Senate Floor

Secretary will call the roll.

[Roll Call]

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

We gather again in God's presence and today we will pray from Psalm 25. In you, O Lord, we lift up our souls. In you, O our God we have trusted. O Lord, make known to us your ways. Teach us your paths. Guide us in the way of your truth and teach us.

For you are the God of our salvation. We have hoped in you all day long. Remember your compassion, O God, and your gracious love, for they are from of old. Do not remember our transgressions. And in your gracious love, remember us. Because of your goodness, O God. Amen.

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance. Privileges of the floor. Senator Laird. Senator Laird, you are recognized for introduction of your guests.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. And I am pleased to welcome and they are walking in right now. Representatives, students in leadership from California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo.

We are joined today on the Senate floor by the President of Cal Poly, Jeffrey Armstrong and Mrs. Sharon D. Armstrong, who just completed 15 years of service to Cal Poly. And we also have 23 students who have won individual or team awards and three associated student leaders representing Cal Poly's student body.

Cal Poly is part of the 22 campus California State University system. It's the fifth oldest university in the system. It is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. It's located in San Luis Obispo. It gives students access to opportunities for hands on research in agriculture, winemaking and distinctive coastal ecosystems.

It has now taken on the Cal Poly Solano campus in Vallejo in the district of the presiding officer. Home of one of the six state maritime academies in the United States and the only one located on the West Coast. Cal Poly has grown from 20 students to more than 23,000 today.

It has very famous alums such as NASA astronaut Victor Glover, authors Dean Carranzes and Jay Asher and football legend John Madden. It fuels economic vitality through its courses. It is ranked High by the U.S. news World Report and other things as one of the best colleges in the country.

We're here to celebrate the amazing achievements of of some of the students that are here today. They're among the best and the brightest. For example, Aubrey Goings from San Jose as part of the Cal Poly float team received the top award, the sweepstakes trophy for the most beautiful float overall in the 137th Rose Parade.

Jacqueline Lamano from San Mateo and her team earned first place overall. The in the 2025 National Design Build student competition. I would like to thank President Armstrong, his Administration and the faculty for educating such an amazing group of students.

I ask my colleagues to give a hearty applause and appreciation of these students and Cal Poly's long legacy of providing high quality polytechnic education to students from across California. Please welcome the Cal Poly leaders.

Welcome to all of Senator Laird's guests from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, including its Solano campus. We're very proud of you. And the Members wish to join the delegation of students and their faculty and staff Members in a photo.

If other Members wish to join Senator Laird, the President pro tem and our delegation from Cal Poly for the photo, please join the group.

All right. Thank you. To our guest Members. Without objection, we'll move to file item 11130. Senator, third reading to take up file item 68, SCR 111 by Senator Niello. After adoption of the resolution, we'll move back to privileges the floor for the Senator to introduce his guests. Senator Niello. Oh, sorry, Secretary, please read Senate Concurrent.

Resolution 111 by Senator Niello relative to certified public accountants.

Senator Niello, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mr. President. Today I rise to present SCR 111 a measure that truly adds up for California and the accounting profession. This resolution commemorates the 125th anniversary of the certified public accountant profession in California. And no, I have not been a CPA for most of that. Just ask for a regular order.

And our respect for Senator Niello. Please continue. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I appreciate that. It recognizes the important oversight role of the accounting of the California Board of Accountancy. As we all know, accountants are the people who keep our world balanced, literally and figuratively.

As a CPA myself, I understand the work and importance that every figure is checks out, every ledger matches up, and that our fiscal future does not go off the books, ticking and tying as we call it. This resolution recognizes the essential role Accountants play in maintaining trust, transparency and integrity in both the public and private sectors.

For 125 years, the CPA profession, under the oversight of the California Board of Accountancy, has served the public interest by helping build trust in the financial and economic systems Californians rely on. SCR111 is not just symbolic. It sends a clear message that California values accuracy, respects accountability, and credits professionalism.

In a world that sometimes runs on estimates and assumptions, accountants remind us that numbers matter because precision matters. This resolution also highlights the California Society of Certified Public Accountants, which has long served as a leading voice for the profession, collaborating with stakeholders to support the public interest and promote the integrity and value of the profession.

Later this week, CPA leaders from across the state will be here in the Capitol meeting with all of you to share more about our profession's work. I encourage Members to take the opportunity to connect with them and and learn about the critical role CPAs play in supporting our state and our constituents.

So let's not get bogged down in the fine print. The Math is simple. SCR111 honors those who help California stay in the black. Let's approve it today and give credit where credit is due. I urge an Aye vote any question.

