Senate Floor

Secretary, we'll 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 morning by our chaplain, sister Michelle Gorman, after which please remain standing for the pledge of allegiance to the flag. Sister Gorman.

We gather in God's presence. God of life, the world feels fragile right now. War spreads, fear grows, many hearts are heavy with grief. Hold us steady in this moment. Help us remember that love still matters, that compassion still matters, that the work of tending life still matters.

Give us courage to keep planting seeds of goodness in our communities, in our relationships, in the fragile future we cannot yet see. Let fear not shrink our hearts. Gracious God, teach us to live with faithfulness in uncertain times. Amen.

Members, please join me in the pledge allegiance to the flag. I pledge allegiance. Thank you, members. We are going to move to privileges of the floor In one moment. Beginning under privileges of the floor, we have an in guest introduction by Senator McNerney.

Senator McNerney, you are recognized from the majority leader's desk.

Thank you, mister president. I'm proud today to introduce mister Rana Sekhar, counsel general of Canada in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, and miss Sylvie Bedard, acting counsel general of Canada in Los Angeles, on the senate floor today. They are accompanied by mister Andrew Fisher, director of US West and on behalf of Alberta, as well as representative of Mapleade, Canada's eighth largest institutional investors on the floor and in the gallery. Must be somewhere.

Mister Cicara has held the position of consul general of Canada in San Francisco and Silicon Valley since 2017, and is well regarded around the capital for his diligent work on behalf of California Canada relations.

His counterpart in Los Angeles, miss Bedard, was appointed acting counsel general in November 2025 and is making her first visit to the Senate Chamber. We welcome them both here today.

Members, let's welcome guests. The delegation they lead is visiting in association with their annual Canada Day at the capital, where key Canadian diplomats and business representatives travel to Sacramento to highlight the close relationship between California and Canada. While in Sacramento, the group has participated in program activities focusing on the many shared areas of cooperation between our two regions, including environmental protection, and, economic trade, and emergency assistance.

Canada serves as one of California's largest trading partners accounting for 18,360,000,000.00 in trade in 2024 alone, and its businesses support over 90,000 local jobs. President John f Kennedy, word words remind us geography made us neighbors, history made us friends, economics made us partners.

With our shared interests and active exchanges, we expect the relationship between our two regions to flourish. Please join me in giving a warm California senate welcome to our special guest from Canada.

Senators, we have more guest introductions to do. And from the majority leader's desk, our next next guest introduction is from Senator Niello. Senator Niello, you are recognized from the majority leader's desk.

Thank you very much, mister president. I have a very special, introduction this morning. And I hope you all will join me in congratulating and acknowledging a group of athletes from my district, a soccer team known as the under eleven San Juan spirits. This is the competitive level of youth soccer, which is the highest level, and the San Juan, club is, one of the premier clubs in our area.

This team has been undefeated this fall season, making them region champions, winning tournaments all over Sacramento and the Bay Area.

That is a total of 39 games in a row. And get this, a 162 goals scored. They show no mercy. On March 1, they won the NorCal State Cup premier trophy, making them the number one team in their age group in Northern And Central California. On March 15, after winning the state cup, they won the first ever pre ENCL top soccer tournament playing against teams from the Bay Area and Texas and Washington state.

But wait, there's more. We're celebrating them today because not only have they won the state cup tournament, but tomorrow, these girls head to San Diego to lay around all weekend and enjoy the beach, except they do have they do have a few soccer soccer games. They will play two teams in Southern California to hopefully be named the top team in our entire state.

So if you ask the girls what they attribute their their success to, they will say, and this is a quote, I'm sure from one of them. They have a coach who believes in them and works really hard to train them.

They all really like each other and are friends and happy for each other when they do good stuff. And these kids are doing good stuff. So let me introduce each one of them. Yuval Evanary, you can wave your hand when I say your name. Olivia Babb, Harper Blandford, Marion Elbasiti, Sofia Eslinger, Ari Ariel Gray, Autumn Grace, Aria Candola, Juliana Kistner, Novella McCallister, Anne Rooney, or is it Annie?

Either one. Hannah Sheldon, Maya Woods, who is the daughter of our own Maclina Woods, a part of our Senate family here, and she played soccer with my daughter several years ago. Well, a few years ago. And Zaylee Zirhuizen and coach Haley Jones. Please join me in not only recognizing them, but wishing them good luck for this season.

Members may join for a group photo in the back. And members, we have more business to do today, and I'm sure you're motivated to get it done. So if you will return to your desk as soon as possible. Members without objection, we will move to senate third reading to take up file item 47, SR 89 by Senator Alvarado Gill and file item 45, s c r one forty seven by Senator Allen.

After adoption of each resolution, we will return to privileges of the floor for the senators to for each Senator to introduce guests.

Moving to item 47, sr 89, Alvarado-Gil from the majority's desk. You secretary, please read.

Thank you, mister president. Today, I rise as the author of sr 89, recognizing 03/17/2026 as profound autism day.

If you can wait just one second. Secretary has to read.

Senate Resolution 89 by Senator Alvarado-Gil relative to profound autism day.

And Senator, your anxiousness

Thank you. Thank you so much, mister president. Again, I rise as co as the author of SR 89 recognizing 03/17/2026 as profound autism day in California. For generations, our understanding of autism has evolved dramatically from its earliest and most basic description to the recognition that there exists a broad spectrum of experiences. The term autism was first coined in 1911 by psychiatrist Ujane Boulleur, and in 1943, doctor Liir Kanner's landmark work identified distinct behaviors that laid the foundation for autism spectrum research.

In the nineteen seventies, psychiatrist Lorna Wing introduced the concept of autism spectrum, acknowledging that the wide range of traits and support needs. The 2013 DSM-five established a three level severity scale, yet it often falls short in capturing the profound challenges faced by those with significant intellectual disabilities and minimal or no verbal communication. In 2021, the Lancet Commission formally introduced the designation of profound autism Senator. Describe individuals who require round the clock care and assistance with daily activities.

Senator, if you can give me just one moment. Members, if you would take your conversations off the floor. It is pretty loud on the floor right now. I've gaveled twice. So let's give our colleague attention on her presentation. Otherwise, take your conversations off the floor.

Thank you. So the Lancet Commission did introduce the designation of profound autism, which describes individuals who require round the clock care and assistance with daily activities. These are twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. This term provides families, clinicians, and advocates with a crucial tool to highlight intense lifelong needs to, of this group.

The Federal Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in 2023 report analyzing data from 2000 to 2016, finding that twenty six point seven percent of eight year old children identified with autism spectrum disorder, meeting the criteria for profound autism, defined as nonverbal or minimally verbal with an IQ below 50.

These children are more likely to be female from racial and ethnic minority groups of lower socioeconomic status and to experience additional challenges like self injurious behaviors, seizure disorders, and significantly lower adaptive functioning. Yet despite representing more than one in four individuals on the spectrum, those with profound autism remain underrepresented in research. In 2019, study revealed that only about six percent of clinical autism research studies include participants with profound autism, creating a serious gap in our medical, behavioral, therapeutic understanding.

Organizations like the Profound Autism Alliance, a nonprofit that was founded only in 2023, are working tirelessly to close this gap through dedicated research, specialized services, and advocacy for this historically overlooked population. In 2025, 15 states across the nation recognized profound autism day to build greater awareness and support.

This is the first year that here in California, we join those 15 states to honor profound autism day. In our state with its diverse communities and high autism presence, including rural areas where families often face limited resources, these individuals and their caregivers deserve focused attention. Profound autism demands specialized lifelong support from safe residential options and medical care to behavioral interventions that prioritize dignity, safety, and quality of life. We cannot allow this group to be left behind as we advance broader autism awareness.

The call to action today is this. I ask us to come together, lawmakers, families, providers, and communities to increase research inclusion, expand our services, and ensure that every person with profound autism is treated with the respect, care, and opportunity they deserve. No excuses and no halfway measures. This is a vulnerable population that must have the resources and recognition that they need right now and for the long term, and we have the power in this house and in our neighboring house to do that.

I urge my colleagues to join me with an aye vote with this resolution honoring 03/17/2026 as profound autism day in California and committing to stronger efforts that affirm the dignity and full inclusion of those living with profound autism.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Valadares, you are recognized for your

Thank you, mister president. I also rise in support of SR 89. My family is one that has been impacted or touched by autism. It's actually what launched my advocacy advocacy career in early intervention and eventually to become the executive director of Southern California Autism Speaks. My niece was diagnosed as severely developmentally delayed nonverbal and on the autism spectrum when she was two and a half years old.

And because of early intervention services and a lot of family support, she's now finishing her second year at Northwestern. So today, on profound autism day, I think it's appropriate to recognize families who are navigating some of the most complex around the clock needs with strength and with love. According to the CDC, about one in thirty six children is diagnosed with autism and a significant portion of those individuals have profound autism requiring lifelong support. These families aren't asking for sympathy.

They're asking for resources, for services, and a system that actually shows up for them.

We see you. We value you. And we have a responsibility to make sure that no family is left to do this alone. I respectfully urge an aye vote.

Thank you, Senator. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Senator, you are recognized to close.

Thank you so much. Thank you for your support. Thank you for listening today, and thank you to the president for asking for decorum on the floor. I urge an aye vote.

Thank you, and thank you members for your cooperation. Secretary, please call roll.

[Roll Call]

Aye. 35. No zero. The resolution is adopted. Members, we're moving back to privileges of the floor for guest introduction.

Senator Alvarado-Gil, you have guests to introduce.

Thank you again, mister president. I'd like to introduce an exceptional family, the Sirocco family. Megan, Gerald, Angela, Joshua, and Christine. Together, they are here supporting Angela, who was born on Christmas Eve, same day I was born. But she was born with Down syndrome and a heart condition that required surgery before she could even nurse.

In 2024, just as she was preparing to age out of school, a time where Californians look at prom, look at graduation, look at their future, She survived a massive brain clot and stroke. Angela is a fighter who has spent twenty two years defying every medical odd, living with a complex dual diagnosis of Down syndrome and profound autism. But in December 2024, Angela hit a political brick wall even she could not overcome. When most students are graduating high school, we give them a path forward. When Angela aged out, she, her entire support system vanished.

Despite her family's best efforts, she was placed on a two to four year wait list, a two to four year wait list for adult services. Because she's nonverbal and requires one to one care, no program in California is currently equipped to accept her. In a state with profound resources, we are failing in caring for the transition age adults with complex needs.

Angela's story is a call to action for every member of this chamber because when we allow our most vulnerable citizens to fall into a service cliff the moment they turn 22, we are failing our promise of inclusion and dignity and respect for every Californian. Neighboring states have prioritized funding for programs that would give Angela and the Sirocco family the support that they need.

Yet here in California, we have Angela and her family who deserve more than a wait list. They deserve a profound life. So please join me in welcoming Angela and her family to the Senate.

Thank you, members. Group photos are you asking for a group photo? Members, if you would like to take a group photo, please join in the back of the chamber.

Thank you, members. Group photos are you asking for a group photo? Members, if you would like to take a group photo, please join in the back of the chamber.

Members, we will be moving back to senate third reading to take up file item 45, SCR 147 by Senator Allen from the majority leader. Secretary, please read.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 147 by Senator Allen relative to arts education month.

Senator Allen, you are recognized.

Thank you so much, mister president. Members, I proud to rise to present SCR one forty seven, which proclaims March 2026 as Arts Education Month.

As the chair of the joint committee on the arts, I've had the great privilege of working with wonderful arts and culture organizations around the state to talk about how we can expand access to arts education and instill the values of creativity and expression and empathy in all young Californians, From Hollywood to Silicon Valley, digital innovation, to the dreams and legends that brought people West in the first place, Californians have always been storytellers, and the ideas that come from our state have shaped industries and technologies and public policy and our culture across the nation, ideas that come that grow out of our culture of creativity, innovation, and curiosity.

Across our public school curricula, there's no substitute for critical thinking skills and social emotional growth and adaptability that our students gain through exposure to the creative arts. And the lessons in creativity brought out in arts education are especially critical today as students grapple with lingering effects on attendance, communication, and social interaction brought on by the pandemic, increasing phone addiction, and now the transformative effects of AI in our schools and workplaces.

We also know that an arts education can connect to students that are most disconnected from from the traditional curriculum. Kids that are oftentimes most at risk of dropping out or failing are able to connect to a strong arts curriculum in a way that the other portions of the curriculum sometimes don't connect with them and will keep them in school, keep them engaged, telling them that they're good at they can stay there, they have a place there.

So by remaining committed to making arts education programs accessible to all of our students, we're investing in the culturally rich communities and world class career opportunities that they will inherit. Members, please join me in celebrating the many Californians working in the arts and in arts education, our wonderful arts educators around our state, reiterating this body's commitment to preparing our young Californians for success. And I ask for an aye vote on SCR 147

Seeing no microphones raised for discussion or debate, secretary, please call roll.

[Roll Call]

Ayes, 37. No zero. The resolution is adopted. Moving to privileges of the floor, Senator Allen, you have guests to recognize.

Yeah. Members, in in honor of arts education month, it's my great privilege to welcome to the senate chamber doctor Matthew Espino Sacastro, who is an assistant professor of education at Sacramento State University and a member of the board of directors for CREATE California. He's here with his wonderful wife, Maria, who is a scientist, so I said they're gonna have the smartest kids in town.

CREATE California, on which, Matt serves as a as a board member, it's a statewide nonprofit that's devoted to advancing arts education policy and expanding access to arts education programs across the state. And not only does, Matthew hold degrees in elementary education, Spanish, theater, second language studies, and educational leadership.

He's also an actor, director, and practitioner of Chicano theater here in Sacramento. Matt's unique background as an artist and educational equity professional has given him the opportunity to address shortcomings in our school districts and craft more effective policies. He works very deeply in teacher training, helping our teachers be more effective educators. His years of experience in the arts and dedication to holistic educational policy provide invaluable expertise to help guide Create California's pursuit of advancing high quality arts education for all Californians.

And in addition to Doctor Espinosa, we're joined in the gallery today by some local arts community leaders from Friends of Sacramento Arts, including Executive Director Allison Kavli, who's here, Robin Fisher of Claire Railey Studios for the Performing Arts Terrace System Pitaro with Sofia and B Street Theater, a couple other wonderful arts practitioners as well, so we very much appreciate you and all your commitment to our thriving arts community here in our state's capital.

So in recognition of the work that all of these wonderful arts practitioners and educators have invested in expanding to arts education programs. Please join me in welcoming Doctor. Matthew Espinoza Castro to the California Senate.

Members join for group picture. Thank you, members. We will continue with business of the day. 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 under motions motions, resolutions, and notices. Any member wish to be recognized? Seeing none, we will move to consideration of the daily file, second reading file, items one through eight. Secretary, please read.

[Second Reading]

Thank you, Senate, senators. We are moving to, third reading file. Senate third reading file with item 34, SCR 141 Wahab. Secretary, please read.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 141 by Senator Wahab relative to women's equal pay day.

Senator Wahab, you are recognized.

Thank you. I rise to present SCR 141 to recognize 03/26/2026 as Women's Equal Pay Day in California. Let's be clear about what this day represents. Women are still being paid less for the same work. Nationally, white women working full time earn about 82¢for every dollar paid to men.

And for many women of color, it drops to about 58¢. That's not a gap, that's a pattern. And over a lifetime, it costs women hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost wages. That's real. Lost earnings never to be captured again.

This isn't a theoretical issue around fairness. It's about dollars and cents, whether families can pay rent, afford childcare, and build for the future. I wanna be very clear, women still are the ones that are now the breadwinners, the child caretakers, are adult caretakers and so much of the burden of society lies on the backs of women and they are still not treated equally. In California, we pride ourselves on leading and leadership means closing this gap, not just acknowledging it.

Equal pay requires transparency, accountability, and real enforcement because equal work deserves equal pay. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Smallwood Cuevas, you are recognized.

Thank you, mister president. And I wanna thank the author for this great amazing resolution. And today, I rise in support of SCR 141. This day is not just to celebrate equal pay day, but to tell the truth. I'm standing representing the Legislative Black Caucus, and the truth is that the American economy was built on a system of slavery.

And at the center of that system were black women whose labor was exploited, whose bodies were controlled, and whose humanity was denied. The lowest quality jobs in this country, often done by women, domestic work, agricultural labor, caregiving. These were slave jobs, and they remain, even today, some of the most undervalued and unprotected work in our economy.

While women across this nation fought and continue to fight for equal rights, black women were forced for generations into equal work and unwaged labor under the harshest conditions, enduring workplace violence, sexual exploitation, and even forced breeding schemes to sustain a brutal economic system. We understand that the the nation's history is still contains a living thread that is older than the very founding of this nation, And we still see the economic injustice and the disparities when it comes to women.

And women continue to be long paid less than men for the same work. And while that gap persists across the board, black women are hit the hardest. They show up every day, lead in their households, empower our economy, yet still face barriers in hiring, pay, and advancement, and are paid less for the same work. The reality is clear. Black women are among the most educated in this country.

In California, 41% have college degrees, and many are the primary breadwinners in their households. However, they earn less than 60¢on the dollar, of every dollar paid to white men. Same work, less pay. This is not just a gap. It is a pattern that reflects generations of inequity where black women have been asked to do more, carry more, and receive less.

SCR 141 affirms our commitment to ensuring that black women and all women are recognized, respected, and paid equitably for their work. California has long stood up for working families. And during Women's History Month, that means ensuring women are paid fairly for their work. And I respectfully ask for an aye vote

Thank you, Senator. Senator Caballero, you are recognized.

Thank you, mister president. I wanna commend my good friend from the Bay Area for, proposing bringing this back, to allow us to have a discussion about what do we mean by equal pay day. This is a really critically important discussion to have, because as my good friend from Los Angeles said, this is much of the discussion or much of the focus needs to be on our history and on how we got here.

Because it's one thing to say, okay, you know, here in the Senate, we all earn the same pay whether you're a woman or a man, but it's it's also important to understand that the jobs that women do are the jobs that are most important to our families. It's taking care of the kids.

It's cleaning the house. It's washing the clothes. It is, it's all the tasks associated with teaching children, whether it's early childhood education, whether it's literacy, all of those things are important jobs and yet women are overrepresented in the workforce. And is it any surprise that they're paid less than what they should be if, if we were placing a value on it that was important?

So as we talk about pay equity, we have to recognize that, many of the jobs that we have in our in our communities that are held by women are held by immigrant women and women of color.

And when they come and they work hard and they they are raising families, they're having to do it on a salary that is very difficult for them to maintain, the family. And so when we do not appreciate women's work, when we do not recognize that, that they should be paid, then we set up a a system where women cannot leave abusive families. They can't live on their own.

They are reliant on social services to maintain a lifestyle that will allow them to feed their kids and not end up homeless, and and that's unacceptable. So as we talk about equal pay for equal work, I I wanna remind our brothers and sisters that this is a really important discussion to have and that we need to recognize that women are really important to our economy and that, they deserve better. I respectfully ask for your aye vote on SCR 141

Thank you. Senator, seeing no further discussion or debate, Senator, you may close.

Thank you. I think that we have heard it from across the state and from women leaders here. Women are done being underpaid, undervalued, and told to wait. The pay gap is not an accident. It is a policy failure across the board.

Equal Payday is what happens when discrimination shows up in our paycheck. You know, the honest truth is closing the pay gap is not radical. It is basic fairness. And the reality that has been mentioned by my colleagues is very clear. Women actually suffer in society far more than any other gender.

They work hard. They raise families. They take care of their elders and so much more, and yet we still see that they are paid less. It it's about time that we actually, you know, figure out how can we ensure that women are paid equally. Equal pay for equal work, and that is what we all agree upon. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator. And without objection, members, we can use the unanimous roll call. Seeing no objection, ayes 37, no zero. The resolution is adopted. Members, we are moving to assembly third reading, item 57, ab 2156. Senate Pro Tem madam Pro Tem, you are recognized from

Thank you.

Post secretary, please read. My apologies.

Assembly bill 2156 by Assemblymember Rivas, an act relating to state holidays and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately.

Madam Pro Tem, you are recognized.

Thank you. Members, AB 2156 requires the governor to proclaim March 31 as farm worker day. The bill comes in light of recent accounts from brave sexual assault survivors whose truths have prompted swift action by the legislature. The California legislature thanks the survivors for sharing their truth and hopes that by renaming this day, we are supporting the values of the movement of dignity and justice. From the start of the movement, the work to protect and advance farmworker rights was centered on community.

From the migrant workers who traveled hundreds of miles, season to season to pick the food that we eat, to the children who moved with their parents as they worked hard to make ends meet. The farmworker movement is about the thousands of women and men whose hard work not only feeds our nation, but creates lasting change. For years, our farm workers faced harsh conditions, working long hours in extreme heat, exposed to dangerous chemicals, paid low wages.

Through years of organizing, hundreds of strikes, boycotts, and a demand for fair treatment, our farm workers won better pay, safer working conditions, and the right to form a union. That work is ongoing and it's still necessary today.

Just last year, we saw the federal government carry out one of the largest raids against farm workers in California state history right in my district. The same people that we are honoring today have been repeatedly demonized and targeted. I saw how our farm workers were rounded up while doing the critical work of feeding our country and torn apart from their families. We cannot forget Jaime Alanis Garcia, a farmworker who died while being chased by ICE agents during those raids.

His death is a reminder of how much farm workers risk every day to put food on our table.

Our farm workers remind us that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. Farmworker day is a recognition of a movement, a movement that has fed this nation, whose hard work and dedication to agriculture drives our state economy and lives and their lives and their work inspires us to push for a better California. As we remember and reflect on the work that farm workers do, May we remember their contributions and their struggles from the past and the present and as we go forward. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, madam pro tem. Senator Gonzales, you are recognized.

Thank you, mister president. And on behalf of the California Legislative Latino Caucus, comprised of 38 members that represent every corner of the state of California, with our over fifty year history, I ask and rise in support with madame pro tem on AB 2156 and the naming of March 31 as Farmworker's Day.

As mentioned, since the founding of the Latino caucus over fifty years ago, we have fought for the interests of our state's farm workers who were Latino, Afro Latino, API, and were so incredibly important to this state. Those that toiled struggled in survival feeding the nation and built a movement. They were termed essential workers and they are the representation of the great mosaic of diversity that defines us today.

Many, if not most, are immigrants seeking the American dream. They hail from all parts of the globe and they contribute to our state in countless ways. So many that are here today are sons and daughters of farm workers and most importantly, their work had empowered us to be the fourth largest economy. And their bravery also supported the fight to secure essential worker rights and recognition of their humanity. It is it was their collective actions that brought justice, their collective action that brought representation and equity.

And this holiday will be a time for all Californians to honor them and advance the lives of every farm worker. And while the circumstances that brought us here today are extremely tragic, they were heavy for many of us in the caucus. We reflect and uplift survivors, and and ensure that we are advancing an important message, that they too, are part of that message, and this was very long overdue.

In honor of everyone who has proudly worked the fields past and present, for the sons and daughters that are represented here today, I urge your support for AB 2156.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Padilla, you are recognized.

Thank you very much, mister president. Colleagues, they rise in support. Obviously, a difficult few weeks, but an opportunity as well to reorient and to refocus and to remember the origins and the spirit and the beating hearts and the labor and the souls of the collective people who made up the movement that recognizes and lifts up the conditions and situations and circumstances for farmworkers. As someone who has a personal connection to folks who helped organize that movement many decades ago, last few weeks have been a little tough.

But it also reoriented me to remember that a movement is collective action. It is never about any individual as vaunted circumstantially as they may or may not be.

This is an opportunity to lift up those beating hearts, those working hands that toil all the time to feed themselves and to feed all of us and to soberly reflect and to acknowledge that we as a body and as a community will always stand with those who are exploited, those who are harmed, those who are preyed upon, and those who have the courage and the strength as survivors to stand and be heard. Some of whom are dear friends. So I respectfully ask for my vote.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Valadares, you are recognized.

Thank you, mister president and members. Today, I rise as both the cochair of the Hispanic Caucus and as a proud coauthor of Farm Workers Day. This recognition is deeply personal to me. My family came to Bakersfield in 1911 and 1917. They lived in tents for years until my great grandfather saved enough money to buy land and build a home on Myrtle Street in Lamont.

And I still talk about that house with my dad and my aunts to this day. The pomegranate tree in the yard, the best you'd ever taste. But when I think what I think about more is everything it took to get there. My grandfather, Juan, was one of nine siblings. My grandmother grandmother Rachel was one of 11 sisters.

Every single one of them worked in the fields. Grapes, peaches, onions, cotton, watermelon, wherever the work was, they went. My great grandmother Lupe would wake up at 03:30 in the morning to make breakfast, to pack lunches, and to then to head out to the fields herself for a twelve to sixteen hour shift. And when I hear those stories still today, it doesn't feel like history. It feels like something that still lives in me, in my family, because that was their life.

Long days in the heat of Kern, Delano, Tulare, Taft, too often without reliable water, without rest, without even basic facilities, wages that changed with the season, families that moved constantly just to survive, And for generations, farm workers were excluded from basic labor protections. No overtime, limited rights, little ability to change wage theft, and that is a part of our history. And yes, the labor movement brought needed change. It gave farm workers a voice and protection they had long been denied.

But my family also remembers the complexity of that time, stories of intimidation, families caught in the middle because history is rarely simple.

What I remember most from my grandmother's stories is that farm workers came from everywhere. Filipino, Mexican, Japanese, black, Portuguese, different journeys, but the same hands in the soil. The same goal. Build something better for their children. And at times, even our country recognized that need, like during World War II with the Bracero program, bringing workers legally to sustain American agriculture.

Because that work has always mattered and the people who do it have always mattered. My grandparents eventually left the fields of Pacoima the fields for Pacoima and my grandfather got a job with LA County Flood Control, not because farm work wasn't honorable, but because they wanted something more for their kids. My dad worked in the fields every summer though, and when he became a young father, he went back to do it again to provide.

And I remember him telling me very frequently, this is why I push you, so you have choices. And even now, every time I drive out to Bakersfield, I look out at those fields, and I don't just see crops.

I see my family. I see my great grandmother waking up before the sun. I see my grandmother in a packing house. I see my dad as a young dad working to provide for us. And I know that behind every field in California, there is a family story like mine.

So when we talk about honoring farm workers, this is not about one person. This is not about one narrative. It's about honoring generations of sacrifice, of resilience and hope. Because no one person owns this story. There are thousands of stories like mine rooted in the fields of California.

And today, I get to stand here as their granddaughter, the daughter of a farmworker, the granddaughter of a farmworker, the great granddaughter of a farmworker, and somehow their story didn't end in those fields. Their granddaughter is now a state Senator standing on this floor telling their story, honoring farm workers across California. A respectfully urgent I vote.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Cabaldon, you are recognized.

Thank you, mister president. I too rise in support. 09/08/1965 in Delano at the Filipino Community Hall, the place where the community would come together for birthdays, for weddings, to roast a pig, to celebrate. That night, Filipino farm workers came from throughout the region for a raucous debate and discussion and a fight and a battle. Should we strike?

Should we strike in the fields? And if we do, will anyone else support us? Or will the story of California that has been happening since the mission era repeat itself once again? If we strike, will someone else come in to take our jobs? Will even anyone in our own community back us up in this strike effort?

For eight days, they were arrested by the sheriff. They were killed. They were all evicted from their their their farm provided housing. Eight days, eight days waiting, fighting, wondering whether or not they would succeed. And they did, and they did because it became a multiracial fight eight days after that 09/08/1965.

And many communities came together, the Mexican American and Filipino American communities in particular, but many communities came together for the first time in our history. You do go back to the mission era. Then those were the first farm workers in California indentured, enslaved by by the missions to work the fields. But then after that period ended, we started importing Chinese labor to come to this to this state to make our economy prosper, to build opportunity. But then our racism overtook our our commitment to economic prosperity.

We just couldn't live any longer as a state with Chinese Americans in our midst. And so we pushed The United States to exclude all Chinese immigrants in 1888 through the Chinese Exclusion Act. And then as we did so many times after, found ourselves with no one to provide, no one to pick the grapes and the lettuce and everything else in California. And so then we said, how about Japanese immigrants? Why don't we bring them here?

And so Japanese folks came to this state and to this country to work the fields and to make California prosper and make us grow. And by 1912-1920 we were at it again. Who brought all these Japanese folks here? What are they doing here? They're taking our jobs, and we we push for the passage of the alien land law to prevent Japanese Americans from owning the very farms at which we're producing our food.

1920 then, after they were excluded, the Filipino population in California went up by 10 times because between 1920 and 1930, Filipinos were the new the new labor force, the new farm workers for California. And they could not be deported. We could not be excluded because The Philippines was a colony, a protectorate, a territory of possession of The United States. We could not be deported.

And as Filipino Americans came to California, they began labor organizing because so many of them had come from the sugar plantations in Hawaii and along with the International Longshore Women's Union developed a taste for organizing, for civil rights, for equity.

And they fought in the Watsonville riots, for lettuce organizing even when the AFL would not recognize their Filipino union, all the way through the forties and fifties. And in 1965, that September 8 night, that happened because just months before in Coachella, they had the Filipino, farm workers had won a 10¢per hour wage increase from a dollar 40. A 10¢per hour wage increase.

And as they migrated as they did each year to Delano to work the fields of the Southern San Joaquin Valley, there the growers said, no. We will not give a 10¢increase.

And if that is what let that along with the horrible living and working conditions caused that strike. So our story of farm workers in California is so is so diverse. It is so rich, but it is also the story of California's dark side and how we've had to reconcile our distaste for diversity with our desire for economic power and prosperity. And it is why we also we celebrate and why we continue the work, today.

And so I rise in support because it is absolutely essential that more than any other class of workers in California, farm workers tell our story at its at its best, often at its worst. The lessons of how we can become better and how we must, I urge an aye vote.

Thank you. Senator Rubio, you're recognized.

Thank you, mister president. Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, today, I rise to speak on this bill first and foremost as a victim's advocate. To add my name in support of proclaiming March 31 as Farmworker Day. In recent days, we have seen deeply troubling reports that remind us of a painful truth. Victims often carry their pain in silence for years before they feel safe enough to come forward.

And when they do, they need us to not dismiss them or doubt them, but to offer support. And whether the harm came from a trusted leader or someone in their own home or their community, we have a responsibility to listen carefully, compassionately, and without prejudice. As someone who understands physical and emotional abuse and has secured multiple restraining orders, I can attest. There's nothing more harmful to a victim than to be questioned when the evidence is clear and compelling.

We must do better as society, not only in how we respond when victims come forward, but how we create spaces when they feel so they feel safe enough to come forward.

Because justice begins when we start listening. So today, we stand with victims, past, present, and those still finding their voice in this moment. I'm so proud of this legislature and taking swift bipartisan action to remove the name of a person who according to personal and compelling accounts by victims violated a community's trust. And as difficult or conflicting as this moment is for so many of us, we must acknowledge the victim's pain and trauma. I wanna commend the women who have come forward.

I know it wasn't easy, and I know they're still going through their trauma. Their courage matters, and their voices matters.

And as we make this change to farmworker day, we are making a broader statement to honor farmworkers who have labored day in and day out, long hours in the hot sun and unbearable conditions to put food on our table and sustain our communities, which have included people like my father who came over as a worker who worked so many hours, who had calluses on his hands, and spoke about the indignity and the hard labor and the conditions they had to endure.

Those are the people we need to thank. We're choosing to elevate their dignity and their work.

Today, we recognize their sacrifices and their contributions. And today, by changing the name to Farmworker Day, we reaffirm our gratitude to good, hardworking people who work hard on behalf of their families, who come here for opportunities, and do the work that most people couldn't do or don't wanna do. So today, we honor their their history, their legacy, and the opportunities that they have given so many of us like myself.

And I heard my colleague earlier speak to the honor of being on this floor and con coming from a farm worker. So today, I also wanna honor everyone's parents here who have been on those fields and who have fed us. With that, I respectfully ask for an aye vote. Thank you.

Senator Grove, you are recognized.

Thank you, mister president. Colleagues today, I rise in support of AB 2156 which renames Cesar Chavez Day as Farmworker Day. I was raised in a small town town called Arvin, California by a single mom, where I was the guerra, the gringa. And I lived next door to some of my best the best eight childhood friends you could ever have. I would name them all, but you guys probably wouldn't think I would remember them, but they are.

They're Maria, Sofia, Mercedes, Isabelle Juan, Elias, Susanna, and Angelica. The Sierras, and often we would spend summers in the fields while the senior Elias would go check as the farm manager the grapes and things like that. And I did work in in the Uvas and Savoyas in the summers as a childhood friend, earning a little bit of extra money. Some of my friends, that were childhood friends are still toiling the soil today.

California's agriculture is the backbone of our state's economy, and nowhere is that more evident than Kern, Tulare, and Fresno Counties, where it's the top three food producing counties in the nation.

These regions are among the most productive agriculture areas in the world, feeding millions of families across our state and beyond. But none of that happens without the men and women in the fields. Farm workers perform some of the most physically demanding essential work in our state in order to make food available at our kitchen tables. This bill is about recognizing the whole totality of the farming industry and the farm workers that depend on it.

We need to be serious about recognizing farm workers as we are today, but also we must be serious about supporting the entire agricultural industry they depend on.

That means reliable water because with where water flows, food grows, and it doesn't if it doesn't flow, then fields go fallow and jobs and food disappear. Fertile fallowed farmland is disappearing every day in place of solar fields. Colleagues can't eat solar panels, and farm workers don't have jobs in the industry if there's no crops growing.

It means policies that keep farming viable here in California and not exporting the products or the food or the commodities that we eat out to other states or for that matter other countries. You cannot support farm workers while undermining the farms that employ them.

Farm workers don't exist in a vacuum. Their livelihoods depend on a healthy, sustainable agricultural industry. And the food that we grow here is some of the greatest food in the world. And we have a process where we control the the chemicals and things that are put on the foods that we eat, that we control out of this building. And it's some of the healthiest food that you can eat anywhere in the world.

Farm workers don't exist in a vacuum. Their livelihoods depend on a healthy, sustainable agricultural industry. And the food that we grow here is some of the greatest food in the world. And we have a process where we control the the chemicals and things that are put on the foods that we eat, that we control out of this building. And it's some of the healthiest food that you can eat anywhere in the world.

This is about more than recognition. It's about protecting the workforce that feeds the state and the nation and the surrounding industry that protects their jobs and their livelihood. Respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Senator Hurtado, you are recognized.

Thank you, mister president. I rise in support of AB 2,156. As one of, the senators representing Bakersfield and also representing one of the largest agricultural regions in the state if not probably the world, fighting for farm workers has always been a priority for me because of the area that I represent, because of the history that I have. Coming from you know immigrant parents that work in the fields, that worked in poultry, that worked in packing houses.

It it almost seems like their stories have gone unheard you know here in Sacramento and in DC. So coming to Sacramento almost eight years ago has been about fighting for my neighbors, my friends, and yes my own family as well. And it it seems like there's still a lot more work to be done in this space.

Today we are acknowledging farmworker day in the state of California, but we must be able to practice it as well because we know there's a lot of issues that they're facing at the moment that have gone unheard and I hope that we as we move forward that we also reconsider some of those issues that that that are really hurting them at this moment. With that I respectfully ask for an aye vote on this measure.

Senator Choi, you're recognized.

Thank you, chair. I rise myself for, you know, for strong support of this, ballot measure AB 2,156, recognizing as a California farmer's Farmer's Day. As we, are so blessed in California with the, rich, fertile land and the weather. We produce so much food. However, somebody has to work on the field, and we know and we have heard how difficult times the farm workers have gone through and from generation to generation from many different ethnic backgrounds.

And to to solve the problem, many different ethnic groups have been imported here and then mistreated in this country. I would like to, myself, remind you that Korean Americans are part of that group who came early 1903 as we celebrate the Korean American Day as first group immigration day in 1903. 2,102 farm workers landed in Hawaii as a sugar plant farm workers. And they were treated so badly and underpaid. And their stories have also many individual suffering stories behind.

When I landed in Hilo, Hawaii during my peace call time, I heard I encountered those first generation people and who are living there, second generation, third generation in that land. From there, a group of people moved to the to California, and they worked on many different farms. And they migrated to Southern California, and they picked the oranges and the strawberries, things like that. And then those farm workers with the minimum pay, and that error happened to be the ... very struggling

time for independence from Japanese. So they gathered funds for Korean independence and sent to Doseon An Chang Ho under his leadership. As we know, in California, we recognize Doseon An Chang ho day. We proclaimed and we attribute to his contributions for educating Korean farm workers who organize and work hard so that they would be recognized and that his legacy is continuing. And Young Koreans Academy is was built in Los Angeles, and that has been designated as a historical building and trying to renovate it.

And many of you have signed cosigned my petition for Los Angeles to recognize that the historic value of that building to permit them for remodeling as to recognize as no net loss of dwelling units. And then I think that your cooperation, the signal the letter that you signed together is moving along as a move. And finally at the final stages of getting the possible possible results outcomes. They are simply waiting the final stamp for them to go ahead and to start the remodeling work.

That's the example of of the Korean farmers, how they came up came to California from from Hawaii, and they made also sacrifice and the contributions to the farm generations and the hard work that farm workers have gone through.

And they share the same difficulties and sacrifices they have made in California. Thank you, and I urge your aye vote.

Senator Durazo, you are recognized.

Thank you, mister president. For generations, farm workers have labored under a relentless sun, breathe toxic pesticides, and lived in conditions that would be unacceptable to most. All to put food on the tables of a nation that has repeatedly looked the other way. But these farm workers organized anyway. They marched anyway.

They got arrested and some were even killed. They built one of the most consequential labor movements in all of American history. Not because of any one person, but because of their collective strength, their sacrifice, and our refusal to be invisible. They inspired me to dedicate my life to the labor movement, to organized garment workers, and hotel workers, and janitors.

Today reminds me of what it was like when I picked grapes, when I picked cotton, when I had to sleep on the back of our father's flatbed truck because we had nowhere else to sleep.

Today, I cast my vote to redesignate March 31 as Farm Workers Day because this day and this movement have always belonged to them.

Seeing no further discussion or Senator Wahab, you are recognized.

Apologies. My colleagues, this bill does something simple but deeply right. It says the people who rose before dawn, bent their backs in the fields under the sun, wore down their bodies, and fed this state and nation should be honored in their own name. Their labor put food on our tables. Their sacrifice helped build California and this nation.

Their dignity should never be an afterthought. This is not erasure. This is truth. The farmworker movement was never carried by one person alone. It was carried by the workers, different ethnic backgrounds, different societal circumstances, by mothers and fathers, by families who endured hunger, heat, pain, and injustice.

It was carried by organizers, by sacrifice and by those whose names in history are often forgotten because maybe they had a smaller role. And when serious allegations of sexual assault come forward, I wanna highlight that the state of California does not turn away. We do not excuse, we do not hide behind legacy, we do not ask survivors to stay quiet for the comfort of others. We choose dignity. We choose the workers.

We choose the survivors. Farm workers deserve more than symbolism tied to one man. They deserve to be honored directly, fully, and without compromise. They deserve a day that belongs to them. A day for the hands that harvested our food.

A day for the people too often unseen, too often underpaid, too often overlooked. A day that tells the truth about who built this nation, who built this movement, and who still carries it forward. So let us be clear. This bill honors labor, it honors survivors, and it honors the truth. I'm proud to support AB 2156 because California should celebrate the workers who carried this movement, not just one individual.

We should stand with the people who did the work, endured the hardships, and earned this recognition. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Seeing no further discussion or debate, madam pro tem, would you like to close?

Thank you, members. I appreciate the diverse perspectives, and, understanding of the value of the farm workers, for as the people, as the workers, as the contributors they are to our state and to California to our state of California and to our country and the nation. With that, I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, madam pro tem. And this item is is eligible for unanimous roll call without objection. Hearing and seeing no objection, unanimous roll call 37, ayes, nose zero to the urgency clause. Ayes, 37, noes zero to the bill, and it passes. We will now move to consent, consent calendar, second date, item 61 through 64. Is there any member that wishes to remove an item from the consent calendar? Seeing none, secretary, please read.

Senate bill 968 Senate joint Resolution 11, Senate bill 1005, 1080.

Secretary, please call roll.

[Roll Call]

Aye. '37. No '0. Consent calendar is adopted. Moving to committee announcements.

And I know we have a committee announcement. Majority leader, you are witnessed.

On behalf of Senator Menjivar, budget subcommittee three will be meeting upon adjournment in O Street in Room 1200.

Thank you. Moving to returning, or at least returning to motions and resolutions. Members, we have two adjournment memories. We will begin with Senator Laird.

Thank you, mister president. Today I rise to adjourn in memory of Katelyn Mardell Mallett known by many who loved her as Katie, a cherished member of the Salinas community whose life was taken far too soon. She passed away February 7 at the age of 34 after a courageous battle, with glioblastoma. She was known for her warmth, her kindness, and her contagious laugh. Friends and family describe her as someone who made people feel welcomed and loved, someone who built lifelong friendships and meaningful connections wherever she went.

She was born in Santa Cruz, attended Vine Hill Elementary School, Scotts Valley High School, and later Chico State University. After graduating, she made her home in Salinas, where she built a career in the produce industry, working with companies throughout the Salinas Valley. It was in Salinas that she met her beloved husband, Keith, at the Salinas Rodeo. They got married and begin their life together, including their cherished Labrador retriever, Avery. Above all else, her greatest joy in life was her family.

She was a devoted wife to Keith and a loving mother to their two young children, Walker and Madeleine. Becoming a mother meant everything to her, and she poured her heart into caring for her children every day. She is survived by her children, Walker and Madeleine, her husband, Keith, her mother, Sandra, her father, David, her siblings, Alisa, Julie, Taryn, Marissa, Justin, Mason, and Nico, Her nieces Claire, Casey, and Haley, and her grandparents Judith, Thomas, and Marty.

Her life reminds us how precious time is, how powerful love can be in family, in community, and the legacy we leave behind. On behalf of the state senate, I ask that we adjourn today in memory of Katelyn Katie Mallett, and that we keep her family, especially her young children, in our thoughts and prayers.

Senator, please bring the name of your adjournment memory to the desk to be properly memorialized. Members, please take your conversations off the floor during adjournment memories, if you don't mind. Senator Cortese, you are recognized for your adjournment memory.

Well, thank you, mister president. So, and senators, I rise today to adjourn in memory of Roxanne Miller, who passed away from Alzheimer's on January 31 at the age of 78. Roxanne was born on 06/25/1947 in Stockton, California. Her parents, Harry Miller senior and Fern Hanford Miller moved the family to Davis in 1961. After graduating in 1965 from Davis High, she attended Utah State University where she graduated with degrees in journalism and art.

Roxanne began a professional career here in the state senate where she served as a local government committee secretary. She then went on to work for the city of San Jose for forty four years where she dutifully served the city across six mayors. In the nineteen seventies, Roxanne became one of the first registered female lobbyists in California and helped pave the way as an exemplary advocate for the people of the city of San Jose and beyond.

Roxanne was polished and thoughtful and her work was invaluable for my district. She successfully secured funding to expand the city's highway and public transit systems.

Her budget advocacy was particularly important to support the San Jose Mineta International Airport, which remains one of the busiest airports in the Bay Area. In 2016, Roxanne also lobbied the City of San Jose's innovative tiny homes policy to address the affordable housing crisis, which later became the model for statewide implementation. In these instances and others, Roxanne proved herself to be an incredibly effective spokesperson for the South Bay.

Although she worked for the city of San Jose, Roxanne lived here in Sacramento, and she stayed actively involved in her neighborhood. She served on the city's design review and preservation board in the early nineteen nineties and was also appointed to the city's Sacramento Heritage Incorporated Board of Directors in 1997.

Ms. Miller was also active in the Land Park Community Association in the Freeport Boulevard Improvement Committee where she fought to preserve iconic historical architecture in this city. Examples of which are the cast iron streetlights in Land Park and the Tower Theater. I first met Roxanne through her friendship with my parents, Dominic and Suzanne, 93 and 9090 years old respectively at this time, and they extend their condolences as well. During my father's tenure in Sacramento, Roseanne became not only an advocate, but a friend.

And that friendship included me, especially as I got to know her through my eight years on the San Jose City Council. In her spare time, Roxanne enjoyed gardening, finding new projects to renovate her home, and visiting various garage and estate sales. We've missed seeing her around here for some time and of course now we'll miss seeing her permanently. Roxanne is survived by her sister Robin Wetmore, her brother Harry L. Miller Jr.

Public service and lasting impacts both here in San Jose will not be forgotten. May she rest in peace. I respectfully ask that we adjourn in her honor.

Thank you. Senator, please bring the name of your adjournment memory to the desk to be properly memorialized. If there is no other business, Pro Tem Limon, the desk is clear.

Thank you, members. We head into a one week spring recess to return to our districts. I hope that you all get a chance to connect with your constituents, spend time with your family, and come back refreshed because we are going to be very busy. Our next four session will be scheduled for Monday, April 6at 2PM.

The Senate will be in recess until 03:30pm, at which time the adjournment motion will be made. We will reconvene Monday, 04/06/2026 at 2PM.