Assembly Standing Committee on Economic Development, Growth, and Household Impact

Good morning, everyone. We'd like to call this meeting to order. It is 9:35am at this point we want to welcome everyone to the Assembly Economic Development, Growth and Household Impact Committee hearing. To ensure Members of the public and the media have access to our proceedings today.

This hearing will be streamed on the Assembly's website and Members of the public can provide testimony in person here in room 127. Alt witness testimony will be in person. There will be no phone testimony option for this morning.

If any Member of the public in the room would like to testify on a Bill, I ask that you approach the microphone and the appropriate time. To preserve the safety of everyone here and to ensure that public's access to the discussion, please follow the directions of our sergeants.

We are going to begin today's hearing as a Subcommitee until we have quorum. With that, I want to thank Vice Chair Castillo and Soria for being here and we're going to move forward with today's business. Today we have 12 bills on the agenda. The following seven bills are on consent. File item 6. AB257. Gallagher.

File item number 7. Yeah. Oh, for. 250. Yeah. AB254. Gallagher. Item number 7. AB415. File item number 8. AB655. Item file number 9. AB1232. Item file item number 10. AB1254. File item number 11. 1477. And file item number 12. HR27.

We will allow primary witness here in the room today to speak for two minutes each with two primary witnesses per side. Any additional witnesses will be limited to name, organization they represent and position on the Bill. Primary witness and the support must be those accompanying the author.

For those otherwise have registered support position with the Committee and the primary witness in opposition must have their opposition registered with the Committee. All other support and opposition will be stated standing mic. When called upon, simply state name, affiliation and position. With that, we're going to go ahead and start with our first Member.

And we have the honor of having Member Caloza. Caloza will present an AB267. Member. Caloza proudly represents Dodger Stadium and the beautiful part of her district.

Good morning, everybody. Thank you to our Chair Solache and colleagues. Jessica Caloza, Assembly Member for District 52. And I'm here to present Assembly Bill 265, which is the Small Business and Nonprofit Recovery Act. This act would establish $100 million state funded program administered by the Office of the Small Business Advocate to provide financial assistance to small businesses and nonprofit organizations impacted by declared states of emergency. California is home to over 4 million small businesses and nonprofits, which would employ, which employs nearly half of California's workforce.

With severe weather events such as the recent devastating Los Angeles County wildfires this year decimating small businesses and nonprofits, it's important now more than ever that we stand with and ensure people's livelihoods are secure. And during those wildfires, we saw so many of our small businesses and nonprofits step up when they were the ones who needed help.

While federal disaster assistance programs exist, many small businesses and nonprofits unfortunately fail to qualify for these resources and face really lengthy timelines that delay their recovery efforts. This is a huge gap that many of us know.

And this leaves countless small businesses and nonprofits, especially those owned and managed by a lot of people of color, women, and many in our underserved communities, without the necessary resources to recover and rebuild.

Without timely financial assistance, these businesses and nonprofits face the risk of permanent closure, which is devastating to local communities and reduces the resilience in the future. And we know how much our nonprofits and small businesses have gone through, whether it was the wildfires or Covid or just all the things that are happening right now in the world.

They really need our help and that we know that for every dollar that we invest in small businesses and nonprofits, they give it tenfold back to the community. And I'm also really proud to introduce two women who are testifying here with me today. The first is Susie Pryor, the Regional Director of the Central Small Development Centers, and also Jennifer Fearing on behalf of CalNonprofits. And we'll start with Susie.

Good morning, Chair Solache and Members of the Committee. I'm Susie Pryor, and I do proudly serve as the Regional Director for the Central California Small Business Development Center, but today I represent the entire network of Small Business Development Centers throughout the state. We are an integral partner with the US Small Business Administration and the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development.

I'm here today for California's small businesses that were affected by the disastrous floods in Los Angeles in January, over 90,000 businesses in the fire zones alone, and the businesses that will be affected by natural disaster in the years to come. Small business is essential to California's economy, employing a large portion of our workforce and driving job creation and the innovation that California is known for across the globe. It's for these reasons that the California SBDC is a proud sponsor of AB 265. Because this bill isn't just policy. It's a lifeline.

A lifeline in the time of extreme emergency for a small business. And I know that because I've lived through what happens when disaster strikes a community and when help shows up. On May 4, 2007 in Greensburg, Kansas, an E5, an EF5 tornado, one of the largest forces nature can produce, ripped through that town.