Or debate on file item 68, seeing none. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Senator Niello moves a call. Now returning to privileges of the floor. Senator Niello, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to acknowledge folks that are here with us today from the profession. Kristin Lada, CPA President of the California Board of Accountancy. Up in the gallery, Dominic Franzella, Executive Officer of the California Board of Accountancy.

Also in the gallery, Gillian Fan, CPA Chair of the California Society of CPAs, and Denise Frohming, CPA President and CEO of the California Society of CPAs. All here to see the passage of this resolution. And thank you very much for unanimous support of everybody here on the floor.

Thank you and welcome to our guests. Continuing with privileges to the floor. Members, please welcome on behalf of Senator Cortese, Shirley Felicino and Nicole Cushing in the gallery. Welcome to the Senate chamber. All right, moving now to. Messages from the Governor will be deemed dreadful. Messages from the Assembly will be deemed read.

Reports of committees will be deemed read and amendments adopted. Now turning to motions, resolutions and notices without objection, the Senate journals for January 26, 2026 through January 29, 2026 will be approved as corrected by the minute. Clerk. Introduction and first reading of bills will be deemed read. Moving now on to consideration of the daily file.

Second reading file. Secretary will please read.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 92 with amendments.

Now we will proceed to Senate. Third reading, item 64. Senator Grove, you're recognized. I'm sorry, Secretary, please. Green.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 109 by Senator Grove relative to National Mentorship Month. Senator Grove.

Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, I rise today to present SCR 109, which proclaims January 2026 as National Mentoring Month and recognizes the impactful work of Big Brothers and Big Sisters in Central California.

Since Its founding in 1969, Big Brothers and Big Sisters in Central California has served as a pillar of mentorship and youth empowerment throughout the Central Valley, providing guidance, stability, and the opportunity for children who need it most.

Over the past five decades, the organization has positively impact over 30,000 children and their families, fostering resilience, leadership, and hope through one-on-one mentoring directly face to face and providing good role models.

Through these programs, like High School Bigs Program, the Big Brothers and Sisters of Central California partners with—partner with—almost 21 unified school districts, serving almost 4,000 children and their families and connecting youth through trusted mentors who help build confidence, critical life skills, and we know that mentorship matters and that consistent positive adult role models do make a positive difference in a child's life.

Funny story, we had some at risk kids. Their parents were no longer in the picture for a long period of time. And we connected one with a—with a gentleman who builds houses. Now, this is a kid who's never picked up a hammer, never done anything like that, never built a doghouse with his dad.

And so, the guy was on the roof, the contractor was on the roof, and he told the young man, he says, go to the truck and see if my hammer's in the back of the truck. And the kid ran down the hill, and he ran back and he goes, yes sir, it's in the back of the truck.

And he came back empty handed. But when you think about it, that relationship built into something where that young man is now married, has a family, and they are still friends today. And it was really a great impact that that that mentor had on that individual's life.

So, we can all make a difference in a young person's life. I remember mentoring Fanny Hernandez. She was a...young woman who got out of prison and got her kids back. She'd been on the street since she was probably 11. And I taught her how to read and how to drive. And it was funny.

I was in the Assembly then, and she came busting in the conference room when I was in a meeting with somebody and she goes, look, mija, it's, it's though, like "though" instead of "they." And she starts pronouncing this word. And I thought that was pretty cool.

She got a job after she learned how to read on the fifth-grade level. And now, she's actually a mentor person that goes into the prisons and tries to get people to stay out of prison once they get released.

So, they do have an impact and a legacy to leave behind with other individuals that they can mentor as well. Respectfully ask for an aye vote on SCR 109.

Alright, members, is there a question or debate on file item 64? Seeing none. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Senator Grove moves the call. Continuing our consideration of the daily file, we'll next turn to unfinished business. File item—Senator Richardson, for what purpose do you rise?

Mr. President, presiding officer, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Please proceed.

Mr. President, last week, we passed SR 74. Could you cite all of the committees and the Committee changes that were noted in SR 74, so everyone knows the areas that they need to focus on for this week?

Senator Jones, what's your point of order?

Actually, maybe a parliamentary inquiry actually. I believe that the issue that the speaker, the Senator, is referring to is business from last week that we have dispensed with, thus really isn't relevant to the proceedings today.

Thank you, Senator Jones.

Returning to Senator Richardson, could you frame the parliamentary inquiry or the point of order, the point of order that you are raising.

Yes, Mr. President. My inquiry of you, as presiding officer, if you could share with the members, since it goes into effect this week. We might have voted on it last week, but it goes into effect this week, effective February 1st.

