Senate Floor

Secretary will call the roll.

[Roll Call]

A quorum is present with the members and our guests beyond the rail and in the gallery, please rise. We will be led in prayer this afternoon by our chaplain, Sister Michelle Gorman. After which, please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

And let us bring ourselves into God's holy presence. Gracious and loving God be with us as we learn to praise all that our life entails.

Help us to praise what comes surprising as unplanned kisses, all we haven't deserved of days and solitude, our bodies in moderate good health, but lets us work in many kinds of weather. Help us to praise, talk with just about anyone, and quiet intervals. Books that are our food and our hunger, nightfall and walks before sleep. Praising these for practice, perhaps we will come at last to praise grief and the wrongs we never intended.

At the end, there may be no answers and only a few simple questions. Did we love? Did we finish our task in the world? Did we learn at least one of the many names of God? At the ragged edges of pain, did we catch the smallest glimpse of the holy? Gracious and merciful God, be with us as we learn to praise all that our life entails. Amen.

Members, please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance of the flag. I pledge allegiance to the United States.

Of America and to the Republic.

Members, before we begin, let's give a very warm welcome to a former member of this House, Senator Bill Dodd. Members, without objection, we will move to Senate third reading to take up two items out of order today. After adoption of each resolution, we will go to privileges of the floor for the Senator to introduce their guest.

We will begin with file item 133, SCR 33 by Senator Padilla.

Secretary, please read. Senate Concurrent Resolution 33 by Senator Padilla. Relative to GM1 ganglia acidosis awareness Day.

Senator Padilla, you may proceed at the Majority Leader's desk.

Thank you very much, Madam President and fellow colleagues, I rise today to present Senate Concurrent Resolution 33, which declares May 232025 as GM1 Gangliocidosis Day. GM1 Gangliosidosis is a rare inherited Genetic disorder that primarily affects. Thank you, Madam President.

GM1 is a devastating disorder with many debilitating ramifications, including developmental regression, mobility deterioration, seizures, visual impairment and neurodegeneration. It is a progressive disorder resulting in irreversible damage that the longer someone is affected and unfortunately, more than 50% of those impacted die before their fifth birthday.

Faster a diagnosis can be made, the sooner a patient can work to limit the damage with therapies, medication or clinical trials, which may slow disease progression or help with symptoms. However, while research into enzyme replacement therapy, gene therapy and other possible treatments are ongoing, there are still no approved treatments for GM1.

It is that lack of standardized and scientifically proven treatment for GM one that makes early diagnosis and awareness all the more important. This disease is still not yet well known, and it takes an average of 4 years for most families to get a diagnosis at all, which is far too long and often too late.

The more we can educate people, the better chance we have to find treatments that can save lives. My first year in the Senate came across the story of Violet Law. She actually joined us here at the Senate with her family, her mom and dad and siblings in that year.

She tragically passed away in November of 2023 from GM1 at the age of 4. Her life was a beautiful one, filled with love and support. Smiles, swimming, of course, Disneyland, friends and family. Her story and the tireless efforts of her parents, Dr. David Law and Dr. Veena Sison, were incredibly moving.

A family experiencing the worst greatest parents can face and meeting that challenge with grit, poise and purpose. Violet and her parents spurred a movement that raised thousands of dollars towards research efforts and to continue to spread awareness about GM1. Colleagues, I respectfully ask for your aye vote to raise awareness of this devastating disorder.

Thank you. Not seeing any further discussion or debate. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll calll]

[Roll call]

Senator Padilla moves the call. Senator Padilla, you are recognized for introduction of your guest.

Thank you very much, Madam President. And Colleagues, I'm pleased to welcome with us today the the President and founder of Cure GM1 foundation is Christine Wagoner, who is here in honor of her daughter Iris and Dr. David Law here in memory of his daughter Violet.

These people are the strong advocates that continue to work hard to raise awareness of GM1.

Welcome to the Senate. Thank you for coming.

We will now move to file item 247 SR 42 by Senator Choi.

Secretary, please read Senate Resolution 42 by Senator Choi. Relative to Iotrophic Lateral Cirrhosis Awareness Month.

Senator Choi, you are recognized.

Thank you. Madam President and colleagues, today I rise to present SR42, which recognizes may as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Month. A time to shine a spotlight on one of the most devastating and urgent public health challenges of our time.

Als, often known as lolit disease, is a devastating, neurodegenerative, neurodegenerative disorder that that robs individuals of their ability to walk, talk, eat and eventually breathe while leaving their minds fully intact. It is cruel, relentless and currently incurable. Each year, over 5,000Americans are diagnosed with ALS and thousands of families, families across the state are affected.

Military veterans are particularly affected as studies show they are significantly more likely to develop and die from ALS than the General population. This is not just a medical crisis, but the solemn duty for us as public servants. There is no cure. Average life expectancy after diagnosis is just two to five years.

That is why increased funding for research, access to clinical trials and caregiver support are not just luxuries, they are necessities. Many patients live only two to five years after diagnosis. The emotional, physical and financial toll of this disease is enormous, not just for those diagnosed, but for the loved ones who care for them.

Yet amid the challenges, there is courage. We've seen extraordinary strength in ALS patients, in their caregivers, in their communities, and in the advocates who tirelessly raise awareness and fight to the full cure. Unfortunately, my son in Law's mother, Mrs. Cheng, is a victim of of this terrible disease.

But she beat the odds and has survived for 30 years since 1995. I hope that a miraculous medical breakthrough will come before she passes away. By adopting 42, we are doing more than recognizing a month. We are standing with those impacted. We are sending a message that California sees them, hears them and joins them in their fight.

We are also helping to promote early diagnosis, support scientific research and encourage expanded access to care. Colleagues, let's use the power of our voices to shine a light on this devastating disease. I respectively ask for your aye vote on SR42 to honor those living with ALS, remember those we've lost and recommit to find a cure. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator. Seeing no further discussion or debate. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call]

[Roll call]

Senator Choi moves the call. Senator Choi, you are recognized for introduction of your guests?

Yes, I do. With me Today I have Mr. Mark Lewis, an ALS patient, and his wife, caregiver and advocate, Suzy Lewis. Please give them a warm welcome and join me in recognizing them on the Senate Floor. Thank you.

Welcome to the Senate.

We will now go to messages from the Governor. They will be deemed read. Messages from the Assembly will be deemed read. Reports from the committees will be deemed read, and amendments adopted. We are now under motions, resolutions and notices without objection.

The Senate journals for May 192025 through May 232025 will be approved as corrected by the Minute Clerk. We are now moving to consideration of the daily file, beginning with second reading. File Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 34111419202829364040.

Second reading will be deemed read. We're now moving to Governor appointment. Senator Laird, you are recognized.

Thank you very much, Madam President. Final item 120 is the confirmation of Catherine Rivera for appointment to the Cannabis Control Appeals Panel. Prior to this appointment, she was serving as Appointment Secretary in the Governor's office. She previously served on the Agricultural labor relations board from 2002 to. To 2019.

She was approved by the Rules Committee on April 30th. I respectfully asked for an aye vote.

Thank you. Not seeing any discussion. zero, so sorry, Senator Strickland, I just.

Had a question for the author, if you don't mind.

Will the author Take A. Well, not an author, but will the Senator take a question?

Yes, the presenter will take a question. The presenter. Thank you. The Cannabis Control Appeals Panel, how many times have they met and how much do they get paid?

They have not had an appeal yet. We had an animated discussion in the hearing about when that is happening, and I am looking to see if I have the salary here. $180,840. So.

And how many times have they met? Again, I think they've met, but I don't know that they've heard an appeal yet. Okay, so Members, this is a board that, from my understanding, has really not had an appeal and makes more money than all the legislators here. Boy, this is a great position for Catherine Rivera.

Nothing against her, but we should start looking at some of these appointments in some of these commissions where they make, you know, they show up once or twice a year and they make more than maybe the Governor of California. So we need to start looking at some of these.

And again, nothing against the person who you're presenting, but I think this body should start looking. When we're talking about deficits in California and we're talking about other worthy items that we spend money on, how can we look at our constituents straight in the face and keep these kinds of positions open for what is just political insiders?

Your average citizens in your district don't get to serve on these Boards and commissions. They're only insiders and people who are well known, mostly by the Governor of California.

