Assembly Floor

The assembly is now in session. Assembly member Wallace notices the absence of a quorum. The sergeant at arms will prepare the chamber and bring in the absent members. The clerk will call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Members, we'd like to get started with our ceremony today, but we need more members to join us on the floor and key in. Members, we need one more member to make a quorum. We are looking for lucky number 41.

Members, a quorum is present. We ask our guests and visitors in the rear of the chamber and in the gallery to please stand for the prayer.

Assembly member Nguyen will offer today's prayer. Assembly member Nguyen.

Thank you, madam speaker members. Please bow your head for the blessing. We live in a nation which has roots deep in many traditions and many cultures. Help us through our collective efforts to make these roots a source of strength and nourishment so that like the giant oak tree, this nation can be united and strong, providing shelter for all her children in a symbol of justice and freedom from those beyond our shores. Amen.

Thank you so much, assembly member. We ask our guests and visitors to remain standing and join us in the flag salute. Assembly member Patel will lead us in the pledge.

Yes, colleagues. It is my distinct honor to lead us in the pledge of allegiance today. Place your right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America.

And to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you all. You may be seated. To our guests and visitors today, state law prohibits persons in the chamber from interfering with our proceedings or disrupting the orderly conduct of official business. Persons disrupting our proceedings are subject to removal, arrest, or other appropriate legal remedies. Moving to reading of the previous day's journal.

Assemblymember from Sacramento second.

Majority leader, Aguilar Curry, moves, and mister Flora seconds that the reading of the previous day's journal be dispensed with. Presentations and petitions, there are none. Introduction and reference of bills will be deferred. Reports of committee will be deemed read and amendments deemed adopted. Messages from the governor, there are none.

Messages from the Senate, there are none. Moving to motions and resolutions. Madam majority leader, you are recognized.

Good morning, mister speaker. I request unanimous consent to suspend assembly rule 18118A to allow assembly members Gabriel, Krell, Mark Gonzales, and Caloza to have guests in the rear of the chamber, to allow assembly members Jeff Gonzales and, assembly member Tangipa to have guests seated at their desk, and to allow assembly member Fong to have guests on the floor for the AAPI heritage month ceremony.

Without objection, such shall be the order.

At the request of the author, I am giving one day notice to remove item a three SB 739, Arreguin, from the inactive file.

Clerk will note.

At the request of Assembly member Bauer Kian, please remove file item one 31AB2071 Hoover from the consent calendar.

The clerk will note. The absence of the day will be deemed read and printed in the journal. We will do guest introductions after our ceremony today, members.

Members, we will now move to the Assembly's Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month ceremony. File item 59, house Resolution 107 by Assembly member Mike Fong. The clerk will read.

House Resolution 107 by Assemblymember Fong and others relative to Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month.

Assemblymember Fong, you may be you may open on the measure.

Good afternoon, mister speaker and members. Happy Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. I rise to present HR 107, designating the month of May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Asian Americans, native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have a long history in this country, and particularly here in California. From tremendous sacrifices to help build the transcontinental railroads, to serving in our military, to contributions in all walks of life, in business, science, agriculture, labor, government, politics, and more.

Despite these contributions, AAPI sometimes are not seen as treated as part of this country from the incarceration of Japanese Americans and the Trans Exclusion Act to more recently when AAPIs were targets of hate during the COVID-19 pandemic. California is home to 7.3 Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, more than any other state in our union. And California is home to the largest number of AAPI elected officials in our country. And we know that Asian American history is American history.

AAPI heritage month allows us to highlight the diversity and contributions of our community and celebrate the accomplishments and contributions made by Asian Americans, native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders throughout our state and nation.

Respectfully ask for an aye vote on HR 107.

Thank you, Assemblymember Fong. Assemblymember Mark Gonzales, you're recognized?

Thank you, mister speaker and members. Today, I rise on behalf of the California Legislative LGBTQI plus Caucus in support of HR 107, celebrating May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Representing a district that is home to a vibrant and deeply rooted AAPI community, including Chinatown, Koreatown, Little Tokyo, and historic Filipino town and Little Bangladesh. I see every day the strength, diversity, and cultural richness that the AAPI community brings to our great golden state.

California has long been home to one of the largest and most diverse AAPI populations.

Their community has transcended barriers and reshaped our communities for the better. For education, to advocacy, from art, sports, politics, and beyond. As we celebrate this month, we look back and must confront a difficult truth. The AAPI experience has too often been defined by struggle, by exclusion, and resilience in the face of injustice. For example, we remember leaders like Lariat Long, a Filipino American labor leader who stood alongside Doris Huerta in the farm worker movement.

Despite how far we have come, we must keep pushing for equity and pushing back against hate, especially as the federal administration seeks to challenge its very existence, the legitimacy, and dignity of immigrant families, many of them AAPI. Standing here on behalf of the LGBTQI plus caucus, let us speak out against injustice past and present. And with that, thank you, mister speaker. I respectfully urge your aye vote on HR 107.

Thank you, Assemblyman Mark Gonzales. Assemblymember Tangipa, you're recognized.

Thank you, mister speaker. I too rise in support on behalf of the Republican caucus for HR 107 recognizing May as AAPI month. I understand how big this is to a lot of people, especially in the Pacific Islander community, as we often sometimes feel forgotten when we're looped in to the large groups. And so I respectfully ask for your aye vote on this as I I understand the need that a lot of people generally see.

Being one of the first Polynesians and the first Polynesian elected to the state legislature here, I've heard it from time and time again to my family in the Bay Area, the ones down south, the ones in Hawaii, and all of the Facebook moms as well, how important it is to see representation in a beautiful state like California.

I believe this state is leading the way when it comes to representing all diverse groups and honoring them in an appropriate way as well. So I respectfully ask for your aye vote on this.

Thank you, Assemblymember. Next, I'll go to Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen.

Thank you, mister speaker. I rise to in support of HR 107. And I just wanna say only here in California would we be able to say that we have many firsts here as you heard earlier from my colleague from Clovis who is the first Pacific Islander to serve in the legislator for our state here. But many other firsts as we have a first Sikh and a first Indian to serve in the legislator.

Many firsts and many more that you will hear about later as we recognize many of the leaders that have come through California.

Here in California, we have over 7,000,000 API Asian Pacific Asian American Pacific Islander residents who have done count countless contributions here in our state. Today, you will get to see and hear leaders that have led non profit organizations, small businesses, foundations, museums, online platforms that have received national recognitions. Our API community is a large part of this community in that we fought through COVID, we fought through wars we fought through many peats that we saw happen here in our community. And with that, we will continue to fight. We will continue to fight for our voices to be heard.

But today, as we celebrate May as AA and HPI heritage month, I'd like to thank the caucus for the work that they continue to do in elevating our voices and elevating our cultures and elevating our communities across all sectors. And with that, mister speaker, respectfully ask for aye vote on HR 107.

Thank you. Assembly member Colosa, you are recognized.

Thank you, mister speaker. Today, I am so proud to rise in support of HR 107 to commemorate and recognize Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Thank you so much to my colleague from San Gabriel Valley and the chair of the AAPI caucus for his tremendous leadership as well as our vice chair. This is the second year I've gotten to be on the floor, to help do this presentation, and it's not something I take for granted.

This is a moment that so many of us have waited for to get to be on the green carpet, to get to be, here to recognize not just the accomplishments of the elected officials and our colleagues here in the state assembly, but also so many of the Asian American trailblazers in our communities, both in the private sector and the public sector.

And so thank you to the leaders, the workers, artists, educators, and innovators whose courage and perseverance continues to shape our communities for the better. From classrooms to labor movements and small business and public service, Asian American and Pacific Islander voices have strengthened every corner of society. We see it in sports, from Olympic trailblazers like Alyssa Liu, whose resilience and determination remind us that strength comes not from success and achievement, from the courage to grow and begin again.

We see it in the entertainment industry and culture through artists like Sofia LaForteza, who proudly embraces her Filipino roots as an artist and leader of the up and coming girl group, KATSEYE. We also see it in leaders in public service, like Judge Ricardo R Ocampo, who is the first Asian American and Filipino American judge of the Superior Court of LA County.

And we also see it in the labor leaders and organizers who are no longer with us, but whose history continues, to be something that we fight to be seen, like Lariat Liang and Philip Vera Cruz. So today, as the first Filipina elected to the state legislature and as a proud member of the API caucus, respectfully ask for your aye vote on HR 107. Thank you.

Thank you. Assembly member, Ash Kalra, you are recognized.

Thank you, mister speaker and members. It's an honor to rise in support of HR 107, and, you know, the the AAPI caucus is really an example and a representation of our diversity being our strength as a state and as a nation. When I first started here, I would be proud to say I was the first Indian American and first South Asian American to serve in legislature, but it was always bittersweet because I I would always say, but I hope not the last.

Now I can say I'm the first of many because of colleagues that are here on the floor. And as we stand on the green carpet, this assembly is meant to be representative of our community.

And so to see the diversity in this body, to see the diversity, in our AAPI, AAPI caucus, knowing that we still have more work to do, I I think really represents our community outside of this building, lifting so many of us up.

And I wanna thank those that came before us, not necessarily on this floor, but those that actually came before us to build the foundation to allow us to be on this floor, to our parents and our grandparents, to those in faraway lands that could never dream of any of us standing where we're standing right now. We are here because of them, and we celebrate this month in honor of them.

Thank you. Assembly member Ramos, you all recognized?

Thank you, mister speaker. Today, I rise on behalf of the Native American Legislative Caucus to support resolution recognizing May 2026 as Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Month and commending Asian and Pacific Islanders for their many contributions to California. Here in California, we are home to more than 7,000,000 Asian and Pacific Islanders. Asian and Pacific Islanders helped build the transcontinental railroad and were leaders in establishing civil and labor rights.

They added to the richness of our culture in the arts, sports, and other areas of endeavor, even as they prevailed through dark times, such as the Chinese Chinese exclusion act, the California Alien Land Law of 1913, racist anti misgeneration laws, naturalized citizenship and eligibility, yet the resiliency stands strong.

They also stood up against violence and other grievances, violations of their civil rights. They served and protected our nation during times of war even as their loyalty was being questioned by our very government. And their families were also interned. Their diversity, culture, and talents helped to make California not only a global economic power, but also a global creative force. We are fortunate to have them all call California home.

I urge your aye vote and thank my colleagues for bringing this measure forward as I urge your aye vote on HR 107.

Thank you. Assembly member Bains, you are recognized.

Thank you, speaker. I rise on behalf of the Legislative Women's Caucus as the first South Asian woman on this floor and joined by my sister Darshna doctor Darshna Patel as well as the first Sikh American elected to state office. It's a pretty momentous moment to see, the contributions of the Asian community being celebrated, and accepted at a time where so much divisiveness is tearing our country apart. This is a time that we have to stand up and accept that there is no justification for hate.

And I hope that on a day like today, it brings more unity and light and acceptance for everyone regardless of where they come from and their identity and also brings pride in people to be proudful of who their identity is.

I am proud to be a Sikh American. I am proud to be American, but I'm also proud of my identity and my parents that immigrated here to this country so we could have those freedoms that were not given to us elsewhere. Thank you so much. Ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Assembly member Ransom, you are now recognized.

Thank you, mister speaker. On behalf of the California Legislative Black Caucus, we rise in strong support support of HR 107, recognizing the month of May as Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month. California strength has always been rooted in its diversity, and this month gives us the opportunity to celebrate the Asian and Pacific Islander American communities whose cultures, traditions, and contributions enrich every corner of our state.

I'm especially proud to represent a district with deep rich history of resilient and vibrant Asian and Pacific Islander American communities. Communities that continue to uplift their cultures and share their stories through art, advocacy, education, and leadership.

In Stockton, we are home to the fifth largest Cambodian American population in the nation. This community continues to strengthen our city by sharing its culture through organizations, performing art, and preserving traditional Cambodian dance through education and performance. Stockton also has a powerful legacy of Filipino American history through Little Manila, one of the largest Filipino outside communities outside of The Philippines. This community played a critical role in advancing labor, civil rights, social justice, and other movements leaving behind a legacy of advocacy and activism.

Recently, I had the privilege of attending the Vaisakhi celebration at the very first Sikh temple established in The United States located right in my district.

This is a powerful reminder that history, pride, faith, and joy that the Sikh community has is brought to our district. Prior to World War two, Stockton was home to one of the largest Japanese American communities in The United States. Following the signing of the executive order 9066, families were forcibly removed from their homes and detained right at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds for months before beginning being sent to Arkansas.

Today, members of the Japanese American community and others are working to preserve the history by transforming the assembly Center, one of the last remaining original structures of Japanese American internment into the California State Historic Park so that future generations can learn from this very painful chapter of California's history. As we celebrate this month, we should also recognize the long history of Black and Asian American solidarity in the fight for justice and equality.

From API and Black communities fighting together during the civil rights movement and on college campuses, to Black leaders in 1978 urging The US to welcome Southeast Asian refugees fleeing war, our communities have long understood the fight for justice is interconnected. The same spirit of Solidarity continues today. As we celebrate this month, we acknowledge the challenges Asian and Pacific Islander American communities continue to face. This month is not just a celebration of cultures.

It is an opportunity to educate ourselves, to honor the histories, and to support the ongoing work of the API communities to preserve and share their stories.

The California Legislative Black Caucus stands in solidarity with our Asian and Pacific Islander American communities because the fight for equity, justice, and dignity is a shared journey. We strongly urge our colleagues to support HR 107. Thank you.

Thank you. Assembly member Avila Farias, you are recognized.

Thank you, mister speaker and members. On behalf of the Latino caucus, I rise today in support of the house Resolution 107, which recognizes the month of May as Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. This month represents a time to celebrate the rich histories, cultures, and contributions the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities across California. Our caucus celebrates the significant contributions that API Californians in every sector of public life, including in health care, education, agriculture technology, and public service.

Their leadership continues to strengthen our state's economy and enrich in our civic and cultural lives.

We also acknowledge the challenges that remain. API communities continue to face discrimination, language access barriers, and incidents of hate. These realities are unacceptable, and they require continued vigilance, meaningful investment, and commitment to public safety and equity. California is the strongest when we protect and uplift our diversity through action, inclusion, and representation.

Today, the Latino caucus and its members honor the contributions of the API Californians and stand in solidarity with their communities and recommit ourselves to building a state where every person can live with dignity, safety, and opportunity.

Thank you, and I respectfully ask for your support of house Resolution 107.

Thank you. Assembly member Patel, you are recognized.

Thank you, mister speaker and colleagues. Today, I rise in strong support of HR 107, recognizing a p API history month, heritage month in the state of California. I have to say that looking at the room around us, the diversity that this floor represents is a strong reflection of California, and our caucus itself has grown to become a reflection of the diversity within the API communities in San Diego and across California.

As a member from San Diego, I had the privilege of participating in that San Diego API Coalition, which is a strong powerful group of representatives from almost every single community within the API shared communities. And we were able to advise each other and support each other in accessing supports and grants and guidance through city and local processes for permitting, as well as, renting spaces, as simple as renting spaces.

But without organizations like the SDAPI Coalition helping uplift those at home, the work that we do up here can sometimes fall hollow. So for those of you who have groups in your communities, I recommend that you reach out to them, share your knowledge and experience, and help uplift all of those community groups at home so that we can create a stronger California here in Sacramento. And with that, colleagues, I respectfully ask your support on HR 107.

Thank you. Assembly member Haney, you are recognized.

Thank you, speaker and members. I rise today on behalf of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus and as a proud representative of the beautiful city and county of San Francisco in support of HR R 107, recognizing Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month. San Francisco has long been home to one of the most vibrant and historic AAPI communities in the country.

Our Chinatown, the oldest in North America, has stood for generations as a cultural and political hub that reflects the resilience, perseverance, and strength of the Chinese American community. After the devastating 1906 earthquake nearly destroyed Chinatown, there were powerful efforts to permanently remove the Chinese community from the center of the city and drive them out entirely.

But the community fought back, Chinese American leaders organized, petitioned, and worked alongside allies from many different backgrounds to preserve Chinatown as an essential part of San Francisco's future. What emerged was more than the rebuilding of a neighborhood. It was a reclamation of identity, culture, and belonging. Our Japantown, one of the only three remaining Japantowns in The United States, was built by immigrants who helped shape the cultural and economic fabric of our city.

The Filipino American community also has deep roots in San Francisco, particularly in the South Of Market and Excelsior neighborhoods.

And in the Bayview, Samoan and Pacific Islander families have also built vibrant communities grounded in faith, culture, and service. The API community's story of resilience and perseverance perseverance resonates deeply with many groups, including the Jewish community, which also understands the painful consequences of exclusion, scapegoating, and discrimination.

The Jewish community and the API community share a deep understanding of what happens when fear and hatred are allowed to divide people and share a common belief in resilience, justice, opportunity, and the importance of standing together against intolerance in all its forms. I wanna thank my colleague from, Los Angeles and the API caucus for bringing this forward. And on behalf of the Jewish caucus and communities across San Francisco and California, I respectfully ask for your aye vote on HR 107.

Thank you. Assembly member Harabedian, you are recognized.

Thank you, mister speaker. I wasn't going to get up and talk, but I would be the only member of the API caucus that didn't get up to talk. So I felt compelled to do so, and I just wanna obviously urge an aye vote on HR 107. But obviously to say that the Middle Eastern and North African communities, including Armenians, are proud members of the AAPI community, proud members of this caucus.

And diversity is a theme that we've heard today, and I think that diversity is in fact our strength as the member from San Jose said, and it really is what makes us special here.

But I I do get up to also give a special recognition to all the Korean Americans that live in California. Obviously, we don't have a Korean American representative on this floor. We have a Senator who is Korean, from Orange County, but, I'm an honorary member of the Korean community through marriage and through my kids, and we are very personally invested in AAPI heritage month.

And although I don't represent Koreatown in Los Angeles, I would argue, for the member of Los Angeles, it is the best part of Los Angeles, the best food, the best culture. And so, in in that spirit, I do urge an aye vote on HR 107.

Thank you. Seeing and hearing no further debates, I'll invite Assemblymember Fong to close.

Thank you so much again to all my colleagues, especially all the members from the all my colleagues and colleagues throughout the state and in all the diversity caucuses for supporting the resolution, supporting the AAPI community. I certainly ask for an aye vote on HR 107 and ask that the first row be open for co authors. Thank you.

Thank you. All debate having seeks ceased, the clerk will open the role for co authors. Members, this is for co authors. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote.

All members vote who desire to vote. The clerk will close the roll. There are 63 co authors added. Without objection, we will now take a take a voice vote on the resolution. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye. All opposed, say no. The ayes have it. The resolution is adopted. For the Assembly's 2026 observance of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we will recognize 13 distinguished honorees for their invaluable contributions to our state and country.

Assembly member Fong, you are recognized for your introductory remarks.

Thank you so much again, mister speaker. And there are program books on your desk highlighting the individuals we are recognizing this year. Please also enjoy the gift on your desk, a teacup, which symbolizes hospitality, family, and connection, and celebration of AAPI Heritage Month. Congratulations again to all our honorees. Thank you so much again, colleagues, and happy AAPI heritage month.

Great. I am appointing an escort committee to bring our honorees onto the floor for our ceremony. Members should retire to the rear of the chamber as I call your name. Assembly members Fong, Harabedian, Ta, Nguyen, Kalra, Marutsuchi, Patel, Caloza, Tangipa, Bains, and Chen. And senators Choi and Cabaldon.

I ask that the speaker, speaker Robert Rivas, and Republican leader Flora move to the front center aisle to receive our honorees. Members, it is now time to introduce and welcome our 2026 honorees. The clerk will read.

Escorted by assembly member Fong is Rotchana Sussman, a human trafficking survivor of the 1995 El Monte Thai garment slavery case. Following her captivity, Rotchana carved a path to American citizenship for herself and the 71 other survivors, and has since served as an advocate for fair wages and worker rights. As the founder of White Springs Cafe, an award winning vegetarian and vegan Thai restaurant in Arcadia. She frequently donates food to people in the community. Please welcome Rotchana Sussman.

Escorted by assembly member Harabedian is Caroline K Anderson, the first Asian American woman to serve as the governing board president of the La Canada Unified School District. She also serves on the Los Angeles County School Trustees Association Board and is active in several civic and AAPI leadership organizations dedicated to advancing community engagement and representation. In 2023, she was named woman of the year in her congressional and assembly districts. Please welcome Caroline Anderson.

