Assembly Floor

Good morning, California. The Assembly is now in session. Assemblymember Wallace. Where's Assemblymember Wallis? What are we gonna do without Assemblymember Wallis? Assemblymember Dixon, do you know where Assemblymember Wallis is? Okay. Assemblymember Davies notices the absence of a quorum. The sergeant in arms will prepare the chamber and bring in the absent Members. Clerk will call the roll.

[Roll Call]

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

Please join me in a moment of reflection during the pandemic. While sheltering in place, we organized an online forum with speakers on various topics of health and wellness. Patty reached out to a friend from her youth, Bob Matsueda. He had lived and trained in India and had become a yoga teacher and therapist.

Without hesitation, he agreed to help. Then he asked, how have you two ever tried yoga? We laughed and said we're too old and stiff to attempt yoga. Yoga. Bob, as we call him now, said, my oldest student is 99 and another is bedridden. We had no excuse not to try. Five years later, we're still practicing with him.

He has taught us that yoga is not about poses. Instead, it's about helping ourselves to live better physically and mentally at any age, regardless of physical condition. Yoga is about being aware of our posture and balance and moving mindfully. In other words, simply sitting or walking can be yoga.

And underlying it all is to be aware and appreciative of life giving act of breathing. Yoga too is about opening our wisdom eyes to see that every life giving breath is precious. To be aware that every breath is precious is to live cherishing every moment. The goal is not to succeed in cherishing every moment.

The goal is simply to try. It is in our efforts to cherish life, that we will make life precious. Let us try to live with kindness and gratitude beyond words.

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

Colleagues, please join me as we honor our nation's flag. Ready? Beginning. I pledge allegiance to the flag of 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. 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 Tuesday, January 202026 the Assembly met at 1pm The Honorable Josh Lowenthal, Speaker Pro Tempore of the Assembly, presiding. Chief Clerk Sue Parker was at the desk, reading.

Curry moves that Mr. Lackey 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. Amendments deemed adopted. Messages from the Governor? There are none. Messages from the Senate? There are none.

Members, will you please join me in recognizing our Superintendent of Public Instruction, Former Assembly Member Tony Thurmond is on the floor with us. We're moving on to motions and resolutions. The absences of the day will be deemed read and printed in the journal and on to procedural motions. Madam Majority Leader, you are recognized for your procedural motions.

I request unanimous consent to suspend Assembly Rule 45.5 to allow Assembly Member Soria to speak on an adjournment in memory today. Without objection. Such shall be the order.

I request unanimous consent to suspend Assembly Rule 1188A to allow Assembly Members Schultz and Soria to have guests in the rear of the chamber and to allow Assemblymember Hadwick to have a guest seated at her desk today..

Without objection. Such shall be the order.

Pursuant to Assembly Rule 96. I request unanimous consent to cons. Unanimous consent to withdraw SB106 Laird from the Budget Committee in order for to have a third reading file.

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

We object. We would like for a roll call vote for 106.

Thank you, Assembly Member Sanchez. Members. Ms. Sanchez is asking for a roll call vote. Majority Leader's motion is seconded by Assemblymember Ortega. This motion is not debatable. Requires 41 votes. Members thank you, Members. I'm going to say it again for those who may not have been focused. Majority leader's motion is seconded by Assemblymember Ortega.

This motion is not debatable. It requires 41 votes. Clerk will open the roll. All Members vote who desire to vote. The majority leader is asking for an aye vote. Ms. Sanchez is asking for a no vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. Kirk will close the roll and tally the votes. Ayes. 45. noes 15. The motion carries. Madam Majority leader, you are recognized.

I request unanimous consent to suspend the rules to allow Assemblymember Bonton to take up AJR25 today without reference to file for the purpose of adoption.

Thank you, Madam Majority Leader. Assemblymember DeMaio, you were recognized. I withhold consent and ask for a roll call vote. Thank you, Assemblymember DeMaio. Majority leader is motion is seconded by Assemblymember Garcia. This motion is not debatable. Requires 41 votes. The Clerk will open the roll. All Members vote who desire to vote.

Majority leader is asking for an aye vote on this wharf. Mr. DeMaio is asking for a no vote. 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 and tally the votes. Ayes 48, nos. 11. The rules are suspended.

Assemblymember DeMaio, you are recognized.

Point of parliamentary procedure. Does it not require 2/3 vote to withdraw a Bill without reference to file and bring it to the floor?

Just a moment, Mr. DeMaio. Motion to suspend the rules is a 41 vote procedure. Mr. DeMaio.

Okay. Without reference to file, we will now be taking up Assembly Joint Resolution 25 by Assemblymember Bonta. The Clerk will read.

Assembly Joint Resolution 25 by Assembly Member Bonta relative to. Enhanced Affordable Care act premium tax credits decorum.

Assembly Member Bonta, you are recognized.

Good morning, Mr. Speaker and Members. I rise today to present along with my colleague from Morro Bay, AJR 25, which urges federal leaders to take immediate action to restore and extend the Enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits. Since their establishment in 2021, enhanced premium tax credits made health care affordable for millions of Americans and Californians.

