Senate Insurance Committee Fails Californians on Insurance Affordability Crisis

SACRAMENTO, CA — Today, the Affordable Insurance Now Coalition released the following statement in response to the Senate Insurance Committee failing to advance SB 982, the Affordable Insurance and Recovery Act.

“This vote is a deeply disappointing betrayal of California families,” said Yvette Martinez, Campaign Director and Senior Advisor for the Affordable Insurance Now coalition. “By siding with the status quo, the officials who voted against this bill have chosen to protect the record profits of Big Oil over the people they represent. At a time when survivors are still struggling to rebuild their lives, this decision keeps the financial burden of climate disasters exactly where the corporations want it—on the backs of homeowners and renters. Let this be a warning to those who chose industry over neighbors: survivors are not going away. We will continue to name this injustice and fight until California delivers real accountability, ensuring that no family is left to carry the bill for a crisis they didn’t create.”

“Big Oil won again and Californians continue to pay the price. With 66% of voters expecting action from lawmakers to hold corporate polluters accountable to stabilize our insurance market and protect communities, lawmakers had a clear mandate to pass this commonsense solution. Today’s vote is exactly why Californians don’t trust their elected leaders,” said Mary Creasman, Chief Executive Officer, California Environmental Voters. “Without action, the insurance crisis will spiral into economic collapse, where families can’t rebuild, businesses can’t operate, and communities can’t recover. This is the reality Senators Susan Rubio and Laura Richardson chose. We thank bill author, Senator Scott Wiener, and Senators Josh Becker, Caroline Menjivar, Steve Padilla, Ben Allen, Eloise Gómez Reyes, John Laird, Jerry McNerney, Akilah Weber Pierson, Henry Stern, Tom Umberg, Angelique Ashby, and Anna Caballero for demanding Big Oil finally pay its fair share in the affordability crisis it helped create.”

“Tackling the root causes of our affordability crisis requires that we confront powerful entrenched interests. We were able to move the ball forward against Big Oil by passing this bill out of its first committee, but today’s vote fell short of that,” said Senator Wiener. “To all the survivors of extreme weather who fought so hard for this bill: I see you, and so many of us will continue fighting with you for justice despite this setback. When climate disasters destroy people’s lives and spike insurance costs to make home ownership unattainable, we cannot ask the victims to pay for everything. Big Oil needs to pay their fair share, and that’s the opportunity we missed today.”

The growing coalition is demanding long-term, transformational change on insurance affordability and corporate accountability, and it’s only gaining momentum. More than 90 consumer, labor, climate, and community organizations have endorsed SB 982, alongside 27,000+ Californians who have contacted lawmakers in support. Advocates and cultural leaders including Dolores Huerta, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Kathy Griffin, and Sophia Bush have weighed in, urging accountability for rising disaster costs, and a new wave of content creators have amplified the call, bringing the fight for affordable insurance to more than 25 million across platforms.

“Today’s outcome is deeply disappointing for the families already struggling to pay for their insurance rate hikes or retain insurance generally,” said Sierra Kos, Co-Founder, Extreme Weather Survivors. “We hear from survivors every day asking, ‘Where is our government? Why aren’t they doing more to help us recover?’ This is exactly the moment when leadership is needed most. Survivors cannot keep carrying the cost of disasters alone, and the urgency to act has never been clearer.”

“With climate change worsening and making home insurance more expensive and harder to secure, it’s disappointing to see legislators pass on an opportunity to finally make Big Oil pay their fair share — a concept that has the support of 72% of California voters, according to a recent poll,” said Iyla Shornstein, Political Director, Center for Climate Integrity. “These companies knew decades ago that their products would supercharge extreme weather disasters, but chose to lie to the public about it while taking home hundreds of billions in profit. Until they’re held accountable, California families will continue to be forced to cover the cost of their deception.”

The Affordable Insurance and Recovery Act would have helped keep home insurance affordable and available in California by making Big Oil shoulder some of the growing costs of extreme weather disasters, rather than everyday Californians. The bill would have given our state’s Attorney General new legal tools to fight on behalf of California communities following an extreme weather disaster made worse by climate change. Revenue recovered from successful legal action would have reimbursed Californians whose insurance costs have risen due to climate change, stabilized the state’s insurer of last resort (FAIR Plan) and helped low income homeowners make their homes more wildfire-resilient through safer roofs, landscaping improvements and other mitigation projects.

###