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Prepared by Precision Advocacy
Although federal activities remain a huge point of conversation in Sacramento, lawmakers have shifted attention to the most immediate deadline on the horizon - February 21, the bill introduction deadline for 2025. Most legislators are wrapping up their bill packages with some choosing to roll out bills slowly and others opting instead to introduce all their bills simultaneously. The status of the state budget and federal uncertainty are factoring heavily with some legislators who are opting not to introduce bills with high costs that will likely be shelved during the legislative process.
As previously mentioned, both houses of the legislature have a 35-bill limit for the two-year session - 2025-26. As of February 5, Assemblymembers have introduced 434 bills and Senators have introduced 285. This leaves an estimated 1400 more bills likely to be introduced before the deadline. We will continue to monitor and report on legislation impacting the county as the legislative process moves forward.
Legislation Introduced by the Orange County Delegation
Below is a list of bills that have been introduced by members of the Orange County legislative delegation that may impact or be of interest to the county. Bills will be assigned to the appropriate policy committee by the Rules Committee in their house of origin where they will be heard following a 30-day in-print waiting period.
Assembly
Assemblymember Diane Dixon (R-Newport Beach)
AB 3 (Dixon) Alcohol and drug treatment facilities: local regulation. Current law requires an alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility that serves 6 or fewer people to be considered a residential use of property for the purposes of local regulation, regardless of whether unrelated persons are living together. This bill would exempt an alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility licensed on or after January 1, 2026, from being considered a residential use of property for the purposes of local regulation if the facility is located within 300 feet of another recovery or treatment facility, both facilities share the same owner or director or share programs or amenities, and the total number of residents in both facilities is greater than 6.
AB 349 (Dixon) Foster care supplement. Current law requires, when a child is living with a parent who receives Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care, Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program benefits, or Approved Relative Caregiver Funding Program payments, that the rate paid to the foster care provider on behalf of the parent includes an additional monthly supplement of $489 for the care and supervision of the child. This bill would require that supplement to be adjusted for inflation.
AB 426 (Dixon) Local agencies: civil penalty for impeding emergency response with drone. This bill would authorize a local agency to impose a civil penalty not exceeding $75,000 upon a person who operates or uses an unmanned aerial vehicle, remote piloted aircraft, or drone at the scene of an emergency and thereby impedes firefighters, peace officers, medical personnel, military personnel, or other emergency personnel in the performance of their fire suppression, law enforcement, or emergency response duties, unless the person has a federal operational waiver.
Assemblymember Laurie Davies (R-Laguna Niguel)
AB 383 (Davies) Firearms: prohibition: minors. Existing law restricts juveniles adjudicated for serious or violent offenses, from owning or possessing firearms until they turn 30. This bill would extend the firearm possession prohibition to include juveniles adjudicated for firearm-related offenses.
AB 423 (Davies) Alcohol and drug recovery or treatment facilities: discharge and continuing care planning. This bill would require the Department of Health Care Services to adopt regulations requiring discharge and continuing care planning for individuals leaving a licensed substance use disorder facility. Licensees would be required to develop a plan to help the patient return to their home community at the conclusion of treatment, and schedule for the patient a follow-up meeting with a mental health or substance use disorder professional to occur no more than 7 days after discharge.
AB 424 (Davies) Alcohol and other drug programs: complaints. This bill would, when the Department of Health Care Services receives a complaint against a licensed alcohol or other drug recovery or treatment facility, or a complaint alleging that a facility is unlawfully operating without a license, from a member of the public, require the department to provide, within 30 days of the date of the complaint, notice to the person filing the complaint that the complaint has been received and to provide, upon closing the complaint, notice to the person filing the complaint that the complaint has been closed and whether the department found the facility to be in violation of the provisions governing facility licensure and regulation.
AB 425 (Davies) Certification of alcohol and other drug programs. This bill would require the Department of Health Care Services to adopt the American Society of Addiction Medicine treatment criteria, or an equivalent evidence-based standard, as the minimum standard of care for alcohol or other drug programs certified by the department. The bill would also require certified programs to maintain those standards with respect to the level of care provided by the certified program.
Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco (D-Downey)
AB 64 (Pacheco) Vital records: diacritical marks. This bill would require the State Registrar to require the use of a diacritical mark on an English letter to be properly recorded, when applicable, on a certificate of live birth, fetal death, death, marriage license and certificate, or confidential marriage license and certificate, and would require the use of a diacritical mark to be deemed an acceptable entry by the State Registrar. The bill would also authorize, if a name is not accurately recorded because of the absence of a diacritical mark on an English letter on any confidential license and certificate of marriage already registered, the party asserting the omission to make an affidavit, under oath, stating the changes necessary to make the record correct and file it with the county clerk for processing.
AB 83 (Pacheco) Department of Financial Protection and Innovation: elder abuse prevention plan. This bill would require the state Department of Financial Protection and Innovation to require companies to submit to the department an elder abuse prevention plan.
AB 343 (Pacheco) California Public Records Act: elected or appointed officials. This bill would include in the definition of the term “elected or appointed official,” a retired judge or court commissioner, a retired federal judge or federal defender, a retired judge of a federally recognized Indian tribe, and an appointee of a court to serve as children’s counsel in a family or dependency proceeding for purposes of exempting from disclosure specified information from the California Public Records Act.
Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Irvine)
AB 270 (Petrie-Norris) Office of Emergency Services: autonomous firefighting activities. This bill would require the Office of Emergency Services to establish a pilot program to equip the state with the nation’s first testbed autonomous firefighting helicopter and the associated configuration, familiarization, and training activities to transition the aircraft into operational use.
AB 307 (Petrie-Norris) Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024: Department of Forestry and Fire Protection: fire camera mapping system. This bill would require, of the $25 million made available to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection through the 2024 climate bond for technologies that improve detection and assessment of new fire ignitions, that $10 million be allocated for purposes of the ALERTCalifornia fire camera mapping system.
AB 366 (Petrie-Norris) Ignition interlock devices. This bill would extend indefinitely the provisions of the law governing ignition interlock devices (IID), requiring a person who has been convicted of driving a motor vehicle under the influence of an alcoholic beverage, to install for a specified period as ordered by the court, an IID on the vehicle they operate. Currently, these provisions expire on January 1, 2026.
Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton)
AB 261 (Quirk-Silva) Fire safety: fire hazard severity zones: State Fire Marshal. Existing law mandates the State Fire Marshal to classify lands in state responsibility areas into fire hazard severity zones, assigning a rating based on expected fire hazards. These zones are periodically reviewed and updated as needed. The law also requires identifying and reviewing non-state responsibility areas using statewide criteria. This bill allows the Fire Marshal to engage with public agencies, tribes, nonprofit organizations, project applicants, and members of the public, between reviews to discuss actions affecting fire hazard levels.
Assemblymember Kate Sanchez (R-Rancho Santa Margarita)
AB 273 (Sanchez) Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: high-speed rail: infrastructure improvements. This bill would eliminate the continuous appropriation of 25% of the annual proceeds of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to the High-Speed Rail Authority on June 30, 2026. The bill, beginning with the 2026–27 fiscal year, would instead require 25% of the annual proceeds of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to be transferred to the General Fund and for those funds, upon appropriation of the legislature, to be used to augment funding provided to local governments to improve infrastructure.
AB 324 (Sanchez) California Values Act: exception. The California Values Act generally prohibits California law enforcement agencies from investigating, interrogating, detaining, detecting, or arresting persons for immigration enforcement purposes. Current law provides certain limited exceptions to this prohibition, including transfers of persons pursuant to a judicial warrant and providing certain information to federal authorities regarding persons convicted of human trafficking. This bill would additionally except, for purposes of the act, any California law enforcement agency performing any responsibilities under the scope of its jurisdiction regarding any person who is alleged to have violated, or who has been previously convicted of violating, specified provisions relating to sex trafficking.
AB 404 (Sanchez) California Environmental Quality Act: exemption: prescribed fire, reforestation, habitat restoration, thinning, or fuel reduction projects. Until January 1, 2028, prescribed fire management and related activities on federal lands are exempt from CEQA if they help reduce wildfire risks and have been reviewed following the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. When such projects are deemed exempt, the lead agency must file and post a notice of exemption. This bill would make this exemption and its associated requirements permanent.
