Senate Floor

Secretary will call the roll.

[Roll Call]

A quorum is present. Would the Members and our guests be on the rail and in the gallery? Please rise. We will be led in prayer this morning by Senator Arreguin. After which, please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

God of all creation, you call each of us to evolve, to recognize that you hold all that is in your loving embrace. May we see the entire sweep of history as their self communication that calls us to Awaken to who we are new and who you are in us.

In the mutual embrace we share, may we together hold in the entire cosmos each and every person, each and every creature in a way that nurtures and sustains and calls forth the gifts that are given for all. May each of us participate fully in a personal evolution that transforms us and transforms the world. Amen.

Please join me in saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States. Under privileges of the floor. There are none at this time. Messages from the Governor will be deemed read. Messages from the Assembly will be deemed read. Reports of committees will be deemed ready and amendments adopted.

Senators, we are now at motions, resolutions and notices without objection. Measures reported by the Appropriations Committee with the recommendation do pass will be given their second reading upon being reported and ordered to the third reading without objection.

Measures reported by the Appropriations Committee with the recommendation do pass as amended, will be given their second reading and amendments adopted upon reported and ordered. Returning to second reading saying no objections. Senator Erroguin, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. I rise to request removal of file item A1 SB239 from the inactive file to be ordered to second reading.

Desk will note. I'm not seeing any other motions or resolutions. Introduction and first reading of bills will be deemed read. Senators, we will now move to consideration of daily file. We will start with unfinished business. File item 52, SJR 9. Secretary, please read Senate Joint Resolution 9.

By Senator Durazo an act relating to immigration rates.

Senator Durazzo, you are recognized.

Thank you. We have had much debate conversation on this issue and in our introduction. And this merely reflects some amendments. And I strongly urge an aye vote right. Yeah.

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

[Roll Call]

We will place that on call. We will now move to Senate. Third. Third reading file. Item 76, Senate Resolution 70 by Senator Perez. Secretary plaese read.

Senate Resolution 70 by Senator Perez an act relating to the anniversary of the Monterey Park tragedy.

After adoption of this resolution, we will go to privileges of the floor so that you may introduce your guests. But, Senator Perez, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. Colleagues, I rise to present SR70 to commemorate and honor the 11 lives that were tragically lost in a horrific act of gun violence in Monterey Park three years ago. On January 21, 2023 community Members gathered at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio to celebrate Lunar New Year Eve.

That night, a gunman opened fire at the dance studio, taking 11 lives and injuring nine others. Following the shooting in Monterey park, the gunman entered Lili Ballroom in Alhambra, intending to harm more people, but was stopped by the courageous actions of Brandon say, who confronted and disarmed the shooter, thereby preventing further loss of life.

The victims who died were all of Asian descent and between the ages of 57 and 76, many of them immigrants.

Monterey Park is home to one of the largest API populations in the United States, and this horrific act came at a time when the API community in my district was celebrating one of their most important holidays of the year.

Following the attack, our immigrant neighbors and the larger community stood tall in the face of danger, stepping up to offer support to all who were impacted. The rise in mass shootings in this country is an epidemic that has not gone down.

There have been at least 15 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, leaving at least 20 people dead and 50 injured. In 2025, there were more than 400 such incidents in the United States alone.

This terrible event also highlights the needs of our immigrant communities, including helping to break harmful societal trends that may have contributed to provoking devastating acts of violence like what took place in Monterey Park.

Among several pockets of our communities, including the API community, there is a clear need to overcome generational trauma and correct harmful cultural norms that don't allow people to prioritize mental health and fail to recognize abusive relationships and their effects, including domestic violence.

In addition to loss from the shooting itself, it is also important to speak to the factors that may have contributed to the tragedy taking place as we commit to preventing such events in the future.

Personal accounts of the gunman depict a person that was showing signs of deteriorating mental health and experienced a breakdown in family and close relationships, including with his former spouse.

