Senate Standing Committee on Rules

Each and every one of you are here. We want to welcome you to the Senate Rules Committee for Wednesday, February 5th. Before we establish a quorum, which the Secretary will do in just a moment, we want to take a moment to welcome Senator Caballero to the Committee. We recently appointed Senator Reyes, who will be back with us, of course, who.

Who's recuperating and for the time being. And we're really grateful that Senator Caballero will be with us and standing in. And Senator Caballero, we welcome you to the Rules Committee. Thank you. And thank you so much. Madam Secretary. Can you please establish a quorum and call the roll?

[Roll Call]

Quorum has been established. Thank you so much, Madam Secretary. We're now going to be moving on to Governor appointees not required to appear. For all of our appointees who are required to appear, thank you for your patience. We're going to get through some administrative items, and we'll come right back to you. We promise it will be brief.

We're going to be looking at items 2D and 2E. Under not required to. zero, that's right, 2D. Excuse me, I think I'm working off an old agent, so. 2D. 2D. Thank you so much. My. My fault. There. Is there a motion? We have a motion. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[Roll Call]

That motion passes. Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, we're now going to be moving on to item E. References of bills to committees. Senator Jones, this is your favorite time of the Committee, am I right?

Yeah. The references of bills to committees. This is amazing. We're going to check with the Committee to see if there's any discussion or debate. Is there a motion?

Yes.

Item 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, all together or do they have to be separate motions?

We're going to take everything up as is in one.

So I make a motion for item 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Thank you so much. Madam Secretary, we have a motion on the floor. If you could please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

That is a 5-0 vote. Thank you so much. We're now going to be moving on to item number four, which is our rule waiver request. Okay, you know, let's. Let's pause here for a moment, ladies and gentlemen. Just give us two minutes. We're going to reconcile the paperwork. We are grateful for your. Thank you so much, ladies and gentlemen.

What we'd like to say here. Our motto is smooth as silk. We are. We're rolling. We are going to welcome Chief Haynes and Sheriff Taylor, if they could please come forward. We're now moving on to governor's appointees required to appear.

We're going to be having both the chief and the sheriff coming in for appointment on the Board of State and Community Corrections. First of all, Chief, Sheriff, welcome. We are grateful that both of you are here today. We want to also say thank you so much for your service to the people of California. Let's talk about.

For the next three minutes, each of you will be provided three minutes to be able to provide an opening statement. During that opening statement, we invite you to be able to acknowledge any individual family, friends who may be here in the hearing room and or watching online.

If you could please acknowledge them, then what we'll do after your opening statement, we'll open it up to the Committee for questions and comments. And again, to the two of you, thank you so much for being here today and thank you for your service to the people of California.

Sheriff, we're going to turn the floor over to you to be able to provide an opening statement. Chief, we'll come right over to you right after the sheriff completes his. You have three minutes, sir. And welcome.

Thank you. Chair, you must have been warned to only give me three minutes because I'm a talker. So I typically don't script things out, but just stay on time. I wrote something down here.

So first I would like to thank Governor Newsom for his appointment and this body for taking time to consider me for this role. I'd like to introduce family, friends and colleagues who are here today in person and virtually. My wife, Jacqueline is here with one of my daughters, Caitlin, who just graduated from Sonoma State.

My other two girls, Haley and Kelly, are in Watsonville, California and Burlington, Vermont, respectively. My father, Steve Taylor, is watching in Gilroy, California with his wife, Valerie Felice. My mom, Kathy is watching from above as she passed from campus in 2009.

I have my undersheriff, Tom Kelon here with his wife Jackie, as well as our jail commander, Tomas Corral is in the audience. He told me not to introduce him, but I appreciate Corey Salzillo being here from CSSA and some of my friends from the Board of State and Community corrections are here.

Linda Penner, Allison Ganter, Aaron Mcguire and others. I appreciate everybody for being here and I'm sorry if I've left you out. I was asked by some as to why I want to do this. Why do I want to put the spotlight on not only myself, but my own correctional facilities?

Why do I want to travel to Sacramento for meetings and involve myself in sometimes uncomfortable conversations and actions with, as has been pointed out, no compensation. My answer is that I always want to do what is right, not what is popular.

And as the sheriff, I've pledged to my family and my community that I was going to do that. I know I have a finite amount of time to fill this role as a sheriff of San Bernardo county. And I want to lead by example while I'm here.

After I was elected sheriff, the real reason why I sit before you in front of you today. After I was elected sheriff, I shared a video that painted our Governor in a negative light when it came to his absence at CSSA meetings, Cal State Sheriff's Association meetings. I was new to the role and I shared a video.

After I did this, I had some of my local constituents contact me and they wanted to support me in having an understanding as to what was occurring. So I started asking questions. I started asking questions of my colleagues and nobody seemed to have an answer for me. Nobody had a good answer as to what was happening.

And I knew that I had not reached out to the governor's office personally. And so all I knew at that time is what they were saying. And when I tried to get answers, nobody seemed to have any.

So I realized that I have done to our Governor what I don't ever want someone to do to me, which is speak ill of someone without having all the facts. So in a moment of self reflection, I wrote him a letter of apology and asking for forgiveness for doing that.

Three days after I mailed that letter out, he called me on my cell phone and we had a conversation about it. And I found him to be gracious, understanding, forgiving. And since then we've been able to develop a relationship based on what I believe is one of my errors by prejudging somebody, not going to align on everything.

But as an elected sheriff in the State of California, I sure want to support my Governor, support the office and support the Senate and everybody that's working for the state. So he let me know in that time of our communication. He gave me his personal cell phone number, told me to call him if I ever need anything.

And that started an interaction between the two of us to where I asked if there was anything that I could do to help serve in a bigger than just in San Benito county, serve the people of California under his office.

And so this opportunity presented itself and I was honored that he would ask that of me and that I'm sitting in front of you all today. So that's kind of what brought me here. I'm sure we'll get into some other nuances as to what makes me tick or why I'm here. But I just thank you all for this opportunity. It's really an honor to sit in front of all of you today.

Sure. Thank you. And I gotta say one of the more powerful statements I think I've heard here in the Rules Committee. I think in this era of hyper partisan politics. Right. Very few of us, and I'm guilty of it as well, look at self reflection and we all are there, we've all been there and just really grateful that you would bring that forward and again very powerful. So thank you so much, sir.

And again shows why you've been so successful and why you've risen through the ranks to the top. So thank you so much, sir.

Thank you.

Chief, the floor is yours.

Good afternoon and thank you Chair Mcguire and what a statement I have to follow to follow up with Sheriff. Thanks, Sheriff. Right, yeah, thank you. But I want to say thank you again for the opportunity to be able to be before you today. So thankful for Chair Mcguire and for all of you on the Senate Rules Committee.

This being my second appointment to the Board of State and Community Corrections. I'm deeply honored for another opportunity for me to be able to carry out the work of the. For the State of California on behalf of Fresno county and the Fresno County Probation Department.

You know, I wish again I want to wish to thank Governor Newsom once again for the appointment and the opportunity to serve the people of the state, in particular the incarcerated adults, young people and their loved ones who rely on the effective and regulatory oversight of the Board of State of Community Corrections.

I also want to introduce my wife Jamie, who is here as well, and support of me also. I'm hoping that they're watching, But I have two daughters, Krista, who is in Washington D.C. a recent graduate of Howard University who is out working out there right now, and my daughter Kennedy, who is a junior at UC Berkeley.

And so hopefully we sent them the link and hopefully they jumped on to be able to take a look at what dad's doing today. Also want to say thank you to so many of the crew from BSCC who are here, including Linda Pindner and Erin Mcguire and the rest of the team.

Invaluable support for me and for all the work that we continue to do on the board. Throughout my career in public service, I've dedicated myself to the principles of justice, rehabilitation and community safety. My journey began over three decade decades ago, over 30 years when I first entered the field of probation and community corrections.

Since then, I've worked tirelessly to develop and implement innovative programs that address the needs of both offenders and and victims, while promoting restorative justice and reducing recidivism.

As Chief Probation Officer of Fresno County, I've had the privilege of leading a dynamic team of professionals who are dedicated to creating a safer and more just society for those individuals that we, that we provide supervision for, including individuals under supervision and victims as well.

We've achieved significant milestones in my career such as the successful incorporation of evidence based practices in our supervision and our program programming practices, the expansion of community based alternatives to incarceration, and the enhancement of a reentry services to support individuals who are transitioning back into the society.

And so I'm proud of the progress that we've made in Fresno County. But I recognize there's still so much work to be done. And as a Member of the Board of State and Community Corrections, I'll continue to bring my passion, my dedication to advance policies and practices that promote the safety of incarcerated persons and support rehabilitation and uphold the values of fairness and equity.

I'm committed to always collaborating with my colleagues on the board as well as stakeholders from across the state to address the complex challenges facing our jails and youth detention facilities across the state. And together, we'll continue to develop comprehensive solutions that not only enhance public safety, but also provide opportunities for individuals to rebuild their lives and to contribute positively to society.

So I thank you again for the appointment, for the opportunity for me to again serve on the board and to continue to make, to make our community safer and stronger. Thank you again for the opportunity.

Thank you so much, Chief. Very grateful for the statement and wonderful to have Julie here as well. So thank you. Thank you. We'd like to be able to see if we have questions, comments. We'll go to the Vice Chair and then we'll go to Senator Laird and we'll look to Senator Caballero. Madam Vice Chair, the floor is yours.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you both for being here for your reappointment and your first appointment. So thank you very much and I'm glad you like my Sheriff, all of them. That makes me feel good. Let's be honest.

So California recently passed Proposition 36 and I know that it's the Homeless Drug Addiction and Reduction of Theft act. And I understand that BCS BSCC's role on a timeline for funds and allocation. What's your guys's plans or timelines for funds and allocations? And if I'm wrong, please tell me I'm wrong. But that's my understanding that you guys will administer that. Anybody? Yes, sir.

Yeah, I will say that the Prop 30, Prop 36 funding that was allocated in the, in the Proposition, the board does have purview over the Prop 47 funding, which also funds drug addiction treatment, mental health services, and also for folks who may be on diversion programming as well.

So the board is responsible for distributing those funds throughout the State of California. Now, I think something to think about is that the funding that is dedicated to doing these things, it could be impacted by Prop. 36 in a way where some of the funding could be reduced because of the lack of.

I'm sorry, if there is an increase of folks who may be sentenced to state prison because the Prop 47 funding is built around savings from prison beds. And so we're going to be briefed by the board at an upcoming meeting to let the board know how Prop 36 is going to be incorporated into the funding mechanisms for Prop . 47.

