Senate Floor

Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call].

A quorum is present. Would the members and our guests beyond the rail and in the Gallery please rise? We will be led in prayer this afternoon by Senator Grayson. After which, please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

Please join me in prayer. Creator of all things, we have this day because of You, and we will do our best with it. Open our minds to wisdom and knowledge, our hearts to compassion and understanding. As we deliberate, grant us patience as we endeavor to provide an environment for better living for all Californians. We pray all these things with a heart of gratitude. Amen.

Members, please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag. [Pledge of Allegiance]. Privileges of the Floor, there are none. Messages from the Governor will be deemed read. Messages from the Assembly will be deemed read. Reports of Committees will be deemed read and amendments adopted. We're now under Motions, Resolutions, and Notices. Seeing no one that wishes to be recognized, we'll move to Consideration of the Daily File. Starting with our Second Reading File, Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 2727, 1331, 2440, 1709, 1871, 2493.

Second Reading is deemed read. We will now move to Unfinished Business, starting with File Item 31: SB 1083. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 1083 by Senator Perez, an act relating to school employees.

Senator Perez, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam president and members.

SB 1083 is back for concurrence on Assembly amendments, which broaden employment history, inquiries, and disclosures concerning egregious misconduct and require additional evidence preservation and information sharing with prospective employers and the CTC, recast statewide data system requirements including data fields, reporting and access procedures, confidentiality and privacy protections.

And the respective responsibilities of the CTC, LEAs, and private schools, revise investigation procedures and employee protections, including specified timelines and opportunities for employees to respond during investigations, expand CTC and the Committee of Credentials Authority relating to reports submitted through the statewide data system.

Replace legislative intent regarding independent contractors with substantive criminal background checks, misconduct disclosures, screening. And contractual requirements applicable to contractors and subcontractors providing specified services to pupils.

And finally, requiring alternative mandated reporter training for private schools to be approved by the Private Schools Governing Authority rather than its liability insurance provider. SB 1083 builds on the Safe Learning Environments Act, SB 848, my bill from last year, which was enacted into law last year and established a statewide data system to track egregious misconduct by school employees.

That law was an important step forward on improving transparency, strengthening accountability, and helping ensure that individuals with serious allegations cannot quietly move between school sites without scrutiny. But as implementation has moved forward, additional requirements are needed to ensure the system operates with consistency and fully protects students.

To that end, the bill strengthens that process by requiring investigations into credible allegations of egregious misconduct and requiring their completion by establishing clear investigation timelines and procedures even if an employee leaves a school district.

Together, these reforms strengthen the statewide data system, promote fairness, and ensure that all individuals working with students are held to consistent rigorous standards because student safety remains our highest priority. I respectfully ask your aye vote.

Thank you. Senators, I want to remind you that if you are speaking on concurrence to focus just on the amendment portion only. Seeing no further discussion or debate. Secretary, please call the roll.

[roll call]

Secretary, please call the absent members.

[roll call]

Senator Perez moves the call.

We will now move to file item 34, SB 1312. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 1312 by Senator Richardson, an act relating to cemeteries.

Senator Richardson, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President and members. As I've shared with you before, we have a cemetery problem in the State of California. One hundred and eighty-seven private cemeteries are open and potential to be abandoned. Ten are currently abandoned as we speak, and the number is growing. A cemetery becomes abandoned once it's full, it no longer generates sales, or the endowment that's been collected is no longer sufficient to cover expenses.

The reason why we're here today, and this is on concurrence, is that with the bill that we did last year on SB 777, it called for a study and a meeting. We had the meeting back in March of this year. The report was done and the bureau as well as the administration made the following recommendations.

They formally define what is to be deemed an abandoned cemetery, and they also established the mechanism for a city, county, or municipality to declare an endowment cemetery abandoned and to cross title. With that, please know this bill has been collaborative. We've worked with the Assembly B&P, the administration, the department, and it has been a bipartisan bill. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call].

Senator Richardson moves the call. We'll now move to File Item 37, SB 1359. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 1359 by Senator Stern, an act relating to natural gas.

Senator Stern, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. SB 1359 is the Natural Gas Ratepayer Transparency Act. For the past six years, the PUC has been taking a close look at the long-term future of the state's natural gas infrastructure, and this bill will make sure they have tools on the table to analyze, without any mandates, but merely to look at, for the first time, regular information about risks of replacement, upgrades, distributional cost impacts, and other information critical to making decisions in the ratepayers' best interest.

Amendments taken in the Assembly have removed—removed—much of the opposition, and overall, this bill is about to be empowering the PUC for better planning oversight and ensuring our rate payers are protected for years to come. Respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Senator Stern moves the call. We'll now move to File Item 38: SB 534. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 534 by Senator Padilla, an act relating to juveniles.

Senator Padilla, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President and colleagues. I rise to present-- SB 534 is back on concurrence. The Assembly amendments constitute the entire body of the bill before the body today. This bill requires counties to provide foster youth, before they turn 18, the last known whereabouts and contact information for their parents and siblings. The bill's received no opposition, no votes. Respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call].

Senator Padilla moves the call. We'll now move to File Item 41: SB 457. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 457 by Senator Becker, an act relating to land use.

Senator Becker, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. 457 back on concurrence. Technical amendments clarifying in nature. This bill is a meaningful step towards a more data-driven Housing Element process that reduce ambiguity that has cost many of our cities both time and money at the expense of development. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call].

Senator Becker moves the call. We'll now move to file item 43, SB 691. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 691 by Senator Wahab, an act relating to body worn cameras.

Senator Wahab, you are recognized.

Thank you. SB 691 is back on concurrence. Amendments taken in Assembly reflect negotiations with the District Attorney's Association, the ACLU, and the Public Defender's Association, all of whom have gone neutral on the bill.

As a friendly reminder, SB 6981 which will require law enforcement agencies to update their body worn camera policies to include a process for EMS professionals to request redaction of recordings prior to public release when patients are receiving medical treatment.

This bill has received bipartisan support, and I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate. Secretary, please call the roll.

[roll call]

Senator Wejau moves the call. We will now move to file item 48, SB 1361. Secretary, please read.

Senate bill 1361 by Senator Durazo and.

Senator Durazo, you are recognized.

Thank you, madam president. SB 1361 is back on concurrence. Amendments in the Assembly were technical in nature. The bill ensures that local governments cannot take certain actions that impede transit projects in order to avoid the housing requirements of SB 79. I'm happy to have the support of SPUR, Suites for All, Abundant Housing, Building Trades, and many, many more.

I respectfully ask for aye vote.

Seeing no further discussion or debate, secretary, please call the roll.

Alan. I'm Raul Gill. No. Archuleta. Aye, Adeguin.

Aye, Ashby. Aye, Becker. Aye, Blake Spear. Aye, Cabaldon. Aye, Caballero.

Aye, Cervantes. Aye, Choi. No Cortezi. Aye, Dali. No, Durazo.

Aye, Gonzales. Aye, Grayson. aye Grove, no Hurtado, Aye Jones, no Laird, I Lemon, I Maguire, I McFlurney, I Menjivar, I Nilo, no Ochoa Bog. Maria. I Perez.

I Reyes. I Richardson. I Rubio. I see Arto. No.

