The July summer recess is over – we re-convened on August 5th. All bills that passed the Senate before the recess will now be reviewed and approved (or not) by the Assembly, and all Assembly bills have been forwarded to the Senate for final consideration.
During the July recess, the Governor signed about 80 bills that had already made it to his desk. Over 1,500 bills are still pending, so it’s likely the Governor will receive hundreds more by the time we adjourn. Any legislation with a significant financial impact on the state budget must pass each house’s Appropriations Committee, and that’s most bills. These committees hear more bills than any others — the Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees are likely to hear about 700 bills each in August. Passing Appropriations can be a high hurdle, and Appropriations is last step before a final floor vote in each house.
Bills awaiting final Senate approval include one of mine, AB 1819, which authorizes counties to create special infrastructure financing districts in high or very high fire hazard severity zones, much like capital improvement districts that are allowed under current law. These district would fund wildfire mitigation apparatus and infrastructure including new heavy equipment to clear vegetation, create firebreaks, and harden utility infrastructure against wildfires. In August, I’m also looking forward to final Assembly approval for SB 1074, which I co-authored with Senator Brian Jones. The bill, which makes public safety a priority for placement of Sexually Violent Predators, is one of the bills now pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and affects our East County district significantly.
All legislative business in the current session must be concluded by August 31st, the date we finally adjourn. New legislation cannot be introduced until after the 2025-2026 session begins on December 2nd, and no legislation can be held over for next session. Any bill that doesn’t receive final approval by the time we adjourn has died. August will be a busy month in Sacramento.