So once we receive more information from staff at the bscc, then we'll know how to move forward on how that funding for Prop 36 would move forward.

So just based on what you said, is it my understanding is that when you lose Prop. 47 dollars going back into the prison system, that Prop. 36 will offset some of that diversion program? Is that what your thought process?

Well, I'm thinking one thing that I do know is that the money that's dedicated through 2028 for Prop 47, whatever happens with an enhancement under Prop 36, it won't impact those funding dollars that are already allocated for through 2028.

The BSCC would be able to keep those dollars?

I think based on what we understand now, the BSCC will be able to keep those dollars. I think the difference is going to be what potential, what potentially could be done with those dollars later on down the road once Prop 36 becomes more in place.

And then is it a grant program process? Do you anticipate it being a grant program? People would apply, send out a rfp, that kind of stuff? Or do you already have providers in place for this?

We already have the mechanism in place for it to be a competitive grant process. We, and we anticipate that that will continue to be so.

Okay, and then a question that I have is over the years there's been not rumors but like recommendations floating around about the BSCC to be able to be the regulatory agency as well over the jails. What are either of your guys thought processes on that?

I'll take a stab at this one. So it's really a double edged sword because I as a sheriff that I oversee two correctional facilities in our small rural county. I welcome the oversight. I really have appreciated our relationship with bscc.

I think that I know now, especially the short time I've been on the board so far, is that they really are there to make sure we're doing the right things for the right reasons. And I think that we're able to use recommendations and inspections from the BSCC to leverage our counties to then properly Fund our correctional facilities.

Because that's really a tough thing to get them to do, especially in my community. So we welcome that. I also sit in the room with 57 other sheriffs that really like to have local control and some of them not be. They don't like to be told what to do.

And so that's just, that's just the nature of the game. I think that you'll find that most of us appreciate the oversight, but we also want to be able to implement the programs and the things that we want to see because we know our community so well and we know what works for our communities.

And so any expansion, I would be open to look at something that came in front of the board. I'm not for or against any of that authority.

And I think that for me as the sheriff of San Miguel county and just who I am as a person, I'm always open to a lot to oversight because I think it really, it helps us do our job better and then it helps my county be able to be in a better position as far as risk and a financial position if we make sure we're doing things correctly.

But really to really implement the policies, I like to be able to have that autonomy as a local county sheriff overseeing the facilities that I know what best for my community. So I think there's a balance there. But I would be open to anything that came in front of the board.

Thank you.

And my last question is, as a few years ago they passed SB132 here in the state Legislature, which just affects CDCR intake on transgender placements in women's Prisons, you in the local jails, you don't have a 132 that affects local jails, but you still have an obligation to make sure that women and Trans women, all people, everybody, regardless of who they are, are safe in your custody.

Care and control. What is a process or an example of a process that you use in either of your detention facilities that make sure that no matter who you are, you are safe in that environment?

Well, I know in our facility, exactly as you. As you mentioned, Senator Grove, we do ensure that any transgender youth who come into our facility, whatever their choice of preference on how they recognize and how they identify themselves, that's where we make sure that they're housed.

And then in that housing, we make sure that they're safe and that they're appropriately monitored so that there aren't any opportunities for anything that could happen to them. And so we take that very seriously. The opportunity for people to be able to be recognized for how they self identify and then for the.

For the facility and for staff to be able to support whatever their needs that they may have while they're incarcerated.

And I totally agree with that 100%. But on the opposite side of that, you also have a possible. Of a Trans person in a situation, in a, like, you know, a CIS female, like a female situation. How do you keep the female safe? I'm looking for ideas because I know you guys do it. I've read reports.

You don't have the incidences that we have in CDCR. We have a problem, and I'm looking to you guys for possible solutions. That's my whole purpose of the question. Because individuals that are Trans and individuals that are biological women, they have to be safe in the same environment. How are you successful in making that happen?

You just identified how you protect Trans. How do you protect the biological women in a situation from that as well?

For the most part, our youth that identify as female, there's a separate housing unit for them. And so there is very little interaction with the males in the facility. So there is no ability for there to be any kind of violence or any kind of taking advantage of anyone in those kind of situations.

So there is that separation to make sure that they are. That they remain safe. Now, there is the opportunity for young people while they are going to school and those kind of things where they may be mixed together. But we have staff to ensure that.

Whatever, education, rehabilitation, classes, all of those. Things are all integrated.

They are integrated, but we also have staff staffing to ensure that all those youth are safe while they are participating in those activities, including, we have Boys and Girls clubs. We have a lot of different activities that they may interact with. But as far as the housing goes.

Separate dormitories, sleeping places, separate showers.

Yes.

Appreciate your time. Thank you very much for that. I, I noticed that you guys had a success rate and I was curious to how you were doing that. So I appreciate that. Is there a SOP or a policy that I can get my hands on?

Absolutely. Yes.

Provide that to I can absolutely send that to.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you. M. Vice Chair, let's go to Senator Laird. Then we're going to go to Senator Caballero.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, by the way, for your answer to that previous question. I really appreciated it. I met with both of you and I just wanted to thank you for, for.

I really enjoyed it. And I think I wanted to ask each one of you a question, sort of a follow up on what we talked about in the meeting. And maybe I'll start with Chief Haynes. We just talked about the transition of the juvenile justice system to the closure of certain things and how it's reflected in your system and a little bit about how you overview. Would you talk about that? Of how you've seen the sort of the close down of some state facilities, how it's been reflected to you, how you think it's gone?

Thank you for the question. And it's right. The implementation of SB 823 has made a huge shift in how we serve the young people who were previously at the Department of Juvenile Justice. I think one of the biggest impacts that we've seen is that for young people to be held locally in our facilities, it makes a huge difference for youth to have access to their families, to be able to have access to local programs, opportunities for them to interact with the opportunity for employment, for educational opportunities.

Those were very different when they were at DJJ. I think the other, that I was just talking to one of the public defenders the other day is that one other dynamic that happens as those youth are at home and encounter, you know, access to different things that they may want to have access to their attorneys.

They did not have that opportunity when they were at DJJ. While they're here locally, if they have questions with their counsel that they need to get clarified, or if they want to make a complaint about something that might be happening, they have access to those kinds of things.

I think the other part of this, when I talk about the programming and the educational opportunities, a great example is this, is that we just had two youth who graduated from Fresno City College, earn their associate's degree locally and will have the opportunity to be able to attend Fresno State. One was also accepted to Sacramento State.

And so I think given the opportunities that the closure of DJJ brought, has really given probation departments the chance to be able to expand in know how can we really bring programming and good services to this population. One of the things that I would caution and one of the things that I'd say has been sort of a barrier is that the funding, which 823 does come although focused on the secure youth treatment facilities, we do and are allowed to use that funding for other parts of our facilities as well.

But one of the things that if we were able to be funded in a way, forced to be able to bring the similar kind of rich services to our regularly committed kids or our kids who are in detention prior to going to that higher level of care. I think that also would be a great opportunity for probation departments to be able to bring not only the rich services that we have at SYTF, but also throughout the entire system.

And so just to conclude with that answer, one of the outcomes I've seen of that is, like we talked about, Senator Laird, I would have prior to the closure of DJJ, we'd have 30 to 35 youth that were committed to DJJ. Today, after two and a half years of DJJ being close to two years being closed, I've got 22 youth there.

And so what I believe has happened is that we've been able to be able to provide great services to our youth there in custody and then also to let the court know that we can meet the needs of so many of these youth if we resource correctly so that they don't have to graduate to becoming kids in that SYTF program. So I think it's been a success. I'll just say that it's still a work in progress. There's still a lot of great work that's going on in Fresno and across the state, but we're doing a better job than DJJ ever did, I'll say that.

Well. No, you can agree anytime. Thank you. Because I was going to ask you a quick follow up and your close was the answer to the question because I was really looking for the conclusion that I was impressed with that the numbers have gone down, but you can almost attribute it directly to the services that have been delivered and how that's happening.

And then about the only legal stealing that can go on in the room is the fact that I stole you as a constituent from Senator Caballero. So I'm very happy to have that transition, even though she may not be. So, sheriff, let me follow up with something we talked about because we talked about sort of the standards for local detention which, and you supervise a detention facility, and how the board plays a role in that and how some of the sheriffs feel about it, however you wish to characterize that. But I'd be interested if you sort of had that conversation for the whole committee about how you think that works and how you think it's going.

Yeah. Thank you, Senator. So one of the things that was in the, when I talked to some of your staff earlier on in this process is we did talk a little bit about, I had made a comment about that maybe BSCC could have more of a role in front of the Board of Supervisors in our 58 counties. And there was a little confusion, I think, by that answer, why I said that. And so the reason why I said it and why I'll state it again to all of you is I really feel that all 58 sheriffs and our chiefs of probation want to run the best facilities that they can run.

And I know that, though he's not really happy about it, Commander Corral has really done a phenomenal job in our local facility with some challenges of running a rural jail and rehabilitation center with, as Senator Caballero can understand, no funding on the local level. We're not a, we're a resource... Not a resource rich county in San Benito.

And so I have relied on a couple things to help push the needle in the direction it needs to go to make sure that when people leave Sand Benito County Jail, they leave better than when they came in. And I've used the grand jury reports and I've used the inspections and the oversight from Board of State and Community Corrections to give me leverage as an elected official to go to my board and say, it's not just me asking this of you.

This is what the state sees based on the regulations in Title 15 and Title 24, and this is what the grand jury has seen through interviews of our staff. And one of the things I was explaining to Senator Laird is that there are some of my colleagues that really are resistant to if Linda Penner shows up at the door of their facility or the grand jury.

And right when I first was, I took over as sheriff, the then jail commander called me one night and he said, hey, sheriff, the grand jury's here. And I said, okay. He goes, what do we do? I said, let them in. Right? Let them in. Let them look around, answer their questions. They're here to help. And so that's really what I...

What I really see is the Board of State and Community Corrections doing is really giving us, it's checks and balances, right? We want to do a good job, but we make mistakes. We come up short sometimes, and we need someone from the outside to oversee that and make sure that we're being called out for things that we need to do better and maybe praise for things that we're doing well. But it really gives us leverage on the county level to chase down what really is the essence of what's going to make this successful, which is funding.

Thank you. That was exactly what I was hoping for. I appreciate it. You know, the key question might have been not whether you let the grand jury in, but whether you let them out. Thank you. I want to be very happy to support both of you.