They significantly lowered monthly premiums, giving countless individuals and families financial breathing room and and the security of meaningful access to health care. This was one of the most effective cost cutting health policies in decades. And Republican Trump leadership in Washington intentionally let it expire on January 1st of the year. The impacts are devastating.

Alone In California, nearly 1.7 million Californians are seeing their monthly premiums double, paying hundreds to thousands more per month. Money that simply we do not have. They do not have. Our state is losing up to $2.5 billion in premium savings. As many as 400,000 Californians could be forced to drop coverage entirely as their premium costs become unmanageable.

California has been leading the nation in expanding coverage. Our uninsured rate reached an all time low after the enactments of the enhanced premium tax credits. But federal sabotage threatens to erase our years of progress. While we all fight to lower costs, Republicans in D.C. once again choose ideology over people.

As we enter Black History Month, I'm reminded of a quote from Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane. We cannot stand for. Injustice that will lead to loss of human life. Injustice that will lead to working families being priced out of coverage.

Injustice that will lead countless Americans facing more medical debt. And injustice that will make our health system weaker for everyone. This is a shameful moment. The President has had the chance to extend these credits. They ignored the evidence, they ignored the warnings, and they ignored the pleas of families who depend on affordable coverage.

Congress must immediately restore and extend the enhanced ACA premium tax credits. Health care is a right, not a privilege, reserved for those who can afford the ever rising prices of coverage. Californians are watching us. We're watching DC and we will continue to hold Congress accountable until families get the relief they deserve.

Members are respectfully request an aye vote for AJR25.

Thank you, Assemblymember Bonta. Assemblymember Schiavo, you are recognized.

Thank you Mr. Speaker and Members. As chair of the Assembly Military and Veteran Affairs Committee, I rise in strong support of AJR25 to restore insurance premium subsidies to Californians and around the country.

As recent analysis by the Urban Institute found that more than 600,000 veterans nationwide rely on health care tax credits and that 267,000 of them stand to lose the subsidized coverage that they depend on for their health care. Many of those veterans live right here in California.

At the same time, veterans are facing a devastating abandonment at the federal level. The VA health care system is already understaffed and wait times are growing as cuts continue under this federal Administration. Medicaid is being cut and now affordable insurance coverage is being taken away by our federal Administration directly from veterans.

For lower income veterans, the consequence is severe. They will either be forced to pay unaffordable premiums or go without health insurance altogether care that they need and that they deserve. After sacrificing so much for our country, we ask our veterans to sacrifice for this nation.

The least we can do is ensure that they are not left behind when they come home. That is why I proudly stand in support of AJR25 and urge my colleagues to join me in demanding better for our veterans.

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

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to AJR 25 not because we aren't concerned about the sky high cost of health insurance or medical care in our state, but because this is yet another shameful attempt by politicians to shift the blame for problems they have created in our state. Let me give you some statistics.

AJR25 says that we should continue to have taxpayer funded subsidies for sky high health care costs where mandates and regulations are driving those cost increases.

The sky high subsidies will only increase the price because if you continue to throw good money after bad, if you don't deal with the root cause of why are health care costs so high, which again you can try draw a line right back to the mandates, the regulations imposed by state leaders, California state leaders in particular.

We will never have affordable health care. It will always cost more. In your resolution you cite that you're fighting to request $2.5 billion in premium subsidies for Californians. At the same time you are taking $13 billion of state taxpayer money to give free taxpayer funded health care to illegal immigrants. How about we do this?

How about we table AJR25 and instead we bring a measure forward to eliminate the $13 billion in our budget of state taxpayer money going to illegal immigrants and instead take $2.5 billion of that money and provide subsidies for Californians. To my colleague from Los Angeles who says, well, what about the veterans?

260,000 veterans she cites might lose these subsidies. Well, you have an opportunity to cut the $13 billion of state subsidies for people who should not be here and take care of our veterans, take care of our citizens.

But when offered the opportunity to do that, time and time again, the majority on this floor has put the interest of illegal immigrants over needy Californians who are citizens. AJR25 is trying to shift the blame for policies enacted in California. Let me give you some stats on the cost crisis that you have created.

These are not Donald Trump policies. These are California politicians causing these problems. The typical ER visit in California costs $3,238. The most expensive cost in the nation. Maryland is $682. Why should we be price gouging through your regulations, your mandates, Californians to pay four times, five times the amount for an ER visit.

Or how about an ambulance ride? In California, the average ambulance ride is $2,407 because of your regulations, your mandates, your policies. These are state policies, not Donald Trump, not federal. These are state policies that you could actually fix. You could bend the cost curve. $2,470 for an ambulance ride in California versus North Carolina $662.

Now, I know what you're going to say. We need our mandates and regulations because we're protecting people from bad quality of care in California. Well, we're not seeing bad quality of care in these other states. What we're seeing are savings for working families who are already struggling.

