Sen. Kelly Seyarto

Existing law, the California Financing Law, generally regulates the business of finance lenders and brokers and prohibits any person from engaging in those businesses without obtaining a license from the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation. Existing law also imposes various requirements on licensees who offer or sell commercial loans, as defined. Existing law prohibits a person that receives compensation in connection with a referral of a commercial loan from making a materially false or misleading statement or representation to a borrower about the terms or conditions of a prospective loan or from engaging in various other deceptive and unfair acts. A willful violation of the California Financing Law is a crime, except as specified. This bill would prohibit a financial institution from engaging in unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices in the use of mortgage trigger lead information, defined to include certain consumer credit information related to a real estate-secured loan application. The bill would provide that a violation of these provisions occurs if the financial institution takes various acts, including, among others, failing to clearly and conspicuously disclose to the consumer, at the initial point of contact, that the financial institution is not affiliated with the consumer's original lender or broker. The bill would make a violation of these provisions an unlawful, unfair, or deceptive business practice under specified law. The bill would authorize the Attorney General, the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation, and local prosecutors to enforce this section. The bill also would authorize a consumer who suffers a violation of these provisions to bring a private right of action for damages, injunctive relief, and reasonable attorney's fees. By expanding the scope of a crime, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

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 requires the Department of the California Highway Patrol to regulate the safe operation of certain vehicles, including, but not limited to, motortrucks of 3 or more axles that are more than 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating, truck tractors, and specified other motortrucks regulated by the department, the Department of Consumer Affairs, or the United States Secretary of Transportation. Existing law establishes the Office of Emergency Services within the office of the Governor and requires the office to be responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or man-made disasters and emergencies. This bill would require the Office of Emergency Services, on or before January 1, 2028, to develop and post on its internet website an action plan for responding to electric commercial motor vehicle battery fires that covers specified topics, including best practices for reducing wildfire risk and mitigating the risk of battery reignition. The bill would require the office, in developing the action plan, to consult with certain stakeholders, including the Department of the California Highway Patrol, electric truck manufacturers, and labor organizations.

Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including life and disability insurance. Existing law grants a person an insurable interest in the life and health of, among others, themselves or a person upon whom they depend for education or support. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

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 imposes renewal fee penalties for late payment of vehicle registration except in limited specified cases. Existing law authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to waive the registration penalties accrued before the purchase of a vehicle upon payment for the fees for registration due, if the transferee or purchaser was not aware that the fees were unpaid. Existing law also authorizes the department to waive the registration fees that became due before the purchase of the vehicle if the transferee or purchaser was not aware that the fees were unpaid and the license plate assigned to the vehicle displays a validating device issued by the department that contains the year number of the registration year for which the transferee or purchaser is requesting a waiver of fees. Existing law further provides that these unpaid fees and penalties are the personal debt of the transferor of the vehicle and may be collected by the department in an appropriate civil action if the department has waived the fees and penalties. This bill would instead require the department to waive delinquent registration fees and penalties when a transferee or purchaser of a vehicle applies for a transfer of registration if the department determines that the fees became due or the penalties accrued before the purchase of the vehicle. The bill would require the department to create a system to collect these delinquent fees and penalties from the seller or transferor. The bill would repeal the provision authorizing the department to collect the waived fees and penalties in a civil action. These provisions would become operative on January 1, 2030.

Maddy summaryACR 112 is a resolution designating September 2025 as Deaf Awareness Month in California. It does not create new laws or policies but formally recognizes this month to promote awareness of Deaf culture and communities. The resolution directly affects Californians by encouraging public recognition and educational efforts during September 2025. As a ceremonial measure, it has no binding effect or concrete policy changes beyond the symbolic designation.

Existing law provides for various memorials and monuments on the grounds of the State Capitol. Existing law requires the Department of General Services to maintain state buildings and grounds. This bill would authorize a nonprofit organization representing Sons of the American Revolution, in consultation with the Department of General Services, to plan, construct, and maintain a monument to the 250th Anniversary of the United States on the grounds of the State Capitol. The bill would require the nonprofit organization to submit a plan for the monument to the Joint Rules Committee for its review and approval. The bill would require the monument to be funded exclusively from private sources.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA, until January 1, 2040, exempts from its requirements certain projects for the improvement, institution, or increase of passenger rail service, including the maintenance, construction, or rehabilitation of stations, terminals, or existing operations facilities, which will be exclusively used by zero-emission trains or certified Tier 4 or cleaner rolling stock or locomotives, as provided. CEQA requires, for purposes of this exemption, that the project be located entirely within an existing rail right-of-way or existing highway right-of-way, as provided. This bill would instead eliminate the condition that the public project be exclusively used by zero-emission trains or certified Tier 4 or cleaner rolling stock or locomotives, thereby expanding the scope of the exemption. The bill would require, for purposes of the exemption, the mainline rail of the project, instead of the whole project, to be located entirely within an existing right-of-way or existing highway right-of-way. As part of the above-described exemption, CEQA prohibits a public project from being eligible for that exemption if used by certified Tier 4 or cleaner rolling stock or locomotives that are not zero-emission rolling stock or locomotives and the project is located in an air basin designated as a serious, severe, or extreme nonattainment area for particulate matter and ozone. This bill would instead authorize an otherwise ineligible project, as described above, to be eligible for the exemption if the project would provide daily passenger rail service between termini more than 5 miles apart where none exists as of January 1, 2027, and the rail service would run parallel to a state highway or interstate highway corridor. Because a lead agency would be required to determine whether a project qualifies for these expanded exemptions, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

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 thereby, if specified conditions exist and either specified local officials request the Governor to make that 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. This bill, instead, would authorize the Governor to exercise within the area designated all executive 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 to proclaim the termination of a state emergency at the earliest possible date that conditions warrant. Existing law requires all of the powers granted to the Governor by the CESA with respect to a state of emergency to terminate when the state of emergency has been terminated by proclamation of the Governor or by concurrent resolution of the Legislature declaring it at an end. This bill would require a state of emergency that has not been terminated by the Governor to automatically terminate 90 days after the Governor's proclamation unless the Legislature extends it by a concurrent resolution, as specified.