Thank you so much, Senator Laird. We're now going to turn it over to Senator Caballero.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I want to welcome you both here to the committee. As you heard, this is my first time sitting on the committee, and I'm really pleased and honored to have you both here. One, because, sheriff, you were a constituent of mine and as Senator Laird said, he has taken over San Benito County.

I had a law practice there for 20 years or so and loved it. And I thought that the Sheriff's Department did a great job. It was prior to you, obviously, but it's a institution that lives up to its name and in a county with very few resources. They do a tremendous job. And I went into the jail a number of times to talk with clients, and it's very well managed. And I also want to thank you for sharing your story. I think it shows real humility and leadership, and I was very, very moved by it.

Mr. Probation, Chief Probation Officer, I'm really pleased you're here as well. Fresno is my district now, so it's from one to the other. And I have a couple of questions because the, you know, I haven't focused a lot of energy since the realignment occurred on the work that you're doing, other than through some of the grant funding that goes out to communities. But the work that you do as part of BSCC is really varied. And I wonder, sheriff, if you could address the issue of deaths while in custody.

I was particularly disturbed to see that some of the larger facilities have not been able to either have not been able to or haven't made the changes necessary to protect individuals that end up in the jail. And when you recognize that a large percentage of the people that are spending time in jail are accused but not convicted yet. Not that you would give different services depending on that, but it just seems to me that we've got to do everything we can to figure out what's the cause of that. Is it mental health?

Are they mental health issues? Is it inmate and inmate violence? Is it suicide? And not to be able to really get a handle on it or not to want the review that BSCC does is disturbing to me. And so there have been some adjustments. And it seems to me that the adjustments are not getting to the root of the issue. And I wonder... And I get local control. I'm a big believer in local control. I think we can solve things better at the local level.

But when, when school districts don't do what they need to do, they either get themselves in fiscal trouble or there are problems with the boards making decisions that are not consistent with the law. The state can come in and take over that school district. And I wonder if you have an...

I'm not asking you to comment on that. But, but that's the... It's what happens when you don't take care of business. And I wonder if you've... We haven't gotten there yet, but if you've gotten any ideas about how to get the real, real change that I think needs to happen. If that means making the jail facility smaller and putting it a different investment in the facility so that you can separate some of the more serious offenders. I'm not in the business of running jails, so I wonder if you, you've got an opinion on that.

Boy, do I have an opinion, Senator Caballero. And it's an opinion that again, I'm going to defer over to our jail Commander Corral. If there's something that keeps him up at night, which in turn then keeps me up at night from all of his text messages, it is the medical services in our jail and lack thereof, to be honest with you. And now we are in a current battle with behavioral health services in our jail in San Benito County.

The behavioral health system on the local level. I'll paint this with a broad brush, which I don't normally like to do, but they don't really like to help the incarcerated population. I'm just going to be frank. And I don't know why that is, but I know that in our own community, it's happening to us where we need help and they don't want to help us in our jail facility or our juvenile facility, to be honest.

And so we are in a mad dash right now to try to reconcile a contract with very limited medical providers that exist in the State of California that don't perform well. And so, and we're running up against the bureaucracy of our own county, who's not county council, the board, they're not understanding the gravity of what's going to happen if we lose somebody in our custody.

Again, to go back to what I said to Senator Laird, when someone comes into our facility, they should leave better than they came in. Take that away. They should leave when it's time for them to leave. Someone should not check into a correctional facility and then not come out. So we've had that happen in San Benito County.

I will just tell you for us, one was a suicide and one was a death of natural causes. The suicide ones are really difficult because we lost a staff member over it, who is just so broken up over the incident, thinking that they should have, could have, would have done more, which in this instance, it's all on video. There's nothing they could have done.

But maybe on the front end, on the behavioral health sides, more could have been done. Right? And so that's a struggle that we have internally is making sure that we're giving the level of care to the people that are captive in that building, that don't have autonomy of choice.

They don't get to choose what doctor they see, who prescribes the medication. If we don't like our family doctor, we can go to somebody else. They get who we give them. And if we're giving them substandard people, they're going to get substandard treatment.

And what it really comes down to, again, I don't want to sound like a broken record. I don't want to make an excuse for you. It's funding because we're in talks right now. We just went out to RFP on February 1st for a new medical provider. I am going to fight tooth and nail to make the county pay for the best health care. Not the cheapest. They're going to want to pay for the cheapest, which is what we've done in San Benito County for a long time and other counties, too.

And so I think that when you take the mental health and behavioral health aspect, which is so prevalent because so many people come into our facilities that are suffering from addiction from other behavioral and mental health issues, and that's really what we're lacking locally in San Benito County, what we're fighting for.

We only had a number of hours per week dedicated to us. And we need robust services in our jail for our population. So I apologize for the long... It's a very complex topic. It's very close to my heart because we are dealing with it right now. And on the flip side of that, there are people from all walks of life that come into custody. There are people that are extremely healthy and people that are not. They are already, for lack of a better term, on death's door. And some of it is like we have...

We and other sheriffs have appealed to our justices to do compassionate release to let people that are so medically compromised that they should be released to be when their families at the end of life. And I'll just tell you, locally, we were asking for a compassionate release that didn't happen and the person passed in our facility.

So there's some of that too. And so it's those things. But I will tell you, standing up the new in custody death review in the BSCC under Allison's direction and it's just getting going and I have... She's done such phenomenal work as a field representative and a phenomenal pick to take this on.

She already has a relationship with the sheriffs in the State of California. There's a trust already there. And I'm hoping that as we move forward, we're all open to the oversight, especially when someone passes in our custody. Because like I said, for the families that have someone come into custody, you never expect it. That's it.

That's the last time you're going to see them. And we really need to be compassionate about that and take everybody into consideration and make sure that we're given the highest level of care we can and being willing to pay for it because everybody deserves the best level of care we can give.

Well, I appreciate your answer because I couldn't agree with you more. I just think that the challenge with mental health services is that there aren't enough to go around. And the number one issue when I go in to talk to teenagers in the academic setting is that they want access to counselors, just to be able to talk to someone. They go to school pretty, pretty stressed from whatever it is that's happening in their personal life at home. And so that's a real change over the years.

And I can only imagine what it's like in the jail system. The problem is that behavioral health will give you two hours here and an hour there. And then they show up late and there's not enough time. And so I hear you. I hear the insistence on a good RFP that will bring you some good resources in and good luck to you. And that's our job, is to figure out how can we come up alongside you and make your job work. And I'm really glad to hear that the review of the data in regards to deaths in the correctional facilities, that we're going to get real information.

And I will tell you, just to add a couple things, if I may. So for one, I am confident that there has been a shift in mentality, at least in police work. Maybe it's been longer in probation for our friends that had kind of a different outlook on things. But for us, if you would have talked to me 15 years ago about adverse childhood experiences led to somebody doing something violent on the street, it wouldn't have meant anything to me. But those things are proven that they're real and they mean something now.

And I can promise you, especially in our local community that you have been so supportive of, we have a group of young men and women working in our facilities and on the streets right now that are the most compassionate, tolerant, accepting police officers and deputy sheriffs I've ever seen.

And so I really do think that we're at a point where we can turn a corner if we can get the support, financial support, because I really do think we have staff that want to do it, and they do believe that children that are asking for mental health services should get them. Adults that are asking for that should get them. Because for so long it was taboo and definitely in public safety, you never talked about it.

It's true. I have one quick more question, and thank you for that answer. I do appreciate it. The other issue that concerned about, obviously, is the realignment sent youth back to the counties. And the challenge is that some counties have handled it better than others, and maybe there's some best practices.

But my concern is the LA example of them not meeting the standards and then swishing students away or young people away when a review was happening of the facility as a way to not have them around. And so I guess the question I have, chief, is what is working and what isn't working, and what are the changes we need to make to that system? Because I truly believe your numbers are impressive in terms of keeping students from reoffending to much more serious offenses.

And the more that we can do that, the better it is. But if you're in a facility where it's not meeting standards, the possibility that you're having a good experience is very, very low. And that, again, breeds this contempt and disrespect for the system and not likely to see change.

Thank you for the question, Senator. And I think you're exactly right. You're right on track. When I think about the LA example, you know, it's been, you know, since I've been on the board, since 21, that has really been an ongoing issue that the board has been working with LA on. I think one of the biggest things that we've seen there is it's a, it's a retention and recruitment of staffing. I think that is probably the biggest challenge that Los Angeles has had over the years, and they still are working to try to remedy that.

Without the ability to be able to properly staff a facility, you can't do programming, you can't get kids to school, you can't get them to medical, you can't have visiting, all these different things that are required under Title 15 that happen under program and exercise.

If you're not properly staffed or if you don't have the correctly trained staff to be able to do that kind of work, you're going to continue to have problems. And so I think that has been the biggest issue that we've seen. And you're right, LA has tried to come up with some solutions that I think have been just temporary band aid solutions, but really to get to the core of what needs to be done is they need full... I've said this from the dais at the BSCC.

It can't be just the chief probation officer trying to figure this out. All hands in Los Angeles, from the Board of Supervisors to public health to behavioral health to local law enforcement. It has to be a solution that Los Angeles is going to have to come up with. It needs to be one that's resolved where young people can feel safe, families can feel safe that their young people are there. Some of the things that we've had to do, we've had to bring probation officers in to help out with staffing as well.

I don't think that's unique to many of the departments across the state. Now how you deploy that and how do you work with your unions to make sure that you can work with them and understand that there's a bigger need than some of the needs that I know that some of the unions have.

You have to have that ability to do that. So that means county HR working with the department to try to figure out where are those kind of solutions. Because at the end of the day we really want to make sure that kids come home too. We want them to be able to come home as well. And so I think, as you know, I think the work that our staff has done at the BSCC to be able to provide the technical assistance that is needed in LA, I think it's huge.

I think it's something that it's a unique situation in LA and is not indicative of what we've seen across the rest of the state. But I'll tell you, we're dedicated to make sure that we can help to provide the assistance to LA to be able to come up with a long term solution.

Well, I'm glad to hear it's not endemic of the rest of the state and with all the universities they have right there, you think they could get some assistance in doing some training and bringing in young folks to help do some of the... Well, to learn the job and to be part of the solution as well. So I thank you for that answer. I really appreciate it.

Thank you, Senator.

Thank you so much, Senator. Please, Senator Jones.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, gentlemen. I think most of my questions and concerns have been answered. I just want to say, you know, first and foremost, thank you for your introductions, your individual stories of what brought you here and your desire to continue to serve. And then on that note, thank you.

