July 24, 2023
Jul 24, 2023, 8:08 AM
With about three months left in the first year of the 2023-24 legislative session, the Legislature continues to debate hundreds of bills with many of them moving over to the second house. Of the 2,600 bills that were introduced earlier in the year, hundreds have been put on hold but there remains about 1,000 bills that are still alive as they survived the June 2 house of origin deadline. These bills will now be scrutinized with additional analysis as the Legislature approaches a July 14 deadline to move bills out of second-house policy committees in the Senate and Assembly Floors, and ultimately a September 14 deadline for all bills to pass the Legislature for Governor Newsom’s consideration. Below are some of the key forestry and wildfire-related bills FLC is monitoring with recommended positions.
January 20, 2023
Apr 10, 2023, 9:53 AM
Now that all 35 new legislators elected in November 2022 have settled into their offices, the coveted requests of committee selections have also been decided. During the last two weeks, the Senate and Assembly leaders have announced new committee chairs and full committee assignments for the 2023-24 legislative session.
December 15, 2022
Dec 22, 2022, 4:05 PM
On December 5, the California Legislature convened its organizational session to begin the regular session of the 2023-24 legislative session, including swearing in several new legislators and electing the legislative leaders of each house. The most significant change will come in the Assembly leadership where the Democrat Caucus selected a new Assembly Speaker-Designee with the election of Assembly Member Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) who will replace current Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Los Angeles), who terms out in 2024. The changeover is expected to take place on June 30, 2023, after adoption of the state’s budget. With the change, there will be some changes with committee chairs which could come early in the session or after Speaker-designee Rivas officially assumes the lead role.
September 29, 2022
Dec 22, 2022, 3:55 PM
For the 2022 legislative session, the Legislature sent nearly 900 bills to Governor Newsom on various subjects, and he had until September 30 to either sign or veto them. As the session ended on August 30, climate change bills took center stage as the governor pushed a package of bills that seek to cement California’s nation-leading role in climate policy. This included legislation to codify the state’s carbon neutrality goals by 2045, and legislation requiring state agencies to expedite their compliance in meeting the state’s 60% renewable portfolio standard by 2030 and a 100% clean energy standard by 2045. Other bills will require mandatory setbacks for new oil production wells from neighborhoods and establish a process for implementing carbon capture and storage.
Key Upcoming Dates
Aug 24, 2021, 6:47 PM
The 2021 legislative session is getting closer to wrapping up but not before the Legislature took its month-long summer recess which started on July 16. Prior to that, legislators debated several bills during a three-week period so bills could meet the July 14 policy committee deadline.
July 7, 2022
Sep 4, 2022, 2:45 PM
Governor Newsom and Democrat leaders inked a budget deal just before the Legislature adjourned for a month-long summer recess starting July 1. The budget deal came together after agreements were reached to return several billion dollars back to taxpayers in the form of tax rebates.
May 18, 2022
Jun 16, 2022, 10:07 AM
On May 13th Governor Newsom released his revised 2022-23 budget (May Revise) during a press conference where he outlined his priorities on how to spend an unexpected, and unprecedented, $100 billion surplus. The May Revise supersedes what the Governor presented in his January budget, and the Senate and Assembly Budget committees are now reviewing it to determine what they will agree on before the June 15th budget deadline, which the Governor must then by July 1st.
May 6, 2022
Jun 16, 2022, 10:57 AM
During FLC’s 2022 Annual Meeting in Chester, Brian White, KP Public Affairs, delivered an update on legislative budgets including the Governor’s proposed multi-year package. He provided a review on key legislation landscape – bills that FLC supports, opposes and watches. Click into the PDF of his slide presentation to learn more.
Track Bills by visiting http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov and use the Quick Bill Search function.
Appellate Decision on WFMP Case
Good News -- Exemptions and NTMPs
CAL FIRE has reversed its policy change regarding the acceptance of exemptions for NTMPs. Please refer to the link below to view the letter from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Ken Pimlott) to the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Keith Gilless).
Should you have any questions, please send an email to the FLC Legislative Committee at legchair@forestlandowners.org.
Letter and Supporting Content from CAL FIRE to Board of Forestry
Legislative Committee Assignments
Public Policy Institute of California
The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) issued a report in mid-September on the status of forest health in the Headwaters Forests. On September 20, there was a panel debriefing on the report. Click on the links below to download the documents.
If you are interested in wathcing the panel debrief, the video is posted on the PPIC's website: