SB 729 California Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

State of emergency: nonprofit liaison.

Summary

Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, among other things, creates the Office of Emergency Services (OES) , which is responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services, as specified. The OES is under the supervision of the Director of Emergency Services. During a state of war emergency, a state of emergency, or a local emergency, existing law requires the director to coordinate the emergency activities of all state agencies in connection with that emergency. This bill would require certain state agencies to establish a nonprofit liaison for nonprofit organizations to contact during a state of emergency. The bill would require the nonprofit liaison to coordinate with state entities and local agencies to provide resources and information to nonprofit organizations during state of emergency relief efforts and support nonprofit organization efforts for increased access to available grants during state of emergency response periods. The bill would require the nonprofit liaison role to be combined with existing roles in the state agency.

Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 21, 2025 Last action Feb 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

03/26/25 - Amended Senate → SB729 · 1 edit

MINOR

No substantive policy changes were made between these two versions of SB 729. The differences are entirely presentational: the 'from' version is a plain-text rendering of the bill while the 'to' version is a web page rendering that includes navigation menus, metadata, and formatting elements from the California Legislature website. The actual legislative text (Section 8586.4 adding nonprofit liaison requirements and Section 51238.5 Williamson Act amendment) is identical in both versions.

TECHNICAL

The bill was republished from a plain-text format to the California Legislature website format, adding navigation elements (home, accessibility, FAQ, login), search tools, version tracking metadata, and a publication date of 03/26/2025. No changes to the operative language of either Section 8586.4 or Section 51238.5.

02/21/25 - Introduced → 03/26/25 - Amended Senate · 6 edits · Mar 26, 2025

MODERATE

SB 729 was substantially expanded in the Senate from a minor nonsubstantive fix to the Williamson Act into a bill that adds an entirely new requirement for state agencies to designate nonprofit liaisons during states of emergency. The original purpose (changing 'his or her' to 'their' in indemnification provisions) is now secondary to the new Section 8586.4, which creates a coordination mechanism between state agencies and nonprofit organizations during disaster response.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded dramatically from a nonsubstantive technical correction to Williamson Act indemnification language into a substantive new requirement imposing obligations on five state agencies to create nonprofit liaison roles during emergencies. The Williamson Act changes remain but are now a secondary component of the bill.

SCOPE

Added new Government Code Section 8586.4 requiring five named state agencies (Office of Emergency Services, Department of General Services, Department of Housing and Community Development, Department of Insurance, and Franchise Tax Board) to establish a nonprofit liaison during a state of emergency.

REQUIREMENT

The nonprofit liaison must coordinate with state entities and local agencies to provide resources and information to nonprofits during emergency relief efforts, including information about access to grants and reducing barriers.

The nonprofit liaison must support nonprofit organization efforts for increased access to available grants during state of emergency response periods.

Required that the nonprofit liaison role be combined with existing roles in the state agency, meaning no new dedicated position is created.

DEFINITION

Defined 'nonprofit organization' as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and defined which state agencies are covered.

FISCAL

Fiscal committee vote changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the amendment introduced a fiscal impact that requires fiscal committee review.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

May 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

May 23 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.

upper

Apr 8, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0. Page 704.) (April 8). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Apr 2, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on G.O.

upper

Mar 26, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Mar 12, 2025

Committee

Referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Feb 21, 2025

Introduced

Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors