Senate Human Services Committee
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Senate Human Services Committee California State Senate
Ihren Sitzungen folgenRedner 1
Thank you very much. We'll now take any additional testimony in support of Senate Bill five fifty seven. If you can please come forward, state your name, organization, and position on the bill. Any other, testimony in support of SB five fifty seven? Okay.
If not, I'll ask there any principal witnesses in opposition to s b five five seven. Seeing none, I think that completes our testimony. I'll bring it back to the committee and just thank the senator for this important bill. You know, it's very simple, but it's very important to update the definition of family resource centers to align with the federal definition, you know, to clarify that we're talking about a hub for multigenerational family centered and family strengthening support services, clarifying that they're provided at no cost or low cost to participants, culturally sensitive. I think that's extremely important to lift up, reflective and being responsive to community needs and interests.
So really just clarifying, I think strengthening the goals and criteria of Family Resource Centers. And thank you very much for bringing this forward. I'll turn it back over to you to close.
Redner 1
Thank you very much. We don't have a quorum yet, but at the appropriate time, I will be recommending an eye on the bill. Thank you. And so I see we have a few more authors here. We'll go back in file order.
And so before we do that, we are holding our committee hearing here in Room 2100 in 10210 Street. I ask that all members of the committee be present in Room 2100 so we can establish a quorum and take action on the bills in our hearing today. We have four bills on today's agenda. We just disposed of one, and so we'll proceed now to filing a one Senate Bill two ninety nine by Senator Cabaldon. If there are any principal witnesses, Senator, who will be testifying in support of the bill, if you can please join us here.
Thank you. And whenever you're ready, Senator Cabaldwin.
Redner 5
All right. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members. Last year, the legislature passed a comprehensive CEQUA reform legislation. And as part of that, we announced that we had exempted daycare from CEQUA.
And it was because of a drastic need in the state that you know better than anyone. And sites and facilities are among the top reasons for the lack of adequate and convenient and affordable daycare and childcare throughout our state. Unfortunately, we got a little bit of the language wrong, and we said in that language that it applied only outside of residential areas. So we are in a curious situation where if you wanted to open up a child care center across the street from a logistics center or in an industrial zone, that's not subject to CEQUA. But if you wanted to convert an existing strip mall or church site in a residential zone, on a site that's owned residential, that is fully subject to CEQA.
So we've almost got it upside down. And so this legislation is simply to make the corrective, make real what we said we did last year. These are exactly the sites that parents and families want, either near their work or near their home. And so the residential ban, essentially, the current exempt doesn't make any sense. And we'll hear in a moment a clear example from Napa County about how this has actually worked in the real world and the kinds of problems that it creates.
And so we're attempting through SB 99 to make this small change. I will just note, even though I know this is not the jurisdiction of this committee, the CEQA, that, you know, there are lot of other discussions going on about CEQA itself and follow ups to SB 131. And I will simply say I'm fully committed to the work that's ongoing in that effort. But this particular issue, wasn't in the group letter. It's not in the alternative legislation on 01/2031.
This has not been surfaced by any other parties. This is simply a corrective to the technical issue that we we the problem that we created last year in order to help us take advantage of the resources that the Governor is proposing that are out there for us to add additional facilities and supports by allowing communities to move forward with childcare centers. So with us today are Supervisor Liz Alessio, the newest member of the Napa County Board of Supervisors. She will be followed by John Kennedy, the Senior Policy Advocate of the Rural County Representatives of California.
Redner 1
Good afternoon. Good to see you, Supervisor. You may begin. You'll have two minutes to address the committee on this bill. Okay.
Redner 6
Okay. Well, thank you. Thank you so much for this opportunity. I want to start off by thanking Senator Cabaldon and Senator Perez for authoring SB two ninety nine. It's really important.
