SACRAMENTO, California — A key California state Senate committee on Wednesday sided with business interests over environmental and consumer groups by voting down two proposals aimed at addressing the state’s insurance crisis. One would have targeted oil and gas companies, and the other sought to expand coverage in fire-prone areas.
What happened: The state Senate Insurance Committee declined to pass SB 982, a bill by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D) that aimed to recoup rising property insurance costs from the oil and gas industry, and SB 1076, a bill by state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez (D) that would have required property insurers to cover properties in fire-prone areas if they meet fire mitigation standards.
In a rare move, a majority of the committee declined to support the bills, even though state Sen. Steve Padilla (D), the committee’s new chair this year, voted to advance them.
Padilla said that he was “perturbed” and “concerned” before the final vote came in for Pérez’s bill, which got 3 yes votes and 2 no votes. He said the bill deserved “a chance to continue to be worked, and not to die in this committee.”
