that I can add with regard to my expertise. It's very different than some of the other commissioners that will enhance the knowledge base of the Commission.

Do you have goals that you want to see?

Yeah, I do, actually. You know, one, I want to make sure that the voice of all, you know, folks that are in the sporting business, those that are in fishing, recreational shooting and hunting, that their voice is heard. The reason I established my club is because I really believe it's important to protect the western culture.

I believe because there's a higher and better use for real estate across this state and we're losing more and more habitat. And I'm very proud that, you know, at least within our own circles, one of the big thing is recruitment of young people as well as women and, you know, people of color.

And we have programs that we run at our individual club. But more importantly, the Fish and Game Commission and the Fish and game Department has done a lot of that. I think if we're going to maintain it over the next hundred years, we have to bring more people into these sports.

Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Egmond, Senator Jones, you're good. Former secretary of natural resources, the honorable Senator Laird.

The chair's been stalling for meeting, and we had a very animated conversation and a very good one. I'll ask about two things. One is that you were mentioning in the conversation because I asked you that one of the historic issues has been the underfunding and inability to sort of do the programs.

And you cited a study that shows that if you fully funded the existing mandates would be four times the cost of what the budget is. Now how do you deal with that? What do you see as the sort of resources issue over time and how from your perspective on the Commissioner, you're going to deal with that?

I understand that there's difficult budget time, so I support what Governor Newsom has done and what you guys will ultimately go ahead and pass in a very, very difficult time. But I think, you know, as policymakers, there are more and more mandates that are put on the Department.

And a study that was done by the Department, the Commission six years ago looked at, you know, what are the unfunded mandates and what the total cost would be if you had to Fund every single one of them. And like the Senator said, it would be four times greater.

So I think that we have to continue to look at the, you know, creatively funding various programs that are key and crucial. And one of the programs that I talked about, Senator, with you in your office, is chronic wasting disease, if you know what that is.

It's a disease that hits deer, elk, a variety of other species, and it cause deterioration of the nervous system and then the animal eventually dies. It's been in the rest of the country. We didn't think we had it. And for the first time, we've now had two cases.

And in talking to Department staff and Commission staff, I asked the question of where are the dollars going to come from, and they basically said there are no dollars. But we're going to have to do is reallocate some of those dollars to make sure that we're putting the proper investment in to actually tracking chronic wasting disease.

So, Senator, I think that we need to continually ask ourselves, as we do the amazing work of keeping this state looking the way it does and protecting species, are we funding it properly? But you're the policymakers and I hope that as you look at, you know, future commitments, that, you know, that will be a top priority.

I appreciate that.

And I think that I would just say that you're going to be on the ground identifying it and having to react to it much closer. And it will always be good to hear your advice and your personal experiences about the ability or the inability to do things that people expect because they're in existing mandates.

The other thing I wanted to ask about was marine protected areas, and we talked at length about that. And you can't be a resident of Sonoma county and not be familiar with it in some ways. And the Commission has the responsibility for the designation and the responsibility for the oversight in how they're working.

And it's been 10 years and they're anecdotally successful. Now the Governor wants to add space with 30 by 30. How do you see that issue and how do you see how you engage with the marine protected areas issue at the Commission?

Well, I want to commend you and the work that you did when you were secretary because I know that you Played A. You're going to cause Senator Grove to interrupt.

I was thinking about it.

I said, good move, Mister Anderson, good mood. You played a very key and crucial role in a prior life. I actually served on the Sonoma County Fish and Game Commission when this was going on. And we debated this very issue because a species that's very near and dear to my heart is abalone.

And the north coast is being depleted of abalone for a variety of different reasons, both environmental poaching and a number of other things.

So I know that these mpas are so important and I really want to commend all the NGO's, the policymakers that have gone through, but most importantly, the great work that Senator did with others in recognizing the tribal representation.

Because I think when we went around, when we did it in the first round, we were not as inclusionary with the tribes that we should have been. And I think that now we are currently debating roughly 28 new mpas, or expansion of existing mpas.

And the Commission has divided those into three different buckets, ones that will be easy, ones that will be sort of marginal, and then ones that we don't think are important. I think the Commission and the staff at the Commission are doing a great job at evaluating how we move those forward.

You and I talked about some in the central coast that are, you know, very important with regard to species. And I think we have to balance not only the protective species and all this amazing wildlife, but also the lives and families of the fishermen that are out there.

And one of the things that I've done personally is to try to go ahead and meet with various captains in different aspects of the fleet, from crabbers to salmon fishermen, to halibuthenne fishermen, to really understand the challenges of being a commercial fisherman today.

And I think, Senator, you know how important this, and the pro tem knows how important this is, especially in his district in Sonoma. So thank you for asking that question, Senator.

Yes, and I really appreciate your attention to it and would love to hear from you if there's ways we need to improve. So thank you.

Thank you. Senator Lairda, Senate Pro Tem has arrived and he will take the gavel and I will instruct my colleague that the bantering must stop because the boss is here.

I am so sorry, Mister Anderson, for my tardiness. Was in a meeting and I apologize. Would like to be able to see if there's any additional conversation from the group. No? All right. And just want to say thank you so much to Madam Vice Chair for her work. And thank you so much, Madam Vice Chair.

And again, I apologize to the Committee, and of course to Mister Anderson, to each of you for being late.

Yeah.

So, seeing if there's anything else from the will, the group hearing. Seeing none. Let's go to public comment. We're now going to be taking public comments in regards to the potential appointment. We're going to start with those who are here to test. If you could please give us your first and last name in the organization.

Worth, you're with. Good afternoon. Nice to see you.

Good to see you, Mister Pro Tem. Greg Herner. I actually have a number of clients that are very pleased to see Mister Anderson up for appointment to the Fish and Game Commission.

But personally, I've known Darius for a couple of decades now, I believe, and I want to just express that across the spectrum, because Mister Anderson has been part of the conservation effort. He's been. He's also been somebody that's had to apply for permits and work with government in those efforts. He understands the resource issues.

Senator Laird, I mean, having worked at the Department and worked with the Commission extensively during even leaner resource times, and you as budget chair, and then as secretary, you understand how difficult it is at the Department for the Vast resources that California has and that we're trying to preserve and protect, yet keep our economy going.

So I think, you know, I would say that just from the wildlife Committee that I participated in about a month or so ago with, with Mister Anderson, he already brought fresh ideas to that Committee, really caused people to think about how their existing positions are and kind of is evolving that discussion. So with that, appreciate your support.

Thank you so much. It's good to see you. We'd like to be able to see if there's anyone else who would like to be able to speak in support. If so, if you could please step forward to the podium at this time. Hearing CNN now.

We'd like to be able to look at anyone who would like to be able to speak in opposition. We're going to ask those to speak in opposition. If you could please come forward to the podium. State your first and last name along with your organization. See no one rise.

We are going to bring it back to Committee to see if there's any further discussion or debate. And we'll also entertain a motion. We have a thank you so much. That is a motion by Madam Vice Chair. Do appreciate that. Madam Secretary, if you can please call the roll.

Mcguire aye. Mcguire I Grove. Grove I Eggman. Eggman I Jones Aye. Jones I Laird.

Laird I five to zero the 50 vote. And just want to say, Mister Anderson, thank you for your lifetime commitment to all issues in regards to wildlife conservation, focusing on open space throughout Northern California. You are a treasurer to the state and so happy that you're here. Thank you so much.

And I'm so sorry to have missed the earlier comments. And we're really excited to be bringing you forward to the Senate Floor.

Thank you. Thank you so much, Senator. Appreciate your help.

It's so good to see you, sir. Thank you. All right, we're now going to welcome Madam Commissioner to please come forward. We have Miss Eager, if you could please come forward. I want to say thank you so much, madam Commissioner, for your work. As the Commissioner comes forward, we're going to let her get settled. Get a water.

We'll take a 32nd recess and we'll get started. One moment, please.

At that time we welcome you to be able to acknowledge any friends or family who are with you today here in the hearing room or watching online. What we'll then do is open it up to the Committee for questions, comments, and then, of course, we'll be looking for public comment. Commissioner, thank you for your service to the people of California.

The floor is yours.

Thank you so much again, I'm Lee Anne Eager. I have been on the Commission for four years. I was one of those Covid commissioners that I was appointed in June of 2020. And so for the first year and a half, I didn't get to see another human being. So this is my first time here.

Thank you all so much. Thank you for meeting with me. I appreciate that. Before I get started, I did want to acknowledge, oh, I'm going to try not to cry. The passing of one of our fellow commissioners, Joe Tavaglione, who had been a long time Commissioner. It was my honor to work with him.

We were going to have a hundred year celebration, and he just passed away this last week and a half. So I did want to acknowledge what an honor it was to be able to serve with him. My history, I'll just give you a real brief history. I've had an eclectic background.

I used to run the rape crisis center and child abuse treatment center in Fresno. We grew it to the largest center in the State of California. And during that time period, I always said I wanted to go to law school, and I wanted to graduate from law school before I turned 50.

I was 51 when I graduated, so I came close. But I went to UC Davis. I worked here in Sacramento for a little while and loved the area, but then went back home to Fresno, practiced law for a little while.

While I was practicing law, I went into the economic development organization to talk to the then CEO about a client that I had. And he said, and I had never met him before, and he said, gosh, I'm getting ready to retire. I'd really love you to come take over the economic development.

And at that time, I was in the middle of trial. It was a dairy case. Six weeks in 24 hours a day.

We won the case, by the way, but at the end of that time, I was like, you know, bringing people to California, talking about the wonders of what we have here, really having people look at the Central Valley and how wonderful it is. What a better job for me than that?

So I quit my job as an attorney, and I took over as the CEO of the Economic Development Corporation. And during that time period when I first went on, at that time, economic developers were just saying, how do we bring people here? And that was it. How do I bring a company here?

And I looked at it from that holistic view of, it can't just be economic development. You have to have community development. You have to have workforce development. You have to look at housing. How does that all fit together? And during those 15 years, one of the most important things was transportation.

You can't get people from point a to point b from their house to their job, making sure that people have access from their home to the hospitals. Transportation was the key there. And so when the governor's office called and said, what do you think about the Transportation Commission? I was all in.

I said, I understand the importance of what it is that we do here. And so for the last four years, I've been doing that work, and I don't think there's ever been anything that's been more important and ensuring that people all across the state had equal access to those funds.

You know, we went from visiting in Tulare county to Sonoma county to all points. I mean, I think next month we're going to Bishop. We went to Fort Bragg. Ensuring that everybody across the street has equal access to transportation has been a goal.

And so I look forward to continuing that role in the next four years, if that is your will.

Thank you so much, Madam Commissioner, and really appreciate you acknowledging Commissioner Tavaglione and the service advance. So thank you so much for that. And know how personal that is for you. Why don't we open it up for questions or comments from the Committee, please, Madam Vice Chair?

Thank you, Mister Pro Tem. Thank you. I don't have any questions.

I've worked with you in your previous capacity and your heart and soul for the Central Valley and those that have been raped or have been in crisis, and your complete sold out desire to make sure that they are successful, even with the trauma that they've had, and then to see what you've done in the Central Valley regarding the economic development and your holistic outlook and the last four years being on the Commission and the understanding.

I think what hits my heart the most is, like my colleague from Stockton, you know, there are a few of us here that represent, including the pro tem rural communities, and, you know, we maintain more miles of road, fewer tax dollars because of the population base.

Wherever larger areas get, and public transportation system, there's not always a bus stop every 10ft like there is in Los Angeles. And that's an exaggeration. But you know, pretty much so. And you get it.

And I think that you will bring a very fair representation to whether it's Bishop or Stockton or Bakersfield or up in the hill Area in the northern part of the state. I think you'll bring a well rounded approach to that. And I am so glad that you accepted this position. So thank you.

Thank you so much.

Me too. Please. Mister Laird.

Thank you. And thanks for your meeting with me. I really appreciated the chance to have a conversation. Let me just ask about a couple of things we talked about so everybody else hears the conversation.

We're having such success with electric vehicles that do not pay the gas tax, that the gas tax revenue for roads is dropping. How do you see that? Where do you think the Commission's role is in making sure you still have the money to do road projects?

Thank you. And that is important. And certainly that's one of the top priorities that we're looking at is how do we continue a funding source. And we are working closely with Caltrans, with the secretary to do pilot projects to ensure that things across the state are equitable.

As we look at, at the gas tax money going down, what is it we need to exchange it for? And whether you live in Bakersfield or whether you live in San Francisco or Sacramento, it's going to be different of what that equity should look like.

And so we are doing pilot projects right now and we're having people who are driving electric cars and people who are still driving cars that take gas and seeing what that cost is as people drive.