I've seen this in real life and in real time, what CECO abuse can do for a child care provider. You wouldn't think this bill would be necessary, but in this day and age, in the city of Napa, we have a longtime child care provider who had the dream and need, really, to purchase her own facility because it's so expensive to rent, and she was about to lose her lease. She received a $1,200,000 grant, ARPA funds, from the Napa County Supervisors and a 1,500,000.0 grant, black grant, from the state and had a preapproved SBA loan of $6,000,000 frankly. This is a church site. It was an LDS church, 10,000 square feet, a cinder block building on 2.5 acres and 98 parking spaces and a beautiful landscape setback situated a block above us, a longtime school in what used to be the founding working family neighborhood of small homes, which has then over time become the affluent area because it sits right outside the city downtown core.
The neighbors with means and ability found their silver bullet, and that was CEQA. And it wasn't winning CEQA that was important here. It was just filing that stopped everything in its place. She's just a childcare provider. She was going to expand what we need greatly in Napa County, and I know statewide, is access to infant and childcare.
In Napa County, for every nine babies born in our county, we have one licensed space. What does that do in terms of protecting and caring for our next generation, those critical years when they're infants and toddlers, completely vulnerable, and for their parents that need to work to provide for themselves and for the rest of their family. There are so many implications to this, and fixing this through SB two ninety nine is really the path forward. Thank you.
Redner 7
Good afternoon. John Kennedy with RCRC on behalf of 40 rural counties. We're here today to support SB two ninety nine. Thank you to Senator Cabaldon for introducing the measure. We believe this bill will help facilitate the creation of additional childcare opportunities in our communities.
These facilities are crucial from a developmental and social perspective and really foundational keys for economic development and community health. CEQA is an important law that requires disclosure and mitigation of a project's impact on the environment. We strongly support CEQA and its core objectives, but unfortunately, as you've heard, it's been misused for non environmental purposes. Sometimes they're competitive purposes, sometimes to delay a project past the point of economic viability. A challenge for which the bar is pretty low can add years and hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars, to a project and make it not viable.
This isn't just theoretical. We've seen it in the day care context. We're seeing it with student housing. One of the more recent news articles was on playground equipment in a local community park. This isn't what Sequel was intended for.
So at the end of the day, CEQA shouldn't be the thing that stands in the way of timely access to additional daycare opportunities. CEQA shouldn't be what's characterized as a nightmare in the process to open a new facility. So for these reasons, we support SB two ninety nine and urge your eye vote on the measure.
Redner 1
Thank you very much. Are there any other members of the public wishing to express support for Senate Bill two ninety nine? Please state your name, affiliation, and position only. Thank you.
Redner 8
Thank you. Melissa Sparks Kranz with the League of California Cities in support.
Redner 2
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members. Jasmine Vye, on behalf of Low Income Investment Fund, in support. Thank you.
Redner 3
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Rosanna Carvacho Elliott, here on behalf of the Early Care and Education Consortium, in support. Thank you.
Redner 8
Good afternoon. Jessica Cenkus with the California State Association of Counties, here in support. Thank you.
Redner 1
Jessica Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to express support for Senate Bill two ninety nine? Okay, seeing no one else, is there anyone wishing to testify in opposition to Senate Bill two ninety nine? Seeing no one, that completes our testimony. Thank you everyone for being here.
I'll bring it back to the committee and thank Senator Gabaldon for bringing this forward to clarify what we intended last year, which was to ensure that all childcare facilities were covered under the CEQA exemption that we adopted. And in the letter that we received, cited a specific example in Napa County, but there are many other child care facilities that would like to open up shop and just need this flexibility to provide desperately needed childcare for families in California. We were in a meeting just this past Friday talking about the need for childcare in California, and this is just one way that we can remove those barriers. I'll just lift up. This is one of the more sensible changes to CEQA that needed.
In one of the cities I represent, Alameda, CEQA was used to stop a food bank from opening. This is just one example of an unintended consequence. We need to have a strong California Environmental Quality Act, but we need to make sure that things that provide public good are also able to move forward as well. So when we establish a quorum, my recommendation is an aye, and I'll turn it back over to the author to close.
Redner 5
Couldn't agree more. And I know we both agree and all the members of the committee as well, CEQA is very important. And, you know, the comments that we've made today aren't to diminish at all the essential nature of Sequo, as you indicated, Mr. Chair, to protect the environment, to protect communities that have often been invisible or have had negative impacts hoisted upon them, that that's absolutely critical. But it just makes no sense for us to make it easier to build an advanced manufacturing facility in that, but then it is to build a childcare center.
And as has been testified, there's been no allegation that there's any toxicity or any of that. It's really just folks hoping that they can outlast the, you know, the woman trying to just build out this business. And if she gets one more delay, one more litigation threat, it just doesn't work anymore even with the grants the people of California, the people of The United States have provided in order to advance childcare. So it's a common sense bill that will, I hope, strengthen our support for CEQA over the long run by making sure that we're that it's not being abused in the way that is providing one of the most essential things that we need in communities across the state of California with that. I'd appreciate an I vote when you have a quorum.
Thank you so much.
Redner 1
Thank you, senator. Thank you to our witnesses for being here today, and thank you, everyone, for coming. We're gonna shift gears and go to file item three, senate bill eight thirty seven by senator Gomez Reyes. And if there's anyone who will be testifying in support of senate bill eight thirty seven, if you can please join us here. And I know the sergeants are working on trying to get the members to join us.
Senator Becker's chairing a hearing. So, he'll join us when he can but the other members. Okay. Thank you. And so with that, we'll once again proceed to file item three, SB eight thirty seven.
I'll turn it over to Senator Reyes to present.
Redner 9
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to present SB eight thirty seven. SB eight thirty seven requires the Aging and Disability Resource Connection programs to offer resource to offer disaster and emergency preparedness training tailored to help older adults and people with disabilities stay safe during emergencies. Just last week, we all stood with members of the senate assembly at the Firefighters' Memorial to read the names and ages of those who lost their lives during the Palisades and the Eaton fires.
Among them, and the reason that I brought this, was the attention that was given to mister Mitchell, an elderly gentleman, and his young son or his son, Justin, with cerebral palsy. He the father was not willing to leave without his son, and they were waiting for help to come and it never came. And they both perished. When we stood before that memorial just a few days ago, it underscored the urgency of this issue. The median age of those who died was 77, and at least one third had mobility impairments.
These tragic losses remind us that our emergency preparedness system is not adequately serving people with access and functional needs. This bill addresses this critical gap in emergency preparedness and evacuation planning to make sure no one is left behind or vulnerable to these kinds of disasters. Joining me today in support are Dan Oakenfuss from the Independent Living Centers and Carol Swartzlander from the California Commission on Aging.
Redner 1
Thank you. Good afternoon. You'll each have two minutes to address the committee on the bill, and if you'd like to proceed.
Redner 10
Thank you. Good afternoon, chair and members of the committee. My name is Carol Swartzlander, and I'm the Executive Director of the California Commission on Aging. The commission is an independent advisory body established in state law to serve as the principal advocate for older Californians before the governor, legislature, and state and federal agencies. In response to the January 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles, the Commission held an informational hearing to better understand the issues surrounding older adults and emergency response and recovery.
The Commission heard from experts in emergency management, aging and disability services, long term care, and community advocacy, many of whom were directly involved in the response efforts. Insights gained from these hearings led to an overwhelming conclusion: Emergency preparedness, response, and recovery is an aging issue. Of the thirty identified victims of the Eaton and Palisades fires, all but four were 65 or living with a disability. Unfortunately, this phenomenon has become the norm in recent years. Approximately seventy two percent of the deaths in the twenty seventeen Tubbs Fire and eighty four percent of deaths in the twenty eighteen Camp Fire were 65.
These figures are the consequence of a flawed emergency preparedness system that does not consider those with access and functional needs and, as a result, leaves older adults and people with disabilities to fend for themselves during disasters. Accounts from friends and relatives indicate that many of the victims of the Eaton and Palisades fire were aware of the dire circumstances, but they simply had no way to evacuate without assistance. SB-eight 37 would help ensure that consumers and providers have access to the critical tools and training through their local ADRCs, tools that are necessary to strengthen emergency preparedness and promote independence. As California continues to experience increasingly devastating natural disasters and an aging population, we must promote an emergency planning system that prioritizes enhancing resilience among older adults and people with disabilities rather than making them an afterthought. This bill initiates that process, and I respectfully urge your I vote.
