California Democrats are making a concerted effort to alter the state’s congressional districts to gain an advantage in the U.S. House. As lawmakers return to the Capitol, they face a tight timeline and need to secure voter approval to proceed.
The Legislature will also vote on numerous proposals, including limiting federal immigration raids and promoting racial justice, before the session concludes in September.
Here’s a look at what’s ahead for lawmakers in their last month in session:
New political maps
In the first week back after the summer break, lawmakers plan to push forward a new congressional map, guided by Gov. Gavin Newsom, which aims to help Democrats gain five additional U.S. House seats in the 2026 midterms. This initiative counters President Donald Trump’s moves to redesign Texas’ districts to benefit Republicans.
California is the only state besides Texas to officially engage in this redistricting controversy, although others are indicating intentions to follow suit.
The newly proposed map, revealed by the California Democrats with their dominant legislative majority, will undergo hearings and a legislative vote before being presented to voters in a November special election.
Should voters approve, this map would replace the one established by an independent commission in 2022. It would come into effect only if Texas or another Republican-led state proceeds with mid-decade redistricting and would be valid until the 2030 elections.
Democrats said they will return the map-making power to the commission after the next census. The current effort is to save democracy and counter Trump’s agenda, they said.
State Republicans vowed to legally challenge the effort, arguing that voters in 2010 already voted to remove partisan influence from how maps are drawn.
Climate change
State lawmakers are contending with how to balance meeting the state’s climate goals with lowering utility and gas prices. Those discussions have been colored by the planned closures of two oil refineries that account for nearly 18% of the state’s refining capacity, according to air regulators.
The Legislature will have to respond to those concerns when it debates whether to reauthorize the state’s cap-and-trade program, which is set to expire in 2030. The program allows large greenhouse gas emitters to buy allowances from the state equivalent to what they plan to emit. Over time, fewer allowances are made available with the goal of spurring companies to pollute less.
A large portion of revenues from the program goes into a fund that helps pay for climate, affordable housing and transportation projects. The program also funds a credit that Californians receive twice a year on their utility bills.
Newsom wants lawmakers to extend the program through 2045, commit $1 billion annually from the fund for the state’s long-delayed high-speed rail project and set aside $1.5 billion a year for state fire response.
Many environmental groups want the state to update the program by ending free allowances for industrial emitters, ensuring low-income households receive a higher credit on their utility bills, and ending or strengthening an offset program that helps companies comply by supporting projects aimed at reducing planet-warming emissions.
Response to mass immigration raids
Lawmakers will vote on a host of proposals introduced in response to the escalation of federal immigration crackdowns in Los Angeles and across the state. That includes legislation that would make it a misdemeanor for local, state and federal law enforcement officers to cover their faces while conducting official business.
The proposal makes exceptions for officers wearing a medical grade mask, coverings designed to protect against exposure to smoke during a wildfire, and other protective gear used by SWAT officers while performing their duties. Proponents said the measure would boost transparency and public trust in law enforcement while also preventing people from trying to impersonate law enforcement.
Opponents, including law enforcement, said the bill would disrupt local undercover operations without addressing the issue because California doesn’t have authority over federal agents.
Another proposal would require law enforcement to identify themselves during official business.
State Democrats are also championing several proposals that would limit immigration agents without warrants from entering school campuses, hospitals and homeless or domestic violence shelters.
Racial justice
A first-in-the-nation state task force released a report in 2023 with more than 100 recommendations for how the state should repair historic wrongdoings against Black Californians descended from enslaved people.
The California Legislative Black Caucus introduced a reparations package last year inspired by that work, but the measures did not include direct payments for descendants, and the most ambitious proposals were blocked.
The caucus introduced another package this year aimed at offering redress to Black Californians.
One of the bills would authorize universities to give admissions priority to descendants of enslaved people. Another would ensure 10% of funds from a state program providing loans to first-time homebuyers goes to descendants. A third would allow the state to set aside $6 million to fund research by California State University on how to confirm residents’ eligibility for any reparations programs.
Some reparations advocates say the proposals fall short. They say many of the measures are ways to delay implementing one of the task force’s key recommendations: direct compensation to descendants of slavery.
