California Just Changed Everything
Over 1000 bills have passed. Here's what they do.
It’s commonly said ‘as California goes, so goes the nation.’ And if that is the case, communities across the country may be about to experience some positive changes. The state does face its fair share of challenges, namely in affordability and housing accessibility, but no one can deny its economic dynamism and strength in civil rights, plus I have to admit the weather isn’t too shabby either as I peer out my window in San Francisco.
The 2025-26 California Legislative Session (which remains ongoing) has been incredibly active, with over 1000 bills and resolutions passed so far. Let’s take a look at the most impactful legislation constituents can look forward to taking effect.
Housing
AB130 (Faster Housing Review)- Exempts most infill housing development from review under the California Environmental Quality Act
AB1308 (Faster Housing Inspection)- Requires local building departments to conduct an inspection of completed permitted work for certain new residential construction projects and residential additions within 10 business days of receiving a notice that the work is done.
SB79 (More Housing Near Transit)- Overrides local rules that block taller, denser housing near train stations and bus lines.
AB246 (Social Security Hardship Eviction Protection)- Allows a residential tenant to use Social Security hardship as a legal defense in an eviction proceeding for nonpayment of rent.
AB455 (Toxic Home Disclosure)- Requires sellers of single-family homes to disclose in writing to buyers if they have knowledge of past smoking or vaping inside the property.
Budget and Taxes
SB101 (State Budget)- Decides funding for everything state government does, including Medi-Cal, roads, courts, wildfire response, and social services. There is $114.6 billion in funding for K-14 education for the 25-26 fiscal year.
AB102 and SB105 (Budget Trailer Bills)- These go along with the main budget and contain most of the actual policy details: who qualifies for Medi-Cal and CalWORKs, changes to prisons, how school funding formulas work, where climate money goes, and more. Notably, $3.3 billion in climate bond funds are directed across natural resources, environmental protection, wildfire, water, and resilience programs
SB132 (Tax Changes)- A broad overhaul of state tax rules affecting both individuals and businesses, including credits, deductions, reporting requirements, and a Film & Television Tax Credit Expansion.
SB711 (Emergency Tax Code Update)- States that California will not conform to the federal One Big Beautiful Bill for personal and business tax purposes.
SB293 (Inherited Property Tax Rules)- Provides targeted property tax relief for wildfire victims under Proposition 19’s generational transfer rules.
Energy and Environment
AB1207 (Cap and Trade Extension)- The bill extends the California Global Warming Solutions Act’s market-based compliance mechanism, California’s greenhouse gas cap, through January 1, 2046
AB1417 (Offshore Wind)- Updates and clarifies the rules for building offshore wind farms in California waters.
SB593 (Voltage Surge/Drop Reporting)- Requires large electric utility companies in California to conduct studies examining incidents where a significant voltage surge or drop, possibly causing property damage.
AB39 (Electrification Plans)- Requires cities and counties with populations over 75,000 residents to develop a comprehensive electrification plan between 2027 and 2030 as part of their general planning process, including EV charging and solar planning.
SB567 (Oil Well Retrofit)- Creates a pilot program allowing up to 250 already-plugged idle oil and gas wells to be converted into gravity-based energy storage systems, with strict monitoring and safety requirements, through January 1, 2035
Healthcare
AB1041 (Faster Healthcare Worker Credentialing)- Requires every health insurance plan and health insurer in California to subscribe to and use a standardized credentialing form.
AB260 (Reproductive Health Access Expansion)- Strengthens and expands access to reproductive and sexual health care across pharmacies, doctors’ offices, and insurance plans, with rules that took effect immediately.
SB386 (No Fees for Dental Providers)- Requires health care plans and insurers to use a non-fee-based payment method as the default when paying dental providers, keeping costs lower for patients.
AB1264 (Healthier School Food)- First-in-the-nation law that phases out the most concerning ultra-processed foods from school meals in California.
Privacy and Technology
SB53 (AI Oversight Law)- Sets up a broad framework for making AI more transparent and accountable, covering both businesses using AI and state agencies that use AI tools.
AB316 (AI Injury Liability)- If an AI system injures or wrongs someone, the company or person that built or used that AI cannot escape responsibility simply by arguing that the AI acted on its own.
AB621 (Deepfake Revenge Imagery)- Strengthens legal remedies against AI-generated fake intimate imagery, including both doctored real photos and fully AI-fabricated content.
SB50 (Smart Device Privacy Rules)- Gives domestic violence survivors a formal legal process to revoke their abuser’s access to shared smart devices.
AB1043 (Stronger Child Data Privacy)- Requires operating system providers, such as Apple and Google, to provide age verification “signals” to app developers when a user downloads or launches an app.
Labor
AB692 (Limits on Employer Repayment)- Bans so-called stay-or-pay clauses in employment contracts, provisions that require workers to repay their employer money if they leave their job before a specified date.
