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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 1986 Introduced by Assembly Member Bennett (Coauthors: Assembly Members Ahrens, Alvarez, Bauer-Kahan, Connolly, Harabedian, and Hart) (Coauthors: Senators Allen and Stern) February 13, 2026 An act to add Section 679.91 to the Insurance Code, relating to insurance. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1986, as introduced, Bennett. Residential property insurance: home hardening. Existing law authorizes the Office of the State Fire Marshal to allow certification of contractors who conduct defensible space, home hardening, fuel reduction, roadside clearance, and other contracting activities for wildfire resiliency efforts and who have completed specified training programs. Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including residential property and fire insurance. Existing law creates the Department of Insurance, headed by the Insurance Commissioner, and prescribes the department’s powers and duties. Existing department regulations prohibit an insurer from using a rating plan that does not take into account and reflect specified wildfire risk mitigation, including property-level building hardening measures. Upon request for a premium quote for residential property insurance, this bill would require a specified insurer to provide a premium quote for the residential property that includes the price of insurance if the property is certified as “hardened” by a home hardening certification program established or approved by the State Fire Marshal and a premium quote for the residential property in its current state. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 679.91 is added to the Insurance Code, immediately following Section 679.9, to read: 679.91. Upon request for a premium quote for residential property insurance, an insurer of a policy specified in Section 675 shall provide a premium quote for the residential property that includes the price of insurance if the property is certified as “hardened” by a home hardening certification program established or approved by the State Fire Marshal and a premium quote for the residential property in its current state.