Speaker Robert Rivas and Assembly Democrats are stabilizing costs and advancing affordability. This was a top priority for the 2025-26 legislative session — and they’ve delivered new solutions to build more affordable homes, protect taxpayer dollars and stand-up to failing federal policies that are driving-up costs.
SACRAMENTO — Nearly two years ago, Speaker Robert Rivas began the 2025-26 legislative session urging Assembly lawmakers to prioritize a key goal:
“We must chart a new path forward and renew the California Dream by focusing on affordability,” the Speaker said.
Almost immediately after, California faced unprecedented economic attacks from the Trump administration, including harmful cuts to health care coverage and food assistance programs families rely on — along with costly tariffs that continue to drive-up prices for businesses and a reckless foreign policy that’s increasing gas costs.
The Assembly has risen to meet these challenges. Speaker Rivas and Assembly Democrats are taking action, delivering solutions that build a new foundation and alter the trajectory of this country’s affordability crisis — all while defending California’s economy and taxpayers against the Trump administration.
Here’s what Assembly Democrats are delivering during this two-year legislative session to fight for affordability and improve day-to-day quality of life across California:
Taking Action in 2026 to Stabilize Costs and Improve Affordability
Assembly Democrats again made affordability a central focus of this year’s legislative agenda — tackling some of the biggest challenges facing California.
That means taking on the daily cost-drivers for Californians:
- strengthening consumer protections
- stabilizing utility and water costs
- protecting Californians from predatory financial practices
- making it easier to build affordable housing
Assembly Democrats are also advancing solutions that help families manage unexpected expenses, protect small businesses, expand economic opportunity and ensure Californians can share in savings when costs come down.
This legislative year, Assembly Democrats are advancing the following solutions to:
- Make building townhomes easier and faster, to offer more affordable housing options to middle-class Californians (AB 1751, Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva)
- Make it unlawful for businesses to practice surveillance pricing through prohibiting the use of personal data when charging different prices for the same product or service, whether online or during in-store checkout (AB 2564, Assemblymember Chris Ward)
- Support local governments with housing, infrastructure and other public projects faster by expanding best-value contracting options (AB 1786, Assemblymember John Harabedian)
- Speed up housing construction near major transit hubs and helps lower barriers to building new homes (AB 2074, Assemblymember Matt Haney)
- Make sure that, when there are savings for investor-owned utilities due to federal corporate tax changes, those dollars are passed along to ratepayers (AB 2589, Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin)
- Protect Californians from being stuck with higher electricity costs driven by large energy users like data centers (AB 2383, Assemblymember Rick Chavez-Zbur)
- Bring greater transparency and accountability to how utility profits are determined so ratepayers can better see how electricity and gas rates are set (AB 2463, Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris)
- Speed-up the process to connect new clean energy projects to the grid, helping California bring more affordable power online faster (AB 2493, Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris)
- Make water more affordable by creating a long-term fund to support water rate assistance and local water infrastructure investments (AB 2739, Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria)
- Strengthen California’s consumer protection laws to make sure there is competition between businesses, protecting small businesses and keeping costs down for everyday Californians (AB 1776, Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry)
- Defend small businesses against predatory lending practices and strengthen financial protections for entrepreneurs (AB 2116, Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo)
- Raise wages for farmworkers by setting a $19.75 minimum hourly wage for certain agricultural workers, with annual cost-of-living increases (AB 2646, Assemblymember Maggie Krell)
In June, Assembly Democrats also challenged Trump’s H.R. 1 head-on, delivering a balanced, responsible, compassionate budget that rejects cuts to health care, lowers premium costs, protects access to food assistance, supports key safety net programs and invests in schools, child care, small businesses, and housing.
Assembly Democrats put affordability at the center of this year’s state budget, protecting families from rising costs while investing in the essential services Californians rely on every day.
As federal cuts threaten to make it harder for families to make ends meet, the budget takes action to keep coverage affordable, protect access to care, support families facing food insecurity and strengthen California’s safety net.