Smallwood Cuevas. I Stern. Aye, Strickland. No. Umbridge.

Aye, Volodares. No. Wahab. Aye, Webber Pearson. Aye, Weiner.

Weiner, Aye.

Senator Durazo moves the call. We will now move to File Item 49: SB 685. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 685 by Senator Cortese, an act relating to special education.

Senator Cortese, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President, colleagues. I am pleased to bring back SB 685. Actually, this bill is a gut and amend. It came back from the Assembly to us following the Ninth Circuit's decision in a case called Loffman v California Department of Education. In that case, the court found that California's exclusion of religiously affiliated schools from the NPS Program unconstitutionally limits parents' ability to seek a religious NPS placement for their child.

In response to the decision, SB 685 removes the requirement that NPSs be nonsectarian. This has to do with special needs kids being allowed to enroll in a religious school and still receive state funding for that purpose. Additional amendments preserve strong oversight and accountability for all certified nonpublic schools while ensuring student safety. I respectfully ask your aye vote.

Thank you. Senator Strickland, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President and members. I rise in opposition to SB 685. It just doesn't make sense. Religious schools are that by very definition: religious schools, and they should be able to teach the religion. That's why a lot of these kids go to religious schools, and so for those reasons, I ask for a no vote on SB 685.

Thank you. Senator Stern, you are recognized.

Yeah. Thank you, Madam President. I just wanna clarify why I won't be voting for this measure today. I think we did have some accommodations we were seeking for nonpublic schools who accommodate those with developmental disabilities but also teach secular education that's accredited.

We think they're-- at very minimum, that's an important pathway that the law and the Constitution currently allow without doing any expansion that would potentially conflict with the preceding court opinions in recent years that this was sort of a narrow lane that was actually left open, and unfortunately, it remains closed. I'm hoping we can keep working on this issue, and I do appreciate working with this administration on it and their openness. So hopefully, we can keep that momentum and get there next year.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Senator Cortese, would you like to close?

Yes. Thank you, Madam President. Just to clarify very, very briefly, this bill makes it possible for the first time for the funding in question to go to religious schools. That has not ever been possible. Loffman said, we need to make it possible. This bill makes it possible. So, for the first time, religious schools, schools providing religious instructions will be able to qualify for state funds for these particular dollars for special needs students. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call].

Senator Cortese moves the call. We'll now move to File Item 50: SB 677. Secretary, please read.

Senate bill 677 by Senator Wiener in equity to housing.

Senator Wiener, you are recognized.

I thank you, madam president. Colleagues, I rise to present SB 677 on concurrence. We amended this bill in the Assembly, to help California continue, to address our housing crisis. The bill prohibits third party personal map appeals in urban infill areas and authorizes the state treasurer to work with joint powers authorities to provide federally required public approvals for affordable housing tax exempt bonds.

We have worked very hard over the years, to, make it easier to build the housing that we need, and this is a very belts and suspenders focused approach addressing some very, very specific issues, and I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, secretary, please call the roll.

Alan. Aye, Robert Gill. Aye, Archuleta. Aye, Adegin. Aye, Ashby.

Aye, Becker. Aye, Cabaldon. Aye, Caballero. Aye, Cervantes. Aye, Choi.

Cortesi. Aye Tali, aye Durazo, aye Gonzalez, aye Grayson, aye Grove, aye Hurtado, aye Jones, Laird, aye Maguire, aye McLerney, Aye. Menjivar. Aye. Nilo.

Ochoa Bogh. Aye Padilla. Aye Perez. Aye Reyes

Aye Richardson. Aye, Rubio. Aye, Ciardo. Smallwood Cuevas.

Aye, Stern. Aye, Strickland. Hamburg. Aye, Volodares. Wahab.

Aye. Weber Pearson? Aye. Weiner? Aye.

Senator Weiner moves the call.

We'll now move to file item 52, SB 811. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 811 by Senator Caballero, an act relating to hazardous waste.

Senator Caballero, you are recognized.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair, Madam president. I rise to present SB 811, which is back on concurrence. Assembly amendments are technical. Thank you, and I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Senator, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam president. Distinguished colleagues, I rise in opposition to SB 811. You know, I have enormous respect and admiration for the gentle lady from Merced, and I certainly understand her concern about the employment of people in our districts. But I do not agree with the bill's one size fit all approach.

I hope that the Assembly amendments would alleviate the fee and permitting burden on small business recycling facilities but unfortunately, they do not do that. My district is home to Universal Recycling Services, one of three small scale recycling businesses in the state. They employ 110 people in my district who would be at risk of losing their jobs if this bill passes without a lower compliance tier for small businesses, small companies.

Unlike the large scale facility, these small guys did not chemically treat metal nor pose environmental health risks that bills, that this bill targets. Yet SB 811 would burden the small recycling facilities with unnecessary permitting fees and are likely to drive them out of business.

For these reasons, I regretfully and respectfully oppose this bill.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Senator oh, sorry. Senator Reyes, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam president, members. I rise in support of this bill. Although I have great respect for all of my EJ community that has concerns about it, I think having metal shredders in our communities that don't fall that have no requirement for a license is of great, great concern to me being home to one of the big metal shredders.

I think making sure that there is an agency from the State of California that provides the license is the first step. We then have to make sure that the issues that are raised by our environmental justice community are taken seriously.

And as we look to make this a better bill in the future or do cleanup legislation, that we take all of that into consideration. But I think the having licensing requirements under DTSC is extremely important in moving the protections forward. Thank you.

Thank you. Now, seeing no further discussion or debate. Senator Caballero, would you like to close?

Thank you very much for the respectful debate. The reality of the situation is the Department of Toxic Substances will decide whether there's a separate fee and permit requirement for the small shredders, and I anticipate that this house will have to look at this issue in the future as it relates to small shredders.

Right now, there is no requirement that they be licensed, and this gives DTSC the opportunity to decide whether whether it's unnecessary or necessary to burden these small these small facilities. So with that, I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Secretary, please call the roll.

[roll call]

Secretary, please call the absent members.

[roll call]

Ayes, 35. Nos one. That measure passes.

We're now going to jump to Assembly third reading, file item 143, AB 2017. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 2017 by Assemblymember Haney, an act relating to state holidays.

Senator Wahab, you are recognized.

Colleagues, I rise to present AB 2017, the California Eid State Holiday Act, on behalf of Assemblymember Haney and myself. I will say that this is long overdue to just give, again, equality across the board. AB 2017 recognizes Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as state holidays in California. California is home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the country, yet these important observances are not formally recognized on our state calendar.

Both of the Eids are among the most significant holidays in Islam, centered on community charity, reflection, and celebration, yet students and workers across California are often forced to choose between fully observing their holidays and meeting school or workplace obligations. AB 2017 provides formal and meaningful recognition while preserving flexibility for schools, public employees, and the courts. Public schools and community colleges retain local control over whether to close through their existing decision making and collective bargaining processes.

State employees may elect Eid holiday credit in lieu of existing personal holiday credit, and recent amendments clarify the bill's civil and administrative purposes and help provide predictability for academic calendars, staffing, leave policies, and public administration. I do wanna highlight—highlight—that California already recognizes important observances including Lunar New Year and Farm Workers Day.