And I think we should take a second look at some of these positions that get this kind of salary and show up maybe once or twice a year, if we're lucky. Thank you.

Thank you. Not seeing any further discussion or debate. Senator Laird, would you like to close with this appointment?

Yes. Thank you very much, Madam President. The cannabis control appeals panel is new because the voters approved this just a few years ago and the process has been getting up and running.

I believe that if we were to come back in three years, four years or five years, we would find that there would be a much fuller agenda. And that is the reason this is getting in place for the. The appeals that will come. This is a qualified person. I respectfully ask for an IO.

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

[Roll call]

[Roll call]

Senator Laird moves the call. Senator Laird, you are recognized for file item 121.

Thank you very much, Madam President. File item 121 is the confirmation of Victoria Hasid for reappointment to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, where she currently serves as the board's chair. Prior to joining the LRB in 2020, she served the Department of Industrial Industrial Relations in a number of positions including Acting Director and Chief Deputy Director.

She was approved by the Rules Committee on May 7. I respectfully asked for an iPhone.

Thank you. Senator Grove, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Colleagues, while I do believe that the Governor is entitled to his appointments, there are some exceptions to that. This individual is the chair, will be appointed as the chair of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board.

And during the time that she served on the board previously, she took almost 5,000 farmworker ballots to non unionize of the Grauwin Farm Worker Movement. And they made a decision to lock those ballots up for five years so that their votes couldn't be counted. They disenfranchised Those farm workers, it was completely unacceptable.

That vote was oversaw by the Department of Industrial Relations Director, the dir. Christine Baker. And along with the Labor Relations Board attorney. When this vote took place place and they completely locked up these ballots, took away the voice of the farm workers.

And after the farm workers continued to fight for years, they got the court to side in their favor. When the vote was counted, it was a 9010 vote against reinstating a 20 year union that had not been on the site for an entire. The entire time it was instituted. And so I think this is just poor mismanagement.

Like I said, the governor's entitled to his appointments. But I think this one is just a very, very far stretch. And respectfully asked for a no vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Senator Laird, would you like to close?

Just there was an animated discussion about this in the Committee. We voted to recommend her to the floor. I respectfully asked for an aye vote.

Thank you. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call]

[Roll call]

Senator Laird moves the call. Senator Laird, you are recognized for file item 123.

Thank you very much, Madam President. File item 123 is the confirmation of our former Senate colleague Nancy Skinner for appointment to the California Energy Commission. Senator Skinner has been a champion on energy, climate and sustainability issues throughout her legislative career.

In the Senate and previously in the Assembly, she serves as the Energy Commission's lead Commissioner on clean transportation, ports and industrial decarbonization. She was approved by the Rules Committee on May 14. I respectfully asked for an aye vote.

Thank you. Senator Jones, you're recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. And Members, this is probably the most difficult comments and opposition I have ever given on this floor. As you know, we all highly esteem and respect and enjoy Nancy Skinner. But on this particular appointment, I have to rise in opposition.

I know that some of us take confirmations more seriously than others, but the advise and consent role of the Senate is indeed an important one. We are the last line of oversight for the Executive branch simply calling the shots or making them work with the Legislature, the Assembly has no role here except on statewide appointments.

And so it's on us. With that being said, I believe it's extremely important that our role in the confirmation process be particularly transparent and explainable when it has to do with former legislators and our former colleagues. Simply being a former Member of the Legislature should not guarantee an appointment.

These five binders piled this tower of bills on my desk contain the bills that our former colleague authored or co authored during her combined 14 years in the State Senate and Assembly. As Republicans, we disagreed with about two thirds of them.

If we look specifically at energy and affordability measures, we disagreed with over 90% of our colleagues bills. You'll hear in a few minutes from some of my colleagues about specific bills on these matters.

Suffice to say that many of the state's current energy problems, ranging from chasing refineries out of state to mandating EVs too soon to jacked up electricity rates, have stemmed from this legislation. I cannot in good conscience support this nomination.

And knowing that the government bureaucrats come first and our California families, our colleagues, our constituents, come second, this is the wrong person at the wrong time in the wrong position. I respectfully ask for a no vote on file item 123.

Senator Alvarado-Gil, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. I rise today also in respectful opposition to the appointee of this appointment of this nominee. You know, I have had the privilege to serve with her and debate her policies, but it was on rare occasion that I supported those policies.

And now more than ever, we need to be focused on affordability here in our state. The decisions that we make today, tomorrow, and the next few weeks need to be focused on whether or not Californians can afford to live in California. And over the years, in her Legislature, Ms.

Skinner built a record of bringing forward mandates and regulations that drove up the state's energy costs and the overall cost of living. So time and time again, she has empowered unaccountable state bureaucracies like the very Commission that she is now being appointed to, while ignoring the economic realities facing working families, rural communities.

And you have to ask yourself, if we as legislators are prohibited from serving as lobbyists within a certain portion after we leave office, why are we now appointing former legislators to very powerful boards which effectively, through their appointment, legislate and can increase costs and fees? Let me be very specific.

In 2024, she authored Senate Bill 59, which gave the Energy Commission the authority to require automakers to make Their electric vehicles capable of sending power back to the grid. The result of that mandate, even higher prices for already overpriced electric vehicles.

And if you actually want to use this feature, you'll have to shell out thousands more for special home chargers and electric upgrades. Most people can't afford that and shouldn't be forced to pay it.

Over this weekend, I was able to travel to my district, as in road trip, not in an electric vehicle, because electric vehicle would not make it through my district through the mountains and the snow and the altitude.

We have a gas powered vehicle, but at the hotel that we stayed in, there was a charger that was available with a very kind note that said if you were to charge your vehicle here overnight, you would need to pay a cost of $50.

So even the costs on small businesses and our hospitality industry of these electric vehicles, we're seeing that increase of costs across the board. The bill by Nancy Skinner also increased the CEC operating costs, further impacting ratepayers.

Since the agency is actually funded by a surcharge on our electric bills, there's not a day that goes by that I don't receive messages from my constituents about the increase in electricity bills. This is very common. The cost of energy in California has skyrocketed to a point where affordability is a real crisis.

I have heard colleagues on the other side of the aisle commit to maintaining awareness and focus on cost affordability in California. And I just don't see that with the author of Senate Bill 559, Nancy Skinner. So let's call it what it is.

The author of that bill, with so many others, is now being rewarded with a powerful, unelected post at the very agency her legislation expanded. For what? For being a loyalist to the Democratic supermajority at the expense of families and their pocketbook?

This is the reality that those who toe the line, those that support legislation to build bureaucracy, get awarded with these very comfortable appointments. So if she did all of that under the scrutiny of the public as an elected official, imagine what she will do at an agency that does not answer to the people.

Sacramento's misguided energy policies already hit my district the hardest. The rural and Central Valley communities I represent face some of the highest electricity rates in the nation. Ms. Skinner's appointment is more than just a revolving door.

It's a dangerous continuation of the same policies that are crippling our energy grid, inflating our utility bills and pushing people further into poverty. This is not just immediate poverty, but generational poverty, all under the banner of environmental justice that somehow never seems to reach the people that we represent. How is that justice at all?

Californians are paid more and getting less. That's true in all of our districts. And now we're being asked to trust one of the architects of our energy affordability crisis with even more power and zero accountability to our constituents. I urge a no vote on this appointment. Thank you for the opportunity to speak, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Senator Choi. You are recognized.

Thank you, madam. And the Members of the Senate, I also rise today to add my colleagues opposition of the appointment of former Senator Nancy Skinner to the California Energy Commission. The Commission is comprised of unelected bureaucrats with little to no oversight or accountability. Senator Skinner has a record of authorizing legislation that ballooned the Commission's already dubious authority.

The shrinking middle class is in dire need of legislation that reduces the cost and increases the affordability. Two things Senator Skinner has never prioritized. I would like to highlight a couple of bills that were making California unaffordable already.

Senate Bill 49 has been explained but that expanded the CEC's authority to regulate the standards for appliances to match the supply of energy with the demand. But rather than incentivizing consumers to use appliances during the non peak hours or diversifying California's energy portfolio, this bill paralyzes the consumers who did not conform with this Bill.

Additionally, the Department of Justice estimated the bill comes out with an ongoing $1.2 million price T. Secondly, SP1063, 2022 she authored this yet again increases the unchecked authority of the unelected CEC by allowing new rules to take effect immediately rather than requiring a minimum of at least one year.

