Assembly Floor

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

[Roll Call] Mr. Speaker.

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

Eternal Father, we thank you for all the blessings of this life, especially for new friendships and for old ones made stronger and more precious with each passing day. Give us grace to listen to each other and to the prompting of your spirit, so we may work in unity and in the bonds of peace. Help us to do so, with all our soul and mind and strength, the work committed to us by the people so that we may not fail them or you. Amen.

We ask our guests and visitors to remain standing and join us in the flag salute. Assembly Member Harabedian will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Colleagues and guests, please join me in saluting the greatest flag in the world. Right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin. I pledge allegiance...

You may be seated. To our guests and visitors today, state law prohibits persons in the gallery from interfering with legislative proceedings or disrupting the orderly conduct of official business. Persons disrupting legislative proceedings are subject to removal, arrest, or other appropriate legal remedies. Reading of the previous day's journal.

Assembly Chamber, Sacramento, Thursday, January 16, 2025. The Assembly met at 7am. Honorable Tri Ta, Assembly Member, 70 District, residing. Chief Clerk Sue Parker at the desk...

Ms. Aguiar-Curry moves and Mr. Flora seconds that the reading of the previous day's journal be dispensed with. Presentations and petitions, there are none. Introductions and reference of bills will be deferred, reports of committees will be deemed read, and amendments deemed adopted. Messages from the governor, there are none. Messages from the Senate, there are none. Moving on to motions and resolutions. Absences of the day, there are none. Majority Leader Aguiar-Curry, you are recognized for your procedural motions.

Good morning, Mr. Speaker. I request unanimous consent to suspend Assembly Rule 45.5 to allow Assembly Members Haney and Pellerin to speak on adjournment in memory today.

Without objection.

I request unanimous consent to suspend Assembly Rule 118A to allow Assembly Members Pellerin, Pacheco, and Haney to have guests at the rear of the chamber today.

Without objection. Okay, moving on to guest introductions. Assembly Member Pacheco, you are recognized for your guest introductions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I rise to honor the centennial celebration of the incorporation of the City of La Habra, which is located in Orange County. It was founded in the 1860s. The City of La Habra has flourished due to a steadfast commitment to community service and progress, while always cherishing its rich history.

The City's tagline, a caring community, rings true through the daily kindness and generosity evident in every neighborhood. I have great privilege to represent this vibrant community. From the annual citrus fair to the beloved tamale festival, a must go. From the Easter extravaganza to the summer concerts in the park, La Habra's spirit of celebration is truly special.

Thank you. And I do want to recognize, and I'm pleased to recognize, the mayor of La Habra, Rose Espinoza. And we also have Gabriella Yap, who is the assistant city manager, and Kelly Fujio, director of community service. Let's give them a round of applause.

La Habra in the house. Welcome to the California Assembly.

Assembly Member Hadwick, you are recognized for your guest introductions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, we are joined by the California Association of Nurse Anesthetists, CANA. I commend California's Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, CRNA, for their expertise, dedication, and service to the people of California. CRNAs are integral to California's healthcare system, offering safe, cost effective, and accessible anesthesia care in rural hospitals and underserved communities across our state.

Present in the gallery with us today are CANA incoming President Melanie Rowe, CRNA, CANA Practice Chair Emily Frank, CRNA, and Dr. Kristen Roman, CRNA. Please join me in giving these members of the California Association of Nurse Anesthetists a warm welcome from the California State Assembly.

Welcome. Assembly Member Zbur, you are recognized for your guest introductions.

Mr. Speaker, Members, it is with great pleasure that I welcome Vice Mayor of Beverly Hills Sharona Nazarian to the gallery. She's standing up here to the Right. Vice Mayor Nazarian was elected to the Beverly Hills City Council in June 2022, slightly before I was elected to this body.

She's a 30 year Beverly Hills resident with strong community ties, and she is honored to serve on the City Council. She's an accomplished community leader, philanthropic advocate, a proud immigrant. She's dedicated her career to public service and combating anti-semitism and has a deep commitment to giving back to the community that she loves so much. English is her third language, and she is the first Iranian American female to serve on the Beverly Hills City Council. Members, please join me in welcoming Beverly Hills Vice Mayor Sharona Nazarian.

Thank you, Assembly Member Zbur. Moving on to business on the Daily File. Thank you, Members. File item 1, Assembly Concurrent Resolution 14, by Assembly Member Michelle Rodriguez. Assembly Member, the Clerk will read.

Concurrent Resolution 14 by Assembly Member Michelle Rodriguez relative to Positive Parenting Awareness Month.

Assembly Member Rodriguez, you are recognized. Thank you Mr. Speaker for allowing me to present Assembly Resolution 14. We come together today to recognize, celebrate and mark January as Positive Parenting Awareness Month across the great State of California.

This resolution is personal to me as a mother of four children, a grandmother and as someone who believes in raising children and youth is the most important job parents and caregivers will ever have. Yet, many parents and caregivers begin this lifetime job of raising children feeling unprepared, socially isolated and reluctant to reach out for help.

Challenging life circumstances put pressure on caregivers capacity to engage positively with children. However, positive parenting strengthens families relationships, increases parents confidence and helps to build emotional resilience. At Foothill Family, they have found when we are able to support parents in building their parenting skills, it has substantial impacts on improving children's social, emotional, behavioral and health.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I respectfully. zero, hold on. Sorry. And how. And health. I'm sorry. The US Surgeon General said it's best in his advisory on the mental health and well being of parents. The work of parenting is essential not only for the health of children, but also for the health of of society.

Please join me today in voting in favor of this resolution. But most importantly, as we consider our work this session, I urge you to recognize the foundational role positive parenting programs play and to ensure children's next generation of parents, workers and leaders thrive. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

I would like to open the roll for co authors at this time.

Thank you, Assembly Member Rodriguez, Assembly Member DeMaio, you are recognized.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I wish I could rise in support of being a co author to this resolution. And I really don't want to waste the body's time speaking on all these feel good resolutions, but I really hope that this body could be a bit more considerate on these issues.

When we're putting together a resolution, an honorary resolution, a virtue signaling resolution, let's make sure that the whereas clauses are something that the entirety of the body can unite behind.

Because there's some very politicized and divisive language in the whereas clauses that I simply cannot attach my name to because it is my obligation to my constituents that when I put my name on something, that it reflects their values, that it reflects something that they want to be saying. And I simply cannot do that.

As much as I respect the intent of. Of the author on this resolution, the irony here is that we're passing a resolution with the intent of saying, hey, you know, parents are struggling in California. By golly, that's an understatement. They're struggling with bills, they're struggling with all sorts of mandates that this government imposes on them.

In fact, I can't think of a more anti parent body than this California State Legislature.

So my hope is that as we talk about parents, that throughout the entirety of the year, it's not just this resolution, but that we not say that parents are the greatest threat to LGBT children, because I consider that a smear on our parents or that parents somehow shouldn't have a role or a voice at City Council or school Board Meetings when it comes to the curriculum that's put into the classroom and that their children are exposed to.

So again, I respectfully am not able today to add my name as a co author because of these whereas clauses.

And I encourage my colleagues in the future, and I would encourage my Republican colleagues in the future that all of our whereas clauses should be as unifying as possible and as accurate as possible in describing the issues that we're trying to address. Thank you.

