Mail Petitions to 327 Irwin Street
San Rafael, CA 94901/ Attn: Gregory Burgess
California Insurance Improvement Amendment
Bring Insurance Companies Back to California—Using the Power of the People
⚠️ California's Insurance Crisis
📋 The Petition to Proposition Process
How California voters can bypass the legislature and make law directly
Initiative Drafting & Official Title
The initiative is drafted and submitted to the California Attorney General for official title and summary. The AG has 65 days to prepare the ballot title and fiscal impact summary.
✓ Free Legal Review
The State of California provides FREE legal review through the Attorney General's office. This includes constitutional analysis, title and summary preparation, and fiscal impact assessment by the Legislative Analyst's Office.
Collect 546,651 Valid Signatures
Once the AG issues the official title, we have 180 days to collect signatures from registered California voters equal to 5% of votes cast in the last gubernatorial election.
⚠️ Critical Deadline
To qualify for the November 2028 ballot, signatures must be submitted by late June 2028. Working backward: AG title by March 2027, signature collection April-October 2027.
County Verification & Certification
County election officials verify signatures. If valid signatures meet the threshold, the Secretary of State certifies the initiative for the ballot.
November 2028 General Election
California voters decide. If approved by a simple majority (50%+1), the California Insurance Improvement Act becomes law effective January 1, 2029.
💰 Campaign Cost Breakdown
Signature Collection
Professional petition circulators at $5-8 per valid signature. Targeting 700,000 signatures for safety margin.
Volunteer Coordination
Staff, training, materials, and logistics to coordinate volunteer signature gatherers across California.
Legal & Compliance
Campaign finance attorneys, election law compliance, and any legal challenges during qualification.
Voter Education (Phase 1)
Initial awareness campaign during signature gathering: digital ads, earned media, town halls.
General Election Campaign
TV/digital advertising, voter contact, GOTV operations for November 2028 ballot measure campaign.
Administrative
Campaign staff, office operations, reporting, and overhead throughout 2+ year campaign.
Total Campaign Budget
Qualification through General Election victory
⚙️ How the CIIA Works
A comprehensive approach to solving California's insurance crisis
California Catastrophe Reserve Fund
Creates an "FDIC-style" state reinsurance fund targeting 200% of the modeled 1-in-100-year wildfire loss. Funded by a 3% premium surcharge—no General Fund money. Provides backstop coverage when industry losses exceed $10 billion.
Catastrophe Model Authorization
Allows insurers to use forward-looking climate models (not just historical data) to price risk accurately. Models must be certified by an Independent Actuarial Board and incorporate mitigation credits.
Fire-Hardened Home Guarantee
Insurers using catastrophe models MUST offer coverage to any home meeting the California Fire-Hardened Home Standard. Ends "silent eviction" of responsible homeowners who've invested in fire safety.
85% Market Share Rule
Insurers benefiting from modernized regulations must maintain 85% of their statewide market share in Distressed Insurance Zones—no cherry-picking only low-risk policies.
💵 Premium Assistance
Caps insurance costs at 2-4% of income for households up to 400% federal poverty level.
🔨 Mitigation Assistance
Up to $30,000 (90% of costs) for low-income households to harden their homes.
📉 Mandatory Discounts
15-20% minimum premium discounts for fire-hardened homes and defensible space.
🔥 Tribal Recognition
Cultural burning and traditional land stewardship recognized as landscape-level risk reduction.
⚖️ FAIR Plan Reform
Revenue bond authorization to prevent assessment spirals that could bankrupt smaller insurers.
🎯 CA-2 Pilot Region
Modoc, Trinity, Shasta, Humboldt, Mendocino, Del Norte designated as pilot demonstration zone.
🇺🇸 Federal Coordination: The Two-Pronged Approach
The CIIA works hand-in-hand with federal legislation from "An Honest Economy for All" to provide comprehensive protection.
Federal Wildfire Insurance Stabilization Act
Creates a federal "FDIC-style" reinsurance backstop for states with wildfire insurance crises. Complements California's Catastrophe Reserve Fund with federal capacity for truly catastrophic events.
National Climate Resilience & Fire Safety Reinsurance Act
Establishes nationwide catastrophe reinsurance program. States designing programs (like CIIA) can access federal matching funds and reinsurance capacity.
Federal Fire Support Corps
Creates a supportive federal firefighting corps that responds at state/local REQUEST—taking a supporting role, not command. Respects state sovereignty while providing additional resources when communities ask.
State Sovereignty & Adaptive Resilience Act
Ensures federal programs respect state decision-making. States design their own insurance solutions; feds provide support and matching funds without mandates.
Why Both State AND Federal Action?
California can solve much of its insurance crisis through the CIIA ballot initiative. But a truly catastrophic multi-billion dollar fire season could overwhelm even a well-funded state reserve. Federal reinsurance provides the ultimate backstop—while respecting that California knows best how to design its own programs.
🤝 Potential Campaign Supporters
Organizations and individuals with aligned interests who may support this initiative
🏠 Homeowner Associations
- California Association of Realtors
- California Building Industry Association
- Firewise USA Community Networks
- Fire Safe Councils (statewide)
- HOAs in fire-prone areas
🏦 Financial Industry
- California Mortgage Bankers Association
- Credit unions with rural membership
- Regional banks with California exposure
- Title insurance companies
🏢 Insurance Industry
- Personal Insurance Federation of California
- Insurers seeking regulatory modernization
- Reinsurance companies
- InsurTech firms
🌲 Environmental & Conservation
- The Nature Conservancy (fire resilience programs)
- Sierra Club (California chapter)
- California Native Plant Society
- Sustainable forestry organizations
🪶 Tribal Nations
- California tribal governments
- Inter-Tribal Council of California
- Tribal gaming associations
- Cultural burning advocacy groups
🏛️ Local Government
- Rural County Representatives of California
- California State Association of Counties
- League of California Cities
- Fire districts and fire chiefs associations
💼 Business Community
- California Chamber of Commerce
- Wine Institute (fire-prone regions)
- Tourism industry associations
- Small business federations
🎓 Philanthropic Foundations
- California Community Foundation
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation
- Climate-focused philanthropies
- Housing justice foundations
🗳️ California Voters Have the Power
The legislature won't fix this. Insurance companies keep leaving. But YOU can bypass Sacramento and solve this crisis directly through the ballot initiative process.
Submitted by Gregory Burgess
No Party Preference Candidate, California's 2nd Congressional District