Assembly Floor

Assembly is now in session. Assemblymember Wallis notices the absence of a quorum sergeant. Arms will prepare the chamber. Bring in the absent Members. Clerk will call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Members, the quorum is present. We ask our guests and visitors in the rear of the chamber and in the gallery to please stand for the prayer. We ask our guests and visitors to please stand. Reverend Oshita will offer today's prayer. Reverend Oshita.

Please join me in a moment of reflection. Patti and I attended an event in Marysville this past Saturday where the afternoon temperatures reached 102 degrees. There is no doubt that our Sacramento summer has arrived.

Whenever we have triple digit days, I find myself quietly admiring the generations that have lived without air conditioning and the many conveniences we now take for granted. The high ceilings in old homes and even this assembly chamber were designed to help circulate the air and make the rooms feel less stifling when temperatures rose.

Whenever summer sizzles, I remind myself that I should never complain. Not really. And this, to me, is the beginning of living with gratitude. Every now and then, I tell myself as I step out the door today, I'm going to live the entire day without a single complaint.

This usually lasts about 20 minutes, but once we engage in the world, it is not long before criticism or negative opinion crosses our minds. And as soon as it does, there is no room in our hearts and minds for even a sliver of gratitude. Whenever I've been asked how can I live more gratefully?

My response is try to live a day without complaint. The goal is not to succeed. The goal is just to really try. I found that if we make that effort, we will become more aware of our complaining and gratitude will slowly begin to seep back into our hearts and into our lives. [unintelligible]. Let us try to live with kindness and gratitude beyond words.

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

All right. Please put your hand on your heart and join me in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag

and the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

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

Assembly chamber, Sacramento, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, the Assembly met at 10:00am, the Honorable Josh Lowenthal, Speaker Pro Tempore of the Assembly, presiding.

Boarding Leader Aguiar-Curry moves and Floor Leader Flora seconds that the reading of the previous day's journal be dispensed with presentations and petitions. There are none. Introduction and reference of bills will be deferred. Reports of committees will be deemed read and amendments deemed adopted. Messages from the Governor? There are none.

Chief Clerk [unintelligible] at the desk, Reading Clerk David [unintelligible].

Messages from the Senate? There are none. Moving to motions and resolutions. The absences for the day for illness. Assemblymember Quirk-Silva. Now moving on to procedural motions. Madam Majority Leader, you are recognized for your procedural motions.

Good afternoon. I request unanimous consent to suspend Assembly Rule 45.5 to allow Assemblymember Schultz to speak on enjoyment in memory today.

Without objection, such shall be the order.

I request unanimous consent to suspend Assembly Rule 118A to allow Assemblymember Harbedian to have guests seated at his desk and for Assemblymember Wilson to have guests in the rear of the chamber.

Without objection. Such shall be the order.

Pursuant to Assembly Rule 96, I request unanimous consent to withdraw the following bills from the Budget Committee and allow Assemblymember Gabriel to take them up today without reference to file SB129 and SB131.

Madam Majority Leader, Just a moment. Assemblymember Flora, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With whole consent, ask for a roll call vote.

Need to have technical difficulties with that microphone. Okay. There is an objection to unanimous consent. We will have a roll call vote on this. The Clerk will open the roll. Majority Leader is asking for. Excuse me. Excuse me, Mr. Clerk. That motion is seconded by Mr. Garcia. Clerk will open the roll. It's okay. Okay.

Majority Leader is asking for an aye vote. Mr. Flora is asking for a no vote. All those vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll. Tally the votes. Ayes, 43. No's 18. Motion carries.

Madam Majority Leader?

I request unanimous consent to return item 6, AB741 ransom, to the Senate for further action.

Without objection, such shall be the order.

Members, pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2, I am re-referring Item 7, that is AB786 by Mr. Solache to the Banking and Finance Committee. Okay, moving on to the important stuff of the hour. It is guest introductions. And I see, Assemblymember Harbedian, you have very special guest introductions to offer us today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do. This is my son Joe, in my arms. He's 4. My two other sons, Johnny, who's 11, and Joshua, who's 7. And it's a privilege to have them here. And they're having a really good time.

I'd like to thank the Member from Santa Clara for being a great babysitter and everything that he has provided. But thank you all for indulging and for your patience. They're with me all week. So just any thoughts and prayers are welcome. Thank you.

Welcome, John, Joseph and Joshua. Assemblymember Ortega, you are recognized for your guest introduction.

Thank you, Members and speaker, for allowing me to introduce some very special people today. I know we all love to say that we have the best staff, but I truly do have the best staff and my district team that is here visiting us From Assembly District 20, I want to welcome them to the Capitol.

They get to do what we all don't get to do while we're up here. And they do it with such grace and commitment to public service that they make all of us proud every single day.

And leading them is my District Director, Karishma Khatrin, who I would like to also give a special shout out to because she is the voice and she is everything in the district. So please, let's give them all a big welcome. Please stand.

Welcome, Team Ortega. Thank you for all that you do for our great state. Assemblymember Wilson, you are recognized for your guest introduction.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, colleagues, I am honored to introduce the 2025 Washington Mandela Fellows. I'd ask them to stand if they don't mind. Established in 2014, the Mandela Washington Fellowship stands as the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative. This powerful initiative is dedicated to empowering young leaders from throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.

It achieves this through rigorous academics, leadership training, mentorship, networking, professional opportunities, and vital and community engagement. This initiative supports accomplished professionals between the age of 25 through 35 as they drive economic growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance and enhance peace and security across the entire continent.

The 24 Mandela fellows who will be in California for six weeks are from 17 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Mandela Fellows participate in the Leadership and Public Management Institute right here in our own backyard at the University of California, Davis.

This fellowship offers those outstanding young professionals an unparalleled opportunity to hone their skills at a leading US institution with critical support for their professional development continuing long after they return home. Although we have many in the gallery with us today, we also have six of the fellows here in the rear of the chamber.

And we, as the California Legislative Black Caucus, are so proud to be able to host them. Let me introduce them to you. January Sardarnia. Excuse me. Sardina from Angola, Fahad Longman from Nigeria, Nazif Ales from Benin, Nadia Chambel from Mozambique, Mazavata Lazer from South Africa, and Eve Minbowe from Zambia.

Again members, please join me in welcoming the 2025 Washington Mandela Fellows to California. Let us wish them immense success during their participation in this vital program.

Welcome, Mandela Fellows. Madam Majority Leader, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm honored to stand with Assemblymember Wilson to welcome the Mandela Washington Fellows here to the California State Assembly and to our own backyard for UC Davis. For 11 years, the fellowship program has opened doors for nearly 7,200 young leaders from every country across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Each year, up to 700 fellows spend six weeks at the top US universities like UC Davis, studying leadership, public service, business and civic engagement. From doctors to scientists to engineers and to government officials. They learn from us and we learn from them. I'm so proud.

UC Davis is the only California campus chosen to host the Mandela Washington Fellowship. And over the last nine years, they've been welcomed 226 fellows from 39 countries and just 17 this year. So please join me in congratulating these outstanding leaders and giving them a warm California welcome. Glad you're here.

Continuing on. Assemblymember Wicks, you are recognized for your guest introduction from the Majority Leader's desk.

All bills will be deemed read and all amendments will be deemed adopted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members, I rise today to recognize a group of graduate students joining us here from the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. These are Masters of Public affairs students who have come from all over the world to attend one, if not the top ranked public policy schools in the nation. Please join me in welcoming them to the Capitol and the Assembly.

Welcome, Goldman students. We expect to see you on the floor in a few years. Okay members, it is time to turn to business on the daily file. We are beginning with second reading file item number one. The Clerk will read.

Senate Bill 593 with amendments.

Okay, we are beginning with Senate Bills without reference to file. Senate Bill 129 by Assemblymember Gabriel. Clerk will read.

Senate Bill 119 by

129. Senate Bill 129.

Senate Bill 129 by the Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, an act relating to labor and making an appropriation, therefore to take effect immediately be related to the budget.

Assembly Member Gabriel, you are recognized.

Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, I rise to present SB 129, our labor trailer Bill, which makes various technical and cleanup adjustments to the 2025 Budget Act.

Among other adjustments, this Bill authorizes supplemental pension payments to the Public Employees Retirement Fund, allocates 3.3 million for statewide collective bargaining for in Home Supportive service providers and creates an exemption for the Golden Gate Suspension Bridge Seismic Retrofit Project to help avoid costly overruns. Thank you and respectfully request your aye vote on SB 129.

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

Thank you. And thank you so much to our Budget Chair. I rise in strong support of SBAB129, which, among other things, as you heard, will protect and strengthen the In Home Supportive Services program which reflects the very best of California.

These are the folks who care for our elderly, for our sick, for people with disabilities, and deliver services at home which are both cheaper and more effective.

This Bill will establish the commitment to fund the initial rollout of the IHSS Employer Employee Relations Act, which is a landmark step toward creating a fair and stable labor structure which for the over 700,000 IHSS workers across California. There was a Bill, if you remember, AB 283, which got off of this floor with huge bipartisan support.

We are now investing in the steps that it will take to ensure this collective bargaining process which will help us meet our long term demand for care, both for the people who provide it and the people who rely on it. Again, thank you to our Budget Chair.

