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Votes at a glance: key bills advanced by Senate Judiciary Committee
Summary
The committee advanced multiple bills after debate and testimony. Highlights include SB 47 (audit of the State Bar) and a package of measures on short‑term rentals, nuisance abatement, self‑storage disclosures, advisory body remote participation and EV charging insurance rules.
The Senate Judiciary Committee considered and advanced several bills during the hearing. This roundup lists the bills that received recorded votes at the hearing, the final tally as announced on the floor, and a brief summary of the discussion or amendments noted in committee.
- SB 47 — State Bar audit (file item 1) - Outcome: Advanced (committee vote recorded in hearing) - Tally (as announced): yes 6, no 0 - Summary: Requires an audit of the February 2025 bar exam and related administration issues. Long hearing with applicants, law school deans, psychometric testimony and State Bar leadership. (See separate, longer article.)
- SB 253 — State Bar fee authorization (file item 2) - Outcome: Advanced - Tally (as announced): yes 7, no 0 - Summary: Annual fee authorization for State Bar; discussion in this hearing followed the bar exam testimony. Opponents cited recent Supreme Court decision Williams v. Reed and urged broader statutory revisions; committee advanced the fee authorization with members noting further review might be needed.
- SB 709 — Self‑storage disclosure requirements (file item 7) - Outcome: Advanced as amended (consent-style disclosure bill) - Tally (as announced): yes 7, no 0 - Summary: Requires clearer, front‑page disclosures to self‑storage customers about promotional pricing and potential increases; sponsor emphasized protections for low‑income and unstably housed Californians; industry sought limited amendments on effective date and placement of disclosures.
- SB 611 — Vested rights for projects under adopted community plans (file item 10) - Outcome: Advanced - Tally (as announced): yes 8, no 2 - Summary: Extension of protections (previously enacted in AB 1515) so that projects permitted under a then‑adopted community plan can proceed while plan litigation is pending; sponsors emphasized housing preservation, opponents urged careful scope checks.
- SB 757 — Nuisance abatement liens and special assessments (file item 11) - Outcome: Advanced as amended - Tally (as announced): yes 8, no 2 - Summary: Allows cities/counties to recover unpaid administrative abatement costs via liens or assessments for properties that present an ongoing public health or safety hazard, with a 30‑day cure period and a hardship‑waiver process. Supporters said it helps underfunded cities; ACLU requested further safeguards for due process; committee adopted amendments including a 30‑day cure and hardship waiver.
- SB 770 — EV charger insurance requirements in common interest developments (file item 12) - Outcome: Advanced (on call; announced as 7–1 in committee) - Tally (as announced): yes 7, no 1 - Summary: Author seeks to remove the requirement that individual homeowners name an HOA as an additional insured on their homeowner policy when installing EV chargers, addressing a perceived market barrier to home charger installation; CAI (Community Associations Institute) expressed liability concerns and the author agreed to continue negotiations.
- SB 239 — Remote participation for advisory (non‑voting) bodies (file item 13) - Outcome: Advanced from committee (vote recorded; on call) - Tally (as announced): recorded showing committee division; roll called and placed on call for final tally (see committee record) - Summary: Allows local legislative bodies to authorize certain advisory (non‑voting) boards to meet remotely without posting a physical remote location, with limits (excludes police oversight, elections, budgets), a staffed in‑person public access site requirement and a sunset clause; proponents cited expanded access for disabled and caregiving participants while press and transparency groups urged stronger in‑person public access protections.
- SB 346 — Short‑term rental platform data and TOT enforcement (file item 14) - Outcome: Moved/advanced from committee discussion (supporters and opponents exchanged amendments and positions) - Tally (no final call recorded in excerpt; committee discussion advanced the measure toward a vote) - Summary: Requires platforms to provide local governments with listing IDs, local business or short‑term rental license numbers and transient occupancy tax information where local law requires registration and tax remittance. Sponsors said platforms currently conceal host info and that local governments need data to enforce TOT and local licensing; platforms argued due process and privacy concerns and offered negotiated paths for lawful disclosure; the author indicated the committee will continue working with platforms on targeted language.
Notes on committee process and next steps
- Several bills were advanced with committee amendments; authors and committees frequently accepted technical amendments and agreed to continue negotiations with stakeholders prior to floor action. - Where votes were announced “on call” in the transcript, the clerk indicated further confirmation or placement on the call sheet; final floor votes may differ once the file is taken up by the full Senate.
