Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration and General Government

Subcommittee four of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, will come to order. We are holding our committee hearing here at the State Capitol, Room 113. I ask all members of the subcommittee to come and join us in Room 113 if they'd like, so we can we don't need to establish a quorum today, but they're more than welcome to join us here this morning. We will provide an opportunity for public comment following the conclusion of the discussion item list.

And we'll go ahead and move on to we don't need to call the roll right.

We'll go ahead and move to agenda item number 1. We have two items on our discussion for the calendar today. We will begin with the first item on general obligation bond extinguishment under the state treasurer. Will representatives come on up? And Department of Finance and LAO as well.

Present.

And when you're ready, you can proceed.

Hello. Thank you, Chair. Randy Katz, Department of Finance. So this proposal was extinguished 1988 to February geo bond authority as allowed by Section one of Article 16 of the California constitution. Affected departments have indicated there are no plans to seek unused authority or spend excess proceeds.

This will close out bonds no longer in use, thereby reducing workload for the STO and returning and also returning approximately 6,800,000 in unspent proceeds to the general fund. Thank you.

Alexander Bentz, LAO. We have no concerns.

Okay. Do we have questions from committee members? Mr. Vice Chair?

Yeah. So I've not seen something like this before and probably nobody else has because he's go back so far, I guess. And in some cases, it's insignificant, de minimis, like the $35,000 of a $6,700,000,000 authorization. Some of them are more significant. But if I understand correctly, this is for one of two reasons.

Either there is money left over unspent and yet all of the objectives of the bond measure have been accomplished, and so, therefore, the money doesn't need to be spent, and that's a good thing. Or the other is that there is money left over that could be spent, but it's not enough to really accomplish anything in the context of the bond measure. And that's good insofar as it goes, too. But I can't tell which one of these is which. It doesn't say that in here.

Oh, yes.

About what the original bond was and

So the language itself is specific to reducing authority. And so basically, that is a mechanism by which the STO uses to close out. So the bill itself is on the authority side reducing it from what was, what what was originally authorized to actually what was I think it was the amount that was sold as bonds. The unspent proceeds is after you sell bonds, you get the the proceeds from it to use it for the purposes.

So say if it's a resources bond, maybe you're doing park restoration.

And after a certain amount, the purposes of that specific park is already done. You have a 100,000 here left over, 200,000 there left over. There is a process to reallocate those funds, but if the department says there's no need, it just kind of sits there as unspent proceeds.

And in some cases, it has just sat there for, quite a while. Now as a part of the, the budget, as I've said many times that June 15 budget, and this isn't directly related to this, but it is indirectly, that June 15 budget is really not our budget. It's a placeholder. We continue to work on the budget throughout the rest of the year and have last year and the year before and the year before.

And with this particular issue, this certainly was known six months ago or even a year ago when the governor's proposal was first being, developed for the January introduction.

Why now? Why not then?

Um, we, I mean, we have known for a while. Part of it is this is kind of a standard governmental process that is once there is a threshold level of projects, we move forward. And and so it it did happen, I think, most recently in 2020. We we reduced funds. So it it does happen with with some regularity.

And in this particular case, the timing just worked out, so it was best to take care of it now.

Well, the the next item that we'll have is probably a better example of something that is a cleanup that wasn't known before, although I have some comments on that too. But I hope under the next administration, whomever it is, that we will treat the June budget as a final budget truly and not continue to work on it through the rest of the year, as we have continually. You know, last year, we had 17 trailer bills in September or August. 17 of them.

So I I hope we get back to the discipline of finalizing the budget when the constitution says it should be finalized. Thank you.

Thank you.

My only question to you is just, do you expect something like this to happen in the coming years where other

Yeah. So there between the STO and finance, there are, several processes where we communicate with departments. So, like, twice a year, we send out cash flow surveys, and we can see from all the extant bonds whether there's a request for new authority or expenditures from the the remaining proceeds. In addition, about every three months, the STO will specifically reach out to departments about the, unspent proceeds, especially if they don't see much movement in there.

So ultimately, there's frequent communication with the departments and as I said once kind of a threshold amount has been reached we move forward with a trailer bill to extinguish bonds.

Do you expect to see many in the coming years? Or a few? Do you have any sense of

Oh, I

know that you do that survey.

For investigation. Okay. I mean, there will always be some it's hard for me to give you a precise number.

Okay. But you do do a survey that at every year that helps you determine whether or not a fund needs to be extinguished?

Correct.

Okay. Alright. Okay. Well, thank you so much for your presentation this morning. We appreciate your time. We'll go ahead and move on to agenda item number 2, which pertains to the retirement payment related issues under the office of administrative law.

Come on up, the representatives, including the department of finance, and I know we have the LEO here. And, please proceed when you're ready.