I'm asking, could you please cite all of the committees and the Committee changes that occurred in SR 74?

Thank you, Senator. So, I did not hear a reference to any of the Senate rules, joint rules, or Mason's manual. So, there, there's no parliamentary inquiry involved in your question. But I would certainly refer the Senator to the Daily File and to the Daily Journal that we just approved earlier in the senior session.

Thank you for your question.

Thank you, Mr. President. You passed your maiden voyage of your first time of presiding officer.

Thank you, Senator. All right, now, we are returning to unfinished business, file item 60, Senator Umberg. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 25 by Senator Umberg, an act relating to business.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President and colleagues. I have before you SB 25, which streamlines the merger process here in California and coordinates it and makes it complementary to the federal process. There's no registered opposition, and this Bill is supported by the California Chamber of Commerce. I urge an aye vote.

Any question or debate on file item 60? Seeing none. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Ayes, 33. Noes, 0. The Senate—the Assembly amendments are concurred in. Members, we're going to proceed to lift the calls, first on file item 64. Secretary, please call the absent Members.

[Roll Call]

Ayes, 39. Noes, 0. The resolution is adopted. Next, we'll lift the call on file item 68. Secretary, please call the absent members.

[Roll Call]

Okay. Ayes. 38. No. 0. The resolution is adopted. Members will now return to motions, resolutions and notices. Senator Laird, you're recognized.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. Members, I move that bills reported from the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee on Wednesday, February 4, 2026 with the recommendation of do pass be given their second reading upon being reported and ordered to third reading.

Senator Niello and I quite frankly fail to see the urgency. We're talking about two business days. I would like to call for a roll call and ask for a no vote.

All right. Senator Laird is asking for an Aye vote on the motion and Senator Niello is asking for a no vote. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Ayes, 29. Noes, 10. Motion carries. Members continuing with motions and resolutions. We are now at the time to address the adjourned in memory motions for Members of the Senate, beginning with Senator Dahle. Senator Dahle, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mr. President. I rise to honor duck Congressman Doug La, a strong voice for the north state. Doug always put our rural counties first. His honest, hard working and conservative leadership. Made me different to our region. I also send prayers to his wife.

Jill and the Lafa family hands his team and his assurance he will be greatly missed.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Strickland.

Thank you, Mr. President. Members, this is going to be tough for me, but to get through this. Harry Truman once said that if you want a friend in politics, get a dog. And I have to say to the former President, I have nothing but the opposite experience.

I was blessed enough to serve with Doug both in the Assembly and the Senate. And you couldn't find a better friend in life than Doug LaMalfa. You see, when I got elected to the State Assembly back in 1998, I was 28 years old and there was hardly anybody in the Legislature that was my age.

In fact, people like Senator John Burton and Dick Floyd came up to me and they said they had shoes that were older than me. But then magic happened in a bottle in the 2022 class came into the State Assembly. And that class, man, we had so much in common and friendships that will last for forever.

Douglas Kevin McCarthy, Russ Bogue, George Plesha, Joel Anderson, Jeb Denham, just to name a few. Doug LaMalfa was my roommate, along with a lot of the Members I just mentioned. He wasn't the tidiest person in the world. In fact, his room was a mess all the time.

You get to know someone when they're your roommate, but when you live together, that group of folks, we were thick as thieves. We had a poker table at our house up here. We went to the movies together, we went to dinner together. And like I said, we were thick as thieves.

We always talked about our families with each other. And I will say Doug LaMalfa was a champion for the north state and rural California. On many occasions, Doug brought bipartisan groups up to his district.

I could recall going to a timber mill where the town in his district was decimated by some of the policies coming up here that we do here in Sacramento. And he wanted us as Members to have firsthand experience of what we do vote here, how it impacted the north state and particularly his district.

Doug was a champion on water storage, fire management, agricultural issues. He was a rice farmer and I will say I was a nominee for state controller.

He brought me up to the Red Bluff Rodeo and he says, you know, Tony, I will personally guarantee that you'll win Tehama county if you come up here and run when you run for controller.

So I took him up on his offer, went to the Red Bluff Rodeo to Tehama County, and everybody in Tehama County thanked me because they've never seen a statewide candidate before. And it was funny, when I looked up Tehama County, I found out that there was less people in Tehama County than the smallest city in my district.

But Doug, to his word, we did amazingly well in Tehama County. And I had the good fortune of being the chair of Meg Whitman's campaign, Mitt Romney's campaign for President. And I was a senior advisor for Larry Elder as well as Steve Hilton.