It was reported that this person suffered from deteriorating mental health, often feeling that those in his community, including family and those he spent so much time teaching and enjoying dancing with, were against him and wishing ill on him.

In addition to the violence committed against other patrons of the dance studio, he was described as an angry person that, while not physically abusive, had an unhealthy relationship with his ex wife. Studies find an increasingly common correlation between domestic violence and mass shootings.

According to research by scholar Lisa Geller of the John Hopkins center for Gun Violence Solutions, individuals who are willing to hurt those closest to them are more likely to hurt other people in the future.

As we continue to mourn the lives that we have lost, I wonder what if this gunman had sought or been provided the mental health support and resources that he clearly needed? Could this devastating loss of life been avoided?

Would a community gathering place and time of the year that brought joy to so many of our community members not have been tainted by the memory of this significant loss?

While we cannot undo what has happened, it is my sincere hope that this resolution spreads the message about the need to destigmatize looking after your mental health and that everyone must be respected and honored by their friends and loved ones, regardless of their background.

Senseless gun violence against others is never the solution and we must do everything to take proactive steps to avoid losing people to these atrocious acts as victims and the perpetrators. In closing, I ask you all to join my community as we continue to remember and mourn the lives of those we lost on January 222023.

Valentino Marcos Alvaro 68, Hong Ying Jian 62, Yu Lon Kao 72, Lilan Lee 63, Mingue Ma 72, Mai Mai Nan 65, Diana Man Ling Tom 70, Mu Yi Dai Ang 67, Kia Ling Yao 76, Min Tao Yu 64, Shou Jian Yu 57, thank you madam President. I ask for your aye vote on SR70

Thank you. Senator Rubio you are recognized at majority leader's desk

Thank you, Madam President. Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, Today I stand here with a heavy heart three years later, remembering what happened in city. In the city of Monterey Park, the community I have the privilege to represent the that was shattered by tragedy that none of us will ever forget.

Eleven lives were stolen during that awful day. It was a day of joy. It was the lunar New year. We continue to mourn the victims, lift up the survivors and hold the families in our hearts. Because the pain of that night continues.

As a sitting Senator at the time, I went to Monterey park and spent long days grieving with the families, survivors and trying to keep a community together. I was very thankful for first responders, the Red Cross and so many organizations that came to our rescue to help. I saw the heartbreak up close.

I felt the weight of a community trying to breathe through such shock, fear and unimaginable loss. What still haunts me that day, it's how close it was to all of us. Just hours earlier, many of us had been on a stage near that street at a community event, surrounded by families, laughter, music and celebration.

It could have been any of us. That reality haunts me today because Monterey park wasn't targeted on a battlefield. It was attacked in a place place of culture, family, laughter and celebration. And in the middle of that heartbreak, we witnessed heroism rise from within our own city.

Especially a young man who I got to know very well and spent so much time with, Brandon Se, whose courage in disarming the gunman prevented even more lives from being taken and reminded us that heroes welcome among us. They don't plan to be brave, but.

But they step up when needed, and they simply refuse to let evil have the last word. In the middle of that darkness, we also witnessed something really beautiful and profound, and that was people showing up from all over the country to offer their support. I will always remember receiving Governor Newsom when he came to Monterey Park.

And I was grateful. He came there with warmth and sincerity, with compassion, and with a deep understanding of what our community was exper experiencing in that awful moment.

And we will never forget the outpouring of support from our President at the time, Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris, who also joined us in Monterey park during a time of profound grief to stand in solidarity. We remember every leader, every neighbor, every volunteer, and every organization that reached out to all of us.

And it wasn't just that day. It continued for weeks and months. They were determined to let us know that Monterey Park was not alone in this tragedy. Today, on this anniversary, we recommit ourselves to more than just remembrance. We honor those we lost by continuing to fight for safer communities.

