SACRAMENTO – Today, the Senate approved Senate Bill 867, authored by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego). This bill is a first-in-the-nation piece of legislation placing a 4-year moratorium on the sale and manufacturing of toys with artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot capabilities for children under 18. The purpose of this legislation is to allow time for safety regulations to be developed to protect children from dangerous AI interactions.

The California State Senate passed SB 913 by Senator Josh Becker (D–Menlo Park) to create an improved pathway for customer-owned resources (e.g., home batteries, electric vehicles, thermostats), to compete fairly with other resources (e.g., peaker plants, diesel generators) to offer the least cost option for providing reliability to the electric grid.

SACRAMENTO – Today, the California State Senate passed Senate Bill 876 authored by Senate Insurance Committee Chair Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) and California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara which would comprehensively reform the insurance claims process by cutting red tape, improving payouts, and ending delays and runarounds by insurance companies.

SB 1301 (Allen) Advances to Assembly for Consideration to Mitigate Nonrenewals
SACRAMENTO – Senator Ben Allen (D-Pacific Palisades) advanced SB 1301 through the Senate before Friday’s deadline. The measure provides property owners with more time and opportunity to maintain their insurance coverage before being dropped by their provider.

In addition to significantly expanding California’s scientific research capacity, the bill includes first-in-the-nation requirements to lower health costs by requiring discounts on drugs discovered with public research funding, and allowing the state to recoup some funds from successful discoveries.

New law takes effect immediately and strengthens protections for voters, ballots and election infrastructure

SACRAMENTO, CA – On May 27, 2026, Senator Lena Gonzalez’s (D-Long Beach) bill to limit the use of flash-bang devices for crowd control and prohibit the use of flash-bangs and explosive breaching charges for immigration enforcement by local, state, and federal officers, passed the Senate on a vote of 29-9. 
 

Bill Heads to Assembly After 29-7 Vote; Would Remove 2027 Sunset on Attorney General's Inspection Framework

SACRAMENTO – This week, the California State Senate passed Senate Bills 886 and 887, two measures authored by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) designed to protect California ratepayers from the potential increased costs and environmental damage caused by data centers.

Today, the California State Senate passed SB 905 by Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), legislation focused on strengthening utility accountability and addressing the underlying drivers of rising electricity costs for Californians.