The first person I would call when they asked me to be on board of the campaign would be Douglas Malfa, because I thought it would be very important for whoever ran for statewide office in California that they understand California is diverse. And no one knew rural California better than Douglam Alpha.

And I spent many times with Doug in his district hanging out at the coffee Shop. And everybody would interrupt us all the time because they would say, hi, Douglfa. And it really caught me because they didn't say hi, Assemblyman, high Senator, high congressman. And I was up with him all those times when he had those titles.

He preferred to be known as Douglam Alpha. You see, the day I met Doug, he asked me for endorsement. I couldn't endorse him because I was a caucus chair.

He never, he always reminded me that I didn't endorse him in his first race, but that Douglas Malfa, who came up with the cowboy hat and first asked me for his endorsement the last day that he died, never changed. He was still Dougla Malpha.

And I will tell you, a lot of us in this environment, in politics, a lot of us fight back and forth on some of these issues. I will tell you, Democrat or Republican, I've never heard one person, Democrat or Republican, never say a negative word about Douglas Malfa.

And that just goes to show you the kind of heart and person he was. But as great of a legislator as Doug LaMalfa was, he was even better person. Unbelievably thoughtful. He was all heart, as I always told him.

See, when I was first in the Assembly, when he came to the Legislature, he would come down to my office because I had a brand new baby, Ruby. She was a brand new baby. And he'd come down almost every day and hold Ruby in his arms for at least, you Know2030 minutes.

And almost every day he came down to say hi to my Rubes. In fact, every time I went back to the capitol in Washington, D.C. we got together, we would sit down at the Capitol Club, and he would always ask the first question, how's Rubes? And how's your son, Tiny Tony? He was so unthoughtful of a person.

And you know what? Members, friends, we know this is elected officials, but friends are there when not things are going well for you, but when things are not good for you. And I had a rough divorce, I'll be honest. And Doug lamoutha called me very frequently and asked me how I was doing.

And when I met my current bride, my wife, we went back to D.C. and Doug couldn't have been kinder to my fiance to the point where when we ended up getting married, Carla and I just, we already knew right away the person we wanted to officiate our wedding was Douglas Malfa.

And so Doug came all the way down to Thousand Oaks, he officiated our wedding. And when we had that, you know, moment where he Said, now you're. I pronounce you man and wife. Doug LaMalfa had as big of a smile on his face as I did because he was happy for his friend. Carla.

And I will miss Doug tremendously. But, Doug, you'll never be forgotten. I'm a better person today because of Douglas Malfa. There's no better friend that you could ever ask for. And my prayers go out to Jill and his family, and God rest his soul. And my prayers again go out to Jill and his wonderful family.

And we are all very lucky here in California to have someone serve this state, both in the Assembly, Senate, and Congress. There's no better person that I've ever met than Doug LaMalfa. And I'm honored to adjourn in his memory.

Thank you, Senator Strickland. Senator Laird, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mr. President. I, too, was in that class of 2002 and served for six years with Doug Lamoffa. And when I arrived in the Assembly, I drove a rather beat up pickup truck that was kind of dented, faded, missing part of the grill.

And imagine my surprise when I went to the Capitol basement after work one day and found a note on the windshield that said, this truck looks like it belongs in my district, Douglas. And that was. He always had a sense of humor when we were considering the first marriage equality bill, which he strongly did not support.

He was a rice farmer. So I walked up to him and I said, I know you hate this bill, but it's got to be good for the rice industry. And he went, oh. And he walked away, and he came back and he said, well, aren't we using birdseed now? And I said, San Francisco, that doesn't work.

And he went, ugh. And walked away. And we would have those kind of exchanges that would be friendly across the aisle in what we did. And I approached him and we actually did a bill together because agriculture commissions were being charged twice to have the same election.

And I did a bill to say they should only be charged once. The federal election should count for the state. And I went to Doug and I asked him to co author it with me. And when I went to ask him, he looks at me and squints and says, what's the catch?

And I said, there is no catch. This saves your constituents and my constituents money. And he joined me in that bill, and together we moved it all the way to the Governor and got it signed into law.

And one of the things I discovered was that his immigrant ancestors first arrived for some reason in Morgan Hill in Santa Clara County. That was in my district. And for the longest time, if you drove up Highway 101, you would see this house on stilts next to the freeway.

Well, that was the Lamotha house because it was where his immigrant ancestors lived when they arrived in California. And I found myself having to take messages back and forth between Doug and the Morgan Hills city manager to make sure that that house was protected, which it was. And so he is somebody, no matter.