I know there's more than conversation taking place about the exact language moving forward to solidify this commitment, but these funds are crucial for us to begin the project process of collective bargaining at the state level. And I'm very grateful that it is included in this Bill and respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, Assembly Member Haney. Assembly Member Jeff Gonzalez, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise in support of my colleague. Thank you so much for your leadership in this. To my other colleague, thank you so much for consistently putting this issue at the forefront. You know my story. I talk about it all the time. This is important to families where I live and across California.

It's vital that we continue to push this forward. It's vital that we we continue to have conversations and try to make sure that we get it right. But this is a good step forward. So with that, I rise in support.

Thank you, Assembly Member Gonzalez. Seeing and hearing no further debate. Assembly Member Gabriel, do you wish to close?

Just thank my colleagues for their comments and respectfully request your aye vote.

Thank you, Assembly Member Gabriel. All debate having ceased, the Clerk will open the roll. All Members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll tally. The votes ayes 56. no's 4. Measure passes. Without reference to files. Senate Bill 131 by Assembly Member Gabriel.

The Clerk will read with amendments.

Senate Bill 131 with amendments by Assembly Member Jeff Gonzalez.

Assemblymember Gabriel, you are recognized.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to present SB131, our public resources and housing trailer Bill. This is one of two bills posed by Governor Newsom to be included in the budget to make progress on our interrelated challenges of housing affordability and economic competitiveness. SB 131 has two parts.

First, it establishes round seven of the Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention Program, also known as HHAPP, and provides $500 million for cities, counties, continuance of care and tribes to address our homelessness crisis.

Second, this Bill addresses the need to build more quickly by balancing the goals of protecting our environment while moving our state forward to meet our housing and infrastructure needs. SB131 accomplishes this goal through various CEQA exemptions for housing, child care.

Mr. Mr. Gabriel. My mistake. Please excuse me. Mr. Gonzalez, you are recognized for your on the amendments.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, today I rise and request an amendment to SB131. Specifically asked for the adjustment of the Housing First provision. Housing First doesn't address the myriad of complex issues associated with the unhoused. This is not a cookie cutter issue and it requires a different solution. So for that, I request an amendment.

Thank you, Assembly Member Gonzalez. Madam Majority Leader, you are recognized.

I move to lay the amendments on the table.

Thank you, Madam Majority leader. Seconded by Mr. Garcia. Members, this motion is not debatable. Takes a majority of those present and voting. This is a procedural vote. Clerk will open the roll. All Members vote who desire to vote. Majority Leader is asking for an aye vote. Assembly Member Flora is asking for a no vote.

Majority Leader is asking for an aye vote. Mr. Flora is asking for a no vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll and tally the votes. Ayes 43, nos. 19. The amendments are laid on the table. Assembly Member Gabriel, with my apologies. You are recognized.

Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, take two here. I rise to present AB131, which is our Public Resources and Housing Trailer Bill. As I mentioned, this is one of two bills proposed by Governor Newsom to be included in the budget to make progress on our interrelated challenges of housing affordability and economic competitiveness. This Bill has two parts.

First, it establishes round seven of the HHAPP program and provides 500 million for cities, counties, continuums of care and and tribes to address our homelessness crisis. Second, this Bill addresses the need to build more quickly by balancing the goals of protecting our environment while moving our state forward to meet our housing and infrastructure needs.

SB131 accomplishes this goal through various CEQA exemptions for housing, child care, farm worker housing, food banks, advanced manufacturing, rural health clinics, wildfire mitigations and disadvantaged community water systems. Together with AB130, this bill will help make real progress on some of the biggest challenges facing our state. Thank you and respectfully request your aye vote on SB 131.

Thank you Assembly Member Gabriel. Assembly Member Macedo, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of this measure, but with strong reservations about several of its provisions that deserve to be called out. Plainly one of the most concerning is the blanket blanket CEQA exemption for the mismanaged high speed rail.

We don't know where the money will come from or if this project will ultimately ever be built, and this is an example of a privileged project that may never materialize.

While real shovel ready projects in rural areas are still stuck in red tape on homeless funding, the State Auditor made clear Governor Newsom doled out $27 billion without clear measurements or expected results. After throwing away those precious taxpayer dollars, it is still not clear which programs are working and which are failing.

Additional restrictions regarding who gets this money haven't been determined yet. It is imperative that poor and underserved rural counties receive the funding they need. I've spoken with my local counties and this money is essential to keeping people off the streets. In my district

we do the work, we are accountable with taxpayers monies and we stretch every dollar we get. Rural communities must have access to these funds. Despite these concerns, there are meaningful provisions in this Bill that deserve recognition.

This Bill will streamline project delivery timelines, allocate resources to maintain essential services, and give local governments the tools they need to get more housing built. That's why I am respectfully asking for your aye vote today on SB131.

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

Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. While I understand that this is part of our three party budget agreement, I rise to raise grave concerns about some of the specific provisions of this Bill, especially as it relates to our state's environmental protections.

I'm most particularly concerned about the categorical exemption of CEQA applying to advanced manufacturing facilities for projects that are zoned for industrial uses. As to this provision, over 100 environmental organizations have signed a letter in strong opposition to SB131 stating this Bill is the worst anti-environmental Bill in California in recent memory.

The California Labor Federation, together with their electrical workers, Teamsters, auto workers, professional scientists, UFCW and others have also signed a strong opposition letter to SP131 citing the anti-worker provisions of this CEQA exemption for advanced manufacturing. Now what does that mean, advanced manufacturing?

We know, according to these letters that we've received, that one of the biggest concerns is in the engine of our state's economy, Silicon Valley, and particularly with the semiconductor manufacturing that takes place in Silicon Valley.

There's a reason why 23 Superfund sites exist in the Santa Clara County and that is because of much of this high tech manufacturing that takes place. Semiconductor conductor manufacturing, for example, is notorious for its extensive use of toxic pfas, the forever chemicals that we have been introducing bills to try to eliminate from our water supplies.

That is just one of many examples. In my district, Los Angeles County, home to one of the biggest centers of aerospace manufacturing, the same thing applies. While we talk about advanced manufacturing as being somehow cleaner than traditional manufacturing, that is simply not the case.

And so it is my understanding that that the Governor and the Senate have committed to clean up language to fix this problem. And I urge the Governor and the Senate to fulfill the need to fix these serious problems in this budget trailer Bill.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members, I rise today to express my appreciation for Mr. Speaker, the Budget Chair, the Budget Sub Chairs and so many Members for their hard work involved in advancing our budget work this year and including this Bill.

I also want to say that I share the concerns about portions of SB131 that provide exemptions to the California Environmental Quality Act, both because environmental organizations and labor unions has raised what I consider to be some legitimate issues about the CEQA exemptions contained in SB131.

Today, however, I will be voting for this Bill, recognizing that this Budget Trailer Bill is necessary to advance negotiated outcomes in the state budget. Outcomes to protect health care, education and programs that are crucial to uplift our most vulnerable Californians. It's essential that our budget reflects our California values.

That said, our California values also include protecting our environment and protecting frontline communities from pollution sources. My vote today reflects my understanding that commitments have been made to revisit the advanced manufacturing provisions of the Bill as well as the importance of moving our budget forward and protecting our California values. Thank you very much.

Thank you Assembly Members Zbur, Assembly Member Karlra, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members, I don't often speak on matters of the budget, and in big part because, and again this year, certainly I think our Budget Chair and speaker have done a tremendous job in having a process that has allowed for our input and allowed for the opportunity for concerns to be raised.

And for that I'm incredibly grateful. I do want to also just hope as we move forward, I know that there have been commitments to continue working on some of the issues that are of that have been raised of concern.

And so I hope, as this Bill, if it does move forward, as I presume it will, that we can continue to work on issues regarding habitat protection, particularly for protected species. And I also want to raise the issue that was raised by our colleague from Torrance.

Being a representative from Santa Clara County, having lived there for almost half a century, I can remember the early days of Silicon Valley as it was making its transition from the Valley of Hearts Delight as some of the best agricultural land in the world to what we know now as Silicon Valley.

And our colleague is correct a lot. There's been a lot of litigation.

There's been a lot of damage that was done, especially during the early days of Silicon Valley, that allowed this state and this nation to be propelled as leaders in the technology sector that came with costs, and much of those costs were environmental, dealt with environmental damage.

And so I just ask that as we move forward, that we commit to one another and that as our leadership has indicated as these conversations continue, that we find an opportunity to narrow some of the exemptions, particularly as it applies to advanced manufacturing, just rather than having a broad exemption to take us back, I think, to days in the past that were not good for our community and actually may have cost us as a state a lot more resources to clean up some of the damage done.

Thank you.

Thank you Assembly Member Karla, Assembly Member Krell, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate everyone's efforts on this, especially the Budget Chair. I rise in support of SB 131 and appreciate everybody's work on it.

I wanted to flag one additional piece for additional work where I think work is needed, and that's making sure that we are preserving and having meaningful consultation with tribal leaders as projects are built. I look forward to working with my colleagues on that in the days to come. Thanks so much, and I support the Bill.

Thank you, Assembly Member Krell. Assembly Member Ahrens, you are recognized.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker. I too, rise in support of the Bill. Want to acknowledge the comments made by my colleague from Torrance. And certainly there are any number of things to address and to keep working on. And I know that this body will be deliberative in addressing many of the concerns that my colleagues have laid out.