Escorted by assembly member Ta is Kang Bao, a teacher at Westminster High School in Orange County with sixteen years of teaching experience and a master's degree in educational administration. He is also the cofounder of TN Performing Arts, which promotes Vietnamese culture through traditional drumming, lion dancing, and other cultural performances.

Mister Kang lives in Westminster with his wife, Cali Pham, and their three daughters, Gianna, Genevieve, and Giselle. Please welcome Kang Bao.

Escorted by Assemblymember Nguyen is Nina Chuang. Nina Chuang is the assistant director of community and government relations at San Jose State University. In this role, miss Chuang works to foster relationships with local partners to advance policies that support student acts, student success, equity, and community engagement.

Prior to joining San Jose State, she worked in the California State Assembly where she focused on policy related to health care, education, women and girls, immigration, and social justice. Please welcome Nina Chuang.

Escorted by assembly member Kalra is Vanessa Hatakeyama on behalf of the Japanese American History Museum of San Jose. Located in the heart of historic San Jose, Japantown, the museum serves over 9,000 annual visitors and is sustained by a multi generational network of staff, board, and volunteers.

The museum was founded in 1987 by second generation Japanese Americans or Nisei, and continues to collect, preserve, and share Japanese American history and art serving as San Jose Japantown's cultural anchor.

Please welcome Vanessa Hatakeyama on behalf of the Japanese American History Museum of San Jose.

Escorted by assembly member Harabedian and Senator Cabaldon are Stuart Walthall and Douglas Hsia on behalf of the Locke Foundation. The foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of the community of Locke, a national historical landmark and one of the last remaining rural Chinatowns in The United States.

The foundation provides education about Locke's history and legacy through preservation and cultural activities, help staff the boarding house visitor center, maintains the Locke Memorial Park And Monument, and organizes annual events that highlight API traditions. Please welcome Stuart Walthall and Douglas Hsia on behalf of the Locke Foundation.

Escorted by assembly member Patel is Nanda Mehta, a passionate entrepreneur and CEO of Creative Journeys, a travel and event management company that she founded in 1990. In 2015, miss Mehta launched IHANA, a nonprofit organization with a mission of elevating cultural awareness of South Asian communities through women voices. The organization places Joni Ki Bate at the forefront of its work, which is a nationally recognized collection of authentic, bold, powerful, and poignant stories written and performed by South Asian artists. Please welcome Nanda Mehta.

Escorted by assembly member Caloza is Charmaine Sunshine Morales, a registered nurse who serves as the president of the United Nurses Associations of California and the union of health care professionals.

As a Mexican and Filipino American, miss Morales is the first woman of color to serve as the union's president. Prior to this role, miss Morales started out as a night shift nurse and has since become a voice for those who feel invisible. Under her inclusive leadership, she has made union growth a cornerstone of her work. Please welcome Charmaine Morales. Escorted by assembly member Nguyen is Debby Soo, the CEO of OpenTable, an online restaurant reservation company.

Miss Soo brings expertise in product first commercialization, strategic partnerships, and international growth. As a graduate of Stanford University and the MIT Sloan School of Management, miss Soo began her career at Citibank before joining Google's strategic partnership group. She also spent over ten years building Kayak's travel commercial team, where she developed markets for the Asian Pacific region. Please welcome Debby Soo.

Escorted by assembly member Tangipa and Senator Choi is Suzie Suh, a news anchor at CBS News LA, who became the first Korean American prime time news anchor in Los Angeles.

Raised in Orange County, miss Suh began her journalism career as a one woman band reporter in Kalispell, Montana, then worked as a reporter in Las Vegas before joining CBS LA. As the Orange County County Bureau Reporter, she has the opportunity to cover the community she grew up in.

Please welcome Susie Suh. Escorted by assembly member Bains is Jay Tamsi, a business and community leader from Kern County that has built a reputation for decades of dedicated leadership, including serving as the youngest president of the Filipino community of Delano and contributing more than twenty years of service in leadership roles supporting the Filipino community.

Through his work with the Filipino American Cultural Association, his honor as the youngest Philippine weekend grand marshal, along with his father, Jimmy Tamsi senior, and thirty years leading Philippine weekend in Delano, has helped to preserve Filipino culture and grow into one of the largest Filipino festivals in the state of California. Please welcome Jay Tamsi.

Escorted by assembly member Chen is Lei Wang, a Chinese American business executive with over three decades of international experience in real estate development, infrastructure, and cross border leadership. Mister Wang has held senior roles at Gimdell USA, Power China Real Estate Group, Walt Disney in Engineering, and WSP USA. Some of his major projects include the Shanghai Disney resort and the O'Hare Modernization Project. He is also active in several business and community organizations in Southern California. Please welcome Lei Wang.

Unable to attend today is Glenn Fukushima, honored by assembly member Muratsuchi. Mister Fukushima is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is currently a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington DC, and in April 2022 was confirmed by The US Senate to serve as vice chairman of a Securities Investor Protection Corporation following his appointment by president Joe Biden. Please join the caucus in honoring Glenn Fukushima.

Congratulations, and thank you to our honorees. Please move to the center for a group photo. On behalf of chair Fong and the members of the California Asian American and Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus, thank you for helping us celebrate this year's outstanding honorees. Members to learn more about these incredible individuals, please read their biographies in the program found on your desk. This concludes our celebration.

And as our honorees exit the chamber, let's give them another round of applause.

Members, as you heard, that concludes our ceremony. We will move back to business, and we will move to guest introductions. Mister Gabriel, you are recognized for guest introduction.

Thank you very much, Adam Speaker. Good afternoon, colleagues. It is my honor to introduce somebody who I hope needs no introduction, which is our first ever second gentleman of The United States. We are very excited to welcome Doug Emhoff to the assembly today. Mister Emhoff and vice president Harris very ably served our nation in the Biden administration.

The second gentleman was an incredible advocate for our most vulnerable communities, for access to the justice system, for legal aid, played a very important role on antisemitism, helped to catalyze our country's first ever national strategy, and it's just an all around wonderful human being and a great Californian. So colleagues, please help me welcome second gentleman Doug Emhoff to the assembly floor.

He also taught at Georgetown University Law Center. You left that out, mister Gabriel.

Thank you, Mr. Amaha, for your service. Members, we will now turn to Assemblymember Jeff Gonzalez for his guest introduction.

Thank you, madam speaker. Colleagues, you hear me on the floor talking about my family and and also about my my son with special needs. But the reality is that I can't be up here nor can my, family be taken care of or my son have the greatest advocate, on the face of this earth, a superwoman, in her own right. And I'd like you to help me welcome my wife, Christine, to the assembly floor.

Welcome, Christine. And I will tell you that assembly member Gonzales often speaks of your advocacy. So you make a big difference around here. Assembly member Krell, you are recognized for your guest introduction.

Thank you, madam speaker, and thanks to the majority leader for temporarily, renting her destiny for this exciting occasion. Today, it's my honor to welcome the Sacramento State National Boxing Champion. That's right. The National Boxing Champion is from Sacramento State, and they're here with us today. I'm very proud to welcome and recognize Ayanna Gonzales and the Sacramento State's Combat U boxing team.

Launching in 2024, Sacramento State's Combat U program is dedicated to building discipline, confidence, and competitive skill through the sport of boxing. And in just two short years, the program has been has seen tremendous success, including four total region champions, our national silver medalist, one national champion, and eight total qualifiers for the national championship tournament. For one student, this program is more than a sport. It's her family's history and passion.

Ayanna Gonzalez is the daughter of head coach Brandon Gonzalez and assistant coach Janelle Gonzalez who taught her the value of combat sports.

Ayanna has taken this passion and quickly turned it into national success story, winning her first national collegiate boxing association champion, a first in this program's history. Not only is Ayanna a national champion, but she was also named an all star American in 2025 and 2026, and NCBA's most outstanding boxer in its women division in 2026. Ayanna's dedication and perseverance demonstrate the best of what Sacramento State has to offer, and I'm honored to recognize the achievement of both Ayanna and Sacramento State's Combat U boxing team.

In the rear of the chambers, we have national champion Ayanna Gonzalez, coach Randy Gonzalez, coach Janelle Gonzalez, coach Joel Stern, and Sacramento State president Luke Wood. And up in the gallery, we have additional members of this fantastic team.

Can we all say Stingers up? Alright. Members, members please help me welcome and congratulate their success.

Thank you so much, Assemblymember Crowell, and welcome to our chamber. Thank you so much. Moving to assembly member Closa. Let's invite your guests to the rear of chamber, mister Rice. Miss Colozie, you are recognized for your guest introduction.

Good afternoon. Thank you so much, madam speaker. It is my honor, if I can get everyone's attention on the floor, colleagues. Colleagues, thank you. It's my honor to be here to celebrate the leadership and service of California Professional Firefighters president Brian K Rice.

President Rice is no stranger to the Capitol. He's no stranger to so many of us. So many of us have formed such a deep relationship, not just, with CPF as an organization and the firefighters, but with president Rice and his incredible family and his and his boss, his beautiful partner, beside him. President Reis has been involved with the California Fire Service and the firefighter labor movement for more than three decades. He has helped, so many challenge with so many challenges at CPF.

From COVID to budget challenges, to staffing shortages, to so many emergencies, including the most recent Eaton and Palisades fires. As CPF president, Brian is a statewide leader in advocating for firefighters' wages, hours, and working conditions. While that takes many forms, as president, he has prioritized ensuring that CPF members are the best trained, most effective, and best equipped firefighters in the entire world.

As president, he's also led efforts to secure workers compensation, for presumed for presumption for post traumatic stress injuries, as well as strengthen fire based EMS services, create California firefighter cancer prevention and research program at the UCs, and so much more. This past August, I was also so honored alongside president Rice and our firefighters to announce, $10,000,000 in state funding that we all secured along with all of our colleagues here for the California Firefighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee, also known as CALJAC.

Thanks to the leadership of our speaker, our budget chair, and all of my colleagues on the floor, this $10,000,000 represents a historic state investment and the most investment we've ever had in firefighter apprenticeship programs. So you should all be really proud of your vote for that. In the labor world, we also know president Rice represents and advocates for firefighters as vice president on the executive council for the California Labor Federation AFL CIO.

And while we are here to mark president Rice's retirement, this is, you know, only an end of one chapter, but it is not the end of a legacy. I think I've surprised some of my colleagues who did not know you were retiring.