All of us find that we have people that we have differences with, but we have people that are friendly, that we can talk to, that we can have a good sense of humor with. He was one of those people. He served his district well, and he left us much too soon.

I asked to join join in adjourning in his memory.

Senator Niello.

Thank you, Mr. President. I will be brief and to the point because Doug LaMalfa was brief and to the point. It's been talked about how he represents the rural area. He was the rural area. I mean, Doug lamolfa was a country boy, right?

Interesting that we had Cal Poly here today, San Luis, because he is a graduate of that institution, that highbrow institution. He tended, I think, to try to hide his intellectual capabilities as being such a country boy. But he was a smart guy.

And a couple of things with regard to his and my relationship, he was big into nicknames. Everybody knows that. And my scheduler at the time gave me. She had a folder with appointments in it that I'd go through and I'd have it on the floor, and it said on the front of it, the Raj.

And I've been known as the Raj by my snow staff, both then and now, ever since. He walked by and he looked at, he says, what is that, the rag? And I said, no, it's the Raj. I was the rag ever after that. So he to me, was the douche. We went back and forth on that.

And cars, of course, were a big deal to Doug. And I think I frustrated him a little bit because I'm not really a car enthusiast, except insofar they are things to account for. I'm an accountant and I am enthused in reducing our inventory to cash as quickly as possible. So our enthusiasm for the.

For motor vehicles was a little bit different. I think that always kind of frustrated him a little bit. But my point, I love the guy and I truly miss him. Senator Grove.

Thank you, Mr. President. I too rise to remember Doug Lamalfa. He was a dedicated public servant. He is a fourth generation rice farmer.

And things that Everybody already said he was widely respected in the north state, and not only in the north state, but throughout the state and in D.C. he was just 65 years old and in a medical emergency took his life.

I met Doug when I came to the Assembly in 2010 and when we were in the old building that we were at the Assembly on the Third floor in the Senate, their floors would adjoin and obviously the green tile was the Assembly side and the red tile was the Senate side.

And I was on the Assembly last office here and Doug was right next to me. He was somebody that supported me in my race. He came down and did an event for me. He is just a cowboy at heart. He's a rice farmer. We're ranching families. We grow beef. He grows rice.

He says that his rice feeds our cattle. Just different comments that made us, you know, join together as friends. But I think the biggest one is, is that not only was he somebody who mentored me when I first got elected up here, he was also my protector. I came in, in the Tea Party movement.

And in case you guys don't know, I've been here I think the longest, myself and Senator Jones on the floor in the body. So I think we're the deans, I guess you would call us, of the Senate for the length of time that we've been here, since 2010 under the old rules.

And so I had a sign up on my door that I had made because I found out that there were like 3,700 and something commissions. And I gave a highlighter, I put a highlighter by the door and it said highlight. The one that you would like to get rid of when your constituents would walk through the hallway.

And one of the most highlighted ones was the linguistically and culturally challenged dentist certificate program, which cost the state millions of dollars to run every year. We found out.

But I opened my door one day getting ready to go to Committee and Doug is so tall and he's standing with his arm like this and I'm looking up at him like this and I said, what are you doing? And he goes, what are you doing? And I said, I. I'm going to Committee.

And he goes, so have you been outside? And I said no. And he goes, it's nice outside. And this went on like back and forth with this small talk for like five minutes. And then he goes, Waldy was here ready to take your sign off the door.

And Waldy is actually, when he was in the Assembly, he is my colleague from Santa Cruz's interim chief of Staff. And to this day, Waldy gives me a bad time about that sign on my door. Like I said, I had the opportunity to work with him. He was a genuine, just a really genuine person.

He cared more about the Palisades people that lost their homes. And he didn't just go up and do a photo thing. He went up and helped sift through debris. He would shake out debris and find things because there were a lot of precious things that were lost in those fires.

If you talk to him, you say, hey, how was your weekend? Did you do a lot? He goes, oh, I had to fix the fence that the tree fell on, or I had to change the tractor oil or whatever.

And he was really big on changing oil for people in, in our garage here when he first came to the Legislature as well. One of the things that I do want to share and I text. So it's the governor's fault because he didn't text back.

And so I can tell you that I asked for permission to share this, but I think it's okay. The Governor reached out and knows. The Governor knows that we desperately need to fix our water situation that we have in our state. We need conveyance. We need an additional 2.5 million acre feet in the valley.

So we say small farmers and we can continue to grow food. And we need a storage. And so the Governor reached out and said, I need a good operator in D.C. and had to be somebody who had a relationship with the, with the Administration first thought Doug LaMalfa.

So the Governor went back to D.C. and I knew at 3:30 they were having their meeting. So at 4:30 I text and I said, how'd it go? And he goes, well, you were right. He's a good operator. But I have this one problem. And he sent me a picture.

And if you've never been in Douglaval's office, on the back of his door, he has a State of Jefferson flag. So when the Governor sat down at the conference room table, he was sitting right underneath the state of Jefferson flag. Anyways, the Governor put that out on a tweet. It was funny.

And when we went to the celebration of life, this is the type of, this speaks volumes to me. You had the Speaker Johnson, you had the former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, you had 25 or 30 congressional Members electeds from all over the state and the nation.

And you had the Governor of the state of California that went and honored this man's life and what he contributed to this state in this nation. And that speaks volumes. I want to recap A little bit about the celebration of life. And I'm going to try to get through this piece.

The love of his life, Jill, his wife, and their children. She was talking, and when she came up to share a little bit about their life and their relationship together, she said, I'm standing before you as a widow. Like, what an ugly name for a woman who just lost the love of her life.

She said, I want to be named a widow. I want to be named like a legacy carrier. And I'm going to have my children, Kyle, Allison, Sophia and Natalie, and their grandchild. They're going to be legacy carriers. Each of them carries a big piece of Doug and who they are with their personality, their determination, their witness.

And she did these beautiful declarations over her child, and she was adamant that she did not want to be called a widow. She wanted to be called a legacy carrier.

And one of the things that I think that impacted me the most is that she looked out to the thousands of people in that audience, and it looked like she was making eye contact with every single person, because Doug's life was taken just like that. Went to bed and didn't feel good.

By the following morning, he was gone. And so she looked at all those people, almost every one of them, like I said, in the eye, and she says, if you don't know your Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, don't wait till tomorrow or next week or even after the service. Do it now.

Accept him as your Lord and Savior now. And it was very impactful coming from her in the position that she had as being his wife and at her husband's celebration of life and the control and the strength that she had. She's an extraordinary woman of faith. And she even said, I have it in a text.

And she repeated it at the celebration of life. She would bring Doug home in a heartbeat, but she would ever, never ask him to come home, because how could she compete with Jesus? She knew that Doug loved her tremendously, but he was. She was like, he's standing in front of our Lord and Savior.

There's just no way I would ask him to leave that position. And so I just think about the legacy that that family has, not only through their family and through their children and their grandchildren. They have one grandchild, but I know more are coming.

And then the North State and the thousands of people that showed up to that celebration of life to celebrate one of their own, that, like my colleague said, was just one of them. He'd fix a fence. He'd go to the root beer state shop and get root beer and ice cream floats.

And he always had a special nickname for everybody. If you didn't get yours, that's sad because he really had funny, special nicknames. And I just appreciate you guys having a photo, the flowers.

I hope the family is watching online and that we honor this man that served with a heart for this state and was well respected by both sides of the aisle in both locations, whether it's here across the Nation and in D.C.

Senator McNerney.

Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, I rise also to commemorate Doug LaMalfa. I knew Doug for our years together in Washington, D.C. and I can tell you, in that highly partisan, charged environment in Washington, D.C. or while most of us fell into bashing the other side, Doug never fell into that. Doug was a straight shooter.

When we had Members of the California Democratic Caucus come together to talk about water or forestry or agriculture, Doug would be the only Republican who would come down and talk to us. And that says something.

I mean, when I had an issue, I could go to Doug and get a fair hearing with him and discuss our issues without any rancor. And that's rare. So that shows you the kind of character that Doug was. And it just deserves a lot of respect from myself and my colleagues.

And I ask the Senate to adjourn in memory for Doug LaMalfa.

Majority Leader Senator Ashby.

Thank you, Mr. Presiding Officer. First, let me add my condolences to everyone who has spoken so eloquently today on the floor. And thank the Senator from Bieber for kicking this off.

I know what an important individual the Congressman was to your family, to you and your husband, and to the Members of the other House who also serve in the same space as the Congressman. The Presiding officer and I have dealt for many years around issues of flood control. And to work in that space is to.

To learn to work with the people north of you in this northern part of California.

So the Assembly Members who have served in this space and continue to serve in this space, the other Senators who serve in this space and the Senators from Yolo County and Sacramento often have to work together on what that flood control is going to look like if you ever get the opportunity to work on one of those bills.

As the center before me just said, you won't see partisan lines. You'll just hear about public safety and about how we help tens of thousands of hundreds of thousands of constituents.