And as the representative from the heart of Silicon Valley, I just would be remiss to not also mention that as we do take a look at addressing CEQA reform, as we do take a look at really addressing the problems that people have mentioned on this floor, that we're also doing so recognizing that we cannot stifle innovation.

And in the State of California, in my district alone, billions and billions of dollars have contributed to the General Fund that helped fund our schools, that help fund so many things that Californians care about. And we must not stifle innovation. We must protect our environment.

We must do everything that we can to have our ideals and the morality of. Of what we strive to do on this floor. But we can't do so at the expense of innovation in Silicon Valley. Thank you.

Thank you. Assembly Member Ahrens, seeing and hearing no further debate. Assembly Member Gabriel, do you wish to close?

Yeah. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Just want to thank my colleagues for all of their thoughtful comments. Respectfully request an aye vote.

Okay. Assembly Member Gabriel, all debate having ceased, the Clerk will open the roll. All Members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll. Tally the votes. Ayes 50. No's 3. The measure passes.

Majority Leader, you are recognized. Pursuant to Assembly Rule 96. I request. unanimous consent to withdraw the following bills from the Budget Committee and allow Assembly member Gabriel to take them up today. Without reference to file SB139 and SB140.

Thank you, Madam Majority Leader, seconded by Mr. Garcia. Mr. Flora, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Withhold consent, ask for roll call vote.

Thank you, Mr. Flora. Members, this motion is not debatable. It takes 41 votes. A Clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote. Majority leader is asking for an aye vote. Mr. Flora is asking for a no vote. All members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote.

Clerk will close the roll. Tally the votes. Ayes. 50. noes 19. The motion carries. Okay, members, we are now moving on without reference to File Senate Bill 139 presented by Assemblymember Gabriel.

The Clerk will read Senate Bill 139 by the Senate Committee on Budget and fiscal review and apprehension to state employment and making an appropriation, therefore to take effect immediately be related to the budget.

Assemblymember Gabriel, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise to present SB 139, which implements the memorandum of understanding between state and. Between the state and bargaining unit 9, which represents the professional engineers, as well as an addendum for bargaining unit 12, which represents operating engineers.

This bill implements negotiated, agreed upon general salary and benefits adjustments, as well as a negotiated and agreed upon paid personal leave programs with each bargaining unit. Thank you and respectfully request your aye vote.

Thank you, assembly member Gabriel. Assembly member DeMaio, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to SB139. My comments on 139 really apply to the entirety of our labor negotiations. We are in a budget crisis, and one of the biggest drivers of our budget crisis are our uncontrolled labor costs.

We know that the labor unions have a lot of pull, but it is incumbent upon us as legislators to learn to say the word no. And the Governor obviously needs to learn to say no. We have to be the check.

And there's no way to defend the MOUs year after year with some of the provisions that have been added in that absolutely are unnecessary and frankly, wasteful when you look at the local labor market. Look, I value our employees. As a businessman, I know many of you have been very successful in your business careers.

We are only as strong as our workforce. Talent management, recruitment and retention. But if we are overcompensating for positions, it means that we're not able to give a job to someone else.

If we are rewarding poor performers at the same level that we are compensating high performers, we are sending the wrong message and we are disincentivizing our best performers. These MOUs do that and more.

When you benchmark our local labor costs against what we're paying state workers, we are far above what the local labor markets are paying for comparable work. But what is particularly concerning about these MOUs this year are not just the salary increases. And I would point out that it's not a 3% across the board.

Each of these employee groups have what we call step increases. So they're already getting a salary increase each year based on the step structure. What we're giving across the board is an additional salary increase at taxpayers expense. But we are literally not paying our mortgage payment for OPED. These are the retiree health care costs.

These are not part of CalPERS or CalSTRS. These are costs that Governor Jerry Brown rightfully said we need to start socking money away for. We have to pay for these costs in the year in which we get the benefit of the service of the employee.

Otherwise we are putting their health care benefits in jeopardy far into the future. More importantly, we are signing up taxpayers in the future for a much larger Bill. So these MOUs literally have a mortgage that is due this year for these workers for their future health care.

And yet we are deciding we are not going to pay the mortgage. You know what that would do to your own personal finances? It would compound your debt. It would cost far more exponentially in the future. But why are we allowing this to happen to taxpayers?

We are the ones that are supposed to be looking out for them. This Governor isn't going to be here in two years and that's why I think he went along with this bad MOU. But we have an opportunity to send this MOU back to the Governor and say do right by our employees, do right by our taxpayers.

I urge you, send a message. Let's not rubber stamp this. What would happen if we rejected the MOU? Tell the Governor, go back to the table and at least come back and fully fund our bills the year in which we incur them. I urge a no vote for that purpose.

Thank you assembly member DeMaio. Assembly member Flora, you are recognized.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of AB139. It creates a near term savings for state budget, establishes a personal leave program, among other changes which will reduce the general fund cost about 130 million over the next two fiscal years. Respectfully, I ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, Mr. Floor Leader. Assembly member Hoover, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of SB139 and in particular wanted to rise in support of a particular provision in this bill and in this MOU that abandons, in my opinion, the foolish return to office mandate that was going to go into effect on July 1st of this year.

We have very hardworking state employees that have been working very productively and that are going to lead to cost savings as we move forward in the future. I want to thank the Governor for his willingness to work with the bargaining units on that and respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, Assemblymember Hoover. Seeing and hearing no further business. Assemblymember Gabriel, do you wish to close?

Thank you very much. I just want to thank my colleagues for the bipartisan support on this measure. Respectfully request your aye vote.

Thank you, Assemblymember Gabriel. Seeing and hearing no further business, clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll. Tally the votes. Ayes, 69. Noes 1. measure passes. Okay.

Without reference to file Senate Bill 140 presented by Assembly Member Gabriel the Clerk will read.

Senate Bill 140 by the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review an act relating to state employment and making an appropriation therefore to take effect immediately be to the budget.

Assembly Member Gabriel, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise present SB 140, which implements the memorandum of understanding between the state and bargaining unit 6, which represents correctional officers. This Bill implements general salary and benefit adjustments as well as personal leave programs for these. For this bargaining unit. Thank you and respectfully request your aye vote on SB140.

Thank you, Assembly Member Gabriel. Floor Leader Flora, you were recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of SB 140. And if you ever sit down with CCPOA and talk to the men and women that serve in our our prisons and our correctional facilities, they might have one of the hardest jobs in law, in law enforcement.

They spend day and night with these individuals and they are significantly understaffed. I think one of the best parts about this Bill is the cap on overtime, mandated overtime that they can work. I think mental health for these correctional officers is serious. Needs to be addressed. We need to get their staffing levels up properly.

And I respectfully ask for aye vote.

Thank you, Mr. Floor Leader. Sing and hearing no further business. Assembly Member Gabriel, do you wish to close?

Respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, Mr. Gabriel. All debate having ceased, the Clerk will open the roll. All Members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll. Tally the votes. Aye's 71. No 0. The measure pass.

Okay, we are waiting on transmission transmittal transmission from the Senate. And while we do so we're going to move ahead to the regular order of business. We'll begin with the items that are on concurrence file items two through nine. Okay, so we are going to pass retain on file item number two.

That brings us file item number three. ACR 16 by Leader Gallagher. Clerk will read.

Assembly Concurrent Resolution 16 by Assembly Member Gallagher relative to the POW MIA Bridge.

Leader Gallagher, you are recognized.

Thank you Mr. Speaker and Members, I rise to present ACR 16 which is back on concurrence. And over the years as I've been in the Legislature, I've had the opportunity to to name different portions of our highway system for the POWMIA and our veterans.

And today is a special one because this is the 10th street bridge that connects Marysville and Yuba City. This concurrence measure would name that the POWMIA bridge. The United States Department of Defense estimates that nearly 81,000 American service members remain missing in action.

The POWMIA Bridge would honor the sacrifices of the brave men and women in our military who have been taken prisoner of war or gone missing in action. It would also honor the service of the over 6,000 local veterans in Sutter County and 7,000 local veterans in Yuba County.

So for all these reasons I ask that you support this important resolution. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you Leader Gallagher. All debate having ceased, the Clerk will open the roll. All Members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll tally. The votes aye's 70. No 0, measure passes. Senate amendments are concurred here.

Going to pass and retain on file items 4567. That brings us to file item number eight. That's AB927 by Assembly member Sharp Collins.

Clerk will read Assembly Bill 927 by assembly member Sharpe Collins. And accurately to public schools and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately.

Dr. Sharp Collins, you may open.

Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker. Please excuse my voice. I rise to present Assembly Bill 927 which extends the Williams inspection window from four to eight weeks for various for our school districts. This bill is support support and it's urgent for us to to actually push this bill forward for the implementation for the next academic year.

This bill itself will give districts more time to properly evaluate conditions and ensure real accountability and not just compliance. This is my very first bill that, provided we all vote on this right now, that can move to the governor's desk, and I'm super excited about it, and I strongly, respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, Dr. Shaw. Collins. All debate having ceased, the Clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. Kirk will close the roll. Tally the votes. Ayes 70 noes 0. The measure passes. Senate amendments are concurred herein.

