Assemblywoman Heather Hadwick’s Newsletter
Serving the People of Assembly District 1
This week is “End of Session” in Sacramento, when the Legislature must pass all bills by Saturday if they want to be signed into law. Once Session ends on September 13th, lawmakers will head into Interim Recess until January 5th.
Normally, deadlines are clear and set early in the year through the Legislative Calendar. This year’s Joint Rules set Friday, September 12th as the final day to pass bills. Because bills must be in print for at least 72 hours before a vote, any amendments had to be made by Tuesday evening.
But several big-ticket proposals (including reauthorizing Cap-and-Trade, allocating revenues, expanding the Wildfire Fund, creating a regional electrical grid, and an oil and gas package) didn’t come together until Wednesday. That meant they couldn’t be voted on in time.
As a result, the Legislature waived its rules to give itself extra time, allowing votes to extend into Saturday, September 13th, so these late-developing deals can still move forward.
To read about the current status of Hadwick’s bills and other hot topics as of Friday at 5 p.m., keep scrolling down.
Legislative Update
*Please note, the Legislature will be in Session on Saturday, September 13th,
so bill status reports published below are subject to change*
Assemblywoman Hadwick’s Bills
AB 438: Authorizes OES vehicles to drive Code III for emergency response.
- Status: On the Governor’s desk.
AB 584: Updates secure storage rules for licensed gun dealers and manufacturers, allowing the use of steel doors with panic hardware and multipoint locks to better protect firearms when businesses are closed. This is the first pro-Second Amendment bill signed in California in over 20 years.
- Status: Signed into law & chaptered.
AB 870: Allows Alpine County to team up with other counties to manage children’s health services.
- Status: Awaiting a vote on the Senate Floor.
AB 889: Prevailing wage: per diem wages.
- Status: Awaiting a vote on the Assembly Floor.
AB 959: Allows county offices of education and school districts to offer administrative Internships.
- Status: Awaiting a vote on the Assembly Floor.
AB 993: Rural CUPA Reimbursement Account.
- Status: On the Governor’s desk.
ACR 17: National Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists Week.
- Status: Signed and chaptered.
ACR 31: California Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.
- Status: Signed and chaptered.
Bills Co-Authored by Assemblywoman Hadwick
AB 1: Makes sure new home hardening and community fire prevention efforts are recognized in insurance rates.
- Status: On the Governor’s desk.
AB 221: Expands the Tribal Nation Grant Fund to include revenues from class III gaming secretarial procedures and revises grant rules by requiring the panel to distribute at least $600,000 or 85% of available funds as equal-share grants to eligible tribes, with the remainder available for specific project grants, while removing prior encumbrance and return requirements.
- Status: On the Governor’s desk.
AB 258: Increases funding support for California’s Fairs.
- Status: On the Governor’s desk.
AB 290: This bill requires the California FAIR Plan to offer automatic premium payments by April 1, 2026, while ensuring policies cannot be canceled or nonrenewed solely for not enrolling in auto-pay.
- Status: Awaiting a vote on the Assembly Floor.
AB 468: This bill strengthens anti-looting laws by clarifying that disaster damage does not preclude burglary convictions and by expanding the definition of looting to include burglary, theft, trespass, and theft from vehicles committed in evacuation zones, covering areas under evacuation orders or warnings and residential dwellings for up to one to three years after evacuation with enhanced penalties.
- Status: On the Governor’s desk.
AB 524: This bill creates the Farmland Access and Conservation for Thriving Communities Program, requiring the Department of Conservation to provide financial and technical assistance through a new Farmland Access Fund and potential nonprofit partners to help acquire and protect agricultural lands for transfer or long-term lease to qualified farmers, contingent on legislative funding.
- Status: On the Governor’s desk.
AB 888: This bill establishes the California Safe Homes grant program, administered by the Department of Insurance and funded through a new Sustainable Insurance Account, to help individuals, cities, counties, and special districts retrofit properties to reduce wildfire losses, with priority criteria for awards and biennial performance reports to the Legislature.
- Status: Awaiting a vote on the Senate Floor.
AB 1042: Creates a Managed Honeybee Health Program to improve the health and well-being of managed honeybees in California and supports pollination services critical to California’s agriculture and rural economy.
- Status: On the Governor’s desk.