You don't have to take on this additional responsibility, but I appreciate the answers that you've given today, the demeanor that you've shown, the history that, obviously looking at your resumes and accolades, you both have built a very sound and well done career up to this point in time and look forward to your continued service to our state and our citizens. And thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Leader Jones. Hearing from all of the Committee Members, what we'd like to be able to do. And again, gentlemen, thank you so much for your testimony today. Thank you for the back and forth. We're very grateful for that. What we'd like to be able to do is open up public comment. We're going to ask individuals if you'd like to be able to speak in support. We're looking for those who are in support of the sheriff and the chief, if you could please come forward to the podium. Now.

We respectfully request that you keep your comments to 30 seconds. If you're within an organization, if you could please state that organization and of course, please provide your first and last name, first and last name organization and Salzillo, it is all you.

Mr. Chair and Members, thank you very much. Cory Salzillo on behalf of the California State Sheriff's Association in support of Sheriff Taylor's nomination. Thank you.

Good to see you, Salzillo. Thank you so much for being here. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Chair and Members. Danielle Sanchez on behalf of the Chief Probation Officers of California, very pleased and in strong support of the appointment of Chief Haynes to the BSCC. As you've heard today, Chief Haynes has extensive experience across the probation profession, so I won't go into that.

I do want to reserve my comments though to say that Chief Haynes, his work within the profession, his department, and through the BSCC, really reflects such a strong foundation and leadership. Chief Haynes really exemplifies all of the types of values and approaches that we look for in our public safety leaders. He's incredibly thoughtful and engaged, collaborative, looks at research to guide practices and reduce inequities.

Encourages a constant and continual look at practices about how are we delivering services to meet that shared community safety mission and also really focus on how do we make sure that we are rehabilitating individuals in a way that prevents and reduces revictimization and re-offense. The work done by the BSCC is obviously incredibly impactful.

We also know and as was said here today, can be very difficult and challenging conversations. But Chief Haynes and the other board members have really navigated those in such an important way to really, again, move both the profession and our State of California forward. So it is this commitment, expertise, and leadership that grounds this thoughtful approach to fulfilling the duties of being a BSCC board member and CPOC is certainly pleased to support him today. Thank you.

Ms. Sanchez, thank you so much. It's good to see you. Very grateful for your testimony. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. Thank you, chair, committee, and staff. Ryan Morimune with the California State Association of Counties, here on behalf of all 58 counties. Just really briefly would like to, you know, voice our support for Chief Haynes as well as Sheriff Taylor for their exceptional work in their respective counties as well as beyond and look forward to the continual leadership in the role on the BSCC. Thank you.

Mr. Morimune, thank you so much. Grateful for your testimony. We're going to do a last call for those who may be in support. If you could please step forward at this time. Last call for those who are in support. If you could please step forward. All right, hearing and seeing no one rise. We'd like to be able to see if there's anyone here in opposition. If you could please come forward at this time. We're now looking for opposition. If you could please step forward. All right, see no one rise. We're going to bring it back to committee.

We'd like to be able to see if there's any last minute questions, comments from this committee. We will also request a motion as well. We have a motion by Madam Vice Chair for Board Member Taylor and we have a motion also to approve Board Member Haynes as well. Any additional discussion? Hearing and seeing none. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[Roll Call]

5-0 vote. Motion passes. Gentlemen, thank you, Chief, very, very grateful. Sheriff, thank you so much. Next step will be the Senate Floor for a final confirmation vote. We're appreciative of you. Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, those who are in the hearing room, we're going to take a 60 second pause. We're going to request Secretary Johnson to please come forward. We'll get Secretary Johnson some water. We are grateful for the secretary being here. We're going to take a 60 second pause.

Tell the sheriff to say hi to the judge for me. Let me see if I can grab him real quick before he walks out the door.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Committee, and those in the hearing room, we're going to get started in 30 seconds. 30 seconds, please.

All right. Welcome back. Thank you all for hanging with us. Secretary Johnson, thank you so much for your patience as well. We are grateful that you are in front of us today.

We are going to be advancing the discussion on a potential appointment of Kim Johnson as Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, one of the most critical and candidly largest in the State of California. We're grateful for your work, ma'am. Truly appreciate the opportunity to be able to have our conversation.

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule. Madam Secretary, we're going to provide three minutes for an opening statement. During that three minutes, we respectfully request you acknowledge any individual or individuals here in the room watching online. What we'll do then, open it up, questions, comments from Committee, collaborative conversation.

We'll then open for public comment from the rest of the hearing room. Madam Secretary, it's good to see you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. The floor is yours.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and Members. I'd like to begin by thanking the Governor for this incredible opportunity and honor to serve the people of California in this leadership capacity. I want to thank my family, friends, mentors and colleagues for taking the time to be here today and thank those who are joining virtually.

I especially want to recognize my incredible father, three children, and two grandchildren for their continued love and support who are watching virtually. I also want to thank my life partner and Wonderful husband of 25 years who's here in person.

And finally, I also want to honor my mother who passed away from cancer at the age of 44 and is part of the why I do this work.

The mission of the California Health and Human Services Agency is to work together with counties, cities, and communities, as well as our public, private, faith, and educational partners to make California a healthy, vibrant, inclusive place to live, play, work, and learn. And this mission is consistent with my purpose and service.

Governor Newsom has prioritized a healthier California addressing housing and homelessness, mental health for all, and belonging, an improved economy, and transparency, and accountability in delivering progress. I served as Director of the California Department of Social Services for five years, delivering on these priorities.

During this time, California made progress, ensuring millions of vulnerable Californians had essential resources in community crisis, in reducing entries into foster care, keeping families together whenever possible. Increased housing stability and integration of housing, health, and social services for older adults, families, and individuals with disabilities. Reduced food insecurity, increased access to child care and development programs furthered economic stability and mobility opportunities for those experiencing poverty, as well as those in the workforce, providing critical resources in need, immigrant integration, and more.

These achievements would not be possible without the collaboration of those with lived experience, community-based organizations, local government, the legislature, various workforce sectors, advocates, and many additional partners. I'm eager to take these experiences and apply them to further improve the affordability, accessibility, and quality of the health and human service array for the people of California. Thank you.

Secretary Johnson. Thank you so much and for your long time dedicated service to the State of California. And I had to say, during some of the toughest times, let's be candid, right? And grateful that you're here.

Let's open it up to the Committee to be able to see if there's questions or comments from the Committee at this time. Senator Caballero, the floor is yours.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you for being here today. Sorry you're ending up at the end of the agenda, but we are happy that you're here.

You know, one of the issues that I've done a lot of work on, and thank you for the opportunity to talk yesterday and to really review a number of areas that are of concern to me. But one of the things that I've done a lot of work over the years is on affordable housing.

I'm a big homeownership advocate. But the rise in homelessness has really overshadowed almost everything. And you know, the Legislature has created a number of, well, we have multiple opportunities for investment in affordable housing. And one of the investments is on the Interagency Council on Homelessness. And I wonder if?

Well, and so the challenge is we created that council and since the council's inception, homelessness has only gotten worse.

Some, I think, successes have been recorded in some communities, but I don't get a sense that we know what the best practices are or that anybody has done such an outstanding job that we can point to that and say, you know, they're going in the right direction and in a year or two years or five years, they'll eliminate it.

And we pretend that we can get rid of homelessness, but given our poverty rate and the struggles of working people to be able to afford a roof over their head, I'm worried. And the fastest growing population is seniors, and we know that the senior population is going to increase substantially by 2040. So I wonder if you've got.

There's a lot of thoughts around that, and I wonder if you've got an opinion on any of that or you've got suggestions for things we might do a little bit differently at the state level that provides us with the maximum possibility of success.

Thank you very much for your question, Senator, and agree that there's more work to be done in this space given all the things that you've outlined. A few things here. One, I would say that the Interagency Council on Homelessness' role and responsibilities have evolved over time and changed over time.

And so while in its original form, it did grant making, for example, that's a different it's not there anymore. It's kind of been deferred to the departments within the Business Consumer Service Housing Agency. So the role and the strength of that council really is the interdepartmental and interagency collaborative.

To your point, we have a master plan on aging. Housing is a prominent feature and goal within that master plan. How are the goals and strategies outlined in that plan and the Interagency Councils on Homelessness plan aligning?

How are we thinking through comprehensively how the integration of health and social services and housing makes the more long lasting impact and stability? I've had the great fortune of administering several housing and homelessness programs at the Department of Social Services in my previous capacity.

And each one of them evolved having a population focus specific to supporting people in disrupting poverty, but had additives of housing to them, recognizing how challenging that would be to really create those greater outcomes without that being stable.

And so again, I think the Interagency Council on Homelessness is really trying to bring the totality of California's resources to bear, recognizing the integration points that have to happen and how do we at the state, facilitate and streamline processes so at the local level that's less burdensome and people are planning locally to determine how to take these funds and these population-specific programs and really blend and braid them to make them work collectively.

Also looking at single and unified applications, for example, looking at reporting processes, a big portion of the Council's recent work has also been related to data. How are we clear related to the outcomes and delivery of both how we are preventing entry into homelessness as well as what programs are actually helping people exit into permanent stable housing.

So I think we are at a place now with the Council where the data is getting better and it's also more robust, inclusive of those other programs, which is critical to be able to really understand what's working and what's not.

We are just recently adopting at the Interagency Council an action plan that really ties everything I've just said together, but with also the affordable housing development as a key component. We have to have housing to navigate to. Right? At the local level to make this realized. So it really does take the collective approach.

Also, I would mention in the governor's January 10th budget there's a proposal for Business Consumer Services and Housing Agency to separate and have a standalone housing agency and have the other programs aligned.

And again, the intent of that is to have that focused space and look at how then the Interagency Council on Homelessness and this agency really again intersect to make a deeper progress.

I want to also say that we, good news, in the latest point in time count, which is one way in which we measure homelessness across the state. We are in California, outperforming the rest of the nation in terms of the decrease in veteran homelessness, we held stable in Los Angeles.

And of course, I say that, that was out at the end of last year. And now of course we've had the horrific and very devastating fires that have occurred in Los Angeles that will take additional effort for the recovery and support. But we are all hands-on in that effort as well.

So again, I think we always want to be able to be transparent and accountable to delivery. And I think that is probably, in addition to actually seeing the change each and every day when we wake up and walk outside of our door, we want to see the changes that we're making with the investments that we have.

And I think that's significant. Part of our recent investments at California Health and Human Services Agency are also to really very, very intentionally focus on those with the greatest behavioral health needs. That's the CARE Act, that's Proposition 1.