Good morning, madam Chair and members of the committee. This is for the office of administrate, oh, Mary Halterman, department of finance. The office of administrative law is requesting 315,000 in fiscal year twenty six, twenty seven for three lump sum retirement payments. As a small agency with about 26 employees, OAL is mainly funded through general fund and central services cost recovery fund, totaling roughly $6,000,000 annually.

Because of the small staff and tightly constrained annual budget, which is largely committed to their ongoing salaries and operations, OAL lacks physical flexibility and savings to absorb the additional one time costs. Finance has no concerns with OAL's request for the current year budget documentation to cover these one time costs for the simultaneous retirement payouts.

Happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Do we have any comments from the LAO?

Alexander Bentz, LAO. We have no concerns with this.

And any questions from the dais here?

Yes. Thank you very much. These, obligations for, employees that are departing, are they normal and expected, like, vacation, unused vacation pay, or that sort of thing? Is it are they those sorts of expenses?

Correct. It's their, their lead balances.

Now maybe, this is my continuing, struggle with, government accounting or fund accounting versus having been brought up with financial accounting. I I feel sort of schizophrenic sometimes in trying to understand both at the same time. But in in our business, we will accrue for normally expected expenditures as they're earned, but before they happen. And then when they happen, we pay them out of the accrual. The accrual is essentially setting cash aside to fund that future payment, which is a short term cycle.

I gather in government accounting, we don't do that.

Not with the leave balances. No.

Beg your pardon?

Not with the leave balances. No.

I'd suggest that maybe that ought to be, um, questioned then those expenses would be recognized when they're obligated at vacation is earned, things like that as people are working, not when they take the vacation. So just throwing out a suggestion from a retired bean counter.

Okay. Do we have any questions or comments from the dais on agenda item number 2?

That's it.

Good morning. And I was listening, on my way over. I just have one one question. What steps is OAL taking to manage these costs in the future, particularly given the department's small staffing levels? There's a limited ability to absorb the unexpected retirement expenses.

Good morning. Kevin excuse me. Kevin Hollis, assistant chief counsel for the office of administrative law. In large part, it can be difficult due to our small size. Again, we operate on tight budget.

I believe we usually use about 90 to 95% of our budgeted funds every year. Two of the positions that are being or that are retiring, that are being paid out are the director and deputy director, which are both statutory positions. And then the other position would be a supervisor too that has been with the state for over forty years. That person has already retired. I'm not sure of what active ways we are doing to eliminate the balances.

I know it gets these are managerial type positions, which can make it difficult for these persons to use time off, especially, obviously, a director. They're inheriting that where that budget or that balance came into OAL when the director was appointed. And then the others, again, because we are such a small small agency, we don't have a lot of, you know, redundant management or anything else like that, which I believe can make it difficult to take extended periods of time off and use leave balances.

Okay. Well, thank you. Appreciate that.

Do we have any other senators on the dais who would wish to comment on agenda item two? Okay. Seeing none, thank you so much for your presentation and for being here today. I don't have any questions on my end, so thank you for your participation. We will now, move on to take public comment.

If you wish to comment, please make your way to the microphone now. Please begin by stating your name and your affiliation. And when public so we'll start with the first person up in line. Thank you.

Good morning, Chair and members. I want to thank you for your commitment to small business, especially the Chair. Her unwavering commitment has been really impressive throughout this process. And congratulations, vice Chair, for your new role as Republican leader. I'm with the I'm Christina Rico with the California SBDCs.

And, we're here as part of a coalition, a larger coalition. As you see behind me today, we've requested originally $26,000,000, but in million dollars in the budget to go to funds both SIP and TAP, which are funds that distribute to technical assistance programs and small business development centers in California through, through GO Biz. And, in recognition of the very difficult budget that, we've been, experiencing this year, we've lowered our ask to 10,000,000 total, 5,000,000 for SIP, and 5,000,000 for TAP.

The economic benefits, that and the returns and the ROI that are that are distributed throughout the state are incredibly impressive, and we'll leave you with some materials today. I wanna thank you and ask that you prioritize this, and especially thank your staff for all the time that they've spent with us throughout the year and we respectfully request to be funded.

Good morning, Chair and members. I'm Joanna Vega Garcia, on behalf of Next in California and also on behalf of our fellow co leaders of the campaign for California borrowers right coalition, protect borrowers, student debt crisis center, and young invincibles. While it was not on the agenda today, we wanted to uplift an urgent request to include $3,000,000, for a one time to DFPI to continue the student loan empowerment network. This network provides student loan counseling services, and it has run out of funding.

We have heard from our partners across the state that student borrowers are already reaching out in large numbers, now that the implementation of unprecedented federal policy changes have started this summer.