It was over a mile wide and was on the ground for a terrifying 22 minutes. When it was over, 95% of the town was gone. 95%. Homes, schools, hospitals, every business, all completely wiped out. I walked those streets in the days that followed and I saw families sifting through the rubble that used to house their dreams and memories. I saw business owners staring at empty spaces where their livelihoods once stood.

And I'll never forget it. And that's where the Kansas SBDC stepped in. We didn't wait for someone else to figure it out. We mobilized immediately. We set up mobile offices in FEMA trailers, in regional community centers, and even coffee houses. Any place where we could plant a seed of hope for rebuilding and recovery.

As the Associate State Director of the Kansas SBDC at that time, I sat with business owners who'd lost everything and helped them to access bridge loans, navigate confusing recovery systems, and honestly just be there for them at the worst times in their life. To this day, one story really moves me, and it was a family owned hardware store that had been in business for three generations. They had given up. But with the help of the SBDC and emergency state support, they rebuilt.

And within a year, they built a brand new energy efficient building, became the symbol of Greensburg's spirit. Now working in California, and while the disasters here are different, the pain and loss is the same. Fires, floods, earthquakes. Every time, it's small businesses that absorb the blow, and without them, entire communities fall apart. AB 265 is California's statement.

We will not wait until it's too late. We're ready to help. We're ready to act immediately. 265 gives the state the tools, funding, and structure it needs to step in right away so the business owners have support that they need at their lowest, not just when the headlines fade. Thank you for listening, and thank you for the support for this vital piece of legislation.

Thank you for your testimony. I'm going to take a privilege and hold on the next witness. I'm going to take quorum first of the Committee, and then we're going to continue with the process. Thank you for your patience. With that, we do have quorum now and we want to establish quorum. So we're going to continue first with the... Okay. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll?

[Roll Call]

Okay. Okay. So quorum has been established. And thank you, Members. I want to take another personal privilege. Today, we have a special birthday and that is our Assembly Member Soria, who I don't know how she just turned 21 again.

So this is important business of the State Assembly, but it's also good to always acknowledge the life of someone else, and we want to celebrate her another year around the sun. Thank you, Assemblywoman, for spending your birthday with us in this very special moment, especially under Caloza's first bill presentation on a very important matter. Thank you.

Okay. With that, we're going to go ahead and adopt our business. So our first order of business will be to adopt our Committee rules. Do we have a motion and a second motion? It's been moved by Assembly Member Soria and second by Vice Chair Castillo. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Okay. Okay. Committee rules are adopted. Thank you. With that, thank you for your patience. We're going to continue with the witness, second witness.

Good morning, Chair Solache and Members. I'm Jennifer Fearing, the Sacramento Advocate for the California Association of Nonprofits or CalNonprofits, 10,000 member organization statewide policy lines. CalNonprofits urges you support for AB 265 because it will help nonprofits recognize continue to provide crucial services to communities.

As we've all witnessed during the pandemic and the Los Angeles wildfires, nonprofits and governments alike benefit greatly from flexibility and greater access to state resources during emergencies, and AB 265 speaks to this concern. By establishing a recovery grant program, nonprofits can seek funding to recover from economic and operational disruptions caused by a state of emergency. Ensures the state supply...

Excuse me, services supply chain is better supported, as nonprofits are crucial partners to us supporting vulnerable Californians and the governments that turn to us in a time of need. And now more than ever, we must prioritize resources to nonprofits.

New and sweeping federal threats emerge every day that target nonprofits on ideological grounds, including our very 501c3 tax exempt status. AB 265's definition of a qualified nonprofit, including the state nonprofit designation, helps ensure eligibility for this program even if a nonprofit's federal tax exempt status is to be attacked. AB 265 supports a strengthened partnership between government and nonprofits at a truly critical time. We strongly support AB 265 and urge your aye vote, particularly in honor of Assembly Member Soria's birthday.

Nice flag. Nicely done.

So timely. Okay, so we do have a motion and a second. Thank you for your testimony today. Please take the roll. Please. Yeah. First. Yeah. Any questions from Committee Members?

I don't have questions. I just do want to make a comment. I think that this is extremely important. You know, going through, I think Covid once and seeing recovery efforts needed and you know, local community, state, feds taking action similarly in times like, you know, what we just experienced in Southern California.

I also represent a district that two years ago got flooded and so small businesses, nonprofits got impacted. Obviously, not to the scale that happened in Southern California, but having a safety net for some of the most vulnerable that don't qualify I think is extremely important.

So I applaud the efforts of the author in, you know, making sure that our small businesses that won't traditionally qualify for the federal assistance and even nonprofits to be able to have the support and services that they need so that they can continue to rebuild their lives in Southern California. So thank you for this legislation. Happy to support it today.

