Senate Appropriations Committee moves agenda measures to suspense file after brief public testimony

The Senate Committee on Appropriations convened and, after establishing a quorum, moved the measures on its agenda to the suspense file without objection. The chair opened the hearing by saying authors had waived presentation and asking witnesses to limit remarks to the fiscal impacts of each bill.

A handful of witnesses registered support for individual bills during the public-testimony portion. Chris McCauley identified himself on the record as speaking on behalf of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce in support of AB 685 and later as representing Niagara Bottling in support of AB 2706. Kylie Lindelli, identifying herself as representing Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, registered support for AB 1581. Sydney Jackson, identifying herself as from the Association of Regional Center Agencies, registered support for AB 2466. No witnesses testified in opposition to those bills on the record.

The committee repeatedly solicited public testimony on each measure; where no witness appeared, the chair and members indicated there were no questions or comments and moved the bills to the suspense file. The chair also reported that the Department of Finance would not offer comments on any measures before the committee that morning.

Each bill on the agenda was announced as a "suspense-file candidate" and, per the transcript, was sent to the suspense file "without objection." The hearing included roll call and the chair's repeated invitations for witnesses to speak only to fiscal matters; no formal roll-call votes or recorded tallies were taken in the transcript. The committee adjourned after processing the agenda.

'Votes at a glance' (actions recorded on the transcript): AB 375; AB 431; AB 647; AB 672; AB 685 (witnessed support by Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce); AB 767; AB 946; AB 1165; AB 1171; AB 1198; AB 1439; AB 1541; AB 1581 (witnessed support by Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California); AB 1590; AB 1668; AB 1785; AB 1829; AB 2466 (witnessed support by Association of Regional Center Agencies); AB 1890; AB 1987; AB 1949; AB 2011; AB 2178; AB 2191; AB 2249; AB 2518; AB 2519; AB 2706 (witnessed support by Niagara Bottling). Where the transcript presents bill numbers with spacing, the article reproduces identifiers as spoken; specific bill text and fiscal amounts were not provided on the record in this hearing.

The committee did not receive recorded opposition testimony during this session, and the chair closed the hearing and adjourned. Any formal reconsideration or release of bills from the suspense file will require committee action in a subsequent hearing.