The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers said this bill would hurt the consumers, especially low income and disadvantaged communities because more than likely the products that would be taken off the market without any opportunity to be redesigned will be low cost products.

This proposal also would raise a significant cost for consumers as manufacturers would have to expedite redesign and the safety testing in order to ensure the product is ready for the market. California cannot afford to appoint another bureaucrat with the track record of raising costs for Californians to board with the unrestricted authority to further increase that burden.

For these reasons and for those raised by my colleagues, I must encourage every one of you a no vote on Senator Skinner's appointment to the California Energy Commission. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Arreguin. You are recognized at your desk.

Thank you, Madam President. I stand in strong support of the appointment of former Senator Nancy Skinner to the Energy Commission.

She is a constituent, and I'm proud that she represented the Senate seat that I currently hold for eight years and six years in the California State Assembly, where she made a transformative impact in advancing California's work in addressing climate change. And colleagues, let's just be real here.

As long as there have been Gubernatorial appointments, legislators, former legislators, have been appointed to those seats, Democrats and Republicans. This is about whether Ms. Skinner meets the qualifications to serve on the California Energy Commission.

And there's no doubt that she's eminently qualified to serve in this role, from her work in leading ICLEI and the work of bringing cities together to address the growing threat of climate change to her work in the Legislature over the past 14 years. And let me remind you, we face a climate emergency.

We do face an affordability crisis, but we also face a climate emergency that requires that we take bold action to reduce emissions. We are seeing the effects of this climate emergency with catastrophic wildfires that are ripping through our state, rising sea levels, climate refugees in our state.

We need to continue the work that we've done that the Legislature has advanced, the governor's advanced over the past several decades to accelerate our transition off of fossil fuels and invest in a clean energy economy. That's what Senator Skinner will focus on in the California Energy Commission.

I'm proud that she led these efforts, and I think she is eminently qualified to continue this work on the Energy Commission. And even though Washington may be wiping away clean air rules and other critical environmental protections, we need to stand for those things here in California.

I just want to lift up the work that Senator Skinner has done to address the issues of affordability and workforce. Authoring Senate Bill 54 to ensure that our building trades Members can work in the refinery industry, creating a jobs pathway and just transition for those people as well.

The work she's done in addressing housing affordability, the work she's done to address cost of living in California. So let's separate the bigger and important discussion around how we address energy affordability and cost of living from the question of whether Ms. Skinner meets the qualifications from this Commission. On that basis, she does.

And I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Senator Stern, you are recognized.

Didn't mean to cut the line. Thank you, Madam President. I'll just add some. Maybe some depth to the record here. I think Senator Skinner will probably. It's a great credit, I would say, to her career, that this is a debate and that we get to relitigate those binders and binders on your desk.

It sounds like you can take a third of them off, even if, since you technically agreed with a third. So that. Pretty good record for Senator Skinner going into this. I miss her and her precision. We need her desperately in this moment.

That same scrutinizing attitude about squeezing every last penny to make sure that we don't overpay our bills here in California. I truly believe even some of the bills that have been mentioned here today.

She would tell you the great Art Rosenfeld, who helped found the Energy Commission, is one of her mentors, and he often talked about how the money you save on the energy you don't buy is actually the biggest return you can get.

In other words, if you have an AC unit and your windows are leaking, like so many working and poor people do, you pay a ton on your utility Bill every month. If you have a clunky old car, you're going to pay the highest at the gas pump. We all know these things to be true.

If you're shopping for a new washing machine and they take away the sticker that says Energy Star on it, which is on the table right now, you're going to end up buying something that could Jack up your Bill, hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a year.

SB 49 established some of those dynamic appliance standards, incidentally, and may be a life raft for those in California who don't really care about politics when it comes to just buying an oven that's not going to cost you an arm and a leg or, you know, sort of getting into just the basics of living an affordable life.

In fact, Energy Star saved this country $500 billion, which is why the Trump Administration is currently. They wanted to scrap it, but they realize it's a little awkward to Jack people's bills up, and so now they're trying to find some other way to keep this alive. Well, SB49 is going to do that here in California.

We're going to make sure people know what they're buying. SB go back a little further in her career. The Title 24 standards, AB 758 and AB 1883. You may say this is bureaucracy. And why do we need building standards?

Well, one good thing is it helps your home from burning down in a fire, as the building industry has showed us. So she helped upgrade those standards. The other, though, is that it.

It doesn't make two classes of society, one for rich people, one for poor people, where poor people, when they live in an apartment or house, it's hot, unbearably hot, fatally hot, or dangerously cold because they don't have insulation around their windows or their doors. The boring stuff. This is not supposed to be political stuff.

These are the sort of just bread and butter of building a resilient economy, which is why the building industry still supports those frameworks going forward and despite some federal efforts to unwind those and say, you should just build the clunkiest home you can. You should have the freedom to do so.

That, to me, just runs counter to our entire affordability push. Last year, I think we saved about $6 billion alone, thanks to Nancy Skinner's work in California. So if you don't want to save that money going forward, I'd say definitely oppose this nomination.

But if you actually want California consumers to get a fair deal at the store or at the pump or on their bills, then I think you should vote Aye on this. Thanks.

Thank you. Senator Strickland, you are recognized at your desk.

Thank you, Madam President. Members of the Senate, I couldn't disagree more with my colleague from the San Fernando Valley. This year, the Members of both chambers said this is the year to tackle the affordability crisis. But that's just words. Again, don't look at your rhetoric.

Look at your record, the record of this nominee to appoint the former Senator Skinner to the California Energy Commission. Look, Senator Skinner is a friend of mine. We serve in the Legislature together. I think she's a good person. But I can't sit here at this legislative body to rubber stamp someone just because we know her.

And in fact, when you look at her policies, they did contribute to the affordability crisis here in California. This nominee consistently introduced bad legislation with catastrophic consequences, ended up squeezing the pocketbooks of everyday California residents.

Right now, residents are having to decide between a gallon of milk and a gallon of gas, and they're living paycheck to paycheck because they can't afford some of the regulations that have been passed by this current. The former Senator. In fact, again, look at all the regulation. Look at these books.

These are all regulations that are not necessary for the people of California. In fact, I want to point out just two of those policies that are making California unaffordable today. Senate Bill X1 2. In 2023, the California Chamber at the Time tagged it as a job killer Bill. Now it's a law. The proof is in the pudding.

After this Bill was passed, two refineries that make up 20% of the refinery capacity in California are fleeing the state. In fact, the USC just came out was about two weeks ago and says next year, because of legislation like this, next year gas prices could go anywhere up to $8 a gallon. And that's not me saying it.

That's a USC independent study saying that gasoline prices, by the way, that fall disproportionately on those hardworking California families trying to make it from paycheck to paycheck. Wealthier districts could afford it. The people who can't afford those kind of taxes and those kinds of prices are the hard working California families just trying to make ends meet.

Number two, Senate Bill 1014. This is now a law that was to get rid of gas fuel vehicles. Of course the purpose of this law is to force drivers to purchase electric vehicles. Ironically, Californians are not buying EVs fast enough. Reported by Calmatters in February of this year.

In fact, if you take notice, the Wall Street Journal reported that General Motors, one of the top sellers of EVs in the United States is lobbying against California for the 2035 ban of gas cars because EV sales are way down.

In fact, I met with Hyundai, that is in my district, that is the number two in the market for EV cars. And their team shared with me just a few weeks ago last year's growth rate for the EV cars that they had is 1%. Their growth rate was 1%.

And that's after all the federal and state subsidies that were thrown at people to try to buy these cars. What does that tell you? It tells you the people of California are not buying these cars. Now I'm not against EV cars, but I am for choice.

And I do think down the line that could be more cheaper as we go down the line. But EV cars Members, maybe some of your districts can afford this, but an average citizen in California can't afford a 40 to $60,000 car.

And this legislation just shows you that we're trying to hurt those very people just trying to make the ends meet. Californians are struggling from the poor decision making and policies pushed by this Legislature, from housing to transportation to food, utilities, taxes. And the biggest factor driving away people in California are the high cost of living.