AB 2017 builds on that tradition by recognizing Eid as a holiday. I also wanna highlight that in community, when you speak about Eid potentially becoming a state holiday, there are many families that are extremely excited to see this happen without having to tell schools that their kid is out sick or for some other reason. This is just giving people the dignity to choose when they will pull out their kid for a holiday that is important to them. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you.

I apologize, Senator Wahab. We really enjoyed that. We're gonna have to hear it again because, unfortunately, this item is not eligible right now.

Thank you.

With that, we will move back to unfinished business. File item 53, SB 1078. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 1078 by Senator Laird, an act relating to gift certificates.

Senator Laird, you are recognized.

Thank you, madam president. Senate Bill 1078 is back on concurrence. Assembly amendments remove the previous contents of the bill. It now allows businesses to temporarily issue gift cards that have outdated cash redemption disclosures if the consumer's notified about the correct amount. This addresses a problem that arose with a provision that went into effect in April.

There's support on both sides. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Seeing no further discussion or debate, secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Aye, 40. Noes, 0. That measure passes.

We will now move to file item 56, SB 259. Secretary, please read.

Senate Senate bill 259 by Senator Wahab, enacting to elections and declare the urgency thereof to take effect immediately.

Senator Wahab, you are recognized.

Thank you. SB 259 is back on concurrence from the Assembly. Assembly amendments remove previous provisions of the bill. This bill largely is to defend the vote. SB 259 is is a responsible is a response to the federal and local actors that have interfered with elections by undermining or obstructing vote by mail process.

In March of this year, the Trump administration issued executive order 14,399 that aimed to rewrite the rules of federal elections. The executive order directs the United States Postal Service to only send ballots to individuals on a federally prepared mail in and absentee participation list. Federal courts have deemed this executive order unconstitutional and warned that implementation will cause confusion and disenfranchise eligible voters.

To ensure that future elections are protected from voter suppression tactics, SB 259 will create a new felony to deter anyone in position, of authority from interfering with the delivery or submission of a vote by mail ballot. Regardless of party affiliation, our democracy is strongest when every eligible voter can cast a ballot freely, securely, and with confidence that it will be counted.

Election security and voting access are not competing values. We can and must protect both.

I respectfully ask for an aye vote. Thank you. Senator Strickland, you are recognized.

Thank

you, madam president, members. I rise in opposition to SB 259. Once again, we're trying to do something here in the legislature that's not within our authority. The mail system is a federal a federal issue in terms of mail. In my understanding, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, the Supreme Court actually ruled against a provision like this from happening.

So I believe the Federal Supreme Court supersedes this California state legislature when it comes to federal mail rules. That's just my understanding, and maybe the author can correct me if I'm wrong. For those reasons, I asked for a no vote on SB 259.

Thank you. Senator Grove, you are recognized.

I agree with my colleague, but I think there's another point to this. I don't think it actually addresses that piece. I don't think it has anything to do with being able to be outside of the jurisdiction of federal law. I really think the way I read this bill in just a few sentences is you're actually going to criminalize postal carriers for not following their executive order from the Federal Government.

So even though the president of The United States said they're not gonna deliver ballots, after postmarked after election day, this bill is gonna criminalize those employees that work for the postal service and those that deliver ballots or required to pick up ballots or whatever mail.

Those are the people that are gonna go to prison or, excuse me, jail six months. And but it doesn't conflict with federal. It's not against the federal administration. There's no jurisdictional authority there. This is about the postal workers, and that's pretty bold.

Respectfully ask for

a no vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Senator Wahab, would you like to close?

Thank you. This bill primarily, focuses on defending and protecting our vote. In fact, roughly 80% of Californians of regardless of party actually use vote by mail. I will also highlight that anybody in a position of power that abuses their position to violate our election process should be held accountable. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, secretary, please call the roll.

Alan. Hi. Alvarado-Gil. No. Archuleta.

Hi. Adegaine. Hi. Ashby. Hi.

Becker. Hi. Blake Spear. Hi. Cabaldon.

I Caballero. I Cervantes. I Choi. No Cortesi. I Dali.

No Durazo. I Gonzales. I Grayson. I Grove. No.

Hurtado. I Jones. No Laird. I Lemon. I Maguire.

I McNearney. I Menjivar. I Nilo. No. No.

Padilla. I Perez. I Reyes. I Richardson. I Rubio.

I Ciarto. No. Smallwood Cuevas. I Stern. I Strickland.

No. No. Umberg. Aye. Aye, Valadares.

No. Wahab. Aye. Aye, Weber Pearson. Aye, Weiner.

Aye.

Aye, 30. Nos, 10. That measure passes. We will now move to file item 68, AB 2281. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 2281 by Assemblymember Berman, an act relating to elections.

Senator Stern, you are recognized.

Thank you, madam president. In 2018, California established the office of election cybersecurity. Myself and the author of this measure, Senator Berman, were part of that effort to coordinate efforts to address cyber threats and monitor election mis and disinformation. This is a companion bill that would strengthen the office of election cybersecurity by authorizing the office to consult with academic researchers. In response to the loss of cybersecurity support from the federal government, this bill would also direct the office to assess if additional state resources are necessary.

We need information and tools necessary to defend against cyber attacks during our democratic process. With respect, we ask for aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Secretary, please call the absent members.

Arreguin. Aye.

Aye is 30. No is 10. That measure passes. We'll now move to file item 74, AB 635. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 635 by Assembly Member Ahrens, an act relating to housing.

Senator Umberg, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President and colleagues. AB 635 by Assembly Member Ahrens is the culmination of two years of collaboration between the author and mobile home residents, the AG's Office, and Housing Community Development to address the state auditor's recommendation to the Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Program. What this bill does, it transitions the MRLLP to a grant-based program funded by mobile home residents themselves, eliminating barriers for qualified legal service providers who offer legal assistance to mobile home residents to address alleged violations by park owners. I urge an aye vote.

Thank you. Senator Grove, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. Question of the presenter?

Will the presenter take a question?

Sure.

What is the MRLLP?

I'll be happy to answer that question. It is the Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Program, as is known by all of us. So.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Secretary, please-- oh. Senator Umberg, would you like to close?

I urge an aye vote on this MRLLP bill. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call].

Ayes: 30. Noes: 10. That measure passes. We'll now move to File Item 77: AB 2121. Secretary, please read.

I'll start with a go twenty one twenty one

by Assembly member Berman and equating to community colleges.

Senator Cabaldon, you are recognized.

Thank you, madam president. AB 2121 deals with a specific challenge to community college finance as a result of of continuing withdrawals of federal funding, often arbitrarily with no notice for student services and student support programs. It tackles a specific challenge in the law. Members with the California law provides that in in essence, community college must spend 50% of their resources on instruction, and it is a sensible important law that protects, instruction from being cut.

Students many student services and student support services fall onto the non instructional side of that 50%.

But here is the problem we're facing today, and that is that as the Federal Government makes quick withdrawals, things like canceling grants under the Hispanic service serving institution program or under the TRIO program, when those cuts happen, we want community colleges to respond in ways that make sense for their students. And so we've seen colleges say, look, we this just happened to us. We're gonna make an adjustment to our budget. We're gonna shift some money to make sure we don't have to fire the counselors.

We don't have to close the tutoring center in order to keep it open.

