September Advocacy Update

Legislators returned to Sacramento on August 18 after a month-long recess, rested and ready to tackle the final month of the 2025 legislative session.  There was no shortage of drama the first week back as Republicans and Democrats battled over the Governor’s plan to gerrymander several of the state’s congressional districts.  California’s fight against the Trump administration is ongoing and, in response to Texas announcing it would alter its congressional districts to help the Republican Party maintain the House of Representatives in next year’s mid-term elections, Governor Newsom declared that he would do the same in favor of Democrats.  

 California has an independent redistricting commission that redraws the state’s congressional and legislative maps every ten years.  Governor Newsom and the Legislature are attempting to sidestep this process and redrew the state’s maps to gain Democrats up to 5-6 new congressional seats.  The Legislature passed the bills to allow for this process and the Governor signed them.  However, they are constitutional amendments and must be approved by voters in a special election that will take place in November.  So far, polling for the initiative looks favorable but a lot can happen between now in November.  

In other political news, Kamala Harris announced that she will NOT run for Governor of California. The following week, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis announced that she will no longer run for Governor and will run for State Treasurer instead.  Polling showed that she was not a frontrunner for the Governor’s seat among likely voters, which is likely part of the reason she pivoted.  However, the race for Governor is still crowded.  Katie Porter, Antonio Villaraigosa, former Senate pro Tem Toni Atkins, and Xavier Becerra are among the declared candidates. Rumors have surfaced that U.S. Senator Alex Padilla is considering entering the race, as well as billionaire and former L.A. mayoral candidate Rick Caruso.  

Specific to CCBN’s advocacy at the State Capitol, we testified in support of DFPI Commissioner KC Mohseni on August 20th.  Mohseni was appointed commissioner by Governor Newsom on February 7 and previously served as DFPI’s Chief Deputy Commissioner.  Prior to joining DFPI, Mohseni was COO at the State Controller’s Office.

We also continue to lobby against two problematic bills:  SB 825 (Limon), which would allow DFPI to enforce UDAP violations and would create a scenario where 2 different versions of UDAP are being enforced; and  AB 1018 (Bauer-Kahan), which seeks to regulate automated decision systems (ADSs).  SB 825 is authorized by the incoming Senate pro Tem and is likely to pass.  CCBN is working with a coalition of other financial services stakeholders to try to secure amendments to AB 1018 to make it more workable.  

 The Legislature will adjourn for the year on September 12.  Governor Newsom has until October 12 to act on the bills that make it to his desk in the final weeks of session.