Asm. Steve Bennett

Maddy summaryHR 67 designates November 9 as "All California Day" to celebrate California's shared history and cultural ties with Baja California and Baja California Sur. The resolution encourages community events and cultural celebrations across the state to honor this interconnected heritage, including contributions from Indigenous peoples and Mexican heritage communities. As a ceremonial resolution (not a binding law), it has no direct regulatory or financial impact on any specific group or policy. The measure was adopted by the California Assembly on September 4, 2025.

Maddy summaryThis House Resolution (HR 58) declares October 2025 as "California Promotoras Month" to formally recognize the work of promotoras - community health workers who serve as cultural brokers and connect underserved communities (particularly Latino populations) to essential services like health, housing, and disaster response. It acknowledges their role in improving community resilience and access to resources, while highlighting the need for better support, training, and equitable compensation for this workforce. The resolution is symbolic and does not create new laws, funding, or programs; it solely aims to raise awareness and honor promotoras' contributions through a designated month of recognition.

Maddy summaryThis is a symbolic resolution, not a substantive bill. It designates September 7-13, 2025, as "Direct Support Professional Recognition Week" in California. The resolution acknowledges direct support professionals who assist Californians with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) through the state's Lanterman Act system, which serves over 450,000 residents. It formally recognizes their role in enabling community inclusion and independence but does not create new policies, funding, or legal obligations.

Maddy summaryThis symbolic resolution recognizes September 20, 2025, as National Fried Rice Day in California, highlighting the dish's cultural significance to Asian American communities and its connection to California's rice-growing economy (noting the state's status as the second-largest rice producer). It has no legal effect or policy changes - it serves solely to celebrate culinary traditions and community diversity. The resolution was adopted by the California Assembly with no opposing votes.

Existing law establishes, within the office of the Governor, the Office of Emergency Services (OES) , under the direction of the Director of Emergency Services. Existing law charges the OES with coordinating various emergency activities within the state. The California Emergency Services Act, contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature, requires the OES to enter into a joint powers agreement pursuant to the Joint Exercise of Powers Act with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to develop and administer a comprehensive wildfire mitigation program relating to structure hardening and retrofitting and prescribed fuel modification activities. Existing law authorizes the joint powers authority to establish financial assistance limits and matching funding or other recipient contribution requirements for the program, as provided. This bill, contingent upon appropriation by the Legislature, would establish the Rural Water Infrastructure for Wildfire Resilience Program within the OES for the distribution of state matching funds to urban wildland interface communities, as defined, in designated high fire hazard severity zones or very high fire hazard severity zones to improve water system infrastructure, as prescribed. The bill would require the OES to work in coordination with the Department of Water Resources, the State Water Resources Control Board, the Office of the State Fire Marshal, and other state entities as the OES determines to be appropriate, to achieve the purposes of the program. The bill would require the OES to develop criteria and a scoring methodology to prioritize the distribution of state matching funds provided under the program to rural communities based upon specified criteria.

Maddy summaryThis House Resolution designates a month as Filipino American History Month in California. It recognizes the historical contributions of Filipino Americans to the state, including early settlement (dating to 1587), agricultural labor, community building (such as "Little Manila" in Stockton), and military service during World War II. As a symbolic resolution, it does not create new laws, policies, or direct effects on any specific group.