To ensuring that survivors are supported and not forgotten. But not just today, but many, many years to come. And to making sure that Monterey park knows that Californians have not forgotten them.

To the families who are still grieving and to the survivors that are still healing, and to everyone whose life was forever changed that awful night, My heart remains with you as that night is seared into my memory. I carry it with pain and I carry it with purpose.

Because your grief became a lesson for all of us about how fragile life is and how urgent our responsibility is to taking care of our communities. Although I've moved on, I will always be your Senator in my heart. Thank you. And I urge an aye vote.

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

Thank you. And I respectfully ask you all for your aye vote.

Thank you. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Secretary, please call the absent Members.

[Roll Call]

Ayes 39, Noes 0. That resolution passes. Members, we will now return to privileges of the floor so that Senator Perez may introduce her guest. Senator Perez, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. Today to join me on the floor is my good friend, my colleague, Mayor Elizabeth Yang from the city of Monterey Park, who is here in remembrance of the Monterey Park shooting that happened today and wanted to be here to remember the 11 lives that were taken from us that day.

So if we could all give her a warm welcome. She traveled all the way up from a very, very late meeting last night. They went until one in the morning, but still wanted to be present today here with us in the Capitol.

Thank you. Welcome Mayor Yang to the Capitol.

If any Senators would like to join in the photo, please go to the rear of the chamber.

Members, under privileges of the floor, can we please give a very happy birthday to Senator Padilla? Today is his birthday. We are now going to move back and lift the call on file item number 52, SJR 9. Secretary, please call the absent members.

[Roll Call].

Ayes: 29; noes: 10. The amendments are adopted. Senators, we are now at committee announcements. Senator Caballero, you're recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. Members, the Committee on Appropriations will meet in room 2200 of the O Street building in 10 minutes upon adjournment of session.

Thank you. Seeing no further committee announcements, we will now return to room motions and resolutions. Senators, this is the time that we address our adjourn and memories. Please take your conversations, if needed, to the back of the chambers. Senator Durazo, you are recognized for your adjourn and memory.

Thank you. Good morning, colleagues. Today we adjourn in memory of Mary Gutierrez Hunter, a leader in our labor movement, a champion for working families and someone I loved as family. So I want to welcome Mary's family who are here in the back of our chambers. Alex, her husband, her baby daughter, Andrea, Ava, her daughter, Pedro and Angelita, her parents.

In the gallery, and also here are Adriana, her sister Brent, her brother in law, cousins, nieces, nephews, other family members, and her SEIU union family who've come here from up and down the state. Mary passed away on August 28, 2025 at the age of 46.

Mary's passing is a painful loss for her husband, daughters and parents, and a loss for the people of California. My friendship with Mary started when I was elected to lead the LA Federation of Labor, almost 20 years ago. I was excited about the potential of the labor movement.

So I hired a young cohort of young cohort of organizers. Courtney Pugh, who brought Mary, Rusty Hicks, Priscilla Chang, Hector Saldivar, John Choi, on and on.

I felt our cause would do best by mixing in some of us who had been around the block with a few youngsters. With new energy, new ideas, and with the courage to try what had not been tried, Mary stood out as the most vibrant of them all.

She had a deep understanding of the plight of working people and the dignity that they deserved, which I'm sure came from her parents. And she had the greatest sense of humor. She made us laugh, especially in the most serious moments. She was our communications person. But back then, that meant giving workers a script.

Here it is and read it. Mary did the opposite. She listened. She drew out Workers life stories, aspirations and daily struggles in their workplaces. She trusted them to inspire others by talking about their reality. Sanitation workers and teachers, longshore workers and hotel housekeepers, cafeteria workers and firefighters: she found the common thread. She was exceptional at it.

She worked very, very long hours. During her time at the federation, she was essential to our campaigns. Her communications work helped to turn out tens of thousands for the first historic May Day rally for immigrants rights in Los Angeles.