That act has the consequence in the moment of putting districts out of that 50% category, in many cases. And so what AB 2121 seeks to do is simply say in that circumstance, that they may cross over that 50% law. They have to do it in a public hearing. It has to be fully, fully noticed, and they have to be accountable for that. The opponents have said, hey, well, why don't you just go to the state and ask for a waiver afterwards?

But the challenge is that you are have already made commitments for contracts or what have you. And I guess bottom line is we want community college presidents and academic senates to do the right thing in the moment.

When their students are under attack, when student support services are threatened, we want them to step up and figure it out, and they can they can and take action to protect those services, to protect those counselors, and they will have to come back and reconcile later, but the absolute thing that we do not want them to do is say, hey, there's this formula that prevents me from keeping the student services program open, and as a result, this bill is a carefully, carefully tailored solution to try to preserve the 50% law in every respect while making sure that colleges that do the right thing and protect critical student services and equity programs are not financially penalized.

I would respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, secretary, please call the roll.

Allen. Alvarado-Gil. Aye. Archuleta. Aye.

Aye. Ashby. Aye. Becker. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye, Dali. Aye, Durazo. Gonzalez. Grayson. Aye, Grove.

Cortado. Aye, Jones. Laird. Aye. Aye.

Maguire. Aye. McNerney.

Maguire. Aye. McNerney.

[Roll Call]

Secretary, please call the absent members.

[Roll Call]

Aye, 31. No, 0. That measure passes. We'll now move to file 80, AB 2604. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 2604 by Assemblymember Berman, an act relating to elections.

Senator Cervantes, you are recognized.

Thank you, madam president. Today, I rise to present Assembly Bill 2604 on behalf of Assembly Member Berman. And as a proud co author, this bill would assist voters with curing signature issues with their vote by mail ballot, speed up ballot processing, and ensure that every valid vote counts. Over the past decade, we have taken numerous steps to ensure that voting in California is secure and accessible, and our vote by mail process is both.

Unfortunately, missing and mismatched signatures still result in far too many invalidated vote by mail ballots.

To streamline the process to correct signature issues and processes ballot faster, this bill would have the secretary of state either create or contract for a system that counties could use to allow California voters to cure their signatures on their mail ballot electronically. This bill does build upon prior legislation that authorizes county election officials to offer this option. Several counties have found the resources to contract for this option.

The bill also follows the lead of Colorado and Nevada, both of which allow voters to use text or similar technology. This will help voters have their voices heard at the ballot box when the signature on their vote by mail ballot envelope is missing or does not match.

Respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Senator Blakespear, you are recognized.

Yes. Thank you. I rise in strong support of this bill. Having electronic signature curing will help us to process ballots faster, and we had more than 69,000 ballots that were missing or had an improper signature, which was which results in delays. And we have a large number of complaints about the time it takes in California for us to certify our elections.

So making the process easier and quicker, by, an electronic signature, curing is a really good idea. So I strongly urge your aye vote.

Thank you. Senator Grove, you are recognized.

Thank you, madam president. I would just like to point out that the person in charge of making sure we have safe and secure elections is the Secretary of State, Shirley Weber, who's duly elected, and she adamantly opposes this bill. And so based on that and someone who does the job every day for us respectfully ask for a no vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Senator Cervantes, would you like to close?

Just wanna make a comment, that we certainly fully support the state's desire to ensure that our elections are safe and secure, and we'll continue working, on that front and respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Secretary, please call the absent members.

[Roll Call]

Ayes, 29. Noes, 10. That measure passes. We will now move to file item 90, AB 2434. Secretary, please read.

Assembly bill 2434 by Assemblymember Bonta and accrediting to corrections.

Senator Caballero, you are recognized.

Thank you, madam president. I rise to present AB 2434, the prisoner visitation Visitor Protections and Safety Act on behalf of Assemblymember Bonta. This bill will protect individuals who visit inmates detained in a custodial environment from unexplained visit denials in California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or CDCR, prison visiting rooms by establishing clear enforceable standards based on CDCR's own proposed regulations. The bill will require written document documentation for certain visit denials, will establish guardrails to protect visitors, particularly female visitors during searches.

AB 2434 is a women's caucus priority bill and has no opposition.

Respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, secretary, please call the roll.

Allen. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Becker.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye, Blake Spear. Aye, Cabaldon. Aye, Caballero. Aye, Cervantes. Aye, Troy.

No, Cortezi. Aye, Tali. Aye, Durazo. aye Gonzales, aye Grayson, aye Grove, Hurtado, aye Jones, no Laird, Aye Lemon, Aye. No.

Smallwood Cuevas. Aye. Stern. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye.

Secretary, please call the absent members.

Grove. I don't know.

Eyes thirty, Noes nine. That measure passes. We'll now move to file item 94, AB 2724. Secretary, please read.

Senate Bill 2724 by Assembly member Bauer Kahan, an act relating to insurance.

Senator Grayson, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam president. I rise to present AB 2724 on behalf of Assembly member Bauer Kahan. Many of you have been frustrated by the pace at which relief is expected to come to our districts in terms of getting market insurance for our constituents. It is commendable that the Department of Insurance is pushing insurers to cover at least 85% of distressed areas.

Those areas have been found via a formula developed by the Department of Insurance to be especially vulnerable to be especially vulnerable to wildfire risk and nonrenewals.

The problem is that the current formulation used to determine which communities qualify as distressed areas has fallen short. Several communities in our districts have been plagued by insurance cancellations and non renewals, and homeowners have been pushed onto the fair plan, which is both expensive and does not cover or offer adequate coverage.

AB 2724 ensures that the Department of Insurance conducts regular reviews and updates to the list of distressed areas and that wildfire urban interface areas are considered when updates are made.

Further, it requires the department to develop and implement a process by which community members can participate in advocating on behalf of their communities. Thank you, and I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, Senator Grove. You are recognized.

Thank you, Madam president. I rise in support of this bill. It's a small step forward than what we need for our insurance industry. The big concern that I have, and I will be gone next year, but you guys will have to be dealing with the fair plan issue that we have in the State of California.

The State of California got in the insurance industry, and any insurance industry any insurance agency or industry representative who sells insurance that is in the position financially of the FAIR plan, we would probably figure out a way to arrest them for misconduct and all kinds of stuff.

Because listen to these numbers, the exposure under the FAIR plan, the exposure, meaning over the 790 or 690,000 policies that they have across the state and all of our districts, the exposure is $768,000,000,000 if we have catastrophic fires. $768,000,000,000 in exposure, and they have about $200,000,000 cash on hand.

So that money, if something happens, it's catastrophic in these high risk areas where fires could take place, the FAIR plan is incapable of making sure that those people get their policies paid out when the FAIR plan is the most costly plan out there. There was a horrible disservice done to our insurance industry. They drove with policy and not getting rates and things like that from the Department of Insurance.

They left this state, and what's really sad is that we have very few providers here in this state that are providing homeowners insurance. State Farm was on the verge of not writing any additional policies. We all read those articles, and this is just another industry driven out of the state for policies in the State of California.

Next year, this year, I'm telling you guys have a big disaster on your hands. Again, the number $768,000,000,000 of exposure and $200,000,000 in cash on hand.