You tried to keep it very quiet, but we know we could not let him go without fully embarrassing him on the floor and really just thanking him for his contribution. So thank you president Rice for your contributions. Thank you for being a gem in California and for making the world a better place. We, are gonna miss you and thank you just for your leadership and your friendship. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much, president Rice, for all of your service to our state and to our firefighters. We couldn't be more grateful for them and for you. Mister Gonzales, you are recognized for your guest introduction.

Thank you, mister speaker. Members, I am proud to introduce two champions fighting against human trafficking in California and across the world. There we go. Academy Award winning actress, Mira Sorvino, and Kaye Buck, CEO of the Coalition Against Slavery and Trafficking or CAST. Mira first rose to stardom with her performance on Mighty Aphrodite, where she won an Oscar for the best supporting actress, and has started over 60 films and 30 TV shows, and made her Broadway debut in the musical Chicago last year.

In addition to her stellar acting work, she is also a tireless advocate against human trafficking. Cher worked with Amnesty International since 2004, and was United Nations goodwill ambassador to combat human trafficking using her platform to bring awareness to this important issue and to pass federal and state legislation to help victims of human trafficking. Kay Buck has over thirty years of experience leading human rights initiatives around the world.

At CAST, she built an organization that has a nationally recognized model for care of survivors, including the first US shelter for trafficked women. Under her leadership, CAST became the first organization to receive the presidential award to combat slavery and trafficking.

They are both here in Sacramento today to advocate for critical funding for the Human Trafficking Victim Assistance Program, which is running out by July 1, which ensures that human trafficking of survivors receive the support and services that they need. It is my honor, members, to invite both of my friends up here. We have worked together for a number of years to make sure that we not only advocate for my district, but across all of districts in California.

And thank you both powerful ladies for being here today. Members, please welcome Mira Sorvino and Kay Buck to the assembly floor.

Welcome, and thank you so much for your advocacy. Members, we are now need to move to business on the daily file. We have lots of bills to work through today. We will move to second reading. Lerk will read.

Assembly bill 16641913, and Senate bill 73 with amendments.

All bills will be deemed read and amendments deemed adopted. We will pass and retain on concurrence and Senate amendments. For reconsideration, all items shall be continued moving to the assembly third reading file. We will move to file item 33.

File item 33 is AB 2050. Clerk will read.

Assembly bill twenty fifty by Assemblymember Colosa and others and accolades to common interest developments.

Miss Colosa, you are recognized on the matter.

Thank you so much madam speaker. Thank you colleagues. I appreciate the opportunity to present AB 2050 or as I'd like to call it, the HOA rainy day fund. AB 2050 is a measured and thoughtful proposal aimed at promoting fairness and transparency for California residents living in common interest developments. Today, more than 13,000,000 Californians live in 55,000 common interest developments, also known as HOAs.

And we know that this is critically important as we continue to tackle with how we make California more affordable. While we focus a considerable amount of time in the legislature on new housing, and rightfully so, we cannot forget about our existing housing stock and how it's aging. More than 50% of the condominium associations in California are 20 years or older. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require an association to have a minimum of 10% in reserves and will increase that level to 15% starting in 2027.

Without this, many lenders will not write mortgages to the condos in these associations.

The absence of a required formula to fund reserves penalizes homeowners because the only remaining option to address these maintenance issues is a special assessment, which is neither fair nor compassionate. Predictability and transparency are essential for a well functioning marketplace. By setting clear standards, AB 2050 reduces disputes and improves compliance by providing the appropriate funding formula. And this bill, is also proud to have received bipartisan support. For these reasons, I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, miss Caloza. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, the clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote? All members vote who desire to vote? All members vote who desire to vote?

Thank you.

Members, we are working. All members vote who desire to vote? All members vote who desire to vote. This vote requires 41.

All Members vote who desire to vote. This requires 41. Clerk will close the roll and tally the votes. The vote is 44 Ayes, 6 Noes. This measure passes.

Moving to file item 36, AB 2106. The clerk will read.

Assembly Bill 2106 by Assemblymember Patel an act relating to civil actions.

Assemblymember Patel, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam Speaker and Members. I rise today to present AB 2106. AB 2106 modifies vetting requirements for lawsuits against architects, professional engineers, and land surveyors by requiring that any potential lawsuit consult with California licensed professionals.

This ensures that cases are properly reviewed by an impartial and qualified expert who understands California's unique regulatory landscape. Additionally, AB 2106 will also extend these protections to landscape architects.

AB 2106 has no opposition, received unanimous support in Assembly Judiciary Committee, and enjoys a support support position. I respectfully request your Aye vote.

Thank you, Assemblymember Patel. Seeing no further debate on the matter, the clerk will open the roll. All Members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote. All Members vote who desire to vote.

Clerk will close the roll and tally vote. Aye 62, Noes 0, the measure passes. We will pass temporarily on file item 38. Moving to file item 39, AB 1794. The clerk will read

Assembly Bill 1794 by Assemblymember Ransom an act relating to Healing Arts.

Assemblymember Ransom, you are recognized on the matter?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Colleagues, I rise to present AB 1794. This bill clarifies existing law to ensure that patients can receive enteral formula directly to their home rather than making trips to the pharmacy.

Enter a formula is a nutritional formula designed for people who cannot consume food normally. Some people take internal enter a formula to supplement their diet.

Others rely almost entirely on these formula to receive their nutrients and vitamins daily. These products are essentially prescription food rather than medication.

As you may imagine, people who rely on these formulas are often medically fragile and making regular trips to and from their pharmacy to receive their food. This can present risk that people without these with these needs, that you may not understand.

This is especially important for people living in remote rural areas where a trip to the pharmacy can mean hours on the road.

To ensure that patients can receive their formulas regardless of how far they live from the pharma pharmacy, AB 1794 will allow pharmacies and medical product distributors to send formulas directly to the patient's home as long as they have a prescription for it.

This bill prioritizes patient comfort and access while keeping them in direct contact with their care care team. I respectfully ask for your Aye vote on this bill.

Thank you. Assemblymember Ransom. Assemblymember Jeff Gonzales, you are recognized on the matter.

Thank you, madam speaker. I wanna thank the the author for this, this bill. Our house, uses these formulas for my 33 year old son who weeds through his stomach. I respectfully ask for an Aye vote.

Thank you, Assemblymember. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, Assemblymember Ransom, would you like to close?

Yep. Respectfully ask for your Aye vote.

The clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll and tally the votes. Ayes 61, Noes 0. That measure passes.

Moving to file item 40, AB 1829. The clerk will read.

Assembly Bill 1829 by Assemblymember Fong and others in activating the public post secondary education.

Mr. Fong, you are recognized on the matter.

Good afternoon, Madam Speaker and Members. Assembly bill 1829 strengthens financial support for low income student parents participating in California Community Colleges CalWORKs recipient education program.

AB 1829 will allow existing CalWORKs REP funding to be used for direct basic needs aid for students and will allow community college CalWORKs programs to waive the 25% employer match requirement for work study jobs to incentivize all campus employers to hire students.

I respectfully ask for an Aye vote.

Thank you, Mr. Fong. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, the clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll and tally the vote.

Ayes 60, Noes 1. The measure passes. Moving we will pass temporarily on file item 41 and pass on file item 42, pass temporarily on file item 43, moving to file item 44, AB 2038.

The clerk will read.

Assembly bill 2038 by Assembly member Harabedian and others and accolades to insurance.

Mister Harabedian, you are recognized on the matter.

Thank you, madam speaker. I rise to present AB 2038, which extends insurance, moratorium protections for wildfire survivors, so that families can focus on rebuilding without fear of losing coverage. California, as we all know, continues to face devastating wildfire destruction. Existing law from SB 824 by then Senator and now insurance commissioner, Laura allows the Department of Insurance to prevent insurers from canceling residential policies after a declared emergency.

But as we have seen rebuilding after a wildfire, any disaster takes longer than it used to.

Labor shortages, permitting delays, supply chain challenges, and the scale of destruction mean that rebuilding a home can take years. AB 2038 better aligns these protections with the realities of recovery by extending the moratorium from one to two years for homes located in or adjacent to the fire perimeter zip code. And for full losses, it would extend from two to three years for a total loss.

This bill is supported by a strong coalition including the League of Cities, League of California Cities, Rural County representatives of California, consumer advocates, and the insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara. Wildfire survivors should not have to worry about losing their insurance coverage while they are still trying to rebuild their homes and their lives.

I wanna thank my joint author from West Hollywood for all of his work on this important measure. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, mister Harabedian. Mister Zbur, you are recognized on the matter.

Thank you, madam speaker. I rise today as a proud joint author of AB 2038, and I wanna thank our colleague from Pasadena for his amazing leadership and for introducing this important piece of legislation. The growing threat and destruction of wildfires has severely increased across the state and with record breaking disasters occurring over the last decade.

Following the catastrophic Eaton and Palisades fires of the people who lost their homes, a large portion of those displaced families now reside in my district and are now my constituents. This devastation coupled with the ongoing insurance crisis crisis facing California has put many in our community at risk.

I've heard countless devastating stories of constituents and people that live on the outskirts of the fire areas who are completely out of options and are faced with either leaving California or paying unreasonable insurance premiums in a non admitted market. Some are ineligible for the fair plan. And if you're unable to get insurance, then you can't, then you risk your mortgage being defaulted, and that is something that is just unacceptable.

As many in our community members begin to figure out how to move forward following last year's devastating fires, it's critical that we provide them with with as much protection as we can and the clarity that they need. AB 2038 will help Californians by extending the insurance moratorium and give more time to the state insurance commissioner and our government to address the underlying causes of the insurance crisis.

This critical this is critical to not only, our wildfire victims, but those facing insurance instability and creating a pathway to an affordable California. Membees, members on behalf of my constituents, I wanna thank again the assembly member from Pasadena, and I strongly urge an aye vote on AB 2038.

Thank you, mister Zbur. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, mister Harabedian, would you like to close?

Thank you, madam speaker. Just wanna thank again my joint author from West Hollywood for all of his work and respectfully ask, for an aye vote. Thank you.

Clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote? All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll and tally the vote.

Ayes, 45. Noes, eight. That measure passes. We'll pass and retain on file item 45. Moving to file item 46, AB 2281.

The clerk will read.

Assembly bill twenty two eighty one by Assembly member Berman, an accolade to elections.

