Assembly approves package of housing bills to speed post‑fire recovery and ease construction rules

SACRAMENTO — The California State Assembly on March 6, 2025, approved a package of bills intended to speed housing recovery after January’s wildfires and to ease administrative hurdles for housing construction across the state. Lawmakers voted to pass measures that allow displaced residents expanded temporary housing options, authorize financial tools for the California Fair Plan, permit third‑party plan checks when local review is delayed, and pause certain updates to the state building code.

The package of urgency measures included AB 311 (tenants hosting displaced people and pets), AB 299 (extended stays at hotels/motels/short‑term rentals), AB 226 (California Fair Plan bonding authority), AB 253 (third‑party plan checks), AB 301 (expedited approval timelines), AB 306 (temporary moratorium on new residential building‑code updates), AB 462 (ADU coastal exemption for Los Angeles County), AB 493 (interest on escrowed insurance funds for homeowners), and AB 597 (consumer protections for public adjusters). Each bill was presented, debated briefly on the Assembly floor and passed by recorded votes.

Why it matters: supporters said the bills remove immediate barriers to housing and reconstruction after catastrophic fires and reduce administrative delays that they say raise construction costs. Opponents and some commenters urged further or different action on regulatory costs and on the role of state agencies in rulemaking.

AB 311: temporary residence for disaster‑displaced people — Assemblymember McKinner, the bill’s author, said AB 311 "allows a tenant to…