That's a problem. And so respectfully ask for an aye vote on this bill, which helps a small very, very small amount, but at least it's moving in the right direction and we hopefully are gonna turn the tide with additional legislation.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate. Senator Grayson, would you like to close?

Yes. I wanna thank my colleague for her comments and also would be good for us to heed her warning. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion. Secretary, please call the roll.

[roll call]

Secretary, please call the absent members.

[roll call]

Ayes 38, No 0. That measure passes.

We'll now move to file item 96, AB 2592. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 2592 by Assembly Member Pacheco, an act relating to the Political Reform Act of 1974.

Senator Laird, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. AB 2592 transfers responsibility for lobbyist training from the Legislative Ethics Committee to the Fair Political Practices Commission beginning January 1st, 2029. There's support on both sides. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, senators, this item is eligible for unanimous roll call. Seeing no objection, ayes: 40. Noes: zero. That measure passes. We will now move to File Item 99: AB 1198. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 1198 by Assembly Member Haney, an act relating to public works.

Senator Arreguín, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. I rise to present AB 1198, the Fair Pay for Construction Workers Act, on behalf of Assembly Member Haney, which ensures that workers on major public works projects receive fair wages that reflect current industry standards. Right now, prevailing wage rates are generally locked in when a public works project is first advertised for bid. That means workers can remain tied to an outdated prevailing wage rate, even when the project lasts for years and industry wages have increased.

Contractors already routinely account for changes in material costs over the life of a long-term project and union contractors account for changes in wages as well, and updating prevailing wages on major long-term public work projects is not complicated. It simply ensures that wages keep pace with industry. We know that wage theft remains a serious problem in California's construction industry.

Just last year, the Labor Commissioner cited developers for more than 2.3 million in wage theft and other labor violations, affecting 124 workers at four Los Angeles construction sites. Recent amendments limit the bill to projects of 35 million or more and move updates from quarterly to semiannual periods.

In addition, earlier amendments exempted specified affordable housing projects. These amendments strike an important balance by protecting workers on large, long-term public works projects while providing greater predictability for contractors and protecting critical affordable housing development. On behalf of Assembly Member Haney, I respectfully ask for an aye vote on AB 1198.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call].

Secretary, please call the absent members.

[Roll call].

Ayes: 31. Noes: nine. That measure passes. We'll now move to File Item 110: AB 1537. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 1537 by Assemblymember Bryan, an act relating to peace officers.

Senator Arreguin, you are recognized.

Thank you, madam president. I rise to present AB 1537 on behalf of Assemblymember Isaac Bryan. AB 1537 is a common sense measure. This bill establishes a clear rule for law enforcement officers, which is if you serve as a police officer for one law enforcement agency, you should not simultaneously take on a second law enforcement job with another agency or entity that engages in federal immigration enforcement. We already apply this basic principle throughout public service.

You can't serve as an officer with the Oakland Police Department while simultaneously serving as an officer to serve with the Berkeley Police Department. We have similar safeguards for elected officials as well. I can't serve as a state Senator and a state Assembly member at the same time. These guardrails exist to prevent conflicts of interest to make sure, that there's accountability to the public that's that's simply comes with working in a public service profession. AB 1537 follows that same logic.

If your primary job is serving as a police officer, you should not be able to take a second job serving as an immigration enforcement officer. With reasonable limitations on secondary employment. This bill codifies best law enforcement practices in state law. Hundreds of law enforcement departments already have secondary employment policies, and we should have a clear and consistent standard on secondary employment of an officer wanting to work in federal immigration enforcement. More importantly, this bill has received robust public consideration.

It went through the public safety policy committee, which I chair, where I work with the author and stakeholders to address concerns and help make this legislation workable. At the end of the day, AB 1537 is about a simple principle. When you serve the public in a position of trust as a law enforcement official, your responsibilities and loyalty should be clear. Your chain of command should be clear. Your accountability should be clear.

I respectfully ask for an aye vote on AB 1537.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Secretary, please call the absent members.

[Roll Call]

Aye is 27. Noes, 11. That measure passes. We will now move to file item 120, AB 929. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 929 by Assemblymember Connolly, an act relating to cemeteries.

Senator Richardson, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. I rise to present AB 929 on behalf of Assemblymember Connolly, that builds on SB 1312. It addresses a district-specific issue by allowing the County of Marin to transfer ownership and management of the Mount Tamalpais Cemetery, located in San Rafael, to either a California nonprofit organization or a licensed cemetery authority. AB 929 also provides temporary liability protections created by the prior owner, since they will have to fix decades of neglect.

The bill only applies to Mount Tamalpais Cemetery, sunsets on 01/01/2029, and has no opposition and only becomes in effect if SB 1312 is enacted.

With that, I ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Ayes, 33. Noes, five. That measure passes. We'll now move to File Item 121, AB 1843. Secretary, please read.

Assembly bill 1843 by Assembly member Al Horari and equanimity to public health.

Senator Weiner, you are recognized.

Thank you, madam president. I rise to present AB 1843 on behalf of Assembly member El Hawari. This bill ensures Californians can access life saving hepatitis c treatment without delay by removing unnecessary administrative barriers requiring health plans to follow current national medical guidelines and eliminating prior authorization, unnecessary tests, and other obstacles that do not improve patient care. The bill addresses long standing inequity inequities for people who are disproportionately affected by Hep C. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, secretary, please call the roll.

Alan. Hi. Alvarado-Gil. No. Archuleta.

Aye, Arguin. Aye, Ashby. Aye, Becker. Aye, Blake Spear. Aye, Cabaldon.

Aye, Caballero. Aye, Cervantes. Aye, Troy. No Cortesi. Aye, Dali.

Aye, Durazo. Gonzales. Aye, Grayson. Grove. No, Hurtado.

Aye, Jones. No. Laird. Aye. Aye.

McGuire. Aye. McNearney. Aye. I Richardson.

I Rubio. I see Arto. No small. I Stern. I Strickland.

No Humbert. Aye. Volodares? Wahab? Aye.

Weber Pearson? Aye. Weiner? Aye.

Secretary, please call the absent members.

Aye. Grayson, aye. Menjivar, Malabarres.

Aye is 30. Noes eight. That measure passes. We'll now move to file item one twenty two, AB 2721. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 2721 by Assemblymember Carrillo, an act relating to business.

Senator Padilla, you are recognized.

Thank you very much, madam president. Members arise to present AB 2721 on behalf of Assemblymember Carrillo. This bill is a California Latino legislative caucus priority bill and is narrowly tailored, transparency measure intended to promote workplace safety and informed decision making for hospitality workers and hotel guests when federal immigration agencies are on hotel premises.

The bill requires a hotel operator with actual knowledge of a reservation with the United States Customs and Border Protection or the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement to post a prominent notice in an accessible location where it can be seen by all workers. It provides a limited disclosure to hotel guests.

Upon request of guests with a reservation, the hotel operator must disclose at the time of check-in the potential presence of CBP or ICE on the premises during the guest reservation. The bill does not require a physical notice to be provided to guests. The underlying issue is one of transparency and workplace safety. There is currently no statewide requirement that hotels disclose these reservations to hospitality workers.