For the first 12 years of my time in elected office, I represented 110,000 people behind a decertified levy until we got those changes made in Washington D.C. the other party was in charge. And I needed people like Congressman LaMalfa and congressional Members in California to help me protect my constituents. And they were good. They were really good.

And we were able to put a federal new start into a word, a bill because of the support of Californians who were serving on the other side, but saw the value and import of public safety and in infrastructure projects like flood control.

And so I want to stand today and on behalf of those constituents in both the Presiding Officers district and my own who are currently safer because of flood control, that was helped along by the Congressman and others who worked with him, offer my condolences and support to his family, friends and mentees.

Senator Dahle, thank you for bringing this forward to recognize a great Californian. Our condolences are with the family and with the hundreds of thousands of Californians whose lives have been improved by Congressman Douglas Malfa. Please bring his name to the desk so that he can be appropriately memorialized. Moving on on motions, revolution motions and resolutions.

Senator Cortese, you're recognized.

Thank you, Mr. President and Senators. I rise to adjourn in memory of beloved San Jose Community leader Barry Delbono who passed away on December 26, 2025 at the age of 74 after a long battle with cancer. Barry was deeply committed to service.

He was a former priest and then a non profit leader, a teacher and an unrelenting advocate for the unhoused. Perhaps most notably, Barry helped found Loaves and Fishes Family Kitchen in San Jose in 1980, which has since been providing nutritious meals to hungry and food insecure residents in both Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

In proof of the lasting legacy Barry left, this past year alone, Loaves and fishes provided 2 million meals in our community. In addition, for 27 years, up until 2007, just before I left the San Jose City Council, Barry led the homeless services organization Home first, formerly known as EHC Life Builders.

Home first works tirelessly to end homelessness by providing full spectrum services that help unhoused people find homes and drastically improve their quality of life. To this day, my office works with Home first to host our annual Unhoused Health Fair where they assist with daily outreach, casework, food provision and so much more.

In his 50s, Barry went on to become an associate faculty Member at San Jose City College where he taught sociology with deep care, compassion and generosity.

Deeply committed to both housing and education, he also began working to build teacher housing for for San Jose Evergreen Community College District at Evergreen Valley College, also in San Jose, his plans are now carried onward by his son, Don delbono, Barry fundamentally shaped the Silicon Valley nonprofit world into what it is today.

He's been described as a consummate giver, an ultimate family man. My own time working with Barry profoundly shaped me and the work I've committed to accomplish within Senate District 15, especially when it comes to the unhoused and the affordable housing factor in our area.

Barry's legacy lives on through all those that he inspired and the work that they do for the less fortunate. To his wife, Mailee Delbono, and his sons, Don and Ben, thank you for sharing Barry with our community. His work has motivated thousands, as you know, and, and has changed the lives of so many.

He was loved deeply by friends and family, and I'm very proud to say that I had a wonderful relationship with him myself, both personally and professionally. A humbly request and thank you all for a journey with me today in memory of Barry Delbono.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Senator. Please bring Mr. Delbono's name to the desk so that he may be properly memorialized. Senator Becker.

Colleagues, today I rise in memory of Alan Stewart Hammond. Alan was professor of Law Emeritus and holder of the Phil and Bobby Sanfilippo Chair at Santa Clara Law School, where he'd also been Director of the Broadband Institute of California. Alan was a beloved husband of Linda Darling Hammond, former President of the California State Board of Education.

I had the pleasure of meeting Alan early my first term at their lovely home on the Stanford campus. Professor Hammond began his career as part of President Jimmy Carter's Administration, where he launched the Minority Telecommunications Development Program, which expanded minority ownership in the media.

He served as general counsel at a D.C. television station and at several telco companies before becoming a professor of telecommunications law and and contracts at New York's Law School and later at Santa Clara Law School. His passion for equity led him to serve for many years on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.

He co authored the definitive casebook on communications law in the public interest, which he hoped would inspire generations of lawyers to advocate for fair access to transformative technologies. A beloved professor, Alan believes strongly in the importance of effectively supporting learning and of helping law students understand their power and responsibility.

He was voted professor of the year by the school students in the year before he retired. Alan was as much about the body as he was the mind. When not teaching contract lawn telecommunications, he was teaching step and spin classes at Gold's Gym in Palo Alto and the East Palo Alto ymca.

He was a songwriter, poet, musician, artist. And dance teacher to his friends and storyteller to his children. Alan and Linda shared passions for progressive politics and were active in civil rights, in the courts and in the streets.