So I respectfully ask, stop trying to shift the blame for your problems. Deal with the cost crisis that your bad policies have created. And every time a Bill comes through on health care, it's not bending the cost curve to make things more affordable. It's not improving quality of care. It's making things more expensive.

And at some point, working families, it busts their budget. And you know what they're doing? They're just packing up and leaving to other states because they find out that, you know what, you can afford to live in Maryland or North Carolina for a lot less.

30 seconds.

We can continue to play the blame game shifting with these politicized resolutions like AJR25, or we can actually get to the serious business of bending the cost curve and providing savings to California citizens. I urge you to do the latter.

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

Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker and Members, I rise in strong support of AJR25, a clear call to restore and extend the ACA tax credit that millions rely on for affordable and life saving health care. This is not a partisan issue. It's a moral obligation to protect the health and future of Americans families.

Today we see policy advanced by the Congressional Republicans that threatens the health security of millions of Americans. Medi-Cal cuts that strips coverage from the most vulnerable Americans. This is unconscionable and also reprehensible. This weaponized and undermines the dignity and the respect of Americans in this country.

Blocking reimbursement and for reproductive health clinics denies essential services weakening providers taxes that strips urban hospitals and clinics. Meanwhile, while the White House approach has hospitals closing health care and healthcare providers, frontline warriors are being stretched to capacities. We should invest in bold health care, not undermine the systems that keep people alive.

To my colleagues, we need brave voices who will speak up on behalf of those million individuals that need health care coverage that they rely on day in and day out.

AJR25 calls upon bold actions to restore ACA tax credits, protect access to care and defend healthcare securities for every American in this country on behalf of something that President Barack Obama said. I want to quote and it reads the arc of the moral universe bends towards justice, but it doesn't bend on its own.

We have to pull it towards justice. That means making healthcare available and affordable for every American. Every American in this country. I want to urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisles, especially my Republican colleagues. It is important that we do everything we can to making sure that we support the most vulnerable communities.

In my district alone in Martin Luther King Community Hospital, if you would go any given day we are serving individuals outside in the parking lot. I want that to sink in for a moment. People who have no ability to pay, they seek care. We don't turn anyone away. And that's what it's becoming right now.

People who have no ability to pay for health care. But seeking the medical health care at hospitals. And the Republican Party in Congress are turning people who are most vulnerable away. And the ACA is that life preserver that they need to get the kind of care that they need.

And how dare Congress turn people away when there's an option out there to help individuals seek the kind of care they need. And this AJR sends a clear message that California stands in a gap to making sure we leave no one behind. I ask for a strong Aye vote on AJR25.

Thank you, Assemblymember Gibson. Assemblymember Rogers, you are recognized.

Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. Look, I understand why my colleague needs to pretend like this is just a California issue. And it's because every single Republican in Congress got up in front of a camera before HR1 passed and said, no, we would never cut Medicare.

We understand that that protects our seniors and our veterans and our most vulnerable. We would never do that. Well, that was a lie. So now we're in a situation where HR1 has passed. Premiums aren't just going up in California. It's not just California's regulations. Premiums are going up 60 to 100% in Texas.

They're going up 30 to 80% in Florida. It's not just a California issue. It's a poverty issue. It's a structural issue. It's a broken system issue.

And lest we let voters forget, the reason that their Medicare was cut, the reason that their health care is more expensive, was to pay for one of the largest tax breaks in the history of this country for billionaires, for multimillionaires, and for the President's friends. That's why your health care is more unaffordable.

It's not because of regulations in California. It's a broken system perpetuated by the ruling class in the White House and a feckless Congress with Republicans who will not do the right thing and pass this subsidy. I urge an Aye vote.

Thank you, Assemblymember Rogers, Assemblymember Caloza, you are recognized.

Good morning, Mr. Speaker and Members. As a proud immigrant and daughter of healthcare workers, today I rise in strong support of AJR25. First, I would like to thank the chair of our Health Committee, our Budget Subcommitee, as well as our speaker and all my colleagues here for standing up and speaking out about what's happening across our country.

HR1 is a betrayal of all of our communities. HR1 is not a budget. It's a moral statement. And the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress chose cruelty over care. In the same Bill, Republicans in Congress healthcare gutted critical programs while pouring billions of dollars into into ICE and immigration enforcement.

This mean that the taxpayer dollars, our taxpayer dollars, were taken away from our nurses, our doctors, our teachers, our clinics, our seniors, our veterans, children, women, tribal communities, and so many more communities that are going to get more sick and die because of what's going on.

This money was taken from them and from us and handed to an agency with a record of abuse and violence. And we cannot fund fear instead of care.

And I commend the chair of our health Committee for really raising awareness for this and our speaker for the roundtables that we've hosted for the committees we've heard directly from our constituents. Even one, most recently, Mr. Franklin, who spoke about his story.

He's supposed to be retired and his health care premiums went up from $540 a month to $4,000 a month because Congressional Republicans chose not to Fund the ACA tax credits. And I think we can all agree that this is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue, but this is simply not right.

And with that, I respectfully asked my colleagues to vote yes on AJR25.