Thank you, madam speaker. A lot of those people a lot of people have that reaction when they hear I'm gonna present a bill.

Mister Berman, I didn't recognize you yet. My apologies. Mister Berman, you are recognized on the matter.

It is an honor and a privilege to be recognized. Thank you, madam speaker. In 2018, California established the Office of Election Cybersecurity within the secretary of State's office to coordinate efforts to address cyber threats and monitor election mis- and disinformation. AB 2281 would strengthen the office by authorizing them to consult with academic researchers and direct the office to assess if additional resources are necessary to replace the loss of federal cybersecurity support. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, mister Berman. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, the clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote? All members vote who desire to vote? All members vote who desire to vote?

Clerk will close the roll and tally the vote. Ayes, 46, no, seven. That measure passes. We will pass and retain on file item 47. Moving to file item 48, AB 2448.

The clerk will read.

Assembly bill twenty four forty eight by Assembly member Berman and others and accurately to medical information.

Mister Berman, you are recognized.

Thank you, madam speaker. In the years since Roe was overturned, attacks on reproductive and gender affirming care have steadily intensified. As a result, it is critical that medical providers have access to technology to protect sensitive medical information so that patients who have received reproductive and gender affirming care cannot be identified and targeted. AB 2448 would reinforce existing law would reinforce existing state law and require the implementation of this technology to protect the privacy and security of patients' medical records.

I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, mister Berman. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, the clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote? All members vote who desire to vote? All members vote who desire to vote.

Clerk will close the roll and tally the vote. Ayes, 49. Nos, 13. That measure passes. We will pass and retain, and file items 49 through 50.

Moving to file item 51, AB 2568. The clerk will read.

Assembly bill 2568 by Assembly member Johnson, an accolade to water.

Miss Johnson, you are recognized on the matter.

Thank you, madam speaker. I rise to present AB 2568, which is addresses outdated statutory statutory cap on compensation for those serving our state water district boards. Under current law, members of the governing boards of water districts are generally capped at receiving compensation for no more than ten days in any calendar month.

AB 2568 provides permissive authority for these districts to increase that monthly cap to fifteen days, ensuring directors are fairly compensated for the actual time required to manage today's complex water system. AB 2568 is sponsored by West Valley Water District, supported by the Association of California Water Agencies and California Special Districts Association has unanimously passed out of local government.

This bill has a support support and I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, miss Johnson. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, the clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote.

Clerk will close the roll and tally the vote. Aye, 60, noes, zero. That measure passes. We will take up file item 52, AB 1658. The clerk will read.

Assembly bill sixteen fifty eight by Assembly member Kalra, and act related to public contracts.

Mister Kalra, you are recognized on the matter.

Thank you, madam speaker and members. AB 1658 would remove the sunset date and limits on the existing authority for the counties of Santa Clara and Los Angeles to approve change orders at a higher threshold. These counties regularly construct large projects, including a stormwater capture project, a child and adolescent behavioral health services center, and seismic retrofits for hospital buildings, allowing these updated change order thresholds to remain in statute.

We'll allow both counties to be fiscally responsible with taxpayer dollars by avoiding possible delays and associated cost increases in large time sensitive construction projects. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, mister Kalra. Seeing and hearing no further debate on this matter, the clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote.

Clerk will close the roll and tally the vote. Aye, 61, noes, 2. That measure passes. Now members will move back up to the top of the file if you're following along, which means we'll move back to concurrence and Senate amendments. File item four, ACR 141.

Clerk will read.

Assembly Concurrent Resolution one forty one by Assemblymember Ta and others relative to VSOC Day.

Mister Ta, you are recognized on the matter?

Thank you, madam speaker. ACR 141 is back on concurrent for the amendment. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, the clerk will open the roll. Clerk, all members vote who desire to vote? All members vote who desire to vote? Clerk will close the roll and tally the vote. Aye, 63, no zero.

Then amendments are concurred in. We will pass and retain on file items on reconsideration five through seven. We'll move to the, back to the third reading file. We will pass and retain on file items eight through 11. Moving to file item 12, AB 2125.

The clerk will read.

Assembly bill twenty one twenty five by Assemblymember Bennett, an accolades of civil actions.

Mister Bennett, you are recognized.

Thank you, madam chair, members. This bill has received no opposition. It has unanimous vote in the Judiciary Committee. This bill ensures that people get proper notification when they have the risk of losing their water rights in an adjudication. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, mister Bennett. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, the clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote?

Clerk will close the roll and tally vote. Ayes, 63, noes, zero. The measure passes. We'll move to file item 13, AJR 29. The clerk will read.

Assembly joint Resolution 29 by Assemblymember Berman and others relative to voting by mail.

Mister Berman, you are recognized to open on the matter.

Thank you, madam speaker and colleagues. Over 23,000,000 active registered Californians began receiving their ballot in the mail last week for the upcoming primary election. Over the course of about a month, they will have the opportunity to return their completed ballot via the mail, return it in a secure drop box, take it into a polling place, vote center, or county elections office, give it to an authorized representative, or relinquish their vote by mail ballot and vote in person.

Voting by mail is enormously popular with California voters across party lines, with nearly 89% of voters using a vote by mail ballot this past November. But if president Trump has his way, that could all change.

Six weeks ago, president Trump issued executive order 14399, which rips away the authority of states and counties to operate their elections. Instead, putting the The United States Postal Service in charge of mailing ballots to voters on federally approved voter rolls. That's right. President Trump wants the United States Postal Service running our elections.

Setting aside the obvious implementation challenges of the incompetently drafted executive order, It is an unprecedented and unconstitutional intrusion in the state and county election administration in a further attempt to erect barriers to voting by mail for voters of all political persuasions.

Free and fair elections are the foundation of our fragile democracy. And when the Federal Government oversteps its constitutional authority to undermine our elections, California must push back. In California, we know that when voters of all political persuasions get a ballot in the mail, they vote. California voters have embraced voting by mail because it is safe, it is secure, it is reliable, and it allows Californians for whom in person voting presents a hardship to still participate in their democracy and have their voice heard.

And notwithstanding the lies president Trump and his supporters have been spreading for over a decade, the rate of mail voting fraud in California and across the country is minuscule and statistically insignificant, about four cases out of every 10,000,000 mail votes per a

Brookings Institution report published last year. Nevertheless, Trump and his minions have continued their all out assault on our democracy and on the fundamental right of Californians to participate in it. It is also ironic and wildly hypocritical given that president Trump voted by mail in Florida only weeks before signing the executive order and in an election where the Republican candidate lost in a huge upset and in seat Republicans won by 19% in 2024.

When asked about the hypocrisy of making it harder for Americans to vote by mail, weeks after he had done that exact thing, president Trump said, and I quote, "yeah. I did, because I'm president of The United States."

Rules for thee, but not for me according to our Timpah dictator. AJR 29 clearly and unequivocally puts California on the record in opposing the executive order and calls on Congress to protect the rights of states to offer the safe, secure, and reliable option for their citizens. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, mister Berman of Pellerin. You are recognized on the matter?

Thank you, madam speaker. Remembers, as a principal co author, I rise in strong support of AJR 29, which puts this legislature firmly on record against president Trump's executive order attacking vote by mail and imposing unnecessary new barriers to the ballot box. This is not the first time President Trump has tried to rewrite election rules by executive order. His last effort was promptly blocked by courts. And just like that executive order, this latest attempt is legally dubious, politically motivated, and contrary to the constitution.

The constitution is clear. States, not the president, have the authority to administer elections. Voting by mail is overwhelmingly popular with California voters across the political spectrum and for good reason. For millions of voters, mail ballots are the most practical and accessible way to participate in our democracy. That is especially true for voters who face barriers to in person voting, including people with disabilities, older older Americans, students living away from home, rural voters, and military personnel stationed overseas.

But vote by mail bet, vote by mail benefits all voters by allowing them to review their ballots at home and cast their votes on their own schedule. In fact, as my colleague stated, voting by mail is so convenient and widely used that president Trump himself has voted by mail, including at a recent election. How California already has strong laws in place to protect both the security and accessibility of our elections.

Despite repeated claims to the contrary, there is no credible evidence of widespread voter fraud by ineligible individuals. Efforts like this only erode public confidence in our democratic system.

Particularly troubling is the order's reliance at a flawed federal verification system that has been shown to contain significant errors. Errors that can wrongly deny eligible citizens their fundamental right to vote. The order also attempts to impose sweeping new mandates on the United States Postal Service, including restricting ballot delivery only to individuals on an approved list. The postal service is already facing operational strain and chronic underfunding. These requirements could be would be unrealistic to implement before the November election.

More importantly, determining voter eligibility is not the role of the USPS. Make no mistake, this executive order is the latest step in a continuing campaign to undermine public trust in our electoral system and to perpetuate false and discredited narratives about the outcome of the 2020 election. For those reasons, I I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, miss Pellerin. And mister Demaio, you are recognized on the matter?

Thank you, madam speaker. I rise in strong opposition to AJR 29, not because we don't have concerns about how our elections are being conducted. In fact, quite the contrary, we have grave concerns about the low levels of public trust and confidence. Instead instead of solving the problems that Democrat, Republican, and voters all the way in between are expressing concerns about, you play politics.

And and let me just for a moment also point out, I don't think anyone wants to take election advice from a group that rigged elections with prop 50.

You lost your credibility on this issue on prop 50.

Mister DeMaio, please keep it to the merits of the bill.

No. It is on the merits of the bill. No. You cannot stand up and say we have a resolution. We speak on behalf of Californians when you openly decided to throw away the independent citizen redistricting commission and allow politicians to manipulate the lines.

You did it. Now you have to own it. So kindly, quiet when it comes to the issues of restoring trust and confidence in elections because you have no credibility because of prop 50. There are bipartisan solutions that we hear from voters, not politicians, because they wanna drive division here. But voters are telling us the same thing in each camp.

Number one, they like the convenience of mail in ballots. And in California, we can keep mail in balloting, but we have to do it in a way that restores trust and confidence. So the other thing that they say they wanna see in California state government, they want our voter list to be properly maintained. If you wanna see evidence of the voter list not being maintained, go to any apartment building, any post office when ballots drop, and you'll see a bunch of discarded ballots all around.

You talk to any postal clerk, and they will tell you what everyone knows, the obvious.