Thank you, Ms. Soria. Any other Members? Okay. And then just for formalities, is there any opposition to this bill? Okay, seeing no opposition. Thank you so much for bringing this to the bill forward. I would like to join as a principal co-author to your bill. Thank you. Okay with that, we'll take a roll, please. Oh, yeah, sorry. Any Member comments? I know we have a lot of supporters, so I want to make sure we acknowledge them as well.

Good morning, Chair and Members. Thank you so much. Rachel Mueller on behalf of Small Business Majority and CAMEO Network in strong support. Thank you so much.

Good morning. Shayna Englin with the California Community Foundation in strong support.

Clifton Wilson on behalf of the California Arts Advocates as well as the City of Santa Monica, both in support. Thank you.

John Marco, owner of WHIRED Wine. I support AB 265.

Preet Ahluwalia with Small Business Development Center for NorCal. And we serve 36 counties here, and in full support for the bill of AB 265. Thank you.

Oscar Garcia, Director of North Cal SBDC. We thank you for everything that you do, and we support this bill. Thank you.

Good morning, Members, Chair. Yolanda Benson on behalf of the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce in support of AB 265.

Eric Will with Rural County Representatives of California in strong support.

Good morning. Keilen Fong representing the Cal Asian Chamber in support.

Good morning. Ben Triffo with the League of California Cities in support.

Good morning. SiewYee Lee-Alix of Sacramento Valley Small Business Development Center. We cover Sacramento, Yolo, Yuba, and Sutter. Expressing our strong support for AB 265. Thank you.

Good morning, and thank you for all that you do. Les Fong. I'm Director of the Small Business Development Center for San Joaquin, Amador, Calaveras, and Alpine Counties. And your support would tremendously help the small businesses that I serve. Thank you.

Good morning. Sanjida Nahar here on behalf of California Charter Schools Association in support. Thank you.

Good morning. Sarah Pollo Moo with the California Retailers Association in strong support. Thank you.

Morning. Courtney Gladfelty with Gladfelty Relations on behalf of California Alliance of Family Owned Businesses in support. Thank you.

Good morning, Chair and Members. Lori Kammerer on behalf of the National Association of Women Business Owners California Chapter and the Women's Business Centers. And happy birthday, Assembly Member Soria. 21 and holding.

Good morning, honorable. Dr. Armond Aghakhanian, Director of East LA College Foundation, the Center for Entrepreneurship Innovation, supporting this bill. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you for those, the members of support. Are there any opposition members of the public? Okay. Seeing none. Thank you. Member Caloza, would you like to close?

Oh, there you go. Thank you, Chair Solache, and thank you to all the organizations and small businesses who came out in support and took the time to be here today at the Capitol. I think what you see here is a tremendous amount of support and need from our small business and nonprofit community. So with that I respect ask for your aye vote so we can make sure that all of us not just survive but thrive moving forward in California. Thank you.

Thank you, Assemblywoman. Before we take a roll call again, I'm just happy to be a principal co-author and support your legislation today. With that, Secretary, please take roll. We already have a motion. There was a motion by Soria and second by Castillo.

265, Caloza. Moved by Soria, second by Wallis. [Roll Call]

Okay. And the Bill is now on call open on for call. Okay. Thank you Ms. Pelosa. Have a good day. Okay. With that we're going to wrap up the part of the after we establish quorum with a consent calendar. Secretary proceed. Please call consent calendar.

File item number 6 AB254 Gallagher. Due pass to appropriations. File item number 7 AB415 Chen. Due pass to appropriations. File item Number 8 AB655 Alvarez. Due pass to appropriations. File item number 9 AB1232 Ávila Farías.

Due pass to judiciary with recommendation to consent calendar. File item number 10 AB 1254 Sharpe Collins. Due pass to appropriations. File item number 11 AB 1477 Sharpe Collins. Due pass to appropriations. File item number 12 HR 27 Gibson be adopted to consent.

[Roll Call]

Okay. Is there any objection to this item? Okay. Okay. And we'll put this on call as well. Okay, thank you. Just for formalities. It's. We'll take a motion for this part of the agenda as well. So is there a motion for this consent calendar? Moved by Wallace. Seconded by Castillo. Okay.