Thank you, Assemblymember Caloza. Assemblymember Gallagher, you are recognized.

Yes. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of AJR25. I do believe that we do need to restore the subsidies for the ACA plans. And the reason that we need to do that is because the ACA has failed. And that is the honest conversation that we need to have here.

When the ACA was passed, we were promised it would bring about affordable health care. And the reality is, and the reason why we're doing this resolution this morning is about five years ago, we started to subsidize the Obamacare plans and we had to do that. Why? Because the premium started going up and up and up.

So that promise about, oh, yeah, if we do this, if we allow for this mandate of insurance and all the things that went into the ACA, we'll have low cost healthcare, has not come true. It's why we need the subsidies and it's why we're advocating that those continue right now. So I rise to support it.

But Mr. DeMaio is right. There's been many things that have been done that have hurt our access to health care here in California, and many policies have been passed right here. Let's talk about Medi-Cal. For years and years and years, decades, we have not funded medical reimbursement rates at what they should be.

And so providers who are providing that care on the front lines aren't even getting paid what it costs to provide the health care. And we continued to underfund that for years. We had to pass an initiative a couple of years ago because we kept robbing those reimbursement rates. The Governor opposed it.

He didn't want to protect those Medi Cal reimbursement rates that we fought for and that we passed. Right. We did a health care minimum wage. And everybody told you that's going to cause our clinics and our hospitals to have huge problems.

And now they are, aren't they, because of Medi-Cal reimbursement rates and because of the cost that we keep driving on them, forcing them to do seismic improvements that they can't afford. And nobody wants to do any relief on that front. So let's talk about the whole picture here, and I do think it should be bipartisan. Absolutely.

Let's come together in a bipartisan manner here in the State House and in Washington, D.C. to actually fix the problem and lower people's health care costs. That's the problem. We have not done that. ACA's been a failure. We need reforms to make sure that we bring all those costs down.

It's not an easy thing to do, certainly easy to get up and grandstand about it. The hard work is sitting down and working through the policy, finding out where the problems are and lowering costs for all Californians. I believe this is an important thing to do in the meantime, because people's premiums are going up extensively without them.

So we need to have those subsidies in place. But make no mistake, we gotta do a whole lot more work to make sure that healthcare is affordable and accessible in California and throughout the nation. Thank you.

Thank you, Assemblymember Gallagher, Assemblymember Addis, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members. I'm truly proud to rise in support of AJR25 simply because I'm proud to rise on the side of kindness, on the side of caring, and on the side of communities that thrive.

And I want to thank the Member from Oakland, the chair of our Health Policy Committee, and every single Member on that Committee. I also want to thank the bipartisan budget Subcommitee who has very constructive conversations about how to create health care for every Californian.

And I want to remind us that before ACA subsidies were cut, before HR 1 was enacted, California had almost 94%. Around 94% of our people had access to health care. And that's not a failure. That's an absolute success. And it's something we should be proud of on all sides of the political spectrum.

I also want to thank everyone that is on the front lines of the health care fight, whether that's advocates in the community, people in this room, people that you maybe have never met before, because every day they're fighting not just for them to have health care, but actually for many of us in this room, to have health care that we can afford and for our family Members to afford.

And I want to thank Mr. Speaker, who prioritized health care and in his announcement just a couple days ago and said that this Legislature is committed to working on health care to make sure that every Californian has access.

And I want to say that those of you in this room who care about your communities, who are putting people above spreadsheets and social media snippets, I want to say thank you to you. Because there's millions of Californians who need your leadership right now, and they need you to care about them, not about your own popularity.

And I think that the majority of people in this room, actually, the majority on both sides of the aisle, I think the majority actually do feel that way. They want to help Californians.

And so as chair of the budget Subcommitee on health, I've come before you many times to work towards one simple ideal, that health care isn't a luxury. It's a lifeline. And it's a lifeline that every Californian in every single region of our state deserves to have. But the truth is that that lifeline is being pulled away.

And it's not being pulled away because the failure of the program. It's being pulled away because people have chosen to do something different with the funding. And our colleague from the north coast alluded to that.

The most serious threat that we face to health care is not about this building that has just been talked about by one of our colleagues from San Diego. It's really coming from D.C. it's really coming from the President. It's really coming from his loyalists.

It's really coming from people whose constituents are begging them for help, but they're closing the door. And when last year Congress enacted the largest health care cuts in our nation's history, including the elimination of the federal ACA subsidies, and the impact here in California is profound. We have nearly 2 million Californians who have access to health care.

And I'll say it again, that is a success. The fact that we have almost 2 million people that can access health care through Covered California. Every single person in this room should be celebrating because these are people who don't qualify for Medi-Cal. They don't have employer-sponsored coverage.

But who they are is working families, small business owners, freelancers, caregivers, retirees, and even children. And they live in every single part of our state. And so when those subsidies disappear, these families we've heard it from our colleague from Southern California are going to pay dramatically more in coverage and likely go uninsured.

