On October 13, the Governor took action on the measures that remained on his desk for consideration. Of the 917 bills sent to the Governor’s desk during this legislative year, 794 were signed, and 123 vetoed. Of those measures, RCRC-sponsored Assembly Bill 993 (Hadwick, R-Alturas) was signed into law. Conversely, RCRC-sponsored Assembly Bill 632 (Hart, D-Santa Barbara) was vetoed in the final days of consideration.
Assembly Bill 632 (Hart), would have strengthened local enforcement mechanisms for state housing law violations, fire hazards, and unlicensed cannabis activities by providing more penalty collection options and clarifying local jurisdictions’ ability to collect fines and penalties through ordinary priority lien. The Governor’s veto message can be read here. For more information, contact RCRC Senior Policy Advocate, Sarah Dukett.
Assembly Bill 993 (Hadwick), expands eligibility for CalEPA’s Rural Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) Reimbursement program to additionally include Alpine, Amador, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Mono, Napa, Nevada, San Benito, Siskiyou, and Tuolumne Counties.
Under the program, small counties with a population under 150,000 residents whose CUPAs were established after January 1, 2000, were eligible for state reimbursement of up to 75% of program implementation costs, up to $60,000, annually. Thirteen counties are currently eligible for the Rural CUPA Reimbursement Program. AB 993 expands eligibility to the remaining twelve counties with fewer than 150,000 residents.
AB 993 will increase local capacity to respond to wildfires and other hazardous material emergencies; ensure first responders are aware of the dangerous chemicals and substances stored in the buildings throughout the communities they protect; and help prevent underground and aboveground storage tank leaks that may contaminate land and drinking water supplies.
For more information on AB 993, contact RCRC Senior Policy Advocate, John Kennedy.
Many of RCRC’s other sponsored measures may still be acted upon in January 2026. To learn more, see here.
Now that the fate of legislation has been determined, attention turns to Proposition 50, which is before the voters on the November 4th Statewide Special Election ballot. At the September meeting of the RCRC Board of Directors, the board received a presentation on the background of the measure and discussed the impacts on rural communities. The Board raised concerns about the effects on governance, as well as the erosion of transparency and fair representation for rural communities. As determined ahead of the meeting in consultation with the RCRC Officers, the item was subsequently brought to RCRC’s October Executive Committee meeting for consideration of a position (memo available here). After consideration of the feedback received from the Board in September, the RCRC Executive Committee adopted a position of “Oppose” on Proposition 50, with seven members voting in favor and none against. One member abstained, and another was absent from the meeting. Specifically, the Executive Committee noted that it undermines the “good government” reforms of Proposition 11 and Proposition 20, and dilutes the rural community of interest in California’s Congressional representation. RCRC’s Executive Committee also provided initial feedback on H.R. 4889 (Kiley), H.R. 5449 (Lofgren), and S. 2885 (Padilla) for possible consideration by the Board of Directors at a future meeting.
Meanwhile, the California Legislature remains on interim recess and is scheduled to reconvene on Monday, January 5th.
For more information, contact RCRC Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, Mary-Ann Warmerdam.