Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee
Event Log
Lori Wilson — Called during roll call vote and votes aye.
Lori Wilson — Votes aye in the consent-calendar roll call.
Lori Wilson — Lori Wilson was identified as making the motion and later recorded as voting aye during the roll call on the same matter.
Lori Wilson — Lori Wilson is listed in the vote record, with both mentions indicating her voting status as aye/part of the vote-status list.
Lori Wilson — Lori Wilson is recorded multiple times during the roll-call vote as voting aye, including on SB 772.
Buffy Wicks — Called during quorum verification; appears as 'Weeks' in the transcript.
Buffy Wicks — Votes aye in the consent-calendar roll call.
Buffy Wicks — Buffy Wicks was recorded as voting aye in the roll call.
Buffy Wicks — Recorded as voting aye, though the transcript has multiple variants of her name.
Buffy Wicks — Buffy Wicks was introduced by the chair and then engaged in a focused discussion about the bill’s treatment of hotels in mixed-use commercial projects. She noted prior off-committee discussion, asked for a concrete example of the problem the bill is meant to solve, and pressed for clarification that hotels would be excluded from the mixed-use commercial portion for housing accountability purposes. She then emphasized that the committee and sponsors were committed to clarifying amendments to make clear the bill is aimed narrowly at the hotel portion.
Anamarie Farías — Anamarie Farías is called during procedural voting, first during roll call and later during the consent-calendar vote; both mentions are garbled but indicate her participation in the vote process.
Anamarie Farías — Anamarie Farías is repeatedly referenced in the roll-call/vote-status portion of the meeting, with the transcript misrecognizing her name as 'Avila Farias' or similar variants. She is recorded as voting aye in one instance and then appears in the subsequent vote-status/attendance list, indicating the transcript is tracking her participation status during the same voting sequence.
Anamarie Farías — Cited by the witness as saying her district would love to get a hotel in Martinez.
Anamarie Farías — The transcript appears to refer to Ms. Farías; the speaker thanks her and the Chair.
Anamarie Farías — Anamarie Farías is recorded multiple times during the roll-call vote, consistently voting aye on several consecutive consent calendar items and SB 772.
Jessica Caloza — Jessica Caloza is called during voting proceedings and records an aye vote during roll call; she is then called again during the consent-calendar vote, though the transcript is garbled.
Jessica Caloza — Voted aye.
Jessica Caloza — Recorded as voting aye, though the transcript misrecognizes the name as 'Callosa'.
Jessica Caloza — Jessica Caloza is recorded as voting aye.
SB634 — SB 634 is called up for consideration and then introduced by Senator Perez as the Unhoused Service Providers Protection Act. The author explains that the bill responds to the unhoused crisis with a sustained humanitarian approach, prohibiting local and state ordinances that block basic survival services while also balancing those protections with public health and safety responsibilities. The discussion concludes with witness testimony in support of the bill.
Alex Vesotsky — Alex Vesotsky of the National Alliance to End Homelessness testified that criminalization does not solve homelessness and instead makes it harder to end. He cited research showing that fines, tickets, and related penalties can prolong homelessness by nearly two years, and argued that supportive services and housing investments are the real solutions, pointing to California’s HAP and ERF programs and nearly 73,000 people moved into permanent housing. He also warned that some jurisdictions are criminalizing even the delivery of services, which he said shifts homelessness onto neighboring communities and unfairly threatens providers doing state-funded work with fines or misdemeanor charges.
Sean Pleasant — Identified as a supporter and technical resource for the bill, co-chair of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority's Lived Experience Advisory Board.
Unnamed witness (person with lived experience of homelessness) — The witness described losing all possessions in a sweep and receiving crucial support from outreach groups, which kept them going. They then explained being cited for sleeping on the sidewalk, turning into a $900 fine, warrant, and jail time, and later nearly jeopardizing their housing because of that citation. The witness argued that criminalization of basic survival is harmful and that services, not punishment, ended their homelessness by helping them achieve housing, sobriety, health, and independence. They concluded by noting their ongoing work as an advocate, board and council chair, consultant, public speaker, and media contributor.
Mr. Pleasant — Referenced as having noted that losing documents, getting a criminal record, and losing case manager contact prolong homelessness.
Mark Stivers — Mark Stivers, speaking on behalf of the California Housing Partnership, expressed support for the bill.
Gregory Kramer — Spoke on behalf of Disability Rights California and listed additional supportive organizations.
Divya Shiv — Testified in strong support on behalf of Housing California.
Brittany Barsai — Testified in strong support on behalf of ACLU Cal Action.
Ishwaku Vishita — Identified with Inner City Law Center; stated the group is a co-sponsor in strong support.
Robert Copeland — Spoke from DRC by Disability Rights Group in Sacramento in strong support.
Alicia Deans — Testified in strong support on behalf of Sacramento Area Congregations Together.
Yadie Anseh — Testified in support on behalf of Oakland Privacy.
Sheree Dimmerling — Testified in strong support on behalf of the NCW and the Fair Housing Council.
Kobe Posadi — Kobe Posadi testified in opposition on behalf of the cities of Beaumont, Corona, and Thousand Oaks.
Nicole Wardleman — Nicole Wardleman testified in respectful opposition on behalf of the Orange County Board of Supervisors and San Bernardino County.
witnesses — The speaker thanked witnesses for sharing their experiences of homelessness and recovery.
SB772 — SB 772 is introduced and presented, with the presenter accepting committee amendments. A witness then speaks in support of the bill, identifying it as Senator Cabaldon’s Investing in Climate Resilient and Affordable Communities Act. The discussion explains that SB 772 would make nature-based infrastructure eligible for IIG funding and improve resilience.
SB772 — SB 772 was taken up as a consent-calendar item and voted on by the committee, with the final reference indicating it was the last consent-calendar item acted on before adjournment.
Melissa Breach — Melissa Breach of Prosperity California is introduced as a sponsor/supporter of the bill and then testifies in support of SB 772, identifying herself as CEO of Prosperity California and describing the organization’s mission.
Gabriel Tolson — Testified in support on behalf of the Planning and Conservation League.
Steven Stensler — Testified in support on behalf of Brownstein and the Housing Action Coalition.
Brooke Pritchard — Testified in support on behalf of California YIMBY.
Jordan Grimes — Testified in support on behalf of Greenbelt Alliance and the Alliance for Housing and Climate Solutions.
Paul Schaefer — Testified in support on behalf of the California Council for Affordable Housing.
SB838 — SB 838 is introduced and discussed as a bill to keep housing streamlining laws focused on their intended purpose—housing projects rather than hotel development. The author explains that the bill does not ban hotels, but would require hotel components to go through normal local review and ensure streamlining laws are used appropriately. Supporters echo that the measure clarifies approval processes for housing-only projects, and note that a committee-recommended amendment will be accepted later in the Assembly Local Government Committee.
Matt Broad — Introduced as a witness with Unite Here and then begins testimony on behalf of Unite Here International Union, sponsor of SB 838.
Matt Broad — Matt Broad used a Santa Monica project as an example of how an approved 100% affordable housing development could be altered to make way for hotel rooms. He explained that what would have been affordable housing was displaced, with one-third of the units reportedly converted into luxury hotel rooms, and raised concern that residential units could later be converted into hotel rooms because they resemble studio apartments.
Wascott Castro — Named as a witness who will testify later.
AB130 — Cited as a similar bill containing comparable language.
AB87 — Cited as a similar bill containing comparable language.