She led the Hollywood to the docks campaign: a three day 27 mile march which culminated with 10,000 people in San Pedro. A powerful show of solidarity. After a few years with me, Mary joined SEIU. This is where she poured her energy into a 15 year fight to secure collective bargaining rights for over 40,000 child care providers.

The vast majority being women of color. She was both the backbone and the heartbeat of of that campaign. Her legacy is with the tens of thousands of providers and the families they care for. They will see better wages and better standards because of her work.

As legislators, colleagues, we have had the privilege of playing a role in support of our child care providers through policy and budget. I'm sure she is thanking us right now. Mary also spearheaded the creation of the California Dream Alliance, which shared justice priorities to counterbalance power that hurt working people.

The alliance tripled to over 70 organizations and helped pass some of the most meaningful progressive legislation of the last decade. And as many in labor know, the long hours of our work turn colleagues into family. Mary became family to me. My son asked her to be his godmother for confirmation because she was so cool.

She brought confidence to him fun and joy into his life. Mary's leadership included her humor, her wit, her intelligence, and the occasional, or not so occasional swear word. We honor Mary not by closing the chapter, but by carrying out the work. This means fair wages for working families in California.

Being a strong champion for all Californians, no matter their age, their race, immigration status or gender. This is the legacy Mary leaves us and it is ours now to continue. I ask you colleagues to adjourn this session in the memory of Mary Gutierrez Hunter. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator. Our sincere condolences to her family and to her entire labor family.

Sent her resolution to the family.

Senator Durazo, please make sure to bring her name forward so that she may be properly memorialized. We will now continue with our adjourn and memories. Senator Umberg, you are recognized for your adjourn and memory.

Well, thank you, Madam President. Madam President and colleagues, I rise to honor the life, the legacy, the memory of a dear friend of mine, a friend of veterans, a friend of many, many Californians, Bob Mulholland. Bob was one of those people that if you spent any time with Bob, you knew he was a character and a disruptor.

He had a huge heart, which led him to a lifetime of advocating for justice and uplifting those around him. Many of you know his name from his activism in the Democratic Party, and I underline activism.

He grew up in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, and left straight out of high school to join the army, and he was a member of the 101st Airborne Division. Bob was intensely proud of his service, as he should have been. He was involved in serious combat in Vietnam. He was wounded.

And then after being wounded and after being awarded a Purple Heart because of his very serious wounds, he returned to his unit. He returned to his unit, and he originally was a supporter of the Vietnam War, but then he came back to the United States and turned his activism into ending the Vietnam War.

And I think that began a lifetime of activism. After he returned from the army with an honorable discharge, he spent the next few years chasing his love of travel, visiting nearly every state and national park, London, and destinations around the world. Finally, Bob ended up in Los Angeles, where he completed three years at LA City College.

But he knew from having taken an army aptitude test that he had a talent for engineering. And he transferred to Chico State College, where he continued his activism in opposition to the Vietnam War and where he met his wife, Jane Dolan, who was student body President at the time. And subsequently Jane became a Butte County supervisor.

You know, if you met Bob again, if you spend any time with him, you also knew that he was intensely proud of his wife, his wife Jane, and her service to our community.

He was the political Director for a number of folks, but most particularly assemblymember and then State Senator Tom Hayden was a superdelegate the California Democratic Party. And he was very active in Vietnam Veterans America. He mentored generations, generations of veterans and others, including me.

He was drawn to all causes that promoted justice and fairness, with an emphasis on veterans advocacy. He's missed by his beloved wife, Jane, her family, as well as his sisters, Sandy, Jackie, Candace, and his brother, Andrew Mulholland. The family is actually at Arlington National Cemetery today.

And I think they're watching this being streamed because they're recognizing Bob and his service in his internment at Arlington. And so I ask that we adjourn today in memory. By the way, lastly, you may have seen on Monday that there was a recognition of his service when there was a motorcade from Chico to Sacramento. And.