A large portion. Because of the center's record, it's not surprising that California's Budget Policy Center reported that California has the highest cost of living and the Major drivers of that state is a high poverty rate that we have here in California. And that's because of a lot of the policies that Senator Skinner has passed.

This nominee's policy decisions have led California down a path that played in part to our affordability crisis that you yourselves say you're trying to solve this year. We cannot afford this nominee as an appointee to the California Energy Commission, which is unelected body of bureaucrats with too much power and no accountability.

And by the way, that's another argument. I think there's too much that we do here in the Legislature. Will we empower other unaccountable boards and agencies? And there's no recourse. When citizens have a problem with a lot of these boards and agencies, they call our office and we can't do anything about it.

We should put more of that power back into the Legislature so they don't think you're doing a good job, they can vote us out. But at the end of the day, these are unaccountable boards. And so because of that, I urge your no vote again.

Cynthia Skinner is a good person, but her policies are not good for the people of California and. And particularly the energy affordability crisis that we have in California. I urge your no vote.

Thank you, Senator Wahab. You are recognized.

Thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate the comments from my Republican colleagues. I would have to agree with some of the points made in regards to just a little bit more oversight on some of these appointments and the commissions overall.

We have struggled to make sure that the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Energy Commission are held accountable voters. And what was relayed was that many of the appointments that are being made are selected by among the elite few. Those.

And I will highlight that many of them work for the industries that these committees and commissions are supposed to have oversight over. And when we talk about accountability, even when we're talking about energy and affordability, it has been a struggle. You know, I will give.

It's not this Commission, but the CPUC, for example, has not rejected an increase since 2002. Right. And what we are talking about right now is an appointment of Senator Skinner to the California Energy Commission.

Senator Skinner was my seatmate for two years and represented the area north of me bordering my district in the Bay Area, largely working for community Members. And I think that there is no person better to be appointed to this Commission for a number of reasons.

When we talk about accountability and making sure that we have oversight as well as prioritize affordability, Senator Skinner, in those binders that are stacked there clearly shows a body of work that exemplifies this.

For example, just on the energy piece, she prioritized that we have a utility rate structure and a fixed charge for some of the lowest income Californians that cannot keep up with the cost of energy. She has ensured that there is energy assistance programs that are devoted to these communities on fixed incomes as well as low income individuals.

She has supported renewable energy infrastructure that this industry has year over year fought against that is also largely responsible for the driving up of the costs as well as the lack of thinking about our future. She has talked about energy storage, which is now just being talked about.

And when it comes to affordability, in every single Bill, it has been prioritized that we are focused on the most needy individuals in California of the 40 million Californians that we all represent as far as expertise. And I want to say again, she is not an industry plant. She ran a restaurant. She was in local government.

She worked for the people. Time and time again, she did not work for these energy organizations. So her extensive legislative experience in energy policy makes her qualified. Her commitment to environmental justice and climate action and not rolling back the progress we have made makes her qualified.

Her expertise in holding these industry organizations accountable to the 40 million Californians makes her qualified. And again, we need to base our feelings and our opinions of what we are doing here on the facts. And the facts are that Senator Skinner is more than qualified to serve as a Member of the California Energy Commission.

I think it would be a value add to not only that Commission, but to the Legislature to have somebody there that we can work with, that we can actually understand exactly what is happening, how we can ensure that our laws hold them more accountable and prioritize the needs of the 40 million Californians that rely on us.

And so I am deeply excited to vote for her as a part of the California Energy Commission. Thank you.

Thank you. Senator Wiener. You are recognized at your desk.

Thank you very much, Madam President. I'm glad that we get to talk about Nancy Skinner so robustly today, because I'll be honest, I really miss her. I serve the honor of serving in this body with Senator Skinner for eight years. We came in together. And as much as I love the Senator from Berkeley, you know, I also.

I wish they. I wish they both could serve. I wish you could just like grow the size of the body and have people stay and, and so forth. But Nancy Skinner is an extraordinary person and an extraordinary leader.

And she, the Governor nominated her for this role not because as a Pat on the back or because she's an insider or a team player. He nominated her because it's hard to imagine someone more qualified than Nancy Skinner to serve on the Energy Commission. It is really hard to imagine someone more qualified.

And in fact, I think that's why we're seeing some opposition. Yes, there are disagreements, but also I think all of us know that how intensely effective Nancy Skinner is going to be on this body to deliver energy reliability and energy affordability to Californians.

It is because of Nancy Skinner, in significant part, that we have so much energy storage today. She was working on energy storage before most people knew what it was, before it was fashionable. And the reason we avoided rolling blackouts a few years ago is because we had invested so intensively in energy storage.

And Nancy Skinner has been an absolute leader in making that happen. I also just want to say, in terms of cost of living, it's great that we're focused on cost of living. We should always be focused on cost of living. And Nancy Skinner has devoted so much of her professional life to doing that.

She's been a leader on housing, on making housing more affordable for Californians. Housing is the top driver of the cost of living crisis. And no one has been more aggressive, even me, than Nancy Skinner when it comes to housing.

She played a key role in expanding access to childcare for working families, another driver of the cost of living crisis for families. Child care was a huge priority for Senator Skinner, and she was a top champion in this body of protecting consumers from scams, whether scams by the oil industry or by other industries. So we should be.

We are lucky that Senator Skinner is willing to serve on the Energy Commission. She will be an amazing Member. And I respectfully ask for an Aye vote.

Thank you, Senator Seyarto. You are recognized at your desk.

Thank you, Madam President. Colleagues, I'm having a difficult time understanding, beyond politics as usual, that this appointee is being appointed to this particular Commission. This appointment makes no sense in terms of the stated goals of the Legislature at the beginning of this year. The main one being to address affordability issues that too many Californians are.

Are being financially devastated by. I served with this appointee on the Senate Committee that was directly related to the main culprit behind the astronomical rise in the cost of living for all Californians. This appointee offered up and supported bills without any compromises that affect every California in a negative way.

Energy policy in California and policies coming out of the Cec, all based on the most extreme approaches to climate action and our environment, have been at the core of the unaffordability crisis in California for several years now. We don't need any more extremist policies raining down on Californians. This appointment, I fear, will exacerbate just that.

And because of that, I would respectfully request that the Senate deny this appointment and ask the Governor to find another appointee that will give some thought and consideration to how energy policies are financially affecting all of our constituents and would be helpful in creating policies that strike a common sense balance between addressing environmental concerns and the stated priority goal of addressing affordability in our state.

This issue touches everyone. This year it touched me because on Thursday I'm going to get on a plane and fly out of state to go visit my kids that three months ago lived here. Because why? Because of the affordability in California, that's why. So I take it personally when we keep driving costs up. And that's what.

We're not going to address that by continuing to do the same things that we've been doing. We have to take a look at what we've been doing, how it's not working, not drill down on the same things. And I fear that this appointee will do exactly that. Thank you.

Thank you. Senate pro Tim Mcguire. You are recognized at your desk, Madam President.

Thank you. Grateful to speak on behalf of Senator Skinner. From what I heard today, Senator Skinner is responsible for a lot. I guess we ignore that Senator Skinner also grew California's economy 50% larger than any other state in the union.

I guess she's also responsible that California donates $83 billion more in taxes every year to the Federal Government than we receive. I guess Senator Skinner is also responsible that California has a larger real estate market. 61% larger than the next state in the union.

I guess that she is also responsible that we're seeing population increases over the last 24 months. That she's responsible that we have the most Fortune 500 companies in the country. 35 of the 50. The world's leading AI companies. Number one for new business starts. Access to venture capital funding.

In fact, we have more venture capital funding in California than any other state in the union combined. Number one for manufacturing. Number one for high tech. Number one for agriculture. Thank you, Senator Skinner. Thank you, Senator Skinner. 92% of all Californians have health care. Half of all community college students now go tuition free to community college.

But let's not talk about who voted for that. 54% of all UC students in the State of California now attend UC tuition free. But let's not talk about who Voted for that. Look, we may have political differences, but it is rich when one side gets up. Our good friends get up.

And don't talk about what big oil has done to this country. We are just a few years off, couple years off, in fact, where big oil saw billions upon billions of dollars of profit. Why don't we talk about that here today? Is Senator Skinner responsible for that? Senator Skinner.

