FLOOR SESSION AGENDA - Regular Session: 2:00 p.m.

SB 765, as it passed the Senate, established the giant garter snake (Thamnophis gigas) as the official state snake, and made related findings and declarations.

The Assembly amendments make nonsubstantive changes to those findings and declarations.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: no.

SB 757, as it passed the Senate, authorized, until January 1, 2035, the legislative body of a city or county to collect fines for specified violations related to nuisance abatement using a nuisance abatement lien or a special assessment and required those fines and penalties to be used for specified housing purposes relating to supporting local enforcement of state and local building and fire code standards.

The Assembly amendments instead require those fines and penalties to be used to fund efforts within city or county government, as applicable, to streamline the issuance of permits for housing development or to establish a revolving loan fund for specified housing purposes.

SB 757, as it passed the Senate, required the city or county to create a process for granting a hardship waiver to reduce the amount of the above-described fine upon a specified showing by the responsible person. SB 757, as it passed the Senate, also required the enforcing entity to provide 30 days, as specified, to a person responsible for a continuing violation to correct or remedy the violation prior to the imposition of penalties, except as provided.

The Assembly amendments also require the hardship waiver to totally waive fines and penalties for persons with income equal to or less than 200% of the federal poverty line and require the enforcing entity to provide 60 days to correct or remedy continuing violations.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 9, as it passed the Senate, invalidated a local agency accessory dwelling unit ordinance if the local agency fails to submit a copy of the ordinance to the Department of Housing and Community Development within 60 days of adoption or fails to respond to the department’s findings that the ordinance does not comply with certain standards within 30 days.

The Assembly amendments move this provision to a different Government Code section and additionally specify that certain submittal requirements are included in the standards for which the department determines compliance.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 87, as it passed the Senate, deleted the sunset of a provision that made, until January 1, 2026, for the purpose of Sales and Use Tax Law, an all-volunteer fire department, as defined, a consumer and not a retailer if the profits are used solely and exclusively in furtherance of the purposes of the all-volunteer fire department, as prescribed.

The Assembly amendments instead extend the sunset until January 1, 2031.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 227, as it passed the Senate, among other things, made changes to the membership of the board of directors of the Green Empowerment Zone for the Northern Waterfront area of the County of Contra Costa.

The Assembly amendments, in addition to those changes, remove the director representing the State Air Resources Board from the board of directors. The Assembly amendments also revise the term limits for the chair and deputy directors of the board by eliminating the prohibition against serving consecutive terms and, instead, authorizing the chair and deputy directors to be re-selected by a majority vote of the board for up to 3 additional terms.

Vote: 27. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 272, as it passed the Senate, established a pilot program authorizing the San Mateo County Transit District to use job order contracting as a procurement method, as specified.

The Assembly amendments add coauthors.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: no.

SB 276, as it passed the Senate, among other things, authorized an ordinance adopted by the City and County of San Francisco to provide specified punishments for selling merchandise without a permit, including that 2nd and 3rd violations would be punishable as infractions, and that subsequent violations after 2 prior convictions would be punishable as infractions or misdemeanors.

The Assembly amendments, instead, authorize an ordinance as described above to make 2nd and 3rd violations within 18 months of the first violation punishable as infractions, and subsequent violations after 3 prior violations that occur within 18 months of the first violation punishable as infractions or misdemeanors.

Vote: 27. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 281, as it passed the Senate, required the court to give verbatim a specified advisement related to citizenship status prior to acceptance of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a crime and clarified that advisement to state that if the defendant is not a citizen of the United States, conviction may result in certain immigration consequences.

The Assembly amendments clarify that it is not the intent of the Legislature that a court’s failure to provide the advisement verbatim to a plea accepted prior to January 1, 2026, requires vacation of the judgment and withdrawal of the plea.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 301, as it passed the Senate, prohibited, beginning on or after January 1, 2026, a city or district that contracts with a retirement system under the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 (CERL) from amending their contract with the system in a a manner that provides for the exclusion of some, but not all, employees.

