Votes at a glance: Senate passes wide set of bills on health, housing, labor and transparency
May 18, 2026 | California State Senate, Senate, Legislative, California
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During an extended floor session, the California State Senate adopted a large group of third‑reading measures and confirmed multiple gubernatorial appointments. Highlights from Monday’s session include:
- Appointment confirmations: Siva Gunda to the California Energy Commission (confirmed Ayes 37, No 0); Tony Sertich as executive director of the California Housing and Finance Agency (Ayes 37, No 0); Craig Snellings to the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (Ayes 37, No 0). (See appointment roll calls and floor presentations.)
- Health and aging: SB 971 (author: Choi) to connect older adults to community resources passed unanimously; SB 1094 (Weber Pearson) to encourage biosimilar use and reduce prescription-drug costs passed by voice/roll call.
- Consumer, governance and transparency: SB 932 (Hurtado), the Litigation Transparency Act, passed unanimously (Ayes 38, No 0) to require clearer identification of parties benefiting from real-property interests in civil case captions.
- Housing and local government: SB 117 (Cervantes) to clarify and strengthen ADU fee calculations passed; SB 1400 (Adegin) to modernize Alameda Health System governance passed.
- Worker protections and labor enforcement: SB 1316 (Smallwood Cuevas) tightened procedural rules to prevent employers from withholding records in wage-theft investigations and included reporting requirements for Cal/OSHA; the measure passed with bipartisan support.
- Various technical and policy updates passed on unanimous or near-unanimous roll calls, including measures to codify outdoor-recreation initiatives, extend professional-board sunsets, streamline nonprobate asset distributions, improve transparency in public agency broker compensation, and address water-supply assessments for large developments.
Many items were eligible for unanimous roll call and passed without recorded opposition; a handful produced brief debate or points of order before adoption. The session closed after a series of memorial adjournments and committee announcements.
For full vote tallies and individual roll-call details, see the official Senate journal or clerk’s roll-call entries.
- Appointment confirmations: Siva Gunda to the California Energy Commission (confirmed Ayes 37, No 0); Tony Sertich as executive director of the California Housing and Finance Agency (Ayes 37, No 0); Craig Snellings to the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board (Ayes 37, No 0). (See appointment roll calls and floor presentations.)
- Health and aging: SB 971 (author: Choi) to connect older adults to community resources passed unanimously; SB 1094 (Weber Pearson) to encourage biosimilar use and reduce prescription-drug costs passed by voice/roll call.
- Consumer, governance and transparency: SB 932 (Hurtado), the Litigation Transparency Act, passed unanimously (Ayes 38, No 0) to require clearer identification of parties benefiting from real-property interests in civil case captions.
- Housing and local government: SB 117 (Cervantes) to clarify and strengthen ADU fee calculations passed; SB 1400 (Adegin) to modernize Alameda Health System governance passed.
- Worker protections and labor enforcement: SB 1316 (Smallwood Cuevas) tightened procedural rules to prevent employers from withholding records in wage-theft investigations and included reporting requirements for Cal/OSHA; the measure passed with bipartisan support.
- Various technical and policy updates passed on unanimous or near-unanimous roll calls, including measures to codify outdoor-recreation initiatives, extend professional-board sunsets, streamline nonprobate asset distributions, improve transparency in public agency broker compensation, and address water-supply assessments for large developments.
Many items were eligible for unanimous roll call and passed without recorded opposition; a handful produced brief debate or points of order before adoption. The session closed after a series of memorial adjournments and committee announcements.
For full vote tallies and individual roll-call details, see the official Senate journal or clerk’s roll-call entries.
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