AB 1264: Directs state agencies to define which ultra-processed foods are especially harmful, then phase those out so that school meals are healthier for kids.
- Status: On the Governor’s desk.
AB 1378: Allows tribes to enter agreements with the state for child custody and prevention services and provides funding for legal representation to support Indian children and families.
- Status: On the Governor’s desk.
AB 1485: This bill allows federally recognized tribes and their entities to qualify for property tax exemptions on land used for natural resource or open-space preservation from 2026–27 through 2031–32, exempts tribal land return transactions from documentary transfer taxes until 2031, and includes reporting, reimbursement, and immediate tax levy provisions.
- Status: Awaiting a vote on the Assembly Floor.
SB 41: Helps keep local, independent pharmacies open so rural families can get their prescriptions close to home and makes sure pharmacy benefit managers play fair, protecting against hidden markups and forcing people to use big chain pharmacies.
- Status: On the Governor’s desk.
SB 87: Ensures more dollars go toward equipment, training, and serving the community and extends the existing sales tax exemption for all-volunteer fire departments through January 1, 2031.
- Status: On the Governor’s desk.
AJR 12: Calls on Congress and the President of the United States to protect and increase funding for Head Start.
- Status: Signed and chaptered.
ACR 102: Recognizes the importance of California Native American Day, observed on September 26, 2025, and the annual California Indian Cultural Awareness Conference in promoting greater understanding of California Indian culture.
- Status: On the Governor’s desk.
ACR 39: Designates the month of May 2025 as California’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Awareness Month.
- Status: Signed and chaptered.
Hot Topics/Legislation
AB 84: Creates stricter auditing and accounting standards for charter schools, especially non-classroom-based (NCB) charters.
- Status: Placed on the Senate Inactive file.
- Hadwick’s statement on AB 84: “Assembly Bill 84 went too far by punishing schools in my rural district that provide critical services in good faith. These non-classroom-based charters help low-income, disabled, and high-need students flourish by offering flexible learning, connecting them to career technical education, and preparing them for college. I’m relieved the bill will not move forward this year, but if it’s re-introduced next year, we will resume our fight against this restrictive legislation.”
AB 339: Would require local agencies to give employee organizations at least 45 days’ written notice before issuing or renewing contracts for services covered by their job classifications.
- Hadwick’s Vote: No
- Status: On the Governor’s desk.
AB 495: sets up joint guardianship for temporary caregiving during a parent’s absence.
- Hadwick’s Vote: No
- Status: On the Governor’s desk.
- Hadwick’s reaction to the passage of AB 495: “My constituents in rural California, hardworking families who care deeply about their children’s safety and trust their communities, have made it clear: this bill crosses the line. As a mother, former teacher and emergency manager, I know firsthand who safety and trust are critical in a crisis. Lawmakers have a duty to protect kids, and unfortunately, this bill goes too far and puts them in jeopardy. I stand with parents, educators, and law enforcement in urging the Governor to veto AB 495.”
AB 531: Would expand the types of facilities eligible to be certified as environmental leadership development projects by the Energy Commission to include geothermal powerplants and projects that comprise multiple geothermal powerplants on a single site.
- Status: Awaiting a vote in the Assembly.
- Hadwick on AB 531: “I appreciate the intent of Assembly Bill 531 and recognize the importance of expanding geothermal energy as a reliable, renewable power source for California’s future. However, this bill removes meaningful local input by shifting land-use authority to the California Energy Commission, disregarding the sensitive natural and tribal resources in counties like Modoc and Siskiyou. Because a simple amendment to require local county support was not adopted, I oppose AB 531.”
SB 414: Makes broad changes to K–12 and charter school oversight by expanding audit and compliance requirements, creating an Office of the Education Inspector General, strengthening teacher credential monitoring, extending limits on charter flex-based schools, revising funding and renewal standards, imposing new fiscal accountability rules, and establishing grant programs and contracting policies, while constituting a state-mandated local program.
- Status: Awaiting a vote in the Assembly.
To keep updated on the status of legislation, check out Assemblywoman Hadwick’s social media or Leg Info.
Assemblywoman Hadwick has been actively engaging with media outlets to discuss critical issues affecting our district.
https://www.rcrcnet.org/general/rcrcs-rural-cupa-reimbursement-bill-heads-to-governor-newsom
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