Assemblymember Quirk-Silva. You are recognized.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker and Members, I stand in support of ACR 14 and applaud the Member from Ontario.

Members, please refrain. Please refrain.

I know personally that this particular Member has spent her lifetime raising her for children, her grandchildren, and has devoted her life to being nothing more than an incredible parent. We know that positive parenting starts from birth and many times even before birth, with prenatal care, with early childcare investments, with our state TK programs, transitional kindergarten.

We know that parents are the foundation of our young adults, our children. And of course, going into adulthood, I'm a proud grandmother for the first time of Harry, some of you saw him, he'll be one in a few weeks. And we're so excited that he lives a block away and we're able to have a huge engagement.

We also know this is not true for many and it is part of our role as educators. I was at elementary school, a teacher for 30 years, and it is part of our role to be involved with programs that support parents, positive parenting education.

Sadly, last week I went to San Quentin and I went to San Quentin to hear the stories of many of these gentlemen who are in prison for life.

And their stories were told under the back to the start of what happened when they endured poverty abuse when they were in foster care, what happened when there was a missing parent, when they endured gun violence. And so it is incumbent upon us to do the whereases.

It is incumbent upon us to stand up and say we can help support parents, we can be partner with them. And that in fact, is what our PTAs are, our parent teacher associations. That is the foundation of being a partner in our schools with our parents. So I proudly support ACR14 and ask for your support too.

Assemblymember Rubio, you are recognized.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker and Members, today I rise in support of this resolution which will recognize January as Positive Parenting Awareness Month in the State of California. As many of you know on this floor, being a parent is one of the greatest joys of life and the hardest job we will ever have.

Parenting comes with much happiness, many lessons, tears, fears and growing pains. And though it is not easy, it is certainly rewarding. I have been on this floor for the last eight years and I have witnessed nothing, nothing but great work that this body has done on behalf of the children of California.

I really appreciate our Member for bringing this resolution and I proudly, as a mother and a teacher, support this resolution. We especially acknowledge all of the challenges faced by those in Los Angeles considering the devastating wildfires and the long term rebuilding now ahead of us. Our schools, our kids are suffering.

And this body has been deemed the savior of our children and our communities. And we may not be able to save everything, but I know that this body works day in, day out with the children at the forefront of our work. So thank you again and recognizing January is a Positive Parenting Awareness Month.

This will help in strengthening family relationships by showing support to those who need it and may be afraid or embarrassed to ask. I am proud to stand in support of this resolution with the goal of elevating and strengthening families of all kinds across the state. Thank you And I respectfully ask for your vote.

Thank you, Assemblymember Rubio. Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez, you are recognized.

I stand in support of this continuing resolution. We have to look at this resolution in its totality. Positive parenting. 100%. Agreed. Making sure that our children are taken care of and protected. Agreed. There's some wording that we can work on, but overall, the intent of this Bill, 100% in support of.

We have to look at this as a body. And I think we could work together to find ways to be able to communicate in such a way that impacts not only my district, your district, but California as a whole.

So I look forward to working with my colleagues so that way we can find ways to work together to do the most important thing as a parent, and that's to protect my kids. So I ask that we support this resolution because at its core, at its very core, it means one thing.

Protect our kids from north to south, to east to west. Thank you.

Thank you, Assemblymember Gonzalez. Seeing and hearing no further debate, Assemblymember Rodriguez, you may close.

As a proud parent and proud grandmother, I ask for an aye vote.

Members, Assemblymember Rodriguez has asked for the first roll to be open for co authors. All debate having ceased, the Clerk will open the roll for co authors. All Members vote who desire to vote to be co authors. This is for co authors. All those vote who desire to vote. All those vote who desire to vote.

All those vote who desire to vote. The Clerk will close the roll. There are 70 co authors added without objection. We'll now take a voice vote on the resolution. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed no. The ayes have it. The resolution is adopted. Assemblymember Michelle Rodriguez, you are recognized for your guest introductions.

I'm proud to have here with me today Bradley Thomas, CEO of Triple P America, an evidence based positive parenting program implemented in 28 counties here in California, including in my district at Foothill. Family for over 15 years. It.

Welcome to the California Assembly. Members we will now recess the regular session to convene the first extraordinary session. We are now in the first extraordinary session. Without objection, we will substitute the prayer, pledge, and other orders of business from the 2025-26 regular session for those items in the first extraordinary session.

Assembly Bill 4, with amendments by Assembly Gabriel.

Assemblymember Gallagher, you are recognized on the amendments.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members. I am going to be supporting this relief package today that is much needed for the communities in Los Angeles. But I do humbly ask that you approve this amendment that I am submitting to add $1 billion of funding to fuel reduction projects in California.

Now, some may say that we can't afford it. As a representative of Paradise, I can tell you you can't afford not to. Some may say we are already doing enough. I think that these fires show that just isn't so. The next fire is not only just around the corner, it's already burning in Castaic.

The next time is already here. We can't control the wind, but we can control fuel vegetation buildup on our public lands in the Sierras and in the coastal mountain ranges. We can protect ignition points along roadways and power lines. We need to do much more and faster.

Even if you went all electric tomorrow, you don't change the conditions on the ground that are dangerous, extremely dangerous. This work needs to be done in earnest now. That's why I believe it needs to be done in this special session and urgently. The $200 million baseline of fuel reduction that we've been doing that was established before Paradise.

That was before the Camp Fire. That was before the Woolsey Fire. Then we had the North Complex. Then we had Dixie, the biggest acreage fire in California history. And last year we had the park fire and many other fires throughout this state. In 2021, after the Dixie fire, we almost did $1.0 billion.

It was a significant investment. But for those of us who were here, you know how much of a fight it was. The Governor cut it back to 500 million in the May revise, and we fought like hell to get it back and make it a billion.

But ever since that moment, we've reduced that budget each and every year. It was 364 million last year. Let me just put that in context for a second. Over the last five years, we funded about 2.5 billion in fuel reduction projects. And at the same time, we did 25 billion for homelessness programs throughout the state.

How many people are now homeless because of these fires? We are dropping the ball and we can't afford it. That is why this is so urgent. $1 billion to save hundreds of billions and precious lives. A few years ago, the Governor and the President announced a partnership to treat 1 million acres a year in California.

500,000 by the state, 500,000 by the feds. Neither has come even close to meeting that goal. Let's change that right now. Today, The Congress in D.C. is passing a bipartisan Bill to streamline fuel reduction projects on federal land. Today we also could pass bipartisan legislation that funds it. Let's do this together.

Members and I humbly ask for your. I vote on this amendment. Thank you.

Thank you. Assemblymember Gallagher, Majority Leader Aguirre Curry, you are recognized. I'd like to lay the amendments on the table. Majority Leader Aguiar Curry has moved to lay the amendments on the table. That is seconded by. That requires a second. Is there a second? Assemblymember Harbidian seconds. This motion is not debatable.

It takes a majority of those present and voting Members. This is a procedural vote. Clerk will open the roll. All Members vote who desire to vote. The Majority Leader is asking for an I vote. Leader Gallagher is asking for a no vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote.

