Newsom signs five new FAIR Plan laws

Years of work have gone into attempted reforms to California’s insurer of last resort — the FAIR Plan. On October 9, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a handful of new bills into law that aim to advance that directive.

Below, we break down the five bills signed by the governor last week.

Assembly Bill 226, aka the FAIR Plan Stabilization Act

AB 226 gives the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank — upon request of the Plan — the ability to issue bonds to finance claim costs and increase the liquidity and capacity of the plan to pay claims.

Assembly Bill 290, on automatic payments

AB 290 requires the FAIR Plan to create a system for automatically accepting payments from policyholders by April 1, 2026. The law prohibits the Plan from canceling or non-renewing coverage because the policyholder is not enrolled in an automatic payment plan. It also allows policyholders ten days to settle an outstanding payment.

Senate Bill 525, on manufactured homes

Assembly Bill 1, on wildfire mitigation

Assembly Bill 1 requires the state’s insurance department to consider whether to update its Safer from Wildfires regulations every five years. These considerations must include whether additional building-hardening measures are necessary to enhance wildfire mitigation at both individual and community levels. The department must conduct its first audit of these regulations by January 1, 2030.

Assembly Bill 234, on committee service

The final bill signed by Governor Newsom requires the Assembly speaker and the state Senate Rules Committee chair or their designees to serve as non-voting, ex officio members of the FAIR Plan’s governing committee. The term “ex officio” refers to a person who holds a particular position or office that entitles them to certain duties or privileges without requiring additional authorization.