Assembly Standing Committee on Governmental Organization

Good afternoon. We will get started as soon as we get authors. We only have two bills today, so I'm waiting for a couple of our Senate colleagues. So we'll get started as soon as we get an author.

It's here.

Good afternoon. We are beginning our government organizations meeting for Wednesday, June 252025. And we do have a quorum. If you can take Roman Secretary.

[Roll call]

Thank you. And welcome again to the Assembly Governmental Organizations Committee. We. We have some announcements. Assemblymember Dixon and Macedo are absent today. Assembly Members Alanis and Hoover are substituting for them today. And today we have measures on consent. We have S.B. 428, Laird. S.B. 451, Archuleta. S.B. 461, Padilla, S.B. 860, Senate. Go. And S.B. 864, Senate. Go.

And we need a motion to accept the consent. Thank you. I have a motion and a second. Madam Secretary, can you call the roll?

[Roll call]

Thank you. We'll go ahead and leave the roll open for absent Members. Ah, welcome. We have Senator Limon. I'm sorry. Prota. Limon. I'm sorry. The first Latina ever in the history of California.

Yes. Congratulations.

Congratulations. We are hearing. Yes. Good call, Mr. Gipson. Okay. SB702 by Limon. Let's see. We have. Welcome, Senator Limon.

Thank you.

See, when you open, we have two witness. You will have main witnesses in support of the bill to speak. We'll have two minutes in support and two minutes for. Two support and two minutes each. Person, you may begin. Thank you.

Thank you. Members here to present SB702. And I am actually going to go straight to our witnesses to tell you just a little bit about our bill.

Okay, awesome.

Chair and Members, Carol Gonzalez here on behalf of Hispanas Organized for Political Equality, HOPE a proud sponsor. HOPE has partnered with Senator Limon for four years on this critical issue to advance transparency in statewide appointments. This includes sponsoring SB782 last year, which you all supported.

And we continue this work despite the outcome because we acknowledge the public value of providing visibility both to the makeup of these statewide boards and commissions and the appointment entities that create them. That is why this year we are expanding on past efforts, including legislative appointments, further strengthening transparency.

This is in line with the governor's latest veto, which outlined his commitment to signing legislation that called for transparency at every level. The Governor and Legislature collectively appoint leaders to more than 580 boards and commissioners billing thousands of seats that influence resource allocations, infrastructure and oversight on critical programs.

Despite their large impact, there is no existing mechanism that tracks who is missing from the decision making table. The reporting required in SB702 is not only about ensuring outreach to communities or regions that might not be represented in these bodies.

It's also critical to instill faith in our communities that California's government is accountable to the people that it serves. This measure will advance good governance principles for the benefit of our communities who are impacted by the decisions these boards and commissions make. For all those reasons, we are Proud to sponsor SB702 and ask for your.

I vote on this measure again. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other witnesses in support? Okay, Members of the audience in support. State your name and affiliation, please, and your position.

Thank you. Valerie Johnson with the Campaign for College Opportunity in support.

Great Polsfer on behalf of Equality California in strong support.

Hi. [Unintelligible] here on the behalf of three organizations who couldn't be here today. The Chicana Latina Foundation, the Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, LEAP and the AAPI Equity Alliance. Thank you.

In support, Monica Madrid with the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, CHIRLA, in support.

Lang Lei on behalf of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California in strong support. Thank you.

Hi. Amada Menta from the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute in support.

Thank you.

Catherine Squire on behalf of the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls in support. Thank you.

Marco Lesaraga, Executive Director of La Cooperativa Campecida, in support.

Thank you. Okay. And any other witnesses in support? Okay, are there any witnesses in opposition? Any Members of the audience in opposition? Okay, bringing it back up to the dais. Any Members have questions? Assemblymember Dixon. Sorry, Davies.

Senator, thank you so much for bringing this bill back. We need to make sure that it keeps coming out and I don't know why there would be opposition on something that would bring accountability to unelected offices and boards. So I would love to be a co author again on this one and keep on fighting.

And I'd like to. She already has a. You already have a. A motion. Thanks.

Thank you very much. And we'd welcome you as a co author again. 5th time maybe is the charm.

Thank you, Assembly Member Soria. We'll go Assembly Member Soria, then Pacheco and then Alvarez.

Thank you, Chairwoman. I'm also proud to support as someone that's participated in the Leadership Institute of Hope and have seen the great work that you guys have done not only just on this issue. I want to thank the Senator for continuing to introduce this bill and not letting up.

