Assembly advances bill to require regular review of Safer from Wildfires regulations

Assemblymember Bill Conley’s AB 1 passed out of committee with broad bipartisan coauthor offers and a wide coalition of supporters, including the Department of Insurance and industry groups.

The bill directs the Department of Insurance to review and consider updates to the Safer from Wildfires regulations every five years, beginning January 1, 2030. The first review would be timed to occur under the next insurance commissioner, and the statute would require the department to consider integrating building materials listed on the State Fire Marshal’s Building Materials Listing.

Josephine Figueroa, Deputy Commissioner and Legislative Director for the Department of Insurance, said the regulations incentivize homeowners to harden homes and neighborhoods and that “more than 2,000,000 homes, 1 in 4 Californians, are located in high or very high fire hazard zones.” She said nearly 60 companies had been approved to provide discounts under the Safer from Wildfires program, and that regular review would help the program keep pace with new mitigation tools and guidance from partners such as CAL FIRE and the State Fire Marshal.

Trade groups representing insulation and construction materials, as well as county and rural representatives and the Personal Insurance Federation, testified in support. Committee members from both parties offered to join as coauthors, and the committee voted to pass AB 1 to Appropriations by a recorded vote of 17 ayes and 0 noes.

Supporters described the measure as a low‑cost way to keep mitigation incentives aligned with evolving best practices; no organized opposition was recorded in the hearing.