Initial data shows the network has secured over $4,600,000 in debt discharged or canceled, which are critical dollars, back into the pockets of struggling families. And we thank Assembly member Pellerin for championing this budget request and we urge the governor and legislature to include funding for the network. Thank you.

Good morning. Thank you, Chair Hurtado for this informational hearing. I'm LA Plax and I'm representing proud to represent the California Women's Business Center Network. I'm here on behalf of the women, immigrant, and rural entrepreneurs that tap tap funding is essential in helping them with their entrepreneurship and wealth building dreams.

One stat I'd like to leave with you is that the of the of the capital that's raised for our clients through the women's business center, 65% and now on track to be 70% goes to women of color.

And as we know, women, especially women of color, are starting their entrepreneurial entrepreneurial dreams faster than any other segment of entrepreneurs. And so with that, anything you can do to support this ask is really essential to those women, immigrants, and rural entrepreneurs. So thank you so much.

Good morning, Chair Hurtado, Republican leader Nielo, and members of senators of the committee. David Nelson on behalf of the national small business advocacy council here, to echo some of the other comments that you'll hear in asking for your support of the $10,000,000 to support small business, technical assistance program and the capital infusion program. You know, over the last three years, over half a million jobs have been touched by the, TAP and SIP program.

And I'm sure Senator Nielo would appreciate that's a significant return on government investment when we're looking at economic development. And, we would sincerely appreciate considering that these programs have been consistently oversubscribed to the tune of almost 50%.

It shows the wherewithal of the program. It shows how strong the results are in district. I believe all of you have received the impact in your localized numbers, and we strongly encourage your support. And thank you again to staff for being so patient with our persistence on this ask. Thank you very much.

Good morning. I'm Sabrina Means on behalf of the Institute for College Access and Success, otherwise known as TCAS. We align our comments with the previous speaker from regarding uplifting the 3,000,001 time to the department of financial protection and innovation to continue the student loan empowerment network. These funds are critical for student borrowers and we urge the governor and legislature to continue funding for the network. Thank you.

Good morning, Chair Hurtado and members. I'm Jasmine Adbancula with the Cal Asian Chamber, urging your support of the $10,000,000 budget request into Cal Osmo's tap and sip programs. These are proven programs that help bridge gaps by providing trusted community based technical assistance and connecting small businesses with the resources, the capital they need to create jobs and contribute to the state's economy.

Through our chambers programs alone, we serve thousands of small business clients annually and helping by helping them secure millions of dollars in grants, loans, and contracts. We respectfully urge your support for the full $10,000,000 budget request.

Thank you so much.

Good morning, Chair Hurtado and members. My name is Sydney Palace. I'm the program manager with the Cal Asian Chambers Empower California TAP capital readiness program. We respectfully request 10,000,000 in one time funding, 5,000,000 for the technical assistant program, and 5,000,000 for the capital infusion program. These programs connect small businesses and to critical technical assistant resources that help entrepreneurs start, stabilize, and grow their businesses.

Over the past two years, Empower California has served over 200 clients and helped small businesses access more than $18,000,000 in loans, grants, and contracts. I have seen the direct impact this program has had to change the economic trajectory of small businesses throughout the state. This $10,000,000 investment into TAP and SIP will provide more resources to an existing infrastructure that is proven to work. Thank you for your time.

Good morning, madam Chair, members. Eduardo Martinez here on behalf of Actors Equity. We are a national labor union of theater actors and stage managers. We are one of the original cosponsors of the legislation creating the performing arts equitable payroll fund. We wanted to come here and thank this committee, the legislature, and the governor for investing another 12,000,000 in this first of the nation support program that supports workers at small nonprofit performing arts organizations.

The initial funding round was wildly successful and supported nearly 4,750 direct jobs and 11,000 indirect jobs. Since then, we have been discussing with the administration and other stakeholders the need to refine this program based on that experience. Those discussions led to a narrow set of suggested refinements, focusing reimbursements on wages, eliminating duplicative documentation, clarifying eligibility, and providing greater flexibility in the grant terms. These changes would preserve the program's core purpose while reducing administrative costs and helping the funding reach more organizations and workers.

We respectfully ask the subcommittee to include these refinements in the trailer bill language before the end of session.

We're happy to work with you and your staffs to make this a reality. Thank you.

Good morning, madam Chair and senators, Dylan Hoffman, on behalf of the California arts advocates. I want to echo the gratitude and thanks for, the investment in the, performing arts equitable payroll fund, and also echo the the call for further refinements to the program. As mentioned, this fund is is vital for the arts in local communities across the state, and there's an overwhelming demand for scarce dollars to during the first round of funding.

As just a a proof point, more than 400 organizations requested over $40,000,000, while approximately 11,600,000 was available for only a 100 of those organizations. Our sister organization was the program administrator for that first round, and we learned valuable lessons that should inform the release of the next round of of funding.

And based on that experience, we have suggested several refinements as mentioned that would reduce unnecessary administrative burdens, move funding more efficiently, and allow the state's investment to reach more organizations, workers, and communities. Small nonprofit performing arts organizations continue to operate on extremely narrow margins, and we encourage this committee and the legislature to adopt these refinements before the end of session so that new funding can stretch as far as possible. But I wanna say our thanks again for, the investment in these programs. Thank you.

Good morning, Chair Hurtado and senators. My name is Preet Ahluwalia. I'm here on behalf of NorCal SBDC, part of the California Small Business Development Coalition. We respectfully request your support for 10,000,000 in one time funding, 5,000,000 in tap, and 5,000,000 in sip. This investment expands access to trusted business advising and resources for entrepreneurs who may otherwise face barriers to capital guidance and growth opportunities.

It also strengthens the ability of small businesses to become more resilient, investment ready, and positioned to grow and create economic opportunities in their communities. We respectfully ask for your support in this 10,000,000 investment in California's small business ecosystem. Thank you.

Good morning. Yolanda Benson representing the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce here in support of and dittoing everybody what everybody has said. So ditto.

Good morning, Chair Hurtado and senators. My name is Scott Rogalski. I'm from, representing NorCal SBDC on behalf of the, California Small Business Develop, Development Coalition. We respectfully request that, they support the $10,000,000, broken up in $5,000,000 in, capital infusion program for capital access and $5,000,000 in technical assistance program to help out, some of the other entrepreneurs, the rural entrepreneurs. We recognize the difficult budget decisions facing the state.

That's why we have reduced it from the original ask of 26,000,000 to 10,000,000. These funds invest in existing proven network of organizations already on the ground, like small business development centers, women's business development centers, veteran centers, I think and, minority chambers, that help businesses start, grow, create jobs, and access capital. This isn't about creating a new program. It's about investing in infrastructure that is already working for California small businesses, and we respectfully ask for your support. Thank you.

Good morning, Chair Hurtado and senators. My name is Stacy Tate with the California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce business program director. We are part of the California Small Business Development Coalition. We have served over 3,000 small businesses throughout California and as well as secured over 200,000,000 in grants, contracts, and loans for our small businesses. We respectfully request the $10,000,000 in the technical assistance program.

Thank you.

Good morning, madam Chair and committee members. Jose Santiago on behalf of the California Small Business Development Corporation and the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Small Business Enterprise Program and a coalition member of the California Small Business Development Coalition. We support the request 10,000,000 in one time funding, 5,000,000 for the technical assistance program, and 5,000,000 for the capital infusion program.

This funding supports programs such as our organizations, small business development centers, women business centers, and other ethics chambers so that our, programs can assist entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. But most importantly contribute to California economy.

We we respectfully ask for your support for 5,000,000 for the technical assistance program and 5,000,000 for the capital infusion program. Thank you.

Good morning, Chair Hurtado and senators. My name is Mike Daniel. I'm the network director for the Orange County and Lynn Empire Small Business Development Center Network. I'm here representing all of the California SBDC program. We respectfully ask for $10,000,000 to support the TAP and SIP programs.

A little bit about the SBDCs, last year we saw a 150,000 small business owners and entrepreneurs. We provide direct technical assistance, one on one consulting and training to businesses across our entire state. We are in every single one of your districts offering consulting and training to help our businesses grow. Of that 150,000 businesses that we saw, 60% are minority, and women of and people of color and women.

And so we are here to help support businesses and meet them where they're at, whether they're just starting, whether they're growing, whether they need to access capital.

We helped our clients access $4,300,000,000 of capital over the last three years, and those are very small dollars. Right? Helping people get $25,000 loans, $50,000 loans, helping support the grant programs that roll out through cities and counties in the state to support our small businesses. So we respectfully ask, for your support in this. Thank you.

Good morning, Chair Hurtado and senators. My name is Ashley Pinnell. I'm here in support of the Cal Asian Chamber, and I'm also with Pinnell's Carpet One Floor and Home, a family owned business that has served rural communities in Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties for fifty years. I'm here today to respectfully ask for your support of $5,000,000 for the TAP and $5,000,000 for the SIP program. In rural communities like ours, resources can be limited and opportunities harder to access.

These programs supported through the Cal Asian Chamber have made a real difference for our business. Through ETP funding, we've been able to train and invest in new employees this year and provide them industry training. We've also participated in a certification program through Cali Asian Chamber and Calvert's County Chamber that guided us through the process of becoming eligible to compete for state and local government contracts, opportunities that would not have been available to us otherwise and would have felt out of reach.

Small businesses want to grow and create jobs and contribute to our local economies. We simply need the resources.

We want to be seen and heard. Thank you. We respectfully ask for your support of 5,000,000 for TAP and 5,000,000 for SIP. Thank you.

