California lawmaker proposes income tax deduction for homeowners’ insurance

Billed as an effort to tackle affordability issues in the state, a new proposal pitched last week by an Orange County legislator would offer a full state income tax deduction for homeowners insurance premiums.

Editor’s note: Sacramento Snapshot is a weekly series during the legislative session detailing what Orange County’s representatives in the Assembly and Senate are working on — from committee work to bill passages and more.

Under the plan, homeowners would be allowed to deduct the full cost of the insurance premiums for their primary residence on their state taxes, Assemblymember Kate Sanchez, R-Rancho Santa Margarita, said. It builds on other deductions that cover mortgage interest and property taxes, Sanchez said, and would be in place from the 2026 tax year through 2031.

“Homeowners across California are being pushed to the brink by rising insurance costs,” Sanchez said. “[Assembly Bill] 1620 provides real relief by putting money back in their pockets and helping them stay in their homes.”

Sanchez told lawmakers last week the bill would alleviate higher insurance premium costs homeowners are experiencing, especially as insurers are moving out of state or dropping coverage. She said the bill would “help many Californians achieve and maintain the dream of home ownership.”

The bill is backed by the Southern California Rental Housing Association, which said the broader housing market, too, feels the effects of rising insurance costs.

“California’s housing providers and homeowners are facing rapidly escalating insurance costs, and, in many regions, declining availability of coverage due to wildfire risk and market withdrawals by insurers,” the group said in the bill analysis. “These trends place increasing financial strain on property owners and threaten housing stability across the state.”

“When property insurance becomes more expensive or difficult to obtain, it increases operating costs for housing providers and ultimately contributes to higher housing costs statewide,” it said.

Yet, the California Tax Reform Association opposes the bill, saying it will ultimately result in taxpayers subsidizing “well-off homeowners in high-risk areas.”

“While we understand that the insurance market has many problems, it is a problem which will have to be resolved in the insurance market, not paid for by taxpayers,” the organization said. “In particular, with a progressive income tax, it is clear that higher-income homeowners will benefit disproportionately from this deduction.”

Sanchez, meanwhile, said in a statement on Friday, “For many seniors and families, this is the difference between staying in their home or being forced out.”

The bill was heard in the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation last week, and it was referred to what’s called the suspense file, a process in the statehouse where bills with fiscal impacts are set aside in the Appropriations Committee for later consideration.

In other news:

• Sen. Tony Strickland’s proposal to suspend the state gas tax for one year was essentially killed in committee last week.

“To say I’m disappointed is an understatement,” said Strickland, R-Huntington Beach. “I’m frustrated because we have an opportunity to help working families at a time when we have an affordability crisis. Democrats in Sacramento refused to help struggling Californians.”

Five of the seven members of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee either voted against the bill or did not vote at all, effectively killing it. Legislators on the committee later agreed to grant what’s called reconsideration, meaning there is a chance, albeit slim, that Strickland’s Senate Bill 1035 could be brought up again.

• A bill prohibiting the sale of nitrous oxide canisters except for use in certain industries got early approval in the statehouse last week.

From Sen. Catherine Blakespear, a Democrat who represents communities in southern Orange County, Senate Bill 936 limits the public sale of nitrous oxide canisters larger than 8 grams to certain industries, including automotive, culinary, dental and medical.

Known as whippets, these canisters have been used as a recreational drug, especially among youths. According to the National Institutes of Health, inhalants can cause death and/or severe health issues, including suffocation and cardiac arrest.

“The widespread use of nitrous oxide as a recreational drug is dangerous to individuals and to public safety,” Blakespear said. “SB 936 builds on local efforts across the state to limit its sale by creating one statewide standard to make sure nitrous oxide is only sold for its intended purposes.”

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