Dear Neighbor,

At the Capitol, we’ve reached the deadline to introduce new legislation, and I’m excited to share about my 2025 bills with you. This year, I’ve introduced:

• Senate Bill 48 – Protecting every child’s right to a safe education, regardless of immigration status.
• Senate Bill 12 – Establishing an Immigrant and Refugee Affairs Agency to enhance support for immigrant and refugee families in California.
• Senate Bill 263, The PRICE Act – Studying the impact of tariffs on businesses, workers, affordability, and California’s economy.

I recently stood alongside Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire and a strong coalition of Senators to announce a bold legislative package to strengthen California’s wildfire response, improve recovery efforts, and make our communities more wildfire-resilient. The Golden State Commitment legislative package includes 13 initial bills and several budget proposals to, among other things:

• Speed-up residential rebuilds 
• Provide property tax relief
• Protect consumers from price gouging
• Expand insurance protections for small businesses
• Provide desperately needed resources for impacted school districts 
• Transition all 3,000 seasonal CAL FIRE firefighters to full-time, permanent status
• Establish an Insurance Community Hardening Commission to create consistent, data-driven minimum fire standards for high fire risk communities

For those affected by the Los Angeles fires, my office continues to update our website with critical resources and deadlines, some of the latest including:

• Available relief grants
• Covered California special enrollment 
• FEMA assistance applications
• SBA Disaster loans for physical property damage
• Debris removal process information and more

Students going to college in the fall of 2025 have a little more time to apply for financial aid. The state priority deadline in California was just extended to April 2, 2025. Don’t miss out on grants and scholarships! Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the California Dream Act Application (CADAA) today.

Finally, I had the honor of celebrating the 2025 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award recipients on the Senate Floor, including Helen Iris Torres, CEO of Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE)! These leaders exemplify the kind of vision and dedication we need to improve people’s lives, create opportunity and build a stronger California—congratulations to all on this well-deserved recognition!

As always, if you need any other information or assistance, don't hesitate to get in touch with my office at (562) 256-7921 or send us a message here.