Legislative Program Annual Report - Dec 9, 2025

View the accompanying December 9, 2025 Staff Report, 2026 Legislative Platform and PowerPoint presentation

State

2025 State Recap

State policymaking this past year was defined by both the November 2024 national election of President Trump and a Republican House and Senate and subsequent GOP-led policies; and by California’s third year in a budget deficit after 2022’s historic $97 billion surplus.

The State Legislature ended 2024 with a special session appropriating an additional $50 million for the Attorney General for anticipated federal litigation and to legal-aid organizations that support immigrants (supported by your Board) to “protect California’s values” against the incoming Trump Administration. The 2025 Legislative session has continued this focus on California’s response to the new Administration – including the unprecedented claw back of federal project and program funding. California’s leadership and investments in clean energy and a robust social safety has been significantly supported by federal dollars (especially during the Biden Administration); much of which has ended or is at risk.

Policymakers this past year were also focused on the aftermath of the January 2025 Los Angeles Fires, the most destructive in the nation’s history. Legislators began the year with a focus on affordability – in utilities, homebuilding, and insurance. While homeowner insurance still remains a vexing challenge in California (especially under Prop 103), and large-scale efforts to bring down utility costs have not yet gone through – Legislators did succeed in passing landmark CEQA-reform legislation (AB 130 and SB 131). These laws are expected to streamline project approvals, reduce delays and litigation risk and accelerate development. The Legislature also reauthorized Cap-and-Invest, the state’s carbon trading and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund law through 2045.

The rapidly evolving tech environment also shaped priorities this year. The Governor signed SB 53 (Weiner), the first-in-the-nation regulatory law that creates new transparency and accountability requirements for large AI-model developers; as well as youth-targeted social media regulatory laws. Concern over the rising energy grid demands of new data centers also prompted calls to revisit the issue in 2026.

The ongoing structural state budget curtailed the passage of many bills that had an associated cost. Though a resilient stock market (buoyed by major AI companies) brought in higher-than-anticipated revenues, state spending was also higher than anticipated in the past year – especially in Medi-Cal – canceling out most of any net benefit to the state’s bottom line.

The final 2025 State Budget reflected the Legislature’s continued need to reduce program spending, especially in advance of major expected federal cuts under H.R. 1. During budget negotiations, your Board advocated to maintain full scope Medi-Cal benefits to all Californians regardless of documentation status. Ultimately, the budget deal froze that benefit to undocumented new enrollees 19 and older. Children, pregnant people, and existing adult enrollees, regardless of documentation status, will remain covered. Marin has nearly 13,000 undocumented enrollees under this benefit.

The final state budget trailer bills in September also included important investments for Marin. Senator McGuire was key in securing $7.5 million to close the funding gap for 135 units of workforce housing at Oak Hill.

In addition to state budget advocacy, your Board took important advocacy positions on other key issues over the past year:

Youth e-bike safety: Following the County’s sponsorship of AB 1778 (2024, Connolly), all jurisdictions in Marin have now adopted consistent ordinances that restrict riders under 16 to Class 1 (pedal assist only) e-bikes. The County also provided comment to researchers on the anticipated Minetta Report coming to the Legislature at the end of the year that will drive future state laws on e-bike safety. Your Board continues to advocate for a data-driven approach that recognizes the disproportionate safety risk that e-bikes and illegal e-mopeds pose to young riders.

Carrier of Last Resort: Your Board continued Marin’s leadership in advocating to protect connectivity and affordability. California’s Carrier of Last Resort obligation ensures that all residents and businesses, including those in rural, hard-to-serve, or high-cost areas, have affordable access to reliable voice service for 911 calls and emergency notifications.

Your Board opposed AT&T's 2024 application to the CPUC and subsequent legislation (AB 2797) in 2024 for relief from its COLR obligations, citing that thousands of households in Marin have landlines as their single point of contact for emergency alerts. AB 470 was reintroduced in 2025 to provide COLR relief, and the County engaged with other Northern California Counties and Senator McGuire’s office in sending Oppose Unless Amended Coalition letters with Napa and Humboldt counties. AB 470 was ultimately held in committee, but this issue is expected to continue into next year, either through re-introduced legislation, or CPUC rulemaking.

Floating homes: AB 252 (Bonta, 2022) was enacted largely in response to the change in ownership and rent increases at one Alameda County marina – and without involvement of any Marin marina owners. The result was Marin’s marina owners were no longer able to afford major capital improvements, nor to keep homeowners on long-term leases beginning in 2023.

Following more than two years of sustained collaboration between County staff, Assemblymember Connolly, Marin’s Floating Homes Association (FHA) and floating home marina owners, the County introduced and sponsored AB 754 (Connolly) this year. The Marin-only bill was a locally tailored solution to not only the need for long-term lease protections and predictability in rent increases for homeowners, but also for marina owners to be able to raise enough funding to make meaningful capital investments in their marinas and increase rates to market when homes turn over.

AB 754 was supported by 93% of Marin’s floating homeowners, and all of Marin’s marina owners. It was signed into law by the Governor in October.

