A review of this year’s California state legislation

At 3 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14, the state Assembly voted on its final bill for the year and adjourned for interim recess.

This year, we took on some of California’s most pressing issues. We invested $19 billion into rainy day reserves to help prepare for the inevitable economic downturn, devoted $8 billion to addressing our housing and homelessness crisis and will now provide first-time, full-time students with two years of free community college.

I authored 11 bills and three resolutions that were signed into law. They covered a range of topics, from preserving affordable housing units and decreasing commute times, to addressing mental health and protecting consumers.

Since I was elected to the Assembly three years ago, I have authored legislation every year to provide first responders with increased mental health services. While continuing to serve as the critical response chaplain for the Concord Police Department for more than a decade, I have seen first-hand the toll that traumatic and high-stress incidents can have on first responders. Too many firefighters and peace officers suffer in silence out of fear of adverse job impacts and the perception among emergency personnel that they must show no signs of weakness.

This year, I was proud that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law two bills that I authored to ensure first responders have access to effective mental health services by implementing confidentiality standards for peer support. By building off the informal social support that many emergency service personnel are already receiving, we can ensure that they get qualified help and ultimately save lives.

Newsom also signed AB 539, legislation I joint-authored to end the worst kinds of predatory loans in our state. From 2008 to 2017, triple-digit loan volumes increased more than 17,000 percent. This resulted in more than $1 billion being extracted from the most vulnerable communities in California. With 40 percent of these triple-digit loans ending in default, it was clear to me that we were not giving people access to credit – but instead giving debt collectors access to people.

With AB 539 as law, there will be an interest rate cap of about 36 percent on loans of $2,500-$10,000 and these abusive lending practices will finally be put to an end in our state.

Just last week, I joined the governor and my fellow joint-authors in Oakland for the official signing of historic renter protection legislation. Our bill, AB 1482, reflects a deal between tenants, property owners, builders and some of the largest employers in the state to provide renters with anti-rent gouging and just cause eviction protections.

Hard-working families should not be forced to suffer while we work toward the ultimate goal of increasing our housing supply, and this bill will help protect Californians from being unfairly forced onto the streets.

Next year, I will be carrying legislation to increase our production by addressing excessive fees on development that are preventing needed housing from being built in our state.

From now until January, I will be out in the community and in meetings working to develop my 2020 legislative package. If you have ideas for laws that will help people in our area or throughout California, I would love to hear from you. To discuss past legislation I have authored or new proposals, call my Concord office at 925-521-1511.

It has been my pleasure to serve you this year.

Reach Assemblyman Tim Grayson at (925) 521-1511. Visit or write the district office 2151 Salvio Street, Suite P, Concord, CA 94520