It's why last year you voted for the Legislature to invest nearly $200 million to help states stabilize premiums for the lowest income Californians who rely on covered California. And in the health policy informational hearing just this week or last week, covered California said that that was truly a lifeline for people in our state. It was incredibly important.

And we all stepped in because we know affordability is fragile. And I'll just say as an aside, on Medi-Cal reimbursement, it's not California. California voters, you in this room, we all passed a measure that would help with Medi-Cal reimbursement.

It's the feds that have now tried to erase that as one of the tools in our toolbox. It's the feds who are attacking those rates. And I think to our colleague in the North Coast, I think it's important that we all be honest about why we don't have those medical reimbursement rates at this moment.

It's HR1 that has done that, not California. But we're here to talk about the lack of ACA subsidies and about robbing health care from regular Californians to give tax breaks to the uber wealthy and fund federal programs that are terrorizing our neighborhoods.

Last week the US Senate tried to increase the homeland security, the homeland funding, the DHS funding while defunding health care. And I want to say thank you to the Members who signed on in support to oppose that funding. And thank you to the US Senators who voted no. So today we have an opportunity.

We can call on Congress to restore the ACA subsidies and stop the harm already rippling through our communities. So I want to ask all of you to join with us. I want to thank our health Chair from the East Bay.

And I want to say that I look forward to working in a bipartisan way to create a health care system that is stable, that is affordable and is accessible. And I respectfully ask to be a joint author and ask all of you for your aye vote.

Thank you, Assemblymember Addis. Assemblymember Bains, you are recognized.

Thank you, speaker and Members. The ACA is not a failure. I chuckle when I say that because it's said by people that have no understanding of the ACA. The failure is when a trillion dollars was cut from Medicaid in the big beautiful Bill. The failure were the people that voted against the ACA.

The failures are the people that continuously vote to undermine and underfund health care for people, especially in vulnerable areas. The failures are the very people that hide behind their private privileged insurance while cutting health care from the vulnerable people that need access to it.

If you want to criticize ACA, the Band Aid that's providing health care for the people that need it. Step away from your private insurance and live a day in the people that are recipients of ACA.

Do not hide behind your private insurance and sit there and try to cut access to care for millions that rely on it as a lifeline. ACA was why I became a doctor. It created the residency program where I trained at. I'm not just any doctor. I am a rural Medicaid doctor.

I am the doctor that trained at the Teaching Health Hospital Clinica Sierra Vista, which was created because of the ACA. I stand here in front of everyone as the Assembly Member elected by my people because of the work of the ACA. No, colleagues, ACA was not a failure. The failure were the people that hid behind their privileges.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and colleagues. I want to echo the sentiments of those who have spoken in favor of AJR25. This is helpful to the working families, seniors, the vulnerable districts, the self employed people. They need to get and keep insurance. This has been a life saving, quality health insurance, realistic option for thousands of our constituents.

The affordable premiums are going away. We are hearing more and more from people who are now were previously able to afford their insurance but are now in desperate times. This means that they are forced to choose between health care and rent, between doctor visits and food, between medical care and child care.

This situation has completely changed what affordable access to health care means to the people across California, in rural districts, in red districts, in all districts. This means that we need to step up, that Congress needs to step up. These are not just other items tucked into a spending package.

These are real benefits for real people who are really struggling. And we need to do all that we can to assist them. And they are asking for our help. And that is why I am respectfully asking for everyone to vote aye on AJR25.

Thank you, Assemblymember Ransom. Seeing and hearing no further debate. Assemblymember Bonta, do you wish to close?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to appreciate the very robust conversation that we've had on this floor today. I want to bring us back to just one little data point.

Because of the removal or the lack to have courage to stand up for every person in this United States, there will be people who have their premiums going from $168 to $1,440. Two adults with two children who have a household income of $75,000 will see their premiums go from $3,612 to an estimated $6,708.

That is a moral failure. I take umbrage at the idea that we are grandstanding in this moment. We are not grandstanding. In fact, in our health Committee, we decided to roll up our sleeves and dig into this issue together. Our full health Committee could have participated in that.

There was a significant absence from the other side to do so in a bipartisan way. I think that's grandstanding. I was one of those children who had to have a parent who had to make a decision to take me to the doctor or to have food in the refrigerator.

400,000 people over the course of this year will wake up to premiums that they cannot afford, which means that they will drop out of health care coverage entirely.

That not only impacts the individuals who are making painstaking, life threatening decisions about their care, it impacts our clinics, our providers, our hospital systems in rural areas, in urban areas and suburban areas. We all need to care about this and we all can do nothing in this moment, right now but figure it out.

Figure it out without the support of the Federal Administration in this moment. We will figure it out because people's lives depend on us and we must all do that together. Absolutely. It would be a beautiful thing if we actually were able to do that.

It is not wrong of us to call out the injustice of the federal administration's actions, their inability to have the courage to take this moment and recognize the harm that they are committing on people in this United States and certainly in California. We will do what we always do. Figure it out.

I respectfully request that Assemblymember Addis be added as a joint author on this Bill and I respect request that we open the roll for co authors.