Good morning, Chair Hurtado and senators. My name is Nick Burton. I'm an adviser with the Northern California Small Business Development Center. And first, I want you to know that I'd rather be at the dentist than speaking publicly. So there's a reason why I'm here today, to talk to all of you, and that is that, we're respectfully asking for $5,000,000 in tap and sip funding, $10,000,000 total.

Many of these, fellow colleagues of mine, we're just soldiers in an army of advisors, and we help small businesses get funded. Me personally, my role is helping daycares. I've helped daycares open up. We actually have opened up in the last two years, created 900 new spots for children, about half of which are subsidized childcare families, and we've seen a huge impact there. It created over a 100 jobs, and this would not be possible without the tap and sip funding.

As a taxpayer in California, I can also tell you that I personally feel this is actually a good investment. We see positive social and economic benefit. We're not just handing out money here. We're helping businesses. So thank you for your time.

Good morning, Chair Chair Hurtado and senators. My name is Alexandra Orsick, and I am a, SBDC adviser. I'm on the front lines doing, finance, helping businesses get started. You people who are pre venture all the way up to really established businesses. So I can see firsthand the financial impact of getting funding and and the technical advising.

So I'm here to ask for the 10,000,000 in funding and 5,000,000 for SIP. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Kevin Herndon. I'm also with the North NorCal SBDC, the Small Business Development Center. And I'm here to respectfully ask that you guys continually fund, again, our ecosystem, a part of our state, and our small businesses. It really is we gotta speak about we have the fourth largest economy in the world.

Well, this is the reason why is these types of investments that we put into our small business ecosystem. And I think that this type of funding, we like like, my colleague was speaking speaking of, we deal with thousands and thousands of small business owners in here who who may be at the beginning phase or they're again, they're starting off pre venture.

From the idea phase to you've been in business fifty years, we're there to assist you in helping you grow your business, which in turns help our economy, which in turn helps our tax our tax base in our state, and overall, just helps our overall small business ecosystem. So I'm here to really just respectfully ask that you guys continuously fund continually fund the 5,000,000 for the SIP and for the TAP program. This is very, very well, needed in our overall ecosystem.

Thank you.

Good morning, madam Chair and committee. Thank you for having us here. My name is Richard Strezzo. I'm an SBDC advisor financial center as well. As part of our ecosystem at the ground level as well, so I have an intimate knowledge of what small business owners need, and the technical assistance that we're making reference to is exactly what we do.

The need for these particular funds do participate in an already program that we already have committed to and that we're already using. It creates a multiplier effect. So not only we having business owners realize their dreams, but become active participants in the economy for the state of California. I've seen a lot of success stories, a lot of people happy, and that's what I love what I do because that's what drives me. Thank you again for your time.

Hello, honorable senators. My name is Adrianna Bautista, and I'm an Eaton fire survivor, who's come here this morning with some of my fellow community members because we want to communicate to you all the importance of investing in our community as we continue to wait for federal dollars. We need the state to stand with us in this gap.

And our Senator Perez has introduced the community aid for rebuilding an equity proposal, which we really, really, our community is in desperate need of having this adopted as our state's budget this year. So we've made this trip this month knowing that time is ticking and that this investment will make real lasting impact in the recovery of our community members.

Community members such as seniors, renters, persons with disabilities, and working class black and brown neighbors who really, really need support right now. We have community members who are taking their lives right now because of the lack of support that there is no clear pathway for them to recover. And we're seeing the fabric of our community tested and tried. And that's why we're here today, because we really, really need sustained community investment, and the care fund does just that.

It's a vehicle that allows rebuild gap subsidies and also to preserve affordable housing because our renters do not have a pathway back home right now.

Seniors are being evicted from their market rate apartment units in LA County that Altadena had naturally occurring affordable housing, and it's very vital that we replenish that. And we we invite you to join us in making sure that Altadena and, other impacted areas of the Eaton fire, including parts of Pasadena and Sierra Madre, are not forgotten in the state's, budget. And thank you so much for your time and support.

Hello, my name is Adam Frankl, I'M AN EATON FIRE SURVIVOR, A RENTER, AND A MEMBER OF THE DINA RISE UP COALITION. WE'RE HERE TODAY TO URGE YOU TO APPROVE THE twenty five MILLION dollars CARE FUND proposed by Senator Sasha Renee Perez to help prevent the most severely at risk fire survivors from being permanently displaced from Altadena.

If approved, this modest fund would help low income homeowners rebuild by covering widespread insurance gaps and support vulnerable low income renters by restoring and preserving affordable housing that was destroyed in the fire. Altadena is a diverse and historically black community. While the headlines continue to focus on the slow pace of rebuilding, many of us are still struggling tremendously and don't know if we'll ever be able to return.

