Sen. Melissa Hurtado

Maddy summarySenate Resolution 80 establishes February 26 as César Chávez Day to honor the life and legacy of the farmworker leader. The resolution recognizes his contributions to civil rights, including his role in organizing the United Farm Workers and advocating for improved labor conditions through peaceful means. It highlights key events in his life, such as his early struggles, his service in the Navy, and his leadership in historic strikes and marches that led to California's Agricultural Labor Relations Act. This legislative measure serves as a formal acknowledgment of his impact on farmworkers and Latino communities without altering any existing laws or policies.

Maddy summaryThis resolution designates February 6, 2026, as "Wear Red Day" in California to raise public awareness about heart health, aligning with the national Heart Disease Awareness initiative. It does not create new laws or requirements but formally recognizes the day for voluntary public observance by California residents. The measure is ceremonial and procedural, solely intended to highlight heart health awareness through state-level acknowledgment.

Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to establish the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program that includes the direct install program and the statewide incentive program for low-carbon building technologies, as provided. This bill would require the Energy Commission to establish a mechanism to notify applicants to the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program that they may also be eligible for building energy efficiency and decarbonization incentives authorized by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) . Existing law vests the PUC with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations. Existing law establishes an 11-member Low-Income Oversight Board to advise the PUC on low-income electrical, gas, and water customer issues, as specified. This bill would add to the Low-Income Oversight Board a member to be selected by the Executive Director of the Energy Commission.

(1) Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services to enter into a joint powers agreement, as specified, with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to develop and administer a comprehensive wildfire mitigation program, known as the California wildfire mitigation financial assistance program, that, among other things, encourages cost-effective structure hardening and retrofitting that creates fire-resistant homes, businesses, and public buildings. This bill would require the joint powers authority to consider revising the wildfire mitigation program in accordance with prescribed community hardening standards and guidelines developed pursuant to the bill's provisions, as specified below. (2) Existing law establishes the Department of Insurance, headed by the Insurance Commissioner, which regulates insurers and insurance practices. Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including fire insurance. This bill would establish the Community Hardening Commission as an independent unit within the Department of Insurance, to be composed of specified members, including, among others, the Insurance Commissioner and the State Fire Marshal or their designee. The bill would require the Insurance Commissioner to be the chair of the commission. The bill would also require the commission to be advised by an advisory council consisting of specified members, including, among others, a local representative on behalf of a city or county, or association representing cities and counties, and a representative of the California Fire Chiefs Association. By imposing additional duties on local representatives of a city or county, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would also require the Insurance Commissioner, beginning January 1, 2026, and at least quarterly thereafter, to convene the commission to perform specified duties, including developing new wildfire community hardening standards to reduce fire risk and improve access to fire insurance. The bill would require the commission to make certain recommendations to the Insurance Commissioner, the Office of Emergency Services, and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in accordance with specified standards. The bill would require the commission to consult with specified stakeholders, including those from public safety districts and the insurance industry, in performing the duties described above. The bill would require the commission, on or before July 1, 2027, to complete the new standards described above and submit a report to the Legislature on additional actions needed to support cities, counties, and members of those communities in home hardening and wildfire mitigation. The bill would also require the commission to periodically review and update those standards, as specified. The bill would further authorize the commission to take various other related actions, including entering into confidential data sharing agreements and coordinating with the relevant legislative committees to secure documentation or specified information. This bill would also require the Department of Insurance, on or before July 1, 2027, in consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Office of Emergency Services, and the commission, to develop guidelines for state and local agencies to aggregate and make available data related to wildfire risk for purposes of a data sharing platform. (3) 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. (4) 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law establishes in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency the Department of Real Estate to license and regulate real estate licensees, and the Department of Consumer Affairs, which is composed of various boards that license and regulate various businesses and professions. This bill would authorize the Department of Real Estate and boards under the jurisdiction of the Department of Consumer Affairs to waive the application of certain provisions of the licensure requirements that the board or department is charged with enforcing for licensees and applicants who reside in or whose primary place of business is in a location damaged by a natural disaster for which a state of emergency is proclaimed by the Governor, as specified, or for which an emergency or major disaster is declared by the President of the United States, including certain examination, fee, and continuing education requirements. The bill would require a board to notify the director of the Department of Consumer Affairs in writing of any waiver approved by that board, and would prohibit the waiver from taking effect for a period of 5 business days after the director receives the notification from the board. The bill would authorize the director to approve or disapprove a waiver within the 5 business days described above, and require the director to notify the board of any decision to approve or disapprove a waiver within those 5 business days. The bill would prohibit a waiver from taking effect if the director disapproves the waiver, and require a waiver that is approved by the director, or that fails to be approved or disapproved by the director within the 5 business days described above, to take effect the following day. The bill would require the Department of Consumer Affairs to, among other things, post each waiver that takes effect on its website. The bill would exempt the above-described licensees of boards from, among other requirements, the payment of duplicate license fees. The bill would require all applicants and licensees of the boards under the Department of Consumer Affairs to provide the board with an email address. The bill would prohibit a contractor licensed pursuant to the Contractors State License Law from engaging in debris removal unless the contractor has one of specified license qualifications or has been authorized by the registrar of contractors during a declared state of emergency or for a declared disaster area due to a natural disaster. The bill would require a licensee authorized to perform debris removal to pass an approved hazardous substance certification examination, and comply with certain occupational safety and health requirements concerning hazardous waste operations and emergency response, as specified. The bill would require the Real Estate Commissioner, immediately upon the declaration of a natural disaster for which a state of emergency, emergency, or major disaster is proclaimed or declared as described above, to determine the nature and scope of any unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent practices, as specified, and provide specified notice to the public regarding those practices. The bill would authorize the commissioner to suspend or revoke a real estate license if the licensee, until one year following the declaration of a natural disaster for which a state of emergency, emergency, or major disaster is proclaimed or declared as described above, makes an unsolicited offer to an owner of real property to purchase or acquire an interest in the real property, when that property is located in an area included in a declared federal, state, or local emergency or disaster, for an amount less than the fair market value, as defined, of the property or interest of the property, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law establishes various advisory boards and commissions in state government with specified duties and responsibilities. This bill would create the California Latino Commission to address the inequities faced by the Latino community in housing, education, economic mobility, labor, and health care. The commission would consist of 9 members who have demonstrated expertise in specified areas, including housing policy and advocacy and economic development. The bill would task the commission with, among other things, collecting and analyzing data, developing recommendations, and monitoring the implementation of state programs and policies affecting the Latino community, as specified. The bill would require the commission to work with other state agencies and to submit an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature. The bill would establish that the commission and its activities would be supported by appropriations by the Legislature from the General Fund and grants from federal and private sources. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2036.

Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health to implement various programs throughout the state relating to public health. The department administers the California Wastewater Surveillance Dashboard that provides an overview ​of data from testing wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 virus in California. The data in the dashboard is generated by those participating in the department's California Surveillance of Wastewaters (Cal-SuWers) network, including the Cal-SuWers program, WastewaterSCAN, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Wastewater Surveillance System, wastewater utilities, and academic, laboratory, and other state and federal partners. This bill would require the department, in consultation with participating wastewater treatment facilities, local health departments, and other subject matter experts, to maintain the Cal-SuWers network to test, as appropriate for public health use, for pathogens, toxins, or other public health indicators in wastewater. The bill would require participation in the Cal-SuWers network from local health departments and wastewater treatment facilities to be voluntary. The bill would authorize the department to coordinate with health care providers, local health departments, and emergency response agencies to ensure wastewater surveillance data is used for early intervention, outbreak response, epidemiological investigations, and public health planning. The bill would authorize the department to communicate to the general public, through a publicly accessible internet website, as specified, to provide transparency and public awareness of wastewater-based disease monitoring. The bill would authorize the department to utilize external funding sources, in addition to the department's existing, noncontinuously appropriated funding sources, to implement these provisions. The bill would make related findings and declarations.