And a number of additional investments that both the voters and Legislature, the administration have agreed to really focus in on that population. But that's not the only population that's still experiencing homelessness.

So again, I think we are going to be in a very different place than we have been in the past to really understand the delivery of the outcomes of the various efforts and investments we have.

And then also then course correct where we need to in terms of how we invest and provide support to local communities going forward.

The only other thing I would say is that the data is key. There was also a state audit in the space of homelessness a couple of years ago that spoke to the need for more data and accountability to look to be able to know, what is the results of the investments that have been made to date in that audit?

Two programs were identified as having those outcome delivery places. One of them was the CalWORKS Housing Support Program. Which again I supported at the Department of Social Services. So we could tell you six months post exit of the program who is still stably housed had outcomes that 85, 90% still stably housed six months later.

So again, it is from my perspective the integration that makes all the difference in the world for the stability and longer term outcomes to end homelessness in California.

Well that's, I really appreciate that. And I guess the one caution that I raised because what we have done is created more funds. Every time we see an issue, we create a different fund and they're housed in a bunch of different places. And the challenge is trying to get a handle on which is really working, right?

If we're putting out billions of dollars, what are we getting for it? Does anybody stay housed for a significant amount of time? And when somebody talks about investing more money in a bureaucracy, and I'm not denigrating the bureaucracy, I'm just saying let's build more.

There was a Bill a couple of years ago to create a Housing Czar and I just thought, we already know what the issues are, why are we creating?

That's a person who's got to have a couple of staff members, who then has to have a researcher who then is going to receive money or, you know, and so all of a sudden we're growing this bureaucracy. If there's a purpose, then it makes sense. But I'd rather see the money go into sticks in the ground.

And that's when I was serving on local government. We were giving lots of money to nonprofits, but we weren't getting any units. And so we created a first-time homebuyers program to give it directly to people so that they could go out and buy property.

So I caution against just increasing the bureaucracy and coming, but I really like the action plan and making the grants align better.

Because if you've got to do a grant application separate for every fund and then an attorney has to review the paperwork and the contract that comes back with the fund, you're spending a lot of money on overhead.

And so the more that gets into the pockets of homeowners to be able to buy or renters to be able to rent, I think that's the way to go. And I really appreciate it.

I had some concerns about this interagency council because I hadn't seen enough of the data that you're talking about and it concerned me and I'm glad to hear it's coming and that there's a framework for it. Thank you very much for that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you so much, Madam Senator, thank you. Anyone else? I know I have a couple. Okay. Senator Jones.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Secretary Johnson, for coming. Thank you for meeting with me last week. And I think I can be brief. This afternoon I kind of shared with you my concerns regarding the Department of State hospitals and the Sexually Violent Predator Conditional Release Program. We discussed the audit that was just completed in the fall.

And I just wanted, you know, you shared some things with me last week. I just wanted to give you an opportunity, if there's anything that you want to share publicly about that and, you know, maybe some steps forward that we can work together to make sure that that program is, first of all, keeping Californians safe and second of all, accomplishing the goals that it should be accomplishing.

Thank you very much, Senator Jones, appreciate our discussion as well and agree in our shared overarching goal of making sure communities are safe in this experience. And so again, as a result of the audit, we've taken a few different steps at the Department of State Hospitals.

One, I want to just say that the effectiveness of the program, really, this is a court ordered and established order assessment to be able to ensure that those sexually violent predators are able to be released into community. And we talked a lot about just having increased oversight of the contractors who are responsible for that.

When an individual is released into community, they also have conditions that are set forth by the courts, and part of the contractor's responsibility is to ensure those conditions are met.

So when we see any individual changing from being in the community placement potentially back to a state hospital, for example, that is the system working, that is saying there's something that's been flagged. We talked a little bit about treatment services too.

And what we're really doing at the state hospitals is really creating strategies to really contain the behaviors that have been occurring. And again, that's the process by which we're assessing. Are the changes still in place and occurring? So I think there's a lot more we can also think about.

We talked a little bit about costs of the contractor and are there ways that we can think about the services in more discrete segments so we can have additional people potentially bidding on the contract and what's being offered.

But again, glad to see that overarchingly the better outcomes are there for the in public safety compared to those who did not participate in the program. So in that case, it is working. And again, the oversight enhancements that we continue to do will be part of how we ensure that that safety is realized for communities.

Thank you. And I do want to say that I was encouraged by our conversation. And, you know, it's no secret here I'm very critical of that program. And I'm hoping that working with you moving forward, I can become less critical and the program can become more successful. So thank you.

Appreciate it. Looking forward to working with you, Senator. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Mr. Leader, we're going to go to Madam Vice Chair then, please, Senator Laird, after that.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I really appreciate the time that you spent with me, yes monday, and I know it was a little chaotic because you had to come to the Capitol Building instead of the swing space, but we did accommodate an office. So thank you, Madam Secretary, for that.

I think Monday we spent a lot of time on your previous position because when I found out that you're involved in social services, foster youth, at-risk kids, like all of that is my, like, where my heart and my passion lie.

And so I do want to follow up on a question about your current job that you are at instead of your previous one, which we spent significant time on that Senator Caballero asked you, and it's, you know, regarding another agency, the. The Interagency Council of the of the Homeless.

And again, I felt the same, roughly like my colleague from the other part of the Central Valley felt when you. It's another agency, another bureaucratic agency. But I do know that you guys put forth an action plan and I did get some information regarding it. And what's with the statutory changes that we've put through this building.

How do you see that reporting and accountability for homeless programs? Because there's a lot of information, specifically in LA, which is going to change drastically now. But before the fires, it was like this agency dealt with this agency, you dealt with this agency, we dealt with this agency, and very little resources and input or wraparound services or delivery of services went to the actual impacted homeless individual. So what are your thoughts about changing that? How are you going to actually impact the impacted homeless person?

Thank you for that question, Senator Grove. I agreed that the funding and investments that we've made need to be realized on the ground to the people who we're aiming to reach and appreciate that as a goal.

You know, I really think that one of the first data integration and data sharing projects that the council has worked on was an intersection between one of our programs in the delivery of social services. So you heard me speak to integration.

When we're seeing the connection for someone who is suffering with a substance use disorder or someone who does have a severe behavioral health condition. And we're seeing that addressed in tandem with the supports for housing. The outcomes that are being realized are so much greater.

And I think as we're looking at data and we're able to really understand and unpack where we're seeing the outcomes in delivery, we have to also understand what the intervention was.

And while we have programs that are focused on populations or significant conditions or demographics of what a particular group is experiencing, we have to understand the duration of the service, what kind of service was offered.

But also at I think we're being mindful that to really support populations, we have to meet them where they are in their journey and be able to individualize and be flexible in terms of how we support them. Maybe it is a shallow rental subsidy that's going to help that older adult be prevented from homelessness, right?

We have to have essentially a toolbox or a set of resources that can be at the disposal, at the ready of the locals to be able to deploy to the person in the moment. And that's what we're striving for. And I think we'll be able to have a different level of understanding of how those interventions are coming to to bear.

We've not only done things like case navigation and management and social service integration, but we've also been building, which is again, I emphasize and underscore and appreciate very much sister agencies and departments who are focused on that goal too.

Because again, we have to have not only new affordable housing options, but long term care supports, adult and senior care settings as has been part of community care expansion. We have to have more permanent supportive housing units that have that integrated service on site. So we again, we have to have the whole continuum also available locally.

So our funds have been going to building bricks and mortar so I can anticipate more ribbon cuttings. I know many have been opening. So we're seeing new capacity being stood up on the ground each and every day. And that needs to be realized over all the investments that we've made to date.

So I think we are going to be able to again kind of with the expanded capacity, the integration on the ground and the data, be able to really understand the delivery and see it as we experience it in our communities.

Thank you. Another housing question I had, I was at a nonprofit organization where individuals had taken advantage of Roomkey or Homekey, whatever it was. And one of the issues that really had them, I said, how did that work for you? You know, we were talking about it because they were at this organization for three months going to school. One just got accepted to a CNA program, getting, you know, it's a successful program.

And I asked them why they struggled so much with this and this program that they had that we operated as a state. One of the things that all of them mentioned to me is that they had to move every 28 days. They followed people in the rooms or from hotel to hotel every 28 days. And they said it had to do as residency law. Like, they couldn't stay more than 28 days for eviction purposes.

So, like, if we were all homeless on this dais, I would follow Ms. Contreras to the next hotel, who would follow Mr. McGuire. So we weren't in the same place for more than 28 days. If you don't have that information available and it's something that's new to you, please let me know.

And if it's something that we could fix, because picking up two kids and a stroller and all your belongings and, you know, going to school and trying to get your life back together and then having to pack up all your stuff and move, you know, I'll go this way because then I have to clean up after Mr. Laird in his room, and I'm moving my kids into his room.

Okay, so there was those kind of issues, and I just wanted to just ask your thoughts on that. I can tell it's something that hasn't been brought to your attention. I'm totally good with that. But I know that you're a solution-orientated person and you're a transparent person, and you'll get me that information.

Glad to follow up with you, Senator. And I could completely agree with the disruption being very challenging. It's not what we want. We want continuity and stability. That helps. It makes a difference.

And it could be an issue that we passed for, you know, rental protections and this, you know, could be a legislative issue. I haven't had a chance to research it. Just met with them yesterday. It was something that was brought up to me. We talked a lot about financially distressed hospitals.

Obviously, again, my colleague, Ms. Caballero, Senator Caballero, had the same issue that I do in the rural communities with financially distressed hospitals, Medi-Cal reimbursement rates, how we talk about wall time, standby time, maternity wards, all of those things. We had extensive conversations over that.

And I love your thought process on how to solve some of those problems, especially with our rural communities that don't have access to great healthcare because of the funding situation and especially in maternity wards. I did have this question for you regarding that.

Last year the OHCA established a statewide rule of like 3.5% of spending target for all healthcare providers. Over time it's going to go to 3% and without knowing the full impact of that reduction, it's going to go down to 1.7, possibly 1.9 is the range that I've been given.

With OHCA, the analysis. Has there been an analysis that's done on the impact? Because again, I'm not speaking from somebody who represents San Francisco and has a, you know, major hospital facility.

I'm talking about rural hospitals, Valley Children's Hospital in the Central Valley, Ridge Crest Hospital, the Kaweah Hospital, because it's rural and we serve a great population of Medi-Cal recipients, higher population than any place else in the state, and the reimbursement rates.

So my concern is, is that if a hospital is their margins are being reduced to 1.9% and they have to come up with the millions upon millions of dollars of seismic how do they do that?