It's been motion second and then thank you Secretary for reading that. And with that we're, we're open on call for the rest of the Members. Thank you. With that we'll go on to our next item. That's Mr. Harbidian on AB797. Mr. Harbidian, welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Happy birthday to Victoria. I'm bringing another wildfire bill. This is AB 797. It's called the Community Stabilization Act. What's happening in the district, obviously in my district and in the Palisades is generational wealth was really wrapped up in folks homes.

Folks, you know, generations ago who were redlined out of other communities, found Altadena as a place of refuge, were able to buy a home and really scraped and clawed to get into that home.

And fast forward generations later, sadly, thousands of those community members and my constituents lost their homes in a devastating wildfire that we have all talked about over the last couple months. And really folks are left with a really terrible set of options.

Many of my constituents want to stay in Altadena and I know a lot of members in Palisades who have lost their homes want to stay. However, they are house rich, bank and bank account poor. And the options to actually monetize their properties if they want to sell are not good.

When a whole community is burned down, fair market value for properties is put into question. A lot of the offers that most of these individuals who lost their home are receiving are way below market. Frankly, what we're seeing is predatory investors coming in and offering cents on the dollar for these properties.

And constituents who aren't necessarily sophisticated in real estate transactions are feeling pressured. You have seniors who want to potentially sell their house, but they have no way of doing that and you know, doing it in a way where they're obtaining fair market value. So what this bill does is try tries to stabilize the market.

It's called the Community Stabilization Act. Because what it would do is very simple. It would, through the Office of Economic Development, go biz, as it's referred to.

It would issue zero interest securities that would be purchased by financial institutions using Community Reinvestment Act Dollars, CRA funds, which are required to be put back into communities such as Altadena through a federal statute.

Where financial institutions and other entities like banks are investing money into local nonprofits and communities such as Altadena, these securities would raise money through these CRA dollars.

Those CRA dollars through the securities would then be allocated to qualified investment entities which are qualified nonprofit organizations in the community that could, one, purchase the properties in question, two, use those properties for community based and focused methods.

So whether that's land banking, land trusts, making sure that any sort of development from those properties is community centered, community forward, and really providing these constituents who have lost their home and these victims with a reasonable, humane option in selling their property. It is zero cost to the state. The state actually is just issuing the securities.

The monetization of the securities comes once the properties are sold. And that waterfall goes 90% to the qualified investment, to the investors who have put the CRA monies in, then goes to the qualified investment entity, the nonprofits, and then to the state.

And really this is an innovative method of financing housing, which has not been used in California before. But because it is zero cost, it is relatively simple and administrative oversight. I think this is a great option. I think it provides stability, a lot of comfort in a time when people need it.

And I think it's a good solution. With me today, Shayna Englin from the California Community foundation to also testify.

Thank you. Hello again, still Shayna Englin, on behalf of the California Community Foundation, where we have been committed to strengthening LA's communities for more than a century. To date, our Wildfire Recovery Fund has distributed more than $30 million to more than 200 community serving organizations.

And we are actively working with those community serving organizations every day, every week in Altadena, in Pasadena, and in other indirectly, indirectly affected communities. At CCF, we're focused on finding long term, comprehensive solutions that address the vital issues concerning quality of life in La.

We invest in systemic solutions, ones that don't just treat symptoms, but actually change the conditions that can hold communities back. And we believe that AB 797 is one of those solutions.

It offers a thoughtful, market based solution to a complex issue that didn't arise with the January wildfires, but was exacerbated by them, especially in the Eaton fire area, and one that we've heard quite a bit about from our community partners.

This bill empowers mission driven nonprofits to leverage Community Reinvestment Act funds to acquire homes at fair market value and ensure those properties are redeveloped or resold in ways that benefit the community, not just private equity.

It's a smart, fiscally responsible model that protects homeowners from predatory practices, prevents neighborhood destabilization, keeps wealth circulating locally and puts the possibility of preserving the character of beloved neighborhoods like Altadena within reach.

As a foundation deeply invested in housing justice, economic mobility and disaster resilience, CCF sees AB 797 as a critical tool to help communities recover with dignity and to retain control over their future. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any witnesses in support in the room? Okay. Seeing no other support. We will call on the opposition. Are there any other witnesses in opposition? Okay. Seeing none. Let's bring it back to the committee. Are there any questions from committee members? It's been moved by Mr. Wallis. Second by Soria. Okay, roll call. Please.

File item number two. AB 797, Harabedian. This bill has an urgency clause and the motion is do pass to appropriation.

Yeah, and we're having Mr. Harabedian close first too. Harabedian. Would you like to close? Thank you. Can we have a motion and a second?

Wallace and Soria.

