Senate Floor

The Senate will come to order. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

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

Mr. President and colleagues, please join me in reflection. God of affection, Creator, great spirit. You that abides in the universe and in each of us, you that imparts devotion and tenderness. We thank you for the myriad ways that we hope to. And recognize that we are touched by your love.

Love that draws us to friendship and Fidelity, to kindness and compassion. That lures us to the sacred and to the serene, that calls upon us to see a new vision and evolution and to live it each day. Love that sees the value of each human being. We come to you from many stories, many faiths, many perspectives.

We see you and recognize you in a diversity of ways. All beautiful, all according to your plan. Help us to see you in one another every day. Especially as we seek to make our world a better place and hold us in the mystery and beauty of your presence. Amen.

Members, please join in the pledge. Allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance. Begin with privileges of the floor. First, we'd like to introduce students from Florin High School's Law Academy and their chaperones who are here for the California Lawyers Foundation Youth programs. Welcome to the Senate and enjoy your legislative day. Continuing with privileges of the floor.

Senator Ashby.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I appreciate that. In the gallery today with us, we have a special group of young people that I am very excited to introduce to all of you. The fourth grade class from Holy Spirit is here. This class is led by their exceptional teacher, Ms.

Weeks, who's been guiding these students through their studies of California history. You all may remember yourselves or your own children doing missions. They have just completed that part of their learning curriculum and are now learning about what we do here in the state capitol. This school and this class is particularly, particularly well known for their basketball team.

We are happy to host them today here in the capital. Thank you all for visiting us this morning. And I know my colleague from the other part of Sacramento has a special connection to Holy Spirit as well.

Senator Niello.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to give a special welcome because I do have an interesting connection. My oldest grandson, oldest grandchild was a student there just a few years ago. He's going to be 21 in August, so it was a while ago, but he went to Holy Spirit.

And so I bid you a very special welcome from this Member from Fair Oaks.

Welcome to Senator Ashby and Senator Niello's guests, Senator Blakespear. Senator Blakespear from the Majority leader's desk.

Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, I rise today to introduce Brigadier General Nick Brown, the Commanding General of Marine Corps Installation west and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. For those of us in Southern California, Camp Pendleton is more than a military installation.

It's a neighbor, a major employer, a steward of thousands of acres of coastline and open space, and home to tens of thousands of Marines and their families, all embedded in the Southern California region. General Brown leads that installation while also overseeing Marine Corps bases in Yuma, 29 Palms, Miramar, Barstow, and more.

General Brown is a native of New York and a graduate of Stony Brook University. Over the course of his distinguished career, he has served around the globe and including deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, leadership assignments in Okinawa, Japan, and service in Liberia, where he advised the Liberian Armed Forces.

Throughout his career, he has focused on ensuring that Marines have what they need to accomplish their mission. He oversees transportation, aviation support, logistics, infrastructure, and operational readiness at the highest level. He has commanded major units at Camp Pendleton and served on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, helping manage global military operations and supply systems.

He holds advanced degrees in public Administration and Strategic studies and is a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College and the Marine Corps War College.

His service has been recognized with some of our nation's most distinguished military honors, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with a gold star, the Meritorious Service Medal with three gold stars, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, and the Navy Achievement Medal with a gold star.

There are a lot of gold stars in that, reflecting a career defined by excellence, integrity, and dedication to service. General Brown, we're incredibly proud of you in our region, and we're incredibly proud to have you here today.

We are so glad that your leadership at Installation west and Camp Pendleton and across the Western United States is serving our nation. Colleagues, please take a moment to come up and meet General Brown. I know you'll enjoy saying hello. To him. And also I invite you to join me for a photo. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Blakesbury and welcome to General Brown. Members that wish to join Senator Blakesbury in the general for photo, please move to the rear of the chambers.

All right. Continuing with further business. Messages from the Governor will be deemed read. Messages from the Assembly will be deemed read. Reports of committees will be deemed read and amendments adopted. Will now proceed to motions and resolutions. Do any Members have motions and resolutions? Senator Grayson.

Good morning, Mr. President. At the request of the author, please remove file item A43AB1389 Rubio from the Inactive file. Thank you.