The absence of notice can create uncertainty for employees, limit informed decision making by guests, and potentially place workers in difficult or unsafe circumstances without adequate information about activities occurring in their workplace.

When a hotel operator has actual knowledge of a covered reservation, the worker notice must be posted within forty eight hours. Importantly, this bill does not require a hotel operator to seek out or to independently obtain information regarding federal reservations. It only applies when they have actual knowledge. It does not prohibit hotels from hosting federal agencies, nor does it regulate or interfere with federal law enforcement operations.

It does not prevent CBP or ICE from conducting lawful activities, including operations addressing drug trafficking, human trafficking, or other enforcement priorities.

We already recognize in California law the importance of transparency, where information may materially affect consumers, and the importance of protecting workers from known hazards or unsafe situations. This bill applies those principles in a very narrow and specific context. This measure also contains a January 1, 2029 sunset clause, providing the legislature with an opportunity to evaluate implementation and determine whether any further action as required. Members of this bill has received bipartisan support. Respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Senator Valladares, you are recognized.

Thank you, madam president. Colleagues, today I rise in respectful opposition to AB 2721. In 2022, I worked on legislation to make hotel and motel management mandated reporters of human trafficking because we know that hotels and motels are frequently used by traffickers and employees can be critical eyes and ears in identifying victims. This bill is taking us in the wrong direction.

AB 2721 requires a hotel that knows ISER customs and border protection will be on the premises to post notice for its workers.

Potentially forty eight hours in advance. And when requested, disclose their potential presence to guests at check-in. And think about what that means. A trafficker using a hotel could learn that federal law enforcement is going to be there before law enforcement ever walks through the door. We spent years asking hotels to help law enforcement identify tracking, trafficking, and to protect victims.

And now we're telling those same hotels that they may have to provide advance warning of federal law enforcement presence. Whatever position you may have on immigration enforcement, what we should not create is a loophole that can be exploited by human traffickers. We should be making California hostile territory for traffickers, not giving them the heads up. Respectfully ask for a no vote.

Thank you. Senator Jones, you are recognized.

Thank you, madam president and members and the floor manager. I do appreciate that there is a sunset in there. I think that that's important and responsible. I do have a question though, regarding, the process, if the floor manager wouldn't mind taking a quick question.

Will the floor manager take a question?

Madam president, I will.

Thank you. It was my understanding that there were supposed to be some amendments, or amendments were presented in the Judiciary Committee that would have moved most of the opposition to a neutral position. Yet I'm noticing on the analysis that that those amendments were not taken and the opposition is still strongly opposed. Can you speak to that at all?

Madam president, distinguished colleague, I can only speak to the facts as you've just articulated them.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, madam president. I also, in agreement with the previous speaker, would ask for a no vote in AB 2721. Thank you.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Senator Padilla, would you like to close?

Yes, madam president. Just briefly, again, I would remind my colleagues that the text of this bill as in print does not impose any affirmative duty on the part of the operator to seek out information. It is very circumstantially specific to immigration enforcement and the presence and actual knowledge that two specific agencies will be present, unless organized crime or human traffickers are actually coordinating with enforcement, customs and enforcement agencies. I don't see the loophole that would expose enforcement operations targeted at those crimes.

And in fact, this bill, as I articulated earlier here, specifically is intentionally designed not to address those circumstances or to compromise those operations.

And with that, I would respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Secretary, please call the absent members.

[Roll Call]

Ayes, 29. Noes, 11. That measure passes. We'll now move to file item 123, AB 1627. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 1627 by Assembly Member Avila Farias, an act relating to public employment.

Senator Arreguín, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. I rise to present AB 1627, on behalf of Assembly Member Avila Farias. AB 1627 ensures that immigration enforcement personnel are disqualified from becoming a peace officer in California if they have committed misconduct in their prior role. Californians deserve the best qualified, best trained people in their law enforcement agencies, and this bill is about restoring public trust and holding federal law enforcement to the same standard as we do for any other peace officer in the State of California.

Public service requires integrity, restraint, and respect. When those values are abandoned, public trust is broken, and entire communities are put at risk, then AB 1627 tells Californians that we want our communities to be safe and policed by people who are committed to following the law. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call].

Secretary, please call the absent members.

[Roll call].

Ayes: 29. Noes: 10. That measure passes. We'll now move to File Item 125: AB 1578. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 1578 by Assembly Member Jackson, an act relating to public officials.

Senator Wiener, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. Colleagues, I'm presenting AB 1578, on behalf of Assembly Member Jackson. This bill seeks to require additional hate speech and harassment training for specified local and state-elected officials. While California has made some progress with hate crimes, overall, hate crime offenses have still increased by 8.9% from '23 to '24. This problem affects us all, and elected officials are at heightened risk.

Elected officials often undergo training after being sworn in or appointed, but this training does not always include information about how to address threats, harassment, and hate. AB 1578 would expand on existing training requirements to include information on responding to threats and harassment during and outside of public meetings, deescalation training, and resources available for victims of hate. I ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call].

Ayes: 30. Noes: 10. That measure passes.

We will now move to file item 134, AB 1383.

Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 1383 by Assemblymember Mckinnor, an act relating the public employees' retirement and making an appropriation therefore.

Senator Grayson, you are recognized.

Thank you, madam president. I am pleased to present AB 1383 by Assemblymember McKenner that will strengthen retirement security for our public employees by making three measured changes. First, this measure will adjust the pensionable compensation limit to align it with the current federal social security wage base by making a targeted increase to the pensionable compensation limit for those who don't participate in social security. This will help improve recruitment and retention for of all of our public employees.

Recent amendments reduce that limit used to calculate a defined benefit paid to a member who retires from a public employee retirement system from 135% to 120% of the federal Social Security limit for members whose service is not included in the federal system among minor technical adjustments.

Second, it lowers the normal retirement age for public safety employees from 57 to 55. This is critical because the international agency of for research on cancer has classified the occupation of a firefighter as a group one carcinogen. Reducing the normal retirement age to 55 will decrease exposures for firefighters and other public safety personnel.

And then finally, this measure will establish a new retirement formula for public safety, 3% of 55, and permit local agencies and their public safety employees to bargain over perspective increases within the allow allowable formulas. These formulas would be 2% at 55, 2.5% at 55, 2.7% at 55, or 3% at 55.

Employers and employees can bargain for a lower or higher formula that is closest to their current formula. Again, AB 1383 makes these targeted perspective make these only as targeted perspective, not retroactive or retrospective changes to our public employees' retirement policy in a manner that ensures that our retirement systems remain healthy and our public employees have a secure retirement. I am pleased that this measure has enjoyed bipartisan support.

And with the recent amendments, I invite my colleagues to join me in this effort, respectfully asking for an aye vote.

Thank you. Senator Cortese, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. I rise in support of AB 1383, and I want to, emphasize, just a couple of things that have already been touched upon. One of them being the rate of cancer with our retirees and what does it have to do with PEPRA?

It has a lot to do with PEPRA as far as I'm concerned is that we are not just focused on what the retirement security is for folks in the public sector here, especially in this case, first responders, but we're we're now really talking about what the surviving spouses and in in some cases domestic partners are going to receive just a short number of years after retirement.

A landmark study in San Francisco a few years ago determined that over fifty percent of retired firefighters in that city have succumb to leukemia.