Senate amendments are concurred in.

Okay. We are going to pass and retain on file item number nine. That gets us to the Assembly third reading file. We will pass and retain on file items 10, 11, 12. That brings us to file item number 13, AJR9 by Assembly Member Wallis, Clerk will read.

Assembly Joint Resolution 9 by Assembly Member Wallis relative to national parks.

Assembly Member Wallis, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Colleagues, I rise today to present Assembly Joint Resolution 9, urging the President and Congress to restore full and consistent funding for the National Park Service. California is home to some of the most treasured and iconic landscapes in the world.

From the towering granite cliffs of Yosemite to the striking deserts of Joshua Tree, our national parks are not only natural wonders, they're economic engines and cultural landmarks. In 2023 alone, more than 36 million visitors generated over $5 billion in economic output right here in California. Yet, despite their immense value, our national parks are suffering.

Dedicated staff have been let go, key positions remain unfilled. Campgrounds have been shuttered. Visitor safety and wildfire prevention efforts are strained, all due to a decline in federal investment. It's not just about budgets and line items. It's about stewardship. It's about protecting our shared heritage, supporting local economies, and honoring the legacy we leave for future generations.

And if you have any doubt about how Californians and Americans value our public lands, look no further than to what happened in Washington, D.C. over the past few days, to the effort to sell public lands.

I respectfully ask for your aye vote and your support to send a message to our colleagues in Washington to reinvest in the people and programs that keep our national parks open, safe, and thriving.

Thank you, Assembly Member Wallis. Assembly Member Stefani, you are recognized.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of AJR9, and I'm proud to represent a district that includes both the San Francisco Maritime National Historic park and large portions of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, sites managed by the National Park Service and deeply cherished by our community.

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is the most visited section in the National Park System, with more than 17 million users each year, that's a testament to its beauty, accessibility, and importance to both locals and visitors from around the world.

If you spent time at the Presidio, which is in my backyard, Lands End, Fort Mason, or Ocean Beach, then you've experienced part of what makes this area so special. These parks are more than just places to recreate. They're spaces for learning, connection, and healing, where families come together, children explore, and.

And people of all backgrounds come together in nature. They also drive real economic impact. In 2022 alone, visitors to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Muir Woods and Fort Point spent 1.2 billion in nearby communities, supporting over 12,000 local jobs and generating a total economic benefit of 1.75 billion. That's in one year alone.

But right now, the visitor experience and the essential services that make it possible are at serious risk. Without stable federal funding and staffing, we could see ranger programs reduced, restrooms closed, trash left uncollected, and vital services diminished. Our parks can only thrive if they are well supported. That's why we must sustain consistent federal funding and staffing.

And not just for iconic destinations in my district, but for national parks across California and this entire country. These public lands deserve the investment it takes to keep them safe, clean, and accessible for everyone. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, Assembly Member Stephanie. Assembly Member Hart, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am proud to rise in support of AJR9. Thank you. Thank you to my colleague from the Kotela Valley for introducing such an important resolution. As many of you know, it's a personal goal of mine to visit every national park in the country.

I've been to 43 out of the 63 national parks and I can tell you that they are incredibly unique, but they do share one thing in common. They inspire us and remind us of our shared responsibility to protect the natural resources the previous generations have have protected.

One example I'm especially proud to highlight is the Channel Islands National Park in my district. With its rugged coastline, unique wildlife, and rich cultural history, the Channel Islands offers a one of a kind experience for visitors and for critical research opportunities for scientists studying climate change and marine ecosystems. Like many national parks, it's now facing serious threats.

Staffing shortages caused by federal hiring freezes and budget cuts are putting its operations and ecosystems at risk. The state's at risk of losing critical conservation work and the ability to offer meaningful, safe and inspiring experiences for visitors. It's critical that we send a strong message to the Federal Government.

California's National Parks are irreplaceable treasures that deserve our full support. Preserving these parks means preserving California's economy and legacy. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

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

Thank you very much. I want to join the bipartisan support, the strong, you know, across party line support among all Americans for our national parks. But unfortunately, we have to leave it to this Trump Administration to politicize our national parks.

Just last week, the front page of The Los Angeles Times reported that President Trump issued an executive order instructing the National Park Service to ban anything that is deemed to be negative signage or unpatriotic signage.

With a big photograph of the Manzanar National Park site in the State of California, we know that Manzanar is just one of many examples trying to teach the accurate history of our country, and especially as it relates to Manzanar, teaching the lessons of the incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.

And so, as we fight these efforts of the Trump Administration to defund our parks and to fire our park employees, we need to make sure that we stand up for our national parks that teach the true history of our country.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I rise in support of AJR9. I think you all know that I'll never miss an opportunity to highlight the majesty of the redwoods on the north coast.

In my district, we have Redwood National and State park, which aside from being an incredible redwood forest that contains nearly 50% of the redwood trees that continue to exist on this planet, generates about $42 million in economic activity each and every year. It sustains about 200 jobs in our local communities.

That management is co-management between the national and the state government, which allows us to have efficiencies in terms of enforcement, in terms of equipment, in terms of safety, in terms of insurance, and if one of those partners falls down, that puts more pressure on the other.

And in this case, that means the state having to pick up the slack. So I rise in full support of AJR9. We need to fully fund our national forests. It's important to my community and important to the future of California.

Thank you, Assembly Member Rogers. Assembly Member Connolly, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members. I also rise in support of AGR9 and I'm also lucky to represent such a beautiful district, which includes iconic locations like Point Reyes National Seashore, Muir Woods National Monument, Stinson Beach and the Marin Headlands.

The Muir woods is a truly special place, preserving one of the last remaining ancient redwood forests forests in the entire Bay Area. Some of the redwoods are nearly 1,000 years old and reach heights of more than 250ft and attract nearly 1 million people each year.

Point Reyes National Seashore attracts more than 2 million hikers, Whale watchers and nature lovers from all over the country every year to see the natural wonders that Point Reyes offers. As Californians, we are so lucky to have these special places to visit.

But President Trump and Congress want to cut up to $1.2 billion from the National Park Service for fiscal year 2026. This threatens the livelihoods of the federal workers at the park units in my district and it will result in reductions in visitor services for everyone that visits these parks.

In the face of record breaking visitation, the National Park Service and its staff are being asked to do more with less. We need our National Park Service and its staff to be fully funded so they can continue to safeguard these iconic landscapes for current and future generations. For these reasons, I ask for your support of AGR9.

Thank you.

Thank you. Assembly Member Connolly. Assembly Member Irwin, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the representative for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, I rise to support AJR9. The Santa Monica Mountains, which span nearly 250 square miles across the 42nd District, are particularly unique due to their proximity to large populations in LA and Ventura counties.

This area is home to over 1,000 plant species and more than 500 vertebrates species. It is a hiker's dream with over 500 miles of trails, including the well known Backbone Trail which traverses over 60 miles of the park. I've personally hiked it and would invite any of you to come join me over the fall.

The recreation area and adjacent local and state park receive millions of visitors every year. That is why it is essential to provide sufficient funding and staffing to ensure that visitors can enjoy this precious public resource safely and responsibly.

As a representative for an area that cherishes its public open space, the proposed sale of millions of acres of public land in the Big Beautiful Bill was extremely concerning. And I'm very glad to see that this resolution is a bipartisan effort. With that, I request your support for this resolution.

Thank you, Assembly Member Irwin. Assembly Member Hadwick, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of AJR9. With my seatmate and colleague as a representative for 11 very rural counties and having Lassen National Park and a big fan of national parks, my family and I have attended or been to 50 of the 63 parks in the nation.

I'm happy to see that after many administrations in the past have made cuts to national parks, I'm happy to see so much support for this now. So I just want to urge an aye vote and rise to support AJR9.

Thank you, Assembly Member Hadwick. Seeing and hearing no further debate, Assembly Member Wallis, do you wish to close?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. To all my colleagues who rose in support of AJR9, I'd like to request the first roll to be open for co-authors and respectfully request an aye vote.

Thank you, Assembly Member Walis. Mr. Wallace has asked for the first roll to be open for co-authors. The Clerk will open the roll. All Members vote who desire to vote. Members, this is for co authors. All Members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll. Tally the votes.

There are 66 co authors added. Remember, this is a joint resolution. We cannot take a voice vote. Clerk will open the roll on the resolution. All Members vote who desire to vote. Members, this is voting on the resolution itself. All Members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote.

Clerk will close the roll and tally the votes. Aye's 66, no's 0. The resolution, carries. Is adopted. It is adopted. The resolution is adopted. Okay, we are going to pass and retain on File item number 14. That is going to bring us to file item number 15. That is HR 47 by Assembly Member Patel.

The Clerk will read. House Resolution 47. By Assemblymember Patel relative to the 4th of July.

Assemblymember Patel, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Colleagues, today I rise in recognition of the 249th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. We stand together to commemorate one of the most significant moments in the history of our nation. The birth of our Republic on the 4th of July, 1776.

On this day, our founders declared that all men, and now we know all people are created equal, and that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

As we reflect on that bold declaration, we must remember that it was not just a declaration of Independence from a foreign empire. It was also a declaration of conviction. Conviction that the values of democracy, equality, justice, could be lived out in a land that had never before seen such a vision.