Insurance backed emergency housing assistance has ended and many don't know if or how they'll afford a place to live in the months to come. For renters, low income people, and people of color who have disproportionately born the most severe financial impacts of this disaster, we have literally no support from the Federal Government. That is why we are calling on you to invest in protections for the most vulnerable fire survivors.

Please support us in approving the $25,000,000 care fund for Altadena to ensure an equitable and inclusive recovery for all. Thank you.

I'm gonna translate for her. Thank you so much. They came to Altadena several decades ago and built everything they could to establish a home, and because of the fire they lost everything. She feels very small, but together as a collective, they are fighting to make sure that Altadena can rebuild. And she does not want loans.

She does not to want she does not wanna live the rest of her life in debt, which is what is being offered by this industry right now in order for them to recover. She needs support now more than ever, and the care fund is her and her family's ability and her community's ability to come back up to Altadena and actually be able to, restore their life and also ensure that their neighbors, their community is always is also able to do the same. Thank you.

Good Good morning, Chair, retired senators. My name is Gonzales on behalf of north Dallas BDC. I'm the program manager in covering 36 counties of the Northern California. We here respectfully support $5,000,000 for our technical assistance program and our capital access program as well. This is over the last three years, these programs have been able to generate $44,200,000,000 in capital and $43,000,000,000 in tax rent taxable revenue for the state And also support more than four four hundred and sixteen thousand jobs in the community.

And as you can tell, there's a lot of community members right here that are also benefiting for these programs. And but this is a really, really, important task. It's just not just for organization, but it's really tangible results across the community and across the state. Thank you.

Hi. Nikki Sims. I'm also with the SBDC, so I'll just echo everything everyone said. But in addition, I just wanted to focus on local ecosystem impact. So I'm an advisor for our health and biotech, venture capital sector, and it's been really critical for university students also to start receiving our support, especially UC Davis graduate students.

And there is a large push and impact to also make sure that we're focusing on economic development over at Aggie Square. So there's a huge partnership there within the region, and I think, there's been a lot of momentum to support these types of companies when we're just slipping out of a market downturn in that space. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Elle Schneider. I'm a former Altadena resident. I was affected by the Eaton fire, when my rental home, which was one block from the edge of the burn zone, was contaminated by lead and other hazardous substances from the smoke of over 9,400 burn structures. Due to lack of affordable safe housing after the fire anywhere near the area, I was forced to leave my neighborhood of over seventeen years, and California considers me lucky.

But during this ongoing struggle over the last nineteen months to recover, including eleven months of displacement, moving, debt, hazmat suits while trying to find help for remediation, and virtually no resources made available from a federal, state, or county perspective. I've had to turn to my community to help, and what I've seen in that community is devastating, particularly for the people who have lost everything.

Many homeowners are really unable right now to bridge the financing gaps they need to begin rebuilding, and only under a 100 homes have been completed so far, and it's been nineteen months. And no one's able to move home, and that's decimating families. It's decimating businesses.

And so I support Senator Perez's care fund in order to invest in the rebuilding of Altadena for homeowners and renters like me who want to return and have been forced out of their communities at the time when they need them the most. And with the governor now discussing caps on pain and suffering and defining a very narrow window of who gets to be eligible as having been affected by this fire in the first place.

Something like the care fund is really important to help people actually be able to return to this place that they call home. Thank you.

Hey. Good morning. I'm here for Altadena. And I think this morning after nineteen months yesterday standing outside Southern California Edison's offices. Opposite the street was a home that was there for close to forty years, but the man of that home after the fires committed suicide.

There's things that we just don't know that is happening in Altadena after the, after the fires, but we're at a moral compass because the care fund is not the solution. It's the seed to this to other financial solutions to help Altidenans return home.

And especially in the last week hearing the report from, the firefighters that the fault was Edison, and then the out the denials get to hear that there is a bill that the governor would like to cap, insurance comp I mean, utility companies, everything seems to be one slap after the other. While family school starts next week, I have many of my children who still are living in RVs, living in different homes around LA, and trying to get back home.

So the care fund is is the seed to the return.

It's the hope for Altadena. It's the line item in Sacramento that can also be put towards other catastrophes that may happen in other cities that can say, hey. This is what we did in Altadena, and this is what they did with what we gave them in Altadena. So thank you.

Hello. Good morning. My name is Jose. I'm born and raised in Pasadena, Altadena. And like my colleagues and neighbors have mentioned, it's been nineteen months since out the Eden fire, which devastated whole community.

And it's nineteen months of challenges after challenges after challenges that people are facing. It's nineteen months of people not homeowners not knowing if they can rebuild because they don't have the enough funds. It's nineteen months of renters not knowing if they're gonna return to their community where they've lived for decades. It's nineteen months of families moving to a shelter, then Airbnb, and then a hotel, and then that hotel, and then this apartment, and then that apartment.