Support for small-scale agriculture: Your Board continues to support Marin’s long agricultural heritage. Acknowledging the acute challenges Marin’s small scale agriculture operations are currently facing with West Marin’s housing crisis, closure of 25 small-scale operations reducing the region’s economies of scale, and the ongoing challenging state regulatory environment – your Board advocated for $10 million last year in direct state funding to support North Bay agriculture. While that funding request was ultimately not approved in the final budget, the County continues to look for state-level opportunities to support the viability of the agricultural economy in West Marin, including providing comment to CDFA and the State Waterboard advocating for regulatory streamlining for small operations, and rural workforce housing.

Private endowment care fund cemeteries: The County has been closely monitoring the ongoing state of the Mt. Tamalpais Cemetery in San Rafael and shares the deep concern of residents and families regarding the current management. In April 2025, your Board sent a letter to the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau (CFB) urging it to exercise its full regulatory authority to hold the cemetery’s operator accountable to ensure that the grounds are properly maintained and that any misappropriated endowment care funds are recovered.

At the same time, SB 777 (Richardson) was introduced as the CFB's initial proposed solution to abandoned, unlicensed endowment care cemeteries. SB 777 originally proposed to have counties and cities assume ownership, management and liability of these private cemeteries. The County served as the main opposition witness when it was heard by the Assembly Committee on Business and Professions and advocated instead for other meaningful state reforms to address these types of situations. In part due to Marin's strong advocacy – SB 777 was changed to a study bill, forming a workgroup to make recommendations to the Legislature in 2026 to meaningfully address unlicensed abandoned cemeteries. The County of Marin is represented on this newly formed workgroup.

Proposition 50: In September, your Board formally supported Proposition 50, Election Rigging Response Act, which the Legislature and Governor placed on the ballot for the November 4, 2025 statewide special election. Prop 50 proposed to redraw California’s Congressional maps to create five new Democratic-learning districts in response to mid-cycle redistricting in Texas. To do so, it moved authority for drawing California’s congressional maps from the independent Citizens Redistricting Commission to the Legislature until 2030, after which, authority would return to the independent Commission. Prop 50 passed with 64% support statewide, and 81% support in Marin.

2026 State Outlook

The coming year will mark a notable transition in leadership for Marin. Senator Mike McGuire has transitioned out of his role as President pro tempore of the State Senate and will be termed out of the Legislature at the end of 2026. Marin’s Assemblymember Damon Connolly is running for the State Senate seat in 2026, opening his State Assembly seat. This means that Marin will have a new Assemblymember and a new State Senator at the end of 2026. 

Governor Gavin Newsom will also term out at the end of 2026, meaning a new Governor’s Administration will take the helm at the beginning of 2027. With one year left for many leaders in Sacramento, and the legislature in the second year of a 2-year bill cycle, the Governor’s Office and Legislature are expected to act on their highest priority issues.

This transition will occur during a continuously challenging fiscal reality. The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) is projecting a $17.7 billion deficit in the new fiscal year because of higher than expected spending, despite revenue exceeding expectations. The projection takes into account the likely market dip expected due to overheated AI stock values. The LAO has advised the Legislature “address the budget problem through a combination of ongoing solutions—namely, achievable spending reductions and/or revenue increases”.

A significant focus this year will likely be the state’s response to H.R. 1. The Governor and California Legislature are still actively working on the state’s policy response to mitigate major impacts beginning in 2026. The federal law’s phased-in structure means many of the details of how the law will be implemented are still unknown, including whether California will receive any waivers or extensions on some of the most significant fiscal components of the bill.

The November 2026 election may also shape up to be a crowded ballot of initiatives from both the Legislature and voter-signature process. Though 2024’s $26 billion in passed bonds under Prop 1 (behavioral health), 2 (schools) and 4 (climate) leaves limited financing room for additional General Obligation bonds, the Legislature continues to refine its proposal for a $10 billion housing bond (Wicks and Cabaldon) to build new affordable housing, increase homeownership opportunities, and address homelessness.

Other ongoing issues on the Legislature’s agenda this year will be affordability, immigrant rights and protections, homeowner insurance, and further permitting reform.

Federal

2025 Federal Recap

In January 2025, President Donald Trump was sworn in for his second term in office, with Republicans winning control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In the first few weeks of his presidency, the Trump administration began enacting policies consistent with campaign platform, including deregulation and a reduction in the federal government spending and workforce, unprecedented immigration enforcement and reversals of Biden-era climate policies and infrastructure spending. 

At its first meeting in January 2025, your Board adopted a resolution that affirms the County's commitment to democracy and all members of our community – regardless of race, gender identity, age, ability, religion, sexual orientation, or immigration status. Marin County has also joined three federal lawsuits – along with a coalition of cities and counties from across the nation – against the Trump Administration to protect our autonomy and local funding.

