LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Written by Michael Rosen-Prinz^*

Although the Quarterly you hold in your hands right now is the most obvious evidence of TEXCOM’s good work,⁰¹ I believe our greatest overall impact may come from our efforts with the California Legislature. This year, TEXCOM drafted two legislative proposals ("ALPs," in TEXCOM-speak with the "A" standing for "Affirmative") each of which started as a TEXCOM member’s idea, and have now been introduced by legislators as bills. Before digging into what these ALPs are about, I thought I would give a little insight into the nuts and bolts of TEXCOM’s role in the legislative process.

Every year, California’s Assembly and Senate reconvene shortly before the new year, and the legislators get to work writing and introducing bills for the year that follows. TEXCOM’s Legislation Subcommittee, populated by our newest members (the tradition likely began as a form of gentle hazing) and a crack squad of legislation wonks, get to work as well. The TEXCOM Legislation Subcommittee divides into coverage teams for each day of the week and reviews every bill introduced in the Assembly and Senate. Each of California’s 40 Senators and 80 Assemblymembers can introduce 35 bills during each two-year session.⁰² So, by the time of the bill introduction deadline in the first year of the two-year session (February 21 in 2025) TEXCOM members had collectively reviewed more than 2,500 bills.

After the bill introduction deadline has passed, our legislators are still busy, negotiating compromises, preparing for hearings, and most importantly for TEXCOM, amending their bills.⁰³ TEXCOM’s Legislation Subcommittee members also stay busy, reviewing each bill amendment as well. What are the TEXCOM members looking for in their review? In short, anything we think will be relevant or important to our members. Although this broadly consists of bills directly related to trusts and estates law, it might also include bills touching on conservatorships or guardianships, bills having anything to do with litigation procedure (which affects trusts and estates litigators just as much as civil litigators), and many seemingly innocuous bills having to do with real property, corporate entities, or financial accounts (because we want to make sure those rules address trusts and other fiduciary relationships properly). Pulling a few examples from the recently flagged bills this session: a bill to allow a professional fiduciary to operate as a professional corporation;⁰⁴ a bill changing the standard of evidence required to recover attorneys’ fees in litigation against residential care facilities for the elderly or skilled nursing facilities;⁰⁵ and a bill requiring that all legal entities and trusts submit a notarized statement identifying all authorized signers to the California Secretary of State.⁰⁶