And there were flags displayed and an honor guard displayed throughout the route, which is appropriate for Bob to recognize his service to all of us here in California. And with that, I ask that we adjourn his memory.

Thank you, Senator Laird, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam Chair. It's bittersweet to join in this adjourn in memory, but if you knew Bob, you have to smile. He was a true mensch. And as was just said when he was working with Tom Hayden, they worked statewide. So, 1985, I am running for reelection to the Santa Cruz City Council with my running mate.

And Bob gets assigned to live in Santa Cruz for the fall and help staff our campaigns. And I still run into people he recruited. I mean, Michael Picker, who was President of the PUC, told me, oh, yeah, I came and walked to precinct. It was mostly because I could surf afterwards.

But Bob Mulholland convinced me that this was an important race and I needed to be there. And lo and behold, as mentioned, he was a superdelegate. We were delegates to the 1996 Democratic convention. And the California delegation went up the basketball arena and the last row was right in front of President Clinton's box.

And they were so afraid that there would be people that would sit in that row and hold up bad signs that they assigned a whole group of people to sit right in front of the Clintons. And Bob and Jane and I were three.

And I teased Bob mercilessly over the fact that somehow he had become safe, that he is somebody that wouldn't rabble rouse. And he said, well, only in this instance, he would actually be part of the team. Then, lo and behold, every natural disaster seems to have struck his home area.

So when the Governor and I went up to the Paradise Fire a few days after the fire, first person we ran into was Bob. And Bob was organizing. People were donating things. He had depots, he had. He was just lining everybody up statewide to make sure that anybody displaced had something.

And yes, Jane served 28 years on the Butte County Board of Supervisors, and Bob was at her side of being so proud all the way. And they were just a team they wanted to visit last year, the year before. And of course we're very busy. They just came and sat in the Rules Committee and smiled at the.

As we went through things and sort of waved and said, this is our meeting.

And so it is just hard to imagine that there is a time that Bob won't be at the center of whatever it is, whether it's charity, progressive political activism, or just being the mensch that he was and being there for important days, important times.

He was a very special person, and I am proud to join in the adjournment of his memory.

Thank you, Senator Cabaldon. You are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. As the former staffer for Assemblymember Tom Hayden, in my early 20s, when I came to the Capitol, Bob Mulholland was assigned to teach me how politics worked.

Not policy and how politics worked kinetic, not something you could just look up in a journal and in the library, not something just to have a private meeting in a conference room, but activism and the connections.

And at a time, this was a time when the connections between environmentalism and economic justice and rural communities, these were not forged. And no one has had a bigger impact on making that political coalition, that enduring, important, powerful political coalition here in California and beyond, more. More real than. Than Bob Mulholland.

I. I also asked to rise to. To adjourn in his memory.

Thank you, Senators. Our condolences to his family. Senator Umberg, please bring his name forward so that he may be properly memorialized. Senator Ashby, you are recognized for your adjourning memory.

Thank you so much, Madam Presiding Officer. This is a very tough and personal one for me today. Betsy Marchand was my mentor. She was born a long time ago. She lived a long and amazing life. We lost her in October last year. Betsy was the first woman ever elected to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors.

She was elected there in 1972 and served six consecutive terms. Her stories about how to be taken seriously as the first woman fueled my young mind in government. I remember her telling me that the men would meet in the bar across the street from City hall and predetermine what their votes were going to be.

She figured that out. She wasn't a drinker, so she went to the bar before the meetings, pulled up a stool, ordered a Diet Coke, and started engaging her opinion whenever they were talking until finally they decided, okay, okay, let's just have these conversations in City Hall. And that's how she finally got to be heard.

Because as so many of us who have ever been the only or the first. No, it's not really about getting elected or being chosen. It's about being effective in that space and creating a pathway for the next and the next. To that end, she did run for higher office.

