Consumer Watchdog wants to get insurance on the ballot

From CalMatters economy reporter Levi Sumagaysay:

California homeowners who fireproof their homes would get guaranteed insurance coverage under a ballot measure filed this week by Consumer Watchdog.

The consumer advocacy group filed the initiative in response to a competing measure that seeks to repeal Proposition 103, which Watchdog’s founder wrote in the late 1980s and now governs property insurance in the state. If the repeal effort filed by an independent insurance agent in August moves forward, Consumer Watchdog will charge ahead as well.

• Jamie Court, Consumer Watchdog president: “If she goes, we go. If we get flooded with donations, we may go anyway.”

Any initiative for the 2026 ballot needs more than 500,000 signatures, which can be costly to collect.

Under the measure, insurers that refuse to sell policies to property owners who meet fire mitigation guidelines would be barred from the home and auto insurance market in California for five years — which could affect availability. It would also require insurers to tell homeowners why their policies aren’t getting renewed, and give them time to make improvements. 

Court said his group may push for the policyholder “bill of rights” anyway, depending on timing and funding.

More on insurance: Levi also reports on new rules California’s insurance chief Ricardo Lara is proposing for reviewing insurance rates. Some of the rules include imposing new timelines and guidelines for intervenors (a member of the public, including Consumer Watchdog, who can challenge an insurer’s rate request), and stricter requirements for intervenors to get compensated for their work.

Lara says his proposals aim to make the rate-review process more efficient. But Consumer Watchdog argues the rules are in retaliation against the group — making it harder for it and other consumer advocacy organizations to be compensated when they challenge rates. It could also result in premium rates rising at a faster pace.

Read more here.

After more than two months since an excise tax on legal cannabis increased, Gov. Gavin Newsom handed the cannabis industry a win Monday, signing into law a measure to roll back that tax, writes CalMatters’ Nadia Lathan.

The excise tax is paid by marijuana companies and imposed by the state before sales taxes are applied. The new law suspends a 19% increase that was initially instituted in July, and temporarily reverts the excise tax to 15% until 2028. The move aims to help the beleaguered cannabis industry, which proponents say are operating under slim margins and slumping sales.

• Assemblymember Matt Haney, a San Francisco Democrat and bill author, in a statement: “California’s cannabis economy can bring enormous benefits to our state, but only if our legal industry is given a fair chance to compete against the untaxed and unregulated illegal market.”

Nonprofits that receive grants through the tax, however, argued that the bill would threaten services for low-income children, substance abuse programs and more.

Read more here.

Homelessness rates are decreasing in some California counties, but cuts in funding could soon undo this progress, say experts and advocates.

As CalMatters’ Marisa Kendall explains, of the 29 places in California that conducted a point-in-time count at the start of the year, more than half reported a decrease in their homelessness populations compared to 2024.

Keeping in mind that point-in-time counts are imperfect, rough estimates of homelessness populations, Contra Costa and Sonoma counties reported a drop in their populations by a quarter; and San Diego and Los Angeles counties each saw a decrease of less than 10%.

But in a tough budget year, organizations are bracing for cuts to homelessness funding from the state and some local jurisdictions. President Donald Trump’s administration this month also imposed new criteria that block some organizations, including those in California, from accessing $75 million in federal homeless housing funds.

Organizations are already feeling the cuts: L.A. County’s Union Station Homeless Services denied more than 700 families who needed housing from December through July. Downtown Streets Team, which has helped unhoused people in California for more than two decades, also plans to close next month.

Read more here.

On Tuesday, former Assembly majority leader Ian Calderon announced his bid to be California’s next governor, joining a crowded race with other Democratic candidates. Read more about Calderon from CalMatters’ Jeanne Kuang.