(1) Existing law, the Unfair Competition Law, makes various practices unlawful and provides that a person who engages, has engaged, or proposes to engage in unfair competition is liable for a civil penalty, as specified. This bill would additionally make a person who violates those provisions, if the act or acts of unfair competition are perpetrated against one or more persons displaced due to a state of emergency or local emergency, as defined, at the time the violation occurred, liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 for each violation, as specified. (2) Existing law, the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, makes unlawful certain unfair methods of competition and certain unfair or deceptive acts or practices undertaken by a person in a transaction intended to result or that results in the sale or lease of goods or services to a consumer. These include, among others, making false or misleading statements of fact concerning reasons for, existence of, or amounts of, price reductions. This bill would additionally make it unlawful under those provisions to, among other things, price gouge during a state of emergency or local emergency. (3) Existing law requires the trier of fact, in a civil action to redress unfair or deceptive acts or practices or unfair competition brought by, on behalf of, or for the benefit of senior citizens, disabled persons, or veterans, to consider specified factors in determining the amount of a discretionary fine, penalty, or remedy to be imposed. Existing law authorizes the trier of fact, upon a finding of one of those factors, to impose a fine, penalty, or other remedy in an amount up to 3 times greater than the amount authorized by statute or the amount the trier of fact would impose in the absence of the affirmative finding. This bill would make those provisions applicable to persons displaced due to a state of emergency or a local emergency, as defined, at the time the violation occurred. (4) Under existing law, upon the proclamation of a state of emergency by the President of the United States or the Governor, or upon the declaration of a local emergency by the executive officer of any county, city, or city and county, and for 30 days or 180 days, as specified, following the proclamation or declaration of emergency, it is a misdemeanor for a person, contractor, business, or other entity to sell or offer to sell certain goods or services for a price of more than 10% greater than the price charged by that person immediately prior to the proclamation or declaration of emergency. Existing law authorizes the extension of these prohibitions by, among others, the Governor, if deemed necessary to protect the lives, property, or welfare of the citizens. Existing law defines "housing" as any rental housing with an initial lease term of no longer than one year. This bill would specify that an extension authorized by the Governor may be terminated by a concurrent resolution of the Legislature declaring it at an end. The bill would require a housing listing platform, during the period of 30 days following a proclamation of a state emergency or a declaration of a local emergency, as specified, to, among other things, remove a listing when notified by local, regional, or state law enforcement agencies that the price for a listing made available on the platform violates the price gouging provisions and establish and maintain a policy informing housing providers that listings are prohibited from violating the above-described provisions, as specified. This bill would define "housing listing platform" for these purposes as an internet website, application, or other similar centralized platform that acts as an intermediary between a consumer and another person which allows another person to list the availability of housing, lodging, or units for sale or for rent to a consumer. The bill would remove the one-year lease term limit from the definition of "housing."

Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to gather and correlate information and data pertinent to an annual forecast of seasonal water crop. Existing law also requires the department to update every 5 years the plan for the orderly and coordinated control, protection, conservation, development, and use of the water resources of the state, which is known as "The California Water Plan." This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2027, to update its water supply forecasting models and procedures to address the effects of climate change and implement a formal policy and procedures for documenting the department's operational plans and the department's rationale for its operating procedures, including the department's rationale for water releases from reservoirs. The bill would also require the department to establish, and publish on the department's internet website, the specific criteria that it will employ to determine when its updated water supply forecasting model has demonstrated sufficient predictive capability to be ready for use in each of the watersheds. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, to prepare and submit to the Legislature a report on its progress toward implementing the new forecasting model and to post the report on the department's internet website. The bill would also require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, to prepare and submit to the Legislature a report that explains the rationale for the department's operating procedures specific to the previous water year.

This measure would, among other things, reaffirm California's commitment to universal human rights and call for the end to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the immediate release of all hostages.