And if they have to come up with the additional resources for compliance for CSTs, what we call CSTs or security people at the doors, gun magnetometers, all those things like how do you manage already in a financially stressed situation and you're capping the target sector, hospital revenue or profit?

I guess it's not profit, but 1.9, 1.7 to 1.9, and then still plan for these very expensive things that the Legislature is passing. So can you give me your thoughts on that?

Sure. Thank you, Senator, for that question. And I want to just say that the spending targets that are being offered through the Healthcare Affordability Board are based on average growth of medium household incomes, kind of signaling that health care spending should not grow faster than the incomes of California families. That's the basic frame.

That's the basic frame for the spending targets. And again, in the absolute spirit of also ensuring that the quality of care remains or even improves as things are going forward, I think what you're raising around the relationship of hospital expenses and expenditures and rates hit on a few different things.

One, we have through the passage of the voters, Proposition 35, where we'll be talking about both the, now permanent, MCO tax, but how we're actually looking at the rate adjustments. Right? We're in the process.

The Advisory Committee has just been appointed for that body and we'll be working with the Department of Healthcare Services, with that advisory body to determine how any changes will happen in terms of rates. So that touches a little bit on, on the rates issue that you're raising.

Also though, I think the, the piece that I have really appreciated in my first few months in the role in, in my work with this particular board is transparency. Having better visibility on what the expenses have been in hospitals, understanding and unpacking why they're so varied from different hospital.

We just identified hospitals as a sector in our just last board meeting and I think that's the root. So yes, we are aiming to create this spending target, but we're also through data transparency and the healthcare payments database that's now up trying to really understand why there's variance.

Certainly, hospitals who are focused with UCs or children's hospitals are serving more traumatic needs. We can understand and unpack that, but at a base level, that's what we're trying to get to the root of and really understand that it's true for also the distressed loans program that you've referenced.

It's giving us a different visibility to understand the root cause of what the issues are. And I think that again is going to lead us to the solutions that we craft together. But I also would just say to your points of access in rural areas, we have to keep working at this. We have to be innovative again.

We talked a bit about how we're utilizing. We now have in Medi-Cal the ability for doulas to be out and going to homes as opposed to individuals having to come to a hospital setting. We're going to have to be varied in our approaches to make sure we're meeting the needs of each individual.

And I think there's more work for us to do, particularly in rural communities on that front.

Okay, and then just to follow up because if I missed it in your response, I apologize. On the Office of Healthcare Affordability, have you guys done an analysis to assure that these targets detrimentally impact or create access challenges to our already financially distressed hospitals?

And again, I'll give you my three month window as I'm still kind of being onboarded into the space. I know there's been a lot of conversation in the first two years of this board just related to that.

A lot of information sharing related to data and understanding how there are a few other states who have set spending targets that we've learned from in their experience. I certainly know that hospitals have expressed some concerns about being able to meet targets and that's a conversation that we're having.

But again, we have really significant health cost increases overarchingly as well as with even like pharmaceuticals for example. That's why we together came up with CalRx and being able to create some of our own solutions to bring cost affordability in line.

So, this is going to be a continued conversation for us to both really ensure that the rates in all components are adequately insufficient to get the levels of care that we expect for ourselves and others in the community, but also that the cost expenses aren't astronomically out of line with others.

And right now there's a lot of variants and we again, are learning to unpack that and really understand it. So I think there'll be much more conversation. And the sector targets are set for 25-26 and 27. But we will be revisiting that as we go forward and really trying to understand the impact.

The impact is not to. The intent is not to make it harder to provide service. It is to try to contain costs and really understand how we can be a driver in that experience.

And I realize that you only get to control a piece of it, right? You're trying to make sure that cost containments. And I realize the other piece falls within our purview about passing legislation that increase cost to hospitals that have to be managed and covered. So regardless of what it is. And so I do.

I understand that you have that just one piece and we control the other piece. And I apologize. Sometimes, we send things to you that are almost impossible to handle. But on behalf of just me or on behalf of the pro tip. Okay. Anyways, you have a tough job, so I just want to make sure I bring that again to your forefront that, you know, we're setting this target and we have no data that says that we're not going to have some unintended consequences because we set this target.

And so, I just want to make sure that I keep that on your front burner. But thank you, it was a pleasure to meet with you. I really love your heart, and I think you're going to do a great job. I was really worried about the person that would take Dr. Galli's place—I really was. When I got that text from him, I was like, "No! You know, no, you have to stay.

And he assured me that you—well, he actually made it sound like you would do a better job than he did. And that is very hard for me to believe, I'm just saying. But coming from Dr. Galli, I think that speaks volumes about the job you will do in this new position.

Thank you, Senator. Appreciate it.

Thank you so much. Madam Vice Chair Chair, let's go to Senator Laird, please.

Thank you. It's ironic because she's, Senator Grove is saying that we sent a lot of horrible things for you to implement, but she never voted for any of them. That's the irony in that statement.

Going last. Actually, most things have been covered and I would just drill down on a couple and I too, have rural hospitals and we talked about that and I'm grateful to Senator Grove for commandeering the room off the the floor so that we could meet at our scheduled time, even though we were in recess.

And I just would congratulate you because the head of the Department of Social Services is not usually the promotional track secretary's job. And that's a strong statement in itself.

Let me just follow up on one thing about the Office of Health Care Affordability. We talked about all the things here, but we talked about the fact that Monterey County has been a particular issue there. There have been suggestions that the highest hospital costs in the state are in Monterey County.

And there was an original target that was set that was different than the other counties. And then, I know you Chair the Board, Health Care Affordability, it was revised. And it's interesting because I think it's a window into your process about how you do analysis and based on the facts.

Shift. And I don't want to completely bore everybody else, but if you could just talk a little bit about how that process happened.

Sure. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Laird. Yes. So just before the transition, so I unfortunately missed the window. I was still director of Social Services at the time of the OHCA board meeting that was held in Monterey. There was a kind of an outpouring of community from Monterey as the board has been established asking the board to really look in and dig into the expenses of their hospitals and their experience with, with unaffordability that they've had.

So the board not only was taking that public comment into the conversations, but actually went and held a meeting in Monterey County. And I think over the course of the next several meetings that I was a part of the conversation was how will the board decide what sectors, what actually constitutes a sector to set targets.

And there were some conversations. Should actually Monterey have its very own target based on again the data and we'd had... That's again, I should share in those, in that analysis. The data is not only coming from the state staff who are working on this project and working with Health Care Access and Information, but it's also coming with external evaluators and reviewers and researchers to give us information and help us analyze what's happening.

So the board was considering that it was one of the options kind of laid out for the board to consider and ultimately agreed upon that hospitals would be the target that would be set. There's still some conversation to be had within hospitals is a very large sector, but within that are there other things that the board would like to consider?

And in our last meeting, the other conversation that the board had was let's just spend some time with some of the kind of outlying hospitals and costs to really sit down and understand better what those costs are. So that's our next course of action to do as we're getting and digging in deeper and kind of looking at any kind of other sub site sectors within hospitals as we go forward.

But the really, the public outcry paired with the data led us to have that conversation about Monterey. So I think there's much more conversation to be had again as we move forward. But overarchingly, again, the affordability issues are real and we understand those and want to work in partnership with hospitals to see what we can do to make an impact.

I appreciate that and I think that appreciated the discussion with Senator Grove because they're overall concerns about this. But I think the case study of drilling down on an individual area and really looking at the factors and deciding whether they match is an important exercise in convincing people that this system either works or won't.

And so I just appreciate the fact that that's going on. The other thing I thought I would ask about and we talked about it was the Office of AIDS and there had been an issue there, I've lost track of when. And I know an audit is going on and when we talked, I was just looking for your assurance you were going to get on top of this.

And you have it, Senator.

Great. That's my kind of exchange. Thank you very much. And I look forward to working with you. And I know that I'm hoping to eventually have a Select Committee on Older LGBT Californians. And there was a Department of Aging study that I look forward to working with you on and possibly even having a hearing on to sort of discuss if there's next steps that we have to take out of that report.

Would be glad to. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

That has been a priority for Senator Laird for quite some time and we are finally getting there, sir.

Yeah. Since before I was older.

Nice. There we go. Grateful for the leadership on that, Senator Laird. I'm going to be quick. We had an opportunity to be able to sit down, and I just want to reiterate a couple of items. I think you've heard bipartisan concern on, and I understand what you have said, Madam Secretary, that I'm paraphrasing here.

You think that the Housing and Homeless Agency, along with the Interagency Interagency Council on Homelessness, they're all going to work. I think that there is some concern, at least I can say here on this dais and with the Senate, that having yet another agency that are focusing on both bleeding into one another is an area for alarm and especially when we want to be able to move quick. So you have said that that is on your radar.

I don't want to kick the dog underneath the dias again. But just it is something that we are going to be watching. Obviously we're going to this is longer term in regards to budget but the HHAP funds, which is going to be absolutely critical. And this is something that were the Senate prioritized last year that billion dollars for homeless housing, which we're going to need to continue to move on. I won't go there, as I know that we had a good conversation on that.

I think the other piece is on Medi-Cal for all, and I get that some may want to talk about immigrants as second class citizens or undocumented residents, but proud of the work that California has done. 46% of all ag workers in the state are undocumented and work harder than I do each and every day and now have an ability to seek benefits, health benefits for their kids and for their families. And I think that is an issue that we'd like to be able to keep in close contact on.

In the first administration, President Trump, I thought, I think we saw a decrease of about 5% and would anticipate that that is going to go further. And what we know is those long term deferrals that go into a dock will ultimately drive up the cost for the taxpayer here in the state.

I think it's also critical to note they kick in about 9.5 billion in local and state taxes every year. So I know that's an issue that you are continuing to monitor, and I'm not trying to be political in this hearing, but just it is an issue and the fear is real within the community.

Yeah, no, thank you. Thank you very much, Pro tem Chair. A couple things I would just say is California is at its lowest uninsured rate of health access ever. And we have... So we've been doing a lot right. Between Covered California and Medi-Cal expansions. And that's just tremendous.

And I think it also shows our wisdom and experience, particularly with COVID, where we really do understand and appreciate the connection to each other and how the health of your grandmother at home is dependent on the health of the clerk at the store. And really we are connected and tied and want to ensure all California residents and our children and all and our elders are supported in these efforts. So we're grateful to have made this progress on health access, and we'll absolutely be in touch as there's any potential changes to those proposals going forward.