How do you go out and compete for employees who have a choice as to work in this particular sector if you're up against those kinds of odds, we need to solve that problem separately, obviously, that's a health problem that shouldn't exist, but we've also got to come back and make sure that we're not equally pushing people away because of of a pepra that's that's really not exactly right.

The second thing I wanna emphasize is, yes, cities and CalPERS have have, say billions of dollars because of pepper in its first ten years, so we know that it doesn't make any sense to throw pepper out. These are modest adjustments that need to be made. They're gonna have make a difference in cities like my home city, San Jose, where we're dramatically dramatically underwater due to vacancies that frankly have been there for that entire ten year period. Hundreds of vacancies, on the public sector side.

So, that said, I think, my colleague from Contra Costa already mentioned the fact that much of what's here is subject to collective bargaining. I trust the collective bargaining process. I hope my colleagues will as well, and I urge an Aye vote. Thank you.

Thank you. Senator Strickland, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President, Members. You know, we're all products of our life experiences, and everybody here on this floor has a different life experience and and different backgrounds that really kinda shape where they stand on certain issues. I rise in support of AB 1383. I don't know if it's because I grew up in a military family as a son of a career military soldier, but I do put in front the most essential role of government is public safety.

I know a lot of you members have told I've said that on many different occasions, but this is just one example where we need to put public safety first and and understand that the people we're doing this for are people who put their lives on the line every single day when they put on that uniform.

Their family's not knowing if they're gonna come home. When people are running out of the building, they're running in the building. And we're coming up on the anniversary of 9/11. Think about those firefighters and those first responders on 9/11 and their families when you're taking this vote. And as someone who's a fiscal conservative, I get arguments on the other side, and I I respect the people who disagree with me on this issue.

Deeply respect, because I understand that. But there are a lot of things that we do in this government, in my opinion, where we're funding things like the high speed fail or other things in billions of dollars, where I know I can actually go in there and say, I would rather take that money and put it into this fund to support those who wear our uniform and put their lives at risk to keep us safe across our communities.

Even Milton Friedman, when asked about privatization of the of the law of national security and public safety, even Milton Friedman said I can't come up with a way to privatize public safety. And so I understand where a lot of my colleagues might be on the other side of this issue and, for fiscal reasons.

But a budget's nothing more than a blueprint of our priorities, and I'll always, always put public safety first, and I'll always fight to make sure we give law enforcement the tools they need to keep us safe.

And as a former athlete who played in college and pro basketball, at some point, when you're in a in a position like this, your body breaks down. And I would argue moving it from 57 to 55 will actually save some revenue because what ends up happening is a lot of these folks, our bodies are breaking down. And then they take workers' comp, and then we actually pay more in overtime to cover those positions than if we just move it from 57 to 55.

Now this bill is not perfect. There's some things that I would like to change within this bill.

But for the most part, I'm I'm supporting AB 1383 because I support public safety, and I think it should be the number 1 priority. It should be the first thing that gets funded in our budget, and that's why I'm supportive of this bill, and I urge my colleagues to vote Aye.

Thank you. Senator Valladares, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. Members, I rise in support of AB 1383. And this is a difficult vote for me because I do have concerns about the long term cost of this bill and we have an obligation to taxpayers to make every promise that we make to make sure that it's sustainable. But I'm supporting this because the men and women who run towards fires, violent crime, and life threatening emergencies are not working ordinary jobs.

California, we know, I'm sure you hear it in your districts, that California is struggling to recruit and train firefighters, police officers, and other first responders because these are physically demanding careers with higher risk of injury, disability, and occupational diseases.

This bill does recognize that reality by adjusting retirement benefits for our safety employees including moving the prospective retirement age to 55. We should absolutely be responsible with taxpayer dollars, but we also have to be able to recruit and train the people who keep our communities safe. For me, as my colleague from Orange County mentioned, government's most basic responsibility is public safety.

And in order for us to make public safety jobs, first responder jobs, in order to incentivize them, in order to keep more officers in our communities, we need incentives. And that's part of what this bill does.

And that's why despite my very real fiscal concerns, I will be voting yes.

Thank you. Senator Richardson, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. Prior to coming to here in the state senate, I was in local government and on the city council, and we were having really tough times at that point. And when we were reviewing retirement packages and things like that, police and fire received theirs first, and then subsequently, years later, the other public employees received, the benefits. And I just want to really applaud, public safety for standing with all workers.

They refused to only go to the table for themselves, which historically has happened, and they really stood for everyone.

And it was it's difficult because all employees who are working, need help, especially police and fire, of course, because they're danger, health issues, and so on. But the public employees, it's important as well that we recognize their value. So I wanna applaud, police and fire public safety for standing for all workers. And then in terms of the fiscal impact, that they we were able to come to an agreement that reduced the cost in some way to help the counties and cities to adjust.

So with that, I ask for an Aye vote.

Thank you. Senator Seyarto, you are recognized.

Thank you very much. And, colleagues, I'm gonna wrap this up, hopefully, with a little bit of personal experience on this matter. When I was 50 years old, I had the the public safety formula of 2% at 50. That was what was offered to us. And that was only for public safety personnel because we can they wanted us to leave when we were 50.

I had thirty years of Cirrus credit. I had a really lofty salary if you ask the LA Times because that's what they they report, total compensation, your overtime, and then also your base salary. Well, guess what? Your base salary is what they they they factor when they're doing your retirement. And so 2% with my thirty years at 50 years old gave me a whopping retirement of $60,000 a year because my base salary is a $120,000 as a captain.

Actually, at the time, I was a brand new battalion chief. Think about your life. Think about the years between 50 and 65 years old. Guess what? Those are the most expensive years in your life.

At the time, I had two daughters in high school, one daughter in college, a full mortgage to pay, and all of the expenses that go along with the most expensive time in your life. Now I chose to stay on for five more years and build up my get to top step step as a battalion chief. Because at that point, I would have a and then I also switched to we switched to LA County.

But at that point, I wound up with a retirement that I could actually live on. So those are things that people don't understand.

They get lost in all these formulas. When they did PEPRA, that that retirement age for firefighters went from 50 to 57. And the reason they did that was because that's how it was actuarially sound. The problem is our bodies are not actuarials. Our bodies get beat up.

When I was ready to retire at 50, I had a heart problem. I had back problems. I had a neck problem. And then two years after I when I stayed on, I had my shoulder redone. You get beat up.

You don't leave because you want to. For Pete's sake, we had the most lucrative overtime because all of us recovering for all the people that were going off on injured leave. And we couldn't fill it with young people as much. Why? Because we couldn't hire behind those folks.

So it's a necessity for us to have a separate type of pension from the general employees. And while I can applaud our our unions and everybody for helping the general employees get theirs back in two thousand one or two, whenever it was, that was an expensive proposition that was pushed pushed by CalPERS because they were super funded at the time. Well, they unsuperfunded themselves really quick. And we got the the firefighters, the police and fire, the public safety folks, they got the brunt of everybody's blame.

It was us that drove those up. No. When you had city managers retiring at $360,000 a year at 50 seven, that's what drove the prices out above what they should be. So, you know, think about that. Think about this list here. These are the guys I worked with in Inglewood.

