Three of Our Bills Are Alive. Here's How the Fourth Was Killed.
April 28, 2026
Dear friends,
Last Wednesday, a delegation of about 15 Eaton and Palisades survivors traveled to Sacramento for one of the most important and most revealing days of our recovery.
The Senate Insurance Committee was voting on four bills that you helped build. More than 1,300 of you sent us your stories through efsurvivors.net. With Consumer Watchdog and Senators Sasha Renée Pérez and Ben Allen, we turned them into legislation.
The insurance industry tried to kill them all.
We won three.
And watching the fourth get killed taught every survivor in that room exactly how the system works.
What Happened in That Committee Room
The biggest battle was over SB 1076, the bill that would have guaranteed insurance coverage for homeowners who make their homes fire-safe. 94% of California voters support that idea.
In the face of a massive industry campaign against our bills, Committee Chair Steve Padilla worked with Senator Pérez to amend the bill into a limited pilot program. A huge compromise to give the industry no reasonable grounds to oppose it.
It didn't matter.
Senator Laura Richardson (D-Carson) voted against even the scaled-back version, saying: "Last I heard, in the United States, we don't require any company to do anything. That's the difference between capitalism and communism, frankly."
Huh?
In the United States, we absolutely do require companies to do things. We require companies to pay minimum wage, follow safety laws, meet environmental standards, and honor contracts. We require insurers to cover drivers and healthcare participants. The list is long and it is the foundation of a functioning society.
As the LA Times' Laurence Darmiento reported, Chair Padilla chastised committee members in opposition, saying he was "a little perturbed, and a little disappointed," because here was Senator Pérez, fighting like hell, trying to find common ground with the industry, and still getting stonewalled.
Then he turned directly to the industry lobbyists in the room. The Sacramento Bee's Stephen Hobbs captured what he said next: "To come in and kill a bill that does exactly what the industry has said is the major dynamic in what causes them to not be able to write policies, I personally find a little offensive. And a little disingenuous."
Ultimately, Richardson and even Senator Susan Rubio (D-East Pasadena), whose district borders the Eaton Fire burn zone, withheld their votes, which has the effect of a no vote. Voting no were Republicans Brian Jones and Roger Niello.
Four votes. That's all it takes to kill a bill in a committee of seven. To kill a bill with 94% support among Californians. The insurance industry has spent years and millions of dollars making sure they control those four votes.
As Senator Pérez said afterward: "Fire survivors deserved better. This legislation mattered."
Three Bills Survive, and They Are Big
In the face of everything I just described, we got three landmark consumer protection bills out of that committee. These bills directly address what 70% of insured Eaton and Palisades survivors have experienced: delays, denials, and underpayments blocking their recovery.
SB 1301 (Allen): Requires six months advance notice before nonrenewal, documented reasons, and a chance to fix the problem.
SB 877 (Pérez): Requires insurers to show you their original loss estimate and any revised one. We deserve to see both.
SB 878 (Pérez): Requires insurers to respond to claims in writing and adds automatic interest penalties when they violate existing laws on deadlines.
These bills are not anti-industry. They are anti-illegal conduct.
Thank you to every survivor who put aside everything to spend a day in Sacramento advocating for a better future for us all.
Support these bills at fixinsurance.org.
Watch the Press Conference
Before the vote, at a press conference hosted by Senator Pérez with Senator Allen and Assemblymember Harabedian, survivors Ada Hernandez, Damon and Audra Blount, and Rossana Valverde spoke for us with remarkable courage and grace. Get out your tissues. Many in that room cried with them. Please watch and share.
Nation's First Open-Data Insurance Performance Survey — Coming Soon!
We're in the final stages of sharpening our survey of Eaton and Palisades survivors. Together, we'll be creating the nation's first dataset on how insurers actually perform after disaster, insurer by insurer. A huge thank you to PPCC Chair Sue Kohl and the 94 Palisades community leaders who welcomed me, and to the 200+ nonprofits of the Eaton Fire Collaborative, for partnering with us on distribution.
And deep thanks to every community member, lawyer, regulator, data scientist, and expert who has donated your time to refining the survey. This has truly been a team effort for all L.A. survivors and allies.