The deck will note moving to consideration of the daily file and governor's appointments file item 51. Senator Reyes and Members, as we proceed to business on the daily file, if you could take your conversations off the floor and photos off the floor to the rear of the chambers or just outside. Senator Reyes, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. President. Final item as a confirmation of Andrew Rake Straw for appointment to the Board of Environmental Safety, where he is serving as the board's Chair.

Pardon me, Senator Reyes. Members, please give our attention to Senator Reyes on behalf of the Rules Committee for File Item 51.

This is an important appointment, my friends. Prior to this position, Andrew Rakestraw had been serving the U.S. Department of State in various roles since 2019, most recently as senior climate change negotiator for the Office of Global Change. He was approved by the Rules Committee on February 11. I respectfully asked for your aye vote.

All right. Any question or debate on file item 51? Seeing none. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Call the absent Members.

[Roll Call]

Ayes. 28. No, 0. The governor's appointment is confirmed. Continue with consideration of governor's appointments. Senator Reyes, File Item 52.

Thank you, Mr. President. File item 52 is a confirmation of Indira Cameron Banks for appointment to the Civil Rights Council. She's a founding partner of Cameron Banks Law and previously served as Director of the Preventing and Ending Homelessness Project at the Inner City Law Center.

Before that, she served the U.S. attorney's Office for the Central District of Columbia, California from 2007 to 2020. She was approved by the Rules Committee on February 11th. I respectfully ask for your Aye vote.

Question or debate on File Item 52? Seeing none. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Ayes, 28. Noes, 8. The governor's appointment is noes nine. The governor's appointment is confirmed. Moving on to Committee announcements for Committee meetings today. Senator Reyes, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mr. President. Members, the Budget Subcommitee 2 on Resources, Environmental Protection, Energy. We'll be meeting in 15 minutes upon adjournment of session in room 2200 of the O Street Building.

Members will Note. Senator Menjivar.

Mr. President. Budget Subcommitee Number 3 on Health and Human Services will begin 15 minutes upon adjournment of session, Room 1200, O Street Building.

Senator Richardson.

Thank you, Mr. President. Subcommitee 5 will be meeting today, 10 minutes after adjournment. We'll be meeting in the State Capitol, room 12.

And just so people are aware of what we're going to be talking about, we're going to be covering the judicial branch, which would include the overview of court facilities funding and court facilities proposals in the governor's budget. We welcome everyone to participate.

Thank you, Senator Hurtado.

Mr. President. Senate Budget Committee Subcommitee Number 4 on State Administration and General Government will meet 15 minutes upon adjournment of session in Room 113.

Returning to motions and resolutions, this is the time to address adjourning memory. Motion requests for Members of the Senate begin with Senator Archuleta, who is ready to present.

Thank you, Mr. President. I rise today in the memory and with a heavy heart rise in honor of Yoshi Nakamura. He was a great man who dedicated his life to public service and treating others with kindness. Papayosh, as his family would call him, was a decorated World War II hero, educator and artist.

Yoshi was a San Gabriel Valley native, born in Rosemead, raised in El Monte and a longtime educator and resident of the city of Whittier.

Unfortunately, at the height of his wartime hysteria following the Japanese attack on Pearl harbor on December 71941 Yoshi and his entire family was forced into Gala River Camp in Arizona Desert when He was only 16 years of age.

He would later refer to this camp as a concentration camp from which he enlisted into the United States army at the age of 19.

While in the Army, Yoshi, who served as a motor specialist with the 442nd, the famous 442nd Regimental Combat Team, considered the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the United States military in its history.

After the war, Yoshi came home and earned a Bachelor's and Master's degree in fine arts from the United from usc. He went on to teach at Whittier high school in 1952 where he served until he until he was acknowledged and received for his ability to create a relationship with his students and he would be missed.

His devotion to students and their artistic development earned him a Whittier Woman's Club Teacher of the Year award back in 1960.

At the time when he individual teacher awards were were rare, especially for Japanese Americans and Minorities and in 1963 Yoshi left Wheeler High to become a rio Hondo College first professor where he would eventually spend 30 years teaching at Rio Hondo.

In retirement, he and his wife Grace, an artist, educator and well known community activist, devoted their time to community activism family fighting for fairness, education and the environment. He and Grace were married for 67 years until she passed away in 2017. They had three children.