Redner 11
Good afternoon. My name is Dan Ochenthus, and I'm the public policy manager for the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers. We are the Trade Association of California's ILCs, as they're known. We have 24 independent living centers across the state serving communities large and small, and I come together here to represent their voices. CFILC is proud supporter of the previous legislation from last year, SB three fifty two, by the Senator, and we haven't yet submitted our support letter in time for today's hearing, but we will be in due course.
But we applaud the Senator for introducing this bill again, seeking to remedy deficiencies in our disaster response infrastructure by ensuring that individual disabilities and older adults are not left behind when disaster strikes. By the way, I was able to watch today's session, and I really appreciate the honor body made to the victims of the Palisades and Eaton fires that hit hard on a number of our independent living centers in the L. A. Metropolitan Area. CFLC supports independent living centers across the state.
And we also run a program that will work very nicely with this legislation. It's called the Disability Disaster Access and Resources Program, DDAR, which enables individuals with electricity independent medical devices to receive life saving aid in the event of a power shutoff or evacuation. It also serves individuals who need to be evacuated in the event of emergency, and we can actually use this program to put our consumers up in hotels, motels around the area so they can have a reliable sense of a reliable flow of electricity to power their devices. I'm going give you a couple of numbers here. While we having a coordinated disaster prep program in California is very important and could benefit from this legislation.
Since 2023, the DDAR program has responded to over nine sixty two public safety power shutoff activations. We conducted nearly 36,000 in event well checks with our consumers. We've trained thousands of people with AFN, Access and Functional Needs, on preparedness. And we delivered over 2,000 backup batteries and relocated over 1,600 people with AFN needs to hotels and support their nutritional needs when a backup battery or power was not available for them at the time. So, in short, we're pleased to support this ongoing legislation.
Thank you very
Redner 1
much. Thank you very much. Are there any other members of the public wishing to express support for Senate Bill eight thirty seven? If so, if you can please approach the microphone and state your name, organization, and position on the bill. Seeing no, other members of the public wishing to testify in support?
Are there any members of public wishing to testify in opposition to Senate Bill eight thirty seven? Okay. Seeing none, I'll bring it back to the committee for any questions or comments on SB eight thirty seven. Thank you for bringing this bill forward. I think as was noted, just about forty five minutes ago, we honored, the victims who died in the Palisades and Eaton fire, some of whom were seniors, some of whom were persons with disabilities.
And I think that should have never happened. That's why this bill is so important. So I thank you for bringing this forward, and I'll turn it back over to you, senator, to close.
Redner 1
Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, senator. Don't have a quorum yet waiting for one more member.
I know their sergeants are working on it. But at the appropriate time, I I recommend an eye on the bill.
Redner 1
Senator Menjivar, the last bill's mine. So if you don't mind sharing, I would appreciate Okay.
Redner 12
Last bill on the agenda today is going to be file item four, S. B. Four seventy nine. Mr. Chair is ready to present.
Redner 1
Thank you, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to present Senate Bill four seventy nine, which will allow three cities, which are designated as local health jurisdictions, which are the city of Berkeley, the city of Pasadena, and the city of Long Beach, to implement homeless response multidisciplinary teams and share specified information across different teams and departments. In 2020, the legislature authorized counties to form multidisciplinary response teams to address homelessness, with the goal of aligning housing, treatment, and services for persons experiencing homelessness. These teams have been deployed in many jurisdictions and are a proven effective way to provide services and housing to our unsheltered community. This statute also authorized the ability to communicate specified information about unsheltered residents between various housing, behavioral health, and service teams to enhance continuity of care and to facilitate better outcomes. As noted, there are currently three LHJs, local health jurisdictions, California.
Currently, the city of Berkeley the city I was proud to serve on the Berkeley City Council and Mayor for twenty years is the only city operating its own multidisciplinary response team through its local health jurisdiction. These teams have proven to be successful at decreasing unsheltered homelessness and reducing encampments. Because the statute only authorizes counties to share specified information across teams, Berkeley's team has been working in a silo, unable to communicate about individuals' mental health needs when the housing team is working to place someone into permanent housing. This has led to unfortunate situations where individuals were not provided the correct intervention because response teams were unable to talk to each other about the individual's previous case history and potential needs. This is a targeted bill that allows city based LHJ multidisciplinary teams to have the same ability as counties.
