Tracking 2026 Legislation, State Water Outlook, and Political Shifts: AAGLA’s February Briefing
Week of January 25th
Bill Introductions
The Legislature reconvened on January 5th. After four weeks in session, bill introductions have been slow so far in comparison to previous years. There has been a total of 213 bills introduced between the two houses (135 Assembly and 78 Senate). Of those, 26 are intent bills and 19 are spot bills, so 45 (or 21%) of them are placeholder bills. February 20th is the deadline for introducing bills for the 2026 Session, so there are just three weeks remaining. Based upon historical trends, we estimate around 2,000 more bills will be introduced during the month of February prior to the deadline.
Water Resources
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has conducted the second snow survey of the season at Phillips Station. The manual survey recorded 23 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 8 inches, which is 46% of the average for this location. The snow water equivalent measures the amount of water contained in the snowpack and is a key component of DWR’s water supply forecast. Statewide, the snowpack is 59% of average for this date. However, as previously announced, all areas of California are no longer in draught conditions.
The Trump administration approved plan backed by Newsom to build largest California reservoir in 50 years. The Trump administration on Friday gave its approval for plans to build Sites Reservoir, a vast 13-mile-long off-stream lake north of Sacramento that would provide water to 500,000 acres of Central Valley farmland and 24 million people, including residents of Santa Clara County, parts of the East Bay and Los Angeles.
Governor’s Race
Matt Mahan is running for governor — a move that will test whether California voters are willing to support a centrist Democrat over a crowded field of contenders more aligned with the party’s political norms. Mahan is attempting to position himself as the most tough-on-crime and moderate Democrat in the race, which could force the other candidates to spend more time debating their approach to issues such as using police to arrest homeless people who refuse shelter, requiring cities to build more homeless shelter beds and reducing state spending. While Mahan is less well known than other candidates with statewide and national name recognition, his foray could upend the field as he presents a stark ideological contrast with progressives. He is likely to face attacks, including from powerful labor interests, over his close relationship with some tech leaders, and he has only about four months before the June primary to raise the enormous sums of money typically required to run an effective statewide campaign.
Mahan previously courted the other candidates for governor and hosted many of them in San Jose for a tour of a tiny home village for homeless people. But Mahan said none of them were willing to fully adopt his “back to basics” agenda that focuses on local quality of life issues.
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