On Six Month Anniversary of Los Angeles Firestorms, New Legislation Supports Homeowner Path to Rebuilding

SACRAMENTO—  On the six-month anniversary of the devastating Southern California firestorms, Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) and Assembly Democrats reaffirm their commitment to helping residents and families who lost their homes remain on a path to recovery.

“We continue to move with urgency to help L.A. rebuild, passing and enacting new laws and legislation that fast-track construction of homes, repair schools, expedite insurance claims, and help survivors heal. This work will not stop, and California will always be there for Los Angeles on its path to recovery,” Speaker Rivas said on Monday.

After making a commitment to do so in January, California Assembly Democrats have moved swiftly to introduce, pass, and enact new laws to make it easier and quicker for Southern Californians to remove debris and damage from the firestorms, repair their communities, and start rebuilding. 

New laws and legislation to support and help L.A. recover and rebuild include:

• Landmark legislation to make it easier and less costly for homeowners to rebuild: The Assembly passed AB 130, and the Governor signed it into law on June 30. This will provide more certainty for homeowners who hope to rebuild, and make it easier to construct new housing, especially in central cities where people need housing the most. AB 130 incorporates the policies of AB 306 (Schultz), which temporarily freezes building codes and will allow for expedited rebuilding after natural disasters, and AB 609 (Wicks), which broadly exempts infill housing from CEQA and will ensure California can build more affordable homes, faster.

Legislation the Assembly has already passed during the first six months of 2025:

• AB 226 (Calderon and Alvarez): This will alleviate some of the uncertainty that FAIR Plan policy holders may encounter and will also stabilize the insurance market by protecting the plan. It received unanimous support upon passage of the Assembly and awaits a vote on the Senate Floor.
• AB 299 (Gabriel and Rivas): Permits hotels, motels, and short-term rentals to provide shelter for more than 30 days to individuals who have lost their housing in a disaster without establishing a landlord-tenant relationship.
• AB 380 (Mark Gonzalez): Expands laws to protect consumers from price gouging after natural disasters.
• AB 462 (Lowenthal and Rivas): Exempts the construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) from the requirement to obtain a coastal development permit in the County of Los Angeles, and in any county subject to a Governor’s proclamation of a state of emergency on or after February 1.
• AB 468 (Gabriel): Strengthens penalties for looting and impersonating first responders during a disaster.
• AB 493 (Harabedian): Requires financial institutions to pay interest to homeowners for insurance proceeds held in escrow following property damage or loss. The bill would apply to homeowners affected by wildfires after January 1, 2026, and those impacted by the L.A. wildfires whose refunds have not been disbursed.
• AB 597 (Harabedian): Strengthens consumer protections for insurance policyholders working with public adjusters. These protections include: ensuring that contracts between policyholders and public adjusters specify the exact claims and coverages they apply to; capping public adjuster fees at 15% of the insurer’s payout when claims relate to catastrophic disasters or states of emergency; and allowing policyholders to void contracts if the adjuster misrepresents or hides important details.
• AB 1032 (Harabedian): Requires health insurers to cover up to 12 annual behavioral health visits per year to Californians affected by wildfires.

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Instagram: @caspeakerrivas

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