It was seen as a way to help give certainty to those rebuilding after last year\u2019s Los Angeles-area fires, and other disasters, that they will be able to secure coverage if they pay for expensive efforts to make their new homes less likely to go up in flames.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we want Californians to build back safer, we must also ensure they have a pathway to stay insured,\u201d its author, state Sen. Sasha Ren\u00e9e P\u00e9rez, D-Alhambra, said of the bill before it died in the Senate Insurance Committee.<\/a><\/p>\n The proposal originally would have required companies to cover the homes of individuals who take specific steps to make their homes more fireproof, an idea that advocates and legislators have pitched for years.<\/p>\n Companies have adamantly opposed efforts to do so, arguing that work on individual homes here or there does not substantially reduce the risk of a major blaze, and remained against the bill even after P\u00e9rez agreed to an array of changes that included calling for the pilot program.<\/p>\n Seren Taylor, a lobbyist for the Personal Insurance Federation of California<\/a>, an industry trade group, called the measure a \u201cdirect threat to insurance solvency.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA multiyear coverage requirement significantly increases accumulation risk in California wildfire territory. Even if a property is measurably better on defensible space or hardening it remains exposed to extreme events,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cThe outline includes no mechanism to ensure rates are adequate or exposure is manageable. That combination is not workable. Insurers would be forced to guarantee coverage in high-risk areas even if they\u2019re losing billions of dollars and cannot sustain the business.\u201d<\/p>\n State Sen. Steve Padilla, D-Chula Vista, who chairs the committee, chided the businesses for their continued opposition to the amended bill, saying they had emphasized in past conversations that reducing the risk of fires would help them to insure more homes in the state.<\/p>\n \u201cTo come in and kill a bill that does exactly what the industry has said is the major dynamic in what causes them to not be able to write policies, I personally find a little offensive,\u201d Padilla said. \u201cAnd a little disingenuous.\u201d<\/p>\n He had worked with P\u00e9rez on the proposed changes.<\/p>\n The new program would have only applied to five communities across the state instead of all of California and the coverage guarantee would have only occurred if specific goals created by a group of insurance, fire and other experts were met.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the first time you have a pilot of this nature ever,\u201d Padilla said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s imperfect, yes. Is it necessary? Yes!\u201d<\/p>\n Currently, companies provide discounts to homeowners who take steps to add more fire-resistant roofs and windows and clear vegetation from around their houses, along with other actions. But those savings can sometimes be small compared<\/a> with the cost of making the changes.<\/p>\n State Sens. Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, and Laura Richardson, D-San Pedro, declined to vote on the measure. One needed to vote for it to pass. The two Republicans on the committee voted against it.<\/p>\n Carmen Balber, executive director of the advocacy organization Consumer Watchdog<\/a>, had a positive view of what was a disappointing outcome for the group.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was an historic day that the Legislature actually finally debated whether or not people should get insurance coverage if they do what they\u2019re supposed to and make their homes fire safe,\u201d she said. Previous proposals had not even received a hearing.<\/p>\n The ideas included in the measure could still appear in another bill later this year.<\/p>\n P\u00e9rez, in a statement, said: \u201cFire survivors deserved better. This legislation mattered.\u201d<\/p>\n This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 10:08 AM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n
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