Clerk will close the roll and tally the votes. Ayes 58, noes 19. The amendments are laid on the table. Assembly Member Gabriel, you're recognized on the measure Assembly Bill 4.

Clerk will read Assembly before by some. Member Gabriel and others and actually into the state budget and make an appropriation. Therefore to take effect immediately. Budget Bill.

Assemblymember Gabriel, you were recognized.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to present AB4. This is the first of two bills that we will consider today that will collectively provide 2.5 billion in emergency funding for the state to respond to the catastrophic wildfires in Southern California.

This Bill provides 1.5 billion of the emergency response costs and immediate recovery activities currently underway and will help Fund critical needs including emergency protective measures, evacuations, sheltering for survivors, hazardous waste removal, remediation of post fire hazards such as flooding and debris flows, air quality, water quality and other environmental testing and other actions to protect public health and public safety and expedite recovery.

This Bill works in conjunction with SB3, which we're going to be considering shortly and will be part of. As we discussed yesterday in the Assembly Budget Committee, a much larger conversation that we're going to need to have about recovery and rebuilding in these devastated communities and also about how we protect communities across the State of California.

This is the first of many steps that we will take on a long journey as we progress through this conversation.

And I just want to thank thank all of the Members of the Budget Committee who participated in that hearing yesterday because we had a really important and substantive discussion about all of the different things that we need to consider. I was very encouraged by the bipartisan spirit of that discussion.

Members from rural areas and urban areas coming together to talk about how we protect communities across the state. And the truth of this is that no community is immune from these wildfires. And that's part of what the tragedy in Los Angeles proved to us. So let me thank the Members for that conversation.

Let me also thank the Members who reached out to those of us in Los Angeles who are impacted. I want to thank our Republican leader for coming down to Los Angeles and seeing the devastation. I want to thank the Republican Vice Chair of the Budget Committee for coming down.

I want to thank all of the Democratic Members who came to Los Angeles to see this firsthand. And I really would encourage every Member of this body to come down and visit Los Angeles. You cannot understand, you cannot comprehend the scale and scope of the devastation of these communities unless you come and walk those streets.

And I really would invite all of you to come and witness this personally, because this is going to be a long journey that we're going to be in together to stand with those communities every step of the way as they seek to rebuild. Let me also just take a moment of personal privilege.

As some of you know, my community was saved by the firefighters. I was under mandatory evacuation for six days. And I am one of the incredibly fortunate folks in Los Angeles that has a home to go home to.

And that is only because of the incredible bravery and professionalism of our firefighting professionals, of our first responders that protect the communities. And so I don't think we can say thank you enough.

So on behalf of my community, on behalf of the Legislature, I just want to say thank you to all of the incredibly brave and dedicated women and men who are out there still fighting these fires, still protecting these communities and still keeping us safe.

And so, on behalf of them, on behalf of the communities that were devastated, respectfully request your I vote on AB4.

Thank you, Assemblymember Gabriel, Assemblymember Flora, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of AB4. And I just want to say thank. You to the Chair of Budget. He is Right. This is the start of a very. Long conversation, and I look forward to all of us coming together and having that conversation for the betterment of all of California. Appreciate you.

Thank you, Assemblymember Flora. Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan, you are recognized.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker and Members, I rise in support of AB4. As we've heard many people already say today, this could be most of our communities. There was an article in the Chronicle just this weekend citing my neighborhood as the most likely in the Bay Area to go next. I've lost my homeowner's insurance as a result.

I live this every day. And I wanted to rise in part to support what our minority leader was saying about fuel reduction. The past few years, I've benefited from one of the most remarkable fire chiefs in the state. I know you all feel that way, but I definitely feel that way.

And he has done incredible work to protect my home and my entire community with fuel breaks. But that work and the way we've done it also needs to be looked at, because I will say that we had the fuel break done. We've gotten part of the money. We got enough to do part of the fuel break.

He did the work, it got done. We then were able to do the whole thing because grants in other parts of the state weren't actually spent. So part of the work is to get the money out to our communities. It's to make sure that work is being done.

And then we did an entire fuel break around my community, and we need to maintain it. And a lot of those funds are not currently going to maintenance of those fuel breaks once they're actually cut and done.

And that work, which, by the way, is far less expensive, then the initial work that is done is critical to the ongoing protection of our communities.

And so we have a lot of work to do to look at what we've done in the past to analyze how we can do it better in the future, to learn from one another, what did we do? Well, what could we do better?

How could we save more lives, more homes, and make sure that our state is as resilient as it can be as we face the new reality of climate change? And so I want to echo the comments of both of my colleagues and say this is incredibly important work, but it's just the beginning.

And as we face it, I want us to do it with the humanity front and center.

The people who have been affected, the lives that have been lost, the firefighters whose lives are now cut short because of all of the things they inhaled over the last few weeks, the homes that are gone, the lives that will never be the same, and the trauma that those communities will have to spend the next I don't know how long recovering from.

And that work should be bipartisan and it should be unanimous because it could be any one of us and it is every one of us. As Californians, I respectfully ask for your I vote.

Thank you, Assemblymember Bauer Kahan. Assemblymember Harabedian, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, thank you, Speaker Rivas, for your quick and decisive action in helping the communities that have been ravaged. I want to thank personally, Chair Gabriel, for everything that you have done and just how supportive and decisive that you have been throughout this whole process.

And I want to thank the unsung heroes, the staff Members of the Assembly and the Senate and the Department of Finance that very, very quickly called to action and made a lot of this happen. I am honored and privileged to represent the community of Altadena, which has been absolutely ravaged by these fires.

When I arrived there Wednesday morning when the fires first broke out, I have never been to hell. But I will tell you, I imagine hell looked like the communities of the Palisades and Altadena that day.

And these communities and the family Members that many of us grew up with and many of our own family Members who lost everything, including loved ones, are relying on us. They're relying on us to help them. And they want decisive action.

They want it to be speedy, they want it to be simple and they do not necessarily want our pity. These are proud, resilient communities. And while prayers are necessary and welcomed, they want us to step up and help them with actions such as this 2.5 billion. And they are going to continue to need us going forward.

And I appreciate everything that all of us are doing. I appreciate the bipartisan support. But let's be clear, this is a long road. It is one of my first substantive votes in my first term. It is Assembly Member Irwin's last term and we are bookend here.

But I have a feeling I will be voting on things like this for the next 10 to 12 years.

I obviously asked for an I vote, but I just want to take a moment to say any of you who have been in districts that were ravaged by wildfire, we need your help, we need your expertise and we need you there on the ground.

So I respectfully asked for an I vote and I thank everyone here for supporting it.

Thank you, Assemblymember Harabedian. Assembly Member Tangipa, you are recognized.

Thank you and I too, rise in support of this Bill. And I want to make sure that I'm reaching out and specifically speaking to those that have been affected and to the first responders. Thank you, and we stand proud with you.

This is something that is happening far too often, and I know that this is just a beginning step, but time is also of the essence, and I know this personally as well. In 2004, I was evacuated from the French Fire. In 2018, that same property was lost to the car fire.

In 2019, my uncle lost his property to the Kincaid fire. Later that year, he died from a heart attack. In 2020, I worked on the Creek fire, one of California's and at the time, California's largest single fire that burned almost 400,000 acres. In 2021, another fire, the Dixie Fire, took that same title.