It's a small change to our code that will go a long way to facilitate targeted interventions and better outcomes for unsheltered residents. And with me to testify in support of the bill is Scott Gilman, the Director of the City of Berkeley's Department of Health, Housing, and Community Services.
Redner 13
Thank you, Senator. Hello. My name is Scott Gilman. Is the microphone working?
Redner 13
has been. My name is Scott Gilman. I'm the director of health, housing, and community services for the city of Berkeley. I oversee the multidisciplinary teams, specialized mental health programs, our below market rate housing programs. And all of these programs are designed to go out and attempt to deal with individuals that are in encampments and link them to services.
More importantly, once we get them into services, our ultimate goal is to get them into housing. As senator Aragine said, the current state law allows county multidisciplinary teams to share information from one another about residents of encampments. However, city teams are not. I was surprised to learn this when I arrived at Berkeley. I had previously worked in counties where they are allowed to share information.
Some of the things that I observed by not being able to share information are individuals end up being placed in the wrong level of care. For example, housing teams might work extensively to place an individual in a placement, in an apartment somewhere. Mental health staff know very well that this individual won't work in that apartment for a variety of different reasons. They cannot give any input into that placement or why they would basically fail in that level of care. The other thing that we frequently experience or that I've seen happen is that first responders, were not able to communicate to first responders with very basic information.
For example, somebody might be on the street walking. They might look a little scary to to the to the, to the community. First responders may be called. We're not able to give them any information like that individual is not dangerous. We really just want you to take that individual back to their group home because they might have wandered away.
And what can happen is that can turn into a very nasty situation for the individual and for the community, in a very short period of time. So we're not actually asking for anything any different than what counties can currently do. It's to get the right information to the right professionals at the right time. It's not a
Redner 13
It's really just very limited information so that we can ensure that this individual is successful. Simply put, April closes a loophole in the law that will allow the city of Berkeley for the first time to provide full wraparound services. Thank you, and and I ask for your yes vote.
Redner 12
Thank you for your testimony. Do we have anybody in the room that would like to provide a me too in support of SB four seventy nine? Seeing none, do we have any formal opposition for this bill? Please come forward. Anyone like to record a, me too in opposition to this bill?
Bringing it back to the dais. Madam vice chair? No questions? Senator, I had a bill similar to this in the health care world. I think it's so important to share right information, right time.
And specific to that, I had one of the specific to that information, one of the biggest things that we get feedback is that we create our own burdensome bureaucratic process, and I think this is a great bill to remove red tape. Giving you an opportunity to close.
Redner 1
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to note that we did receive a letter from Oakland Privacy raising some potential amendments. We look forward to engaging with them if this bill moves out of committee on to the next phase of legislative process. And just note that already in existing law and all we're doing is just saying that cities that have their own local public health jurisdiction are eligible to take advantage of the flexibility afforded to counties under existing law. Under existing law, there already are very clearly delineated requirements around the confidentiality information, what information may be shared, and making sure there are adequate guardrails to protect the confidentiality of information that's used.
With that, I respectfully ask for an I vote.
Redner 12
Thank you. I'm going to wait for you to establish your quorum. Okay. Before we could take the roll.
Redner 1
Okay. A quorum is present, so if the committee assistant can please call the roll.
Redner 8
Adegine? Here. Adegine, here. Achalabog? Here.
Achalabog, here. Becker? Menjivar?
Redner 1
Okay. Thank you. So I'm I'm gonna go to the top. I'll entertain a motion on Senate Bill two ninety nine. Okay.
Moved by Senator Menjivar. If the committee assistant, please call the roll.
Redner 8
File item one, SB two ninety nine. Motion is due passed to Senate Environmental Quality Committee. Adegine?
Redner 8
Adegine, aye. Achobog? Aye. Achobog, aye. Becker?
Menjivar? Aye. Menjivar, aye. Perez?
Redner 1
Okay. We'll keep that bill on call for absent members. Thank you. I'll entertain a motion on file item two, SB five fifty seven, Hurtado. Moved by the vice chair.
And if the committee assistant can please call the roll.
Redner 8
File item two, SB five fifty seven. Motion is due passed to Senate Appropriations Committee. Adeking?
Redner 8
Adeking, aye. Achobog? Aye. Achobog, aye. Becker?
Menjivar? Aye. Menjivar, aye. Perez?
Redner 1
Okay. We'll also keep that bill on call. File item three is Senate Bill eight thirty seven Reyes. I'll entertain a motion moved by vice chair Achobo. We can please call the roll.
Redner 8
File item three, SB eight thirty seven. Motion is due passed to Senate Appropriations Committee. Adegine? Aye. Adegine, aye.
Achoboag? Aye. Achoboag, aye. Becker? Menjivar?
Aye. Menjivar, aye. Perez?
Redner 1
We'll keep that bill on call. Last is file item four, SB four seventy nine, my bill. Okay, thank you, Madam Vice Chair. Motion by Senator Achobog.
Redner 8
File item four, s b four seventy nine. Motion is due passed to senate judiciary committee. Adegine?
Redner 8
Adegine, aye. Ochobog? Aye. Ochobog, aye. Becker?
Menjivar? Aye. Menjivar, aye. Perez?
Redner 1
Okay. We'll keep that bill on call as well. Thank you very much, senator Menjivar, for being here today. Madam vice chair, we're gonna recess the committee, for five minutes, and ask, members to come over to report their votes. Thank you.
And if we can lift the call on bills. Madam, committee assistant.
Redner 8
File item one, SB two ninety nine. Motion is due passed to Senate Environmental Quality Committee. Becker? Menjivar? Oh, sorry.
Perez? Aye. Perez, aye.
Redner 8
File item two, SB five fifty seven. Motion is due passed to Senate Appropriations Committee. Becker? Perez? Aye.
Perez, aye.
Redner 8
File item three, SB eight thirty seven, do pass to Senate Appropriations Committee. Becker? Perez? Aye. Perez, aye.
Redner 8
File item four, SB four seventy nine, do pass to Senate Judiciary Committee. Becker? Perez? Aye. Perez, aye.
Redner 1
Okay. We'll keep that bill on call. And those are all the bills on our agenda. Thank you, senate Perez.
Redner 1
great. Yes. Okay. So we'll recess the committee again Yeah. For five minutes and then reconvene to lift call on bills.
Redner 1
Human Services Committee is back in session, and so we will now lift the call on bills and let the committee assistant go through the agenda.
Redner 8
File item one, SB two ninety nine. Motion is due pass to Environmental Quality Committee. Becker? Aye. Becker, aye.
Redner 8
File item two, SB five fifty seven. Motion is due passed to Senate Appropriations Committee. Becker? Aye. Becker, aye.
Redner 8
File item three, SB eight thirty seven. Motion is due passed to Senate Appropriations Committee. Becker?
Redner 8
File item four, SB four seventy nine. Motion is due passed to Senate Judiciary Committee. Becker?
Redner 1
That bill's out and voted five to zero. That completes our agenda. Since we have the incoming chair of the Human Services Committee, I wanna just congratulate you, and, just wanna recognize your leadership on these very important issues and just take this opportunity, since this my last meeting, to to thank our excellent committee staff, our, staff director, Heather Hopkins, our our consultants, our committee assistant for the great work that they've done, at a really critical time when our safety net is under attack by a hostile federal administration. We had several hearings around the issue of nutrition assistance and hunger in California, which was made even worse by the prolonged government shutdown and by the passage of H. One.
I know that the committee will continue this important work to shine a light on these important issues and make sure we can protect our families and vulnerable Californians. And thank you for the opportunity to work with you in partnership. And with that,
Redner 14
may I say, Quickly, incoming chair, to thank you, Mr. Chair, for your tremendous leadership, as you say, at a pivotal year. I couldn't imagine a more just I don't know how to say it. I couldn't imagine a more kind of critical year for the social safety net and for human services. And I thank you for your leadership, I look forward to continuing on with the committee.
Redner 1
Thank you, senator. Okay. With that, I see no other business. This meeting of the senate human service committee is now adjourned.
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