The Donahoe Higher Education Act sets forth the missions and functions of California's public segments of higher education and their respective institutions of higher education. The California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, are 2 of the segments. Provisions of the act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California act, by appropriate resolution, to make them applicable. This bill would authorize California State University and University of California campuses that choose to participate to provide financial incentives to partnering nonprofit organizations for purposes of facilitating service learning programs and opportunities for undergraduate students.
Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including residential property insurance. Existing law requires an insurer to send various notices to a policyholder at specified intervals. This bill would require an admitted insurer to notify a residential property insurance policyholder that aerial images may be taken or obtained of the insured property, as specified, unless a claim has been submitted or is pending on the property and the images will be used only for evaluating the claim. The bill would require the insurer to provide the aerial images upon request, as specified, and would require the notice to include instructions regarding how a policyholder may make that request. This bill would prohibit an admitted insurer from basing a decision to terminate insurance coverage, as defined, on an aerial image taken more than 180 days prior to sending notice of that decision to the policyholder, except as specified. The bill would require an admitted insurer that bases a decision to terminate insurance coverage on an aerial image to provide the policyholder with that aerial image, notice of that decision, and the opportunity to dispute the accuracy of the image, and to verify remediation, before the effective date of the decision to terminate insurance coverage. This bill would make the above-described provisions operative on July 1, 2026.
The California Endangered Species Act prohibits the taking of an endangered, threatened, or candidate species, except as specified. Under the act, the Department of Fish and Wildlife (department) may authorize the take of listed species by certain entities through permits or memorandums of understanding for specified purposes. Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to identify areas in the state as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas. Existing law requires a local agency to designate, by ordinance, moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones in its jurisdiction within 120 days of receiving recommendations from the State Fire Marshal, as provided. This bill would authorize a city, county, city and county, special district, or other local agency to submit to the department a wildfire preparedness plan to conduct wildfire preparedness activities on land designated as a fire hazard severity zone, as defined, that minimizes impacts to wildlife and habitat for candidate, threatened, and endangered species. The bill would require the wildfire preparedness plan to include, among other things, a brief description of the planned wildfire preparedness activities, the approximate dates for the activities, and a description of the candidate, endangered, and threatened species within the plan area. The bill would require the department to impose a fee on a local agency for the cost of reviewing a wildfire preparedness plan submitted by that local agency, as specified. The bill would require the department, if sufficient information is included in the wildfire preparedness plan for the department to determine if an incidental take permit is required, to notify the local agency within 90 days of receipt of the wildfire preparedness plan if an incidental take permit or other state permit is needed, or if there are other considerations, exemptions, or streamlined pathways that the wildfire preparedness activities qualify for, including, but not limited to, the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection's California Vegetation Treatment Program. The bill would require the department to provide the local agency, in its notification, with guidance that includes, among other things, a description of the candidate, endangered, and threatened species within the plan area and measures to avoid, minimize, and fully mitigate the take of the candidate, threatened, and endangered species, as provided. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2026, to make a standard wildfire preparedness plan submission form publicly available on its internet website. The bill also would require the department, commencing January 1, 2027, to annually post on its internet website a summary of the wildfire preparedness plans submitted and include specified information in that summary.
Existing law governs the hiring of real property based on the terms of the agreement or on the behavior of the parties. Existing law requires a landlord to change the locks of a tenant's dwelling if that tenant is a victim of abuse or violence or has an immediate family member or household member who is a victim of abuse or violence, including alleged abuse or violence, as long as the tenant is not alleged to have committed the abuse or violence. Existing law requires a tenant requesting a lock change to provide the landlord with specified documentation. This bill would require a landlord or a landlord's agent, upon request, to make best efforts to provide reasonable accommodations, as defined, to a tenant who is a victim, or whose family or household member is a victim, of specified acts, including domestic violence or sexual assault. The bill would require the landlord or landlord's agent to respond to a request within 5 calendar days of receiving the request, except as specified. The bill would require a landlord or a landlord's agent, if they receive a request for a reasonable accommodation that they cannot grant, to engage in a timely, good faith, and interactive process with the tenant to make best efforts to identify, evaluate, and implement a reasonable accommodation. The bill would authorize a landlord or a landlord's agent to request certification from a tenant requesting a reasonable accommodation demonstrating the tenant's or family or household member's status as a victim, as specified, and would impose confidentiality requirements upon any certification or other documentation provided to a landlord or their agent, except as provided. The bill would require a landlord or a landlord's agent to provide written notice whether a request has been approved or denied, as specified. Existing law prohibits a landlord from taking an adverse action, as defined, based on, among other things, a prospective tenant having previously requested to have their locks changed due to abuse or violence and provides that a landlord who violates this prohibition is liable to the tenant in a civil action for actual damages and statutory damages of not less than $100 and not more than $5,000. This bill would prohibit a landlord or a landlord's agent from retaliating against a tenant for requesting a reasonable accommodation, as specified, and would provide that a landlord or a landlord's agent may be liable to the tenant in a civil action for the same above-described damages, as provided, for a violation of specified provisions described above relating to a tenant's request for reasonable accommodations. The bill would also specify that it does not require a landlord or landlord's agent to undertake an action that constitutes an undue hardship on the landlord or landlord's agent.
Existing law, the California Disaster Assistance Act, authorizes the Director of Emergency Services to allocate certain funds to meet the cost of a project, as defined. Existing law authorizes the Office of Emergency Services to establish a model process to assist a community in recovering from an emergency proclaimed by the Governor that includes, among other information, measures to encourage the participation of nongovernmental organizations in the community recovery process to supplement recovery activities undertaken by federal or local agencies. This bill would instead require the office to establish that model process, and would require the model process to also include measures to encourage the participation of private nonprofit organizations and how they may be eligible to receive state assistance for distribution of supplies and other disaster or emergency assistance activities resulting in extraordinary cost. Existing law, if a state of emergency is proclaimed, authorizes an eligible private nonprofit organization to receive state assistance for distribution of supplies and other disaster or emergency assistance activities resulting in extraordinary cost subject to specified eligibility and other requirements. Existing law requires the office to adopt regulations to implement those provisions. This bill would instead require the office to issue guidelines to implement those provisions.
Existing law, the Professional Fiduciaries Act, establishes, until January 1, 2028, the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau, and requires the bureau to license and regulate professional fiduciaries. The act defines various terms for these purposes. The act requires the bureau to maintain specified information in each licensee's file, and requires a licensee to annually file with the bureau a statement under penalty of perjury containing specified information, including among other things, any licenses or professional certificates held by the licensee. Existing law, the Moscone-Knox Professional Corporation Act, defines and regulates professional corporations. The act provides that a professional organization renders professional services that may be lawfully rendered only pursuant to a license, certification, or registration authorized by, among others, the Business and Professions Code pursuant to a certificate of registration issued by the governmental agency regulating the profession, as specified. This bill would authorize licensees to organize professional fiduciary professional corporations to provide professional fiduciary services, and would prescribe requirements and regulations for those professional corporations to provide fiduciary services. The bill would require a professional fiduciary professional corporation to register with the Secretary of State, as provided, and would require the corporation, its officers, directors, shareholders, and employees rendering professional fiduciary services to be in compliance with the Moscone-Knox Professional Corporation Act. The bill would require the information maintained by the bureau in each licensee's file, and the annual statement filed by a licensee, to include additional information, including information related to whether the licensee is serving with or under a professional fiduciary corporation. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law authorizes the bureau to suspend, revoke, deny, or impose other disciplinary action on a professional fiduciary license for specified causes, including, among other things, violating specified laws, rules, or regulations pertaining to duties or functions of a professional fiduciary. This bill would add to that list of causes the failure of a licensee to, in a timely manner, respond to inquiries or produce documents requested by the bureau, including inquiries and documents related to a professional fiduciary professional corporation. Existing law generally regulates probate, guardianship, conservatorship, and other protective proceedings. Existing law defines "professional fiduciary" for these purposes. This bill would include a professional fiduciary professional corporation, described above, in that definition of "professional fiduciary." Existing law prohibits a superior court from appointing a person to carry out the duties of a professional fiduciary unless that person holds a valid, unexpired, and unsuspended license as a professional fiduciary or is exempt from those licensing requirements, as specified. This bill would repeal those provisions and would instead prohibit a superior court from appointing a professional fiduciary as, or permitting a professional fiduciary to continue as, a guardian, conservator, personal representative, or trustee, unless the professional fiduciary satisfies one of specified requirements. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, provides for the adoption and administration of zoning laws, ordinances, rules and regulations by counties and cities and the implementation of those general plans as may be in effect in those counties or cities. In that regard, existing law requires each local agency, by January 1, 2025, to develop a program for the preapproval of accessory dwelling unit plans. This bill would require each local agency, as defined, to develop a program for the preapproval of single-family and multifamily residential housing plans, whereby the local agency accepts single-family and multifamily plan submissions for preapproval and approves or denies the preapproval applications, as specified. The bill would require a large jurisdiction, as defined, to develop this program by July 1, 2026, and a small jurisdiction, as defined, to develop a program by January 1, 2028. The bill would authorize a local agency to charge a fee to an applicant for the preapproval of a single-family or multifamily residential housing plan, as specified. The bill would require the local agency to post preapproved single-family