And while she wasn't successful in being the first woman to have that spot, the next woman who ran was. And she would be satisfied with that because it made a difference for so many.

When she ran for the Yolo County Board of Supervisors for the first time, a political pundit in Yolo County said, it'll be a cold day in hell before a woman wins a seat on the Yolo County Board of Supervisors. You all know the climate here in Sacramento.

I would like to share with you that it did, in fact snow in Woodland on the day that Betsy Marchand won. And the newspaper did run a photo of snow at City hall with the title Marshawn wins a supervisorial seat. Betsy proudly had that frame and displayed in every office she ever held.

I find her to be the most incredible female leader I ever had the opportunity to bask in her sunshine. From everything I learned about being an elected official, I learned from her. Everything I learned about bringing people together, I learned from her. She had an outsized role in my life. Her focus was foster youth.

She worked in the area of foster youth long after retirement. She also worked on environmental issues, was a huge water champion way before that, was cool, and made a massive impact. Her buddy was Vic Fazio, the congressman, and the two of them ran all kinds of amok in Senator Cabaldon's district, doing amazing, incredible work.

Betsy was a highly sought after mentor. There are many people who would say to you that she led them. There is at least one here in the audience with us today, Former Assembly woman Mariko Yamada. And I will leave the rest of the introductions to the good Senator from Yolo County.

But when Betsy showed up in a space, people listened. I learned how to walk precincts with her. But not for a candidate for a crisis nursery. A crisis nursery in Davis to assure the residents that their home values wouldn't be lessened, that this was a good thing.

And door by door, she moved every single person in support of that crisis nursery, which still stands today. Her legacy is massive in Davis and beyond. When I met her, she had just lost her husband Roland, which was the absolute love of her life. He led the history Department at UC Davis.

One thing I always found to be remarkable was how brilliant every Member of the Marshawn family was. You know, sometimes it's just not equal. Some families just have all the intellect, and the Marchand family certainly does. They have two daughters Both of which are massive historians at large universities in the United States of America.

They're both brilliant, sue and Jeannie, and they each have two children, Betsy's four grandbabies, which were the absolute light of her life. I could talk about her for a thousand years. I will carry her with me in my heart for as long as I live in.

And I will strive to be half of the elected representative that she was for everyone. I ask you all friends to help. Adjourn in the memory of Miss Betsy Ann Marchand.

Senator Nalo, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. I knew Betsy Marchand and my colleague Wilson, with whom I share Sacramento county, spoke to her life and her character well, and I really can't add to that. I met her. She exited the arena of elected official as I entered that arena, or about two years before.

But I had gotten to know her before I was elected to the Board of Supervisors and then continued to have a relationship with her beyond that.

And I would just say to sort of reinforce what was said, Betsy Marchand was a force to be reckoned with for sure, but at the same time, a sweet and very nice lady.

Thank you, Senator Cabaldon, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. As Senator. As a Senator from Sacramento, the main part of Sacramento has observed Betsy Marchand. Her footprint, her fingerprints are everywhere in Yolo County and in the region. She was, as has been noted, elected to the Yolo County Board of supervisors in 1972. Yolo County was an entirely different county than it is today.

She was running during the Vietnam War, during the flowering of the farm worker rights movement, the Environmental Movement, the peace movement, none of which had landed in Yolo County. But Davis was starting to wake up and become the community that it is today. She ran, as the Senator from Sacramento noted, no one thought she could win.

She was absolutely sure that she could, and she did. And she made no apologies for her. For her entrance on the scene not only as the first woman, but as the harbinger of what was to come in the cultural and political change and the values shift in Yolo County and the region beyond.

She was the first woman elected in 1972. And as far as, like most women elected to office in the 60s and 70s, her focus was not on what a decade ago, we'd say were women's issues. If you asked her back then, she said she ran on solar energy, disability services, ag land preservation.