Key budget actions and investments include:
Protecting health care and keeping Californians covered
- $300 million to keep health coverage affordable for working families as federal cuts drive premiums higher.
- Protecting Medi-Cal and delaying harmful federal health care cuts.
- Rejecting Trump-initiated cuts to in-home supportive services for seniors, veterans and people with disabilities.
- $190 million to help keep hospitals open and serving their communities.
Helping families afford basic needs
- $100 million for food banks to help address higher grocery costs.
- Investments in diaper banks and other programs that help families afford basic necessities.
- Protecting food assistance as federal changes threaten access to benefits.
- 25,000 new subsidized child care slots.
Investing in education and economic opportunity
- Highest per-pupil spending in California history.
- $2.4 billion ongoing for special education.
- $1 billion for community schools.
- $300 million for career technical education.
- $750 million for teacher recruitment.
This year’s focus on affordability work builds on the Assembly’s broader agenda: listening to what Californians are struggling with, targeting the costs putting the most pressure on families, and delivering practical solutions that can make a real difference in people’s everyday lives.
Historic Reforms to Build Affordable Housing and Homes Faster
In all corners of the state, the cost of housing is the No. 1 cost-driver for California families. And building affordable homes and housing options faster is the No. 1 affordability solution.
Under Speaker Rivas’ leadership, Assembly Democrats enacted the most sweeping housing reforms in decades this two-year legislative session — removing longstanding barriers to construction, streamlining approvals, and making it easier, faster and less expensive to build homes across the state.
This includes the Assembly’s landmark 2025 legislative package to modernize the state’s approval process and remove barriers that have long slowed the construction of new homes, providing greater certainty for builders by freezing new residential building standards through 2031.
And since those historic laws, the Assembly has not slowed its progress on housing affordability — advancing major investments in lower-cost home options, and expanding pathways to build homes near jobs and transit.
In June of this year, for instance, the Assembly took one of the boldest steps in California history, passing the $11.25 billion Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026 — a generational investment that will fast-track construction and expand homeownership opportunities for veterans, military families, and working Californians. The bond will support tens of thousands of high-paying construction jobs and is designed to leverage federal tax credits and private financing so that every $1 invested by the state generates an estimated $4 in outside investment.
And Assembly Democrats are working to advance new 2026 housing, homeownership and renter-protection legislation that will:
- Make building townhomes easier and faster to offer more affordable housing options to middle-class Californians. (AB 1751, Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva)
- Support local governments with housing, infrastructure and other public projects faster by expanding best-value contracting options. (AB 1786, Assemblymember John Harabedian)
- Protect disaster survivors from losing their homes by requiring mortgage forbearance when a declared emergency makes their home uninhabitable. (AB 1842, Assemblymember John Harabedian)
- Lower housing costs by allowing builders to fix problems in newly built homes before costly litigation begins. (AB 1903, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks)
- Speed-up housing construction near major transit hubs and helps lower barriers to building new homes. (AB 2074, Assemblymember Matt Haney)
- Connect affordable housing, health facilities and other community projects to power faster by establishing clearer utility energization timelines. (AB 2518, Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins)
Together, these reforms are expected to stabilize housing costs, increase supply, and help more Californians achieve the dream of homeownership.
Putting Money Back in Californians’ Pockets
In today’s economy, every dollar counts — and Assembly Democrats are prioritizing real relief.
From lowering renting costs to raising wages and protecting paid leave for workers, the Legislature has taken big steps to ease financial burdens for working families.
These commonsense reforms are about one thing: helping Californians keep more of what they earn while improving access to essential services. Several new laws have gone into effect, including:
- Capping Security Deposits: Security deposits are now limited to one month’s rent, lowering move-in costs and making rental housing more accessible for millions of Californians.
- Expanded Paid Sick and Family Leave: Workers are now guaranteed at least five paid sick days, with key protections preserved for paid family leave.
