Summer Recess Legislative Update: All Gas, No Brakes (or breaks)!   

The July weather isn’t the only thing heating up in California’s Capitol this summer. Lawmakers in Sacramento are abuzz with energy as policy committees convene throughout the day and late into the evenings to move bills through the legislative process ahead of the Summer Recess. As Friday, July 18 marks the final day for policy committees to meet ahead of the break, this week has seen intense deliberation and key decisions on numerous bills. The measures listed below are of particular note for county governments. For questions about specific bills or other policy issues, please contact the CSAC Legislative Affairs team.

AB 1337 (Ward) Information Practices Act of 1977 – FAILED PASSAGE

CSAC Position: Oppose.

This measure, among other matters, would have amended the requirements of the Information Practices Act (legal privacy framework) and would have applied the requirements of the Act to include local governments, resulting in significant costs and increased liability for county governments.  The bill failed to pass out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

AB 690 (Schultz) Criminal procedure: indigent defense compensation – SENATE APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE FILE

CSAC Position: Oppose.

This measure would prohibit the use of flat fee or per case contracts for the provision of indigent defense services, amongst other new requirements. As flat fee or per case compensation contracts are utilized to fit local capacity, this measure would remove the ability for counties to structure indigent defense contracts in a way that is feasible for that unique community. This bill is currently on the Senate Appropriations Suspense File and as such, CSAC is seeking estimated fiscal impacts from counties.

AB 339 (Ortega) Local public employee organizations: notice requirements. – SENATE APPROPRIATIONS

CSAC Position: Oppose.

This measure would require counties and other local agencies to notify unions no less than 60 days prior to issuing any request for proposals, request for quotes, or renewing or extending an existing contract to perform services that are within the scope of work of the job classifications represented by the recognized employee organization—triggering a meet and confer upon request by the union. This bill is currently scheduled to be heard in the Senate Appropriations committee on August 18, 2025. 

SB 707 (Durazo) Open meetings: meeting and teleconference requirements. – ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS

CSAC Position: Support

This measure would extend and adjust several existing Brown Act laws set to sunset in 2026 and provide new meeting flexibility for advisory bodies and multi-jurisdictional bodies. CSAC continues to negotiate on provisions that would impose new requirements on counties and other local agencies.

SB 346 (Durazo) Local agencies: transient occupancy taxes: short-term rental facilitator. – ASSEMBLY FLOOR

CSAC Position: Support

This bill would strengthen local tools to ensure compliance with local ordinances regarding the collection and remittance of transient occupancy taxes applicable to short-term rentals.

SB 7 (McNerney) Employment: automated decision systems. – ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS

CSAC POSITION: Oppose

This bill would establish requirements governing the use of automated decision systems (ADS) to make employment-related decisions in the workplace. Specifically, this bill would: (1) broadly define ADS to apply to many technologies beyond just those that use artificial intelligence; (2) require employers to provide written notices that ADS are in use to make employment-related decisions; (3) require employers to maintain records of all ADS in use; and (4) require employers to implement an appeals process for decisions made using ADS relating to discipline or termination and establishes penalties for non-compliance. Due to the broad scope of this bill, routine tools used in the workplace would be deemed ADS and subject to the requirements outlined in the bill.

SB 72 (Caballero) The California Water Plan: long-term supply targets. — ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE FILE

CSAC Position: Sponsor

Co-sponsored by CSAC, this bill would revise components of the California Water Plan, which is updated every five years by the Department of Water Resources (DWR). The California Water Plan requires DWR to coordinate with other local, state, and federal entities, and the stakeholder advisory committee to develop the Plan. The bill would require DWR to develop a long-term water supply planning target for 2050 that considers the identified and future water needs for all beneficial uses, including, but not limited to, urban, agricultural, and tribal uses, ensures safe drinking water for all Californians, and establishes an interim target to develop an additional 9 million acre-feet (AF) of water, water conservation, or water storage capacity by 2040.  SB 72 would also require the Water Plan to include a discussion of the estimated costs, benefits, and impacts of any project type or action that is recommended by DWR within the Plan.

AB 735/SB 415: Planning and zoning: logistics use developments: truck routes

CSAC Position: Concerns

These 2 bills are intended to serve as ‘clean-up’ vehicles to address the many issues that CSAC and other local government partners identified in last year’s late session warehouse bill, AB 98. However, at this time many of the clean-up priorities that CSAC and local government associations have identified for inclusion in these bills have not been amended into either measure. CSAC will continue to advocate on behalf of counties for the necessary clean-up language.

AB 283 (Haney) In-Home Supportive Services Employer-Employee Relations Act – SENATE APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE FILE

CSAC Position: Support If Amended

This measure, which is sponsored by the IHSS provider unions (SEIU and UDW), would transition collective bargaining for the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program from counties to the state. CSAC, the County Welfare Directors Association (CWDA), and the California Association of Public Authorities (CAPA) negotiated with the author and sponsors over the past several months and reached agreement on a series of amendments that address county concerns. Two additional amendments that are not yet in print have been agreed to and will be incorporated if/when the bill is passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. These amendments clarify that counties would not be responsible for the increased costs that the state agrees to in statewide bargaining, including wage and benefit increases and new program requirements. A budget trailer bill (SB 129) makes the startup funding for the transition of collective bargaining to the state that was included in the 2025 Budget Act contingent upon the enactment of AB 283 or other legislation that provides an appropriation for that funding.

SB 16 (Blakespear) Ending Street Homelessness Act – Two Year Bill

CSAC Position: Oppose Unless Amended

The latest version of this measure, which was significantly amended on June 23 and proposed to be amended further in the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee, would have created several requirements for a Round 7 of the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) program. Under SB 16, counties would be required to identify goals for reaching functional zero homelessness and sign an MOU committing to certain responsibilities. CSAC had concerns that the responsibilities were overly broad, some were not county functions, and that there was no funding provided to meet the MOU requirements and functional zero goals. Prior to being heard in the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee, the author announced that SB 16 would not move forward this year.

SB 27 (Umberg) Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court Program – ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS

CSAC Position: Engaged

This measure makes numerous changes to the CARE Act, including changes to program eligibility, how respondents are referred, and the CARE Act court hearing process. Amendments to the measure are anticipated to be taken before or by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Among other provisions, the anticipated amendments will limit the expanded eligibility for CARE to include bipolar I disorder with psychotic features. The current version of the bill (as amended June 17) expands eligibility to all mood disorders with psychotic features.  While CSAC has not yet taken a formal position on the bill, we continue to engage with the author, Administration, and Legislature on implementation concerns, in particular with the urgency clause contained in the bill.

SB 331 (Menjivar) Substance abuse – TWO YEAR BILL – Assembly Health Committee

CSAC Position: Oppose

Among other provisions, this measure proposes to define “mental health disorder” for the purposes of the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act as any condition included in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. CSAC joined a coalition of groups, including the County Behavioral Health Directors Association (CBHDA) and the California Association of Public Administrators, Public Guardians, and Public Conservators, opposed to the bill because it would significantly expand the reach of who may qualify for an LPS hold or conservatorship. The author decided not to move forward with the bill this year but may bring it back in 2026.    

As lawmakers return to their districts for the Summer Recess, the CSAC legislative affairs team will continue to work diligently with legislative staff, the Administration, and local government partners to help shape the bills that impact county governments. You can stay up to date on legislative activities and CSAC’s advocacy by visiting our website’s legislative tracking page.

The Legislature will return from Summer Recess in August with a flurry of activity to conclude legislative business less than a month later, when the 2025 session ends on September 12. Included below are major deadlines to be aware of: