By Michael J. Arnold & Michael Belote, Esq., Legislative Advocates

The 2019 – 2020 biennial legislative session began on December 3, 2018. Legislators came to Sacramento and were sworn in and received their office assignments for the new session. Over 200 bills have already been introduced.

We anticipate the introduction of 2,500 to 3,000 bills during the 2019-2020 session.

Since this is the first year of a two-year legislative session, bills which do not pass in 2019 will become “two year” bills which will be eligible for further consideration in 2020.

February 22nd is the bill introduction deadline. We will review all bills and amendments to determine whether they may have an impact on CMA members. We should know all the bills we are facing by the first week of March. As usual, we will provide a Legislative Status Report (LSR) to any CMA member at any time. The LSR shows all the bills CMA is following and provides additional information on each piece of legislation.

The New Legislature

There are eight new members of the Assembly and eight new members of the Senate. Four of the new Senators previously served in the Assembly. We have provided a list of the new members below and encourage the CMA members located in any of these districts to make contact with their new member of the legislature. We urge CMA members to visit with their legislators in the district office for the purpose of explaining the mortgage business.

8 New Senators

Former Assembly Members

  • SD 12 Anna Caballero (D), Salinas/Modesto
  • SD 16 Shannon Grove (R), Bakersfield
  • SD 34 Tom Umberg (D), Garden Grove
  • SD 38 Brian Jones (R), Escondido/El Cajon

New to the Legislature

  • SD 8 Andreas Borgeas (R), Modesto
  • SD 14 Melissa Hurtado (D), Fresno/Porterville
  • SD 22 Susan Rubio (D), Alhambra/El Monte
  • SD 24 Maria Elena Durazo (D), Los Angeles
  • SD 32 Bob Archuleta (D), Bellflower/Lakewood

Office phone number for Senators is: 916-651-40XX. Where XX is the number of the Senate District.

8 New Assembly Members

Former Assembly Members

  • AD 15 Buffy Wicks (D), Richmond
  • AD 16 Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D), Moraga
  • AD 30 Robert Rivas (D), Salinas/Watsonville
  • AD 38 Christy Smith (D), Santa Clarita
  • AD 40 James Ramos (D), Rancho Cucamonga/San Bernardino
  • AD 72 Tyler Diep (R), Garden Grove
  • AD 74 Cottie Petrie-Norris (D), Irvine/Costa Mesa
  • AD 76 Tasha Horvath (D), Oceanside

Office phone number for Assembly Members is: 916-319-20XX, where XX is the number of the Assembly District.

Democrats in Control of the Legislature

The Democrats now have complete control of the Legislature and all statewide offices. In the Assembly there is a 60 (D) – 20 (R) Democratic Majority. The split in the Senate is 29 (D) – 11 (R). With a two-thirds majority in both houses the Democrats have the ability to change the rules, make appropriations, over-ride a Governor’s veto, and place constitutional amendments on the ballot – all without a single Republican vote.

State Budget

The governor is required to present a budget to the legislature by January 10th. It appears that the budget for the 2019-2020 fiscal year will be in great shape. The outgoing Governor, Jerry Brown, was careful not to make expenditures which would put our state in the red. Thus, the incoming Governor, Gavin Newsom, will have a much better financial situation than Governor Brown encountered when he came back to Sacramento as Jerry Brown 2.0.

Key Issues for CMA

As always, we will be intimately involved in any legislation impacting mortgage lending in California. We do not anticipate a huge year for mortgage legislation but could be surprised. The legislature will be concerned with additional legislation in the privacy field, with major tax policy deliberations, and with housing and homelessness.

We will keep CMA members closely apprised as the new legislative session unfolds. Please let us know if you have questions or need further information on any issues anticipated to come up during the 2019-20 legislative year.