I think we're on pilot project number four right now to look at what would the mechanism be to be able to pay for that. We have a couple of commissioners who are actually involved in that pilot project.

And when that money comes, when those numbers come back in, we'll analyze what is that best way to move forward, because we have to have the money to be able to fix those roads and bridges and things that we need to do going forward.

And I'll just appreciate your advice when that happens because I'm afraid we're already behind. We've been so successful in EV's thus far, that we're already behind in the revenue. And so I think having the advice would be really helpful. The other thing is we talked about road projects in the face of climate change.

And one we talked about is actually over in the pro tem's area, the highway 37. And the fact that that would be a monumental cost to keep it going as a major commute route in a place where it's not destined to survive over time, given the changing climate.

And right now, until a Fund was set up last year, any project to fix something for climate competed against any other widening or lane project. How do you see that going forward in the Commission's role in sort of making sure you can figure out a way to do both?

Yes. Thank you. And as we talked about, you know, we never thought about this 10-15 years ago of what is going to be the effect of climate change on our roads and our bridges. You know, right now.

I took a tour at San Clemente and saw what was happening on the road, not the 101 on 101 in San Clemente. We had that conversation. And what do we need to do going forward?

And looking at, you know, we, like I said when we were in Fort Bragg, looking at those roads there and what climate has done to the roads there.

As we move forward, we have to look at not just what's happening today, but what's going to happen in the next 10-20 years and start looking at how do we change some of those funding sources to include more money for climate adaptation.

And I know we do have a Fund and we have funded projects in your areas, but we need to look at how do we put more money into there, because it's not going to go away anytime soon. You know, we talked about atmospheric rivers. Who ever heard of that? 10 years ago, right?

And then all of a sudden we had 20 of them in the last two years. And that's not just those roads that are, you know, on the edge of falling into the ocean, but our roads through the central valley. I mean, we looked this last year.

The floods that happened on 99 and five across the state have been horrific. And so we need to really continue to start looking at how do we spread that money around in order to include that.

I appreciate that. Thank you. And we'll want to keep in touch with you, just for the Chair's reference, you took a bus over the Albion river on that bridge, which wasn't a smart thing to do. I know, right? Okay, just for the record,

I was teetering on the edge. Yeah. I was holding my breath just in case.

Please.

Thank you, Mister Chair.

So when do we decide an alternative route needs to be because of climate change? Like I'm thinking the one or that. And when do we decide, I guess we can't keep driving this way again?

And that's a thank you for that question because that is something that we continually look at when we keep putting more money into, you know, shoring up the side. Right. But it keeps coming down. At some point, you do have to come to us, the regents, and say, this is not working anymore.

Now we need to really look at moving that road to another place. And I think people in all areas of the state are looking at that right now and doing that analysis.

You know, do we need to put 200 million into fixing that road right there, or are we talking about the billions of money that it's going to cost in order to move that to a different spot and really look into the Federal Government, too, to see, you know, assistance in those areas?

And I think those conversations are going on right now.

Because when I think about, I commute up and down 5 every day, and when I think about, like, the wear and tear on that road and our road to the Central Valley. Right. And major truck throughfares, people are constantly coming through.

When I think about the cost to upkeep that, because as soon as they finish fixing something, they almost have to start all over again. How do you do that cost benefit analysis? How do we, especially in a bleaker budget time, how do we prioritize actually moving people rather than trying to sustain things?

Sure. And we are doing that cost benefit analysis right now. And in every project we do that analysis as it comes back to look at what do we need to Fund for the next 5-10 years. And so that goes, the CTC staff is brilliant at doing that analysis.

And at some point, yes, they say that's not worth it. We need to look at some alternative, and then they send that back out to the regions and say, you got to bring us something different. Absolutely.

And, you know, on that same point, as we fix these roads going forward and as we put electric cars and electric trucks on those and the wear and tear that's coming in the future, we have to look at that differently, too.

Madam Commissioner. I'm going to be a bit of a broken record and I think just planting a seed in what Madam Senator just had repeated.

And then also Senator Laird as well, is that with the flux that we continue to see at the Federal Government and some administrations that are more willing to be able to invest in infrastructure, some not. Right. Very nervous in regards to what that's going to look like from federal highways long term.