The Assembly amendments instead prohibit a county or district whose officers and employees are enrolled as members of a retirement system under CERL from excluding from membership in the system any employee, group, or classification, other than those excludable officer and employees, as defined. The Assembly amendments include findings that changes proposed by the bill address a matter of statewide concern and that its provisions are declaratory of existing law.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 303, as it passed the Senate, prohibited a plaintiff or complainant from introducing a public employee’s assessment, testing, or admission or acknowledgment of personal bias that was solicited or required as part of a bias mitigation training, as defined, as evidence in certain civil actions or civil or administrative proceedings.

The Assembly amendments delete those provisions, and, instead, provide that an employee’s assessment, testing, admission, or acknowledgment of their own personal bias that was made in good faith and solicited or required as part of a bias mitigation training, as defined, does not constitute unlawful discrimination.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 390, as it passed the Senate, provided an exception to the prohibition against including or annexing a territory that is dedicated or restricted to agricultural, open-space, or conservation uses to a community facilities district, as specified, without the landowner’s consent. SB 390, as it passed the Senate, provided that for territory that is located within the regional shoreline of the County of San Mateo, the consent of a landowner is not required, if specified conditions are met.

The Assembly amendments make a nonsubstantive change and add coauthors.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: no.

SB 391, as it passed the Senate, authorized the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to implement a data request fee policy for researchers applying for access to individually identifiable data, student data, or both. SB 391, as it passed the Senate, prohibited fees or charges from being imposed on a state agency, except as provided, or on an undergraduate or graduate student seeking data for the student’s individual studies.

The Assembly amendments additionally prohibit those fees or charges from being imposed on a community college faculty member seeking data for the faculty member’s individual research.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 395, as it passed the Senate, authorized the issuance of up to 20 additional new original on-sale general licenses, as specified, for bona fide public eating places located within a designated hospitality zone in the City and County of San Francisco, as defined. SB 395, as it passed the Senate, required the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to follow specified procedures concerning the issuance of these licenses and authorized the department to designate these licenses as on-sale general for special use.

The Assembly amendments additionally prohibit the department from issuing any license under these provisions after July 1, 2033, and make other technical changes.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 412, as it passed the Senate, required a home care organization to ensure that an affiliated home care aide completed, prior to providing home care and annually thereafter, training related to the special care needs of clients with dementia.

The Assembly amendments delay the operation of these provisions until January 1, 2027.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 447, as it passed the Senate, extended the requirement for an employer of a local firefighter or peace officer who is killed or dies as a result of accident or injury caused by external violence of physical force incurred in the performance of their duty to provide health benefits to the deceased employee’s minor dependents until the minor dependents reach 26 years of age.

The Assembly amendments make a technical, nonsubstantive change to those provisions and add a coauthor.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: no.

SB 480, as it passed the Senate, authorized an autonomous vehicle to be equipped with automated driving system (ADS) marker lamps in accordance with specified standards. For purposes of this provision, the bill would define an “ADS marker lamp” as a device that emits a light to indicate when an ADS is engaged in the operation of the vehicle.

The Assembly amendments make conforming changes to existing vehicle equipment requirements.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 506, as it passed the Senate, amended various provisions that, taken together, constitute a transportation omnibus bill.

The Assembly amendments make a change to the composition of the Tri-Valley-San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority’s governing board, amend certain provisions of the Treasure Island Transportation Management Act to remove the San Francisco County Transportation Authority from involvement with congestion pricing for Treasure Island, and revise a prohibition of driving a motor vehicle with any object or material placed upon the windshield or side or rear windows to exempt specified vehicle technology.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 507, as it passed the Senate, authorized a local government within the same county as a tribe to enter into a voluntary agreement with a tribe to allow new tribal housing development projects to count toward the locality’s share of the regional housing needs allocation, as specified.

The Assembly amendments specify that the bill’s provisions do not affect an existing tribal housing development that is being counted towards a locality’s share of the regional housing needs allocation regardless of whether a local government and a tribe enter into a voluntary agreement, as specified.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 543, as it passed the Senate, required a permitting agency to determine whether an application to create or serve an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is complete, provide written notice of the determination within a specified time, and permit the applicant to cure and address any items that are deemed incomplete by the agency, among other things.