The August fire, the Lightning fire, and the complex fire that burned over a million acres. Time and time again, this is reoccurring and we do understand those same fires happened in Heather Adwitz district, in James Gallagher's and mine. And time truly is of the essence.

I remember speaking on a panel back in November with a lot of my colleagues just getting started, and I made a statement that said, the largest fires in American history are going to be in our backyard. That is coming. We do need to take action on this because every single Californian will feel this.

It's time that we get proactive, that we focus on prevention.

If the data tells us, and UC Berkeley tells us that the number one contributor to carbon emissions in the air is dead, decaying and burning for us, then it is our job as the left hand and the right hand of the same body to work together to mitigate so we can protect Californians while also meeting our goals, to work together united.

I ask that we think about this from a different approach because we are in a position today that Californians are at serious threat. I think about my residents right now that have PTSD from the Creek fire that happened on Labor Day where we evacuated 36,000 people.

And the only reason that fired, we did not lose people that were stuck is because we were proactive in that county on vegetation management and clearance.

So the emergency exits, because we knew right now that we cannot do something or we don't have the resources available to manage the over 200 million dead trees in our forest that are putting the livelihoods of Californians at threat.

That while we stand in response right now addressing the symptom, we've got to go after the disease of mismanagement and Dereliction and it's our ability to do so right now.

So while, yes, I do stand in support and strong support that we make sure that we're being proactive on this, but that we seriously consider prevention faster than later. Just a little bit more on the data side. In 1983 and in 1984, we had one of the largest wet periods in California history that led to super blooms.

Those same super blooms leads to super dead vegetation and is the reason why the area is burning today. In 1970, there was a fire called the siege fire that burned the exact same scar that is burning today over 50 years ago.

So we cannot say that we did not know that this is coming because it has already happened. That is now on us to be proactive, to not make the same mistakes that happened in the past, but to learn from history.

So I ask that you all join me on this today in support for the families that need the recovery. But we also think of the families that have happened in the past and we protect those of the future. I humbly ask for your. I vote.

Thank you, Assemblymember Tongipa. Assemblymember DeMaio, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Obviously I will support this initial funding, but my concern is that too little, too late, not enough crumbs for the victims, negligence for communities that are still in harm's way, that might experience the same exact disaster, not might, will if we don't act. Fire victims deserve more. Our communities demand more.

In my district, in the last 48 hours, we've had four fire fires break out and thankfully our first responders put them down. My district has had devastating fires and I know many of your districts also have had devastation.

How many more fires do we have to undergo and experience before we actually solve some of the policy failures that have led to the higher risk? We can actually fireproof California.

I know you're trying to do a lot of proofing of California, but the most important thing that I think Californians want from every political party, they want to fireproof California because that is a real danger to our communities. If we're going to fireproof California, we are obliged to address three failures of state law and policies right now.

Number one, prevention. We will not be able to prevent or reduce risk until we clear brush. But our environmental regulations, laws imposed by this body, regulations imposed by agencies that are supposed to be answerable to this body, prevent communities, property owners from actually clearing defensible space. It's a nightmare. More importantly, we have been negligent.

As landowners, the state lands local Lands. We have been negligent in clearing our own lands of the brush. That requires funding. It also requires oversight and accountability. Nothing in this Bill accomplishes that. Second, prevention has to be coupled with response. We have to fully staff our fire response agencies.

And right now, our firefighters are basically social workers in a lot of communities because of the homelessness epidemic that we are creating in this state, the 911 calls, diverting those precious resources. And let's also be clear, they have to respond to a lot of fires that are set by migrant camps, by homeless camps.

Let's deal with those issues. Third, rebuilding. As a Council Member in 2008, I had to take responsibility for rebuilding over 2,600 homes lost in the witch fire in my district. That was in 2008, and it was a nightmare.

Government regulations, the state building code made it so expensive, so time consuming for those fire victims to get their lives back in order. Do you know what this state has done to its state building code since 2008? It took something that was already insane and made it much, much worse.

The Governor last Sunday, I believe, made a big deal about red tape. Be gone. I haven't seen something so dishonest from that office in a long time. And by golly, there's a lot of competition coming out of that office for dishonesty. Not a single word in his Executive order gave relief to fire victims. Not a single word.

And so if we want to provide red tape, cutting, we have to pass the laws here to cut the red tape. I am concerned that this body is going to use these two bills as the window dressing on this issue.

I am very concerned that this body will walk away from this vote and actually not get the job done. If we can't get the job done while everyone is watching us in the middle of a crisis, what is there to expect? Can these communities, can fire victims expect us to do the job in three weeks, three months?

I fear that we won't. We'll go on to something else. The public will move on to something else. But those that have lost their homes, they'll be stuck with the damage, with the nightmare, and more communities will join them soon. So while I support these two bills, it's not enough.

Finally, let me just point out the Federal government, this 2.5 billion, about 90% of it, I believe, is expected to be reimbursed by the Federal Government. We're going to the Federal Government. So none of us should get credit for this money. By the way, the state lawmakers don't get credit. This Is federal money coming for reimbursement?

Let's be clear about who's giving the money. But they're talking about conditions. And thank goodness they are, because I don't think this state will clean up its act on fire management. Thank you. Until we're required to. So be careful about what we're spending today, without the reform, you may not get the revenue.

Thank you, Assemblymember Dimaio, Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members. I rise in support of this swift budget action to address the immediate response and recovery needs caused by these devastating fires. I also rise today to lift up the needs across the LA region. Folks have lost their homes, their communities. I've been to Altadena and the Palisades people lost the library.

They would walk to the living room, they would gather in. I stand by my colleagues in ensuring the supports necessary to rebuild are in place. But after today, there may be more displacement. Tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs as a result of the fires.

They may not need a permit to rebuild their homes, but they will need support to rebuild their lives. And for many, our safety net will not catch them.

In my district, where the hearse fire resulted in evacuations, power outages lasted for days, leaving folks with spoiled food and the inability to undergo dialysis treatments, one mother even came to my district office to warm up milk for her baby.

There will be other families, families of child care providers, domestic workers, gardeners and more, who will need to put food on the table to feed their babies, to pay rent, to keep the lights on.

There is still so much work ahead, but this vote today is the right first step and I look forward to getting this important work done with all of you. Thank you to the speaker and Assembly Members Harabedian, Irwin and Gabriel for helping shape the proposal before us. I ask for your. I vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Assemblymember Rodriguez, Assemblymember Patterson, you are recognized.

Great. Thank you. Mr. Speaker. Members, appreciate the author and the discussion in Committee yesterday. And by the way, glad you're safe. And for everybody representing the impacted areas, thank you for the service that you're doing to your constituents or on behalf of your constituents to help clean up the disaster out there and respond to the incidents.

And can't go without saying amazing job to all the first responders and how difficult that job is right now throughout the state. Obviously people traveling down there throughout the state. So all of our districts in some way are impacted in sending our first responders there as well to help assist.

I Do want to mention a little bit about the prevention side because this is an opportunity to do so and maybe the best one we'll get this year. I hope it's not. But I want to mention something that hasn't been mentioned and that's our. I am the Vice Chair of the housing Committee. Have been for three years.