If you were to talk to Republicans off the record, she will, whether you're Democrat or Republican bipartisan, will say she has the ability to work with all sides. There is no other Member in this Legislature that is a better bridge builder. She's not afraid to tackle the tough issues, deraining costs for consumers.

That's literally what she's done her entire career. There is no one in this body that is more full of integrity than Nancy Skinner. And she is never here just to make friends. She's here to make good policy and to be able to protect the people of California. She's a champion for housing and our climate and her reputation.

It's not about politics. It's about putting people first. And what's unfortunate about today is that we're not being truthful. And what I mean by that is if you talk to any one of us across the aisle who have worked with Senator Skinner, they will say the same thing I just did. No one works harder.

No one has their door open more than anyone in this Legislature. Senator Skinner. No one will work with all sides better than Senator Skinner. But now. Convenient to be able to kick her when she's not even here. For the love of God, the last thing I want to talk about is cost.

The reconciliation Bill that was just passed. Half $1.0 trillion in infrastructure work is now at risk. The largest tax cut to the richest in the United States of America. Slash of tens of thousands of American jobs.

And I don't understand why we haven't talked about tariffs and the impact that tariffs have had on the car industry by the Federal Government. But sure, let's blame Senator Skinner. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm all for having bipartisan debate and differences, but come on. Nancy Skinner is one of the good ones.

And we should be all supporting her today with a bipartisan vote. And I respectfully ask for a nigh vote with Senator Laird on item 123.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate. Senator Laird, would you like to close?

Yes. Thank you very much, Madam President. I appreciate the animated debate. And I would just make a few additional comments because I think that the virtues of Nancy Skinner were Explained very clearly. But it wasn't until. Of all the people that spoke in opposition, until the Senator from Murrieta.

It was the first time that the word climate was used in any of those speeches. And if you are worried about how consumers will be hurt or costs drive up, look at forest fires and look at urban fires.

If you're worried about whether or not the consumers will be hurt, look at the parts of my district falling into the ocean due to sea level rise. Look at the people that are hurt by heat domes. Look at what we have to do with droughts.

The choice is whether we are going to alter human behavior to be able to lower emissions and lower the effects on every single Californian. That is the choice that is in front of us today with this confirmation.

And I really appreciate all the examples because we all sat here last year when the former staffers of Senator Skinner were sitting in the gallery and she managed to go through the level of achievement of things she had done in her service in the two houses. It was amazing.

And if that speech could be run right now, it would rebut almost every one of the negative speeches were made on this floor because talked about food for people, talked about housing. And let the record show that the Senator from San Francisco said she did more than him on housing.

Let the record show that, because that is an amazing moment just in itself. But food for kids, child food care, housing. When we were negotiating the Diablo Canyon deal, that was referenced. It was Nancy Skinner in those negotiations that was worried about the rates. It was referenced that General Motors had real concerns about one of her policies.

That didn't stop them at the Rules Committee from standing up and endorsing this confirmation. She has broad support, has broad experience, and we all know what we should be focused on. And she's going to be focused on it. She's one of the best appointments that could be made to this position. I asked for an aye vote.

Thank you. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Ayes. 29. noes 10. The appointment is confirmed.

Senators, we will now move to senate third reading. We will begin with file item 162, SCR 50 by Senator Stern. Secretary, please read.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 50 by Senator Stern relative to climate change.

Senator Stern, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. SCR 50 urges the Governor's office on land use and climate innovation to examine its regulatory efforts. Define maladaptation.

Maladaptation to our last debate is when you have a leaky house and you install a big HVAC in it and you run up $1000 bill thinking you're going to cool your house off and all that cold air goes out the window because you didn't take the $10 step of putting caulking on those windows.

Maladaptation at a larger scale is when LA faced flood risks for decades and centuries and then built a giant concrete drainage ditch that actually increased flood risk in certain areas and didn't really plan for the future.

Or like when it gets hotter and you need to have more AC, so you fire up a bunch of diesel generation, which makes the air even hotter.

Those are the kinds of mistakes that we want to avoid as a state as we prepare for the worst effects and potentially a future without FEMA, which is hard to kind of contemplate, but we have to be serious about this stuff. So for the trillions that are facing us in these costs, let's get smart and pass SCR 50.

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

[roll call]

Ayes. We'll call the absent Members.

[roll call]

Ayes 28. Noes 0. The resolution is adopted. We will now move to file item 176, SCR 36 by Senator Cortese.

Thank you, Madam President. Colleagues, arise. Present SR 36.

Excuse me just a moment. Secretary, please.

I didn't give Michelle's. Thank you.

Senate Resolution 36 by Senator Cortese. Relative to Paris Accords.

Senator Cortese, you are recognized.

Thank you again, Madam President. Apologize for jumping ahead. I rise to present SR 36. This is a resolution that reaffirms California's leadership on climate action and our steadfast commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement. Even as federal leadership has shifted away from those goals. The resolution recognizes the urgent climate threats California faces.

Record heat waves, droughts, wildfires, extreme weather and rising sea level. It makes clear that we will continue to lead the nation in combating our climate crisis while the United States government withdrawal from the Paris Accords under the federal administration threatens both national and global climate progress.

California and Governor Newsom, alongside 23 other states representing over 60% of the population of the United States through the U.S. climate alliance, has upheld the commitments of the goals of the Paris Agreement. So this resolution reaffirms those very same commitments. Thank you. And I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Senator Jones, you are recognized.

Rise in opposition to SR 36. SR 36 ignores the crushing cost of California's climate policies on working families. From sky high utility bills to soaring gas and housing prices. California electricity costs are double the national average, driven by mandates and compliance costs that SR 36 would only worsen.

Celebrating zero emission goals without addressing affordability leaves behind rural and working class Californians who can't afford the transition. Since the Paris Agreement was signed, global emissions have increased, not decreased. China and India continue ramping up coal use. Meanwhile, California punishes its own residents for a global problem it doesn't control.

Even more so, California contributes just 1% of global emissions. 1% of entire global emissions come from California. And it's probably actually just a little bit less than that. This resolution promotes climate symbolism while ignoring practical realities. Climate policy in California has become more about government control than carbon reduction.

If this were about carbon, lawmakers would embrace nuclear and hydropower, but they don't. Instead of committing to failed global promises that drive up costs with no results, we should focus on local solutions with real impact. California should invest on climate adaptation, water storage, coastal protection, crop resilience and fire prevention.

These strategies are are more cost effective and far more impactful for our future than our regulatory overreach. In closing, SR 36 promotes an ideology, not practical climate solutions. I ask for a no vote.

Thank you, Senator Cortese. Seeing no further discussion or debate, would you like to close?

Yes. Thank you, Madam President and colleagues. It may be true that California represents a minority of the emissions in the the world, but we represent a majority of the leadership on climate action. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Secretary, please call the roll.

[roll call]

Secretary, please call the absent members.

[roll call]

Ayes 28, noes 9. The resolution is adopted. Members, we are still in our third reading, but we are now getting into our support support bills. We have 30 on the file today. Again, these are support support, so please keep your comments concise. Thank you. We will start with file item 135, SB 8 by Senator Ashby.

Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 8 by Senator Ashby. An act relating to public employment.

Senator Ashby, you are recognized.

Thank you. Madam President, I rise to present SB 8, which extends workers compensation and disability protections to the Sacramento county park rangers. This is in line with other post certified officials, including the park rangers in Los Angeles County. The bill has bipartisan support and I ask for an aye vote.

Excellent. Secretary, please call the roll.

[roll call]

Secretary, please call the absent members.

[roll call]

Ayes, 38. No, zero. The measure passes. We will now move to file item 139, SB 480 by Senator Archuleta.

Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 480 by Senator Archuleta. An act relating to autonomous vehicles.

Madam President, I rise to present Senate Bill 480, which would allow autonomous vehicles to be equipped with automated driving system markers. Driving system markers. Lamps that will begin from January 1, 2026. These are lamps that are greatly needed as we move on to this New technology in order to strengthen public safety and establish and.

And to establish and to enable public and the law enforcement community to be aware of these new systems while they are in use. Manufacturers should be allowed to install marker lamps on their vehicles to clearly communicate with pedestrians and law enforcement when a vehicle's automated driving system is activated.

Such recommendations were made by SAE International National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, authorizing vehicles with automated driving systems to be equipped with marker lamps which strengthen public safety and promote acceptance of automated driving systems. I respectfully ask your aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Members, this item is eligible for unanimous roll call. Any objections? Seeing none. Ayes, 38. No, 0. We will now move to file item 140. SB491 by Senator Laird.

Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 491 by Senator Laird and act relating to energy.

Senator Laird, you are recognized.

Thank you. Given the debate we had earlier on the confirmation. I knew this bill was coming and it speaks to that debate. This requires the Chair of the Energy Commission to come and report to the Legislature for accountability every year. And because of that, there's support on both sides. I asked for an Aye vote.

I would ask my colleague not to incite riot on the floor with his comments and be professional like a Senator. Much love.

Point well taken.

Yeah, I would just say that's 10 years too late. I asked for an Aye vote.

Senator Strickland.

I would point out to the Senator. That a report is not accountability. Just say we did this. We want interaction between our constituents before. They make that decision, not afterwards.

Thank you. Senator Laird, not seeing any further comments or debate. Would you like to close?

I think there was a misunderstanding. It doesn't require a report. It requires the them to report and present personally to the Legislature, which is once again, why there's support on both sides. I asked for an Aye vote.

Thank you. Members, this item is also eligible for unanimous consent. Any objection? Not seeing any. Ayes, 38. No, 0. The measure passes. We will now move to file item 143. SB765 by Senator Niello. Secretary, please.

Please read.

Senate Bill 765 by Senator Niello and act relating to state government.

Senator Niello, you are recognized.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. I just love all this bipartisan love on the floor now. It's very uplifting. Colleagues, I am coiled and ready to present SB765, which designates the giant garter snake as the official snake of California. I even have a giant garter snake. Tie on that. You may all inspect, but don't touch me.

The giant garter snake is one of the few snakes that is found. Only found slithering in our great state can be up to 64 inches. And more importantly, is a symbolic representation of how wildlife and working lands can together tell a story. A conservation story.

This snake plays a crucial role in controlling and maintaining the balance of the ecosystem by keeping down pest populations in wetlands and agricultural areas such as rice fields. The giant garter snake was listed as threatened in California in 191971 and its population has unfortunately declined by more than 90% in the last century.

Since being on the rattle of extinction, there have been vast conservatory efforts to protect the snake in addition to the wetlands and rice fields in which this fangtastic friend resides.

Establishing the giant garter snake as the the official state snake will allow us to use this snake as a scaly tool to educate Californians about conservation, progress and environmental awareness. The more we wrap around the importance of species like the giant garter snake, the more we contribute to a positive, sustainable future.

Let's make it official and rattle the state support behind it. This bill is without any coiling opposition, attempting to constrict its passage and has enjoyed unanimous support in Committee. I respectfully ask for an Aye vote. What was that?

Thank you. Not seeing any further discussion or debate. Eight Members, this item is eligible for unanimous roll call. Any Objection? Seeing none. Ayes, 38. No, 0. The measure passes. We will now move to file item 146, SB27, by Senator Umberg. Oh, Secretary, please call the wrong.

Senate Bill 27 by Senator Umberg and AG relaying to courts and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately.

Senator Umberg, you're recognized.

Thank you very much, Madam President. Colleagues, this bill is not nearly as. Controversial as the Garden State controversy, but it's designed to allow a court to combine both the initial appearance and prima facie determination in one hearing. For care courts. I urge and Aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, this item is also eligible for unanimous roll call. Any Objection? Seeing none? Ayes, 38. No, 0. On the measure. Ayes 38, no 0 on the urgency, we will now move to file item 150. SB340 by Senator Laird.

Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 340 by Senator Laird and act relating to housing.

Senator Laird, you are recognized.

Thank you very much. Madam President, this bill addresses an issue where by right approval for emergency shelter services sometimes is construed not to extend to wraparound services which we want with Emergency shelter services. So this does not disqualify the by right action and folds in the wraparound services. There's support on both sides.

I ask for an Aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate. This item is eligible for unanimous roll call. And any Objections? Seeing none. Ayes, 38. No, 0. The measure passes. We will now move to file item 154. SB395 by Senator Wiener.

Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 395 by Senator Wiener in act relating to alcoholic beverages.

Senator Wiener, you are recognized.

Thank you very much. Madam President. Colleagues, this is a district bill that will authorize 20 low cost liquor licenses for an area of downtown San Francisco that has been struggling since the pandemic. And needs additional economic vibrancy. A lot of local work is happening to really lift up this area and. I'm optimistic about its future and the.

State should do our part. And I respectfully ask for an Aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate. This item is eligible for unanimous roll call. Any Objection? Seeing none. Ayes, 38. No, 0. The measure passes. We will now move to file item 160. SB 394 by Senator Allen. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 394 by Senator Allen and accurately to water theft.

Senator Allen, you are recognized.

Thank you so much. Madam President. Members Public water agencies are responsible for delivering safe, clean and affordable drinking water throughout our state. But in recent years, water theft has posed a real threat to water agencies ability to fulfill that responsibility.

The most egregious form of water theft is typically from fire hydrants where we have commercial entities that have been using specialized tools to steal water from hydrants for construction, landscaping and farming. This theft can cause costly damage to hydrants, contaminate water quality and unexpectedly lower water pressure impacting nearby water users and in some cases potentially firefighting efforts.

So this bill would authorize local governments to increase penalties for water theft. It also removes the one year reset on fines and allows for local agencies to recover full damages from water theft. Through civil action we're hoping to deter water theft.

It's become an issue in my district and other parts of the state and I ask for your Aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, this item is eligible for unanimous roll call. Not seeing any objections. Ayes, 38. No, 0. The measure passes. We will now move to file item 170. SB 760 by Senator Allen.

Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 760 by Senator Allen in act relating to the political Reform act of 1974.

Senator Allen, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. SB 760 seeks to provide flexibility for elected officials making broad public appeals for donations for nonprofit organizations. Right now, they're currently disincentivized and incredibly difficult, actually, due to our behested payment reporting requirements. After the recent fires in my district, charities activated to provide immediate aid and long term recovery support to the victims.

But I was warned that I should be really cautious before letting people know about the good work of charities that I knew needed money to do the work that they were doing. Because of the way that our behested payment system works.

Even if an elected official doesn't know that a contribution was made as a result of that public appeal, or doesn't know that if a contribution exceeds the threshold or did not coordinate directly with any of the potential viewers of that communication, and even the organization receiving the donation has no way of knowing it was a result of the official's public appeal.

Technically those contributions must be reported to the FPPC. And just because they're not always enforced doesn't mean we shouldn't fix the law. So this bill would put more flexibility for elected officials to make broad public appeals for support of nonprofits without triggering the reporting. But we do make sure that there are strong protections in place.

You can't have any familial or personal, personal interest in money going to those organizations. And with that, I respectfully asked for an Aye vote.

Thank you, Senator Grove. You are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. I know it's support, support, but I just want to applaud the author for doing this. You know, during the LA wildfires or the fires that happened down in Los Angeles. Angeles, we did learn a lot.

Thank you, Madam President. I know it's support, support, but I just want to applaud the author for doing this. You know, during the LA wildfires or the fires that happened down in Los Angeles. Angeles, we did learn a lot.

I mean, I made a broad appeal in my district and had a company donate $200,000 to the LA Food Bank, $200,000 for the LA Fire Department, and then $200,000 locally. And then I get dinged on my FEPC report, which is just like nuts because all I did was say, hey, LA's on fire.

We can help you guys supply what you can. We had Crystal Geyser donate a ton of water down there. And I knew about that one, right? I didn't know about the other one, which because of my broad appeal. And I got a little letter saying thank you for making this aware of us and how we could help.

And then that's what got me in trouble. And so I just applaud you for doing this because a lot of times we do things out of the goodness of our heart to make sure that we can help where we have people with resources that would be able to contribute and make someone else's life better in our state.

And to kind of get on the wrong side of the FPBC for something like that is just not really acceptable side. Plaud, the author for the bill.

Thank you, Senator Perez, you are recognized.

I just want to quickly say thank. You to the Senator from Santa Monica for bringing this bill forward. This is something that's really necessary. As many of you know, my area was impacted by the Eaton Canyon fires and Altadena was devastated.

I just want to quickly say thank. You to the Senator from Santa Monica for bringing this bill forward. This is something that's really necessary. As many of you know, my area was impacted by the Eaton Canyon fires and Altadena was devastated.

