September 11, 2025
Golden State Republican Women
Janet Price, President
Submitted by the GSRW Legislative Analyst Committee
Valerie Evans, Lou Ann Flaherty and Elaine Freeman,
SEPTEMBER 11TH, MAY WE NEVER FORGET
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE
September 12th is the California Legislature’s deadline for bills to be passed. There will then be an interim recess for the legislature. The Governor has until October 12th to sign or veto bills passed by the legislature or the bills will become law without his signature.
As a result, there is a flurry of activity leading up to September 12th. There will be lobbying of the Governor by those who want their bills passed. At this time, it is not clear how many bills will be presented to the Governor for action.
One noted VETO:
AB 1387, Quirk-Silva (D). Behavioral health multidisciplinary personnel team.
Existing law authorizes a county to establish a homeless adult and family multidisciplinary personnel team, as defined, with the goal of facilitating the expedited identification, assessment, and linkage of homeless individuals to housing and supportive services within that county and to allow provider agencies to share confidential information for the purpose of coordinating housing and supportive services to ensure continuity of care.
This bill would authorize a county to also establish a behavioral health multidisciplinary personnel team, as defined, with the goal of facilitating the expedited identification, assessment, and linkage of a justice-involved person, as defined, diagnosed with a mental illness to supportive services within that county while incarcerated and upon release from county jail and to allow provider agencies and members of the personnel team to share confidential information, as specified, for the purpose of coordinating supportive services to ensure continuity of care.
The bill would require the sharing of information permitted under these provisions to be governed by protocols developed in each county, as specified.
This bill would authorize a behavioral health multidisciplinary personnel team to designate a qualified person to be a member of the team for a particular case and would require a member who receives information or records regarding a justice-involved person in their capacity as a member of the team to be under the same privacy and confidentiality obligations and subject to the same confidentiality penalties as the person disclosing or providing the information or records. The bill would also require the information or records to be maintained in a manner that ensures the maximum protection of privacy and confidentiality rights.
This bill was passed by the legislature on 08/25/2025 and vetoed by the governor on 08/28/2025. It is pending consideration of the governor’s veto.
Veto message: https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/AB-1387-Veto-Message.pdf
AB 732 amended 09/03/2025 (Macedo) (R) Agriculture, neglected or abandoned crops, public nuisances; pests –
This bill has been proceeding through the legislature since first introduced in February and is considered critical to the agricultural community.
Under existing law, a neglected or abandoned plant or crop is a public nuisance if it is a menace to the agriculture of the county, district or vicinity because of the existence of any pest, in on it, or other condition, or if it is a host plant of, or provides a favorable or likely harbor for, any pest. Existing law defines “pest” for these purposes as an infectious, transmissible, or contagious disease of a plant, disorder of a plant that manifests symptoms or behavior characteristic of an infectious, transmissible, or contagious disease, form of animal life, or form of vegetable life, that is or, is liable to be, dangerous or detrimental to the agricultural industry of the state. Existing law prohibits a person from maintaining a neglected or abandoned plant or crop that is a public nuisance.
Existing law requires a county agricultural commissioner, in writing, to notify the owner of record or person in charge of the property that has neglected or abandoned plant or crop that the commissioner has found to be a public nuisance, of the need to remove or destroy the neglected or abandoned plant or crop, if the removal or destruction of the neglected or abandoned plant or crop is undertaken by a commissioner, existing law requires the commission to cause a notice or lien that describes the land on with the public nuisance exists to be recorded and subjects the land to a lien for any expense that is incurred by the county subsequent to the recording of the notice in the abatement of the nuisance.
This bill would authorize a county agricultural commissioner, in lieu of imposing a lien, to levy a civil penalty against a person who maintains a pest-related public nuisance in violation of the above-described prohibition, and would exclude from the definition of pest a beneficial organism that is used as a biological control agent or, a conservation practice standard or on farm management practice, as specified. The bill would require the civil penalty to be levied in accordance with specified procedures, including a requirement that the person charged with the violation receive notice of the nature of the violation and be given an opportunity to be heard. If the person takes a good faith action as defined, to rectify the violation within 30 days of receiving notice, the bill would provide that the person is not liable for that civil penalty.
The bill would require that civil penalty to be an amount of up to $500 for each acre of property found to be in violation and would authorize that amount to be increased to up to $1,000 per acre if the person does not take a good faith action to rectify the public nuisance within 45 days of issuance of the original civil penalty.
