State of emergency: Governor's powers and annual report.
Summary
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act (CESA) , among other things, authorizes the Governor to proclaim a state of emergency in an area affected by, or likely to be affected by, conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the state if specified local officials request the proclamation or the Governor determines that local authority is inadequate to cope with the emergency. During a state of emergency, existing law confers on the Governor, to the extent the Governor deems necessary, complete authority over all agencies of the state government and the right to exercise within the area designated all police power vested in the state by the Constitution and laws of the state to effectuate the purposes of the CESA. Existing law requires the Governor, in the exercise of that authority, to promulgate, issue, and enforce orders and regulations as the Governor deems necessary. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature, in enacting the CESA, to provide flexibility for the administration to respond to emergencies, but not an alternative legislative, budget, or regulatory process. The bill would further state that, to the greatest extent possible, additional spending should be undertaken through the Legislature's budget and policy process, as defined, and changes to law or regulation should be undertaken through state legislation. This bill would further require the Governor, in cases where the Governor orders the suspension or modification of existing statutes or regulations, including the state Budget Act, or promulgates new statutes or regulations, to demonstrate in each order the need for those suspensions, modifications, or promulgations and specify the general reasons why the Legislature's budget and policy processes are insufficient to address these needs. The bill would require the Office of Emergency Services, on or before July 1, 2027, and on or before July 1 of each year thereafter, to prepare and submit a prescribed annual report to the Legislature and the Legislative Analyst's Office consisting of a review of all open state of emergency proclamations. Existing law establishes the Disaster Response-Emergency Operations Account in the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties. Moneys in the account are continuously appropriated, subject to specified limitations, for allocation by the Director of Finance to state agencies for disaster response operation costs incurred by state agencies as a result of a state of emergency proclamation by the Governor. Existing law requires funds to be allocated from the account subject to certain conditions and upon notification by the Director of Finance to the Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and the chairpersons of the fiscal committees in each house. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature in enacting existing law to provide flexibility for the administration in response to unanticipated emergency expenses. The bill would further state that existing law does not provide an alternative budget process, and proposals for additional spending ordinarily should be considered in the annual state budget or other state legislation to the greatest extent possible, as specified. The bill would require notification by the Director of Finance to include certain information, including a description of the entities that will receive funding allocations from the account.
The April 14 amendment to SB 1020 makes three substantive policy changes: it lowers the Governor's justification standard for suspending or modifying laws during emergencies from specifying 'the reasons' to 'the general reasons'; it adds a new provision ensuring oversight mechanisms do not impede response to a subsequent emergency under an existing state of emergency; and it creates an exception allowing the Governor to use the Disaster Response-Emergency Operations Account for items previously known or obtainable through legislation if going through the normal budget process would negatively impact response. The amendment also contains several apparent drafting errors including duplicated text and mislabeled subsections.
REQUIREMENT
The Governor's obligation when suspending or modifying existing statutes or regulations during a state of emergency was reduced from specifying 'the reasons why the Legislature's budget and policy processes are insufficient' to specifying only 'the general reasons why' they are insufficient, lowering the specificity of required justification.
SCOPE
A new subdivision (c) was added to Section 8629 stating that if a subsequent emergency occurs under the original state of emergency, no powers shall impede the ability to respond. This ensures the notification and review requirements do not block the Governor from acting on a new emergency within an already-declared state of emergency.
FISCAL
Section 8690.6(a) was amended to add an exception: augmentations for items the administration knew about or could have obtained through legislation may now be pursued through the emergency account if the Governor determines that seeking funds through the Legislature's budget and policy process would negatively impact response or recovery activities.
TECHNICAL
Multiple apparent drafting errors were introduced: a double 'unless' in Section 8629(b)(1), duplicated review language inserted into paragraph (2) of Section 8629, a blank subsection (c) left in Section 8627 alongside a mislabeled second (b), and garbled text in Section 8550.1(a) where 'Legislature's budget and policy processes, as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 8557' was inserted mid-sentence without proper punctuation.
04/27/26 - Amended Senate→SB1020·1 edit
MINOR
No substantive policy changes were made between these two versions. The diff reflects a reformatting of the same bill text from a traditional legislative document layout (with line numbers, page headers, and column formatting) into a clean web-based display format with navigation elements. All statutory provisions, definitions, funding mechanisms, and requirements remain identical.