And now not knowing if they're gonna have enough funds to live where they're at currently because they don't know where they're gonna get the money from.

It's nineteen months of the physical and mental health that people are facing, these conditions that are, you know, unfortunately, people are still passing away because of the problems that they're facing. Again, this unknown and not coming back to their community, not being with their family. It's nineteen months of just, again, challenges after challenges. And, again, this care fund is a step. So we ask that you stand with Altadena families and step with us.

Next week, a 100 Altidenians and advocates are gonna come to Sacramento and share their stories and so that you can see them too. Again, it's been nineteen months, and they still need the support, and they're afraid of being forgotten. And that's that's where we're at right now that we might be forgotten. So if you can support us, help us, and, you know, stand with us and, take this step with us. Thank you.

Good morning. Lizzie Guansoni here on behalf of the office of Kat Taylor, a member of the Campaign for California Borrowers Rights Coalition. I wanna echo the comments of colleagues made before me, including NextGen California. And I wanna uplift the urgent request to include $3,000,000 in one time, funding for DFPI to continue the student loan empowerment network. Thank you for your consideration.

Good morning. Dannielle Kando Kaiser on behalf of the National Consumer Law Center and California Low Income Consumer Coalition would align my comments with my colleague who just spoke and strong support of $3,000,000 allocation for the Student Loan Empowerment Network. Thank you.

Good morning. Ronald Coleman Baise here on behalf of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, surely. We're asking for legislators to provide 25,000,000 one time investment for the care fund to support closing the rebuilding gap for Altadena homeowners. Families are facing gaps in funding, and without help, many could permanently be displaced and lose generational wealth.

The care fund can also help land bank and preserve affordable housing in the region, prioritizing family sized and multi generational homes so displaced renters can also return, and working families can continue to afford to live in Altadena.

Without this help, rebuilding will be challenging. We urge legislators to include this one time $25,000,000 investment for the Care Fund. Thank you.

Good morning, madam Chair and members. Christopher Sanchez with the Mesa Verde Group here on behalf of Inclusive Action for the City, in support of Senator DeRozan and Senator Mark Gonzales' request for $4,700,000, in response to, for, and we would like to highlight the $7,750,000 to support small businesses and street vendors, and this, request is in response to the Lineage Fire that happened in Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles.

Small businesses and street vendors have been negatively impacted, and the chaos continues today with lineage not being responsive to our communities. As a response to the lineage fire, our organization launched the Boyle Heights Fire Relief Fund for small businesses and street vendors, and we fundraise most of this funding right now. The need is much greater than what we've been able to provide at this moment.

Thank you, madam Chair.

Hello. Yesenia Robancho on behalf of End Child Poverty California, also sharing on behalf of Sergio Salinas, who's here in the in the room with us. We are here in support of a care fund and also in opposition to Edison's last minute effort to cap their corporate liability for the trauma they have caused to the to the Altadena community and also to so many others. More than one year after the Eaton Fire ravaged parts of Altadena and Pasadena, families are still fighting to come back home.

I personally have visited Altadena and it it's devastating to see how the community has been ravaged.

Historically, it's been a black community. Now it remains to be a black community and brown community. There are immigrant families who are also in the throes of this devastation and are looking for solutions and support from this, legislature and from our governor. Unfortunately, the June budget failed to address Altadena wildfires survivors gap funding and affordable housing needs. What Altidinians are asking is not for an additional mortgage loan.

They are already paying for a mortgage for a home that they no longer exist, and also on top of that paying for rent, whatever they call home, many of them calling cars home, tents home. This is not right and we really look forward to having your support Senator Hurtado as a subcommittee Chair of this of this committee to support Alta Denons. Thank you.

Good morning, madam Chair and members. Marcus Detweiler with the California Special Districts Association, also here on behalf of the Association of California Healthcare Districts, ACHD. Looking to address this committee with regard to Senate bill 122, which was chapter earlier this year, and with that was chaptered a extension of the sales and use tax on digital prewritten software.

The understanding in our sort of theory of the case was that the revenue generated by this sales and use tax would make whole the state and cities who would be subject to the tax. However, the special districts that I represent, special districts that the Association of California Healthcare Districts represent, do not generally receive the proceeds of sales and use taxes.

This has created a disparity where some local governments are seeing sort of the effects of this attack this tax ameliorated, whereas special districts are being writ large, sort of left to absorb the costs with limited cost recovery methods. Looking forward with the members of this committee and the legislature to address this disparity in subsequent budget action. Thank you.

Good morning, Chair Hurtado, members of the committee, joint committee president, CEO of California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, here in support of the $10,000,000 request to enhance the technical assistance and the CIP program. You've heard from many of our counterparts and beneficiaries of the program. I think more importantly is that there's over 4,000,000 small businesses in California that this program assists.