AB406 (Job Protection for Abuse Survivors)- Stops employers from firing, demoting, or punishing workers who take time off for reproductive health decisions, domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
SB642 (Equal Pay and Salary History)- Strengthens the state’s Equal Pay Act by expanding what counts as wages, now including bonuses, stock awards, expense reimbursements, and other forms of compensation, to ensure workers doing substantially similar jobs are paid equally regardless of sex, race, or ethnicity.
Education
AB1454 (Improved Reading Teaching)- Updates and enforces teacher training around how reading actually works.
AB461 (No More Criminal Charges for Parents of Truant Kids)- Repeals the misdemeanor law that could be used to prosecute parents when their child repeatedly missed school.
AB962 (School Phone Rules)- Schools can ban phone use on premises at all times, but only if the school has explicitly addressed emergency phone access in its comprehensive school safety plan
AB1005 (Water Safety in Schools)- Requires public schools to teach kids about water safety and drowning prevention.
Public Safety
AB379 (Human Trafficking Crackdown)- Strengthens laws against human trafficking by adding tougher penalties for traffickers, exploiters, and those who buy trafficking victims, and by strengthening victim protections.
AB250 (More Time for Sexual Assault Lawsuits)- Extends how long survivors of sexual assault have to file a civil lawsuit.
AB992 (Better Police Training Standards)- Updates the minimum qualifications and training required for California peace officers, and establishes a stronger framework for how those standards are set and maintained.
SB627 (Police Mask Ban)- Makes it a crime for law enforcement officers to wear face coverings that conceal or obscure their identity while performing their duties in California
Elections
AB604 (Redistricting Procedures)- Sets temporary rules for redistricting, the process of redrawing political district boundaries.
ACA8 (Redistricting Constitutional Amendment)- Puts a constitutional amendment about redistricting on the ballot for voters to decide. (Approved by voters via Proposition 50, November 2025)
AB930 (Longer Mail-In Period)- Extends the deadline for mail-in ballots to be counted from 3 days after Election Day to 7 days after Election Day.
AB1286 (More Financial Disclosure from Officials)- Mandates that public officials disclose the identity of their prospective employer and the date of the arrangement if they are leaving office to prevent immediate lobbying.
AB827 (Voter Registration and Mail Ballot Updates)- Requires that voters be given until the 22nd day after a regular statewide election to submit a vote-by-mail ballot signature verification statement.
Immigration
AB495 (Protections for Immigrant Students and Families)- Strengthens protections for immigrant students and families through updated school safety policies, caregiver authorization rules, and legal processes designed to shield students from immigration enforcement.
SB281 (Immigration Warnings for Non-Citizen Defendants)- Requires judges to give clearer warnings to non-citizens before accepting a guilty plea, about how the plea could affect their immigration status.
AB1261 (Legal Counsel for Immigrant Youth)- Guarantees free legal counsel to immigrant youth in California, including unaccompanied undocumented minors in the custody of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement or living with a family member or sponsor in the state.
AB1362 (Foreign Worker Contractor Oversight)- Positions California as a leader in protecting agricultural workers from predatory foreign labor recruiters.
Transportation
AB1340 (Ride Hailing Unionization)- More than 800,000 drivers for ride-hailing companies in California can now join a union and bargain collectively for better wages and benefits
SB480 (Self-Driving Vehicle Equipment Standards)- Updates the equipment and lighting rules for autonomous vehicles.
AB382 (Slower Speeds Near Pedestrians)- Lets cities set lower speed limits in pedestrian-heavy areas like near schools and on residential streets.
AB366 (DUI Rules and Ignition Interlocks)- Requires the use of in-car breathalyzers for all first-time DUI offenders.
Other
AB268 (Diwali as a State Holiday)- Officially recognizes Diwali as a state holiday for courts, school districts, and government employment.
AB977 (Native American Remains Protections)- Strengthens protections for Native American human remains and expands tribal authority over how they’re handled and returned.
SB82 (Forced Arbitration Limits)- Targets infinite arbitration clauses, provisions buried in consumer contracts that attempt to force customers to arbitrate essentially any future dispute with a company.
AB1527 (Tribal Gaming Compact)- Approves a new gaming compact between the state and a federally recognized Native American tribe.
As you can see from this small sampling, tons of major reforms are taking place in California. As the state is among the first to tackle issues such as AI and autonomous vehicle regulation, and one of many facing affordability and housing access concerns, legislators across the country would do well to keep an eye on how this legislation impacts California constituents to take the best-performing measures back to support theirs.
What do you think about this legislation? Let us know in the replies!
I think it’s great that somehow, somewhere there is forward thinking happening to adapt to a new world of technology.
Now if we could just remove the dead wood from government we’d be all set🤮