Senate Standing Committee on Emergency Management

We'll convene in thirty seconds. Alright. The Senate emergency management meeting will now come to order. We will start as a subcommittee and we'll wait to establish a quorum. But to start us off, we'll see our Vice Chair present our fifth item, SB 904.

Mister Vice Chair, please.

Thank you, honorable Chair. I'm here to present SB 904. SB 904 builds upon the broad and coordinated agency response effort demonstrated in the LA County Of Palisades fires last year and ensures similar responses will be undertaken for all future state of emergency wildfire disasters.

Specifically, the bill codifies similar provisions from executive order n four twenty five that focus on identifying permitting requirements and building codes that may impede rebuilding efforts.

The bottom line is that this sort of an urgent coordination called for by SB 904 ought to be the standard procedure for all wildfire disasters moving forward.

This bill will help to ensure no wildfire disaster communities get overlooked in future recovery efforts. I respectfully ask for an Aye vote and I did not bring any witnesses.

Okay. So we'll just do it for the sake protocol. Anyone here for support? Seeing none, anyone here in opposition? We have please approach the microphone if you're here in opposition.

Good afternoon. I'm Megan Shumway, from Climate Action California, and we oppose this bill.

Okay. Thank you. Seeing no others in opposition, we will bring it back to the dais. Questions, concerns? Appreciate being in the measure forward. We'll be keeping an eye on this one. We wanna make sure that we do make sure ensure the the permitting process goes efficiently.

But we know there are some some concerns about some of the streamlining that occurred in the process. We've been looking, for example, at water supply issues today in a separate committee, things like that. So but I appreciate you bringing the measure.

I'll be supporting it today, and I look forward to to keeping track of this as it moves forward. I'll allow you to close.

Thank you very much. And I know there may be concerns that this is about trying to skip processes, but it is not. What it's doing is identifying some of the common processes that happen in everything, every fire. And some of them are unique and some of them are not.

And identifying which ones can and which ones can't be overlooked. So it doesn't eliminate anything. It still has plenty of protections and it just tries to help people get back into their homes or at least get back to building their homes faster. And I appreciate it. And I vote when the time comes.

Okay. We will await a quorum to bring that motion, and we are going to take a, I think, a brief recess while we await the final author here. Okay. Alright. We'll take a brief recess.

Twenty seconds. Alright. Senate Emergency Management Committee will reconvene. Thank you, Senator Arreguin, for hustling back. Do appreciate it.

We're ready for you. File item four, SP1299. You can go ahead and present whenever you're ready, and we'll welcome your lead witnesses right after that.

Well, good afternoon, Mr. Chair, Members. It's my pleasure to present SB 1299, the state fire marshal fire suppression education and training safety act.

This bill is sponsored by the Sprinkler Fitters Association of California and ensures that California has a clear and enforceable framework for certifying and training fire sprinkler fitters. This bill will ensure that only properly trained and certified professionals perform this critical life safety work.

And prior to 2017, individuals installing frink fire sprinkler systems were not required to have specific qualifications despite the state fire marshal's long standing standards requiring knowledgeable and experienced installers.

Fire Sprinkler systems are one of our most critical tools for saving lives in a fire. And every Californian deserves to know that the fire suppression systems protecting their homes, workplaces, and communities have been installed and maintained by qualified professionals.

With me to testify on behalf of the bill's sponsors, the Spincol Fitness Association of California is Randy Roczen and Scott Wetsch.

Very good. Welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and Member Scott Wetch on behalf of the California State Pipe Trades Council. In 2011, the international residential code was amended to require sprinklers in all occupancies.

The Brown administration was and the governor himself was concerned about the problems in the past, historical problems with the installation of fire sprinkler systems.

So we sponsored in 2013 a bill by Assemblyman Gordon AB 433, which gave the fire marshal the authority to do all kinds of different regulations, including creating a certification program.

California historically has one of the highest deaths by fire in structures of six point eight per million, which is it puts us at the very top.