But hopefully health is a bipartisan issue that we can embrace and we are hopeful that we will be able to work with the federal administration on that front. If I can just make one clarification on the housing, it is that the council would still be in place, but the agency would be separate between business, consumer services, and housing. So it's not another, it's a bifurcation of one that's existing and then the council. But again, I appreciate what you're flagging in terms of the ability to really understand what the value add is in terms of housing.

It's going to be another agency, but there's still the, I believe, a legit concern in regards to where we're going to be, and it's going to be under, as you said, the Business and Consumer Services Agency. But again, do we really need to? So I don't want to...

I'm not trying to kick the dog underneath the table here. But because we had that conversation and you eloquently stated your position and I know I have my position of concern and it is something that I know that you are going to be laser focused on and know that this is a top priority for you as well.

And it would be good to stay in touch in regards to what we're seeing in regards to usage rate, especially for residents who are an undocumented being able to take up that benefit. Because I have great concern. My wife's an elementary school principal and there are undocumented families that are no longer sending their kids to childcare. Right. Because they're worried that they're going to be detained and then deported. So I know I'm going to get emotional about it. Madam Secretary, thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

All right. Anything else from the dais from the committee at this time? Hearing and seeing none. What we'd like to be able to do... And by the way, Madam Secretary, do you have that book? This is a damn book of folks of support and yes. So my goodness.

And we are going to have to do a workers comp complaint because strained arm there of bringing it over. Very impressive to be able to see the support that you have. And candidly, Madam Secretary, trust is earned. Right. So, and know that you have built that trust. So congratulations on that.

What we're going to ask folks is be able to state your first and last name. If you're with an organization, please state that organization. We're going to ask you to keep your comments at 30 seconds. The last thing I'll just say is if you all don't mind, if you would just like to be able to state your support, first and last name, and organization. The floor is yours. Good afternoon.

Thank you so much. Thank you, Chair and Members of the Committee. I am Dr. Seciah Aquino, and I have the honor of serving as the executive director at the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California. I'm here to express our strong support for the confirmation of Kim Johnson as California's next Secretary of Health and Human Services. Ms. Johnson is the right leader for this role. Now more than ever, we need her wisdom, experience, and expertise to protect the health and well being of all Californians.

Her outstanding professional career, including her tenure as director of the Department of Social Services has uniquely prepared her to understand health holistically and will serve her well in leading the agency with excellence. Ms. Johnson's leadership, responsible stewardship, and systems expertise have not only strengthened state programs and prioritize equity, but have also helped families break poverty cycles.

California needs a leader like Kim Johnson to assure all communities, including our growing Latina population, can thrive. We look forward to working with Ms. Johnson to continue our work to advance health equity and strongly urge you to confirm her appointment. Thank you.

Nice job. Thank you so much. We're grateful that you're here. Good afternoon. The floor is yours.

Good afternoon, and thank you very much, Senator and Committee. We're here. My name is Amer Rashid on behalf of the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California, here in strong support for the confirmation of Kim Johnson. We've really appreciated and enjoyed our coordination and collaboration over the course of your previous roles and look forward to our continued work together to push forward our behavioral health public safety net. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for your comments. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Chair and Members. Jael Dantas on behalf of EDW AFSCME Local 3930, representing over 20,000 IHSS and childcare providers in the State of California. We strong support the confirmation of Kim Johnson as Secretary of California Health and Human Services Agency.

For over two decades, Secretary Johnson has demonstrated a outstanding commitment to our state working families and we are proud to call her a true champion of care. With her support, we have expanded access to home care for low income seniors and people with disability in our state.

And we also applaud her efforts to improve the lives of children in California and their early educators. We ask for your support confirming Kim Johnson as assistant secretary so she can continue serving Californians that need and those that take care of them. Thank you.

Hey, Senator McGuire and Members. I'm Darby Kernan. I'm here for various organizations supporting Secretary Johnson. LeadingAge California, Local Health Plans of California, First 5 Association, which represents all your county First Fives, and Meals on Wheels California. Thank you.

Good to see you, Kernan. Thank you so much. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. Thank you all for having us. Katie Ettman with Fullwell, a nonprofit out of the San Francisco Bay Area. Excited to be here in support of Secretary Johnson. Coming from the world of CDSS, we've worked very closely on CalFresh implementation and additional dollars for purchasing fruits and vegetables and knowing that we have a strong advocate in that. And similarly, our work in the healthcare space through the Department of Healthcare Services, ensuring that people have access to healthy food to help prevent, reverse and treat chronic disease. And we're incredibly excited by this. Thank you so much.

Thank you for your comments. Good to see you. Hey. Good afternoon. How's the kids?

Good afternoon. Kids are good. How are your family?

Oh my gosh. Three and a half and a hellion.

We'll talk about that later. That six year old man, let me tell you exactly. Tiffany Whiten with SEIU California in very strong support of Secretary Johnson. While at DSS, we have had the pleasure to work with Ms. Johnson on various topics related to aging, our public safety net programs, childcare, and racial equity, just to name a few.

She has always exemplified true leadership and has demonstrated her dedication to support and provide for some of our state's most vulnerable populations. She has had a difficult task to lead during some of our most challenging times. Budget deficits, changing with our federal administration, national pandemic, just to name a few.

And she's always remained steadfast in her efforts to always work in partnership to improve the lives of California families and for the workers that provide the services to our community. So we thank you for your service and we look forward to working you in your capacity as secretary. Thank you.

Good to see you. Thank you so much. Nice to see you.

Mr. Chair and Members, Stuart Thompson on behalf of the California Medical Association in very strong support of Secretary Johnson's confirmation. Really just looking forward to partnering with you and the whole Legislature on some major challenges upcoming.

Thank you so much. Appreciate you being here. Hi, good afternoon. Nice to see you.

Nice to see you. Good afternoon. Michelle Gibbons with the County Health Executives Association of California, representing local health departments across our state, here in strong support of Secretary Johnson's confirmation. We had the pleasure of working with Ms. Johnson during COVID. I would say pleasure in the work collaboration, not the job.

I totally hear you.

We found her to be very thoughtful and I think the thing that really stood out was her desire to learn what the impacts were on the ground, not just for our health departments, but also for the communities that we serve. As we are looking at uncertain times ahead, we look forward to continuing to work with you to protect and improve the lives of all Californians. Thank you.

Michelle, thank you so much. Thanks for hanging with us.

Chair and Members, Danielle Sanchez on behalf of the Chief Probation Officers of California, very pleased to support the appointment of Secretary Johnson. We too have appreciated the collaborative nature in which we work together in the secretary's previous role at Department of Social Services on key foster care issues, and we look forward to continuing that work in her new capacity, particularly with issues that intersect with probation, including but not limited to CalAIM, foster care, family engagement, and enhancing behavioral health services for the justice involved population. So please to support today. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for being with us. Hi, Good afternoon.

Hi, Senator McGuire and Committee Members. Christine Stoner-Mertz with the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, representing over 160 nonprofit organizations across California. We are thrilled to support Director Johnson's appointment as a secretary of HHS.

She's been a steadfast partner to nonprofit organizations serving children and families across the state and her breadth of knowledge, from being a direct service provider to her leadership at CDSS have well prepared her for this role. We're very excited about her commitment to those that are most in need, especially at this time in our history. And we look forward to partnering with her on all supports and work together to support our children, youth, and families. Thanks.

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

Pro Tem McGuire and Members. Andrew Cheyne with End Child Poverty California. We'll align our comments with SEIU and just a couple of brief comments that not only does Secretary Johnson center community but is in community, whether that's visiting the Mission Promise Neighborhood in San Francisco, seeing how families are being served and moved off the streets through a whole family approach.

But in Altadena just recently where my boss, our president and CEO Shimica Gaskins, lost her home along with so many black families. And so it just really is personal. And at a time when unfortunately diversity, equity, inclusion under attack. It's great to hear the mission of the agency and we just applaud the governor and ask the Legislature to confirm such a well qualified candidate. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Appreciate your comments. Hi, good afternoon.

Good afternoon. Rebecca Gonzales with the Western Center on Law and Poverty. We strongly support the nomination of Kim Johnson to be secretary of the agency. We have had the privilege to work with Ms. Johnson while she was director of CDSS and other roles within that department.

Ms. Johnson is a proven leader who is collaborative in carrying both important traits for leader of an agency that oversees most of California's safety net programs. She is committed to racial justice and equity, which is a core principle of the Western Center. Her door is always open and she listens to advocates and directly from impacted individuals.

Ms. Johnson met quarterly with public benefit advocates to keep us updated and to attempt to resolve longstanding multi-divisional concerns. Through this collaboration, many protections were established to aid vulnerable communities. We are excited to have Kim Johnson as agency secretary. She not only has an in depth knowledge of the program she's tasked with overseeing, she is committed to building healthy communities. For these reasons, we strongly support her nomination.

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

Justin Garrett with the California State Association of Counties, representing all 58 counties. Ms. Johnson, in strong support of her nomination, of course. Ms. Johnson skillfully led the department through a number of really impressive program improvements during a really challenging time.

She's always been a great partner of counties, understands the deep engagements as necessary to provide these services to vulnerable families and individuals. She's ideally suited to lead the agency and address the full range of health and human services priorities facing our state and counties. Look forward to continuing to work with her. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Appreciate you being here today. Hi, good afternoon.

Hi, Chair McGuire and Committee Members. Dr. LaWanda Wesley. It's good to see you. We are in strong support, with Child Care Resource Center. And our statement today is that we feel strongly about having Secretary Johnson being confirmed in the role.

We feel that her role at the California Department of Social Services has been marked by transformative leadership for over the past two decades. And we've had the pleasure, in the childcare sector, to work with her and having her have deep knowledge about some of the issues that we were faced with, not just during COVID, but post Covid and even before that.

So we are excited about having someone who understands how to take in information that's complex, but to do it with heart and to do it with community and to do it with community based organizations. So we urge your support in confirming her in in the role of secretary.

Thank you, doctor. Appreciate you being here today. Hi, good afternoon.

Good afternoon. Amy Westling from the Association of Regional Center Agencies in strong support of Secretary Johnson's confirmation. One of the things that, having watched Secretary Johnson work over the years, has been most impactful has been the recognition of people as whole people and the recognition that people often need services from a variety of sources and that people who need those services often are struggling in a variety of ways.

And it shouldn't be an individual or their family's full time job to coordinate those services. So really looking forward to working with you to break down barriers between departments and to ensure that we as systems partners are working to best support people to lead the lives they deserve. So thank you.