File item number two. AB797, Arabedian. This bill has an urgency clause and the motion is do pass to appropriations.

[roll call]

Okay, the bill is now on call. Thank you, Mr. Harabedian. Okay, next we're gonna go to item three. AB 940, Assemblymember Wicks and Sir Ellis. We get two for one today. Awesome. You may begin.

Allowing me to present Assembly Bill 940. Quantum computing is a rapidly emerging technology that has potential to fundamentally change the world of computing, which would have profound impacts across industries. By harnessing the power of Quantum Physics, quantum computers can solve exponentially more complex problems than traditional computers in less time with less energy.

The purpose of AB 940 is to facilitate the formation of Quantum Innovation Zones in California to bolster the state's quantum computing economy and establish California as a leader in quantum innovation. A spotlight is being placed on the vast potential of this technology. The United Nations has proclaimed 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.

Although California has long been the national leader on technology, other states are now making direct substantial investments into Quantum Innovation as economic competition grows, businesses will look to establish themselves in regions that have more favorable investment environments.

This means that California has limited time to establish itself as a leader in Quantum Innovation, to retain and grow the state's quantum businesses and workforce and to access significant federal funding. Without state buy in, we risk missing the opportunity to be at the forefront of this revolutionary technology.

AB940 allows two or more cities and counties to establish themselves as Quantum Innovation Zone. The zones will build upon California's comparative advantage in quantum computing that is provided by our concentration of academic, scientific and technological assets and reinforced by our highly skilled workforce.

It will prioritize state access to tax incentives, grants, loan programs, workforce training programs, and private sector investments in the quantum sector. And it will catalyze California's rich ecosystem of quantum stakeholders to more effectively collaborate, leverage resources, share information, and develop the state's quantum computing economy.

AB 940 bolsters California's role as a national and international leader in this powerful technology. As a joint author of this bill, our newest Member, Assemblymember Ellis, has joined me to discuss the importance of this bill.

He's also the founder of a quantum encryption lab, probably the most knowledgeable lawmaker, I would say in the country on this issue, coming right from the private sector into this job. And so we're so excited to have his expertise in this space and so I'd love to give him the opportunity to speak as well.

Well, first of all, Mr. Chair, members, thank you and special thank you to you, Assemblymember Wicks, for allowing me to co author this with you.

So my background we started a quantum physics lab and an encryption lab and I'll get to that after my when quantum computers started evolving about 15 years ago, the potential of the quantum computer and I'll give you just a couple examples, I need to be quick here because I talk for hours on this subject, but quantum computers are a billion times a billion faster than your classic computer.

That's called quintillion. If you take for example, the algorithms for protein folding in your DNA have already been written by our medical universities. Protein folding in your DNA is cancer. The prediction is in just a few more years, the quantum computer is going to have the capacity to solve those algorithms and design specific medications for each individual.

Protein folding, that means if you have lung cancer, it's one medicine. If you have brain cancer, it's another. What it's going to do for optimization regarding medicine, aerospace composites, energy, for example, we need to evolve into new clean energy, fusion, hydrogen. It goes on and on so whoever and what it'll do for A.I. you think A.I.

is crazy now? You wait till quantum gets a hold of it. Whoever leads the quantum technology wins the world. It's that important. So I support 940 like no other. I think that. And we already have the resources here in California. We have the intellect, we have the universities. We have the most important resource of the people.

So let's develop this system here in California. I'm honored. Thank you very much.

Thank you. And with us here to testify is Jessica Duong, Legislative Director with the UC Office of the President, and Steve Kahn, the Dean of Mathematics and physical science at UC Berkeley.

Good morning, Mr. Chair and Members. Jessica Duong with the University of California here in support of AB 940. I'll turn over the mic to my colleague who can speak much more knowledgeably on the subject, UC Berkeley Dean of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Steve Kahn.

Thanks, Jessica. Thank you, Chair Solache and members of this committee for inviting me to speak on this important bill for the future of California's economy. My name is Steve Kahn, and I am the Dean of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at UC Berkeley and a Professor of physics and astronomy.

We are actually at a pivotal juncture in human history prompted by a scientific paradigm shift. For those not familiar with the concept, what physicists call quantum entanglement is a mysterious property of the natural world at the atomic and subatomic level. The essentials of this phenomena have been known for over 100 years.

But we now understand that Quantum Physics has a potential to fundamentally change the world of computing and other technical fields key to societal advances. When I say change the world of computing, I'm referring to the fact that quantum computers require orders of magnitude less energy and can tackle certain problems that would never be possible with conventional computers.