While much of the current Administration’s policies have been enacted through executive action, the Republican-controlled Congress has passed major rescissions packages, and a Budget Reconciliation bill. Rescissions are a mechanism for Congress to formally cancel prior-approved spending. Under H.R. 4 and several “pocket rescissions” – Congress rescinded $9 billion in previously approved spending under the Biden Administration. Locally, the biggest impacts of those rescissions were funding cuts to local broadband and radio stations including KQED and KWMR (West Marin).

Congress also notably passed H.R. 1 (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) in July under Budget Reconciliation. Budget Reconciliation is a fast-track congressional process that allows certain tax and spending legislation to pass the U.S. Senate with a simple majority, as opposed to the 60 needed to bypass the filibuster. H.R. 1 permanently extended 2017 tax cuts while reducing federal health, social services and climate programs – passing the Senate and House with unanimous Democratic opposition. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated H.R. 1 would raise the national deficit $3.4 trillion over the next 10 years. Your Board strongly opposed H.R. 1. After it passed, your Board heard an update on H.R. 1 and its local anticipated impacts.

Throughout the year, your Board also engaged on several other federal bills including supporting S.278 (Kids Off Social Media Act), which prohibits users under 13 from accessing social media and limits the use of social media in schools. Your Board also supported H.R.471 (Fix Our Forests Act) to prioritize prevention through risk reduction programs and proven tools for forest health projects, and the Schiff-Sheehy Facilitating Increased Resilience, Environmental Weatherization and Lowered Liability (FIREWALL) Act, aimed to create a federal tax deduction to support property owner disaster mitigation expenditures.

There was limited legislating at the end of the calendar year, since the federal government was shutdown beginning Oct 1 when Congress could not agree on a spending deal to keep the federal government funded after the expiration of the previous year-long CR. Passing spending bills requires some Democrat support, since it needs to pass the Senate filibuster 60-vote threshold (Republicans currently hold a 53 seat majority in the Senate, Democrats 47). Democrats initially would not agree to a spending deal without assurances that the Affordable Care Act premium tax credit subsidies (Covered California) would be extended past their current December 31, 2025 expiration. Without an extension of these subsidies, premiums for Covered California are expecte to on average double.

The federal shutdown was the longest in history at 43 days. County Parks served as a partner to National Parks Service while Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Muir Woods and Point Reyes National Seashore all remained open to visitors but unstaffed. Your Board also advocated for state intervention to support uninterrupted SNAP (Calfresh) benefits, and when the state did not support those benefits, your Board approved $800,000 in County funding (matched with private donations) to support local food security.

The shutdown ended with a Continuing Resolution package that funds the government through January 30, 2026. Importantly, the deal to end the shutdown (supported by 8 Democrats) did not include an extension of the ACA subsidies, but it did include a promise of a  Senate floor vote in December on them (though the House has not agreed to a matching vote).

The package also included passage of the full FY 26 Agriculture Appropriations Act (through September 30, 2026) which ensures SNAP and WIC are funded through the end of the fiscal year regardless of whether the government shuts down again. The FY 26 Agriculture bill also included a Congressman Huffman-requested $500,000 earmark for the West Marin Pharmacy, and a provision to close the 2018 Farm Bill loophole to stop the unregulated sale of intoxicating hemp products, which Marin advocated for in 2024 and last year.

2026 Federal Outlook

As noted, Congress will have to agree to another Continuing Resolution and/or pass full FY 26 Appropriations bills – both with Democrat support – before January 30, 2026 in order to keep the federal government open.

Key issues Congress has stated it plans to address in the coming year include healthcare affordability in light of the expiring ACA subsidies, pro-carbon energy policies, technology policy (including a proposal from the Trump administration to preempt state-level regulations), and continued unprecedented immigration enforcement. Surface Transportation, the Farm Bill, National Flood Insurance Program and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) also need to be addressed in the coming year.

There are technically two more opportunities for the Republican-controlled Congress and Administration to pass majority-only Budget Reconciliation bills before the November 2026 elections to address these issues. Budget Reconciliation can be done once per fiscal year, and H.R. 1 was done for FY 25 (Oct 1, 2024 to Sep 30, 2025), meaning one can be done for FY 26 (Oct 1, 2025 to Sep 30, 2026) and FY 27 (Oct 1, 2026 to Sep 30, 2027) before Democrats have an opportunities to control at least one house of Congress again.

The County will continue its efforts to respond to federal actions in opposition to your Board’s priorities, including on immigrant rights, the rule of law, protecting local autonomy and federal funding, healthcare access and services provided by critical nonprofit partners. Your Board also recently adopted a resolution reaffirming its opposition to any expansion of offshore drilling in Marin.

The 2026 midterm elections will influence actions by lawmakers in both parties in the lead-up to the elections – especially as Democrats attempt to retake control over one or both chambers of Congress. Redistricting efforts nationwide continue to shift prospects for both parties, and Marin’s own Congressional District 2, represented by Congressman Huffman, will now include Republican leaning counties in the northeast part of the state. Should Democrats win control of the House in 2026, Congressman Huffman will chair the Natural Resources Committee as he is currently the ranking Democratic member.