This will be my third year. Looking forward to it. But one thing we really have to think about is arena policies, our housing element policies in California. And just to give an example, and you know, I'm supportive of housing policies, I'm very supportive of new housing legislation and things like that.

But what the RHNA process does is it forces housing into places where nobody lives. So in my district, 78% of the County of the residents of the county live in incorporated cities and that's just fantastic. But the county itself had to find places to build homes to meet their RHNA obligations.

And they went through a very controversial system to do that. But ultimately what it led to is thousands of units pushed up into the foothills of my communities in fire prone areas, literally areas that are likely to burn down if a fire were to start. And it's so RHNA was created for a good reason.

That was we have a housing shortage.

But also if we start to look at what it's doing in the long run in terms of how it's requiring these communities up against the foothills or in the middle of nowhere to build very dense projects in fire prone areas if they're even lucky to get insurance, by the way, it's very problematic and we should rethink that.

I also want to mention last year, actually two years, for the last two years, I've had legislation to help manage public projects, to help clear public lands if an agency wanted to go in and manage their forest or manage their brush. And first year I didn't get a hearing.

Last year I did get a hearing and actually passed out a natural resources Committee. And so I really appreciate the consideration. It was a bipartisan Bill and while it didn't make it all the way through the process, I did introduce it here in this special session again.

But one thing we really have to get past is even during this Bill, during this legislation, there were actually extremist environmental groups that showed up to oppose the legislation saying that what it was going to, that all you needed to do to stop these massive fires is clear the brush within six feet of your house.

And not only is that complete garbage science, it goes against all firefighting science since the beginning of time. And we're going to have to make some decisions in this building to actually go against these groups that constantly show up at these hearings to say things that aren't backed by data.

By the way, I'm still waiting for the data that they said that they were going to give us at that hearing now one year ago because it doesn't exist. But I just hope and I pray that we will actually do more on the prevention side.

And yes, I know that this Bill isn't on that, but this is the opportunity to talk about it. And I hope we do not close this special session without talking about prevention right now and get it solved in this special session. I don't want to go from this to Trump proofing California and then closing the special session.

We need to address the prevention side before we close this special session. But with that, I'm glad to support this funding for, to help the victims recover. And finally, I want to say that I, you know, in my district, we still have people recovering from fires a year ago.

This is an ongoing process and let's do more to prevent that in the long run. With that, I ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, Assembly Member Patterson. Assembly Member Muratsuchi, you are recognized.

Thank you very much. As a Los Angeles area Legislator, I rise in strong support of these measures and I thank our budget chair, our leadership for the swift action to address the la, the devastating LA wildfires.

I had a chance to visit Altadena, I had a chance to visit the Pacific Palisades and I saw the devastation and I was like, it reminds me of the photos that we see from World War II of entire communities, entire cities leveled with the devastation.

And I want to first of all acknowledge our hearts go out to all the victims. Our love goes out to all the first responders that have been fighting valiantly against these, these fires.

I do want to take this opportunity to not only support this measure, but to remind everyone on this floor to, you know, we, we, there were, there were mentions about measure policy failures and, and there are mentions about how we need to do more.

And I think I hear, you know, the majority, the Republican leader, loud and clear that we need to have more bipartisan support to make wildfire prevention a priority.

But we all need to keep in mind the bigger picture here, the bigger picture, what is causing, you know, every year I've been here for 10 years, every year we get worse and worse wildfires. You can look at the facts.

The worst wildfires in the history of the State of California have all been in the last 10 years. And why is that? It's because of climate change. And so I want to make sure that, you know, we're going to be taking up some big issues related to climate action in this upcoming session.

But we need to make sure that we connect the dots, that if we all have that bipartisan urgency to fight these wildfires, we can't just be talking about brush clearance or, you know, I mean, those are all important, but we need to keep the big picture in mind.

What the scientists are saying, what the firefighters are saying, the swings and the extreme weather conditions that are driving these wildfires worse and worse every year, causing billions of dollars in taxpayer liabilities.

You know, the billions of dollars that we're all going to have to deal with in terms of rising home insurance costs, that is all being driven by climate change. And so when I hear the President talking about drill, baby, drill and pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, let's talk about the biggest major policy failures.

So for all serious about fighting the true cause of these worse and worse wildfires, we need to remember this moment as we go forward, the sense of urgency that we all need to have to fight climate change.

Thank you, Assembly Member Muratsuchi. Assembly Member Brian, you are recognized.

Amen. Thank you, Mr. Speaker and colleagues. First, I want to thank our colleague from Pacific Palisades and our colleague from Altadena and all of those in surrounding communities that have either been evacuated or impacted and still can't breathe.

When this crisis broke out a couple of weeks ago, Los Angeles as a region did something that I think is inspiring to the entire country. Folks stepped up. First responders, tens of thousands from across the state and across the region came to help the areas in need. Community care like I had never seen was assembled.

In fact, I went to an evacuation site in Westwood, with my colleague from Westwood, and they told us they were inundated with supplies. They had more food packages, care packages, clothing packages, direct aid packages, more blood given than they could possibly need in this moment, because people were stepping up. In truest fashion, Los Angeles showed us what it means to be a Californian. It showed us what it means to be an American in a crisis. It was inspiring to me because I've seen a ton of politicization in this moment, the kind that is shameless and infuriating. And I'm glad that we don't see all of that completely today.

I want to thank the Republican leader not only for coming to Los Angeles but speaking up in support and being willing to vote for this $2.5 billion that our communities deserve.

I wish every member of that caucus was focused on doing the same, because some members while on this floor, while members who have been impacted were speaking, were busy tweeting their dunk on the Dems of the day. Los Angeles is tired of being dunked on while homes are burning.

We're tired of people talking about people who have lost their homes when these people have names. Michelle and David and Shamika and Wally and so many that we know. It's time for California and it's time for this country to step up and care for each other the same way all of the people in the Los Angeles region have come up to step up and care for the people who have been directly impacted in this crisis. It's time for us to let them know you are not alone. We did not leave you hanging. We need to authorize this $2.5 billion.

And as my colleague from San Diego mentioned, this money isn't just ours. It's money we have paid to the Federal Government that President Biden authorized to come back to help us during disaster aid.

In the same way Californians and disproportionately Angelenos have stepped up for the rest of the country during every single natural disaster that has ever occurred. This is not a partisan moment; this is a people moment. So, I want to thank this entire body for this bipartisan vote that centers the people.

And I want to thank our budget chair for his tremendous leadership in this moment.

Thank you, Assemblymember Bryan. Assemblymember Dixon, you are recognized.

Good morning, Mr. Speaker, and thank you. I really don't have anything new or different to add. I just hearing everybody's passion, bipartisan passion, everybody in this chamber wants to help solve the problem that is affecting currently in Los Angeles County and spreading as we speak.

My comment is the sense of urgency that our colleague from Los Angeles just spoke about. I think wading through the regular budget process. If that is the plan, Mr. Gabriel, I hope we're putting everything we can into special session action and not wait until the budget, the formal general fund budget process that will, that you're already embarking on. We have to pull that apart and address the remediation, the fuel, the wildfire protection, the water. I haven't heard anybody talk about water storage today.

