State Senate doubles down on Golden State commitment to stabilize insurance market and protect Californians

As Californians continue to face skyrocketing insurance rates in the aftermath of numerous deadly firestorms over the past decade, Senate Leader Mike McGuire (D-North Coast) and a coalition of senators are moving forward with solutions to help stabilize the state's insurance market.

Just a few weeks ago, the Senate announced a sweeping legislative package — the Golden State Commitment — to expedite rebuilding of neighborhoods and communities destroyed by wildfires, invest in schools that have been impacted by wildfires and make communities more fire-safe.

Now, the Senate is advancing additional legislation focused on long-term stability of the state's insurance market.

Specifically, these bills will:

Develop an Insurance Community Hardening Commission to create statewide standards for wildfire mitigation across high-risk communities. By creating one set of bedrock standards (and the homeowner complying with those hardening standards), homeowners, developers, and builders can more easily comply with mitigations. This will finally allow homeowners a simpler path forward to access insurance or keep their standard homeowners insurance policy. (SB 616, Senators Rubio, Cortese, and Stern)

Establish the nation's first public catastrophic model for wildfires. This transparency tool evens the playing field and finally allows the public — not just insurance companies — access to their property's risk score. If homeowners know what their risk score is, they can mitigate wildfire risk to bring down wildfire liability at their home and property. (SB 429, Senator Cortese)

Expand the one-year non-renewal moratorium, which currently only covers residential policies, to include commercial policies to help small businesses recover. This will not only benefit small businesses, but multifamily residences like condominiums. (SB 547, Senators Perez, and Rubio)

Require annual inspections to maintain defensible space requirements in Very High Fire Severity Zones. This will allow homeowners to keep up to date with defensible space requirements, both lowering their fire risk and helping them maintain their insurance policy. (SB 629, Senator Durazo)

Require insurance companies to pay wildfire survivors 100% of their contents coverage (after their home is destroyed by wildfire) without needing a detailed inventory list. It also grants consumers additional time — at least 180 days — to provide proof of loss to their insurance company following a declared state of emergency. (SB 495, Allen)

"We have been sounding the alarm on the pending insurance crisis for years and it has become unsustainable," said Pro Tem Mike McGuire. "This is why California is making historic investments to reduce fire risk, make our communities more fire safe, and aggressively respond to wildfire. There's much more that needs to be done—and the Senate is doubling down on commonsense, effective measures that protect consumers, harden communities, hold insurers accountable, and ensure the market returns to stable ground."

"This is a moment of clarity and purpose. We must implement necessary changes now to tackle climate challenges, incentivize insurers to expand in our state, and strengthen consumer protections. Our role is to assist people in recovering while preparing for future wildfires, ensuring that insurance companies remain stable and solvent to protect consumers and fulfill their claims," said Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. "These proposals advance our efforts to resolve the state's insurance crisis, and I thank these Senators for collaborating with me on various bills. These measures build on my executive actions and complement my Sustainable Insurance Strategy, which was finalized last year. My goal remains unchanged: to enhance consumer protections, integrate insurance into our climate strategy, and stabilize our market."

"It's time to get smarter about how we build in the state," said Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), Chair of the Senate Insurance Committee. "California families are struggling to afford insurance and making impossible choices between safety and groceries. That's unacceptable. The Insurance Community Hardening Commission will bring together the best and brightest to take lessons from past wildfires to ensure we build safer and stronger to mitigate future catastrophes. By strengthening building standards and improving efficiency, we can protect communities, lower insurance costs, and put money back in the pockets of hardworking Californians."

"Small businesses need our help and this is exactly what our bill does," said Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena). "SB 547 implements the same insurance protections provided to residential homeowners within the wildfire zones. This commonsense bill expands the one-year moratorium to prevent insurance cancellations or notices of nonrenewal. Our small businesses and nonprofits are vital members of our community and deserve to have this protection during the disaster recovery."

"We need to be making it easier for Californians who lost their homes during these catastrophic wildfires," said Sen. Ben Allen (D-Los Angeles). "By guaranteeing full coverage of their contents inventory, we are reducing the mental and logistical hurdles homeowners currently have to jump through to receive their insurance claims that they've been paying for through their policies. SB 495 would also extend deadlines for homeowners to provide proof of loss, providing needed flexibility while they try to get back on their feet."

"California's nation-leading public wildfire catastrophe model will forever change how we plan and prepare for future wildfires," said Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose). "This transparent, data-driven approach will provide insight for state and local emergency planners, aid wildfire safety efforts that protect lives and property of homeowners, increase research on the effectiveness of wildfire prevention efforts, and ultimately consumer relief."

McGuire represents the North Coast of California, which stretches from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border, including Del Norte, Trinity, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin counties.