And if you asked her a decade later, she would say her biggest accomplishments were improving law enforcement coordination and helping to flower the yoto Dihi Winton tribe in Yolo County and to create much better public transit. I know some of you who are at the Sheraton during the week and have to go to the airport.

If you've ever ridden line 42A, you have Betsy Marchand to thank for your inexpensive, fast, convenient, safe, reliable service to the airport. She was everywhere in 1976. Then she decided to run for the State Assembly because she had no fear. She ran against a county supervisor from Solano County named Tom Hannigan. She did not win that election.

In 1976, that election, she would have been the first woman to represent Yolo County in the Legislature and in the Assembly. But here's something remarkable. In the 47 years since, no woman from Yolo County running for the State Assembly has ever lost Helen Thompson, Lois Wolk, our friend Mariko Yamada, who is with us today, Yolo County.

Perhaps it took that one lesson from Betsy Marchand to break down the door, to break the glass ceiling. And when it broke, when it shattered, the future was changed in so fundamental a way that it was.

Even though women's issues were not her focus, she knew exactly what it would take to change the course of political empowerment, representation and effectiveness. And for that, I think the Legislature and Yolo County certainly will be eternally grateful. And that remains to this day.

In addition to former assemblymember and former supervisor Mariko Yamada, who is with us today with her husband, Jan Lee Wong, two Members of the three Members of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors are here today, including, including two women, Mary Vixie, Sandy and Sheila Allen, along with Lucas Ferris.

We're also joined by Bill Julian, who some of you know because he is both a longtime activist and leader in Davis, but also was the chief consultant at the Energy, the Utilities and Commerce Committee in the Assembly as well. And I think I got everyone. zero, and Oliver Snow, who's staff to Supervisor Allen.

So her legacy is everywhere in the county, and it is in all the buildings and all the services, in the success of the tribe. But most fundamentally, it is in a radically transformed sense of political empowerment that was never announced. It was never organized.

It was simply one woman and then one woman helping another woman, and then those two women helping two more women, pushing men out along the way to come on board. Here's one other fun fact.

Of all the times I ran for office in Yolo County, which is a lot, I think 20, I think she endorsed me one time. One time, because she was. And every time she said, I love you, but it's time. You know, we need. We need to elect a woman to this, a woman to that.

And I could only smile and say, you're absolutely right. May the best one of us win. And she usually did.

And it was that focus, that singular focus on assuring that the doors were open and knowing what her role was in making that happen and continuing that for her entire career from 1972 until last year, is part of what made Betsy Marchand so special. Thank you to the Senator from Sacramento.

And I also ask that we endure it in the memory of Betsy Marchand.

Thank you. Senators, our condolences to the family and her friends. Senator Ashby, please bring her name forward so that she may be properly memorialized. Senator Cortese, you are recognized for your adjourn and memory.

Thank you, Madam President and Senators, I rise today to adjourn in memory of Vu Von Locke. You're going to hear me refer to him as Locke Vu, because that's how we refer to him and how he referred to himself. He died recently in San Jose at the age of 92.

He was one of what I sometimes call not our greatest generation of Americans who fought in World War II, but the greatest generation of the Republic of Vietnam because he was a Member of the Military Academy and then later the army of the Republic of Vietnam going back to 1954, and ultimately, of course, an immigrant here to the United States.

Through his leadership, he attained the rank of Colonel. He served as Director of the General Logistics Department and was appointed Chief of the Plan Department of the Joint General Staff. And of course, with the fall of Saigon in 1975, like others, Loch Fu managed to escape to the United States as a refugee, eventually settled here.

What happened next really made him an outstanding leader in the San Jose area overall. Not just in one particular community, but with what would become now 145,000 Vietnamese American diaspora in San Jose. Somebody had to take responsibility for that refugee population that was coming in. And Lock Fu started just five years after arriving in San Jose.