Together, they raised three children and opened their home to many other young people who came to feel they had a home away from home. The professor passed peacefully on January 11, 2026 at his home in Stanford, California at the age of 75 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

He's survived by his wife Linda, and their three children, Kia Elena and Sean Darling Hammond, and three grandchildren. Linda Darling Hammond is here with us in the gallery and like to acknowledge her and give her our sincere condolences. Please join me in joining the Senate in memory of Professor Alan Hammond.

Senator Perez.

Thank you. I rise today as Chair of the Senate Education Committee to adjourn in the memory of Alan Stewart Hammond. Having heard of the many accomplishments Alan's achieved throughout his life, I would like to focus briefly on his academic legacy and his contributions as a professor.

Throughout his career, Alan exemplified a deep commitment to higher education, serving as a professor of telecommunications law and contracts at New York Law School and later at Santa Clara Law School. As an educator, Alan was deeply dedicated and widely praised by his students and for his approach to teaching and mentorship.

It is no wonder that he was voted professor of the Year by the school students in the year before his retirement. He was beloved by many of his students whom he supported in their learning while helping them understand their power and responsibility.

This understanding of power and responsibility was something he lived by with his wife of 49 years, Linda Darling Hammond, who currently serves as President of the California State Board of Education and is a Charles E. Duke professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University and founding President of the Learning Policy Institute.

Together they shared a passion for progressive politics and were active in civil rights efforts. Allen is survived by Linda Darling Hammond, their three children, Kia Elena and Sean Darling Hammond, spouses Terence Turner and Valentina Xavier, and grandchildren Jared Kofi and Cyrus, and his siblings Denise Wiggins Vincent Hammond and John Ronald, Karen and Calafati Robinson. Thank you.

Thank you. And our professor and President Darlingham. And our. Our thoughts and condolences are with you very profoundly. And Senator Becker, please bring his name to the front to the desk so that he may be properly memorialized. Next we'll turn to Senator McNerney for our final motion to adjourn in memory.

Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, today I rise to to remember a friend and a journalist, Jeb Bing, who. Who was the editor and publisher of the Pleasanton Weekly and again, as I say, a friend. Jeb was a beloved man in the Pleasant community because of his constant presence.

He was at the city council meetings, at the school board meetings, at planning meetings, and because of his presence and positive attitude, he was known around town as Mr. Pleasanton. Jeb was a champion of local journalism.

He founded the Pleasanton Weekly, and even though he retired as editor in Chief in 2017, he continued to participate, to write articles right up until the day of his death. He has an incredible legacy in the Tri Valley, not only in journalism, but as a military veteran and as a dedicated Rotarian.

Jeb discovered his love of journalism at the University of Tennessee, where he became an editor in chief of the college newspaper with a column called Jeb called Bing Sling. I don't know where that came from.

But after college, he enlisted in the army and was stationed in Korea, where he was assigned to read the Korean language newspaper and convert that to English so that his superiors could understand what was going on locally. Jeb returned to the Midwest and became editor of a local news coverage at the Chicago Tribune.

And among many of his accomplishments, he hired a young entertainer writer named Gene Siskel, later of Siskel and ebert fame. In 2000, Jeb became the founding publisher and editor of the Pleasanted Weekly, which I read every week.

And Bill Johnson, who hired Jeb, said that hiring someone so well connected and respected like Jeb, it was almost too good to be true. Jeb built a weekly into a model of local journalism and became the face of news in our community. As an editor, Jeb had his integrity. He went into issues.

He wasn't afraid of controversy, but he didn't try to make sensational points for himself. Often journalists, they are trying to do a good job, but if they go in sensational, if they dig up something, they think it's going to help their career. Jeb never did that. He was always honest and fair in his coverage.

Everyone respected him, and he was a longtime organizer and Member of the Rotary Club. Now, one of his Rotarian friends said Jeb made Pleasant better through journalism, his civic engagement, and the way he treated people.

Now, I was at Jeb's celebration of Life a couple of weeks ago, and I can tell you it was so impressive how his family was responding. How was the deep faith that they had in the church? And his son, his grandson gave an incredible eulogy, which I can't imagine getting through that.

Myself and his other grandson played the music. It was just a real true love of the family, which is very important. And inspiring to us. And with that, I'll ask the Senate to adjourn in memory of Jeb Bing.

Senator McNerney, please bring the name to the desk so that he may be properly memorialized. Members, if there's no further business to come before the House. President Pro Tempore Limon, the desk is clear.

Thank you very much. Members, our next floor session is on Thursday, February 5, at 9am Right.

The Senate is in recess until 3:30pm at which time the motion to adjourn will be made. We will reconvene Thursday, February 5th, 2026 at 9:00am.