We're now consulting with data security and privacy experts to protect the integrity of the survey and your data. We're working as fast as we can. Just a bit more time to do it right.
Must-Read: Dr. Lily Bui on California's Insurance Crisis
If you want to understand the full landscape of where California's insurance system stands and what it will take to fix it, please read this extraordinary policy brief by Dr. Lily Bui of SoCal Grantmakers. Dr. Bui is one of the nation's foremost experts on disaster recovery, and her analysis is both unflinching and deeply hopeful. She maps every major bill in play, identifies the gaps philanthropy must fill, and makes clear that what happens here in California will set the template for disaster recovery nationwide. This is essential reading.
2 Years Property Taxes Now Due. What You Need to Know.
Two years of property taxes are due this Wednesday 4/30. I know how much stress that is causing everyone.
Governor Newsom's executive order deferred last year's taxes by one year, which means two years are now due. EFSN Advisory Council member and former CBRE General Counsel Larry Midler and I have been urgently working to get a further deferment. Larry wrote a memo on our behalf, which we sent to the Governor's Office. The reply was not positive. Senators Ben Allen and Sasha Renée Pérez are working hard with us to find a path forward.
Meantime, LA County Treasurer and Tax Collector Liz Ginsberg has committed to reviewing individual penalty cancellation requests with care. If you cannot meet the deadline, please file a request.
As she emailed us: "While state law limits the authority of the Tax Collector and requires that each penalty cancellation request be evaluated individually, our office is committed to carrying out this review process timely, with care, fairness, and an understanding of the challenges wildfire survivors continue to navigate."
We are also pressing the Treasurer to commit to more specific guidance for survivors who have lost their homes.
Submit your penalty cancellation request here.
Upcoming Events
Tomorrow: Wednesday, April 29, 7–8:30pm PT
Grief, Loss, and Finding Your Way After the Fires
EFSN and the Trauma Resource Institute invite you to a powerful virtual gathering with Brian Stefan, LCSW, founder of the California Grief Center. Together we'll make meaning of what we've lost, find language for all the grief, and feel less alone. Using psychoeducation, facilitated discussion, and experiential exercises, Brian will guide us through grief in community. This one is going to be something special. Register here.
Wednesday, May 6, 6pm PT
Parenting and Preparedness in Our Changing World
From our partners at Extreme Weather Survivors: a virtual gathering for survivors, the displaced, and parents who want a real, empowered family preparedness plan for the season ahead — bridging the gap between having a go-bag and having peace of mind. Register here.
HARO: Are You Uninsured?
Help a Reporter Out: NPR is seeking stories from people who are uninsured. If that is you or someone you know, please share your story here.
Long-Term Direct Cash Assistance for Altadena Renters
Kudos to our partners at The Altadena Tenants Union for a dream realized: a first-in-the-nation long-term direct cash assistance program for Altadena renters displaced by the fire. Thirty households will receive $36,000 over two years, no strings attached. Applications open May 11 and close May 25.
If you were renting in Altadena on or before the fire, please check your eligibility and apply at altadenatenantsunion.org.
Community Spotlight: My TRIBE Rise
A huge thank you to Heavenly Hughes and My TRIBE Rise for distributing $60,000 in direct cash to Eaton Fire survivors. And thank you to Pasadena Now publisher James MacGregor for spotlighting it. Local journalism is an act of love.
What This Week Has Taught Us
We saw how money moves through a committee. We saw how a powerful industry can neutralize the Chair of the very committee designed to oversee it.
We saw Senator Pérez fight with everything she had. We saw Chair Padilla put his integrity on the line and say the quiet part out loud.
Nevertheless, we persist. Out of love for our families, our neighbors, and our community, we will stand firm in building a more secure future for all Californians. Where insurance is available and where we get the benefits we've paid for.
I'll be back soon with all you need to know about our next steps: the Senate Appropriations Committee in mid-May, and the full Senate floor in June.
We are in it together.
Hugs,
Joy
The Every Fire Survivors Network (EFSN) is the nation's largest survivor recovery hub, connecting more than 10,000 Eaton, Palisades, and Malibu fire survivors and allies. Through survivor leadership and coordination, we work to remove barriers and unlock resources so that recovery is accessible to everyone. Learn more: efsurvivors.net.
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