It was a call to build a nation where the voices of the people could determine the course of their own future. But, colleagues, as we celebrate this extraordinary vision, we must also acknowledge the challenges we face today in safeguarding and strengthening our democracy.

For while we may have come a long way since 1776, the journey is far from complete. In the past few years, we've seen the very foundations of our democracy tested. Our electoral processes, our institutions and the trust between citizens and government are under siege in ways that are deeply troubling.

From the spread of misinformation, to attacks on the very idea of fair elections, to rising division and polarization. We are reminded that democracy is not something that is simply won, once and for all. It is something that must be actively protected, nurtured and defended. Every day as we stand here today, we face a choice.

We can choose to give in to the forces that seek to divide us. We can succumb to cynicism and despair, believing that that our own differences are just simply too great and our challenges are just too overwhelming.

Or we can choose to embrace the spirit of July 4th not just as a celebration of past victories, but as a call to action for the future. I believe that our democracy is worth fighting for.

I believe in the promise that we are a nation where our every single voice matters, where each citizen has the power to shape their future, and where justice is, is not just an ideal, but it is a lived reality for all.

But to honor that promise, we must confront the realities of our time with the courage and with renewed conviction. We must recommit ourselves to the value of liberty, equality and justice. Values that have always been the guiding light of this nation.

Even when we have faltered, we must reject the forces of hate, fear and division and instead choose unity over this kind of division. In the spirit of July 4th, let us also remember that freedom is not simply the absence of tyranny. It is the active pursuit of justice, opportunity and dignity for all.

True Independence comes not from political freedom, but from a society where all people, regardless of their background, their beliefs or their circumstances, have the chance to thrive. This day is a reminder that the work of democracy is never finished.

It is up to us to continue that work, to safeguard the rights we cherish and to ensure that the promises of our Founding Fathers are lived out in the lives of every American.

So as we raise our flags on July 4th and celebrate the beauty of this nation, let us also renew our commitment to building a more perfect union. Let us be inspired not by the history of our past, but but by the future we have yet to create.

And let us work together across the aisles, across the state, in every community, to ensure that the American experiment is not only preserved, but strengthened for generations to come.

And with that, I'm asking all of you to support this resolution so that we can work together to help realize the vision set forth in the Declaration of Independence, the anniversary we celebrate on the fourth. Thank you.

Thank you, assembly member Patel. Members, we find ourselves in a unique situation where we are waiting for our colleagues in the Senate, and it may take a bit of time. Are there any members who wish to speak on this House Resolution on 4th of July. Assembly member Bryan, you are recognized.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, I can honestly say that I really did not plan to speak on this resolution and was prepared to vote. But as my colleagues from San Diego was speaking, I was thinking. I was thinking about the Declaration of Independence and what it means to be an American.

I was thinking about the Americans who have been unjustly detained by immigration enforcement and the National Guard patrolling Los Angeles. I think about what the Declaration of Independence means to an immigrant today, knowing that our Founding Fathers were all immigrants.

And I was thinking about something I share every 4th of July, and that is what to the slave is the Fourth of July. A speech given by Frederick Douglass, who spoke very strongly about the hypocrisy of America celebrating its Independence while so many were still enslaved.

The hypocrisy of our Founding Fathers to talk about the ideals of freedom and liberty and justice while owning and participating in slavery. If I'm quoting Frederick Douglass today, he said, I say it with a sad sense of disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of your glorious anniversary.

Your high Independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. Thinking about him saying that and knowing what the Federal Government is doing at this exact moment, creating greater distance between us.

Folks who have health care, folks who do not, folks who get tax breaks, folks who do not, folks who have plenty of food to eat, folks who do not, those whose humanity and right to exist in this country is protected and defended, and those who it is not.

So as we celebrate this 4th of July, like my colleague mentioned so eloquently, I hope that it's a moment for that reflection, but even more so, a call to action to fulfill those ideals that our Founding Fathers talked about and truly build an America that's inclusive of all of us. I respectfully ask an aye vote.

Thank you, assembly member Bryan. Assembly member Jeff Gonzalez, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I felt compelled to. To also rise.

Over 30 years ago, I had the opportunity to step upon yellow footprints. Those yellow footprints are ones that Marines stand before going into boot camp. It looks like a choice when we take on the. When we step on those footprints.

And yes, it is a choice, but it was a daily decision that we had to make every single day to be able to stand and rise for the one next to us. See, in the military, I didn't see racism in over 20 years. Not once.

Whether you were from Kentucky or Coachella, from Los Angeles or from New York City, we all stood there and represented each other. Didn't matter if you liked someone, didn't like someone. Those things didn't matter to us. What mattered to us was that people before us sacrificed in order to form a more perfect union.

People before us died for our freedoms. This nation is far from perfect. This state is far from perfect. But I would venture to say that we come here today, not on these yellow footprints, but on this green carpet, to make a choice to make our communities better, to make a choice to make our country better.

And yes, things divide us. And yes, we may have differences of opinion, but in the end, I can say that we are all united for one cause, and that cause is the cause of freedom in our community. That cause is for goodness and in our community.

And that cause is worth fighting for on this green carpet, on those yellow footprints, on the streets of a small town and across the world. Because inherently, we have something good inside of each and every one of us, and that is worth fighting for. And that is the freedom that I fight for.

Thank you, Assemblymember Gonzalez, Assemblymember Schultz, you are recognized.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As luck would have it, I felt almost called upon to speak to the importance of this measure. But what I would simply submit, Mr. Speaker, is that I want to thank my colleague from San Diego for bringing forward the measure.

I want to thank the comments of my colleagues from both Los Angeles and Coachella Valley. I think it is more important than ever that in this day and age, if we're truly going to honor the work of our founders, we have to understand that they weren't just fighting for a parchment of paper.

They weren't just fighting for a piece of cloth. As important as a symbol as it is, they were fighting for democracy itself, the very belief that we can determine our own rule of law, that we can select our own leaders.

And it's an idea that is founded on the premise that we shouldn't demonize and villainize one another and tear each other apart. Debate is good. Disagreement is good. A healthy exchange of ideas is good. And so I rise and I thank again the author for bringing forward the measure.

And I hope that especially this holiday this year, with everything going on in the world, we can find a way to get back to center and remind each other that we are not each other's enemy. We are fundamentally on the same team.

We have strong differences of opinion about what our priorities should be and how best to accomplish them. And but at the end of the day, we are all Americans. We all call this country home. And we have a solemn duty to protect everyone who seeks the shelter of our shores. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Assemblymember Schultz. Assemblymember Ta, no, I'm just kidding. Assemblymember Harabedian, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And just to follow up on something to debate, you know, I grew up in a city called Sierra Madre, and one of my first memories was the Fourth of July parade. Many of us will be in parades this weekend.

And I'll tell you one thing that's very different now than it was when I was a kid and even when I was a council member in Sierra Madre. And again, the highlight every year of being a council member there is you get to ride and pray. One thing that's different is we no longer have host fights.

There's no longer people spraying hoses at each other when we're riding down the boulevard. And so let's debate something really important and maybe lighten the mood. Should we still have water hoses being sprayed at people when they're riding down a Fourth of July parade on a hot day?

I, for one, colleagues, would argue that that is a Fourth of July parade. We should be able to spray hoses at each other. Super soakers, those were water pistols that I grew up with, were prevalent everywhere. And I'll tell you now, for some reason, in cities across California, you no longer can spray water at each other.

And for- for my perspective, this is yet one member on this floor that's un American. And so I think something that is very important is bringing water back to Fourth of July parades and Fourth of July parade roots. So thank you, Mr. Speaker, allowing me to weigh in on this important debate. Thank you.

It's quite historic talk points, Mr. Harabedian, Assemblymember Tangipa, you are recognized.

Alright. Since I know you've all been waiting to hear from me, I too, just want to make sure that I'm thanking the member from San Diego for bringing this resolution. I am blessed, I think that all of us are truly blessed. And to be here today is just something that's so amazing.

I think about a lot when my mother immigrated to this country, and while we were younger, and I think I've shared this phrase before, too, we used to wait in the food lines at the church. Multiple of them all across, not too far from here, actually.

And while we were there in Tongan, she would always say to us that you may be the poorest Americans, but you're the richest Tongans because you're in America. And there's nowhere in the country of Tonga that you can go to a corner and they'll give you a box of food.

There's no church that's going to sponsor you and give you game boys and batteries, and you care about whether you have holes in your shoes and your cousins don't have shoes. But she came here for a better opportunity and an amazing life. And just two years ago, I was able to give my mother her legal residency paperwork.

And one of the things that stands with me most is at the end, after receiving that on Christmas, her last words were, now I'm an American.

And now that she gets to wake up every day and to see that her son is in the state capitol after she grew up on an island with no electricity and having never seen stairs before, that is exactly what the founding fathers were aiming for. I am my mother's American dream, and I fight for that.

This society is one that is beautiful, one that we all get to cherish, and one that I get to share with all of you as we see kids on the floor. So amazing. I truly think serving with all of you.

And if the founding fathers were here today, looking out at this room, I'd be damn proud to see what a more perfect union looks like and what the pursuit of happiness looks like. And it's an honor to serve with you all. Thank you. And I ask for an aye on this.

Well said. Mr. Tangipa. Assemblymember Hadwick, you are recognized.

