15 Bills Advance to Governor's Desk

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Today, Senator Thomas J. Umberg (D-Santa Ana) announced that a significant portion of his 2025 Legislative Package passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee and will advance to the Assembly floor and the Governor’s Desk in the coming weeks. 

This package includes bills aimed at cracking down on shady voter influence tactics by billionaires, stopping price gouging during wildfires, fixing gaps in the state’s mental health court system, and ending absurd, sweeping arbitration agreements that bar families from going to court after a loved one’s death because they signed up for a streaming service years ago.

“These aren’t abstract policy debates — these are real problems that Californians face every day,” said Senator Umberg. “Families are being priced out of housing during disasters, denied access to justice after devastating losses, and misled by billionaires trying to buy influence in our elections. These bills are about making sure the law protects people, not just powerful interests. I’m proud to see them move forward with strong support.”

Authored:

SB 27 - Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court Program: A cleanup measure to strengthen the CARE Act by improving coordination between CARE partners, broadening eligibility criteria to include Bipolar I Disorder with psychotic features, and affirming ongoing court oversight of CARE plans. It also enables courts to consider CARE referrals for Misdemeanor Incompetent to Stand Trial (MIST) defendants and allows additional licensed medical professionals to participate.

SB 36 – Preventing Price Gouging During State of Emergency: Establishes new reporting standards for rental platforms, increases penalties for rent hikes during declared emergencies and expands consumer protections to counties within 25 miles of the impacted area.

SB 37 - Protecting Consumer Rights and Public Trust in Consumer Advertising: Modernizes rules for attorney advertising, clarifies definitions and prohibited practices and allows citizen lawsuits against deceptive or unethical advertising tactics.

SB 42 - California Fair Elections Act: Places a measure on the November 2026 ballot allowing voters to decide whether to remove the current prohibition on public campaign financing in California. It sets clear requirements to ensure transparency, protect taxpayer funds, and maximize voter benefit.

SB 47 - February 2025 Bar Exam Audit: Requires the California State Auditor to conduct an audit of the February 2025 bar exam to evaluate the administration of the exam and how the problems occurred. 

SB 54 - Court Fee Waivers for Veterans: Ensures that veterans receiving disability benefits remain eligible for court fee waivers, removing unnecessary barriers to accessing the justice system.

SB 82 - Eliminating Infinite Arbitration Clauses to Protect Consumers:  Ensures that contract terms between businesses and consumers apply only to the specific product or service covered by the agreement at the time of signing and targets overly broad terms and conditions requiring unsuspecting consumers to sign “infinite” arbitration clauses.

SB 83 – Transparency in Substance Abuse Treatment: Requires the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to publicly disclose a summary of violations issued to treatment centers, improving public access to critical safety information.

SB 85 - Alternative e-Service for Court Processing: Allows a plaintiff alternative means of service through email or electronic means when they, with reasonable diligence, cannot reasonably effect service.  

SB 253 - California State Bar Annual License Fee: Requires the State Bar to provide notice to the public if it uses AI in either the creation or grading of the exam and makes the changing of the vendor for the multiple-choice questions a “substantial change” requiring a public two-year notice. 

SB 312 - Puppy Importation Transparency Act: Improves oversight of dog importation by requiring health certificates to be submitted electronically to the California Department of Food and Agriculture within 10 days of shipment.

SB 398 - Criminalizing Election Lotteries: Criminalizes the use of lottery-style incentives to encourage voter registration, reinforcing the integrity and fairness of California elections.

SB 447 - Health Benefits for Children of Deceased First Responders: Extends health care benefits eligibility for children of peace officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty from age 21 to 26.

SB 576 - CALM Act Modernization: Prevents video streaming services that serve consumers in California, from transmitting commercial advertisement audio at levels louder than primary video content. 

SB 645 - Preemptory Challenges in Civil Trial: Preserves current procedures to evaluate the unlawful use of peremptory challenges based on discrimination and removes the provision that would have extended these procedures to civil cases starting in 2026.

For questions about these or any other portion of the Senator’s 2025 Legislative Package, please feel free to contact his Capitol Office at (916) 651-4034. 

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Senator Thomas J. Umberg represents the 34th Senate District, which includes the cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Fullerton, Garden Grove, La Habra, Long Beach, Orange, Placentia, Santa Ana, and East and South Whittier. Umberg is a retired U.S. Army Colonel, former federal prosecutor, and small businessman. He and his wife, Brigadier General Robin Umberg, USA (ret.), live in Orange County.