Assemblymember Tri Ta (R-Westminster)
AB 81 (Ta) Veterans: mental health. Current law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs. This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a program to fund, upon appropriation by the legislature, an academic study of mental health among women veterans in California, and to submit a report that summarizes the findings and recommendations of the study to the legislature no later than June 30, 2029.
AB 99 (Ta) Electrical corporations: rates. Would prohibit an electrical corporation from proposing, and the Public Utilities Commission from approving, a rate increase above the rate of inflation, unless the rate increase is approved by a majority of the electrical corporation’s customers voting in an election conducted according to specified requirements, and except when the commission determines that the costs underlying the rate increase are directly related to safety enhancements and modernization or to higher commodity or fuel costs.
AB 231 (Ta) Income and corporation taxes: credits: work opportunity credit. Would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2031, allow a credit against the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law taxes to a qualified taxpayer in an amount equal to 40% of the qualified wages paid or incurred. The qualified taxpayer is defined as an individual that, among other things, has been convicted of a felony, and has a hiring date not more than one year after the date the individual was convicted or was released from prison employed during the taxable year.
Assemblymember Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim)
ACA 1 (Valencia) Public finance. Upon voter approval, this bill would increase the limit on the balance of the state’s Budget Stabilization Account (Rainy Day Fund) from 10% to 20% of the amount of the General Fund proceeds of taxes for the fiscal year estimate.
Senate
Senator Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas)
SB 92 (Blakespear) Housing development: density bonuses: mixed-use developments. This bill would revise and recast the definition of “housing development” for purposes of the Density Bonus Law to instead mean a development project for five or more residential units, including mixed-use developments if at least two-thirds of the square footage of the mixed-use development is designated for residential use.
Senator Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta)
SB 1 (Seyarto) Personal income taxes: exclusion: Military Services Retirement and Surviving Spouse Benefit Payment Act. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2024, and before January 1, 2034, exclude from gross income retirement pay received by a taxpayer from the federal government for service performed in the uniformed services, during the taxable year. It would also exclude from gross income annuity payments received by a qualified taxpayer, pursuant to a United States Department of Defense Survivor Benefit Plan during the taxable year.
SB 56 (Seyarto) Property taxation: disabled veterans’ exemption: household income. This bill would exclude disability payments from the definition of “household income” for purposes of the disabled veterans’ tax exemption.
SB 74 (Seyarto) Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation: Infrastructure Gap-Fund Program. Beginning January 1, 2030, this bill would require the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, upon appropriation by the legislature, to establish the Infrastructure Gap-Fund Program to provide grants to local agencies to develop and construct infrastructure projects.
SB 78 (Seyarto) Department of Transportation: study: state highway system: road safety projects. This bill would require the Department of Transportation to conduct a study to identify certain locations in the state highway system with regard to vehicle collisions, projects that could improve road safety at each of those locations, and common factors, if any, contributing to the delay in the delivery of those projects; and requires the department to post the study on its internet website on or before January 1, 2027.
SB 90 (Seyarto) Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024: grants: improvements to public evacuation routes: mobile rigid water storage. The 2024 climate bond includes $135 million to the Office of Emergency Services for a wildfire mitigation grant program to provide, among other things, loans, direct assistance, and matching funds for projects that prevent wildfires, increase resilience, maintain existing wildfire risk reduction projects, reduce the risk of wildfires to communities, or increase home or community hardening. This bill would include in the list of eligible projects grants for improvements to public evacuation routes in very high and high fire hazard severity zones, mobile rigid dip tanks, to support firefighting efforts, prepositioned mobile rigid water storage, and improvements to the response and effectiveness of fire engines and helicopters.
SB 231 (Seyarto) California Environmental Quality Act: guidelines. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2027, the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation to prepare and develop guidelines in Appendix O of the CEQA guidelines to establish best practices for public agencies to follow in determining whether a proposed project may have a significant effect on the environment when completing Appendix G of the CEQA guidelines. The bill would require the best practices to consider and include identifiable thresholds of significance based on specified state and federal environmental laws, and authorize the office, in developing those guidelines, to consult with local, regional, state, and federal agencies that have authority and expertise on those subjects.