They're all dead. You're with the all of them are ten years. Within ten years of my age, I worked with seven different female firefighters. Five of them were dead. They didn't make it to 50.

Folks, there's a problem with that that job, and we know it when we get there. But for Pete's sake, you can't keep us on longer than our bodies can manage the load. Just like you can't expect an athlete, a a a football player to go beyond am I at my five? Okay. My football player to just stay on and hit into their forties and fifties.

They just can't do it. So expecting them to stay on so you can meet your actuarial things, that's that's unrealistic. It's also unfair to the families because when when our life expense I was told when I was in my mid forties that I should be able to make it all the way into my mid sixties.

Ten seconds.

9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3. I I would respectfully ask that you all join us in supporting this for public safety only. It's time to separate these out, and this is the time to do it. Thank you.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Senator Grayson, would you like to close?

Yes. Thank you, Madam President. I wanna thank all my colleagues, for your comments and support. I would be hard pressed to be able to improve on any of those comments, that were made. I do wanna just simply say to all my colleagues, it's time for us to support and ensure that we protect our first responders and our public employees.

I respectfully ask for an Aye vote.

Thank you. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Secretary, please call the absent Members.

[Roll Call]

Ayes 30. Secretary, please call the absent Members.

[Roll Call]

Ayes 33, Noes 0. That measure passes. We will now move back in the file to file item 127, AB 2597. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 2597 by Assembly Member Wicks, an act relating to the payment of claims against the state and making an appropriation, therefore, and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately.

Senator Cervantes, you are recognized on this support support measure.

Thank you, Madam President. I rise to present Assembly bill 2597 on behalf of my counterpart Assembly member Wicks. This is an annual state claims bill. It provides it's an urgency measure that provides appropriation authority for legal judgments and settlements approved by the Department of Justice and Department of Finance. The bill appropriates 7,400,000 from the general fund to pay the prevailing party's attorney fees and cost in eight specific cases as identified in the approved settlement agreement.

These claims are binding state obligations and failure to approve payments for these claims would result in additional litigation and state costs. I respectfully ask for your Aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, this item is eligible for unanimous roll call.

Seeing.

Well, never mind. Someone just left, so we'll have to take the roll call. Secretary, please call the members.

[roll call]

Senator Cervantes moves the call.

We'll now move to file item 130, AB 2294. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 2294 by Assembly Member Ta, an act relating to state government.

Senator Umberg, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President and colleagues. I rise to present AB 2294, which would declare April 14 of each year as Sylvia Mendez Day. The Mendez Family, if you don't know--and you should know--was the family that sued Westminster over the segregation of schools in Orange County, in particular Westminster, where Latino young people were segregated from the White young people, and this lawsuit was the precursor to Brown versus Board of Education. So it is completely appropriate that we name a particular day after Sylvia Mendez, who is the daughter of the original Mendez plaintiffs in the lawsuit, and with that, I urge an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call].

Senator Umberg moves the call.

We'll now move to file item 132, AB 2319. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 2319 by Assembly member Schultz, an act relating to taxation and make an appropriation, therefore.

Senator Allen, you are recognized.

You're recognized.

Thank you so much, Madam president. So, California remains the center of the global film and television industry, but post production work including sound and scoring, visual effects, and finishing is increasingly being performed in other jurisdictions that offer very targeted tax incentives.

Current law limits eligibility for the Motion Picture Tax Credit, primarily to projects that complete principal photography in California. And as a result, post production work is increasingly done elsewhere in other states and countries that offer standalone or more flexible incentives.

Major post production editorial facilities are generally they're generating substantially less revenue than in prior years.

They face the risk of closure and this bill seeks to address remedy that problem by creating the California Post Production Tax Credit, a targeted incentive for qualified post production expenditures performed in California regardless of where principal photography occurred.

This tax credit is not tied to the $750,000,000 budget for the Motion Picture Tax Credit that was passed last year that we're we were able to save, this is separate. It's structured to complement the existing Film and TV Tax Credit.

To be eligible for this post production credit, the project either will have to be filmed outside of California or filmed in California but not receiving the existing tax credit. So a project can't double dip.

Economic analysis demonstrates that post production incentives generate significant returns on public investment through increased taxable wages, local vendor spending, broader economic activity. These are good jobs. The bill has no opposition. I want to say we're joined by the California Post Production Alliance, head Marielle Abwanza who's up here and we just wanna say hello to her. And with that, I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate. Secretary, please call the roll.

[roll call]

Senator Allen moves the call. We'll now move to File Item 135: AB 2467. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 2467 by the Assembly Committee on Education, an act relating to elementary and secondary education, and making an appropriation therefore and declaring the urgency thereof to take effect immediately.

Senator Pérez, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President and members. AB 2467 addresses minor and technical issues within the Education Code and includes an urgency clause to ensure that these provisions can take effect for the 2026-27 school year. I ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call].

Senator Perez moves the call.

We're now at file item 137, AB 28. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 28 by Assembly member Schiavo, an act relating to solid waste and making an appropriation, therefore.

Senator Blakespear, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam president and members. I rise to present AB 28, which requires landfill operators to diligently monitor their subsurface temperatures and requires consistent reporting to local enforcement agencies as well as state agencies of elevated temperatures established by Cal EPA.

If temperatures rise above a safe level, the landfill must alert the local enforcement agency and CalRecycle. Recent amendments address technical issues related to the administration of the landfill subsurface fire mitigation community fund. Thank you, and I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate. Secretary, please call the roll.

[roll call]

Senator Blakespear moves the call.

We'll now move to file item 138, AB 2154. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 21.

52. Excuse me. 2152.

Assembly Bill 2152 by Assembly Member Mark González, an act relating to environmental quality.

Senator Pérez, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. Colleagues, today I rise to present AB 2152, a bill that will expedite the process of building essential fire stations in California by offering these projects judicial streamlining, provided they meet the minimum qualifications. The amendments taken in the Senate reflect technical assistance provided by the administration, ensuring that this process is placed under the existing authority rather than creating a separate authority. With that, I respectfully ask for your aye vote. Thank you.

Thank you. Seeing no further discussion or debate, Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll call].

Senator Pérez moves the call. Senators, we're gonna be moving around a little bit because of time stamps, so please listen so that you're not caught off guard if I call on you to do a bill. So we will now jump to File Item 141: AB 2796. Secretary, please read.

Assembly Bill 2796 by the Assembly Committee on Public Safety, and act relating to criminal history information and declaring the urgency thereof to take it back immediately.

Senator Arreguin, you are recognized.

Thank you, Madam President. I rise to present AB 2796, the Assembly Committee on Public Safety omnibus bill. AB 2796 amends various statutes authorizing fingerprint-based criminal history background checks for employment and licensing purposes. These updates bring numerous California fingerprinting authorization statutes into compliance with federal law governing the dissemination of criminal history information by the FBI.

The bill will also allow existing policies requiring criminal history background screening for employment and licensing to continue for populations that include, among others, applicants for DOJ's firearms certificate of eligibility and dangerous weapons permits, employees of school contracting entities, people who work or volunteer for entities providing services to children, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities. The latest amendments address a recent directive by the FBI requiring authorizing statutes to reference Penal Code sections 1105, Subsections U and S, and clarify the definition of "governmental districts."