Senator champions strong protections for California’s working families

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA (May 2, 2025) — California continues to proudly lead the world in environmental and consumer protection, technology and innovation, and freedom and opportunity. This year, I’m honored to be part of several efforts to ensure that we protect our state’s achievement in these areas and others.

As chair of the Senate Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions, I’m proud of the work we’ve done in the Legislature to promote consumer protection alongside responsible innovation. It’s simple: Government should protect consumers from unfair and harmful practices.

This year, I partnered with Sen. Monique Limón to joint-author SB 825. This bill is motivated by changes at the federal level that have made the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ineffective. The independent federal agency is tasked with enforcing consumer financial protection laws.

Specifically, SB 825 provides the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) the clear authority to take enforcement actions against financial institutions engaging in unfair, deceptive or abusive practices. I want to help ensure that Californians can participate in our financial systems with the confidence that institutions are following the same rules of the road as in years past, and that they have a government agency they can turn to if those rules aren’t followed. This is a meaningful, commonsense measure to make sure consumers remain protected in our state.

Recent proposals at the federal level also give Californians reason to be concerned about potential cuts to critical programs such as CalFresh, the state’s anti-hunger program that helps feed 5.3 million Californians. No family or child should go hungry, yet the latest data from California Food Banks shows that more than one in four California households with children are food insecure – that is approximately 1 million households.

The Legislature is in the middle of budget negotiations, and I have joined Sen. Jerry McNerney in advocating for $6 million for a statewide pilot to ensure parents and caregivers can sit down and have a meal with their children at summer meal sites located at public libraries. This will be an important step to ensure California’s families and children don’t go hungry this summer.

I am additionally partnering with McNerney on a budget effort he is leading to protect the health of lakes, creeks and arroyos in California. Specifically, I am supporting a request that California provide $20 million for regional water management projects to improve climate resilience across watersheds.

As the state experiences more extreme weather events, including prolonged drought, flooding and increased wildfire risks, watershed ecosystems play a crucial role in biodiversity preservation and water security. Investing in watershed restoration and ecosystem protection can provide multiple benefits, including improved water quality, wildfire mitigation and community resilience.

Should this budget request be funded, this money could help the East Bay Regional Parks District and others in our area that are in need.

If you would like to discuss other efforts I’m engaged in to advance Californians priorities through the budget and legislative process, or other matters important to you, please connect with me through my offices at 925-258-1176 or 916-651-4009.