SB 232 (Seyarto) California Environmental Quality Act: guidelines: study. This bill would require the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation to conduct a study to, among other things, evaluate how CEQA guidelines, that are in effect at the time of the first issuance of the notice of preparation for a project, and that apply to the project throughout the course of the environmental review process pursuant to CEQA, regardless of changes in the guidelines that occur after the first issuance of the notice of preparation could impact regulatory certainty for project proponents, lead agencies, and stakeholders and assess how these guidelines could affect the speed and efficiency of the environmental review process pursuant to CEQA.
SB 233 (Seyarto) Regional housing need: determination: consultation with councils of governments. This bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to meet and consult with the council of governments, regarding the assumptions and methodology to be used by the department to determine the region’s housing needs at least 26 months prior to the scheduled revision of the housing element and before developing the existing and projected housing need for a region. For the 7th revision of the housing element, the bill would require the department to meet and consult with each council of governments at least 38 months prior to the scheduled revision, except for specified councils of governments. For the 8th and subsequent revision of the housing element, the bill would require the department to meet and consult with each council of governments at least 38 months prior to the scheduled revision.
SB 255 (Seyarto) County recorders: notification. This bill would require each county within the state to establish a recorder notification program. Pursuant to the program, the county recorder, or a designee authorized by the county board of supervisors, would be required, within 30 days of recordation of a deed, quitclaim deed, or deed of trust, to notify the parties executing the document by mail or electronic communication in accordance with certain procedures. The bill would create an exemption from these requirements for the recordation of certain documents where a state or local government acquires title.
Senator Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana)
SB 27 (Umberg) Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court Program. This bill would allow the court to conduct the initial appearance on the petition for CARE at the same time as the prima facie determination if specified requirements are met.
SB 28 (Umberg) Treatment court program standards. Current law requires the Judicial Council to, by no later than January 1, 2026, revise the standards of judicial administration to reflect state and nationally recognized best practices and guidelines for collaborative programs such as drug courts. This bill would require that treatment court programs be available to all eligible California defendants and remove the requirement that the Judicial Council revise the standards of judicial administration.
SB 42 (Umberg) Political Reform Act of 1974: public campaign financing: California Fair Elections Act of 2026. This bill would permit a public officer or candidate to expend or accept public funds for the purpose of seeking elective office unless the funds are earmarked by a state or local entity for education, transportation, or public safety. The bill would require candidates to abide by specified expenditure limits and meet strict criteria to qualify for public funds. The bill would prohibit public funds from being used to pay legal defense fees or fines or to repay personal loans to their campaign.
SB 54 (Umberg) Court fee waivers: veterans. Current law sets forth filing fees and other civil fees for superior courts and requires certain applicants to be granted initial permission to proceed without paying court fees and costs because of the applicant’s financial condition, including an applicant whose monthly income is 200% or less of the current poverty guidelines, as specified. This bill would prohibit veterans disability service-connected compensation from being included in monthly income for purposes of that provision.
Upcoming Hearings
Agendas are typically posted on the committee websites in the Assembly and Senate a few days prior to the hearings. To view hearings after they take place, you may access them in the Assembly or Senate media archives where they are generally available within a few hours of committee adjournment.
Monday, February 10, 2025, Upon adjournment of Session
Assembly Budget
Gabriel, Chair
Location: 1021 O Street, Room 1100
Overview of the Governor's Proposed 2025 Budget
Tuesday, February 11, 2025, 1:30 p.m.
Assembly Joint Hearing Assembly Health and Senate Health
Assembly Member Bonta, Senator Menjivar, Chairs
Location: 1021 O Street, Room 1100
Informational Hearing: 2027 Essential Health Benefits Benchmark Options
Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 9:30 a.m.
Assembly Housing and Community Development
Haney, Chair
Location: State Capitol, Room 437
Informational Hearing: State Housing Production Legislation: Actions, Outcomes, and Opportunities
Wednesday, February 12, 2025, 1:30 p.m.