BIPARTISAN BILL PASSED BY THE LEGISLATURE AND SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR ON 08/28/2025
AB 463, Michelle Rodriguez. Emergency medical services: dogs and cats.
Existing law authorizes a private ambulance owner to operate an emergency ambulance service upon obtaining a license from the Department of the California Highway Patrol, as specified.
This bill would authorize those license holders or a person who operates ambulances owned or operated by a fire department of a federally recognized Indian tribe to transport a police canine, as defined, or a search and rescue dog, as defined, that is injured in the line of duty, to a veterinary clinic or similar facility if there is no other person requiring medical attention or transport at that time.
The bill would require an ambulance operator, except as specified, that provides transport to police canines or search and rescue dogs injured in the line of duty to develop policies regarding the transport of these dogs. The bill would require these policies to be submitted to, and approved by, the local emergency medical services agency.
Existing law requires emergency services and care to be provided to any person requesting the services or care, as specified. Existing law authorizes an emergency responder to provide basic first aid to dogs and cats, as specified, and exempts from civil liability specified emergency personnel who, in good faith and not for compensation, render emergency medical or nonmedical care, including to dogs and cats, at the scene of an emergency, as specified, resulting from any act or omission.
This bill would authorize an emergency responder to provide basic first aid to a police canine or search and rescue dog that is injured in the line of duty while the police canine or search and rescue dog is being transported to a veterinary clinic or similar facility, and would exempt that person from civil or criminal liability if they act in good faith and not for compensation to provide basic first aid to an injured police canine or search and rescue dog while the police canine or search and rescue dog is being transported to a veterinary clinic or similar facility, subject to a specified limitation.
Existing law makes it unlawful for any person to practice veterinary medicine unless the person holds a valid license, as specified, subject to specified exemptions, including that an emergency responder may provide basic first aid to dogs and cats, as defined, to the extent that the provision of that care is not prohibited by the responder’s employer.
This bill would make clarifying changes to those provisions authorizing an emergency provider to provide basic first aid to dogs and cats.
AB 493, amended 06/26/2025 Harabedian (D). Mortgages: hazard insurance proceeds.
Existing law, the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act, regulates persons engaging in the business of making residential mortgage loans or servicing of residential mortgage loans, as administered by the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation. A willful violation of any provision of the act constitutes a crime, as specified. The act requires a trust account to be placed in a non-interest-bearing account in a federally insured depository institution, a federal home loan bank, or other similar government-sponsored enterprise, except as specified.
This bill would authorize a financial institution, as defined, to deposit hazard insurance proceeds in an interest-bearing account in a federally insured depository institution, a federal home loan bank, a federal reserve bank, or another similar government-sponsored enterprise.
Existing law requires a financial institution that makes loans upon the security of real property containing only a one- to four-family residence in this state or purchases obligations secured by the property and that receives money in advance for payment of taxes and assessments on the property, for insurance, or for other purposes relating to the property to pay interest on those amounts to the borrower, as specified.
Existing law prohibits those financial institutions from imposing any fee or charge in connection with the maintenance or disbursement of money received in advance for the payment of taxes and assessments on real property securing loans made by the financial institution, or for the payment of insurance, or for other purposes relating to that real property, which would result in an interest rate of less than 2% per annum being paid on the moneys received. Existing law defines the term financial institution for purposes of those provisions to include, among other things, savings associations.
This bill would require a financial institution that makes loans or purchases obligations as described above and that holds hazard insurance proceeds in a loss draft account pending property rebuilding or repair to pay interest on those funds at a rate of at least 2% simple interest per annum, except as specified.
The bill would require that interest to start accruing on the effective date of the bill, as specified. The bill would prohibit those financial institutions from imposing any fee or charge in connection with the maintenance or disbursement of hazard insurance proceeds held in a loss draft account pending rebuilding or repair of the real property that would result in an interest rate of less than 2% per annum being paid on the amounts held.
The bill would specify that the above provisions do not apply to hazard insurance proceeds held in a loss draft account that are required by a state or federal regulatory authority to be placed by a financial institution other than a bank in a non-interest-bearing demand trust fund account of a bank.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Approved by the governor on 8/29/2025.
Interesting considering the number of properties affected by fires! (After the fact)
Legislative Portal links – Express your support or opposition to a bill or directly to the Legislative committee currently reviewing it (as an individual, not as a member of RW or GSRW) – click here, or the bill’s author – click here, enter your bill # and look for tab at top of the bill page labeled “Comments to Author”.