Thank you Assemblymember Bonta. All debate having ceased, Clerk will open the roll for co authors. Members. This is for co authors. All Members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. This is for co authors. All Members vote who desire to vote.

Clerk will close the roll. There are 56 co-authors added. Without objection, Assemblymember Addis will be listed as a joint author. Members, this is a joint resolution. We cannot do a voice vote, so a roll call vote is required. 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, 58. Noes, 4. The resolution is adopted. Members, we are moving on to guest introductions. Assemblymember Gallagher, you are recognized for your guest introduction.

Yes. Members, it's my pleasure to introduce Senator Mark Daly from Ireland, who is visiting us today as the current Cathaoirleach of the Irish Senate. That's Irish for the speaker of the Irish Senate. Senator Daly has been a dedicated public servant since his election in 2007, representing the administrative panel for Fianna Fáil.

A proud native of County Kerry, he has twice been elected to lead the Senate, including his recent reelection in 2025, making him a key figure in strengthening the ties between Ireland and the United States through his leadership of the American Irish State Legislators Caucus. And I understand he has been crisscrossing the nation.

And he was in Florida and Iowa, Seattle, Alaska, and now he is here with us in California. So I would appreciate your welcome of him as he joins us, I believe, in the gallery today.

Welcome, Senator Daly. Welcome to the California Assembly, Sir. We welcome you. Assemblymember Gallagher, you are recognized.

Yes. Very quickly, Mr. Speaker. We will be having a reception for the Senator afterwards at 10:30 in Room 317, so all are invited to come and meet the Senator. Thank you.

Thank you, Assemblymember. Members, we're moving on to business on the Daily File. We begin with concurrence, File Item Number One. We will pass and retain on reconsideration. File Items Wwo through Four. All items shall be continued. That brings us to the Assembly. Third Reading File.

File Items Number Five through Eight, we're going to pass and retain on File Items Five and Six. File Item Number Seven. That is HR 76 by Assemblymember Schultz. The Clerk will read.

House Resolution 76. By Assemblymember Schultz and others relative to affordable homeownership.

Assemblymember Schultz, you are recognized.

Member Schultz, you are recognized.

Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker, and good morning, colleagues. I'm pleased to introduce HR 76 today. Homeownership remains one of the most proven pathways to economic stability, housing security, and generational wealth. However, as we all well know, homeownership is out of reach for far too many Californians.

Only 56% of California households own their owns—own their homes. And quite frankly, speaking for just my district, that doesn't even feel like a real number. With such high populations of renters that can only dream of home ownership one day, we're well below the national average.

In fact, our home ownership rate ranks 49th out of 50 states in the country. It's a crisis. In 2024, only 18% of households were able to afford the median priced home in the state of California. With all of that said, state investment in affordable home ownership has made a difference for countless individuals and families.

Programs like CalHome, the Joe Serna Junior Farm Worker Housing Grant Program, mortgage loan programs, the California Dream for All Program, and many, many others are working to connect Californians with homeownership. This resolution recognizes all of their efforts and the work of all of our community partners to strengthen our economic future.

It is also a reminder and a call to action for all of us to continue to work on a comprehensive housing strategy that includes affordable homeownership. Thank you for your attention, everyone. I respectfully ask your aye vote. And at the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker, I'll ask if the first roll be open for co-authors.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members, I rise in support of HR 76. I want to thank my colleague for carrying this. Homeownership, as you all know, as we've discussed a little bit on the floor of the Assembly, is critical for our families to build wealth and in their economic security.

And it's just, it's too out of reach for so many people in our state, particularly brown and black folks. There's racial disparities that exist in homeownership and also young folks. So, our state is impacted hugely on this. We have a lot of work to do in this space.

We're going to be doing a big package of bills around homeownership. We have to do some hard political fights in this space to make home ownership more of a reality. So, prepare for that. But we also have to fund really critical programs like CalHome that we know will actually provide housing for thousands of people in the state.

So, that's going to be some critical work. We have great partners like Habitat for Humanity who have really cracked the code on making sure that we're focused on this. And we have strong leadership here in the Assembly under the speaker and others and within, I think, all of our institutions to tackle this problem.

So, there's going to be more in this space. I want to thank my colleague for this. I respectfully ask for an aye vote and prepare yourself for more legislation coming on the pipeline on homeownership.

Thank you, Assemblymember Wicks. Seeing and hearing no further debate, Assemblymember Schultz, do you wish to close?

Respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Okay. All debate having ceased, Clerk will open the roll. This is for co-authors, Members. Mr. Schultz has asked the role to be open for co-authors. All Members vote who desire to vote. 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 55 co authors added. Without objection, we will take a voice vote on the resolution. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed, no. The ayes have it. The resolution is adopted. Assemblymember Schultz, you are recognized for your guest introductions.

Well, thank you again, Mr. Speaker. Colleagues, today we're joined in the rear of the chamber and in the gallery by Habitat for Humanity California and representatives from across the state. In the rear of the chamber, we're joined today by Brian Wong, Faith Mellinger, Patrick Sunpanek, Holden Weissman, David Hahn, and Debbie Arakel.