The voters in 2014 approved an $8 billion bond measure to provide the infrastructure for water storage. Not a single reservoir has been built. We all know that. We all know that there were, there was a problem with the lack of water in the Palisades Reservoir for various other reasons not related to state funding.

We have to mobilize the passion in this chamber to make sure that the funds, the actions; $2.5 billion is not going to be enough. They're talking $100 billion that are going to be affecting the people of Los Angeles County.

And no one's really talking about the fact that these homes that have been destroyed, these communities, these businesses, these residential homes, they're not going to be paying property taxes because there's no value to these properties, just the land remains and whatever value the county assessor assigns to that.

The State of California is going to be facing some hard times unless we get our arms around the totality of this with a sense of urgency to help people first and foremost, the victims, the survivors that are going to rebuild their lives, and we want to keep them in their communities where they want to live.

The fire, the first responders that they have the resources, the proper investigation. I believe that the oversight of this. The governor has announced looking into why fire engines were not deployed where they were supposed to be deployed.

There are a lot of questions that will be coming and the times ahead, but my priority today is to make sure through the budget process, the special session budget process that has now begun. So, and you had indicated, Mr. Gabriel, that there's going to be another bill. Another bill. Let's get this done now. People cannot wait.

We cannot wait till May or June or July. And if it's July budget, the regular budget, it's going to be another six months before anybody sees a single dollar. Let's unite as we are.

I believe all these examples of tragedy in our communities focus on the immediate issue of resolving the cause of our fires and helping people and communities. And we all know we're committed to this. Let's stop talking. Let's get it done. Thank you very much and I strongly support this legislation. Thank you.

Thank you, Assemblymember Dixon. Assemblymember Ward, you are recognized.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to write briefly in support of AB4. I want to thank our budget chair, the budget staff, and everybody else that has been contributing to this swift action to respond to something that we know has been plaguing our state for decades.

In my district in San Diego, you know, we recognize that yes, there are areas of our state, rural communities, our open spaces, the woody lands that are more at risk, slightly more at risk.

But the reality is, as we've seen here in Los Angeles, as I experienced in my own district, even urban neighborhoods are at high risk of these dangers because of the upstream effects that are contributing to these fire dangers.

Over the fall recess, just below my house in my neighborhood, we had a canyon fire that thankfully was swiftly put out. And then later, a few months later, in December, near San Diego State, an even bigger fire that threatened hundreds of homes and evacuated an entire community.

And of course, this month in the communities of Mission Valley, Miramar, and I know to my neighbor in the northeast in Bonsall: yes, we are all experiencing this as well.

So, I know this is a down payment and I'm encouraged by hearing a lot of the synergy that we have on so many intersecting issues on policy, policy and budget that need to be addressed. I'm glad this will be a priority of this body in this coming session.

But one of the other things that I know that we need to do as legislators is make sure that we are connecting our community resources and we are implementing this.

And so, I ask, especially with our budget chair's guidance, that as we pass this bill here today and as the money be is able to be available to our local governments, to our fire safe councils, to community-based organizations, that we all do our individual parts to make sure that we are protecting our communities and delivering those resources statewide.

So, thank you, Mr. Chair. Respectfully request your aye vote on AB4.

Thank you, Assemblymember Ward. Assemblymember Essayli, you are recognized.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker. Colleagues, we have a real opportunity right now. The governor has convened us into a special session to address the wildfires, and we should rise to the occasion and actually deal with this massive problem. We have Californians suffering right now who've lost their homes. This is truly devastating for the communities.

But there's new fires starting every day. We just had a fire start this week in my county, Riverside County. So, this problem is ongoing. So, I really want to invite us not to just quickly pass a bill and move on.

No, let's delve into the issue, and with all respect, yes, I want to have a robust and thorough conversation. I don't want to have a long conversation. I want it to be a short conversation, and I want us to address it in the special session.

That's the purpose of a special session, is to focus our attention and actually deal with it. So, Mr. Speaker, with permission, I have a question for the author.

Without objection.

Yes. Do you intend to bring more wildfire bills in this special session?

May I Mr. Speaker? Absolutely. So, I just think it's important that this - that this question has come up. You will see in SB3 that hopefully we're going to vote on very soon, that it expressly contemplates that the legislature will take additional actions, including on prevention and resilience, as soon as April meaning prior to our regular budget process.

So, there is a shared understanding that we are going to need to work together to move more quickly than our normal budget process, to move with urgency.

And so I hope when all of you vote to support SB3, you will also be committing to move very quickly as to whether that will be in the special session or in the regular session.

I would just offer to everyone; we are constrained under the California Constitution by the governor's declaration in terms of what we can do in the special session. So, I don't know whether some of the responses that we develop will be appropriate and constitutionally permissible to be in the special session or in the regular session.

Frankly, I don't care. What matters to me is to get it done, to get it done quickly, and to deliver the relief and protection that our communities need. So, I appreciate and hope all of you will vote for SB3, and by doing that, committing us to more action to protect Californians.

Assemblymember, you may continue.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And we will be voting for SB3. We will be voting for both of these packages, but with the 2.5 billion, it's not insignificant. But I think we can agree it's insufficient.

And so, we do want to work quickly on this, on the recovery side, but we also want to focus on the prevention side. And the Republicans, the minority party, we have ideas that we would like this body to consider on how we can fix some of the regulations and the rules.

So that way, when I talk to my firefighters in my community, I say, "Why haven't we done more prevention?" They said our hands are tied with some of the state regulations. I don't ever want to hear that. I want to hear them say the state is helping us get these things done. It's helping us mitigate.

And I never want the cure to be worse than disease because I know a lot of these regulations are in the name of the environment. We all support the environment. There's nothing worse for the environment than these wildfires. So, let's please just use some common sense, fix these regulations.

And I do believe we can do it in this special session. We do policy and budget all the time. We call them trailer bills. So, I do believe that we do have the authority and hopefully the will to do it. And so, yes, I support this. It's a first step. Let's make it a quick conversation.

Let's get help, and let's prevent future fires and victims. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Assemblymember Essayli. Seeing and hearing no further debate. Assemblymember Gabriel, would you like to close?

Yes. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. First, just let me extend some thank yous. And I want to personally thank our speaker.

None of - the ability to move on this extremely expedited timeline to underscore the sense of urgency with which we want to deliver aid to affected communities has really only been possible because of the speaker and his staff. And I want to thank him for visiting Los Angeles.

I know that sometimes folks in our community get a little anxious when a speaker is not from Southern California, but this is someone who has shown up for us and is actually demonstrating today the sense of urgency that all of us feel to deliver aid to the impacted communities.

I also just want to thank my colleagues, particularly our colleague from Thousand Oaks who represents the Pacific at Palisades, our colleague from Pasadena who represents Altadena, for unbelievable leadership and steady leadership, and the work that you have been doing and the way you have been showing up for your communities is really inspirational.

I also want to name check a number of my other colleagues from Los Angeles. But since we're not supposed to refer to each other by name. I'll just say I'm looking at you and a lot of you are sitting together and from San Fernando also who have come forward with good ideas.

I know many folks here have also been personally impacted by these fires. And despite that, showing up, supporting folks, doing incredible work for our communities. And I just cannot be prouder to be part of the LA delegation and to serve with all of you.

Thank you to our Republican colleagues and others who emphasized the sense of urgency, and I'm glad that we could.