In the spirit of voluntold storytelling. I rise in strong support of HR 47. Fourth of July is a rite of passage in my community, in Modoc County, we call it Fandango Days because of Fandango Pass that was named the mountain. The pass that they go over in the Applegate Trail is 6,100ft feet in the in elevation.

And when they came to it, they saw a big lake and fog and thought they had hit the coast. So they thought they were done and they were home. So they did a little Fandango, which is a little dance and then woke up in the morning and they were not. They had just barely made it to Oregon.

So this was the last and cut off. So we have a party and celebrate that we're almost home and we were almost done. And we have a parade. And I don't know, maybe it's because we have all the water up north, but we still squirt people in our parades.

So come on up On Saturday at 10:00am It's a really good time.

Thank you. Assemblymember Hadwick. Assemblymember Lackey, you are recognized.

Yeah, just real quickly, I'd like to invite my colleague from Pasadena to Acton on the 4th of July. We still have engagement every year. It's a really big parade on the 4th of July and people actually reserve a spot along the main road there days in advance. And it is a complete water fight.

And I will be getting very wet that day. And I really look forward to that simple exchange. But in closing, I just would like to say that I was able to attend the Special Olympic Summer Games in Santa Clara this past weekend. And the reason why I mentioned that is because during those competitive days, I noticed.

And one of the things that's most refreshing about that competition is everybody is united. Everybody. And it doesn't matter what political affiliation you have, what country you're from, what religion you espouse, none of it matters. None of it. And everybody is united in cheering for goodness.

And I'm telling you, it really warms my heart that we have that kind of influence in this country because we have too many other influencers who are trying to divide us. And one of the things I love about America, I'm not short on opinions. None of us are that are in here.

We wouldn't be here or shouldn't be here. But the way we engage is really important and I hope that we'll continue to understand that. We all love this country. We all want to make it as good as we can and that whole.

Let us adopt the spirit of the Special Olympics and focus on what unites us instead of what divides us. Thank you.

Thank you, Assemblymember Lackey. Assemblymember Ransom, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in the spirit of equity. Having hearing so many of our gentlemen colleagues voices since you've given us this opportunity, I really wanted to support the assemblymember from San Diego for the seriousness to which she brought to this resolution, which as we are celebrating Independence Day, we have an opportunity to reflect.

These are not just times for us to get together and celebrate, you know, barbecues and fireworks. As we think about freedom and we think about Independence Day and we think about the time that we have here, we have a huge responsibility to fight for those very ideals that the Independence Day stands for.

It is the sacrifices that are forefathers and those who come before us have made in this very moment in time. We are fighting to ensure that we are not going backwards in time, that we are not giving away the hope and the promise and the dreams that were attached to the seriousness of the celebration for our Independence.

So I want to thank the author for bringing such an important resolution because this is a time that we are, as a nation being divided. And we know that those who if you don't stand together, you fall apart. And this is an opportunity for us to come together for very important reasons as we celebrate this nation.

And so I would like to again thank our gentle lady from San Diego for bringing this resolution and just remind us why we walk on this green carpet, who we represent and why we represent them. Thank you.

Thank you, Assemblymember Ransom, Assemblymember Schultz, state your point.

Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, I felt so moved by the comments from my colleague from Pasadena. I had a question for the author. I'm wondering how the people of the 76 celebrate this important holiday and of course, whether the author has a position on the use of water hoses or super soakers to celebrate the holiday.

Please.

Questions? Thank you for those questions, my colleague from Burbank. The people of the 76th Assembly District celebrated in traditional fashion with parades and fireworks at our various communities throughout the district.

And as for your position or your question on the use of water hoses or super soakers or anything like that, there have been many occasions where I myself have used a super Soaker, but only after making eye contact with the children who are seated parade side and from a classic fire truck that was refurbished by incarcerated women as part of their educational opportunities and career technical development.

So my school district used to own a classic fire truck and we would sit on that fire truck with our Super Soakers.

And only upon making acknowledging appreciative eye contact with those children seated parade side did we choose to discharge our water onto those children, relieving them of an extreme amount of heat and fatigue from sitting on those sidelines waiting for the marching band to come by.

Because it was indeed the marching band that they wanted to hear from the various high schools. So I hope that satisfies you. I have never used a hose, though, on a parade watcher.

Thank you Assemblymember Patel, Assemblymember Demaio, you are recognized.

Thank you. I rise in support of HR 47. When I did eight years on radio, I always took July 4th off. I did not do a live show, but I always had to do a pre record because, you know, the station has to pay the bills. So did an original show. It was always a civics lesson.

I said, you know, look, you know, gather the kids around. I'm going to explain to them what they're not learning in the classroom anymore. And that is why the Declaration of Independence was such a bold, earth shattering development in human history.

And to summarize it, well, since we're waiting on the senate, maybe I can get unanimous consent to get a couple extra minutes. But to summarize it, our kids are not taught just how gutsy this resolution was. And I'm not just talking about, you know, the open rebellion against a king.

I'm talking about the philosophical earthquake that happened with this document where they said, we're not the Magna Carta. We're not going to the king, asking the king to give us rights. No, we start out by birthright, with freedom. We're not asking government for our freedoms. We start out with our freedoms.

What we now reflect is people getting together for the greater good, saying, here's a couple freedoms, a couple things that we're going to give to government. An absolute tsunami of thought change in human history. And our kids are not taught this today how groundbreaking this was.

And then I talked to them how disappointed I am in the US Constitution philosophically. Oh, don't get me wrong, I love our system of government. It's very elegant, checks and balances, separation of powers and all that wonderful stuff. But it lacked the passion and the loftiness of the Declaration of Independence.

It was subdued until the 14th amendment came along. And then I tie in how the 14th Amendment really brings the spirit of the Declaration of Independence about freedom, inalienable rights, equal protection under the law, and enshrines that in our constitutional system and makes it a more perfect constitutional system.

The reason why I go through this is I miss those shows. They're still on podcast somewhere. But if I had one wish today besides voting for this resolution, it would be to vote to require that civics be one of the top priorities of instruction in our schools across every school district.

I know there's a lot of debate about curriculum and a lot of controversy around it, and perhaps many of those things could be solved if we just simply said, let's deal with that at home. But at least let's make sure we get the basics. Reading, writing, arithmetic, and most importantly, civics. I'll close on this.

If you want to look for evidence of the need for civics. I worry about a generation from now, whether that next generation will be able to have as informed a discussion on our system of government as we can have.

And if you look for proof, look at those late night talk shows where they take that man on the street or woman on the street. Camera. And they ask about how many branches of government are there. And some of these kids, they don't know. They simply don't know.

I think a lot of our differences could potentially be reduced if our children were actually given a good grounding in our system of government and the uniqueness of it. So my hope is that that will extend to some other legislation in the coming days. Thank you.

Thank you, Assemblymember Demaio. Leader Gallagher, you are recognized.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker, members, I also rise in support of the resolution and thinking about growing up and Fourth of July celebrations. When I grew up, we would often go up to Lake Almanor, which is just northeast of Chico, and they have a great parade up there, by the way, too, in Chester, California.

And I invite you guys to come up anytime. And yes, they do have super soakers and they. And they squirt you from the fire trucks and it's great. You have a really great time up there. So the gentleman from Pasadena, you're welcome anytime. But two things really come to me when I think about Fourth of July.

One is our soldiers, you know, our veterans. And I can remember one of those Fourth of July celebrations when I was a kid. My uncle had been deployed to the Gulf War and he had more recently gotten back. And like, I remember just how, you know, how happy my. His family was to have him back home. Right.

And that moment. And really, I think that was maybe the first time it really hit me as a kid that, you know, freedom isn't free and that there's people that put some major sacrifices online and first and foremost, our soldiers. And I'm glad that the gentleman from Coachella brought that up. I think a lot about that.

Both of my grandfathers were veterans of World War II. And when we really think about what those men and women do, I think that it really gets us back to really the fundamentals of America and what this means and what we're fighting for and what those soldiers are fighting for.

And so I think that's one thing that I think it's important for us to really kind of think about and ponder on the 4th of July. And the other one is freedom. I think it's really simple freedom. Simple thing that I think we take for granted too often, maybe especially now.

That is the fundamental thing about America that has always been so different, is because for so many of the places that we came from, and most of us came from somewhere to come to America, we did not have that. We did not have freedom of movement. We didn't have freedom of thought.

We didn't have freedom to pursue our dreams, to have property rights. And that's where the American ideal is so different, that for the first time really in human history, there was a promotion of freedom, the ability to pursue those things, and mostly freedom from government.

Like, the fundamental thing that I think our founding fathers were talking about is freedom from, like, governments that would come together and take those things away from people and decide that they knew better and that you shouldn't have those things. And equality, but equality under the law, that's the fundamental thing.

That the law shouldn't treat you differently based on who you are or where you came from or what faith you practiced. The law should be equal for all. And, you know, as we as elected members of this government, we should really continue to think about that. Are we continuing to promote that freedom and keep that freedom?

Benjamin Franklin, when they came out of the Constitutional Conventions, they asked him, what government have you given us? And he said, a republic, if you can keep it. There's a couple of things there representative government said earlier. That is what we have. The ability to elect our own leaders. Right.