Assembly Education
Muratsuchi, Chair
Location: 1021 O Street, Room 1100
Informational Hearing: Five Years After the COVID-19 Pandemic, How Are Students and Schools Faring.
Governor’s Press Releases
Below is a list of the governor’s press releases beginning January 29.
February 5: ICYMI: Governor Newsom cuts red tape to help Los Angeles quickly recover and rebuild
February 4: Governor Newsom announces new food benefits available for people in Los Angeles impacted by recent fires
February 4: Governor Newsom announces appointments 2.4.25
- Mark Tollefson, of Rancho Cordova, has been appointed Chief Deputy Director at the California High-Speed Rail Authority
- Ken DaRosa, of Sacramento, has been appointed Chief Deputy Director at the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety
- Sloane Viola, of Sacramento, has been appointed Chief Deputy Director at the California Conservation Corps
- Mandi Bane, of Redondo Beach, has been appointed Deputy Director of Hazardous Waste Management at the California Department of Toxic Substances Control
- Georgia “Pat” Urena, of Calexico, has been reappointed to the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission
February 4: Governor Newsom signs new executive order to fast-track more relief for LA fire survivors
February 3: Governor Newsom proclaims Black History Month 2025
February 2: State secures L.A. firestorm areas ahead of rain, crews lay 60 miles of specialized protective materials
February 1: Governor Newsom announces additional state support to keep Pacific Palisades closed to non-residents
February 1: As atmospheric river reaches California, Governor Newsom continues to pre-deploy resources
February 1: ICYMI: State continues to protect LA firestorm survivors from price gouging
January 31: Governor Newsom surges CHP patrols for Pacific Coast Highway reopening, places California National Guard on ready status
January 31: Governor Newsom announces appointments 1.31.25
- Kimberly Rutledge, of Sacramento, has been appointed Director of the Department of Rehabilitation
- Gloria Earl, of Sacramento, has been appointed Deputy Secretary of Administrative Services at the California Health and Human Services Agency
- David Swanson Hollinger, of Ventura, has been appointed Chief Deputy Director, Children and Families Programs at the Department of Social Services
- Hernando Garzon, of St. Helena, has been appointed Chief Medical Officer at Emergency Medical Services Authority
- Jon Lamirault, of Los Angeles, has been appointed Deputy Director of the California African American Museum
- Lindsay Buckley, of Sacramento, has been appointed Director of Communications at the California Air Resources Board
- Marvin Southard, of Avila Beach, has been appointed to the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission
- Michael Bernick, of San Francisco, has been appointed to the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission
- Karen Larsen, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission
- Pamela Baer, of San Francisco, has been appointed to the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission
- Gayle Miller, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the Milton Marks “Little Hoover” Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy
January 31: Governor Newsom issues executive order to help California capture and store more water from upcoming severe storms
January 31: Governor Newsom proclaims CalEITC Awareness Week 2025
January 30: Governor Newsom announces appointments 1.30.25
- Jacqueline Yannacci, of Folsom, has been appointed Executive Director of California Volunteers in the Governor’s Office of Service and Community Engagement
- Leticia Palamidessi, of West Sacramento, has been appointed Deputy Director of Communications at the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation
- Carol Dahmen-Eckery, of Carmichael, has been appointed Chief of Strategic Communications at the California High-Speed Rail Authority
- Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the Protect Access to Health Care Act Stakeholder Advisory Committee
- Tam Ma, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the Protect Access to Health Care Act Stakeholder Advisory Committee
- Amy Moy, of Portola Valley, has been appointed to the Protect Access to Health Care Act Stakeholder Advisory Committee
- Kristen Cerf, of Nevada County, has been appointed to the Protect Access to Health Care Act Stakeholder Advisory Committee
- Irving Ayala-Rodriguez, of Bakersfield, has been appointed to the Protect Access to Health Care Act Stakeholder Advisory Committee
January 30: California readies for incoming winter storm: Governor Newsom pre-deploys resources to protect communities
January 30: Governor Newsom proclaims Fred Korematsu Day 2025
January 29: Governor Newsom provides ongoing support to help business owners and workers recover from LA firestorms
January 29: Governor Newsom proclaims Lunar New Year 2025
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