Joel, a Santa Fe based professor artist who contributed art for the Winter Olympics in 2002 Opening and closing ceremonies. Daniel, an original artist and recently retired science teacher and Linda, an immigration naturalization lawyer and photographer.

Yoshi passed at the young age of 100 years of age, leaving behind a tremendous legacy of heroism, activism and compassion during his lifetime. He received the Congressional gold medal in 2011, the bronze star for his service and the French Foreign legion medal in 2017.

His contributions to the Arch are carried through his students including Star Wars Academy Award winner, visual effects artist Lone Peterson, Rose Parade float designer Roald Rodriguez, graphic designer Don Strout, glass artist Trish Dugan, Amy Itachi, who helped co design the Seattle Seahawks logo for the National Football League.

His paintings and etching are in the Guggenheim Collection in New York and the Smithsonian institute in Washington, D.C. it is with great sadness that I ask we adjourn in memory of this great man who have given us so much for his country, his children, his family and his community. May he rest in peace. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Senator. The Senate shares its condolences, its gratitude and its admiration for the passing of a great Californian. Thank you for. For bringing it forward. Please bring his name to the desk so he may be appropriately memorialized. Senator Blakespear.

Thank you, Mr. President. I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Rosemary George Straley of La Jolla, a public servant, humanitarian and tireless champion for women and girls around the world.

Growing up in Southern California as the daughter of a free spirited, motorcycle riding Presbyterian minister, her curiosity about the world was ignited by the stories of the missionaries her family hosted. She lived an incredible life, earning a bachelor's and master's degree at Stanford and receiving a doctorate in education at Harvard.

Rosemary believed deeply that opportunity should never be limited by gender or geography. That belief shaped a lifetime of service. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy, she was among the first women to join the Peace Corps in 1961, serving in Ghana at a time when few women held positions of leadership in the Corps.

She became one of the first women to serve as a country Director, overseeing programs in Cameroon and helping to shape US International development during the Carter Administration. Her work eventually took her to more than 150 countries through roles with UNESCO, the World Bank, UNICEF and the United Nations Development Program.

Rosemary devoted her career to education, equity and the advancement of women and girls, not as an abstract ideal, but as a practical, urgent mission.

In 1979, she stood shoulder to shoulder with Members of Congress and leaders of civil rights, labor and women's movements who worked the phones, visited offices and counted votes to narrowly pass the Bill that established the U.S. Department of Education. That same commitment guided her post career work.

Beginning in the 1990s, Rosemary served as the national coordinator of the Hillary Support Network, proudly supporting Hillary Clinton as First Lady. And throughout her career, she worked tirelessly, traveling to many states to campaign for Hillary as she ran for President. After being deeply disappointed by the election's outcome, Rosemary boarded a ship taking college students around the world.

For six months, she taught students about global women's issues, often going ashore with them to visit with leaders she had befriended. In her work abroad, Rosemary was a passionate advocate for women's political leadership. At all levels of government.

She co founded Run Women Run, a San Diego based organization that has helped recruit, train and elect over 120 pro choice women to public office, a third of whom were women of color. Rosemary always remained deeply engaged and active in civic life, global affairs and women's rights.

She belonged to dozens of organizations and supported even more through generations generous philanthropy with the George Straley Foundation. In 2018, she received the inaugural Women of Empowerment Award, a fitting recognition for a life devoted to lifting others up.

As someone who serves on the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, I recognize how rare and powerful Rosemary's lifelong advocacy was. She didn't just open doors, she held them open, mentoring others to get through them and expecting women to excel with confidence. Rosemary Straley leaves behind a world measurably changed by her work.

A generation of women and girls who are stronger, more visible and more empowered because she believed in them. May we honor her by continuing that good work. Thank you.

Thank you. Senator Blakespear. The Senate joins in the recognition of a powerful California with with significant impact in our state and beyond. If there's no further business, Senator, Senate President Pro Tem Limon. The desk is clear.

Thank you. Members. Our next session is on Monday, March 2, 2026. Enjoy your weekend at 2:00pm Sorry? March 2, 2026 at 2:00pm Enjoy your weekend. Thank you.

The Senate is in recess until 3:30pm at which time the motion. The adjournment motion will be made. The Senate will reconvene on Monday, March 2, 2026 at 2:00pm PM.