And to have representative bodies like this one that we're in was really not very well known to human history before we had the American form of government. And there is a stewardship that comes with that, that we all have, but it is to promote that freedom and ultimately to keep it.

And that I think many of our great leaders over time have encouraged us that that sacred fire of liberty must be stewarded, it must be kept. It's not something you can take for granted. And so as we sit here on this floor today and. And I'm glad we're having this discussion.

I don't think we were maybe expecting this to maybe go on as long as it did.

But I'm really glad that this happened because I think it really helps us reflect on the things that are truly important and fundamental to our government, our way of life, and certainly for me, is an encouragement to continue to steward that sacred fire of liberty. Thank you.

Thank you, Leader Gallagher, Assemblymember Rubio you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and members. I want to talk about the. The honor that I have had. I became a citizen 30 years ago last November. My parents as well, and it was always a dream. Unfortunately, right now, our Constitution is going through a little bit of a shakeup.

My parents live in the City of Bell, and they haven't left the house in three weeks because my parents don't speak English very well. And my dad says that if he goes out and he gets picked up by anybody, he won't be able to defend himself.

So talking about those freedoms that the Constitution affords us right now at this moment, it is not true for my parents, but I don't want to talk about just that. I also want to talk about how amazing the process was. It was a long process.

We started our paperwork in 1990, and it took four years for us to be called to take the test. So when we talk about Civics, there are 100 questions that you must memorize, because when you go in to take the test, you will be asked anywhere between 5 and 10 questions, very random. And my parents.

And we studied and studied and studied, so you can ask me. I can still answer most of them, but they studied so that they can go take that test. So when we talk about civics, the folks that are being naturalized know all those questions because that is one of the requirements of becoming a U.S.

citizen, a naturalized citizen. So I want to just talk about how grateful I and my family have been to be here. We talk about the American dream, home ownership. And right now, I think all of our family has had the opportunity to buy a home. My husband is also naturalized, and I have.

My husband is a former Marine. My stepdaughter graduated from the Naval Academy, is in pilot school right now. My stepson is in the Air Force Academy, and he's also going to be a pilot. And my brother is an army veteran.

So for us, the pride that we hold that we have to be able to come to this country and be whatever, literally whatever we wanted to be. I never thought in my whole entire life that I would be standing in this floor. My parents have the honor of not just one daughter that's in the legislature, but two.

Senator Susan Rubio, my sister also shares the same story that I do. We were the first naturalized, I guess, or formerly undocumented citizens that sit on this floor. And I know there's many more to come because we know that if we work hard and do everything that we can serve our communities, give back to the community.

We can all come here. And so for me, the pride, that my parents have, every single time that they come up to the legislature, you'll see my dad, many of you have met him, barely can speak English, but he can communicate that his daughters are in the legislature.

And so that what that is what the Constitution and what the great country of the United States have afforded my family. And so I'm in support of the resolution and really urge that we do think about those freedoms. Right now, they're not available to everyone.

And if we truly, truly believe that the Constitution affords us, then we need to be supportive of each other instead of knocking each other down. When we speak about those freedoms, we need to think about everyone, not just ourselves.

Because sometimes we tend to figure out that if it's not happening to me, then it's not happening, but it's going to happen if we don't stand up and protect that sacred paper, the Constitution, to make sure that those liberties are afforded to everyone and that all of us, including our children, are able to stand proud every single day, like I do, knowing that this is the greatest country in the world.

Thank you.

Thank you, Assemblymember Rubio. Assemblymember Boerner, you are recognized.

Yes, I rise in support of HR 47 at the request of my colleague from San Diego. She reminded me, I should point out that one of the best Fourth of July parades in the State of California is on Coronado on Friday. And I get the pleasure of being in it. And it is a great celebration.

People from all over Southern California, the Southwest, come out, the streets are lined, it's long, and we all get together to celebrate what unites us. And I think often we talk about what divides us, but what unites us is stronger.

And unlike my colleague from eastern San Diego County, I would say my kids did learn about the Declaration of Independence in School, and we had great conversations about it. What does freedom mean? My kids are dual citizens. So what does freedom mean here versus in Germany? How.

How do you become a citizen here versus the fact that I lived in Germany for 12 years and never was eligible for citizenship. That's one of the things that defines us as Americans is the ability to become a citizen. And so with that, I think we should all celebrate the Fourth of July.

And with this, I respectfully request your aye vote. Thank you.

Members, thank you for those very heartening messages of unity and perfect timing as the senate is now voting on the- on the- on the measure that we're looking forward to receiving, seeing and hearing no further debate. Assemblymember Patel, do you wish to close?

Yes, Mr. Speaker and colleagues. I really sincerely appreciate my colleagues from Los Angeles, Burbank, Pasadena, Tracy, Indio, Clovis, Baldwin park, multiple colleagues from San Diego, all tourists, Palmdale. And if I miss somebody, my sincerest apologies there. We had very spirited debate and conversation on this resolution, HR 47. And I close by respectfully asking your aye vote today.

Thank you.

Assemblymember Patel, do you wish for the first roll to be open for co authors?

I do wish for the first roll to be open for co authors. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

All debate having ceased, the clerk will open the roll. Members, this is for co authors. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. This is for co authors. Clerk will close the roll and tally the votes. There are 64 co authors added without objection.

We'll have a voice vote on the resolution. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed no. The ayes have it. The resolution is adopted. Okay, while we are waiting last few moments here, we're going to move to a vote on the consent calendar as file item number 29.

Does any member wish to remove an item from the consent calendar? Seeing and hearing none. The clerk will read the second day consent calendar

Senate Bill 85 by Senator Umberg and accolades to civil actions.

Clerk will open the roll on the consent calendar. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll and tally the votes. Aye's 64. No's 0. Consent calendar is adopted.

Okay, we're all set to go folks. Without reference to file. Assembly Bill 140. Madam Majority Leader, you are recognized.

AB 130 has been received from the Senate. I request unanimous consent to suspend Assembly Rule 63 to allow Assembly Member Gabriel to take up this bill today without reference to file for the purposes of concurrence in the Senate amendments.

That is seconded by Mr. Garcia. Floor Leader. Mr. Floor Leader, you recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Withhold consent and ask for a roll call vote.

Thank you, Mr. Flora. Members, this motion is not debatable. It takes 40. The Clerk will open the roll. Seconded by Mr. Garcia. All members vote who desire to vote. Majority leader is asking for an aye vote. Mr. Flora is asking for a no vote. All members vote who desire to vote. All Mmmbers vote who desire to vote.

Clerk will close the roll. Tally the votes. Ayes, 48. Noes, 19. The rules are suspended. That reference to file Assembly Bill 140, 130, excuse me, by Assembly Member Gabriel for concurrence. Senate amendments. Clerk will read.

Assembly Bill 130 by the Assembly Committee on Budget. An act relating to housing and making an appropriation therefore to take effect immediately be related to the budget.

Assembly Member Gabriel, you are recognized.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise to present AB 130, our housing trailer bill. This is the second of two bills proposed by Governor Newsom to be included in the budget. Colleagues, as we have repeatedly discussed, our housing crisis is one of the biggest policy challenges facing the State of California.

It deeply impacts communities across our state and essential to our broader affordability crisis. Thanks to the tireless leadership of our Budget Subcommitee 3 Chair and so many others in this body, the Assembly was able to secure significant investment in key affordable housing programs in our final budget agreement.

This bill will ensure that these investments are matched by policy that speeds housing construction, supports renters and homeowners, ensures that we stretch our dollars for maximum impact. Colleagues, because this bill will help make real progress to address our affordable housing crisis, I respectfully ask you for your aye vote.

Thank you, Assembly Member Gabriel. Assembly Member Ramos, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise in support of AB 130. May 28th in caucus we raised the issue of cultural resources being impacted if we were going to exempt CEQA components and immediately started working on protected language.

While in negotiations, we don't always get what we want, but I do believe we got some good protections maintaining existing law. With a few added tribal components which include and is important to say that AB 130 only deals with streamlining projects 20 acres or less and does not affect other projects out there.

There were others also negotiating with the Governor which I was not part of. However, on June 26th I received a letter on a one sentence fix. I immediately wrote a letter on my letterhead to bring this issue forward which is still being vetted.

The areas of AB 130 that represent hard work and there is tribal support for these components which include in Section 59, B, 1a notification to each California Native American tribe that is traditionally and culturally affected with the project site has an invitation to consult by certified mail and email to each tribe within 14 days of the project being approved at the local level.

It's also important to say that these areas continue to move forward and protect tribal interests throughout existing law. In section 2a the tribe then has 60 days to respond to request consultation. That is new. Other laws have 30 days. We fought for 60 days.

That gives tribes 60 days to contemplate whether they're going to move forward or not. They get two months ahead of time there to deal with that. Section 3a, upon notification, the tribe has elected to consult, local government has 14 days to initiate the consultation that starts the process. That again is another 60 days.

45 days and upon the request of the tribe an additional 15 days. 60 days in total. 3b shall give difference to tribal knowledge and customs and significance of cultural resources to the tribe that was not included in prior legislation.

3c, the tribe has strong say and has the only say to allow the project proponent to participate in the consultation with the approval of the tribe. Section d, 3d, consultation shall seek to find measures that would avoid significant impacts to tribal cultural resources. Section F, consultation shall conclude within 60 days of initiation of consultation.