Thank you so much. Appreciate you hanging. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Senators. I'm Dr. Le Ondra Clark Harvey. I'm the CEO of the California Behavioral Health Association, the most diverse provider association in the state. Our members represent and serve over 2 million Californians in all of your districts. During our advocacy for our members, we have often met with Ms. Johnson and her team in her prior role leading the Department of Social Services.

And I can attest that she is knowledgeable, she is responsive, and most importantly, she's caring. She goes above and beyond to address the needs of our members and the clients they serve. A recent example would be how she was right at the scenes of the wildfires in LA recently. These important characteristics and her leadership acumen lead CBHA to wholeheartedly endorse her appointment. Thank you.

Doctor, thank you so much. Appreciate you being with us today. Hi, good afternoon. Welcome.

Good afternoon, Senator, Committee. My name is Yasmin Herrera-Vilchez. I am here as an ambassador for Disability Voices United, and we're here to to strongly support Dr. Johnson's confirmation. Thank you.

Thank you so much. I appreciate you being here. Hi. Welcome. Thank you for being here.

Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Christine Smith, and I'm with Health Access California, and we're pleased to support Ms. Johnson's confirmation. Thank you.

Christine, thank you so much. Appreciate you hanging with us today. Hey, how's it going?

Hey, good. How are you? Hi. Good afternoon, Chair and Members. Hi, Ms. Johnson. My name is Karli Holkko, director of government affairs at CalPACE. On behalf of CalPACE and the 35 programs of all inclusive care for the elderly serving over 24,000 older adults in California, we proudly support Kim Johnson's confirmation as secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency. PACE provides comprehensive, fully integrated, community based care to medically complex elderly Californians.

And I'm proud to share that our members continue to grow, expanding access to vulnerable older adults in underserved communities. This growth makes strong leadership essential. And with her proven experience serving the state's most vulnerable, Ms. Johnson is the right leader at the right time. In this evolving federal landscape, she is exactly where she needs to be, at the helm driving progress. We urge your support for her confirmation. Thank you.

Thank you. Very grateful for your words. Thank you so much. Hi, good afternoon.

Hi. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and Members. I'm Heather Harrison with the California Assisted Living Association. We are in strong support of Secretary Johnson's confirmation secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency. We've worked with Ms. Johnson for many years as in her role as Director of Department of Social Services, and prior to that, even when she was with the community based organization.

We've always been impressed with her integrity, her leadership, and her commitment to all Californians, especially the most vulnerable, who are served by the programs she's had the opportunity to lead. Her leadership at DSS has been steady and focused and we have always appreciated her willingness and her ability to engage with a wide variety of stakeholders to work through some hard issues and reach some creative solutions. She is indeed a problem solver. So highly recommend her and look forward to her confirmation.

Thank you so much. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Chairs and Members. My name is Tiyesha Watts. I'm with the California Academy of Family Physicians. We are the largest primary care medical society in California, representing about 11,000 family physicians, residents, and medical students. And we are in strong support of the confirmation of Kim Johnson.

It has been amazing seeing the work that you have done for vulnerable populations. And as we strive to ensure that all Californians have access to to whole person primary care, we look forward to strengthening our relationship with you and building that support. So thank you.

Really appreciate it. Thank you so much. Hey, good afternoon.

Good afternoon. Mark Farouk on behalf of the California Hospital Association, representing over 400 hospitals and health systems in California, in support of the confirmation of Kim Johnson. Just wanted to say we look forward to working with the secretary, continuing the conversation, and working in collaboration on many of the issues that were discussed here today. Thank you.

Hey, thank you. Very grateful. Hi, nice to see you.

Nice to see you too. Mr. Chair and Members, Connie Delgado on behalf of the District Hospital Leadership Forum. These are the 33 district and municipal hospitals, here in support of confirmation and look forward to discussing many of the issues that were brought up earlier today. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Connie. Good afternoon. Nice to see you.

Hello. Becky Silva with the California Association of Food Banks in strong support of Secretary Johnson's confirmation. Through her leadership at CDSS and especially with the unprecedented COVID 19 pandemic that exacerbated hunger to just truly unbelievable levels, she led CDSS and ensured that our state had a robust and effective anti-hunger response through programs like CalFood that our food bank members rely on every day.

And also more recently, the Emergency Food Bank Reserve that has that was codified in this year's budget and is already in action deploying, I hear, dozens of truckloads of food to LA and I know that she was personally there at the LA Regional Food Bank just recently making sure that they have the support and resources they need.

And also with her thoughtful and committed leadership, she oversaw the implementation of the brand new SUN Bucks program, which brought really vital food benefits to over 5 million kids last year. And so Californians are truly lucky to have her vision and tremendous expertise and heart to lead the many critical and life saving programs that HHS oversees. And we strongly support her appointment as secretary.

Becky, thank you so much. Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for hanging out.

Hi there. Jennifer Greppi, director of parent policy with Parent Voices California. And we are just absolutely thrilled to be here to support Kim Johnson, and we support her being secretary. You know, as a CalWORKs mom myself, you know, many years ago, and bringing the voices of people who are impacted by the programs that you are overseeing every day.

I think that the one thing that makes you special and makes you the perfect person for this job is that you really want to hear from the people who are directly impacted by all of the services that are provided. And in a time right now where we have so much fear and so much, you know, pain going on in our country and in our state, it is a great pleasure to know that you are here to lead us in this next phase. Thank you so much.

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

Good afternoon, Chair and Members of the Committee. My name's Jorge De La Cruz. I'm the director of external and governmental affairs at First 5 California. And it's our honor to express our strong support for Kim Johnson's confirmation as secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency.

Throughout her career, Secretary Johnson has been a tireless champion for children, families, and communities across California. Her deep commitment to equity, early childhood development, and social services has transformed how we support our youngest residents and those who care for them.

At First 5 California, we have seen firsthand her leadership in advancing efforts that strengthen family well being and create opportunities for all children to thrive. And it's such an honor to know that our secretary understands that all children means documented and undocumented. So thank you for that. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Secretary Johnson and the California Health and Human Services to ensure every child in California has the strong start they deserve. Thank you.

Thank you, Jorge. Very grateful for you. Hi, good afternoon. Floor is yours.

Good afternoon, Senators. Amanda Kirchner on behalf of County Welfare Directors Association. We are here in strong support of Secretary Johnson's confirmation. She has been an excellent partner to our 58 county human services agencies. We just cannot express our appreciation for the work she has done and being able to collaborate and always make herself available. I will say we will miss you at our monthly meetings. You are welcome anytime to come back and visit, but we just strongly urge your support on this and congratulations.

Thank you so much. Thank you for your words. Hi, good afternoon.

Good afternoon. Lisa Rodriguez with the Gualco Group on behalf of Catholic Charities of California. On behalf of Catholic Lahey, who is executive director, we appreciate and support Kim. And congratulations. Well, speaking too fast, but hopefully congratulations. And she's been a great partner. We've worked very well with her. So thank you so much for giving me the opportunity.

Thank you for being here. Good to see you. Hi. Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. Nora Angeles with Children Now in strong support of Secretary Johnson's confirmation. Her leadership approach has been rooted in her deep commitment to children and families and ensuring they are connected and supported in meaningful ways that improve outcomes for all.

A lifelong advocate for children and families, her career has been dedicated to supporting children, parents, and caregivers. And her combined experience in both community based organizations and government makes her uniquely qualified to drive positive, systemic change across the state. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Appreciate you being here. Hi, good afternoon. Nice to see you.

Hi. Faith Conley with Weideman Group. Bear with me. Blue Shield of California, California Society of Health-System Pharmacists, NetSmart, Manifest MedEx, Unite Us, as well as Cal Chiro in very strong support today.

Hey, there we go. Thank you so much. Hi, good afternoon.

Hi. Isabella Argueta with the Health Officers Association of California. We represent the physician health officers of California's cities and counties. We found Ms. Johnson to be engaged, passionate, and a steady leader for public health. And she is dedicated to the health and well being of all Californians. And when she says all, we believe her. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Very grateful. Hey.

Hi. Hi, Chair McGuire. Nice to see you. And Members of the Committee. Cathy Senderling-McDonald of Catbird Strategies on behalf of the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network. CPEHN is pleased to support the nomination of Kim Johnson as Secretary of CalHHS. CPEHN's mission is to ensure equitable access to the healthcare system for all Californians.

And we see that same commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in Secretary Johnson. Her work to date at CDSS, for example, has shed light on areas where inequities still exist. And she sought ways to make the systems serving our most vulnerable more inclusive, more diverse, and welcoming to all. We look forward to partnering with her and her team on these and other important issues and are pleased to urge your aye vote today on her confirmation.

Thanks for hanging with us. Good to see you. Hi, good afternoon.

Hi, good afternoon. Kelly Brooks on behalf of the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, here to support Secretary Johnson's confirmation. Throughout her career, Ms. Johnson has demonstrated a consistent commitment to advancing the health and well being of families and communities throughout California.

Many of the safety net programs that Secretary Johnson oversaw at the Department of Social Services are essential lifelines for the public health care system's patients populations and are key to improving health outcomes. Ms. Johnson's dedication to reducing barriers and driving equitable access policies aligns with public hospital's vision and work. And we look forward to continuous engagement as her role in her role as secretary. We believe she's imminently qualified for this position and urge her your support of her confirmation.

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

Hello. Thank you so much. Janay Eustace, I'm the president and CEO of the Child Abuse Prevention Center here in Sacramento and representing over 500 family resource centers across the state. We are in strong support of your confirmation and thank you so much for the opportunity.

Thank you so much. All right, we're going to do a last call for anyone else who'd like to be able to speak in support. That's what I was just going to say. Exactly. We're now going to look for those who may be in opposition. If you could please come forward at this time. We're looking for those who may be in opposition. If you could please stand. Come forward at the podium. Hearing and seeing no one stand, we're now going to bring it back to committee. See if there's questions, comments, or a motion.

I would move the motion.

We have a motion by Senator Laird. A motion by Senator Laird. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call] 5 to 0.

5-0. Madam Secretary, congratulations. We have one more stop to the floor, but we are grateful and it is very clear today the impact that you've had, and that's why we all get into this business, is to be able to impact for good. And we look forward to seeing you on the Senate Floor. Thank you so much.

Ladies and gentlemen, to all of those who are in the hearing room, we want to say thank you. Thank you so much. So many of you hung with us for about two and a half, three hours. Thank you so much for your testimony here today, for your support of Madam Secretary.

We are going to be going into executive session. We're going to give a couple minutes, clear the room, and then the committee will be going into executive session. Madam Secretary, again, thank you so much. To each of you who are here today, thank you all for being here.