I would hope and I plead the Governor to sign it this time. But again, I think above all transparency and good governance representation matters more than ever, I think especially what our communities are living today. And so I think that this is a great piece of legislation.

Would also love to be able to be added as a co author but strong supporter of this.

Absolutely. Thank you. Assembly Member Pacheco.

Senator, thank you so much for bringing this bill forward. Again, this is great piece of legislation and I just want to say I would love to be added as a co author.

Absolutely. Thank you.

Assemblymember Alvarez.

Thank you. And thank you for keeping to to this effort. I mean I know you've worked on it for several years. I was pleased to see how far it had gotten. And I don't know, fifth time may be a charm. I think so.

And I know that you've now extended the deadline or the implementation date now to some time. Maybe something that be worth reconsidering and bringing it back a year. I would be okay with that as well. And if you make any amendments, certainly supportive of any effort to do this in a more expeditious way. It's long pass overdue.

I don't need to tell you that because you've been championing this.

So thank you for that and thanks to all the organizations as well who I know have been partners in this effort for trying and bringing forward this important transparency and accountability to make sure that there's something very core to this which is is there representation, is there truly representation happening at all levels of government.

That's what this is about. I know that's what you've been championing. So I thank you for that and love to also be added as a co author as I had been in the past. Thank you.

Absolutely. Thank you.

Thank you. Assemblymember Berman. And then Assemblymember Gibson.

I just want to say hi. Hi.

Hi. Good to see you. Good to see you.

Assemblymember Gibson.

Just want to line my comments with those comments have already been stated about transparency and accountability. And, and I would be so honored if you could please add me on as a co author or absolute co.

Or whichever you'd like. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And thank you very much for one, sticking to this because sometime after so many rejections, people get discouraged and say, you know, I'm not going to deal with it. I'm not going to try it because it's time consuming after you've tried it so many times.

But this, this again shows even to our new colleagues, right, that you stick to something you believe in and see it to the end. It will, in fact pay off. And your determination certainly has paid off. So congratulations. And again, we look forward to the finish line.

Hopefully the Governor and his people watching this and that he will feel so inclined to sign it. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Assembly Member Fong.

Thank you so much, Senator, for bringing this very important measure forward. And really when we look at the transparency accountability of their boards commissions, we know that representation is so critical and so really appreciate your leadership and efforts on this and would love to be. Added as a co author if possible as well.

Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you, Assemblymember Solache.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Our communities of Southeast Los Angeles, I know the importance of representation, so we would like to also be a co-author.

Thank you. Thank you. Absolutely.

Thank you. Any other comments from other Members? Assemblymember Carrillo.

I don't want to be left behind. Can I be? Okay, let's do it.

Let's do it. Anyone else? Okay. I would also like to be added to. Okay. Any other comments hearing? None. As a Senator, you may close.

Thank you, folks. And I really appreciate it. Colleagues, I appreciate the support. This is my fifth year bringing it forward. Every year I've been able to get it to the governor's desk. I wouldn't be doing this if it didn't matter to the state. And I continue to believe in this.

And with that, I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you for that. Really appreciate it. Again, aligning my comments with everyone. Your tenacity and determination. Hopefully we can encourage the Governor to support this on behalf of the people of California. So thank you very much. We do have a motion and a second. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roan.

[Roll call]

[Roll call]

So the bill has 20 votes and two Members are absent. So. Zero, I'm sorry. No. We will leave the roll open for additional Members to add. We have do have substitutes, so. Thank you. Okay. We have one more bill. Our Senator Padilla. We will finish as soon as he comes.

While we wait, we will open the consent calendar for Members to add.

On the consent calendar. [Roll Call] Thank you.

Senator Padilla is walking in.

Thank you, Senator. I know it's a busy day. We appreciate you. Thank you, Senator. You may open, and you have the opportunity to have two witnesses, two witnesses in support. And each witness will have two minutes each. You may open.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair and Members. Thank you for your indulgence this afternoon. SB380 seeks to establish the California Latino Commission to serve as a powerful tool for policy change, research and advocacy that improves the economic well being. Social. Social mobility of Latinos throughout our state.

One in every four Latino Americans in our country lives in California and within the state. We make up more than 40% of our state's population. Massive data and research shows that we are facing widespread challenges across key issue areas, including in education, housing, health, and, of course, economic mobility.

Recently, in a study conducted by UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute, Latinos were found to have lower levels of educational attainment compared to state and national averages. 70% of California Latino families live below the poverty line, which is 4% higher than the national average.

