State Sen. John Laird wrapped the 2025-26 legislative session with 31 authored bills that passed, including a child sexual abuse measure he spent two years negotiating.

Laird, a Democrat who represents the Monterey Bay region and chairs the Senate Budget Committee, told KAZU on Monday, Sept. 14, that SB 577 was one of the toughest bills to get through.

"The goal was to protect survivors' rights, but at the same time try to help local districts who are experiencing financial shock from some of these old settlements," Laird said.

What SB 577 does

The bill creates new protections against child sexual abuse in schools, youth detention facilities and foster care. It also sets limits on when survivors can file claims.

Survivors over age 40, and those with pre-2024 cases where records were destroyed, would need to present "clear and convincing" evidence of the public entity's "actual knowledge" of the abuse, according to CalMatters. Attorneys who file claims in bad faith face a $25,000 fine.

The bill does not include caps on damages. Schools and local governments had sought those caps.

Counties, cities and school districts would also have to develop sexual assault prevention plans and submit them to the California attorney general's office by Jan. 1, 2028.

The California Assembly approved SB 577 by a vote of 46-19. The Senate then voted 24-10 to send it to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has until Wednesday, Sept. 30, to sign or veto the bill.

Census proposal could hit Monterey County

A Trump administration proposal announced Thursday, Sept. 10, would exclude undocumented immigrants and those without permanent legal status from the 2030 Census, according to the Los Angeles Times. The plan would also remove questions on race, ethnicity and LGBTQ+ identity from the core count.

Almost two-thirds of Monterey County's residents are Latino, and more than a quarter are foreign born, according to U.S. Census data reported by CalMatters. The largest group of foreign-born residents, 102,772 people, are from Latin America.

California has an estimated 2.3 million unauthorized immigrants, the largest such population of any state, according to a Pew Research Center study cited by Time. That broader category includes DACA recipients and asylum applicants.

Census data determines how billions of dollars in federal assistance flow through more than 350 programs, KAZU reported. Laura Pryor with the California Budget and Policy Center told KAZU the state already saw a roughly $75 million annual reduction to childcare programs due to declining youth numbers. An undercount in 2030 could deepen those cuts.

The Census Bureau is accepting public comments on the proposed rule through Tuesday, Oct. 13, according to Roll Call.