Existing law, the California Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly Act, regulates residential care facilities for the elderly. A violation of the act is a crime. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income persons are provided with health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid Program provisions. Existing law provides for the State Supplementary Program for the Aged, Blind and Disabled (SSP) , which requires the State Department of Social Services to contract with the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments to SSP recipients to supplement Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments made available pursuant to the federal Social Security Act. Under existing regulation, residential facilities for the elderly are prohibited from charging recipients of SSI payments more than a specific set rate for basic services. Existing law requires an individual under these provisions to satisfy certain financial eligibility requirements to be eligible for Medi-Cal, including, among other things, that the individual's countable income does not exceed an income standard equal to a specified amount, plus an income disregard of specified amounts, subject to certain exceptions. This bill would prohibit a residential care facility for the elderly that is contracted to receive Medi-Cal reimbursement for services provided to a resident enrolled in Medi-Cal from charging that resident a room and board rate exceeding the difference between their income, as defined, and the personal and incidental needs allowance set by the department for recipients of SSI/SSP in nonmedical out-of-home care. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would, for the purposes of determining Medi-Cal eligibility, exclude the difference between the resident's income and the rate charged by a residential care facility for the elderly and retained by the resident from countable income. The bill would state that the exclusion does not apply to the portion of the difference retained by the resident that exceeds the personal and incidental needs allowance set by the department for recipients of SSI/SSP in nonmedical out-of-home care. Because counties are required to make Medi-Cal eligibility determinations, and this bill would alter Medi-Cal eligibility by changing the income disregard amounts and would increase the responsibility of counties in determining Medi-Cal eligibility, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law creates the California Computer Science Coordinator as a position within the State Department of Education to provide statewide coordination in, among other things, implementing the computer science content standards and leading the implementation of the Computer Science Strategic Implementation Plan, as provided. This bill would establish the California Computer Science Demonstration Grant Program for specified purposes, including increasing the number of public high schools offering a computer science course to increase pupil access to computer science education and increasing the computer science course access of pupils eligible for free or reduced-priced meals and pupils that are underrepresented in the field of computer science. The bill would also establish the California Computer Science Demonstration Grant Program Working Group that includes the coordinator and nonprofit organizations and private industry stakeholders with relevant expertise and experience in computer science education. The bill would authorize only public high schools that do not offer computer science courses to be eligible to voluntarily participate in the grant program. The bill would require the funding entity or funding entities, as defined, to administer the grant program. If there are multiple funding entities, the bill, among other things, would require each funding entity to determine how the funds that it contributes to the grant program will be spent, provided that expenditure aligns with the grant program's purposes, and require the funding entities to coordinate implementation of the grant program. The bill would require the funding entities, in coordination with the working group, to select the public high schools to participate in the grant program, as provided. The bill would require the grant program to be funded through contributions, gifts, grants, in-kind donations, and donations from the funding entity or funding entities, and would specify the allowable uses of those funds. The bill would require the funding entity or funding entities, in coordination with the working group, to evaluate the effectiveness of the grant program and submit an interim report to certain legislative committees on or before August 1, 2027, and a final report on or before July 1, 2028, as specified. The bill would repeal the grant program's provisions as of January 1, 2029. The bill would separately require the department, on or before June 30, 2028, and annually thereafter, to publicly post specified computer science course-related data on its internet website, as specified.

Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, beginning November 1, 2003, and biennially thereafter, to adopt an integrated energy policy report that contains an overview of major energy trends and issues facing the state, presents policy recommendations based on an in-depth and integrated analysis of the most current and pressing energy issues facing the state, and includes an assessment and forecast of system reliability and the need for resource additions, efficiency, and conservation, as specified. Existing law also requires the commission, beginning November 1, 2004, and biennially thereafter, to prepare an energy policy review to update analyses from the integrated energy policy report or to raise energy issues that have emerged since the release of the integrated energy policy report, as specified. This bill would require the commission, as part of the 2027 edition of the integrated energy policy report, to include an assessment of the potential for using curtailed solar and wind generation to produce hydrogen, as provided. The bill would define curtailed solar and wind generation for this purpose and require the assessment to do specified things, including to provide an estimate of how much hydrogen could feasibly and reliably be produced using energy from curtailed solar and wind generation. The bill would repeal its provisions on January 1, 2029.

Existing law establishes the state transportation improvement program (STIP) process, pursuant to which the California Transportation Commission programs, on a biennial basis, available state and federal funds for transportation capital improvement projects, other than state highway rehabilitation and repair projects, for the 5-year period of the STIP, based on the interregional transportation improvement program (ITIP) prepared by the Department of Transportation and the regional transportation improvement programs (RTIP) prepared by regional transportation planning agencies. Existing law requires projects included in the ITIP to be consistent with the interregional transportation strategic plan (ITSP) . Existing law requires the department to submit the ITSP to the commission for approval and requires the ITSP, among other things, to be directed at achieving a high functioning and balanced interregional transportation system and consistent with the California Transportation Plan. This bill would require, to the extent feasible and consistent with the California Transportation Plan, the department to assess incorporating bicycle highways into strategic interregional corridors within the ITSP.