- Higher Wages for Fast Food Workers: Many fast food employees now earn a $20 minimum wage.
- Investments in Families and Food Access: $52 million was secured for California’s food banks, alongside a cost-of-living adjustment for child care providers and a shift to enrollment-based, prospective pay.
- Curbing Banking Fees: Californians are protected from excessive and unfair banking fees, helping avoid unnecessary costs.
- Easier Subscription Cancellations: New laws make it simpler for consumers to cancel subscriptions and avoid hidden or recurring charges.
- Getting Back Security Deposits: New tenant protections help ensure renters get their security deposits returned fairly and on time.
- Rewarding On-Time Rent Payments: On-time rent now counts toward building good credit, helping renters build financial security.
- Streamlining ADU Construction: Building Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) is now faster and easier, creating more housing options for families and communities.
- Protecting Californians from Medical Debt: New consumer protections help prevent Californians from being buried in unfair or unexpected medical debt.
And the Assembly is continuing on this momentum, advancing dozens of bills this legislative year to:
- Improve food access by stopping large grocery chains from using restrictive covenants to block new grocery stores from opening on abandoned sites. (AB 1857, Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry)
- Prohibit surveillance pricing through the use of personal data when charging different prices for the same product or service, whether online or during in-store checkout. (AB 2564, Assemblymember Chris Ward)
- Make water more affordable by creating a long-term fund to support water rate assistance and local water infrastructure investments. (AB 2739, Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria)
- Help protect children, families and foster youth from hunger by expanding CalWORKs support and seeking federal protection from SNAP cuts. (AB 2765, Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens)
- Strengthen California’s consumer protection laws to make sure there is competition between businesses, protecting small businesses and keeping costs down for everyday Californians. (AB 1776, Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry)
- Defend small businesses against predatory lending practices and strengthens financial protections for entrepreneurs. (AB 2116, Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo)
- Guard students from penalties when their financial aid is delayed through no fault of their own. (AB 2422, Assemblymember Jessica Caloza)
- Raise wages for farmworkers by setting a $19.75 minimum hourly wage for certain agricultural workers, with annual cost-of-living increases. (AB 2646, Assemblymember Maggie Krell)
- Lower costs for foster youth to attend California colleges and universities. (AB 2768, Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens)
Stabilizing Energy Prices, Strengthening Partnerships
Speaker Rivas also made stabilizing Californians’ energy and utility costs a central part of the Assembly’s affordability agenda.
Under his leadership, the Assembly passed significant legislation to stabilize utility bills, strengthen grid reliability, and invest in California’s clean energy future — while ensuring the benefits of the state’s climate policies are returned directly to families’ pocketbooks.
The Assembly passed a comprehensive energy affordability package in 2025 that will deliver an estimated $3 billion annually in climate credits to households while supporting investments in wildfire prevention, clean transportation, affordable housing, and safe drinking water.
The energy affordability package marked one of the most comprehensive legislative efforts in the country to make energy more affordable and reliable for Californians. This historic accomplishment also delivers:
- A bipartisan partnership with states across the West: Integrating California’s grid with western states will save Californians upward of $1 billion every year on energy costs.
- New jobs: These solutions are estimated to create 287,000 jobs through 2045. As of last year, Cap and Invest had already created 122,000 jobs, plus nearly 14,000 affordable housing projects, and over $9 billion to benefit neighborhoods hit hardest by pollution.
- Significant investments in affordable housing, cleaner buses, safer drinking water, wildfire prevention, and healthier air.