I was planning to speak about it in SB3, but you are, you are going to be voting today to express the legislature's commitment to continue to work on this and to work on it on an expedited timeline, because we understand that we need to work quickly here, and we need to work with a sense of urgency.

And so, I'm hopeful that we will have those thoughtful conversations, those important conversations, hopefully bipartisan conversations, and over the next couple of weeks and months develop those actions. I expect, as our colleague from Pasadena said, this is going to be an ongoing effort.

We're going to do stuff, hopefully on an expedited timeline, but we're also going to do stuff about wildfires, I'm sure in the regular budget, I'm sure when we come back at the end of session and probably for many years to come, given the nature of the threat that is facing our communities.

But I wanted to close today, and I think many of you have heard me tell this story, but it really has, for me, sort of focused my attention on how I think we should respond to this.

As many of you know, on Wednesday, some of the - our colleague from Pasadena and I weren't able to get flights back down to LA. And so, we rented a car, and we drove down to try to get home to our families.

And as we were driving down Highway 5, we kept passing fire engines from fire districts across California. And it was really, it was an unbelievable thing to see.

And actually, we were talking, you know, some of these were from communities that I'd never heard of, but we saw that first responders from across California were just rushing down to Los Angeles to support their fellow Californians.

And I think that should be the model for all of us, that all of us need to come together in this moment. We need to come together to support Los Angeles and the impacted communities in Southern California. And we need to come together to make progress on this issue.

And so, in that spirit and with the hope that we are going to deliver this aid with urgency to those impacted communities and then do the additional work that is necessary. I respectfully ask for your I vote on AB4.

Thank you, Assemblymember Gabriel. All debate having ceased, the clerk will open the roll. All those vote who desire to vote. All those vote who desire to vote. All those vote who desire to vote. The clerk will close the roll and tally the votes. Ayes 78: No's 0. The measure passes without objection. Immediate transmittal to the senate. Members -

While we await transmittal from the Senate of SB 3, we will recess extraordinary session, go back to regular session for adjournments in memory. We are back in regular session. Moving on to adjournments in memory. Members, a quorum call is still in place. We ask you to please take your seats. Members, please take your conversations off the floor.

Please give your respectful attention to those who are granted prior permission to speak on their adjournment in memory. Assembly Member Pellerin, you are recognized for your adjournment in memory.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members. I rise today to adjourn in the memory of Marty Cheek, a beautiful soul, the publisher of Morgan Hill and Gilroy Life, an arts and science advocate, a man who loved his community and his community loved him.

Marty was born in Hollister and was a beloved resident of Morgan Hill and a mentor to young, aspiring writers. Marty had a disdain for politicians. I was truly one of the lucky ones who got on Marty's good side because of our shared love for journalism.

He was a big supporter of the South Valley Community Symphony, always uplifting the conductor and volunteer musicians. Marty also supported and performed with the South Valley Civic Theater. Marty was the co-founder of Morgan Hill and Gilroy Life, publications where he sought to cover positive stories of his community.

He was the recipient of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year in 2011, and Morgan Hill Life was awarded Small Business of the Year in 2019. Marty passed away unexpectedly on September 9, 2024, at the age of 57. Friends described him as outgoing, inquisitive, kind, compassionate, spontaneous, opinion challenging, and occasionally goofy.

Marty was a man of action and a positive thinker. He co-authored a book with former Congress Member and now State Senator Jerry McNerney titled Clean Energy Nation: Freeing America from the Tyranny of Fossil Fuels. As a journalist, Marty believed in the Fourth Estate, a firm conviction in the vital role the news media and press have in a democratic society by providing citizens with information to make informed decisions. He believed that we could address the difficult challenges in front of us. He wanted to make the world a better place.

Marty's ever present optimism led to his plan to save democracy and achieve global peace by Christmas Day in 2040. He acknowledged, it's ambitious, it's audacious. It's also 100% doable. This desire for world peace fueled his passion the past four years, resulting in several books.

The Path to Peace: A Vision 2020, Plan to Unite Humanity, Vision 2020, Be a Hero for Humanity, and Humanity: A Vision 2020 Novel. His unique family history surely contributed to this pursuit of peace. In one of Marty's books, he shared a story of his grandfather, who voted for Adolf Hitler in 1932. But his grandmother disagreed.

Although his grandparents never joined the Nazi party, they remained silent to avoid drawing suspicion and to protect their two children, Gerhardt, their son, and Gisela, their daughter, who is Marty's mother, who survived the bombings in Berlin. When the Nazis began arresting and deporting Jews to concentration camps, his grandparents, the one who voted for Hitler, chose to act.

Collaborating with another Lutheran couple, they risked their lives by hiding a Jewish family in a concealed basement. When Marty learned about his grandparents, what his grandparents had done, he said he felt intensely proud. They were not conventional heroes, only ordinary people who decided on a small but profound scale that good must triumph over evil.

And so it goes, our unconventional local hero, Marty Cheek, a man who seemed to always be everywhere, helping everyone, has left a huge void in Morgan Hill. But his unwavering belief in world peace reminds us all that even in the face of division, one person's vision can inspire a brighter, more united future for all. And as Marty said, it's 100% doable.

Thank you, Assembly Member Pellerin. Members, in honor of this historic Californian, we will observe a moment of silence. Thank you, Members. Assembly Member Haney, you are recognized for your adjournment in memory.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members. I rise today to adjourn in memory of an extraordinary San Franciscan. A husband, a father, a grandfather, a remarkable educator, a union leader, an advocate for public education, Dennis Joel Kelly. Dennis was born on April 12, 1944, in Napa, California. He was first and foremost in his career a teacher.

He taught English literature in the San Francisco Unified School District for 35 years. But his passion for improving the lives of educators and students extended beyond the classroom. Following an astounding 33 years as the secretary and parliamentarian of the United Educators of San Francisco, Dennis served as union president from 2004 to 2017.

As president, he led significant victories for paraeducators, securing better contracts, and championed initiatives such as educator housing and charter school representation. He played a key role in passing a 2007 parcel tax, generating $35 million annually to improve compensation for educators. Dennis has been a fixture as a fierce advocate for workers throughout San Francisco.

As a delegate to the San Francisco Labor Council, his leadership reached the state and national levels when he served on the boards of this California Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers. Dennis commitment to unionism was deeply personal.

He married his wife, Hene Kelly, who is here with us, who herself is a well known and fierce leader for workers and is a Democratic party leader as well, who you may recognize, in 1968. And together they raised two children, Edith and Nathanael, who continue their legacy as educators and union leaders.

Edith in particular is the president of the Sequoia High School District Union and the mother of triplets, who you would often see on their social media and who were the love of Dennis lives as well, who helped to bring Dennis's values to future generations.

I got to know Dennis and Hene quite well during my time serving on the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education. And one of my first experiences at the time when I was a brand new school board member is I came onto the board and had a goal of working on improving our policies to keep kids in the classroom and keep them in school.

We had incredibly high rates of suspension of kids who were being pushed out of our schools and out of the classroom. And I went to our superintendent, I went to the administrators, and I told them that we needed to change our policies so that we implemented more restorative practices, ways that we actually supported kids rather than kick them out.

And I remember they told me that there was no way we were going to be able to do that because I was going to have to get through Dennis Kelly in order to make it happen. They said he would fight against this no matter what. He would fight to make sure that teachers had the authority in every case to decide what would happen and there was no way we could do this.

And I remember going and sitting with Dennis and having a conversation about this with him and telling him that what I thought that we actually needed was a way to support educators so that they can actually care for their students in the classroom and that an approach where we were kicking kids out wasn't helping students or educators.

And I remember him shocking me by looking at me and saying, you know what, if this is good for kids, that's what we're here to do, and I'll work with you to make this happen. And when we announced the policy, he walked in and he had a big solutions not suspensions button on.

And I swear the superintendent almost fell off the dais when he saw Dennis walk in. And he was somebody who cared about and fought for educators and for teachers, but fundamentally, it was about the kids. It was about children like his grandkids. And even though he was a really big guy, he was a lovable guy.

He was nobody to be scared of because he was full of love and he was full of joy. And I know, Hene, that continues in you and everyone in his family. He passed away on November 7, 2024, at the age of 80. Known for his wit, his artistry, he was incredible orator, and his ability to inspire.

Dennis's impact was felt throughout San Francisco. There are so many teachers, so many staff members, and so many children who have benefited from his work and leadership. He was a mentor, advisor, and a friend to many, including to me. And even in retirement, he continued to serve the labor movement, helping to restructure unions and mentor future leaders. We are joined today by Dennis's wife Hene and his friend Ellen. And we ask to honor his legacy today that we adjourn in his memory. Thank you.

Thank you, Assembly Member Haney. Assembly Member Schiavo, you are recognized.

I want to also join my colleague from San Francisco in honoring Dennis Kelly. I've known Dennis for 20 years now, and Hene, his wife. And Dennis was larger than life in a couple ways. And he was also always a voice of calm and reason.

He managed in the San Francisco Labor Council to bring people together, which is always not the easiest place to do that. And, you know, he was always trusted and respected as someone to go to for advice, for consult, for mentorship, and he was incredibly supportive of me running.

He also had some opinions about my homework bill that he didn't hold back on letting me know about in an email. And I had a conversation with him about it because I really respect his years of leadership, his years as an educator and in the union representing educators. And so I have so much love for Hene and for Dennis, and I'm grateful that we're adjourning in his memory today. Thank you.

Thank you, Assembly Member Schiavo. Members, let us observe a moment of silence to honor the life of Dennis Kelly. Thank you, Members. Assembly Member Haney, you are recognized for your guest introduction.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to recognize, and she's been mentioned because she is a force in her own right and continues his legacy, Hene Kelly is here, Dennis's wife, as well as her friend Ellen. Welcome and our condolences.

Welcome. Members, please forgive me. And Assembly Member Pellerin, please forgive me. I recognize you for your guest introductions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members. I'd like to introduce some longtime friends of Marty's from Morgan Hill who are here in the rear of the chambers today. We have his publishing partner and fellow journalist Robert Airoldi, and his wife, Kathryn Walker Airoldi, and longtime friends John and Michelle McKay. Please give them a warm welcome to our chamber.

Members, please bring the names to the desk to be printed in the journal. All requests to adjourn in memory will be deemed read and printed in the journal. Members, we will be moving back into extraordinary session. Members, the quorum call is in place. We are back in extraordinary session. Please take your desks.

Members, please return to the floor. All Members, please return to the floor. Thank you, Members. Moving back to motions and resolutions. We are still in extraordinary session. Majority Leader Aguiar-Curry, you are recognized for your procedural motions.

Mr. Speaker, there is a resolution at the desk to suspend the three readings requirement for SB3 Wiener which has been received from the Senate. I ask that we take up the rule waiver now.

Clerk will read.

Resolve that Senate Bill 3 presents a case of urgency as a term is used in Article 4, Section 8b of the Constitution and the provision and section requiring that the Bill be read on three separate days and each house is hereby dispensed with and is ordered that the Bill be placed upon its passage and considered engrossed.

Members, this rule suspension is not debatable. It takes 54 votes. The Clerk will open the roll. All those vote who desire to vote. All those vote who desire to vote. All those vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll. Tally the votes. Ayes 62. No, zero. The three readings are waived.

The Clerk will read the Bill a second time.

Senate Bill 3 by Senator Wiener, an Act 2 relating to the state budget. Senate Bill 3 by Senator Wiener. An act relating to the state budget, making an appropriation thereof to make effect immediately budget Bill.

Majority Leader Agar Curry, you are recognized.

I move to suspend the rules to allow Assemblymember Gabriel to take up SB3 Wiener without reference to file for the purpose of a third reading.

Members, this requires 40 votes. 40 votes. The Clerk will open the roll. All those vote who desire to vote. All those vote who desire to vote. All those vote who desire to vote. The Clerk will close the roll and tally the votes. Aye's 57. No, zero. The rules are suspended.

To take up the Bill without reference to file. Without reference to file, Senate Bill 3 by Wiener, by Assemblymember Gabriel.

The Clerk will read.

Senate Bill 3 by Senator Wiener and after laying to the state budget, making appropriate from, therefore take effect immediately budget Bill.

Assemblymember Gabriel, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we've already discussed, this is the companion measure and the second of two bills that collectively provide 2.5 billion in emergency disaster relief funding. Now, I do want to draw your attention to the fact that this Bill includes 4 million to expedite building approvals for homeowners that are seeking to rebuild and impacted communities.

and I want to thank our colleagues from Thousand Oaks and Pasadena who worked on that. And I think it's really important that those who are from these communities that are impacted are helping to shape this legislation.

The Bill also includes a million dollars to assist the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Pasadena Unified School District, and impacted charter schools in those areas for initial planning to rebuild damaged school facilities. And it also includes important reporting and transparency language and directs the Executive branch to seek maximum possible reimbursement.

If you know anything about the Assembly Budget Committee, you know we love oversight, so we are happy with that language. Importantly, the Bill also underscores, as we have discussed, our intent to take further budget action on an accelerated timeline in April and expressly contemplates further funds for wildfire prevention and resilience, including through voter-approved bonds.

I respectfully ask for an aye vote on SB3.

Thank you, Assemblymember Gabriel. Seeing and hearing no further debate, all debate having ceased, the Clerk will open the roll. All those vote who desire to vote. All those vote who desire to vote. All those vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll and tally the votes. Ayes 79. No. 0. Measure passes without objection.

Immediate transmittal to the Senate for enrollment. Seeing and hearing no further business, I'm ready to entertain a motion to adjourn. Majority Leader Aguiar-Curry moves. Excuse me, Members. This is adjourning from the special session. Members. Members, please. Majority Leader Aguiar-Curry moves. Mr. Garcia seconds that the extraordinary session stands adjourned under the call of the Speaker.

We are back in regular session. Having completed our adjournments in memory, we are moving on to announcements. Session schedule is as follows: Friday, January 4th, no floor session, no check in session. Monday, January 27th, floor session at 1pm.

Seeing and hearing no further business, ready to entertain a motion to adjourn. Ms. Aguiar-Curry moves. Mr. Garcia seconds that this House stands adjourned until Monday, January 7th at 1pm the quorum call is lifted, and we are adjourned. It it.