We have so many people that are desperately asking for help that need help. With sharing out GoFundMes who have seen their families devastatingly impacted and having to explain to them FPPC rules when they're in this time of crisis is absolutely ridiculous. So appreciate our Senator for bringing this forward and excited to support this Bill.

This is so desperately needed and something. We should have done a very long time ago. Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate.

Senator Allen, would you like to close?

Appreciate the comments of my colleagues and I respectfully ask for an Aye vote.

Thank you. This item is eligible for unanimous roll call. Not seeing any objections. Ayes, 38. Nos, 0. The measure passes. We will now move to file item 173, SB820 by Senator Stern.

Secretary, please read Senate Bill 820 by Senator Stern and I82 county jail inmates.

Senator Stern, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. Members, this bill addresses legislation that I I wrote myself a few years back which it was designed to help people with severe mental illness who get arrested for misdemeanors and are waiting to stand trial.

And what happens to them in that in between time, Inadvertently those years back, we took away the ability for people who were the most severely mentally ill to get any kind of medication even in the most grave circumstances. If they were to refuse that that medication, it could not be given involuntarily. This is a difficult subject.

And I think that line between civil liberty and when you're harmed to yourself to the point of taking your own life is a real one to be aware of and to be wary of crossing. Unfortunately, right now, if you commit a felony in this state, you actually get guaranteed that mental health care that you should desperately need.

But if you commit that misdemeanor, you're denied that opportunity. This seems like a very unfair framework in the law to have.

And it's resulting in thousands and thousands of people in my county in LA and tens of thousands across the State of people who are arrested with severe mental illness and then just sent back on the street, who are psychotic and schizophrenic, ending up on a street corner after they've been in jail, not getting any treatment at all, offering them opportunities for diversion or community programs that don't end up coming in.

They don't end up getting that care either in the community or while they're in jail and they're left behind. Those are the people that we recycle through our system by the thousands and it's not right. That's why we've been working with a really broad coalition here.

We're proud of the stakeholder groups we've been trying to bring together across lines from, from the Das to the public defenders, from NAMI and the mental, the psychiatrist to disability rights and ACLU as well as the judges and judicial counsel. I think we've got a fix here that's going to work.

And I just want to preview for the record some of the further refinements we're anticipating making should the bill move forward today.

As we go into the Assembly, we think that there's additional clarity that's been sought by the opposition to make clear that someone can't be held longer simply because of their treatment and looking for more clarity as well on an expiration date.

If the jail stay is overridden, say by another community based program that's going to serve that person, it ought to be made clear that IMO would lift.

And then lastly, that no one would be subject to this standard unless they had clear and convincing evidence that the severity of their mental illness, not the crime but their mental illness, justified this extraordinary step. So complex policy area, but it truly is life or death for the most vulnerable people in our state.

I've spent countless hours at Twin Towers, at Men's Central Jail, which is a very scary place. But honestly, they're doing some very hopeful things too. And they're finding ways to get to people who are forgotten and getting them back on their feet.

My very best friend, I could not help but mention him on the floor, but his brother, you know, has been on the streets for over a decade and lost and experiencing psychosis, addicted to methamphetamines, getting worse and worse to the point of, you know, the parents having to call the cops and show up at the house and just the most awful situation.

And not until he committed a felony in the County of Los Angeles did he actually somehow get his life back on track. And then he went to Community Care and now he's sober and he's reconnected with his family. And unless he had that medical care when he went to county jail, nothing would have changed.

He would have just keep getting recycled. So we hope, both with these amendments and with the diligence we're putting into this, that we can keep thousands of people from ending up in the worst possible situations on our streets and in our jails. And with that, respectfully ask for an Aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate. This item is eligible for unanimous roll call. Not seeing any objections. Ayes, 38. No, 0. The measure passes. We will now move to file item 177, SB 83, by Senator Umberg.

Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 83 by Senator Umberg. And accolades to the State Department of Health Care Services.

Senator Umberg, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President and Members. SB 83 exemplifies the importance of transparency in the substance abuse disorder treatment field by mandating that the Department of Health Care Services disclose a summary of the violations it issued for treatment centers on its website. Urgent. I vote.

Thank you. Not seeing any further discussion or debate. This item is eligible for unanimous roll call. Not seeing any objections. Ayes, 38. No, 0. The measure passes. We'll move to file item 1. 184. SB 743 by Senator Blakespear.

Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 741 by Senator Blakespear in Aquarium to Coastal resources.

Senator Blakespear, you are recognized.

Thank you. Madam President and colleagues, I rise to present SP741, which would create parity between highway emergency coastal development permit exemptions and our Interstate 350 Mile rail line, the low sand rail corridor. The Coastal act already exempts certain emergency projects on state highways when immediate action must be taken after natural disasters.

Thank you. Madam President and colleagues, I rise to present SP741, which would create parity between highway emergency coastal development permit exemptions and our Interstate 350 Mile rail line, the low sand rail corridor. The Coastal act already exempts certain emergency projects on state highways when immediate action must be taken after natural disasters.

SB741 simply extends that exemption to the low sand coastal rail corridor. It creates a new, quicker and streamlined compliance tool for emergency projects in the coastal zone.

Examples of eligible emergency projects include debris removal and washed out culverts, damaged railroad ties and tracks, ballast signals, communication systems and other existing infrastructure that can be quickly replaced, which saves time and reopens the rail lines sooner. With that, I respectfully ask for your Aye vote.

Thank you. Not seeing any further discussion or debate. This item is eligible for unanimous roll call. Not seeing any objections. Ayes, 38. No, 0. The measure passes. We will now move to file 190. SB 276 by Senator Wiener. Secretary, please read Just one moment.

Senate Bill 276 by Senator Wiener and ACC relating to local government and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately.

Senator Wiener, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President and colleagues. Senate Bill 276 is also a district bill for San Francisco to help our city confront a significant issue in certain neighborhoods, which is the sale of stolen goods on our streets. San Francisco has an incredibly vibrant and critically important street vendor scene in neighborhoods like the Mission.

Small business owners who make our neighborhoods a better place. Unfortunately, in recent years, we have seen organized crime engage in retail theft and then resell those stolen items on the street, which pushes out the legitimate permanent street vendors and causes an atmosphere of chaos and sometimes even violence on our streets.

SB276 will give the City of San Francisco and the San Francisco Police Department an additional tool to be able to deal with the sale of stolen goods on our streets. The bill has broad support locally from community organizations, from the Mission Street Vendors Association and many others. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, this item is eligible for unanimous roll call. Not seeing any objections. Ayes, 38. No, 0. On the measure. Ayes, 38. No, 0. On the urgency, we will now move to file item 196, SB6.11, by Senator Richardson.

Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 611 by Senator Richardson in act relating to land use and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately.

Senate Bill 611 by Senator Richardson in act relating to land use and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately.

Senator Richardson, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President and colleagues. SB611 seeks to address a key barrier to progress, the unnecessary legal delays that stall housing developments which have already been reviewed and approved. This bill restores essential legal clarity and stability to the development process.

SB611 reaffirms the legislative prior intent behind AB 1515, authored by Assemblymember Friedman in 2019, by ensuring that housing projects consistent with adopted community plans can move forward. SB611 has gardened bipartisan support, and I respectfully urge your Aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, this item is eligible for unanimous roll call. Any Objections? Seeing none. Ayes. 38. No, 0. On the measure. Ayes, 38. No, 0. On the urgency the measure passes. We will now move to file item 199, SB 757 by Senator Richardson.

Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 757 by Senator Richardson and acquaintance to local government.

Senator Richardson, you are recognized again.

Again, Good afternoon, Madam President and Members. SB757 authorizes local cities and counties to pick up the trash and debris from vacant lots. But it also establishes.

Excuse me, A procedure so that a nuisance abatement lien or a special assessment can be collected and established to deal with the abatement costs related to picking up the trash in vacant lots. Allowing local officials the ability to collect unpaid administrative fines with special assessments and abatement liens puts and reduces the financial burden on local government.

We need to make sure that local cities and counties have every tool in their toolbox to remove illegal dumping. One of the key things that came out of this Committee was making sure that we did have a hardship waiver. However, for any individuals who might have difficulty with that, I respectfully ask for your Aye vote.

