Press Release

Governor Newsom Signs All Nine of Senator Stern’s Bills

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

October 8, 2026
 

Governor Newsom Signs All Nine of Senator Stern’s Bills

SACRAMENTO, CA — Governor Gavin Newsom has signed all nine bills authored by Senator Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) that reached his desk this year, marking the first time every bill the Senator sent to the Governor has been signed into law.
The new laws help protect communities from wildfire, keep kids cool at school, strengthen utility accountability, recognize Jewish identity and connect people with psychiatric care.

  • SB 1079 — Fire Innovation Unit: Creates the nation’s first Fire Innovation Unit within CAL FIRE to research, test and more quickly deploy new technology to prevent and fight wildfires.
  • SB 1107 — School Shade Structures: Helps schools launch shade projects faster through more efficient bulk contracting—stretching every dollar further and delivering cooler outdoor spaces sooner. This builds on Team Stern’s $14 million state investment to transform twelve San Fernando Valley schoolyards into greener, healthier, and cooler environments for students. It also aligns with LAUSD’s planned $40 million investment in shade structures. Research shows that greener, shaded schoolyards lead to better learning and healthier child development. SB 1107 ensures these critical investments translate into real results for Valley students.
  • SB 1128 — Getting Screens Out of Kindergarten: Ensures parents can decline school-issued take-home devices for kindergarteners without affecting enrollment and starts a state review of the risks of excessive screen time in schools.
  • SB 1158 — Energy Reliability Planning: Requires state energy planners to consider transmission and permitting challenges when assessing whether California will have enough reliable electricity.
  • SB 1359 — Natural Gas Ratepayer Protection Act: Helps save ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars by avoiding unnecessary new gas infrastructure and duplicative investments in gas and electric service.
  • SB 1370 — Wildfire Mitigation: Streamlines permits for wildfire prevention projects so critical safety work can move forward with environmental safeguards.
  • SB 1387 — Recognizing Jewish Identity: Adds an optional “Jewish” box to state forms that collect demographic information for education, health, welfare, crime reporting and other purposes. 
  • SB 1401 — Stopping the Jail-to-Street Pipeline for Felons with Mental Illness: Helps ensure that people who are too mentally ill to stand trial for felony offenses receive psychiatric care rather than being released from jail without treatment.

  • SB 1423 — Sharing Disaster Risk and Land-Use Data: Helps state and local planning agencies share land-use data and information about flood and fire risks to support safer community planning.

    Senator Stern also coauthored several bills signed into law this year, including measures to strengthen California’s energy reliability and support scientific research:

  • SB 913 (Becker) — Putting Local Energy Resources to Work: Helps groups of smaller energy resources, such as home batteries, qualify to meet electricity reliability needs, making better use of local resources to support the grid.
  • SB 905 (Becker) — Reducing Utility Infrastructure Costs: Requires state regulators to consider lower utility profits on certain infrastructure costs, explore less expensive financing options and require utilities to share data showing where the existing grid can serve more demand.

  • SB 895 (Wiener) — Investing in California Science: Authorizes a $12 billion science bond to be placed before voters to fund research into health, agriculture, wildfire resilience and other priorities, while requiring discounts for Californians on drugs developed with that funding.


    “These laws address concerns I hear from Californians every day—protecting their homes, supporting their children and making government more responsive to their needs,” said Senator Stern. “I’m grateful to Governor Newsom and the partners who helped turn these priorities into law.”


    To learn more about Senator Stern’s legislation this year, including bills he authored and coauthored, visit California’s Legislative Information website.

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    Senator Henry Stern proudly represents the 27th Senate District, spanning from Los Angeles to Ventura County.

10-8 Press Release Bills Signed.pdf