At a May 14 hearing, advocates pressed for $40 million for a performing arts payroll fund and $50 million for the California Arts Council as the state’s creative economy plan moved toward implementation.
The resolution passed after a 42-18 vote to suspend the rules and a final 58-8 vote, with 57 co-authors added during the floor session.
The commission adopted a narrower approach in Liberty Utilities’ general rate case for Park Water and Apple Valley Ranchos, favoring used-and-useful recovery rules and a 45/55 fixed-variable split.
Commissioners voted 5-0 to deny a petition that sought to reopen the closed San Joaquin Valley proceeding or force a new phase-three rulemaking.
The committee moved dozens of bills forward on May 14 while setting aside several measures, including proposals on food additives, drug formularies, medical debt relief and a guaranteed income pilot.
At an Assembly hearing on the SB 254 report, wildfire survivors urged faster compensation and emergency housing relief financed by utilities rather than taxpayers.
A joint Assembly oversight hearing raised questions about whether California’s crisis line system is fully meeting its promise, while DHCS disclosed more than 74,000 988 contacts in March and said unanswered contacts go to out-of-state backup centers.
The utility-affordability and wildfire-compensation bill drew lengthy public comment from Camp Fire and Tubbs Fire survivors in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, but no recorded vote appeared in the excerpted hearing record.
AB 2038 moved on the Assembly floor May 11, extending post-wildfire insurance protections for homeowners facing cancellation pressure after a disaster.
At a budget subcommittee hearing, Inspector General Ben Bellenapp asked lawmakers to spell out when his office can publish reports, keep work papers and review draft rail agreements.
The bill passed the Assembly floor on May 11 and would strengthen the Secretary of State’s election cybersecurity unit while expanding its ability to consult with researchers.
The Assembly formally took up the resolution on May 11 as part of a floor session that also featured election debate and other policy votes.
AB 108 cleared the Assembly on May 7, authorizing one-time emergency grants for hospitals at risk of closing.
AB 1608 cleared the Assembly 45-18 on May 4 after lawmakers split over whether it would improve public transparency or expand confidentiality around the High-Speed Rail Authority inspector general.
Assembly budget lawmakers heard competing proposals for scaling wildfire mitigation, including whether California should keep relying on large subsidies or shift toward smaller grants, loans and insurance-linked incentives.
A California oversight official told lawmakers investigators found more than a dozen branded stations charging $2 to $3 above the statewide average, and some lowered prices after regulator contact.
The measure cleared the Housing and Community Development Committee after testimony on Santa Clara County's prevention system and a broader debate over prevention versus shelter costs.
The Communications and Conveyance Committee voted 7-0 to send the bill to Appropriations after an extended hearing, while stressing that it would only ask federal officials to approve the change.
AB 1712 moved out of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee and would let Santa Fe Springs pursue a sale of its water system through a protest process instead of a citywide election.
AB 2604 moved ahead in the Assembly Elections Committee, with supporters saying a mobile cure option could make vote-by-mail corrections easier for voters.
The bill would set post-fire smoke contamination testing guidance, home reoccupancy standards and a faster insurer payment timeline after inspections, drawing survivor testimony and industry opposition.
AB 2753 cleared the Assembly Elections Committee and would block registered sex offenders from running for or holding local or state office.
Witnesses told the Assembly Human Services Committee that 665,000 Californians could lose food aid if the state does not act to offset HR1-linked SNAP and CalFresh cuts.
The committee advanced four insurance bills on April 15, including measures on FAIR Plan oversight, insurer use of aerial imagery, genetic data in underwriting and wildfire home-hardening grants.