Our voter list is absolutely in shambles. It is not properly maintained. We don't even use best practices. And the chair of the election committee knows we don't use best practices as it relates to information sharing with other states. California does not participate in the same level of information sharing that other states do best practice.

Mister DeMayo, there's a point of order, if you wouldn't mind. Miss Pellerin, what is your point of order?

He is disparaging me in my position as chair of the estate the Assembly Elections Committee, and I've served for over twenty seven years as an elections official. I know well that the voter lists are very well maintained.

Thank you, miss Pellerin. Mister Demaio, you know the rules. Please don't disparage

I know the rules

The rules are, I get to speak my points of view, you get to speak your points of view. Stop it with the lack of decorum by interrupting other members. You will be called out on your interruptions. If you wanna make a legitimate point of order, go ahead. But there's a pattern of abuse of when you don't appreciate someone's point of view you interrupt them.

Other members.

Mister Demaio, can we return to the matter at hand?

Voter list maintenance is what we should be focused on, and that I believe is the intent behind some of the proposals at the federal level. I actually think we can do better than those proposals. I think there can be a California way that's bipartisan. That's the basis of a lot of the ideas that I think the voters want to see in this election. People coming together and doing common sense.

Because guess what? The voters are already there. The polling shows 70% of voters want to see citizenship verification. They want proper voter list maintenance. They wanna see best election practices.

And, yes, they wanna see voter ID. None of those ideas are in this resolution. If we want a comprehensive, accurate resolution to speak on behalf of California voters, we should have those ideas, not partisanship, in this resolution that this body advances forward on behalf of all Californians. I urge a no vote and send it back to the author for revision.

Thank you, mister Demaio. Mister Schultz, are you rising to speak or point of order? I just

Oh, madam speaker. I'd love to speak if appropriate.

I would simply say that I'll be voting, aye on AJR 29, because rather than talking about the member from San Diego's proposed ballot initiative, which is inappropriate on this floor, we should combine the discussion to the merits of the AJR, and I think that it absolutely speaks to the values that we all hold as Californians.

Okay.

Thank you, mister Schultz. Mister Bennett, you are recognized on the matter? Oh. Oh, sorry. There's a point of order.

Miss Bonta, your point of order.

Our our member, who is chair of the elections committee raised a point of order asking that, the pro tem that the Senate that the speaker pro tem, offer a ruling on the point of order of lack of decorum for disparaging a member on this floor. I don't believe that you ruled on that.

Thank you, miss Bonta.

Thank you, Ms. Bonta. As you know, it has been years since I've been up here. I did speak to keeping to decorum. I asked Mr. DeMaio to do so, but your point is well taken in the future. Mr. Bennett, back to you on the matter at hand.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Credibility. Credibility is what we're being challenged on here, and that's what this bill is exactly about. California is-- and the author of this AJR 29 is asking us to make sure our voter lists are credible, and what we're trying to make sure is that the United States Department of Justice does not play a role in trying to decide how credible our voter lists are because this is the same Department of Justice that is run by people who still deny the results of federal elections.

This is the same Department of Justice that has bent and moved the rules all over the place. This bill, this resolution, is an attempt to try to say California is going to have a far more credible list than anything that's going to come from the manipulations at the federal level that Americans have seen over and over again and now the vast majority of Americans have lost confidence in. So I strongly recommend that we move forward with this resolution, AJR 29, and I appreciate the author for bringing it forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bennett. Ms. Sharp-Collins, you are recognized on the matter.

Thank you, Madam Speaker and members. Today, I rise to support AJR 29 to protect our fundamental right to vote. So let's start by setting the record straight. Voting by mail goes beyond a simple action, but it is a marker of how far we have come for voting access. We have seen time and time again people wanting to limit whose voices can be heard at the ballot box.

There was a point in history where it was seen as dangerous or even frightening for all people to vote, meaning that this led to continuous barriers of folks casting their ballots with implementation of poll tax, literacy tax, the intimidation of different type of techniques and other policies stopping those people from voting. The fight led to participation in democracy being seen as an act of resistance, but civil rights activists fought for years to put an end to those hurdles.

The Voting Rights Act was the beginning of those protections. President Lyndon Johnson, who signed that act, even said: the vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by humans beings from breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison people because they are different from others. That was a landmark piece of legislation that removed discriminatory voting practices and ushered in an era of Black representation in Congress.

But now here we are again, faced with a federal administration that wants to roll back the Voting Rights Act so that way they can pick whose voices can be heard by erasing a central tenet of the act that protects minorities' voting power. So this goes beyond minimizing voices of color. It impacts all of us.

In reality, it does impact all of us. It minimizes the voices in rural communities who live far and few between polling sites. It minimizes the voices of our aging and disabled population that have challenges making it to the polling stations. It minimizes the voices of our young people pursuing their dreams at college who want to vote in their hometown and know the value of voting. Regardless of background, we have a duty to call Californians-- well, to all Californians to ensure fair and free elections.

We have a duty to ensure equal and adequate access to voting, especially to the most underserved communities due to chronic disinvestment and systemic inequalities. So what I'm talking about is persistent structural inequalities in all areas of our lives, from healthcare and housing to education, employment, meaning that truthfully, Black and brown voters face the most unique challenges when attempting to vote. They stand and lose the most.

But as we have already adopted universal vote-by-mail, we have already begun that fight and to stand up against the injustice that is already being done and trying to now come back. We are not gonna back down from this. The state DOJ has already made strives to protect elections and preserve public trust for our political infrastructure.

AJR 29 rejects that disinformation and it truly affirms the truth. Understand that access to voting-- we already know that it was not created equally, and I say this because communities of color experience more polling places being closed rather than other communities.

They experiences longer wait times and lines as a result of that compared to other communities. Rollbacks of early and mail-in voting, closures of community polling sites has become a common place in many communities across this country, which disproportionately, once again, impacts voters of color. So where there is bias in election laws that create unequal access to the ballot, we will see the impact of systemic racism, discrimination, not only in California, but across this entire country.

So in my closing, let me remind you that our voice-- really our vote is our voice. People die to protect and advance this right. Voting is a fundamental principle, and all Americans deserve the equal opportunity to make their voice heard in our democracy. Therefore, we know for a fact California's vote-by-mail system-- in my opinion, it is secure.

It protects any vulnerable community who faces barriers to an in-person voting, and California will always protect our voters' right to cast a ballot in our free and fair elections. So with that, as I'm setting the record straight, I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, Ms. Sharp-Collins. Seeing and hearing no further debate on this matter, Mr. Berman, would you like to close?

Well, I wanna thank all my colleagues who spoke in favor of the resolution, and not withstanding the rudeness and disrespect shown towards a colleague on the floor and notwithstanding the display of an absolute lack of understanding of the rules of debate on the floor, I wanna thank my colleague from San Diego for saying the quiet part out loud, which is that he has an absolute disrespect for the voters of California and the seven point-- for the more than 7.4 million voters in California who voted in favor of Prop 50, which was over 64%.

And I wonder if my colleague from San Diego would prefer that he have control of the power of the district lines just like in Florida and Texas and Tennessee where Republican legislatures redrew lines mid-census rather than having the respect of their voters and going to their voters to get approval for those maps. Now, my colleague from San Diego referenced the lack of faith and trust that voters have in our election system in California, and the reality is that's the arsonist trying to cosplay as a firefighter--

Mr. Flora-- I'm sorry. Mr. Berman, if you--

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I just would like my colleague to keep to the merits of the bill and not disparage our colleague from San Diego.

My understanding from my colleague from San Diego is that we're allowed to do that on the floor, but I appreciate that, Mr. Minority Leader.

Own your time.

So as I was saying, my colleagues from across the aisle who take advantage of every opportunity to sow fear and distrust and spread lies around the accuracy and security of our voting systems--

Mr. Berman? Yes, Mr. Jeff Gonzales. What is your point of order?

I would ask that my colleague reframe that in his generalization and keep to the points over the merits of the bill.

We-- Mr. Berman, let's stay to the merits of the bill, please.

Absolutely. In responding directly to the comments from my colleague from San Diego, who said that we need to erect barriers to voting because voters have lost faith in our democracy and lost faith in our elections, what I would suggest is that President Trump and certain colleagues from across the aisle stop lying about the accuracy and the efficacy of our voting systems in California. Because when you lie about voter fraud, when you constantly try to undermine--

Mr. Berman--

--voter's faith in our democracy--

Based on the merits.

--they inevitably-- the reaction is going to be that people are gonna start to question whether or not that election system is accurate. But as I stated, there are less than four instances of voter fraud for every 10 million votes cast by mail in the United States. The president, President Trump, the first time he was president, created a federal commission that was co-chaired by then Vice President Mike Pence before folks wanted to hang him outside the gates of the White House.

It was co-chaired by then Vice President Mike Pence; had the full weight and authority of the federal government to go and investigate voter fraud all across the United States. And after six months of their investigations with every lever of power at their disposal, what did they find?

Nothing. They found no systemic instances of voter fraud in the United States. But what they do by constantly claiming that there's voter fraud, by President Trump claiming that he would have won California if not for voter fraud, which would be over 3 million instances of voter fraud, is that erodes voters' faith in our democracy. And then, certain elected officials want to erect barriers to voting as a, quote, solution to that lack of faith in our election systems.

Now, I would argue that that is the arsonist trying to cosplay as a firefighter. Those are the people who are causing the lack of faith and trust in our elections and our democracy, then try to use that as an excuse to block people from voting. And that's exactly what we saw in the arguments that were made earlier in this conversation. So I appreciate them kinda taking the mask off and being honest about what their intentions are, and I respectfully ask for an aye vote on AJR 29. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Berman. Would you like the first role to be open for co-authors, Mr. Berman?

Thank you. The clerk will open the roll for co-authors on the resolution. All members vote who desire to vote. This is for co-authors on the resolution. You don't need to vote no on co-authors. You just won't be added. All members vote who desire to vote. This is for co-authors on the resolution. Clerk will close the roll and tally the vote. There are 47 co-authors at this resolution. Now we will take a vote, a roll call vote on the resolution.

You bet.

The clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote. This is on the resolution. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll and tally the vote. There are 47 ayes and 13 noes. The resolution is adopted. We will pass and retain on File Item 15.

We'll pass and retain on file items fourteen and fifteen. Moving to file item 16, AB 2784. The clerk will read.

Assembly bill 2784 by the Committee on Judiciary, an act related to attorneys.

Mister Kalra, you are recognized on the matter? Mister Kalra is recognized.