And in the gallery, we have Danessa Whitman-Thomas, Leah Miller, Janice Jensen, Patty Wang-Cross, Chris Morgenthaler, Ellen Immergut, and Kofi Reed. Please join me in welcoming them today to the Assembly floor.

Welcome. Welcome to the California Assembly.

Thank you, Members. Decorum, please. We have more business to attend to. Thank you, Members. Moving on, File item number eight. That's HR 79 by Assemblymember Valencia. The Clerk will read.

House Resolution 79 by Assemblymember Valencia, relative to Unclaimed Property Month.

Decorum, Members. Assemblymember Valencia, you are recognized.

Mr. Speaker and Members, muy buenos dias. I rise to present HR 79, which recognizes February 2026 as Unclaimed Property Month. As many as one in three people who visit California's unclaimed property website find property in their name. In 2024, California returned over $465 million in property to its rightful owners, averaging more than $1 million per day.

Unclaimed property includes financial assets that may become inactive and are turned over to the state for safekeeping. Examples of this are lost paychecks, money that's passed down from one relative to another, or money that's provided through a settlement or an insurance claim. Californians, this is your money, and these are your assets, funds that you may have forgotten about or didn't even know existed.

As of 2025, the State Controller's Office holds 15 billion, $15 billion in unclaimed property. You could easily search this at claimant.ca.gov and I'd encourage all members to ask your residents to do so.

I'd like to thank the State Controller, Malia Cohen, for raising awareness on this very specific issue. And, Members, I'd ask for your support of HR 79 and for the first roll call to be open for coauthors. I yield. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and I want to thank our colleague for bringing this because at a time when people are struggling for affordability, it's important that we make sure that we return every dollar to them. In my district, there's $82 million of unclaimed property.

So, we ran an event and we were able to see, in 2025, people get $6 million in unclaimed property returned to them. So, I want to encourage everyone to make sure that they are putting this information out into their districts because it's very important that people get their money.

Folks were saying that it was a hoax because we were trying to get people involved. They were like, it's not true. It's a hoax. Don't trust the Democrats. But guess what? They got $6 million returned to them in our district.

So, I want to say that this is important that we point to the people where their dollars are being held in California, and I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, Assemblymember Ransom. Seeing and hearing no further debate. Assemblymember Valencia, do you wish to close?

Respectfully ask for a yes vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Assembly Member. All debate having ceased, the Clerk will open the roll. Members, this is for co-authors. All Members vote who desire to vote. 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 62 co-authors added. Without objection, we'll take a voice vote on the resolution. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed, no. The ayes have it. The resolution is adopted. We're going to pass and retain on all items on the Senate third reading file, file items 9 and 10.

Okay, we're going to move backwards, and we have one final guest introduction. Assemblymember Nguyen, you are recognized for your guest introduction, very important guest introduction.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. Very, very important guest introduction. Members, I've got some amazing 5th graders here with me today from Elk Grove Elementary. Why don't you all stand up and say hi? Stand up. There you go. Fifth graders from Elk Grove Elementary with their teachers, Ms. Smith, and Ms. Orr. They are here for a tour and to learn about all the amazing things that we do. Welcome.

Let's go Elk Grove. Let's go. Welcome to the California Assembly. I think I see some future legislators up there. Welcome. Members, we're going to now move on to the second day consent calendar. Before we vote, we'll first take up resolutions on the consent calendar for the purpose of adding coauthors.

The Clerk will read the resolutions on the consent calendar.

Assembly Concurrent Resolution 127 by Assemblymember Muratsuchi, relative to National School Counseling Week and House Resolution 77 by Assemblymember Carrillo, relative to school governance.

Clerk will now open the roll to allow any member to add on as a co-author on the resolutions. 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. The Clerk will close the roll. There are 61 co-authors added.

Moving on to a vote on the consent calendar, file items 11 and 12. Does any member wish to remove an item from the consent calendar? Clerk will now open the roll on the consent calendar. Excuse me. Seeing and hearing none. Clerk will read the second day consent calendar.

Assembly Concurrent Resolution 127 by Assemblymember Muratsuchi, relative to National School Counseling Week.

Clerk will now 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, tally the votes. Ayes, 64. Noes, 0. Consent calendar is adopted. Clerk will now read the remaining items on the consent calendar

And House Resolution 77.

Ayes, 64. Noes, 0. Members, we are moving on to adjournments in memory. The quorum call is still in place. Let's give our respectful attention to those who were granted prior permission to speak on their adjournment in memory. Family is present. Please take your conversations off the floor. All conversations off the floor.

Assemblymember Soria, you are recognized for your adjournment in memory.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members. Today, I rise with a heavy heart to adjourn in memory of my dear friend, Pablo Rodriguez, a visionary organizer, movement builder, brilliant strategist, and a tireless champion for California, Central Valley, and rural communities.