While not replacing them, Quantum computers can add new computing capabilities that do more with less. Our understanding of the capabilities is advancing at the same time as the world's computing needs are growing at an accelerated pace with the proliferation of artificial intelligence.

If we do not shift our computing strategy by 2050, 40% of global energy consumption will come from maintaining and cooling computers. This would be untenable for our planet. We must find new approaches. Unfortunately, we are. The implications are likely to be astounding in drug discovery, climate tech, agritech, the financial industry, transportation, aerospace, and more.

Until very recently, government officials in Sacramento have lagged behind their counterparts in other states, namely Illinois, Colorado, New York and Maryland, in recognizing the importance of quantum information science for future economic development. And by making significant state investments. Very soon, a regional powerhouse will emerge as the national and global epicenter for quantum computing and related disciplines.

This next generation of computing will result in the next economic engine, igniting the next Silicon Valley. But our current Silicon Valley is fragile and there is no guarantee quantum computing will take hold there. Together, California's universities, national laboratories, industry and our state and federal partners can lead the nation.

But we need leadership and we need a plan and we need to start now. This emerging technology is moving towards commercialization and scale. Significant economic returns are predicted within the next three to five years. Quantum information science is a key to the future of California, the nation and the world.

The University of California has the capability to advance both the research and educational and workforce development frontiers. Recent outreach to our state government has proven successful at attracting attention to this frontier. While major infrastructure investments may ultimately be required to reach our full potential, we are well underway to realizing the enormous benefits that may be in store.

AB 940 will establish in state statute Quantum Innovation Zones in our state which will allow for necessary coordination, leadership and collaboration. This is currently not occurring. Companies working in quantum technologies are not inclined to share information. Generally they're not coordinated. And it remains to be determined which of the various paths to commercialize will be successful.

Such state level leadership will provide a conduit for guidance, incentives and an ability to identify projects and resources that will be most economically beneficial to the zone as well as to the entire state.

The structure provided by the state sanctioned zone will allow for an effective roadmapping, assessment and selection process to further develop the state's Quantum computing capabilities and economy. I will do my best to answer any further questions or concerns you might have.

Thank you all for your presentation today and thank you to the additional witness today. With that, are there any other witnesses in support in the room?

Okay. Hearing and see no others in support. We'll call on the opposition. Anyone in oppose? Okay. Seeing none. Let's bring it back to the committee. Are there any questions from the committee members?

Just because I'm curious, where do you guys think these innovate innovation zones will be created? Where do you guys anticipate them?

Well, certainly there's been a lot of interest expressed at UC Berkeley, which is how I got involved in this. I represent UC Berkeley, but we didn't want to limit it to that. There's a lot of research institutions in California. We wanted to make sure all were open up to participate in this.

So we wanted to ensure that, you know, the sort of rising tides lift all boats. But there's opportunities in other parts of the state as well. But I don't know if the professor or some member have additions to that.

I'd like to add to that. Thank you. First of all, there are three sectors in the quantum world. There's the computing portion, there's the networking portion, then the sensing portion.

And in my company, we built the first network in the United States in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where we had three nodes and we were doing fiber optic and we have some free space links as well. But it depends logistically. For networking, you need kind of clusters.

You need to be a little close at first, but you can do quantum computing anywhere. You can do sensing anywhere. But for the networking portion, you kind of need to be in proximity of 50km.

Can I just comment as well? So in California, we're lucky to have truly academic centers of excellence in this field. UC Berkeley, Stanford, Caltech, UC Santa Barbara and UCLA are all powerhouses. Collectively, this is the strongest Center for academic research and quantum information science in the world. So I think it's spread across the state.

Berkeley is certainly a center, but there are centers in Southern California as well.

Okay, Senator Patel.

Thank you for bringing this forward. UCSD also has a quantum computing center, so just a plug for the San Diego region. We are quiet, but certainly a powerhouse in the air in the area of technology and innovation.

Would like to approach you when in your build language you described how local governments can work together to put this team together as well as I'm assuming in collaboration with UCS or CSUs. And then they collectively would form a board. Is there any guidance on what that board composition looks like or is there a preexisting model?

I'm new to all of this.

We can certainly work with you if you're interested in that and flushing that out.

Yeah, thank you.

Great okay. Seeing no other members. Senator Woman Wicks, would you like to close?

And my coke and spider here articulated what the vision is and what it can be. And I think particularly around the energy issues around AI, there's particular interest, plus all the medical advancements and all the other things. And I think it's sort of summed up in the idea that whoever owns quantum owns the future.