or multifamily residential housing plans and the contact information of the applicant on the local agency's internet website. The bill would require an application for preapproval to include a statement by the applicant that the applicant has sufficient authority, license, or ownership interest in the plan to submit the plan for preapproval and, if approved, posted as described above. This bill would prohibit the preapproval program from applying to single-family or multifamily residential housing plans intended for use in certain communities and developments, as specified. The bill would require a local agency to either approve or deny an application for a single-family or multifamily residential housing unit, both as defined, within 30 days if the lot meets certain conditions and the application utilizes either a single-family or multifamily residential housing unit plan preapproved within the current triennial California Building Standards Code rulemaking cycle or a plan that is identical to a plan used in an application for a single-family or multifamily residential housing unit approved by the local agency within the current triennial California Building Standards Code rulemaking cycle. The bill would also provide that its provisions do not prevent a local agency from voluntarily accepting or admitting additional plans at higher densities in additional zoning districts into the preapproved housing plan program, at the local agency's discretion. Existing law requires each county and each city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and specified land outside its boundaries, that includes, among other specified mandatory elements, a housing element. That law requires the planning agency of a city or county to provide by April 1 of each year an annual report to, among other entities, the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation. Existing law requires the annual report to include, among other things, the city's or county's progress in meeting its share of regional housing needs, as specified. This bill, beginning on April 1, 2027, for large jurisdictions and beginning on April 1, 2029, for small jurisdictions, would require the local agency to include in its annual report the number of units of residential housing that are approved using a preapproved housing plan pursuant to this act. By imposing new duties on local agencies with regard to developing a preapproval program and its annual report, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. Existing law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) , requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA does not apply to the approval of ministerial projects. To the extent that the ministerial review process established by the bill would apply to final, discretionary approval of an application for a single-family or multifamily housing unit, the bill would exempt those projects from CEQA. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Senate Resolution 63, adopted by the California State Senate on August 29, 2025, celebrates the 41st anniversary of the California-Taiwan sister-state relationship and the 26th anniversary of Taiwanese American Heritage Week. The resolution acknowledges Taiwan's economic contributions to California, including $50 billion in bilateral trade and $280 million in agricultural exports in 2024, and supports Taiwan's participation in international organizations like the WHO and UN climate talks. It reaffirms the Senate's recognition of Taiwan's vibrant democracy as vital to Asia-Pacific stability and commends efforts to strengthen U.S.-Taiwan economic collaboration. As a symbolic gesture, the resolution does not create new laws or affect specific groups legally, but expresses legislative support for the California-Taiwan partnership.
Senate Resolution 21 designates December as National Drunk and Drugged Driving Awareness Month in California. It encourages all Californians to prioritize safety by avoiding driving under the influence, learning about the dangers of impaired driving, and making responsible choices. The resolution cites national statistics showing over 13,000 alcohol-impaired driving deaths annually and the significant financial costs of drunk driving. As a symbolic resolution (not a law), it has no direct legal effect but aims to raise public awareness during the holiday season.
Senate Resolution 64 designates September 2025 as "California Wine Month" to celebrate the state's wine industry. The resolution recognizes the industry's economic impact (supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs, 95% of U.S. wine exports), cultural significance, and sustainability efforts (90% of wine made in certified sustainable wineries). It is a ceremonial resolution with no new policy or funding requirements, solely honoring the wine community's contributions.
Senate Resolution 60 designates November 25, 2025, as "Elimination of Violence Against Women Day" in California. It formally recognizes the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, observed globally since 1999 to honor the Mirabal sisters. The resolution urges policymakers to advance efforts against violence toward women year-round but does not create new laws or funding. As a symbolic declaration, it directly affects state recognition and public awareness, not specific individuals or policies.
Senate Resolution 56 designates September 2025 as Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in California. The resolution highlights statistics on ovarian cancer (including 2025 U.S. estimates of 20,890 new diagnoses and 12,730 deaths) and emphasizes the importance of early detection through symptom awareness. It does not create new laws or allocate funding; instead, it serves as a symbolic proclamation to honor those affected by the disease and encourage community awareness efforts. The resolution was adopted unanimously by the California Senate on August 29, 2025.