And that's that's been historical even before we had wildfires. And studies have shown that nine percent of the structure fires, there are failure there's a nine percent failure rate due to faulty installation.

This can be done due to improper pipe sizing, incorrect head placement, using damaged components, a whole host of reasons. This not only threatens the health and safety and the life safety of occupants, but it also leads to a huge amount of property loss.

I haven't checked this in a couple of years, but just a few years ago, by far and away, and this was before wildfires, the number one property loss, insurance loss cause was water damage.

And so if you don't have properly installed sprinkler systems, you have catastrophic water damage, you have high repair costs, you have false activations, it creates all kinds of problems.

2017, the fire marshal took almost three year and a half years to get it done, promulgated regulations creating a certification standard and program. That led to litigation.

The challenge in the case had not to didn't have to do really with the components of the certification program, but that the APA wasn't followed closely enough by the fire marshal.

So the court struck down some of the key components of the certification program And as your analysis points out, clearly pointed out that the court found that the program itself was very important to Fire Life Safety, but that the plaintiffs made a strong case that the process was not followed.

What we're seeking to do here today is codify and update the original program, put it into statute because we believe the legislature really should have oversight over this type of a program. And so we urge an Aye vote. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good afternoon. My name is Randy Roxson. I'm Executive Director of the Sprinker Fitter Association in California. The current, as Scott referred to, this current State Farm Marshall regulations for a sprinkler fare certification have been in place since 2017.

The lawsuit, as mentioned, filed against the State Farm Marshall in 2019, was decided this past year. And what it did is struck the supervision requirement for and now it permits trainees and and apprentices to install fire sprinklers without supervision.

That's a critical point of the certification bill or the the current certification requirements. This bill will replace existing language for supervision and qualification for certification. It also replaces the current language for testing and to ensure qualification for those who are certified.

This bill will also include items that have been found to be needed over the last decade since this program was originally rolling rolled out in 2017.

Much of the language that we included has already been through the State Farm Marshals, Fire Sprinter Advisory Committee and it has been then that language has already been approved by the State Farm Marshal to promulgate regulations.

We took that language and we placed it in this bill, that's already been approved. So, we also included some additional enforcement tools for the local fire authorities, having jurisdictions, that we found to be needed, since the rollout. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll turn it to general witnesses in support. Come on up. Welcome.

Chair, Members, Mike Monaghan on behalf of the State Building Trades in support.

Thank you. Any others in support? Seeing none, we'll turn to opposition. Are there any witnesses in opposition who wish to testify? Seeing none, we'll bring it back to the dais.

Members, questions, comments? Senator Perez.

I understand this is an important issue, I think, especially after going through, you know, the Eaton fire and seeing such devastation, just the importance of these sprinkler systems and what a difference they make. So at the appropriate time I'll move the bill.

Thank you. Any other comments or questions? Alright. In that case we'll allow you to close.

Respect if I ask your Aye vote.

Okay. Very good. So we have a motion from Senator Perez and let's call the roll.

Oh, we don't have quorum? No. Sorry. Never mind. Do not call the roll or take that motion.

We'll take everything I just said back. How far away or from? Sure. We will take a brief recess while we await a court.

Alright.

We are not back yet. Okay. Thank you. We are back. We're gonna take a second to establish a quorum.

Committee assistant, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Okay. We've now got a quorum. We have already had file item four presented and as well as file item five. I believe there were some motions pending. Does I would I would entertain a motion for either of those measures.

SB 1299 , Arreguín, file item four. Correct. Sorry. Senator Perez has moved it. So the motion is due passed to the Senate late Senate committee on labor, public employment, and retirement. Please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Okay. We will leave that on call for the absent Member and move on to file number five SB 904, from Seyarto. It's a motion from Senator Dahle. Do pass to appropriations is the motion. Please, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Okay. Very good. We'll leave that on call for the absent Members, and we'll move to the consent calendar and entertain a motion on that one. Move. Mister vVce Chair moves the bill.

Moves the consent calendar. Sorry. Please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Okay. We will leave that on call for the absent Members. We still have one file item left and we're awaiting that author. SB 1181. Should we alright.

We will take one more brief recess and await our final author. Don't go far. All right. We are back. We'll reconvene the Senate Emergency Management Committee for our final measure of the day.

SB 1181 from Senator Hurtado. You're welcome to present.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee Members. I appreciate your your patience and, in in this presentation. I wanted to start with, names of of, youth in my district. Mikalaya Ryan Osorno, she's 11 years old. Elena Sadid Doric, 12 years old.

Two girls from Delano taken in 2020. They were killed and to this day their community is still asking for answers. Still asking for someone to come forward with information. I start there because this is not new for us in the valley. We have been carrying this kind of pain for years.

Tristan Rudy Alexander Aguilar Rodriguez, 12 years old, a little boy from Lamont, murdered in October 2024. A juvenile admitted to the crime and in four years, that child will be will be back walking into the world carrying this for the rest of his life. That is two children lost in one moment.

One to death, one to a future forever marked by it. Then came Prince Michael Banner, 15 years old, shot and killed in Bakersfield in November 2024.

A 16 year old arrested. Again, two children, one gone, one one's future changed forever. Then Jacob Hernandez of Fresno County, Aiden Wyatt of Hanford. And just this past week, another 16 year old murdered in Sacramento. These are not statistics to me.

These are our kids. Kids with teachers who knew their names. Parents who loved them. Classmates who now carry trauma, they shouldn't have to carry this young. This bill didn't come from Sacramento.

It came from our valley. From a superintendent who used to be my high school teacher, now living this reality. From parents, teachers and district attorneys sitting across from me asking, what are we doing about these shootings? I've seen this before.

Back in 2020, when fentanyl started hitting our communities, people on the ground were raising the alarm early. Parents knew, educators, but the system was slow to move. And by the time that the data caught up, we had already lost too many kids.

I'm telling you today that we are in that same kinda moment. The threats our kids are facing now don't always look like we're used to. They're showing up through social media, artificial intelligence, online manipulation, things that move faster than any one parent, teacher,

or law enforcement agency can keep up with alone. Our kids are being exposed to things we didn't grow up with. They're targeted, influenced, pulled into situations they don't fully understand until it's too late. And the warning signs are there.

At times, teachers may see behavior changes, counselors may hear comments, parents notice something isn't right, law enforcement may have might have another piece. But right now, those pieces don't always come together.

So the signal is there, but the system to act on it is not. And in the valley, we feel the cost of that. We see it in in in chronic absenteeism. We see it in mental health struggles. We see it in fear following kids from school to home through their phones.

These kids aren't skipping school because they don't care. A lot of a lot of the times, it's because something is happening and we're not catching it early enough. And that's what SB 1181 is about. It builds a bridge that doesn't exist right now.

A voluntary limited pilot that allows schools to communicate with regional threat assessment centers when there is a real credible safety concern. It's not bulk monitoring, it's not surveillance that is explicitly prohibited.

This is about connecting the dots early, lawfully, carefully and with full privacy protections in place. And I wanna be clear about something. This is not a partisan issue or a partisan idea.

Eric Holder, attorney attorney general appointed by Barack Obama, toward a fusion center in Las Vegas and watched one prevent a shooting in real time. In his words, a potential crisis was identified and averted because a fusion center team had established a relationship with the local school security community.

They were able to communicate clearly and act quickly. Most importantly, they were able to protect and likely save lives. That relationship between schools and regional threat centers is exactly what SB 1181 builds for Kern, Kings, Tulare and Fresno Counties. We know coordination works, we've seen it.

We've also seen what happens when we don't have it. This bill is careful, it's limited, it's accountable, it requires reporting back to the legislature before anything expands.

But most importantly, it gives us a chance to act before another name gets added to a list of children like the ones I just mentioned. I've seen it happen way too many times when we wait. Parents shouldn't be the last line of defense.

Teachers shouldn't be left to figure this out alone. And we definitely don't need more funerals to prove that something is wrong. Because something is wrong. It has been for some time.

By the time a trend becomes obvious, it's already too late for the kids who be, who become the proof.

I'm asking us to act while we still can and I respectfully ask for an Aye vote.

Thank you, Senator, for the moving presentation, and, we'll move on to, lead witnesses if you have any in support. Happy to hear from them. Or general witnesses in support. Okay. Seeing none, we'll ask for any witnesses in opposition.

Feel free to come forward at this time. Seeing none, we'll bring it back to the dais. We have a motion from the Vice Chair. Senator Rubio, comment or question?

you need a strategic team that's gonna that's gonna connect the dots, and I think you said it best. And, I was thinking about a program like this already, but you kinda put the pieces together for me. You know, we're seeing a lot of either shootings or, as you mentioned as well, Fentanyl.

No. Just real quick. I'm I'm interested in following this bill because, you know, I think it's it's it's about time and and you're right. When I think of your approach is very strategic, A lot of the times, even though we have public safety officers around in the neighborhood,

And there's so much going on, but a real concern for me, and I've seen it on the ground level, is social media that's causing kids to meet up outside the school, ditch together, and then there's a potential meeting with strangers. So thank you for this bill.

And I will add as a co author and just, and I'm really glad that it requires a report to the legislature because I think we need to see if it works. We should be expanding it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Rubio. Other questions or comments? I'll make a brief comment. In addition to, the the the crises and tragedies that you you've mentioned, We recently had one in Los Angeles.

A synagogue that my my family attends had a protest from a group called the Turtle Island Liberation Front that decided that it was a good idea to pose as congregants and walk into a synagogue and protest the state of Israel.

They dismissed that as mere first amendment, and no one was prosecuted. But thanks to the fusion center, four of those individuals who had concurrently been engaged in bomb making activities in the desert outside of Los Angeles and had a major attack planned for New Year's Eve,

thank God, were identified and are now being prosecuted by the FBI. And so it's very much a fusion centers. I am grateful because it's keeping my kids safe from very real threats in our community. So I appreciate the bill.

I'm glad it's beginning as a pilot, and I think the role of schools and and how you do that coordination is obviously a sensitive issue, but it's important for them to be aware.

We had a similar incident happened of a pipe bomb maker in Reseda, which I think in 2023, again, thanks to a fusion center right next to our local high school was averted. Those tragedies, there are so many more that could have Harabedian, we need to keep working to prevent them.

So I'll be supporting the measure today and allow you to close.

Thank you. I really appreciate the comments and the support. You know, I spoke quite a bit about shootings. But the threats that our our children are facing are are really go beyond that. They do go to the extent of social media, whether it's trying to manipulate their minds into believing one thing or another.

And so many, you know, situations. I mean, I can tell other situations that have occurred in my district that, you know, an example another example is in the community of Visalia, there were students who, you know, did a homophobic slur.

And as bad as that is, well, you know, they there was doxing that occurred. Those students, I mean, their lives are gonna change forever as well. And something is is is pushing, you know, is pushing an agenda to them that is jeopardizing their futures.

And we gotta get ahead of it, and we gotta have an understanding of of what all those threats are, or at minimum be able to, share that information so that we can prevent any kind of tragedies or even, you know, ruining the futures. They are our present.

They are our future and we need to protect them, not just now, but into their futures as well. And I respectfully ask for an Aye vote.

Thank you for that. We have a motion from the vice chair which is do passed to Senate Committee on Education. We will call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Okay. We'll leave that measure on call for the absent members. Alright. We're gonna we're gonna list some calls for the absent members. Why don't we start at the why don't we start at the top? We'll start with the consent calendar. Please call the absent members.

[Roll Call]

Okay. Nine zero. That measures out and we will adjourn.