Sen. Henry Stern

Maddy summaryThis Senate resolution designates April 14, 2026, as California Holocaust Memorial Day to honor the victims of the Holocaust and promote awareness of its historical lessons. The measure urges all Californians to observe the day with appropriate remembrance activities, such as moments of reflection or educational events. By formally recognizing this date, the Senate aims to reinforce values of human rights, equality, and vigilance against antisemitism and other forms of hatred. The resolution does not impose new laws or penalties but serves as a symbolic declaration to encourage civic engagement and historical education.

This measure would acknowledge the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and express the Legislature's deepest respect to Muslims across California and throughout the world on this significant occasion.

Existing law designates specific days as holidays in this state, including Cesar Chavez Day on March 31, and requires the Governor to annually proclaim March 31 as Cesar Chavez Day. This bill would instead designate March 31 as Farmworkers Day and would require the Governor to annually proclaim March 31 as Farmworkers Day. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Maddy summaryThis Senate Resolution formally declares March 2026 as Women's History Month in California to honor the historical and ongoing contributions of women across all fields of society. The measure recognizes women's roles in building the nation and state while acknowledging that many of their achievements have been overlooked or undocumented. By joining the United States Congress and state organizations in this observance, the resolution aims to raise awareness of women's accomplishments and encourage continued efforts to address gender inequity. The text is a commemorative proclamation rather than a law that changes specific regulations or mandates new programs.

Maddy summarySenate Resolution 82 declares February 2026 as Children's Dental Health Month in California to raise awareness about the importance of oral health. The resolution highlights that tooth decay is a major public health issue affecting many children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and notes that untreated dental problems can lead to missed school days and learning difficulties. While acknowledging recent improvements in access to Medi-Cal dental services, the bill emphasizes the need for continued efforts to prevent cavities through education and preventive care. This measure serves as a symbolic recognition rather than establishing new laws or funding, aiming to encourage policymakers and the public to focus on childhood oral health.

Existing law authorizes the Office of the State Fire Marshal to allow certification of contractors who conduct defensible space, home hardening, fuel reduction, roadside clearance, and other contracting activities for wildfire resiliency efforts and who have completed specified training programs. Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including residential property and fire insurance. Existing law creates the Department of Insurance, headed by the Insurance Commissioner, and prescribes the department's powers and duties. Existing department regulations prohibit an insurer from using a rating plan that does not take into account and reflect specified wildfire risk mitigation, including property-level building hardening measures. Upon request for a premium quote for residential property insurance, this bill would require a specified insurer to provide a premium quote for the residential property that includes the price of insurance if the property is certified as "hardened" by a home hardening certification program established or approved by the State Fire Marshal and a premium quote for the residential property in its current state.

Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , in consultation with the specified entities, to adopt a biennial integrated energy policy report containing certain information in a specified format. Existing law requires the Energy Commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission and the Independent System Operator, to adopt a goal for load shifting to reduce net peak electrical demand and adjust this target in each biennial integrated energy policy report thereafter. This bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with specified entities, to analyze the cost-effectiveness of specific load flexibility programs and other types of load-shifting interventions and identify both the approximate amount of load shifting and the cost-effectiveness of each type of load-shifting intervention in the next update to the biennial integrated energy policy report after January 1, 2027, as provided. The bill would require the Energy Commission, as part of each integrated energy policy report, to estimate each retail supplier's load-shifting potential, giving consideration to certain factors, as specified. The bill would require the Energy Commission, on or before July 1, 2028, and biennially thereafter, to analyze and publish the amount of load shifting that each retail supplier achieved in the prior calendar year.

(1) Existing law establishes the Office of the State Fire Marshal in the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and establishes the Deputy Director of Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation within the office. Existing law makes the deputy director responsible for fire preparedness and mitigation missions of the department, as provided. Existing law requires the department to establish a local assistance grant program for fire prevention and home hardening education activities in California and specifies eligible activities under the local assistance grant program, as provided. Under existing law, funding for this local assistance grant program is contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature. This bill would require the deputy director, on or before January 1, 2027, and every 3 years thereafter, in consultation with the state hazard mitigation officer, as defined, to prepare a Wildfire Risk Mitigation Planning Framework sufficient to quantitatively evaluate wildfire risk mitigation actions, as provided. The bill would require the framework to allow for geospatial evaluation and comparison of wildfire risk mitigation actions, as described, sufficient to direct coordinated mitigation efforts and long-term collaborative mitigation planning. The bill would require the deputy director to, each year the framework is completed, submit a copy of the framework to the Legislature, the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, and the Public Utilities Commission for review and consideration. This bill would require the deputy director, on or before April 1, 2027, and every 3 years thereafter, in consultation with the state hazard mitigation officer, to prepare a Wildfire Risk Baseline and Forecast for the state delineated on a statewide level and by county, as provided. The bill would require the forecast to include geographic specificity as determined by the deputy director to be sufficient to evaluate targeted wildfire risk mitigation actions, and to accomplish specific things, including establishing key risk metrics for wildfire risk for the state as a whole, by county, and by geographic location. The bill would require the deputy director to, each year the forecast is completed, submit a copy of the forecast to the Legislature, the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, and the Public Utilities Commission for review and consideration. This bill would require the deputy director, on or before August 1, 2027, in consultation with the state hazard mitigation officer, to prepare a Wildfire Mitigation Scenarios Report, to be updated annually. The bill would require the report to contain specified information, including identification of a reasonable range of possible scenarios for overall wildfire risk mitigation spending, as provided. This bill would require the deputy director to contract with a private consultant with special expertise in quantitative evaluation of specified wildfire risk and risk mitigation topics, as provided, to conduct quantitative wildfire risk modeling and for preparation of reports to accomplish the purposes of this act. This bill would, contingent upon an annual appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, require the department, beginning in the 2029–30 fiscal year and extending to the 2044–45 fiscal year, inclusive, to make funds available through the local assistance grant program for programs to be implemented by local governments to achieve wildfire risk reduction in a cost-effective manner that is maximally consistent with the Wildfire Risk Mitigation Planning Framework. (2) 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 the severity of the fire hazard. Existing law requires a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains (A) an occupied dwelling or structure within a very high fire hazard severity zone as designated by a local agency, or (B) a building or structure in the state responsibility area, to comply with specified defensible space requirements, including a requirement to maintain a defensible space of 100 feet from each side and from the front and rear of the structure, and a requirement to create an ember-resistant zone within 5 feet of the structure, based on regulations promulgated by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, as provided. Executive Order No. N-18-25 directs the board to complete the formal rulemaking process applicable to these ember-resistant zone requirements no later than December 31, 2025. Under existing law, the requirement for an ember-resistant zone does not take effect for new structures until the board updates the applicable regulations and guidance document, as specified, and does not take effect for existing structures until 3 years after the effective date for the new structures. A violation of these requirements is a crime. This bill would move up the effective date of the ember-resistant zone requirement for certain existing structures in the state responsibility area, as provided. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would revise and recast the local assistance grant program, described above, by, among other things, authorizing funding from the program to be used for projects to plan and carry out risk-targeted wildfire prevention work within a local government's jurisdiction, including costs necessary to use the above-described Wildfire Risk Mitigation Planning Framework to select, plan, and implement projects, and to implement activities consistent with early implementation of the ember-resistant zone rules, as provided. This bill would, upon an annual appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, require the department, during the 2025–26 to 2028–29 fiscal years, inclusive, to make funds available through the local assistance grant program for programs to be implemented by local agencies to fund wildfire inspector positions sufficient to conduct inspections in very high fire hazard severity zones, in order to facilitate early implementation of the ember-resistant zone rules for existing commercial and residential structures, as provided. As a condition of receiving funds, the bill would require local agencies to adopt the ember-resistant zone regulations, applicable to very high fire hazard severity zones, as provided. (3) The California Building Standards Law requires any building standard adopted or proposed by state agencies to be submitted to, and approved or adopted by, the California Building Standards Commission before codification. Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to propose, pursuant to that process, fire protection building standards applicable to buildings in fire hazard severity zones, as provided. Existing law also applies fire protection building standards adopted pursuant to this process to buildings located in urban wildland interface communities, defined as communities identified by the department pursuant to a specified process. From October 1, 2025, to June 1, 2031, inclusive, existing law prohibits proposed building standards affecting residential units from being considered, approved, or adopted by the California Building Standards Commission or any other adopting agency unless a specified condition is met, including that the building standards are amendments by the State Fire Marshal to building standards within the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code. This bill would, notwithstanding that prohibition, require the State Fire Marshal, on or before July 1, 2026, and pursuant to the California Building Standards Law process for state agencies proposing building standards, to propose to extend the applicability of the above-described fire protection building standards to all reconstruction of all buildings destroyed within the perimeters of wildfires that occur on or after July 1, 2026. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4291 of the Public Resources Code proposed by AB 1455 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1455 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (5) 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.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming in order to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The act requires all state agencies to consider and implement strategies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. This bill would additionally require state agencies to prioritize strategies to reduce methane emissions, including emissions from imported petroleum and natural gas, where feasible and cost effective. The bill would require the state board to encourage natural gas procurement on behalf of the state to shift to certified natural gas producing low methane emissions. The bill would also authorize the state board, the Public Utilities Commission, and other relevant agencies to apply approved protocols that measure, monitor, report, and verify methane emissions to existing programs to reduce methane emissions, including emissions from imported petroleum and natural gas procured by utilities and other large gas users, as provided. The bill would also authorize the state board, the Public Utilities Commission, and other relevant agencies to use all relevant sources and standards, including, but not limited to, emissions data, models, or protocols from existing or new regulations.

Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to identify areas of the state as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones based on specified criteria. Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to periodically review the areas in the state identified as very high fire hazard severity zones, as specified. Existing law requires a local agency, within 30 days after receiving a transmittal from the State Fire Marshal that identifies those fire hazard severity zones, to make the information available for public review and comment, and to present the information in a format that is understandable and accessible to the general public, including, but not limited to, maps. Existing law requires a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains an occupied dwelling or structure in a very high fire hazard severity zone to take certain fire risk management measures, including maintaining defensible space of 100 feet from each side of the structure, except as provided. Existing law requires the Office of the State Fire Marshal to develop a model defensible space program, as provided, that includes, but is not limited to, specified components, including enforcement mechanisms for compliance with and maintenance of defensible space requirements. Existing law includes among these enforcement mechanisms, among other things, site inspections. This bill would require the factors on which the fire severity zones are based to include areas within the perimeter of a wildfire that burned 1,000 or more acres, destroyed more than 10 structures, or resulted in a fatality, and to include areas at risk for an urban conflagration that accounts for the potential for structures to serve as a fuel source that extends the ember cast outside of wildland areas and areas where agricultural land affects fire hazard. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal to publish the model and methodology used to develop the fire hazard severity zones on its internet website at least 60 days before finalizing those designations and to publish the model and methodology for specified factors whenever the State Fire Marshal reviews the fire severity zones. This bill would require the State Fire Marshal to designate any area that is within the perimeter of a wildfire described above occurring on or after January 1, 2025, as a post-wildfire safety area, as defined, and to transmit a map of the post-wildfire safety area to any local agency with jurisdiction over territory in the designated area within a specified timeframe. Within a certain timeframe following the transmission of the map by the State Fire Marshal, this bill would require the designation of a post-wildfire safety area to trigger the application of state fire protection standards, as defined, in the area. The bill would exempt any designation of a post-wildfire safety area by the State Fire Marshal from the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. The bill would require a local agency to, within 10 business days of receiving the map, post a notice at the office of the county recorder, county assessor, and city or county planning agency identifying the location of the post-wildfire safety area, and to post the map on its internet website. By requiring local agencies to take specified actions regarding post-wildfire safety areas, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The Planning and Zoning Law requires the legislative body of a city or county to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan that includes various elements, including, among others, a safety element for the protection of the community from specified risks. Existing law requires, upon the next revision of the housing element on or after January 1, 2014, the safety element to be reviewed and updated as necessary to address the risk of fire for land classified as state responsibility areas and land classified as very high fire hazard severity zones, as defined. This bill would additionally require the safety element to be reviewed and updated as necessary to address the risk of fire for land classified as a post-wildfire safety area. By requiring local entities to take specified actions regarding the safety elements of their general plans, this 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, 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.