Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 5 advances dozens of staff‑recommended budget items in vote‑only hearing

The California State Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor and Transportation met in Room 112 for a vote‑only hearing and reported multiple staff‑recommended budget items out of committee across several sections.

The chair opened the hearing, established a quorum and said the items under consideration had been discussed in earlier subcommittee hearings. The hearing proceeded through a sequence of motions in which senators moved to adopt staff recommendations for grouped issue numbers across parts A, B and C of the subcommittee's calendar.

Highlights of the recorded outcomes: several large batches were adopted and reported out with unanimous or near‑unanimous support; other batches recorded one or more dissenting or not‑voting members. For example, an early batch of part A items was reported out with 3 ayes and 0 noes. Subsequent sets of part A items, public safety/judiciary sets and transportation sets were recorded with tallies announced from the dais, including results of 2 ayes/1 no and 2 ayes/1 not voting for particular groupings as the chair listed items by issue number.

Committee procedure: the consultant called the roll for each motion; movers included Senators Durazo and Sayardo, who moved adoption of staff recommendations for various batches. After the vote calendar, the chair invited members to flag any non‑voted items they wished to highlight later in negotiations with the Assembly and the administration.

Members used the post‑vote time to underscore priorities for the final budget negotiations. The chair highlighted rehabilitation programming cited for reducing recidivism and urged continued advocacy to include those programs in the larger Senate budget plan. The chair also urged expansion of the Office of Emergency Services wildfire mitigation grant program to additional areas after recent fires in Altadena, Pacific Palisades and Simi Valley. Senator Durazo asked for support of eviction data access, trauma recovery centers, bridge funding for public defenders and ongoing community‑based reentry programs, and pressed for more multi‑year workforce training investments. Senator Segardo emphasized transportation funding across regions and noted shortages in judges and courtroom space that limit implementation of voter‑mandated programs such as Prop 36.

What happened next: The chair instructed members to submit written comments so staff can capture priorities for ongoing negotiations as the Senate and Assembly work toward a final budget agreement. The subcommittee adjourned without taking additional votes on items not already on the vote calendar.