Assembly Floor

Good morning. California Assembly is now in session. I know there are many Members here that notice the absence of a quorum. However, it is Assemblymember Wallis that articulated it so well. Sergeant Arms will prepare the chamber and bring in the absent Members. Clerk will call the roll.

[Roll Call] Mr. Speaker.

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

Please join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, this afternoon we pause to remember the opening words of our California state constitution. We, the people of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom. Lord, we are truly grateful for the gift of life, the blessing of liberty, and the honor of serving the people of this great state.

As we begin today's work, we ask for your guidance. Grant us strength to lead with diligence and integrity, humility to listen well, wisdom to choose what is right and the unity to serve the common good. Protect us from pride, selfish ambition, division and confusion.

May our decisions be shaped by justice, compassion and sincere desire to do what is best for California and our nation. We offer this prayer in your holy name. And I personally pray this in the name of my Lord and savior. Amen.

Members, over the weekend, six US Service Members were killed while serving our country. We recognize their courage, we honor their service and we extend our deepest condolences to the families and their loved ones. Let us observe a moment of silence in their honor.

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

Members, please put your right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin. I pledge.

May be seated. To our guests and visitors. Today, state law prohibits persons in the chamber from interfering with legislative proceedings or disrupting the orderly conduct of a 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 20, 2026 the Assembly met at 1pm The Honorable Josh Love, speaker for its employee. The Assembly presiding.

System Majority Leader Garcia moves and Ms. Sanchez seconds that the reading of the previous day's journal be dispensed with. Presentations of petitions. There are none. And introduction and reference of bills will be deferred. Reports of committees will be deemed read and amendments deemed adopted. Messages from the Governor? There are none. Messages from the Senate? There are none.

Moving on to motions and resolutions. The absences of the day will be deemed read and printed in the journal onto procedural motions. Assistant Majority Leader Garcia, you are recognized for your procedural motions.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker. I request unanimous consent to suspend Assembly rule 45.5 to allow Assembly Members Wilson, Aguiar-Curry and Ortega to speak on an adjournment memory today.

That objection. Such shall be the order.

I request unanimous consent to Suspend Assembly Rule 118A to allow Assembly Members Wilson and and Papen to have guests in the rear of the chamber today.

That objection. Such shall be the order.

I request unanimous consent to suspend the rules to withdraw SJR7 Cervantes from the economic Development Growth and Household Impact Committee and order it to the third reading file.

Got? Objection. Such shall be the order. Okay, Members, we are going to go. Okay, moving on to guest introductions. Madam Majority Leader, you are recognized for your guest introductions.

Thank you. It's my honor today to introduce Grace Valley Christian School. I don't know where the kids are. There's somewhere. There they are. Welcome to the Capitol. I hope you're having a wonderful time and get to go see all the wonderful old things that are in this building. Thanks for coming.

Welcome Grace Valley Christian. Welcome. Welcome Assemblymember Papan. You are recognized for your guest introduction.

Thank you so much. Mr. Speaker. As my guests are making their way up, I'd like to begin by saying I got a lot of hometown, hometown pride in the House today. So it is my great honor to recognize the outstanding student athletes of the College of San Mateo.

We have both the men's football team as well as the women's softball team coach. And they both are state champions. That's right. So joining us today are Jayden Moss. Jackson Holloway. Jeremiah Hill. Dallas Finne, Anofo Ali Collier. Kilo Melagar. Malachi Ross Graves. Malachi Ross Graves. Excuse me. And Quinton Togia.

So these remarkable athletes exemplified discipline and teamwork throughout their seasons. The football team that's right. Proudly secured their second consecutive state championship. So let's have it up for that one. People certainly are the team to beat.

At the same time, our women's softball team reclaimed the state championship title two years later after their last conquest, shall we say. And that's a testament, really, to the women's softball team's determination to take back the championship title. I'd also like to recognize the exceptional leadership behind these achievements.

We have softball head coach Jacqueline Madigan and football head coach Tim Tullock. Your membership and commitment to excellence, your mentorship and commitment to excellence have shaped not only championship teams, but strong leaders both on and off the field.

And I'm here to tell you, like, I see these athletes in and around our community and I just burst with pride like we were at a Martin Luther King train presentation and it started at like 8 in the morning.

Well, they'd already been to the gym and then they were at the Democratic convention in San Francisco this couple weeks ago. So they are pillars in their community outside of being scholar athletes. And I let's just give it up because they're amazing.

Let's go, San Mateo. Okay, Members, continuing on with guest introductions, Assemblymember Addis, you are recognized for your guest introduction.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members, it is my honor to welcome the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo BO Agricultural Leadership class who is standing up in the gallery. Because of their impressive backgrounds and academic accomplishments.

These students were selected to participate in leadership development here in the capitol and are meeting with elected officials whose and are meeting with elected officials who have policy ideas and influence over California agriculture.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's Agricultural leadership program provides hands on experience in agriculture and environmental sciences and equips students with the skills needed to be future leaders and educators in these fields. Joining them is their professor Anastasia Telecetsky, who should be congratulated for her dedication to developing the next generation of agricultural leaders.

So we are very proud to welcome this wonderful group of students from San Luis Obispo and thrilled that they could join us here today. Please join me with a hearty round of applause and welcome and appreciate these amazing students.

Welcome Cal Poly. Welcome. Welcome. Assistant Majority Leader Garcia, you were recognized for your guest introduction.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I am proud to introduce the Light of the World Youth group who have come from all over Southern California, including the Inland Empire to visit the legislator today. This youth group is led by Ricardo Ortega, the national Director in government relations for the Light of the World.

These kids are here to immerse themselves in the legislative process and learn about the work we do here in the Capitol. They actually had a mock Committee earlier today. Nurturing the future generation who are dedicated to public service is crucial because one day they will be here where we are today.

So please join me in welcoming the Light of the World Youth Group to the California Assembly. 300 strong today.

Welcome, Light of the World. Welcome.

Okay, last but not least, you can always trust the Josh's. Member Hoover, you are recognized for your guest introduction.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members, I'm happy and excited to introduce two foreign exchange students who are in the gallery today. Anna Hines is a Congress Bundestag Youth exchange student from Germany who is attending Folsom High School in my district. And Bibi Baratova, a Future Leaders exchange program student from Tajikistan.

Tajikistan Ponderosa High School in Shingle Springs, as well as my constituent, Alana Duel, a local volunteer with the American Field Service Intercultural Exchange Student Program. Alana joins us from Folsom. Please join me in welcoming my guests in the gallery. Thank you so much.

Okay, we are moving on to business on the Daily File. However, there is no business on the Daily File. Concurrence file items one and two, we are going to pass and retain. Reconsideration file items 3 through 5. All items shall be continued. Assembly, third reading, file item six and seven, we're going to pass and retain it.

Senate, third reading, file items 8 and 9, we're going to pass and retain. Members, we are now moving on to adjournments and 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 and memory. Please take conversations off the floor.

Assemblymember Ortega, you are recognized for your adjournment of memory.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Members. Today we adjourn in loving memory of Stephen Cassidy. Born on May 141960. The four. He was a devoted husband, father, attorney and public servant who devoted his life to community and putting people first.

Stephen passed away on December 5th of 2025 at the young age of 61, leaving behind his beloved wife and daughters, who join us today in the gallery. Steven began his public service career as a dedicated Member of the San Leandro Unified School District Board of Education.

But before he began his long road of public service, he was also a young actor and a Member of SAG and starred an NBC show called Big John, Little John. And if you ever met him, you could see by his smile and his beautiful rosy cheeks why he would have been chosen for that role.

Thanks to his steadfast advocacy, classrooms were modernized, academic and arts programs were enriched, campuses were made safer and more accessible, and pathways were paved for future affordable housing for school employees.

He was elected mayor of San Leandro, the city where I've called home for the last 20 years, where he served as mayor for four years with Vision and heart. Even after he left office, he remained deeply engaged in civic life long after his term ended.

He believed that government should serve the needs of all people, not just in words, but in action. As mayor, he spearheaded a public private partnership to build a high speed fiber optic broadband network, attracting technology and innovation firms and positioning our city of San Leandro as a forward looking city ready for the future.

But perhaps one of his most defining moments of leadership came when San Leandro's only acute care hospital faced closure. Refusing to let his community lose access to essential health services, Steven partnered with late supervisor Wilma Chan to guide San Leandro Hospital into public ownership under Alameda health system in 2013.

Because of his determination, emergency services, jobs and lives were saved. And he was my guiding principle for saving St. Rose Hospital and the neighboring city of Hayward. Throughout every chapter of his life, Stephen led with compassion, so much integrity and unwavering belief that strong institutions build strong communities.

His legacy lives on with his wife and his daughters, but also in the schools that he's improved, the hospitals that he helped save, and the countless lives that he touched.

May we honor his memory not only in words, but in our continued commitment to serve one another with the same courage and conviction that he so faithfully demonstrated with gratitude for his life and service. I ask that we adjourn in his memory.

Thank you, Assemblymember Ortega. Members, let us observe a moment of silence to honor the life of San Leandro Mayor Stephen Cassidy. Assemblymember Wilson, you are recognized for your adjournment in memory.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members, I rise today to adjourn in the memory of Joseph R. Martinez, a devoted advocate for the Solano County agricultural community. Joe was a dedicated farmer, educator and champion for local family owned farms. He passed away last month after a life's worth of service to agriculture and making exceptional contributions to the farming community.

We are joined today by Joe's family. Michelle Martinez, Brett Martinez, Robin Martinez, Hannah Sheehan, Jessica LaChapelle and Carly Beatty. Ryan Martinez, who couldn't be here today, is also in our thoughts. Joe was born to Isabel and Cristobal Martinez on April 251948.

He earned a degree in pomology from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and a teaching credential from the University of California, Davis. As President and CEO of Martinez Ranches, Joe led a company that oversees 1500 acres and offers custom work such as irrigation installations, harvesting and other services involving nurturing fruit and nut orchards.

Joe served with integrity at county and state levels as a long standing Member of the Solano County Farm Bureau and Solano Trust Board's of Directors, as well as the California Farm Bureau Board of directors representing District 11.

He was recently honored with the Solano County Farm Bureau Heritage Award and he was widely recognized as a mentor to many, a devoted family man and a champion of rural health care.

Joe's life demonstrated what can come to fruition when someone commits to cultivating not only the soil, but the strength, health and future of the community they love. Members, on behalf of the Assembly and the entire State of California, let us honor the life and service of Joseph R. Martinez and adjourn in his memory.

Thank you, Assemblymember Wilson. Madam Majority Leader, you are recognized for your adjournment and memory.

Thank you very much. Joe Martinez. My father was his instructor and he was a neighbor. His parents had a ranch just down around the corner from us at Apricots. We loved as kids to play in that field and they would irrigate it and it would be really, really muddy.

I can't tell you how many pairs of tennis shoes I lost in that field and how many times my mother was so upset that I lost my good pair of tennis shoes. But Joe would go find them. Joe had kind of a limp. He had a little bit of a limp, bad leg.

And when he was really young, he went up to the front doorstep of my parents house, rang the doorbell and he said, my name is Joe Martinez and I want to sell you a subscription to the Sacramento Bee. And my dad was just like amazed by this young kid that came up.

My dad said, no, no, I don't have enough money. And he goes, well, can I come back another day? The next day there was Joe Martinez again. Would you like to buy a subscription to Sacramento Bee? Finally, my father gave in to him.

And what my father found in that man was he was going to be a leader. Because his mom and dad were immigrants, they owned a small ranch. He helped take care of his wonderful two brothers that I remember so well as Emilio and Chris.

But they were always by his side and he never ever let those two down because they too had some disabilities. But he went and was with my father and learned about ffa. My dad taught him how to be a leader. And he took off with it. He won parliamentary procedure awards. He won star green hand award.

He was a public speaker. All these things that no one thought that Joe could ever do. And Joe proved every single one of those people wrong. See, he was raised in Winters, and everybody in winters knows each other.

In fact, he knew Winters so well is that when he heard our health care, our doctors, Dr. Corbin Young and Ernie Young could no longer keep the business. He found a way to keep the business of rural health care in Winters, California. And how did he do that? Because he had the network of all the farmers.

He would work with the farmers and talk to them about, can you contribute some money? How do we keep health care in winters? And he did that for years, banging on doors, asking people for money, trying to figure out grants. And so many people winners were so grateful for that.

Now, eventually we started getting bigger, and we ended up being a federally funded health care system, which is just incredible now serving so many people in our community. But Joe is special. I can see him right now going, zero, don't talk about me. You know, I got things to do.

He helped put in the walnut orchards right around our neighborhood. He come and realized who needed what kind of irrigation. He did all that stuff. And a lot of people didn't realize all the power that man had behind him.

So I stand here tonight today to say it opened my heart today to see the Cal Poly leadership group here, because those young men and women were at one time what Joe would do. Last week, we had the FFA here, and that was what Joe would do.

He won national awards, state awards, and no one thought he could do it. But my father said anyone that could sell me a Sacramento Bee and ask me millions of times when I didn't have any money, it was worth it. So Shelly and Ryan and I forgot you're the one.

And Brett, I want to thank you very much for sharing your father, all of you that are here. He would be so happy to see this little Robin, and God bless him. And I know he's with my dad trying to figure out what next project they could do. Thank you.

And may we end this evening by adjourning in peace for him. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam Majority Leader. Let us now observe a moment of silence to honor the life of this historic Californian, Joseph Martinez. Thank you. Members, please bring the names to the desk to be printed in the Journal. All requests to adjourn a memory will be deemed read and printed in the Journal.

Moving to announcements, a reminder for Members that your FPPC Form 700 is due today. Form should be submitted electronically. Questions may be directed to Patrick Fitzgerald, Chief Counsel to Assembly Legislative Ethics Committee. Again, Members, your Form 700 is due today. Following committees meet today. Budget Subcommitee 62:30pm In Capitol Room 447.

Transportation Committee at 2:30pm in Swing Space, Room 1100. Session schedules as follows Tuesday, March 3rd, check in session. Wednesday, March 4th, check in session. Thursday, March 5th floor session at 9:00am seeing and hearing no further business, I'm ready to entertain a motion to adjourn.

Assistant Majority Leader Garcia moves and Ms. Addis seconds that this House stands adjourned until Thursday, March 5th. At 9am Quorum call is lifted and we are adjourned.