He started an organization that we refer to as ircc, the Indo Chinese Resettlement Cultural center, which ultimately, in my humble opinion, became the preeminent among many, the preeminent Vietnamese American Community Service agency or community based agency in our area. It's credited with the resettlement of more than 20,000 South Asian immigrants in Northern California.

On top of the amazing work that IRCC did, sponsoring refugees, teaching newcomers English, offering housing and job support, Loch Fu worked to ensure that the Bay Area Vietnamese community was always vibrant and flourishing. He was right there.

Always as one of the hosts of Black April memorials, cultural orientations, and traditional Vietnamese festivals Many times over the years that engaged in the community, engaged the community in both celebration and meaningful discussion.

And as we approach this year's Tet festivals, which will be conducted all over the city of San Jose and the county of Santa Clara, he will be missed. It's really going to sink in for a lot of people that he passed away.

The crown jewel of his decades long career in public service and community building, however, was the Viet Museum in San Jose.

He had this dream, and because he had ultimately developed a relationship with the county, getting some support for IRCC came to many of us as county supervisors with this idea that there needed to be an actual museum, museum, artifacts, a museum of the history of the people who left their home as refugees and put down roots in California.

And there wasn't a lot of money for something like that. So he dipped into his own pocket, essentially, essentially. And he told me this firsthand, Used his life savings to found and create this Vietnamese museum in San Jose's history park, which is there to this day.

That museum will continue to serve as a pillar of history and commemorate his lasting legacy for years to come.

One of the other things that he should get a lot more credit for, and it's not typically in obituaries that you would read about him, is that based on a public health assessment that was done in the county a few years ago, the county decided to embark upon the creation of something we now call the vasc, the Vietnamese American Service center, which is really part of our healthcare system.

It's a full clinic, sometimes doubles in some ways as a community gathering place, but a full clinic, including behavioral health services as well, that really specifically deal with some of the health issues that come up with this diaspora that you don't necessarily see with other immigrant communities.

Well, because by that time, by the time this vast was being created, the Vietnamese American community was represented by more than two dozen community leaders and organizations. The idea of how you would design this place and how you would get consensus around how to actually create it was a big issue.

It was one of those issues that could easily go in the wrong direction.

I often say, as somebody who used to build things, if you put 100 people in a room and ask them which color a building should be, he'll come up with 100 different answers, you know, let alone some of the culturally sensitive issues that would go into a building like this.

And my colleague on the board of supervisors, Cindy Chavez, and I conducted these design discussions, but she Told me, you need to get Locke Fu there or I'm not going to participate. Because he's the only person who can walk into the room and settle everybody down just by his appearance.

And I wanted to tell that story here because I think each and every one of you understands who those kind of people are, who they are in each of our own communities and how important they are.

The folks that have the gravitas to just literally walk into a room sometimes wag their finger a little bit, but tell everybody, get down to business, there's not going to be any fighting here. That was Lac Vu.

As we celebrate his life as a true community leader, it's clear again that the Vietnamese American community in our area is going to really feel his absence. We're going to feel the stewardship loss that he brought every single day. That's going to have to be replaced somehow so that we don't fall into politics as usual.

He's survived by his daughter, Ang Tu, and his son in law, Minh Lee. And I know he'll be dearly missed by me, my wife and my family, as we were close friends of his. Thank you, Madam President. And I'd respectfully ask that in addition to the others today, that we adjourn in memory of Vu Von Lok.

Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Cortese. He definitely lived a very full life. Our condolences to his family and the entire community. And if you can, please bring his name forward so that he may be properly memorialized. If there is no other business. Pro tem. Limon, the desk is clear.

Thank you, Madam President. The next floor session is scheduled for Monday, January 26th at 2pm and everyone should remember that we have floor multiple days next week. So be prepared to get some votes in and some work done next next week. Thank you. Thank you.

The Senate will be in recess until 3:30pm at which time the adjourn motion will be made. We will Receive convene Monday, January 26, 2026 at 2 pm.