And we want that to be California. We want California to be the quantum computing capital of the world. And this bill will help to start, establish the collaboration in those conversations and with that, respectfully ask for an I vote.

Thank you, Assembly woman. I'm so happy to hear this presentation. Very knowledgeable and happy to support and recommend I support. With that, is there a motion and second. Okay. Motion by Senator Patel. Second by Vice Chair Castillo. With that, Secretary, can we have a roll call?

File item number 3. AB 940 Wicks do pass to appropriations. Moved by Patel. Second by Castillo.

[roll call]

The bill is on call. Thank you. And thank you. Okay, we'll go on to our next item. AB 949.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and Members. I am very happy to present AB949, the Retail Theft Grant Program today. Which offers essentials support to small, small businesses and sole proprietors, which often shoulder the greatest loss from retail theft. Last year I was on the Retail Theft Select Committee, which did a lot of work.

And one of the things that I really learned, as I convened businesses and chambers in my community, is that there's a lot of resources and capacity that larger businesses have, but small businesses really are often left behind when it comes to the issue of retail theft.

And we heard this when we heard from small businesses, some of these small convenience stores that told me that they were getting things stolen up to 10 times a day. And you know, it's kind of this death by a thousand cuts for these smaller businesses.

And their choice is to call 911 and try to report it and wait for 45 minutes to put a report in or help their next customer that's at the register. And so often it doesn't go reported. Often they're not able to really get support and redress that they need. And you know, we did a.

A retail Theft Select Committee hearing in our district that Assemblymember Zbur came into the district with us or convening really, and there were experts from law enforcement and small business community who really talked about simple things that you can do to really prevent retail theft.

Whether it's, you know, the higher quality cameras that, where you can see people's faces and actually be able to, you know, catch folks based on that, or whether it is, you know, rearranging your checkout area so people can't just run out the door.

And so simple things like this that could be just a few thousand dollars of investment can actually make a huge difference for these businesses to prevent retail theft, to make sure that they're not having this kind of death by a thousand cuts situation, where some of them face having to close because they just can't absorb these costs or they have to raise prices and all of us pay for that.

So this Bill really is working to address that for small businesses. It empowers the Office of the Small Business Advocate to address these challenges by providing grants to to small businesses and will aid in the prevention of retail theft.

Specifically, AB949 authorizes the Office of the Small Business Advocate to award grants to small businesses for security enhancements and to reduce retail theft risk. So I have Dr. Armond Aghakhanian here today who is representing a number of small businesses and as a small business leader in my district.

Thank you, Assembly Member, Honorable Chair Solache and distinguished Members of the Committee. My name is Dr. Armond Aghakhanian. I'm not only representing several businesses. I'm a former Chamber President for the Armenian American Chamber of Commerce. We have with three chapters in different states, including California, representing over a thousand members at one point.

I'm also the founder of the only Center for entrepreneurship, innovation and incubation for women, minorities, LGBTQI, formerly incarcerated and veterans. And I'm also an appointee of the CAPI A board by the Speaker's office. I can tell you that right now introducing this Bill and bringing this forward and getting support is very important.

A lot of small businesses right now are recovering from the pandemic and then on top of it right now, you see what's happening with the tariffs and everything else. So every dollar that they save means double or triple and every dollar they lose, it's same way.

So a lot of the businesses don't have the capacity to even get this equipment. But if any of you ever had a small business, you'll also understand that it's difficult just to go and set it up, not knowing the technology as well. So I believe this is not only good for the businesses, it's good for the community.

But also more than ever right now, when businesses are facing these challenges, this will help them. Because one little item that's stolen. It's going to be much more expensive for them as we're seeing what is happening right now with the devastation of small businesses right now. So I really ask you to support this.

And I think this will also bring more education forward about new technology. I think there should be workshops that people should know about how the new technology works versus, you know, people going out there and buying equipment they don't know how to do it.

There's a whole industry out there even scamming people out of, you know, equipment that they don't know how to operate. So please support this. You know, we always talk about small businesses being the backbone of our economy. More than ever, we need your support for something.

Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Armond. And okay, there's a motion and a second. With that we're going to go witnesses first. Any other witness support?

Thank you Chair and Members. Rachel Mueller on behalf of CAMEO Network and Small Business Majority and strong support.

Thank you. Darryl Lucien and strong of the Los Angeles Police Protective League in support.

Morning again. Sarah Pollo Moo with California Retailers Association and strong support. Thank you.

Clifton Wilson on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco as well as San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, both in support. Thank you.