This lays out a process of close to potentially 148 days of consultation and and going back and forth. We also got in this negotiation binding, binding agreements on the condition of approval from the local governments. For the first time that there is any enforceable agreements reached during project consultation that it shall be implemented.

Also we got in there, upon the request of the tribe to tribal monitors will be approved through any ground distributing activities. Never done before. And the applicant shall compensate the tribal monitors. Never done before. That's a strong component to move forward.

Also the project shall comply with sections 7050.5 and Health Safety Code 5097.98 including immediate work stoppage upon discovery of human remains of a burial ground and treatment in accordance of applicable law in consultation with the affected tribes.

These are areas that we went to work on May 28, when again May 28, there was no protection for tribal governments, there was no protection for cultural resources.

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Today in AB 130, we have protections. Does this go far enough? Some feel it does not. Some feel that it does, especially the developers that will have to pay for compensation.

But in the art of negotiation, it is about give and take, and you reach a compromise. I feel we have reached a place where protections are in place, that the protection, that inadvertent discovery of Native American remains do have a process to move forward. The negotiations that we talk about continue to move forward.

That got us to this point, that again, to this body, we had no protections moving forward May 28, but we went to work and got these protections that are in front of us today. Some still feel we need to go farther, but in the art of negotiation, we did the best that we can.

And I feel, I feel good about these protections for California's first people. I ask for your aye vote of AB 130.

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

Thank you. I rise in opposition to AB 130, but I want to start first with an acknowledgement that the debate over CEQA has moved substantially to a more realistic plane.

I think that there is now growing consensus on both sides of the aisle, even with stakeholder groups, that CEQA is broken and it has very little to do today with the environment. We've got to scrap it, start over. There's a better way to protect the environment.

What CEQA has done is it has imposed costs across the State of California, spiked the cost of living, disproportionately hurting the working class. And we've received very little value in recent years, in recent decades from CEQA. In fact, there's several examples of how CEQA has made it harder to do good environmental projects.

This bill does contain important reforms on CEQA. That's the good part. The challenge I have with the bill is, is that it continues to dole out much needed relief on CEQA in exchange for giveaways to special interests.

And so therefore, the savings that we're trying to achieve by cutting some of the red tape on these housing projects, which everyone supports, are negated. And I draw your attention to the prevailing wage requirements.

It makes no sense to say, okay, we're going to cut some of the regulatory costs, the litigation cost, only to turn around and say, we're going to spike the cost of actually constructing the project. Prevailing wage by at least 10%, typically 25% cost increase on projects. And now we're going beyond public works projects into private development projects.

Why? Because there's a powerful interest group demanding it. I think we should step away from the special interest groups and let's build a model that works for people who don't have lobbyists, who don't have influence. If you build a system for those people who have no voice, the privileged class will do just fine. They'll be perfectly fine.

But let's put aside their threats, their demands, and let's build a system that works for the little guy. Second thing is this VMT, the vehicle mileage, vehicle miles traveled racket has nothing to do with reducing traffic or congestion.

And this bill, it's clear we're using it to shake down projects, to take the money and then put it into government directed funds. Again, let's be honest about what VMT is all about. It's about raising revenue on development projects which, what happens there? We pass that on to those home buyers, increasing the cost of housing.

Again, good, good progress. But if we want to do something bold, we would in this chamber literally reboot the computer. We would start fresh. And that is why I will return to perhaps the most powerful CEQA reform and most simple CEQA reform that we can enact to take this out of the hands of the special interest.

But at least give us some time, but also give relief and reduce costs. Let's eliminate private right of action. Let's make sequel lawsuits for just five years. I'm just asking for five years only the purview of an elected District Attorney.

And if you don't like what the District Attorney is doing, if you don't think the DEA has done a good enough job using CEQA to stop bad projects, or if the District Attorney is bowing to public pressure and using it too much and imposing too many regulatory costs on housing, you can at least boot the District Attorney out of office.

You can hold the District Attorney accountable. That would then give us five years to figure out something better than CEQA. Again, I hope that some of you may be persuaded to think about this. I don't, I don't think it's a partisan idea. I think it would give that boost.

Some of you, 35 year reprieve on the state building code and that's awesome.

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Love it. Wish that we could roll a bunch of this stuff back in the state building code perhaps to 2010 or 2005. But this is perhaps something that could generate bipartisan consensus in the next year.

And it's a, it's a temporary fix for what is a longer term challenge for us to wrestle with. Again I'm going to be voting no, but I did want to rise in support of some of the elements in this bill as it relates to CEQA reform.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members. I rise today in support of AB 130. This multi range bill is critical for addressing some of the most pressing issues in our state. The cost of housing development, manufacturing and transportation, among other things.

AB 130 is the next step in giving the people of California the opportunity to achieve the American dream that I spoke about earlier, especially owning a home. The reality is, the reality is California has among the lowest homeownership rates in the country, despite being the fourth largest economy in the world.

If we continue down the same path, we will undoubtedly face the same consequences over and over, leaving our communities to deal with the frustration and anger they already feel about the lack of housing prospects. We all know how important providing housing is to us and to our constituents and how urgent addressing the high cost of living is.

This bill looks to address these concerns and meet those goals by providing a few key components necessary to quickly and safely build up our cities. Solving the issue of cost, delay, and lack of adequate housing supply. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I respectfully request an aye vote to AB 30. Thank you.

Assembly Member Rubio. Assembly Member Haney, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members, I rise to speak in support of AB 130.

I think years from now, when we look back on what hopefully is California finally beginning to confront this housing crisis this year 2025 and this bill will be viewed as a turning point. If we look at what is happening in California right now and the challenges that are residents in every corner of this state are facing.

To be able to own a home, to be able to rent, the highest burden for renters, the lowest homeownership rate. We all know that a huge reason for that is because it takes longer and is more expensive to build new homes in California than nearly anywhere else in the country. And why is that?

Because we put step after step, red tape, bureaucracy, appeal after appeal, and a level of unpredictability that it just doesn't make sense for folks to invest in home building that we desperately need.

This bill will take bolder, bigger steps to make sure that we actually make it possible to build homes in our state where they are needed, infill development, places where we know we're not only meeting the need for housing, but also where it's environmentally sustainable. Where it'll help us meet our climate goals, where we know housing belongs, where we've already approved it as part of an EIR within an overall plan.

This will help in ways that maybe right now we only can only comprehend I hope, to begin to unleash the home building boom that we need. We are short over 3 million homes in our state. Over half a million affordable homes are needed just in the coming years.

And we've already put our cities and counties on the hook to build those. This is a budget and a bill that will confront that housing crisis.

I also want to say, and our speaker deserves tremendous credit for at the beginning of this year saying that this House, not only Democrats, but Republicans, all of us, are going to stand up for housing and say that this year we are going to confront the issue that we know our constituents are experiencing and demanding us to help to address.

Not only do we have a huge CEQA reform in this bill, we also, when we received the budget that was going to zero out funding for the low income housing tax credit, zero out funding for homeless dollars that our cities and counties need to respond to that crisis.

Our budget chair, our speaker, and every member of this House said no way are we voting for a budget that was not going to invest in our most critical priority, which is making sure that every single resident in California can have a roof over their heads. We are confronting that in this budget.

We are confronting that in this bill. For now and for the long term, we are going to see the fruits of this reform, I believe, for many years to come. And I want to commend again all of my colleagues and also my, our colleague from, from Oakland who really stepped up to put this forward and made sure that, that it was put inside the budget.

This is a very proud moment for us to be voting on this bill and our constituents now and for many, many years in the future will see the benefits of it so we can confront this most critical crisis. And with that, respectfully ask your aye vote.

Assembly Member Haney. Assembly Member Patterson, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to elaborate a little bit on what my colleague from San Francisco mentioned and what this bill does is he mentioned that we received a budget from the Governor that zeroed out, zeroed out funds. And I just got to say something.

Let's make sure he doesn't take credit for this because the Governor said he wasn't going to sign the budget without housing legislation. But let's not forget, as was just mentioned, that he proposed a budget to this body that zeroed out a lot of the funding that a lot of our local communities use to actually build housing.

So I'm not going to allow him to take credit for lifting a single finger when it comes to housing. That is the legislature that has put together the work to make sure housing is done in California.

And it kind of bothers me that at 11:59pm the Governor of California comes forward to try to take credit for anything that happens regarding housing when really he had little to do with it. Secondly, if any reason to support this bill, it really has to do with provision regarding HOAs.

As you may know, I've been kind of warring with mine for a while, which is, you know, kind of fun for a little bit because my son, he's an outlaw. He keeps putting his basketball hoop on our driveway that they should send him to prison. Honestly, it'd be cheaper for me. But, but, and they probably would if they could if that was in the CCNRs.

But, but I think it's really important we have, we have HOAs that are out there saying what you can and can't do on public right of ways and then if you don't do what they say that they want you to do on a publicly funded taxpayer street that they will then fine you.

And I just think that that is wrong and HOA should not have the ability to dictate what happens on taxpayer funded property. They can ask you, I guess, to look into your garage all they want or look into your backyard, but to the extent that they're saying what can happen to taxpayers is offensive.

But now I want to say something that I think is a big problem with this bill and I think is going to have to be addressed. I am going to support this measure because I think the pros outweigh the cons.