TECHNICAL
The bill text was reformatted from a traditional legislative document style (with line numbers, page headers like '96 SB 1020 -2-', and column layout) into a plain web display format. Website navigation elements (search, links, share options) were added to the surrounding page structure.
The April 27 amendment significantly reduces legislative oversight of emergency powers by removing the requirement that the Governor first affirm legislative processes are insufficient before issuing orders, and by stripping out detailed notification and review requirements for renewing a state of emergency (including 30-day advance notice to the JLBC, itemized reporting on which executive orders remain necessary, automatic expiration of unlisted orders, and 72-hour advance notice for new orders). The one-time post-termination report is replaced with an annual report due each July 1 starting in 2027 covering all open emergency proclamations.
REQUIREMENT
Removed the requirement that the Governor must first affirm that the Legislature's budget and policy processes cannot be followed without negatively impacting response or recovery activities before promulgating orders under Section 8627.
Section 8629 renewal process simplified to require only that the Governor review the state of emergency and corresponding executive orders before issuing a renewal proclamation, with no specific notification or reporting obligations to the Legislature.
ENFORCEMENT
Removed detailed renewal oversight requirements from Section 8629, including: written notice to JLBC and LAO with six specific categories of information, OES collaboration to collect data, 30-day advance notice before a renewal proclamation, requirement that the renewal proclamation identify which executive orders are still needed (with automatic expiration of unlisted ones), 72-hour advance notice for new executive orders after renewal, and automatic termination of renewed emergencies.
TIMELINE
Changed the report requirement in Section 8629.1 from a one-time report due within one year of termination to an annual report due on or before July 1, 2027, and each July 1 thereafter, covering all open state of emergency proclamations rather than a single terminated emergency.
SCOPE
The annual report is now submitted to the Legislature broadly (not just the JLBC) and covers conditions that warrant continuing or ending each state of emergency, rather than only conditions that warranted ending a specific terminated emergency.
The Senate amendment to SB 1020 makes two substantive policy changes to the Disaster Response-Emergency Operations Account provisions. First, it expands the restrictions on what can be funded through the account to include items obtainable through legislation with an appropriation, but adds a new exception allowing the Governor to bypass the legislative budget process if doing so would negatively impact response or recovery activities. Second, it requires the Director of Finance to provide detailed notification to the Legislature when allocating funds from the account, including descriptions of recipients, amounts, uses, and estimation methods.
FISCAL
Section 8690.6(a) now prohibits using the account for items that could be obtained through legislation with an appropriation (not just items the administration already knew about), but adds an exception: the Governor may still use the account if they determine that seeking funds through the Legislature's budget and policy process would negatively impact response or recovery activities.
ENFORCEMENT
Section 8690.6(c) now requires the Director of Finance's notification to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and fiscal committee chairpersons to include five specific items: why funds are being allocated through this section rather than the legislative budget process, which entities will receive funding, the amount each entity will receive, how each entity will use the funding, and how the needed amounts were estimated.
TECHNICAL
Minor corrections throughout: fixed a duplicated word ('emergency emergency'), replaced gendered pronouns ('he') with 'the Governor,' and corrected grammatical issues in Section 8629. A coauthor (Assembly Member Gallagher) was added, which is procedural rather than substantive.
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
14
Key actions
6
Committee
3
Amendments
4
May 14, 2026
Upper · Passed
May 14 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.
upper
May 12, 2026
Other
Set for hearing May 14.
upper
May 11, 2026
Other
May 11 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
upper
May 4, 2026
Other
Set for hearing May 11.
upper
Apr 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
upper
Apr 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 0. Page 3972.) (April 21).
upper
Apr 14, 2026
Upper · Passed
From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E.M.
upper
Apr 10, 2026
Other
Set for hearing April 21.
upper
Mar 20, 2026
Upper · Passed
March 24 hearing postponed by committee.
upper
Mar 16, 2026
Upper · Passed
From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E.M.
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Other
Set for hearing March 24.
upper
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
Referred to Com. on E.M.
upper
Feb 11, 2026
Other
From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 13.
upper
Feb 10, 2026
Introduced
Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.