But more specifically, from a study that we did with CalOSBA, with the eight state Asian chamber and the state African American chamber, there are 1,800,000 diverse and emerging businesses that this program really, really helps. And that's the successes you've heard, and I just want to talk about return on investment.

We're asking for $10,000,000 but over the last couple of years, just through the SBDC programs, it's generated over $4,300,000,000 in additional tax revenues, has maintained over 400,000 jobs here in California. I think that' s an investment well worth what we' re asking for. Again, I' m not going to repeat what everybody else said here I think they were very eloquent All of our partners and counterparts throughout the state.

But again, I think this funding is important to California's economic growth and the growth of our small businesses. Again, I do wanna close with thanking the legislature, all of you, for your past support of the small business request that we've made.

So thank you.

Good morning, my name is Yancey Garcia, and I'm also a student at UC Irvine, and representing here the UC Student Association, and, we're also a member of the Campaign for California Borrows Rights and Coalition. Though on the agenda today, we want to uplift an urgent request to include 3,000,001 time to the department of financial protection and innovation to continue the student loan empowerment network as students deserve the right to an education and academic success. Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have any additional, members of the public that wish to comment? Be sure this is the last committee hearing that We'l have for the year. Alright. Seeing none.

Okay. We' re moving on. Thank you so much, to each and every one of you for taking the time to come in and provide comment. And your input, your participation is deeply noted and we appreciate it. Also, thank you to all the committee staff, the subcommittee staff for working with committee members this entire year.

I want to thank my colleagues here on the dais for your patience, for the laughter, for the education. It's really been an amazing and wonderful opportunity to work with each and every one of you as well. And also to the consultants who do a lot of the work behind the scenes, making sure that all of your comments and your input are being noted and that you're advocating for californians. So thank you so much.

I know that there's a lot of work behind the scenes that doesn't come up here and present it here on the dais.

So thank you to each and every one of you. If you're not able to testify here today, I want to make sure that you submit your comments and your suggestions in writing to the budget and fiscal review committee or visit our website. As you know, this is our last subcommittee hearing for the year and a focus of mine in the budget subcommittee for this year has been delivering efficiency and accountability in state government, making sure that taxpayer dollars work for Californians, for all Californians.

I have been very pleased this year to achieve successes in consumer protection, public safety, and cybersecurity, as well as specific subcommittee for successes in food security, local agriculture, and housing affordability. I'M PROUD OF THE WORK THAT WE HAVE Acomplished HERE IN SUPCOMITEE FOR AND THANK MY FELLOW COMMITTEE MEMBERS ONCE AGAIN and all those who provided presentations, information, public comment over the year to the subcommittee.

I want to provide an opportunity to our vice Chair and any other members on the subcommittee to provide any closing remarks if they'd like. Let's start with our vice Chair.

Thank you, madam Chair. I've appreciated your, chairmanship and, generous, allowance for me, to provide input sometimes, either welcome or not. But, thank you very much. And you mentioned, consultants. And, Chantel Denny sitting next to me, our Republican consultant, spends a lot of time jamming facts into my head, making sure that I understand what we're doing.

And she's mostly successful, but thank you very much also. So thanks.

Senator Baldwin?

Yeah. Madam madam Chair, thank you. It's been obviously an important and productive year as as you've indicated as your as your predecessors that you're the subcommittee. I just wanna thank you for for distilling the essence of what matters in this work. The sub this subcommittee is, I think, the most sprawling jurisdiction of any of the budget subcommittees.

Other subcommittees have more they have more cash. Many of the other ones have life and death issues in every single and we do too. But the the sheer range of topics and issues that the subcommittee takes on is is mind boggling. And one of the things I very have very much valued about your leadership here is constantly bringing it back. What is this gonna mean for for everyday Californians?

And that's that's a question not asked often enough in in this in this building and certainly in this subcommittee. And so thank you for putting Californians at the center and helping to make understandable the complexity of what we deal with and then, of course, to to to give the the the floor to all your colleagues. We have a wide range of perspectives and issues and comments, but it's been an incredibly collaborative subcommittee. It's one of my favorite ones.

We work very well across the aisle and with with one another in order to make sure state government and local government are efficient and effective, and we're getting that job done.

So thank you so much for your leadership here.

Thank you Senator Kabaldin and Mister vice Chair thank you once again as Senator Kabaldin said this is this is a subcommittee that perhaps we don't have the the largest pot of money than compared to other subcommittees but I do believe that the funding that we have, that we have oversight over, we do need to be careful and cautious in making sure that it works because it is the foundation of what makes government work for people and that's why this subcommittee is so important.

With that, I want to conclude the agenda for today' s hearing. I want to thank you once again. The Senate budget subcommittee four is now adjourned.