Senate Appropriations Committee moves 26 bills to suspense at final regular hearing

The Senate Appropriations Committee moved 26 Assembly bills to the committee's suspense file without objection during its final regular-order hearing in Room 2200 of the 0 Street Building, the chair said.

The committee's action sent the measures to the suspense file — a step that keeps bills under fiscal review pending further consideration — after most authors waived formal presentation. Committee members said they would accept public testimony limited to fiscal impacts on each bill.

Jennifer Ferring, on behalf of Community Alliance with Family Farmers, urged support for AB 524, a bill she said would implement a new land-access program funded by Proposition 4. "We urge your support of AB 524, which implements a new program, which is funded by Prop 4 approved by voters in November and addressing a serious issue in the farming community, and that's land access," Ferring said. The Department of Finance opposed the bill on fiscal grounds, saying it could create ongoing general fund pressure if Prop 4 bond funding is not available and noting there is no specific allocation for the program in the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024 (Prop 4). Finance also said the Strategic Growth Council estimated implementation would require about $525,000 for two positions per year for two years, and that one Prop 4 allocation potentially available for the program totals $30,000,000.

Jerry Desmond, testifying for the Professional Fiduciary Association of California on AB 586, acknowledged identified annual costs and said the sponsor was open to allowing the bureau authority to adopt fees to cover implementation and to provide time to develop regulations. "As a sponsor of the bill, we're open to having the authority for the bureau to adopt the necessary fees to cover those costs," Desmond said.

Other sponsors and supporters who provided fiscal testimony included Valerie Johnson of the California Undocumented Higher Education Coalition on AB 695; Jace Bajwa of the Receivables Management Association International on AB 747 (opposed unless amended); Mike Robeson of the Glass Packaging Institute on AB 899; Chris McCailey on behalf of Humboldt Redwood Company on AB 1227; and Raymond Contreras representing San Diego Housing Commission, SPUR, Habitat for Humanity California and Circulate San Diego on AB 1276. In several cases the Department of Finance reported either opposition, fiscal concerns, or no official position but offered budget estimates or related fiscal context.

Committee chair Caballero opened the hearing, called the roll and noted the agenda included 26 bills. For each measure the author waived presentation; the committee nevertheless accepted public comment limited to fiscal issues. In each instance, after brief public testimony or statements from agency representatives, the chair stated there were no questions from committee members and announced, "This is a suspense-file candidate; without objection, [bill number] will move to suspense."

The hearing closed after the committee clerk confirmed the last item on the docket had been moved to the suspense file and the chair adjourned the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Votes at a glance

- The committee moved all measures on the final regular-order docket to the suspense file without objection. The chair stated the agenda contained 26 bills and the committee took public fiscal testimony on each before moving them to suspense.