SACRAMENTO, California — A California Democrat’s legislative proposal aimed at recouping rising property insurance costs due to climate change from oil and gas companies failed to pass the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday evening.
What happened: Sen. Scott Wiener’s SB 982 would have authorized the attorney general to sue large fossil fuel companies to recover costs tied to California’s strained property insurance market, including losses borne by the FAIR Plan and rising premiums for homeowners.
The proposal, introduced in February, was a narrower version of last year’s SB 222, which sought to give both individuals and insurance companies a legal pathway to sue oil and gas companies for climate damages. That bill also stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee amid opposition from labor and business groups, which argued the increased liability could raise costs and violate due process.
Moderate Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee cited similar arguments on Tuesday when declining to vote for SB 982. They didn’t object to Wiener’s request for reconsideration, however, meaning the bill could come back in a later hearing.
