Senate approves wide slate of nominations and legislation in Friday floor session; dozens of bills concurred and passed

The California State Senate on Sept. 5 confirmed multiple gubernatorial appointments and approved a large package of bills spanning transportation, housing, public safety, health-care reporting, and other policy areas during a floor session in Sacramento.

The Senate confirmed four gubernatorial appointments on the daily file: Doug Hendrickson (State Athletic Commission), David Nahai (Los Angeles Water Quality Control Board), Darnell Grisby (California Transportation Commission) and Vivian Perez (Colorado River Basin Regional Water Board). Each confirmation was advanced following a roll call vote called for by Senator Laird and others and confirmed by recorded ayes and nos on the floor.

In addition to confirmations, the Senate considered and voted on a broad set of bills. Several items were handled on concurrence (final House amendments), while many assembly bills were taken up on third reading and approved on largely bipartisan or unanimous votes. Notable categories of measures acted on included:

- Housing and local government: bills to streamline approvals and to establish post-disaster housing task forces were approved. (Examples on the file: SB 49; AB 239.) - Water and environmental measures: confirmations and bills addressing water quality and recycling were advanced (e.g., confirmation of a Water Quality Control Board appointee; SB 31). - Labor, employment and contracting: measures on contracting-out notice to unions and protections for workers affected by immigration enforcement were approved (e.g., AB 339; AB 1136/SB 1136-related employment measures referenced on the floor). - Consumer protections and business regulation: bills were approved addressing rental-car pricing transparency, litigation funding disclosures, contractor license enforcement tied to wage theft, and graduate-student loan caps for undocumented students (examples include AB 1374, AB 931, AB 1002, AB 681). - Public safety and criminal law: measures including changes to evidence burdens in elder-abuse cases and enhanced penalties or procedural tools for threats to judges and public officials were advanced (e.g., AB 251; AB 352).

Votes on many items were taken by roll call and, where the clerk announced totals on the floor, resulted in large affirmative margins. Several items were placed on and passed from the special consent calendar. At points the clerk reported unanimous roll-call results (for example, “Ayes 38, No 0” on multiple items handled as unanimous calls).

Why it matters: The floor session advanced a wide cross-section of the Legislature’s agenda as it moves through its early September sprint. Confirmations fill statutory boards and commissions, and the bills passed will affect housing approvals, water recycling, labor protections, consumer transparency and other regulatory regimes throughout California. Many measures now go to the governor or proceed to any remaining legislative steps depending on their origin and procedural posture.

Votes at a glance (selected items mentioned on the floor) - Governor appointments confirmed: Doug Hendrickson (State Athletic Commission) — confirmed; David Nahai (Los Angeles Water Quality Control Board) — confirmed; Darnell Grisby (California Transportation Commission) — confirmed; Vivian Perez (Colorado River Basin Regional Water Board) — confirmed. - SB 276 (Wiener) — concurrence and passage (addressing sale of stolen goods; amendments limited violation window to 18 months); senator asked for an aye vote and concurrence was recorded. - SB 412 (Limon) — concurrence and passage (training for affiliated home care aides for Alzheimer’s care); passed on roll call. - SB 443 (Rubio) — concurrence and passage (CalPERS protections for employees moving to joint powers authorities); passed on roll call. - SB 617 (Adeogun) — concurrence and passage (employment notices; technical amendments); passed on roll call. - SB 31 (McNerney) — concurrence and passage (water recycling bill); passed on roll call. - SB 230 (Laird) — concurrence and passage (workers' compensation clarification; prospective application); passed on roll call. - SB 49 (Adeogun) — concurrence and passage (public agencies posting approval requirements online); passed on roll call. - SB 782 (Perez) — concurrence and passage (climate resilience districts financing; urgency clause); passed on roll call. - AB 94 (Bennett) — third reading, passage (recall appointment prohibition); passed on roll call. - AB 1299 (Bryant) — third reading, passage (parking-fine reductions/waivers for people experiencing homelessness or hardship); passed on roll call. - AB 568 (Macedo) — third reading, passage (groundwater sustainability agency for Tulare County); passed on roll call. - AB 592 (Gabriel) — third reading, passage (outdoor dining regulations extended to 2029 for restaurants); passed on unanimous roll call recorded on the floor as “Ayes 38, No 0.” - AB 931 (Kalra) — third reading, passage (rules for litigation funding—disclosures; 5-day revocation right); passed on roll call. - AB 251 (Cara) — third reading, passage (elder-abuse civil cases: discretionary preponderance standard when intentional destruction of evidence is found); passed on roll call. - AB 681 (Al Huwari) — third reading, passage (increase in dream loan caps for undocumented graduate students); passed on roll call. - AB 833 (Alvarez) — third reading, passage (Binational Teacher Expansion Act; teacher shortage/temporary teachers from Mexico); passed on roll call. - AB 1002 (Gabriel) — third reading, passage (contractor license suspensions for repeat wage theft via DOJ/CSlB authority); passed on roll call. - SB 1136 (Ortega / related employment protections) — third reading, passage (reinstatement/leave protections for workers detained by ICE) — passed on roll call. - SB 1344 (Erwin) — third reading, passage (pilot program allowing district attorneys to seek gun violence restraining orders in select counties); passed on roll call. - AB 239 (Harbatian) — third reading, passage (state-led disaster housing task force for LA fires; urgency) — passed on two-thirds vote called on the floor. - AB 339 (Ortega) — third reading, passage (notice to unions before contracting-out bargaining unit work; 45 days notice requirement) — passed on roll call. - AB 352 (Pacheco) — third reading, passage (aggravating factor for criminal threats against judges and certain elected officials) — passed on roll call. - AB 399 (Berner) — third reading, passage (Coastal Commission authorization for blue carbon demonstration projects to be considered as mitigation) — debated on the floor and then passed. - AB 830 (Rogers) — third reading, passage (Caltrans cost responsibility for utility relocation on State Highway 101 in Hopland to expedite safety upgrades) — passed on roll call. - AB 1314 (Arons) — third reading, passage (transitional housing placement contracts for foster youth) — passed on roll call. - SB 1374 (Berman / rental car transparency) — third reading, passage (rental-car pricing and EV disclosure) — passed on roll call. - SB 697 (Wilson) — third reading, passage (Highway 37 interim resilience project incidental-take authorization, with mitigation requirements and restorations) — passed after extended floor discussion. - AB 1370 (Patterson) — third reading, passage (prohibiting use of nondisclosure agreements in legislative drafting/negotiation) — passed on roll call.

This list is a selected, representative summary of floor actions taken during the Sept. 5 session; the clerk read and the Senate adopted a broader special consent calendar of additional bills announced from the desk. Measures that passed on the floor will proceed according to their statutory and procedural next steps (for example, to the governor for signature where applicable).