Thank you. Not seeing any further discussion or debate. This item is eligible for unanimous roll call. Any Objection? Seeing none. Ayes, 38. No, 0. The measure passes. We will now move to file item 201. S.B. 227 by Senator Grayson.

Senate Bill 227 by senator Grayson, in act relating to local government and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately.

We will now move to file 201, SB227 by senator Grayson. Secretary, please read.

Senator Grayson, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. SB227 addresses gaps in the Green Empowerment Zone by formally expanding the zone to include El Cerrito, Pinole, Richmond and San Pablo, and by adding environmental justice representatives to the board, as well as extending the board's authorization date to 2040. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate. This item is also eligible for unanimous roll call. Seeing no objections. Ayes: 38, no: zero, on the urgency. Ayes, 38, no zero. The measure passes. We will now move to file item 202. SB 390 by Senator Becker.

Senate Bill 390 by Senator Becker. An act relating to local government.

Senator Becker, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. SB 390 closed a loophole in the Mello-Roos Act affecting San Mateo County Shoreline properties. Some developed commercial properties with partial conservation easements avoid paying for infrastructure they benefit from. That shifts the financial burden to other taxpayers. This Bill restores fairness by ensuring all benefiting properties contribute.

Applies only to properties with Bay Conservation Development Commission easements, does not alter or remove conservation protection and maintains a 2/3 voter approval requirement. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, this item is eligible for unanimous roll call. Any Objections? Seeing none. Ayes, 38, no, zero. The measure passes. We will now move to file item 206, SB 753 by Senator Cortese. Secretary, please read.

Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 753 by Senator Cortese an act relating to Business.

Senator Cortese, you are recognized.

Thank you. Madam President and colleagues, I rise to. Present SB753, a bill to modernize California's outdated shopping cart recovery law, giving local. Governments the tools they need to keep. Our street sidewalks and waterways clear of abandoned carts. SB753 simply allows cities and counties to. Directly return abandoned shopping carts to retailers.

Immediately, rather than being forced to store them for up to 30 days in costly impound lots. The bill also allows local governments to recover actual documented cost of recovery from retailers when they step in to retrieve. Or return a cart. This bill has received bipartisan support and is supported by the League of California.

Cities, the California State Association of Counties, California Contract Cities Association and more. I respectfully ask for your Aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, this item is eligible for unanimous roll call. Any objection? Seeing none. Ayes, 38. No, 0. The measure passes. We will now move to file item 210, SB346 by Senator Durazzo.

Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 346 by Senator Durazo and equilibrium to local government.

Senator Durazo, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. Right now, local governments face two problems with short term rental platforms. Inconsistent tax collection and unlawful operators. This bill addresses both short term rental hosts and platforms should ensure that every short term rental is operating lawfully with a small business or short term rental license.

[Roll Call]

The local governments should already have a database with the locations of host properties in order to collect taxes. Unlicensed operators may be operating in violation of local ordinances or failing to pay tax, and they create an unfair competition for hosts in their area who are operating with licenses and paying their taxes.

For all these reasons, I respectfully ask for an Aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no. Senator Choi, you are recognized.

I rise today in strong support of SB346, a common sense measure that Gibson the tools they need to enforce their own short term rental ordinances and protect the neighborhood quality of life. In Irvine, we made difficult decisions to ban short term rentals entirely. After year of dealing with the unregulated listings, inconsistent compliances and escalating community disruption.

Our city struggled to monitor who was renting out properties where the taxes were being paid, whether local rules were being followed, platforms refused to provide even the most basic data necessary for enforcement. This lack of transparency not only undermined city ordinances, it also worsened our already tight housing market, driving up rents and hollowing out entire neighborhoods.

SB 34 doesn't mandate any new taxes or restrictions. It simply requires that when a city Like Irvine enacts a short term rental ordinance, platforms must provide data that allows meaningful enforcement. The bill ensures that the cities can verify whether hosts are registered, whether taxes are being paid and where listings are located.

Thus the bare minimum of local accountability. Importantly, the Bill also respects local control. It does not interfere with any city's decision to regulate, permit or prohibit long term rentals. It only supports enforcement of our local policy. As we continue to face a statewide housing crisis, Local governments cannot afford to lose housing stock to illegal short term rentals.

When entire apartment buildings or subdivisions turn into De facto vacation vacation hotels, working families lose access to affordable homes and long term residents lose the sense of stability and safety in their neighborhoods. Irvine's experience shows what happens when local governments have forced were forced to regulate with one hand tied behind their back.

SB346 restores the balance and empowers communities to protect both their residents and their housing supply. I urgean Aye vote.

Thank you. Saying no further discussion or debate. Senator Durazo, would you like to close?

Respectfully ask for an Aye vote. Thank you and I appreciate my colleague's comments.

All right. Seeing no further discussion or debate. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Secretary, please call the absent Members.

Ayes. 38. No, 0. Ayes, 37. No, 0. The measure passes. We will now move to file item 213. SB21 by Senator Durazo.

Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 21 by Senator Durazo and equity to housing.

Senator Durazo, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. SB 21 amends the Housing Crisis act of 2019 to allow up to 25% reduction in units when converting deed restricted affordable housing single room occupancy buildings into larger units with affordable rents, private amenities and supportive service spaces.

These SRO buildings are a critical housing resource in my district and throughout California, many of these buildings are aging and increasingly unsustainable to operate. Lacking private bathrooms, kitchenettes, and supportive service space. These properties struggle with high vacancy rates, low rents and insufficient revenue to fund maintenance or upgrades.

This Bill preserves the role of SROs in providing the stability. Stability of a home while enabling their long term viability in our communities. So I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Not seeing any further discussion or debate. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Senator Durazzo moves the call. We will now move to file item 216, SB 371 by Senator Cabaldon. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 371 by Senator Cabaldon. And according to Transportation.

Senator Cabaldon, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. Just about a dozen years ago, Uber and Lyft hit the streets statewide in California. Shortly thereafter, the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee held its hearing about a regulatory framework, after which it concluded, who knows? Virtually no Senators had written at that time. None had driven for any of these platforms prior to that.

And the Committee analysis reported that setting insurance requirements for Uber and Lyft and other rideshare operators at that point, given how new the industry was, was, and I quote, "a bit of a guess". But. But requirements had to be set, and they were.

And those requirements include a $1 million policy for uninsured and underinsured motorists, in addition to to $1.0 million of policy for death, personal engineering, property damage, liability. It's time to modernize. Now that we've had a decade of experience in this field, SB371 simply removes the requirement for the transportation network companies when they will have to purchase the uninsured underinsured motorist coverage.

And that cannot, that responsibility cannot be shifted to the driver insurance. For this purpose has become an increasing part of a very expensive fare for ride share in California. It's time that we do something about affordability. This is the first step. I asked for an aye vote.

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

[Calls Roll], [Yes: 33, no: 0]

Senator Cabaldin moves the call. We will now move to file item 219, SB 510 by Senator Richardson. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 510 by Senator Richardson. And according to Pupil instruction.

Senator Richardson, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President and colleagues. SB510 promotes an accurate history curriculum by addressing long standing gaps in African American contributions to American society and California's development. SB510 gives educators flexibility to teach African American history in age appropriate ways that align with state standards without prescribing specific narratives.

In closing, SB510 is a meaningful step towards fostering accuracy and completeness in public education. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

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

[calls roll] [Yes:33, no:0]

Senator Richardson moves the call. We will now move to file item 220. SB543 by Senator McNerney. Secretary, please read.

Senator Bill 543 by Senator McNerney and act relating to land use.

Senator McNerney, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President, colleagues. SB543 is a support support Bill that will clarify existing laws for accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, and junior ADUs. ADUs are the fastest growing sector of California's housing market. However, some of the laws governing ADUs are confusing and cause problems. Many of the local agencies interpret these statutes differently, resulting in conflicts.

According to California Department of Housing and Community Development, over 50 communities in California have these conflicts. SB543 clears up the existing laws, state laws governing ADUs and junior ADUs and this should help improve or speed up the construction of ADUs. SB543 passed both the Housing and Local Government committees with unanimous support.

I respectfully asked for your aye vote.

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

[calls roll]

Senator McNerney moves the call. We will now move to file 228. SB 845 by Senator Perez.

Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 845 by Senator Perez an act related to pupil instruction.

Senator Perez, you are recognized.