Okay. Thank you, madam speaker. AB 2784 is the annual bill to authorize the State Bar of California to collect licensing fees from attorneys. Madam speaker, the good news is this year's bill does not contain a fee increase and holds the fees flat. I respectfully request an aye vote.

Thank you, mister Kalra. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, the clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote.

All members vote who desire to vote. Clerk will close the roll and tally vote. There are 63 ayes and zero nos. That measure passes. We'll pass and retain on file item 17 through 21.

Moving to file item 22, AB 1614, the clerk will read.

Assembly bill 1614 by Assemblymember Dixon and others, an act relating to vehicles.

Miss Dixon, you are recognized on the matter?

Thank you, madam speaker. Good afternoon, colleagues. I rise today to present AB 1614. AB 1614 is a common sense measure that prohibits piggybacking on bikes and ebikes on a class one bikeway. Currently, a person is prohibited from operating a bicycle on a highway if that person is riding other than upon or astride, a permanent and regular seat attached to the bicycle.

They are also prohibited from allowing another person to ride as a passenger unless there is a separate seat attached. However, these laws are currently limited to a highway and do not apply to bicycles ridden on a class one bikeway. The increased speed and accessibility of e bikes have consistently led to higher rates of injury with an increasing number of injuries occurring when riders piggyback.

With multiple riders on a single bicycle, their driver can be more easily distracted and/or lose control, causing serious injuries such as multiple open long bone fractures, concussions, and brain bleeds to all riders. Sadly, many of these injuries are life changing.

Additionally, e bike frames and braking systems are manufactured to support a certain amount of weight. By adding a second rider, the structural and mechanical integrity could be compromised.

This bill is sponsored by the California Orthopedic Association and has received support from the California Association of Bicycling Organizations, the Automobile Club of Southern California, AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah, City of Newport Beach, City of Irvine, City of Carlsbad, City of Los Alamitos, City of Laguna Niguel, City of Huntington Beach, the Town of Hillsborough, the League of California cities. Additionally, this bill received zero no votes through policy and fiscal committees. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you.

Thank you, miss Dixon. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, the clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote.

Clerk will close the rule and tally the vote. Ayes, 56, no, zero. The measure passes. We'll pass and retain on file items 23 through 29. Pass and retain on file items thirty and thirty one.

Moving to file item 32, AB 2503. The clerk will read.

Assembly bill 2503 by Assemblymember Wallis, act related tp the Interscholastic Athletic Programs.

Mister Wallis, you are recognized.

Thank you, madam speaker. Members, today I rise to present AB 2503. This bill is about heat safety guidelines for high school athletics. AB 2503 will allow the California Interscholastic Federation to consider and then refine heat safety standards for better regional accuracy. This builds on the heat guidelines we successfully established a few years ago, and I respectfully request that aye vote.

Thank you, mister Wallis. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, the clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote?

Clerk will close the roll and tell you the vote ayes, 57, no zero. The measure passes. We have dispensed with file item 33. We will pass and retain and file items 34 through 35.

We've dispensed with file item 36. Pass and retain on file item 37. Moving to file item 38, AB 173. The clerk will read.

Assembly bill 1703 by Assembly member Hart and act related to the healing arts.

Mister Hart, you are recognized on the matter?

Thank you, madam speaker. AB 173 will address a gap in current law requiring that just like existing protections for MDs, only licensed DOs can use specific titles like osteopath or the initials DO when offering or providing a medical service. This bill will also close a loophole in existing alternative health care law by codifying protections against the unlicensed practice of osteopathic manipulative treatment.

California should be able to trust the quality of licensed medical practitioners and deserve the right to make informed decisions when choosing a doctor no matter the type of care they seek. This bill has had no no votes and as a support support, I respectfully request an aye vote.

Thank you, mister Hart. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, the clerk will open the rule. All members vote who desire to vote? All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote.

Clerk will close the roll and tell you that Aye, 62, noes zero. That measure passes. We have dispensed with file items thirty nine and forty. Moving to file item 41, AB 1920. The clerk will read.

Assembly bill 1920y by Assembly member Mark Gonzales and others an act related to Community Colleges.

Mister Gonzales, you are recognized?

Thank you, madam speaker. Members, AB 1920 addresses a small but significant issue in the California College Promise program. Under current law, students receiving the Promise fee waiver can lose their eligibility if they earn a certificate, even when that certificate is part of the pathway to an associate degree. That means a student can do everything right. They can stay on track, get straight a's, and complete meaningful milestones, and they still will be penalized for their success.

Many of our community colleges, programs are intentionally designed with stackable credentials, not as the end goal, but as a step along the way. For example, our future firefighters, veterinarians, EMTs, mechanics, IT workers, early care providers, teachers, and even film students can earn a certificate as they achieve their AA degrees. But right now, those steps can knock students out of their program entirely. This was not the intent of the initial legislation. This bill is a technical fix, but one with real consequences for student success.

Thank you, madam speaker. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, mister Gonzalez. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, the clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote.

Clerk will close the roll and tally the vote ayes 62, noes, zero, that measure passes. We'll pass and retain on file item 42, moving to file item 43, AB 1999. The clerk will read.

Assembly bill 1999 by Assembly member Kalra and others, an act relating to professions and vocations.

Mister Kalra, you are recognized on the matter.

Thank you, madam speaker. In 2023, I authored ACR 86, which encouraged the state to take several actions to address its acute pet overpopulation crisis, including filling critical veterinary staffing gaps with qualified out of state professionals.

AB 1999 responds to this resolution by creating a retired volunteer status for retired veterinarians and RBTs who wish to provide unpaid voluntary labor to animal shelters and humane societies without losing, the retired status, creating a streamlined pathway for out of state veterinarians to become licensed shelter veterinarians, revising the Veterinarian Client patient relationship statute to allow veterinarians provide care without reestablishing an existing VCPR, clarifying other aspects of veterinary telemedicine statutes, and narrowing the owner exemption to exclude surgical procedures.

Together, these solutions will help eliminate many of the barriers that prevent countless animals from receiving the care they need and deserve. AB 1999 is sponsored by CBMA, CBMB, social compassion legislation, and the San Diego Humane Society, a coalition that represents a wide variety of perspectives on animal welfare and veterinary issues.

I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, mister Kalra. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, the clerk will open the roll. All members vote who desire to vote? All members vote who desire to vote. All members vote who desire to vote.

Clerk will close the roll and tell you the vote I 63, no zero, the measure passes. We have dispensed with I file item 44. We'll pass and retain on file item 45. We've dispensed with file item 46. We'll pass and retain on file item 47.

We have dispensed with File Item 48. We'll pass and retain on File Items 49 and 50. We have dispensed with File Items 51 and 52. We'll pass and retain on File Item 53. Moving to File Item 54: ACR 123, Mr. Chen. Oh. Before I call you, Mr. Chen, the clerk will read.

Assembly Concurrent Resolution 123 by Assembly Member Chen, relative to Duanwu Jie.

Mr. Chen, you are recognized on the matter.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I really appreciate your time. Most of us in this Assembly floor have heard about Lunar New Year, but most of us have never heard about Duanwu Jie, also better known as Boat Racing Festival. It's a tradition actually more than two thousand years of history. This holiday honors the legacy of Qu Yuan, which is an ancient Chinese poet, and reflects the values of loyalty, integrity, and community.

Today, the festival is widely known for its dragon boat races where teams pedal in unison to the beat of drums, symbolizing teamwork and perseverance. It's a tradition that's been passed down through generations and continues to bring communities together. I also know that for us on the Assembly floor, we often know that some of the best legislation ideas come from the district, and this is certainly true for ACR 123.

My good friends are honorees Mr. Langway acting for API History Month, as well as members of the Hubei Association in the gallery today that brought this idea to the Assembly floor. With that, Madam Speaker, I respectfully ask for your aye vote, and at the appropriate time, ask the roll call to be open for co-authors.

Thank you, Mr. Chen. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, the clerk will open the roll for co-authors on the resolution. All members vote who desire to vote. This is for co-authors on the resolution. All members vote who desire to vote.

This is for co-authors. Clerk will close the roll and tally the vote. Ayes: 61; no: zero-- or there-- oh. There are 61 co-authors on the resolution. Without objection, we will take a voice vote on the resolution. All in favor, say aye. All opposed, say no. The ayes have it. The resolution is adopted. We will--

Moving to file item 56, ACR 189, the clerk will read

Assembly Concurrent Resolution 189 by Assembly member Arons relative to Foster Youth Awareness Month.

Mister Ahrens, you are recognized on the matter?

Thank you, madam speaker and colleagues. Today, I'm proud to present ACR 189, which designates May 2026 as foster youth awareness month. The California child welfare system provides critical support for more than 43,000 foster care children in our state. Sadly, a child is placed in foster care nearly 100 times a day in the state of California. Children in the foster care system face many unique struggles.

Studies show that foster youth have increased levels of chronic health issues, developmental delays, and disabilities, mental health needs, and substance abuse issues. Furthermore, foster youth attend college at much lower rates than our general population, and they are much more likely to experience homelessness. Despite all of this, our foster youth continue to overcome systemic barriers and contribute meaningfully to our state.

Many choose to pursue higher education, careers in a variety of industries, political advocacy, and some of us with a lot of hard work and a lot of luck can even make it here on the floor of the assembly. None of this would be possible without many players in our state's child welfare system.

Foster families, foster family agencies, relatives of foster youth, and public and nonprofit organizations all play a critical role in supporting these vulnerable populations and helping youth find supportive and stable homes. Our foster youth advocacy groups are also critical for looking out for the best interest of these children, ensuring their representation and important policy discussions in our state.

It is vital that we recognize and commend the success stories of our foster youth while also acknowledging the work that still needs to be done to balance the scales for our foster youth. I am proud to advocate for my foster care bill package, and I also wanna recognize my colleagues working on legislation to improve our state's foster care system.

I wanna specifically thank the member from Culver City, which has A Bill which expands access to housing for former foster youth and AB 1080, which ensures Social Security benefits are used in the best interest of our foster youth.

I wanna thank the member from Los Angeles for AB 1967, which ensures that youth in foster care receive timely support.

