Hot Bills, Big Thrills: The Legislative Season Is Heating Up
Back to News
As previously reported by CSAC, last month state lawmakers introduced 1,798 bills (nearly 600 of which are “spot bills”) ahead of the bill introduction deadline on February 20. The CSAC Legislative Affairs team is reading all introduced bills and carefully analyzing hundreds of them to assess their potential impacts on county governments. Listed below are notable bills for counties to be aware of as the 2026 legislative process heats up.
Please contact the CSAC legislative affairs staff with questions about specific policy areas, CSAC’s position on specific legislation, and other informational resources about the legislative process.
Notable Bills, by Policy Area
Administration of Justice
AB 1549 (Krell) Alternative domestic violence program.
This measure proposes extending the alternative domestic violence batterer’s intervention pilot program, established by AB 372 (Chapter 290, Statue of 2018), from the current sunset date of July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2030. It also proposes adding Sacramento County to the list of participating pilot counties. Since the current statutory authority ends in June, this is an urgency measure, which requires 2/3 vote. Read CSAC’s co-sponsor letter here.
AB 690 (Schultz) Criminal procedure: indigent defense compensation. (2-year bill)
CSAC is opposing this measure alongside the Urban Counties of California (UCC) and the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC). AB 690 would make several changes to county contracts for indigent defense services, which would limit the ability to secure contracts and provide adequate representation. Specifically, the measure proposes establishing a blanket prohibition on the utilization of flat fee models when contracting or administering indigent services, as well as requiring compliance with the Office of the State Public Defender’s newly established, expansive standards that are unobtainable for many counties absent state funding. We are engaged in current discussions with the author’s office and co-sponsors regarding proposed amendments.
Questions? Contact Ryan Morimune, Senior Legislative Advocate at rmorimune@counties.org
Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources
AB 2462 (Pellerin) Unsafe products: disposal: penalties.
This measure amends the Product Recall Safety and Protection Act to clarify the definition of a manufacturer, and establishes that it is the responsibility of manufacturers to provide free safe return or disposal of unsafe products not only to consumers or retailers but also to recycling centers, municipal facilities, and other specified locations. Read more about AB 2462 and download a template support letter here.
AB 1881 (Ramos) California Indian Freedom Act of 2026. and AB 2218 (Kalra) Water policy: California Native American tribes.
CSAC is opposing these measures as part of a wide coalition of local government and water agencies, including League of Cities, ACWA, CMUA and others. While we support efforts to include tribal governments as part of land use and water decision making, these bills would result in substantial legal exposure to counties and create delays and barriers across almost all relevant permitting programs, while also creating uncertainty in existing permits such as established water rights.
SB 1417 (Pérez) Disaster preparedness: public water systems.
CSAC is opposing this bill alongside ACWA and a coalition of water agencies. This bill would impose unreasonable and expensive reporting requirements on counties as a condition for receiving disaster aid, compounding the problems local governments face in disaster response.
Questions? Contact Jordan Wells, Legislative Advocate, at jwells@counties.org and Charles Delgado, Legislative Advocate, at cdelgado@counties.org
Government Finance and Administration
SB 922 (Laird) Vehicles: local agency charges: use of streets or highways.
This measure clarifies longstanding local authority to recover the street maintenance and repair costs associated with providing essential public services, such as garbage, recycling, and green waste collection that rely on heavy service vehicles regularly using local streets. Read CSAC’s co-sponsor letter here.
SB 1005 (Caballero) Local agency: payment: rounding amount.
This measure would allow local agencies to round cash payments to the nearest five cents after the elimination of the penny, providing critical relief to local agencies who would be unable to provide exact change in cash. Read CSAC’s co-sponsor letter here.
Several new bills are designed to restrict workplace technology in ways that undermine local authority and create significant new employer liabilities. By broadly defining “workplace surveillance tools,” these bills would restrict common tools like security cameras, work cell phones, and electronic ID badges. They similarly define artificial intelligence and automated decisions systems in a way that captures tools used for routine work, resulting in significant compliance burdens for counties. Please see below for additional details:
AB 1883 (Bryan) Workplace surveillance tools.
This measure would prohibit the use of a “workplace surveillance tool” if it “identifies, profiles, or infers information” about workers engaging in protected activity and ban the use of workplace tools that incorporate “emotion recognition,” “gait recognition,” or “neural data collection.” Read CSAC’s coalition opposition letter here
AB 1898 (Schultz) Workplace artificial intelligence tools.
This measure would require notice and approval of employees and contractors before AI/ADS tools or “workplace surveillance tools” can be used and require the notices to specify a variety of information, including specific make and model, purpose of tool, and activities to be monitored. Read CSAC’s coalition opposition letter here.
SB 947 (McNerney) Employment: automated decision systems.
This measure would prohibit the use of an AI/ADS tool to conduct “behavior analysis” of a worker and regulate how AI/ADS tools may be used for employment-related decisions. We have concerns with this bill and are engaging with legislative staff and other stakeholders. This bill is similar to SB 7 (McNerney, Vetoed, 2025) which CSAC opposed along with a coalition of other local government organizations. Read our request for veto of SB 7 here.
Questions? Contact Emma Jungwirth, Senior Legislative Advocate, at ejungwirth@counties.org and Eric Lawyer, Senior Legislative Advocate, at elawyer@counties.org
Health and Human Services
AB 2161 (Bonta) Medi-Cal: work or community engagement.
This measure would implement new federal requirements related to Medi-Cal work or community engagement requirements, as required under H.R. 1. Notably, the measure would prohibit the state from implementing work or community engagement requirements on state only funded Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
AB 2201 (Boerner) Medi-Cal: eligibility and redetermination.
This measure updates state law related to Medi-Cal eligibility redeterminations to comply with federal requirements enacted as part of H.R. 1. The measure also requires counties to utilize available financial data sources to verify income and assets during eligibility renewals without contacting a beneficiary when specified conditions are met.
AB 2208 (Stefani) Medi-Cal: cost sharing, retroactivity, and accessibility.
This measure proposes changes to provisions of Medi-Cal related to cost sharing, retroactive coverage, and application accessibility to address federal policy changes made through H.R. 1. The bill would cap copayments for nonemergency services at $0.01 for ACA expansion adults, maintain three months of retroactive coverage with state funding, and requires changes to the Medi-Cal application process to ease burdens on applicants.
AB 2299 (Calderon) California Antihunger Response and Employment Training Act of 2026.
This measure would require the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to establish a state-funded program, the California Antihunger Response and Employment Training (CARET), for people who are ineligible for CalFresh or who have had their CalFresh benefits discontinued due to the federal able-bodied adult without dependents (ABAWD) time limit. The measure would also make a CARET recipient eligible for CalFresh Employment and Training (E&T). Finally, the measure would require CDSS to develop and issue guidance to maximize the use of percentage exemptions from the three-month time limit under SNAP, including redistribution of percentage exemptions between counties if necessary.
AB 2368 (Bonta) Indigent health care: information and planning.
This measure requires the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to develop, in consultation with stakeholders including CSAC, a public website that includes information and resources about each county’s medically indigent care programs. The measure also requires each county, by January 1, 2028, to submit a plan to DHCS on their indigent care programs, including projections of future caseload and expenditures, anticipated workforce and service investment needs, and an analysis of funding gaps between available resources and projected needs.
SB 1202 (Weber Pierson) Medi-Cal: dashboard and outreach
This measure seeks to establish a data dashboard that collects and reflects the impacts of H.R. 1 on Medi-Cal eligibility and enrollment. Specifically, this measure requires DHCS, in collaboration with the CalHHS and Covered California, to establish a data dashboard that provides data on applications, enrollment, redeterminations, disenrollments, and terminations. The measure also requires DHCS and Medi-Cal Managed Care Plans to conduct outreach and education on the changes to Medi-Cal under H.R. 1, including new work or community engagement requirements, redeterminations, and changes to retroactivity. Finally, the bill requires counties to make good faith efforts to collaborate with community-based organizations on outreach efforts related to Medi-Cal changes.
Questions? Contact Justin Garrett, Senior Legislative Advocate, at jgarrett@counties.org and Brendan McCarthy, Senior Legislative Advocate, at bmccarthy@counties.org
Housing, Land Use, and Transportation
AB 1421 (Wilson) Road Usage Charge Technical Advisory Committee
This measure extends the operation of the Road Usage Charge Technical Advisory Committee and its pilot program evaluating mileage-based alternatives to the gas tax from 2027 to 2035. County public works departments face the increasing likelihood that fuels-based transportation funding revenues will continue to decline in the future. This bill supports continued research and pilot programs to evaluate the viability of a road user charge supported by data-driven policy decisions that balance revenue needs with public equity and environmental sustainability. Read CSAC’s support letter here.
AB 1624 (Zbur) Public Lands Protection Act
This measure requires counties to automatically subject that a parcel transferred from federal government ownership to private or non-federal government ownership to the most restrictive conservation-oriented zoning designation currently applied in the jurisdiction, by operation of law. CSAC believes this bill could have significant and unintended consequences for counties, especially those with large amounts of federally owned lands within their jurisdiction. We strongly urge all counties review this bill for potential impacts it may have on your county.
AB 1738 (Carillo) State Housing Law: remote inspections.
This measure requires counties to offer a homeowner the option of requesting remote inspections for specific types of inspections required by certain building permits. The bill would allow an inspection to be done remotely in real time or by allowing homeowners to submit pictures of the completed project. CSAC is engaging on this bill to address issues that county building officials have raised in counties where they allow remote inspections to ensure that homeowner health and safety issues are addressed by this bill’s intent.
Questions? Contact Mark Neuburger, Legislative Advocate, at mneuburger@counties.org
Legislative Tracking Available on CSAC’s Website!
Don’t have time to read the thousands of bills that are moving through the legislative process in 2026? Want to say up-to-date in real time about what bills have implications for county governments? No worries, the CSAC legislative affairs staff has your back!
CSAC’s Member Legislative Resources webpage is a comprehensive legislative-tracking tool that includes:
- Real-time reports of CSAC’s legislative advocacy by policy area,
- A “hot bills” report of some of the most high-profile legislation,
- A “bill search” function,
- Links to CSAC letters sent to the Legislature about issues other than individual bills.
To access the Member Legislative Resources webpage, you will be asked to create an account or login to an existing account for the CSAC Portal. In 2025, CSAC transitioned to a new software platform with enhanced features designed to elevate communication and interaction with CSAC. If you have questions about the CSAC Portal, please contact CSAC staff at portal@counties.org.