The Assembly amendments also require the permitting agency to provide a process for the applicant to appeal the agency’s decision that a permit application is incomplete or is denied, as specified.

SB 543, as it passed the Senate, required a local agency that has adopted an ordinance by July 1, 2018, providing for the approval of ADUs in multifamily dwelling structures to ministerially consider a permit application to construct certain types of ADUs in residential or mixed-use zones and authorized the agency to impose objective standards, except as specified.

The Assembly amendments remove this requirement and authorization.

SB 543, as it passed the Senate, required a local agency to submit to the Department of Housing and Community Development a copy of a specified ordinance providing for the creation of junior ADUs in single-family residential zones within 60 days after adoption. SB 543, as it passed the Senate, required the department to notify the local agency if the ordinance does not comply with specified requirements and the local agency to respond to the findings and either amend or adopt the ordinance, as provided.

The Assembly amendments nullify and void the ordinance if the local agency fails to submit a copy of the ordinance or fails to respond to the department’s findings that the ordinance does not comply with the specified requirements. The Assembly amendments also subsequently require the local agency to apply the standards set forth in law for the approval of junior ADUs.

SB 543, as it passed the Senate, required a permitting agency to determine whether an application to create or serve a junior ADU is complete, provide written notice of its determination to the applicant within a specified time, and, if the application is incomplete, provide the applicant with a list of incomplete items and a description of how the application can be made complete.

The Assembly amendments provide that a local ordinance, policy, or regulation other than a junior ADU ordinance consistent with specified law shall not be the basis for the delay or denial of a building or use permit. The Assembly amendments require the permitting agency to provide a process for the applicant to appeal a determination that their junior ADU permit application is incomplete or is denied, as described.

The Assembly amendments also make a technical change.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 544, as it passed the Senate, authorized the Public Utilities Commission to partially or completely exempt certain railroad crossing applications from review under otherwise applicable adjudication procedures and authorized the commission to establish an expedited review and approval process for those applications.

The Assembly amendments would instead require the commission to adopt an expedited review and approval process for ratesetting proceedings for an exempt railroad crossing application, as defined. The amendments also would require the commission, upon initiating a ratesetting proceeding, to determine whether the proceeding is for an exempt railroad crossing application, and if so, to issue a proposed resolution pursuant to the expedited review and approval process.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 626, as it passed the Senate, required a licensed health care practitioner who provides perinatal care for a patient to diagnose and treat the patient for a perinatal mental health condition in accordance with applicable clinical guidelines, as specified, or standards appropriate to the provider’s license, training, and scope of practice.

The Assembly amendments remove the requirement that a licensed health care practitioner diagnose and treat the patient or client for a perinatal mental health condition in accordance with specified clinical guidelines. The Assembly amendments require a specified licensed health care practitioner to ensure that a patient or client is offered screening or is appropriately screened for perinatal mental health conditions consistent with the perinatal mental health program. The Assembly amendments authorize a licensed health care practitioner to satisfy this requirement by referring the patient or client to another licensed health care practitioner who is authorized to screen, diagnose, and treat the patient or client for a perinatal mental health condition.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 650, as it passed the Senate, made the provisions of the Delta Plan severable and provided certain deadlines for legal actions arising out of specified actions of the Delta Stewardship Council, among other changes.

The Assembly amendments provide that it is the intent of the Legislature that Delta Stewardship Council appointees have knowledge about the Delta.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 686, as it passed the Senate, revised and recast various provisions relating to housing financing and development, including authorizing the Department of Housing and Community Development to approve the payoff of a department loan in whole or part before the end of its term and to waive specified requirements in prescribed regulatory agreements, as provided. SB 686, as it passed the Senate, also defined a term for those purposes as well as the No Place Like Home Program.