The member from Moreno Valley, AB 121, which promotes family reunification, the member from Ukiah for AB 1574, which provides funding to Indian tribes to prevent the entry of children into foster care, the member from West Covina AB 162, which supports the needs of foster youth and their caregivers during a disaster, and the member from San Francisco for AB 1846, which strengthens California's kin first policy, And finally, the member from Burbank for AB 2478, which promotes family reunification and Kin First policy.

And although I don't have time to mention everyone, I wanna thank all of our other colleagues who have worked so hard on current or past legislation to improve the child welfare system and promote the amazing success of our state's foster youth. Please join me in commending our state's foster youth, our child welfare system, and all of our foster youth advocates. I respectfully ask for an aye vote, and our first roll to be added, first roll call to be added for coauthors.

Thank you, mister Arons. Mister Bryan, you are recognized on the matter?

Thank you, madam speaker. And colleagues, I rise in strong, strong support of ACR 189. And I really wanna thank my colleague from Silicon Valley. It makes me incredibly proud to see you leading this resolution today. You are the right author, and I think this body is better with you here.

I've been thinking about this a lot this morning because I didn't realize we were gonna do this the day after Mother's Day, until a colleague told me, it's really hard for me to think about foster care without thinking about my mom. And my mom has been sick most of the year. She's been in the hospital four months out of the year, and I spent a lot of time on FaceTime with her yesterday. My mom was a foster parent for thirty years.

Started in her early twenties, a number of different experiences, but one my dad always tells is preacher at church had a sibling group of five.

Big church. Said, will anybody help these kids find a place to stay while we locate their mother? Dad thought he was smooth, leaned over, said if nobody else would do it in this church of 2,000, left church, went and got the car, mom walks out with five kids. And so it begins. My mom wasn't just a foster parent.

During her time of service, she took the hardest to place cases almost always. She was that call in the system. A lot of people don't know this, but they call about a placement, and families say no for

a number of reasons. I'll never forget my foster sibling who had third degree burns on both of her hands. Didn't have a placement. And my mom said, we will take you, even though that took twenty four hour round the clock care. Two twin foster siblings.

One had a trachea. One had a g button. My little brother who was adopted, Evan, when he was my foster brother, he came to us to die. He had a ventilator. We had to go pick up oxygen tanks every few days.

Fetal cocaine exposure, fetal alcohol syndrome, very common in my house. My little brother Paul, born in a bathroom in Lake Elsinore, premature, strangled by his umbilical cord, grandma seizures. Not a place to go, my mom stepped up. Almost a 150, 200 young people came through the house over those thirty years. About thirty years ago, she got a call in Dallas, Texas.

Little baby boy, born to a teenage mother, victim of a sexual assault. She got pregnant, deep poverty, immediate family suffering from substance abuse. Very clear there's no place. So they called Susan Bryan. Can you take this little boy?

She said yes. Social worker, miss Carol, placed him with Virgie Taylor and her husband, my first foster parents, until my mom could come and get me. What they didn't tell her at the time, which my colleague I'm sure knows very well as well, was all the other problems I was gonna have and that my siblings were gonna have because of our adverse childhood experiences.

The way we were gonna interact in school, the way we were gonna struggle with our identity because we don't know where we come from and everything we do know is bad and violent and traumatic. The way we would lash out and be angry and upset and not know who to be angry at, and so she got the brunt of it.

The way we would interact with the disciplinary process in school at a disproportionate rate. I was suspended seven times. They didn't tell her that was gonna happen when they picked up that baby boy. They didn't tell my mom I was gonna fail out of middle school or that one of her sons would become incarcerated or another unhoused.

They also didn't tell her that her son would make it to the California legislature to stand on the assembly floor to do this resolution with a colleague who's had a similar experience.

And I can tell you that she is very, very proud. And so doing this today, the day after Mother's Day, feels very special and very purposeful. And it's also a reminder that there are people all across California who step up on an individual capacity like my mother did. But we in this body have a greater responsibility to shift entire systems, to reallocate resources, to step up for the public good and make sure that we don't play politics with real people's lives, especially our young people.

And even though this is a resolution, I'm glad that our colleague from Silicon Valley listed a bunch of bills because we're gonna get an opportunity to do some of that great work that he is leading this year.

And I respectfully ask for your aye vote on this resolution.

Thank you, mister Bryan. Ms Elhawary, you are recognized on the matter.

Thank you, madam speaker and members. I would like to start by thanking the member from the Silicon Valley and the member from Los Angeles for just sharing your stories, for being who you are, for being on this floor with the, just the incredible opportunity to advocate for the young people that come after you who have similar stories. And that we know need the love and support here in the legislature so that we can continue to push for a better system that actually has their back.

I know that we have, we started with the story of your mother, because it was Mother's Day. And I hope that for everyone on the floor, Mother's Day was everything you needed.

I got a chance to celebrate Mother's Day with my daughter as a foster mom. And Makayla, this weekend learned how to fly kite for the first time. And we had the best time experiencing just being together. And sometimes it is hard to think about all of the adverse childhood experiences that come with what it means to then be able to raise a young person who hasn't been with you for most of their lives.

And, we know that especially in Los Angeles County where we have the largest foster youth population in the entire country, over 40,000 young people, it's the county with the highest population of youth in foster care.

And we know that those additional barriers that come not only while they're in foster care, but afterward, when it comes to housing, when it comes to, higher education, when it comes to the type of supports that they need, when it comes to their health. And I've seen firsthand how difficult it is for youth as they look to find their footing.

And even with Makayla now, looking to figure out how her as she transfers to another university, how she can utilize her health care, how she can make sure she's, really understanding what it takes. That's why it's so important that what we're doing now, the kind of work that we've seen in this legislature in this body, but the kind of work that is now being led, through our incredible colleague, the the bill package that truly does invest in foster youth.

And not only from the types of bills that we're doing, but the types of opportunities to bring foster youth here to the floor to see what it's like, to understand what this experience is like, so that they can see themselves in our shoes one day is so powerful.

And so I'm so grateful to be able to work on this together to have some of the bills, that are part of that package, to be authoring and co authoring them, and also really making sure that we have that legislative pathway. In places like South Central, we have community leaders and organizations who are doing the work on the ground.

And so we wanna keep on supporting them, funding them, a safe place for youth, a place called home, peace for kids, wellness, and just incredible opportunities for us to really continue to lock arms and do this work together. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, miss Elhawary. Mister Bennett, you're recognized on the matter?

I just want to say how fortunate we are to have two eloquent spokespersons here, to remind us that the foster children of California are not the responsibility of the foster parents. They're not the responsibility of the system that they're in, the child protective service system. They're the responsibility of all of us to be their extended families, and all of us should make an effort to reach out in some way and play some role in the foster care system.

And that's the only way the foster foster care system will really be the safe place it needs to be for all of our foster children and the successful place for them. Otherwise, it's a constant struggle.

So thank you both for being so great year after year in terms of reminding us.

Thank you, mister Bennett. Seeing and hearing no further debate on the matter, mister Aarons, would you like to close?

Thank you. And thank you, madam speaker. And on behalf of the 43,000 foster care children in our state, respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you, mister Aranz. Mister Aranz has asked that the first roll be open for coauthors. Clerk will open the roll for coauthors on the measure. All members vote who desire to vote. This is for co authors on the measure.

All members vote who desire to vote. This is for co authors. Clerk will close the roll and tally the vote. There are 64 co authors on the measure. Without objection, we can take a voice vote on this resolution.

All in favor, say aye. All opposed, say no. The ayes have it. The resolution is adopted. We'll pass and retain on file item 57 moving oh oh, he has guests.

Sorry. I just got back to business. Mister Arons, you recognize your guest introduction?

Thank you, madam speaker. And with me today in the rear of the chamber are several advocates in our foster care space from the California Youth Connection, the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, and the John Burton Advocates for Youth. Will you please join me in welcoming them to their state assembly?

Thank you all for your advocacy. Now we will move back to business on the daily file. We'll pass and retain on file item 57, moving to file item 58, HR 105. The clerk will read.

House Resolution 105 by assemblymember Zbur and others related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis awareness month.

Mister Zbur, you are recognized to open on the matter.

Thank you, madam speaker. Members, I'm proud today to present HR 105, which designates the month of May as ALS awareness month. Amyotropic lateral sclerosis or ALS is a fatal rare disease affecting, far less than one percent of the population in which a person's brain loses connection with their muscles, slowly reducing their ability to walk, talk, eat, and eventually breathe.

The disease was first identified in 1869, but it didn't become widely known until 1941 when it ended the career of beloved baseball player, Lou Gehrig. Since then, awareness of ALS has improved, but the exact causes still remain unknown, and there's still no cure.

Diagnosis can take months or even years, and individuals with ALS pay on average to a quarter of $1,000,000 annually out of pocket for care, including therapies, durable durable medical equipment, and assisted communication technologies. Once diagnosed, most patients only live two to five more years and require increasing levels of assistance as the disease progresses. This disease has significantly impacted the lives of everyone in my family. As you all know, my sister Jackie endure endured a three year battle with ALS.

And before she passed away in 2020, she made me promise two things.

One, that I would run for public office. And second, and most importantly, that I would do everything I could to fix the broken system that treated her like a statistic instead of a person. That promise is why I'm here today. That promise also led me to author AB 2613 two years ago, which established the state's first rare disease advisory council to bring together patients, policymakers, and other experts to find new ways to collaborate to improve the lives of patients with rare diseases.

And, of course, the assembly member from Newport Beach has also been impacted by ALS.

She has made, she too has made ALS and rare diseases a similar priority because of what her family experienced when her mother was diagnosed with ALS. This resolution designates the month of May 2026 as ALS awareness month to increase awareness of this devastating disease. Further funding and research is needed to improve the lifespan of those diagnosed with ALS and to ultimately find a cure.

As we recognize ALS month, I ask all Californians to join me in bringing awareness to this disease and to stand in solidarity with those affected by ALS and with all rare diseases, including the patients, the families, and the caregivers. I ask for your aye vote at the appropriate time.

Thank you, mister Zbur, Miss Dixon, and you are recognized on the matter.

Thank you, madam chair. And thank you, and members, and thank you my colleague from Santa Monica. We're we're never gonna stop fighting this fight. And my experience, as vice chair, well first of all, let me just say, as vice chair of the rare disease caucus and a principal co author of HR 105, recognizing May as ALS awareness month is personally special for all the reasons my colleague just spoke.

It's also my mother's birthday is in May, and so every I didn't think about it every day, but May to celebrate this in ALS is very special.