Legislative Updates and Brunch at the Lunch Bunch
Nov 12, 2025 10:36AM ● By Seth Henderson
NORTH HIGHLANDS, CA (MPG) - Community members discussed upcoming holiday events, community updates and listened to guest speaker Josh Hoover, an assemblyman for Assembly District 7, at the Tri-Communities Lunch Bunch in North Highlands at the Brookfields Restaurant on Nov. 6.
More than 25 people attended the monthly event, which takes place on the first Thursday of every month and has for more than 40 years. Pancake Palace, the former meeting location for the Lunch Bunch, is expected to be recognized as 7th Assembly District’s business of the year in December, Hoover said, anticipating an opening date for the restaurant to be announced.
Other topics Hoover discussed at the Lunch Bunch were education, the cost of living, homelessness and legislation. He said the governor’s desk saw more than 900 bills, signing nearly 800 of them into law, which will go into effect on Jan. 1. He also spoke about the ongoing improvement projects to the Watt Avenue corridor.
Special assistant to Sacramento County Board Supervisor Rosario Rodriguez, Forrest Johnson (left), sits with Assemblyman Josh Hoover at the Tri-Communities Lunch Bunch gathering at Brookfileds Restaurant in North Highlands on Nov. 6. Photo by Seth Henderson
Hoover said the last time he attended the Lunch Bunch, he discussed a bipartisan audit of homelessness spending in 2023, looking at every dollar spent on homelessness in our space over the last six or seven years, since 2019.
“I was glad that the audit got passed. I was not happy with the results of the audit, which essentially found that we've spent $24 billion taxpayer dollars over the last six years or so, and in 2019, our homeless population in California was 151,000 individuals,” Hoover said. “Today, it is 187,000 individuals. So, not only have we spent a lot of taxpayer dollars on this crisis, but we've actually seen the crisis get worse.”
Hoover said that housing first programs are the sole recipient of state resources, so a bill authored by a colleague of Hoover’s, on the other side of the aisle, authored a bill that would have allowed 25% of California resources on a recovery focused program. He said services and treatment for individuals in housing first programs is completely voluntary and that they don’t work for everyone.
Recovery focused programs that require sobriety to participate, such as St. John’s Program for Real Change, City of Refuge in Sacramento, Powerhouse and others do not receive a single dollar of state funding, Hoover said.
“In the case of St. John's – 75% success rate at getting people out of the cycle of homelessness, which really is the key. That is the goal,” Hoover said.
Hoover said the bill would have allocated billions of dollars of resources to go to recovery focused programs, but was vetoed by the governor. He said the legislature is working to keep working on changing the status quo of homelessness, working with local partners.
Assemblyman Josh Hoover mingles with Lunch Bunch attendees after the event at Brookfields Restaurant in North Highlands on Nov. 6. Photo by Seth Henderson
Highlighting public safety, Hoover said that both business owners and residents can appreciate the passage of Proposition 36, allowing increased felony charges and fines for certain drug and theft crimes over $950. The governor has allocated zero dollars for the implementation of Prop 36, he said, but multiple assemblymembers wrote letters to the budget committee asking for $400 million to implement the proposition. The governor compromised at $200 million and Hoover said the debate for more funding will come again soon.
“What Prop 36 is going to allow, is if you hit multiple stores or do anything, beyond that $950 limit, the law enforcement can now aggregate those crimes and actually charge you with the higher penalty and hold you accountable,” Hoover said.
Hoover mentioned the upcoming closures of two oil refineries in California that would dramatically impact the way Californians purchase and use fuel, pushing costs higher than they currently are before the refineries close. He said legislation was passed, reducing certain regulations in parts of the state where oil production takes place.
“We obviously know that we are moving in the direction of a clean energy future, but what we also know is that we're not getting there today and we're not getting there tomorrow, and we absolutely cannot make things more expensive for consumers in the meantime,” Hoover said.
Assembly Bill 1454 addresses pupil literacy and phonics based learning, Hoover said, which passed with bipartisan support, surrounding concerns among legislators, educators and parents in California. The move away from phonics based learning in the ‘90s was a detriment to the students, Hoover said, and AB 1454 was a step in the right direction.
An excerpt from the bill’s additions to the Education Code, set to take place no later than Jan. 1 2028 read, “Evidence-based means of teaching foundational reading skills, which shall include explicit and systematic instruction in print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency to all pupils, and attending to oral and written language development, vocabulary and background knowledge, and comprehension, including tiered supports for pupils with reading difficulties, English learners, and pupils with exceptional needs,” according to the legislative documents.
Additionally, Hoover said a bill he authored, AB 3216, the Phone-Free School Act, prohibiting or limiting students from using smartphones by July 1 next year, was a precursor to the banning of ultra processed foods in school lunches this year and that he looks to continue advocating for the region.
The Tri-Communities Lunch Bunch is a joint meeting between community members from North Highlands, Rio Linda and Elverta. The event features business owners, employees, community leaders and residents who are looking to get more involved in their community.
The next Lunch Bunch is expected to take place on Dec. 4 at the Brookfields Restaurant on Madison Avenue in North Highlands. To be added to the lunch bunch mailing list, notifying recipients of upcoming meetings, email Charlea Moore at [email protected]. The Brookfields Restaurant is located at 4343 Madison Ave.