And within our own state averages, more than half of California workers who are at high risk of being impacted by automation are Latino. Addressing systemic issues requires the development of a cohesive 21st century agenda for Latino social mobility and economic development.

This proposal mirrors existing commissions such as the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls and the Commission on Asian and Pacific Islanders. This Commission will be tasked with making recommendations to the Governor and Legislature, developing initiatives and monitoring progress and tackling the disparities affecting Latinos.

It will empower subject Matter experts who will have a direct role in shaping the Commission's agenda. The issues in California that Latinos face vary across the state, but some with more in urban challenges than those in rural areas. Consolidation and collation of this data is important to have meaningful outcomes. I am available to answer questions.

With me Today, I have Dr. Amada Armenta, faculty Director at UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute. Following that testimony, Members, I would respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. You may begin.

Good afternoon, I'm Dr. Amedar.

Thanks. Good afternoon. I'm Dr. Amada Armenta, the Associate Professor of Urban Planning at UCLA and the Director of the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute, here to share why creating a Latino Commission in California is so important. Latinos represent a plurality of our state, but we have not reached parity on key educational, economic and health indicators.

And we're often disproportionately impacted during disasters. For example, LPPI's research on the LA wildfires showed that Latino jobs were amongst the hardest hit, particularly in the Palisades. Latinos are central to LA's recovery. We represent 84% of all construction workers in LA County.

People do these jobs in toxic circumstances and these are the same workers that are currently being targeted by Ayes enforcement in our cities, which, as you know, is wreaking havoc on our neighborhoods, our small businesses, and frankly, on our mental health.

This week, LPPI released a climate and health dashboard which compared Latino neighborhoods to white neighborhoods across the State of California. Our data shows that Latino neighborhoods experience more extreme heat, they're exposed to twice as much air pollution, and residents in Latino neighborhoods have twice as many asthma related ER visits.

If we think of education, Latinos represent just 14% of all Bachelor's degree holders in California. If we think about housing, Latinos have amongst the lowest home ownership rate and they're the most likely to live in overcrowded dwellings. And, and if we think about income, California is actually the worst when it comes to the Latina pay gap.

Latinas in California earn 44 cents on every dollar for white men in California. So we think a Latino Commission is key to closing some of these, closing the gaps in these disparities. We believe this is about representation, about dignity and the right to thrive in this state to which we give so much. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other witnesses in support? Okay. Opening up to the Members of the audience in support.

This. I'm Marco Lesaraga, Executive Director of LA Co and I am in full support. Thank you.

Good afternoon. Alejandro Solis, on behalf of Los Amigos De La Comidad in support.

Thank you. Monica Madrid on behalf of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, CHIRLA, in support. Thank you.

Good afternoon. Jessica Doan with the University of California in support.

Thank you. Good afternoon. [Unintelligible] with Kirk Gonzalez. On behalf of Hispanics Organized for political equality and support. And thank you.

Eric Paredes with the California Faculty Association in support.

Thank you. Any other Members in support? Okay, thank you. Any witnesses in opposition? Any Members of the audience in opposition. Thank you. We'll bring it up to the dias. Any comments or questions from our Committee Members? Assemblymember Soria.

Thank you, Senator, for bringing this important bill forward. I think more than ever before, seeing that our Latino community is under attack in this current moment. Many of our families are immigrants. I think this Commission is extremely.

Will be extremely critical to not just address, I think, the issues that is outlined by this bill, but I'm hoping that also, as if, you know, if this bill is successful, that it does look at the intersectionality of immigration and the impacts that is happening today, even with like, mental health and the separation of families and how that's going to impact the economy.

So I think that obviously is long overdue that we have something like this to see those types of issues. The other thing that I would like to just emphasize, I think for me, homeownership has been extremely important. I think that's how we build wealth in our community.

And so making sure that, you know, that also is part of focused on the issues that we look at so that our communities are not just surviving, but they can actually thrive and leave generational wealth for their families. So I love to support this and, you know, just make a motion for this bill.

Okay, thank you. Any other questions or comments from the Committee? Okay. Hearing none. Senator, you may close.

Madam Chair Members respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Madam Secretary, can you call the roll, please?

[Roll call]

Okay, we have 20 votes in support. The bill is out. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Madam Chair and Members.

Okay, that is the last bill. And we'll open the roll for absent Members.

Opening the consent calendar for Assembly Member Gabriel and Assembly Member Hoover. [Roll Call] Opening the roll on file item 5, SB 702, Limón. [Roll Call]

Thank you. That bill gets out, and with that, we'll go ahead and adjourn. Thank you.