And new bills designed to save Californians money on their utility bills are moving through the legislative process:
- Make sure that, when there are savings for investor-owned utilities due to federal corporate tax changes, those dollars are passed along to ratepayers. (AB 2589, Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin)
- Protect Californians from being stuck with higher electricity costs driven by large energy users like data centers. (AB 2383, Assemblymember Rick Chavez-Zbur)
- Bring greater transparency and accountability to how utility profits are determined so ratepayers can better see how electricity and gas rates are set. (AB 2463, Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris)
- Speed up the process to connect new clean energy projects to the grid, helping California bring more affordable power online faster. (AB 2493, Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris)
- Help connect affordable housing, health facilities and other community projects to power faster. (AB 2518, Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins)
Defending California’s Taxpayers Against Trump’s Attacks
The Assembly has served as California’s frontline of defense against the Trump administration’s relentless attacks on the programs, people, businesses and institutions Californians rely on.
This year, for instance, Speaker Rivas and the Assembly acted fast to protect women’s reproductive health, keep clinics and Planned Parenthood doors open, and avoid reductions in services.
In February, California accelerated $90 million in critical funding to protect access to reproductive and women’s health care services statewide, ensuring Planned Parenthood centers remain open and able to provide essential care — including cancer screenings, contraception, STD testing and treatment, and safe abortion services — even as federal actions have forced clinic closures in other states.
Speaker Rivas and Assembly Democrats stood up against Trump’s cuts, threats and attacks by using every tool available to protect Californians and defend the institutions that serve them:
- State Litigation Fund: Approved a $25 million fund enabling the DOJ to pursue legal recourse when the federal government withholds emergency aid or takes unconstitutional action against California — including disaster relief, school funding, and health care.
- Legal services for vulnerable Californians: Provided hundreds of millions in legal assistance for immigrant communities and other vulnerable Californians, including veterans, people with disabilities, seniors, those facing eviction, and victims of domestic violence and wage theft.
- Holding ICE accountable: Enacted dozens of laws and continue to advance legislation to defend against Trump’s indiscriminate immigration raids, empowering state law enforcement to investigate federal agent killings, imposing new levies on detention centers, requiring disclosures when ICE is present in communities and preventing locals from assisting heartless immigration raids.
- Protecting Medi-Cal: The 2026-27 budget avoids and delays the most harmful cuts to Medi-Cal coverage, rejects the proposed asset test, and delays cuts to clinics, dental care, and In-Home Supportive Services.
- Protecting food assistance: The budget safeguards CalFresh and nutrition programs in the face of federal threats to SNAP funding.
- Election integrity investments: The 2026-27 budget includes new investments to safeguard and speed up elections — increased staffing, voter outreach and education, and measures to combat misinformation.
Oversight, Accountability and Making Sure Government Truly Works for Californians
Speaker Rivas has reshaped the Assembly into a Legislature focused not only on passing laws, but also on ensuring government delivers meaningful results for Californians.
To improve the quality and effectiveness of legislation, Speaker Rivas announced in 2024 that the Assembly would reduce the number of bills each member can introduce — lowering the number legislators can carry from 50 to 35. The result: lawmakers have introduced the lowest number of new bills in two decades, with bill introductions down nearly 13% compared to the previous session and 608 fewer bills introduced overall.
Building on that commitment to results, Speaker Rivas launched the Assembly’s first-of-its-kind Outcomes Review process to evaluate whether new laws are working as intended — because passing a new law isn’t the finish line, it’s just the beginning.
In 2026, 15 Assembly members are using this new tool to review how their legislation has been implemented, with public hearings covering affordable housing, farmworker housing, online charitable platforms, community solar, mortgage forbearance and insurance, and groundwater recharge. At the end of the legislative year, the process will result in a summary of findings and proposals for next steps.
In 2024, Speaker Rivas also created Budget Subcommittee 7 — an oversight committee dedicated to ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent effectively and efficiently. The subcommittee has held three consecutive years of oversight hearings on a variety of key issues, such as homelessness spending, leading directly to stronger oversight requirements, stricter accountability conditions on local governments, and enhanced public transparency for future homelessness funding.
Together, these reforms reflect Speaker Rivas’ belief that good government requires not only bold ideas, but also a commitment to measuring results, improving performance, and ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and effectively.