Pablo Rodriguez was born on October 21st, 1973, in Ciudad Juarez Chihuahua, Mexico, and was raised in Hilmar in Merced County. He passed away this past December. His sudden and unexpected passing didn't just send shock waves through our region, it was felt across the state. His early passing reminded us all that our time is short and that we should never leave for tomorrow what we can do today.

I had the privilege of knowing Pablo for nearly 15 years and without hesitation, I can say that if it were not for him, I likely would not be standing on this floor today.

Before deciding to run for office in 2022, as I had in every other election in 2014, 2016, and 2020, I had reached out to Pablo for his advice and his data expertise. True to form, he crunched the numbers, analyzed the districts, and showed me there was a path forward. He encouraged me, connected me to key people.

He actually introduced me to my current political consultant and believed in me when I doubted myself. Pablo showed up every single time, even when I did not know it. What I loved most about him was that he didn't just believe anything was possible, he knew it was.

He understood deeply that the only way to change the political landscape of our region was through durable community power by listening, educating, and building leadership from the ground up. That is why he mentored so many people that came into contact with him and served on the Board of the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project.

Actually, I'm an alum of that project. Pablo and I shared a strong bond because we both grew up in a small rural community in the Central Valley. We knew the struggle and we shared a deep sense of responsibility to make our communities better than we found them.

That shared understanding shaped our work and our commitment and our love for good tacos and banda music, which helped grow our friendship. He was raised in a family grounded in dignity, justice, and service. His grandfather, Gonzalo Rodriguez, was a member of the United Farm Workers, which was his introduction to organizing and activism.

And in 1994, the year after Cesar Chavez's passing, Pablo participated in the United Farm Workers Pilgrimage, a grueling 330 miles from Delano to Sacramento. That march changed his life forever and set him on a lifelong path of organizing on behalf of his community.

After joining the United Farm Workers as a Staff Member, Pablo went on to build the infrastructure of grassroots power in rural California. He helped found Communities for a New California, which grew into a statewide community-driven civic organization engaging hundreds of thousands of residents across the Central Valley and the Inland Empire.

CNC was not designed as a campaign operation; it was built as a permanent year-round force for community empowerment. I got to see the work firsthand. It was rooted in listening, building relationships, and unleashing the agency of everyday working people who had been ignored for too long. He understood people disengage when they feel unseen and heard.

He believed the problem of our civic life was not political messaging, but the structures and systems that have left people invisible. He was out to change that in the Central Valley and the Inland Empire. He was humble, wicked smart, a motivator, and a great listener, traits that made him effective in his work, the trust, and deeply loved by so many of us.

At Pablo's Celebration of Life, I saw the full measure of his impact across generations, across regions, across movements. I also learned more about his many artistic talents, including being part of Lo Rudos and doing poetry and spoken word.

And how he used art, culture, and humor to inspire, build political consciousness, challenge, heal, and uplift others. The solace I feel today comes from what we accomplished this past legislative session. I had the honor of working with Pablo and CNC to help get AB 1441, which would establish the Merced County Independent Redistricting Commission.

And it was signed by the Governor. That achievement will have a lasting impact on representation in Merced County and reflects Pablo's lifelong commitment to fair and representative democracy. His last text to me was, "Esme, thank you. I can't tell you how happy I am about AB 1441 being signed by Governor Newsom." Man, I'm gonna miss him.

Members, a bright light has gone out in the Harlem, California. But because of Pablo, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lights now shine in its place. Our region is brighter, our future is brighter, and our democracy is stronger because he believed in people, even when they did not believe in themselves.

My thoughts are with his family, his friends, and those carrying forward the baton he so generally passed. He was a great Californian. He lived an extraordinary life, and to those of us who knew him and were close to him are better because of it. Pablo Rodriguez, presente.

Thank you, Members, for helping me adjourn in the memory of my dear friend, Pablo Rodriguez.

Thank you, Assemblymember Soria. Members, let us observe a moment of silence to honor this distinguished Californian, Pablo Rodriguez. Thank you. Members, please bring the names to the desk to be printed in the Journal. All requests to adjourn in memory will be deemed read and printed in the Journal. Moving to announcements. Session schedule is as follows.

Friday, February 6th, no floor session. No check in session. Excuse me, Members. Assemblymember Soria, you are recognized for your guest introduction.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the rear of the chambers, I want to—hold on. I want to welcome his mother, Berta Elvia Rodriguez, his sister, Liz Elsa Ruth, his nephews, Esteban, Sergio, and Maxim. I also want to recognize some of the lifelong friends and CNC colleagues that are in the gallery.

We want to extend our sincere condolences to all of you, and we thank you for sharing Pablo with us.

Thank you, Assemblymember Soria. Continuing on with our announcements, the session schedule is as follows. Friday, February 6th, no floor session, no check in session. Monday, February 9th, floor session at 1 PM. Seeing and hearing no further business, I'm ready to entertain a motion to adjourn. Majority Leader Aguiar-Curry moves and Ms. Hadwick seconds.

This House stands adjourned until Monday, February 9th, at 1:00 PM. Quorum call is lifted, and we are adjourned.