The Assembly amendments delete those provisions and, instead, require the department to allow property owners subject to a regulatory agreement with the department to take out additional debt on the development if any extracted equity, as defined, is utilized for specified purposes.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 731, as it passed the Senate, expanded an existing exemption for certain trash and storage containers on a roadway or the curb of a roadway from a requirement to have 8 strips of fluorescent yellow reflective tape that meets specified requirements for material and spacing, if the container had reflectors applied before January 1, 2025.

The Assembly amendments would, if the container is not exempt from the requirement for 8 strips of fluorescent yellow reflective tape, require the reflective tape for a storage container transported by truck and trailer to be fluorescent yellow, red, white, or alternating red and white, and meet specified requirements for material and spacing.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 764, as it passed the Senate, required a chain restaurant that sells a children’s meal to offer at least one children’s meal that meets specified minimum nutrition standards and to train employees on how to comply with those requirements. SB 764, as it passed the Senate, also imposed additional duties on local enforcement agencies by requiring the agencies to provide written notice, on or before April 1, 2026, to specified chain restaurants that sell children’s meals, that they are required to offer children’s meals that meet specified nutrition standards and are required to train employees on how to comply with those requirements.

The Assembly amendments remove the additional duties on local enforcement agencies. The Assembly amendments also remove the training requirements for employees and instead require chain restaurants to include information to its employees during training on how to comply with the requirements mentioned above. The Assembly amendments also require a chain restaurant to include an icon or symbol on the menu to identify the children’s meal that meets the specified nutrition standards.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 857, as it passed the Senate, amended various provisions that, taken together, constitute the public safety omnibus bill.

The Assembly amendments remove a provision making technical amendments regarding restitution fines and add a provision providing that any conflicting bills shall prevail over this bill, as specified.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 346, as it passed the Senate, authorized a local agency to enact an ordinance to require a short-term rental facilitator to report the assessor parcel number physical address, including 9-digit ZIP Code, of each short-term rental as well as any additional information necessary to identify the property as may be required by the local agency. SB 346, as it passed the Senate, defined “short-term rental” for these purposes to mean occupancy in specified types of lodgings for a period of 30 consecutive days or less, as provided.

The Assembly amendments instead authorize a local agency to enact an ordinance to require a short-term rental facilitator to report the physical address of each short-term rental, and further authorize a local agency to request additional information, as provided, if the physical address is not sufficient to identify a specific short-term rental. The Assembly amendments revise the definition of “short-term rental” to include a campsite. The Assembly amendments prohibit the reporting period from being more frequent than intervals of every 3 months within a 12-month period, except as provided. The Assembly amendments make various nonsubstantive changes to renumber the code sections proposed to be added by the bill and to reorganize certain provisions relating to audits of short-term rental facilitators.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 351, as it passed the Senate, generally prohibited a private equity group or hedge fund, as those terms are defined, involved in any manner with a physician or dental practice doing business in this state from interfering with the professional judgment of physicians or dentists in making health care decisions and exercising power over specified actions, and entitled the Attorney General to injunctive relief and attorney’s fees and costs for the enforcement of its provisions.

The Assembly amendments revise the definitions of “private equity group” and “hedge fund” and also make the provisions of SB 351 severable.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.

SB 697, as it passed the Senate, regarding the State Water Resources Control Board’s statutory adjudication of water rights during an investigation of a stream system, among other things, authorized the board, if the board determined that the information provided by the claimant is inadequate, to issue information orders that required claimants to submit reports of water use from the stream system through a form provided by the board. SB 697, as it passed the Senate, provided two standards regarding the burden of preparing that report, (1) that the burden bear a reasonable relationship to the need for the report, and (2) that the burden, including costs, bear a reasonable relationship to the need for the requested information and the benefits to be obtained from the board receiving that information, as specified.

The Assembly amendments eliminate the requirement that the burden of preparing the report bear a reasonable relationship to the need for the report, leaving only the requirement that the burden of preparing the report, including costs, bear a reasonable relationship to the need and benefits of the report, as described above.

Vote: 21. Substantial substantive change: yes.