Okay, hearing and seeing no others in support, we will call on the opposition. Are there any merit witnesses in the opposition? Okay, hearing and seeing none. Let's bring it back to Committee for any questions. Any questions from Committee Members? Okay. Vice Chair Castillo.

Thank you to the Author for this Bill. Assembly Bill 949 proposes establishing the Small Business Retail Theft Solution Grant Program within the Office of the Small Business Advocate. The program aims to assist small businesses in preventing and recovering from retail theft through grants.

While the intention to support small businesses is commendable, there are concerns that AB949 may not effectively address the root cause of crime in California, which in some cases is of course the soft on crime policies. So because of that I'm gonna not be voting on this Bill.

Okay. Seeing any more questions from Members. Okay, let's bring it back to the author. And for closing comments.

I mean, as everyone knows, every problem completely with every single Bill that we do, obviously there was. While you were not here last year, we actually did a lot in the area of retail theft to address a lot of the issues. That's why the California retailers will tell you that they were getting calls.

The California is a model for what we're doing to address retail theft and other states were calling us to address that. And so I'm really proud of the work that we've done as a state to address retail theft and proud that we've been a leader and really tackled this issue that was facing our communities and our businesses.

As a small business owner, I know that, you know, just a couple thousand dollars can make a huge difference in you being able to make critical changes to protect your business. And this kind of support will help small businesses in our community, which I think is critical. And so I am requesting an aye vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Assembly Woman Schiavo. With that, we're going to go ahead and we have a motion by Member Patel and second by Member Soria. Secretary, please call the roll.

File item number 4, AB949 Schiavo. Due pass to appropriations. Moved by Patel. Second by Soria. [Roll Call]

Madam Secretary, let the record reflect that it was the opposite. Motion by Soria, seconded by Patel. With that, we will leave it open.

Thank you.

Okay, with that. Thank you. I think we were going to be done for the day, but I think we might have one more member. We have AB 1347. Assemblymember Carrillo. From the- From the High Desert. AB 39 assembly bill 39.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and Members. Thanks for allowing me to present AB 1347. You know, in our 21st century economy, there are few things that are more damaging to economic development than not having electricity because of development reasons. The massive delays facing new customers waiting to interconnect with the grid have been well documented.

Depending on where you are located and how much power you expect to consume on a regular basis, customers can expect to wait roughly somewhere between a couple of years and a decade. And that is an accurate statement. A decade, sometimes just to get connected to the grid.

This dynamic is crushing in regions like my district, which are poised to see significant growth in the coming years. I refer to the High Desert as the next frontier. A lot of open land for development. The High Desert is one of the last places in California where you can build both residential and commercial space affordably.

And we have seen huge influx of investment over the past 10 years. Unfortunately, developers and investors are understandably hesitant to continue building without some guarantee that they will be able to turn the lights on. There have been a number of legislative- legislative efforts to address this interconnection issue statewide.

Members, AB 1347 takes a unique approach by creating a pilot program that would allow Gobius and the CPUC to identify six priority regions where growth is either projected to happen or is already happening. Without these regions, developers would be able to trade expedited utility connections for expedited cost recovery.

In other words, the developer could pay up front for the necessary infrastructure to be expanded to their development.

Finally, if the low serving entities either unable or unwilling to service a new facility in a priorito region, the developer may use a microgrid to power their facilities for a period of 10 years, at which point the reassessment would take place.

This approach will both unlock the economic potential of these growing regions and protected- protect existing ratepayers from the risk associated with building new grid infrastructure. And I just want to say, members, that this is actually a win-win all the way around. And I don't have anybody to testify today, but I'll be happy to answer your question.

Thank you, Assemblymember Carrillo. With that, we'll start with witnesses support of this bill. Are there any other witnesses in the room? Okay. Hearing and seeing no other support, we'll call for any opposition. Okay, there are no opposition. Let's bring it back to the committee. Members, any questions? Move by Senator Soria. Second by Wallis.

With that, we'll go ahead and take a roll call.

File item number five. AB 1347 Carrillo. Due pass to UNE. Moved by Soria. Second by Wallis. [ROLL CALL]

Okay. Is it okay? Okay. Still leave it open. We'll do it on call. Thank you. Okay. Okay, Members, with that we're going to go ahead and go on to any add ons Member. Madam Secretary.

[Roll Call]

Okay, this is 7-0. This bill's out of Committee. All right, thank you, Members. Seeing though for the business. This hearing is now adjourned. We. Yes. Yeah, we have you on everything. We are adjourned at 10:33. Thank you.