So just within our region, Senator Laird mentioned Highway 37 that's a several $1.0 billion investment and no commitment from the feds at this time. Last chance grade, which is the spine for Northern California on the north coast, continues to slide in. We spent tens of millions of dollars. Better preserve the right of way.

We're wanting to build a tunnel now. We have an option, but that's going to be over $1.0 billion. With no commitment from the feds, we take a look at highway one and the significant challenges within Senator Laird's district. We look at rail within the greater San Diego region.

I say all that is an item that we'd like to be able to have a conversation longer term of what that looks like of continuing to help ourselves. Right, right. Because it's the level of projects that we have, the magnitude of the cost is deeply concerning. And it's not just one offs anymore. Right.

We're taking a look at significant need on significant corridors in every corner of the state that are being impacted by ongoing challenges with weather, sea level rise, etcetera.

Yes.

So it's something that we'd love to follow up with you on and just spout some ideas, if that's okay, and just exchange those feedback, if that's alright with.

Wonderful. Thank you so much. We'd like to be able to see if there's any additional comments that is coming from the Committee at this time. All right, hearing. Seeing none, we now would like to be able to open it up for public comment. We're going to invite those who would like to be able to speak in support. If you could please come forward. We're going to respectfully request, if you don't mind giving us your first and last name along with your organization.

Yes, absolutely.

The floor is yours. 30 seconds. Good to see you.

Good to see you too, Mister Pro Tem. And Members, I want to commend you for having this hearing. I've had the pleasure of working with Miss Eager for a number of years.

I can tell you that her approach at the CTC is not just doing an excellent job of representing the Central Valley, which she does in many capacities, but also throughout the state.

Keith Dunn here on behalf of the Self Help Counties Coalition, the local sales tax that contributes $6 billion in partnership with the CTC, but also here proudly with the State Building and Construction Trades Council, as well as the District Council of Ironworkers, also in support.

Just really quickly, I really appreciate the CTC and some of the staff are here today, really do an excellent job working with their commissioners to address these type of deficit issues.

Where we have this need within our funding structure and the rural districts that everyone on this board, with the exception of one of you, mostly represents, has challenges because you don't have the resources that some of the more urban areas do.

But the CTC does a great job in partnership with the locals to try and maximize the local sales tax dollars, go after the federal funding, and as we look at whether it's a road user charge or other types of opportunities, secure funding.

I have every confidence that Commissioner Eager is going to move forward with her colleagues and at the direction of her excellent staff and find a solution that works for all of us. But we do have a number of challenges facing us. I have every confidence that she and her colleagues are going to help us get there.

And with that, I would just ask for your support.

Thank you so much, Mister Dunn, it's good to see you. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Mister Pro Tem and thank you for this opportunity. My name is Robert Phipps.

I'm the interim Executive Director for Fresno Council governments, but I'm also here representing the entire contingent of San Joaquin Valley Metropolitan Planning Organizations as the Chairman of the San Joaquin Valley Cogs Cog Directors Association, to let you know that Miss Eager has proven invaluable to to the CTC, demonstrating an empathetic commitment to addressing the needs of disadvantaged communities, addressing safety and goods movement on the state highway system, and advancing multimodal transportation improvements that benefit all Californians.

In her tenure as CTC Chair, she has reinvigorated how the CTC conducts business by holding standing meetings in nontraditional locations across the state. Hosting meetings.

Regions like the San Joaquin Valley provides an opportunity for the CTC to view its investments and maintain the state and local partnerships necessary to achieve equity, safety, and improve mobility and grow our economy.

Her experience as the former CEO of the Fresno Economic Development Corporation provides an essential perspective and connections between infrastructure funding, community health, economic well being, and her sensitivity to the needs of all community Members, coupled with her inclusive approach, ensures that transportation initiatives are balanced and address the diverse needs, our diverse needs, across the state.

And she's just a darn nice lady, and we really appreciate her. And so thank you for your time and your commitment. Thank you, Mister Phipps. Thank you so much for traveling up. We're very grateful.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Chairman. Members of the Senate Rules Committee, Andrew Antweap, with Woodshooter, Antwish, Melzer and Langdale. I remember the Chairman said, 30 seconds. I'm here on behalf of the Fresno County Transportation Authority. This is not your grandfather's Transportation Commission.

The purview and scope of the issues that the Commission deals with has changed and been expanded so greatly, even for my near 30 years of working on transportation issues. And so, Commissioner eager has been a great voice and a pragmatic voice on dealing with issues.

The tensions between looking at climate issues and how we stretch our dollars and where we make those investments in densely populated and rural areas alike have benefited from your work. So thank you. We urge you to support gentry. Good to see you, sir. Thank you so much.

Hey, good afternoon.

Thank you. Mister Pro Tem, Todd Bloomstine, for the Southern California Contractors Association, in strong support of Miss Eager. She has really demonstrated outstanding leadership over the past four years. But we've also been most impressed with her diplomacy at the CTC. She's done a wonderful job and we support her appointment. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Thanks for being here.

Hey, good afternoon. It's good to see you.

Good afternoon, Mister Pro Tem and Members of the Committee, Kiana Valentine, with Politico Group here on behalf of a number of clients. Transportation California, representing the statewide transportation construction industry that builds and maintains California's multimodal transportation system, as well as Merced, Madera and Tulare County's councils of government and the Nevada County Transportation Commission.

My colleagues have registered all the many ways and reasons in which we support Miss Eager's confirmation to the CTC. I think I will just simply add that what I have found most remarkable is her making herself available to any organization, individual, regional transportation agency, project proponent, that needs her time and attention on a matter before the CTC.

I found her time and dedication to this job to be. Again, remarkable. So, for those reasons, please support Miss Eager. Thank you.

Good to see you, Miss Valentine. Thank you so much for being here. We're going to do a last call for those in support. We're going to do a last call for those in support. If you could please step forward. At this time.

Hearing, seeing no one rise, we're now going to look to those who may be in opposition. If you could please step forward. Seeing no one rise, we're going to bring it back to the.

Yes, please. Thank you, Mister Chair. I want to thank Miss Eager for meeting with me and walking through many of these issues. And since she is my constituent, it would be my honor to make the motion to confirm her appointment and move her to the Senate Floor. Thank you so much, Mister Leader. Very grateful for that.

We'd like to be able to call the roll. We're going to turn it over to Madam Secretary.

[Roll Call]

That's a 5-0 vote. Thank you so much. Madam Commissioner, you're head of the Senate Floor. Greatly appreciate it. Really good to see you. Thank you for your service.

Mister Pro Tem, I have a point of personal privilege.

Yes, Madam Vice Chair. Please.

We actually have three people in this room that made the top 100.

All right.

We should recognize that, I think. Please, go back. Sitting right next to you.

Look at that. Huh?

Look at that.

I like that.

Yeah. Okay. And the other one is Andrew, back there. And I think the other one left. The other one leave? Yes, the other one left. I apologize. There's only two here now.

Hey, appreciate that. No, Madam Vice Chair, that's really important. Thank you very much for doing that. I brought my copy to get autographs. Exactly. Thank you. We're going to add, folks onto myself specifically in just a moment. Let us get our paperwork in order, and then we're going to go into Executive session. Give us one moment.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, Committee, we're going to go through these quickly. And again, I sincerely apologize to the Committee for being late. We're going to take item 2D through H, J and K up first. Current vote is 4-0. Can you please call the absent Member?

[Roll Call]

5-0. Vote. That is out. We're now going to be taking item two I up. Vote is 4-0, can you please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

That item is out in pass. We're now going to be moving on to bill referrals. Item number three. Current vote is 4-0, Madam Secretary.

[Roll Call]

5-0. That bill, that bill, that issue is completed and out. We're now going to be moving on to floor. Acknowledgments we're going to take 4. 8 through 11 up. Number four, and then eight through 11 up. Current vote is 4-0, Madam Secretary.

[Roll Call]

5-0. That is out and completed. We're now going to be moving on to floor. Acknowledgments item number five. Current vote is 2-2, Madam Secretary.

[Roll Call]

3-2 vote. That is out and completed. We're now going to be moving on to floor. Acknowledgments number seven, very spicy discussion of floor acknowledgments today. We are now moving on. It is a current vote of 3-1 Madam Secretary.

[Roll Call]

4-1. That is out and completed. We're now moving on to governor's appointments.

We're done. Oh, yeah. Amy. Sorry.

Yeah. We're gonna be taking up item 1A current vote is 4-0. Madam Secretary.

[Roll Call]

That appointment is out. Heading the Senate Floor. Thank you so much. We are caught up. Thank you to the incredible team for all the work here today. We're gonna be going into Executive session.