Summer Recess Legislative Update

Last Thursday, July 2, California’s legislators convened for the last time before returning to their districts for the month-long Summer Recess. This also marked the last day of policy committees to meet and hear bills, and the week saw 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 CSAC Legislative Affairs staff.  

Notable Bills, by Policy Area

Administration of Justice 

AB 1549 (Chapter 37, Statutes of 2026) Alternative domestic violence program.  v

CSAC Position: Co-Sponsor. 

This measure extends 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 proposed adding Sacramento County to the list of participating pilot counties. CSAC co-sponsored this measure alongside the Chief Probation Officers of California and the California District Attorneys Association. This measure was signed into law by Governor Newsom on June 30, 2026. 

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

CSAC Position: Oppose. 

This two-year measure would make several significant changes to the contracts utilized by counties for the administration and provision of public defense contracts. The current language of this measure would explicitly prohibit the use of flat fees and require compliance with newly established contractual standards.  

SB 1009 (Becker) Juveniles: detention – ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE. 

This measure would prohibit a court from ordering a minor be detained in a juvenile hall unless it makes a finding that a less restrictive alternative to detention is unsuitable. It also specifies that upon request, a court shall reassess whether continued detention in a juvenile hall continues to be necessary.  

SB 1157 (Archuleta) Juveniles: secure youth treatment facilities: less restrictive programs – ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE.  

When considering whether to place a youth in a less restrictive program, including a congregate residential care setting, this measure would require a court to consider certain information, such as whether a program has insurance policies or has conducted criminal background checks. It would also require a court to state on the record the reason for placing a youth in a less restrictive program, amongst other information required to be provided to probation.  

Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources 

AB 1881 (Ramos) California Indian Freedom Act of 2026. – SENATE APPROPRIATIONS and AB 2218 (Karla) Water policy: California Native American tribes. 

CSAC Position: Oppose 

CSAC and a wide coalition of local government and water agencies, including League of Cities, ACWA, CMUA and others, have an oppose unless amended position on these measures. 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. 

Government Finance and Administration

AB 1383 (McKinnor) Public employees’ retirement benefits – SENATE APPROPRIATIONS 

CSAC Position: Oppose 

This bill would reduce the retirement age for public safety employees (police and firefighters), establish new benefit tiers that can be bargained, and increase the creditable compensation limit. The bill is estimated to raise pension costs by several billion dollars over the next twenty years. 

AB 1821 (Pacheco) California Public Records Act: agency response time. – SENATE APPROPRIATIONS 

CSAC Position: Support 

This measure would  extend the response deadline from calendar to business days. 

SB 1329 (McNerney) Real property tax: valuation: active solar energy system. – ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS  

CSAC Position: Oppose 

This measure would prescribe rules for the valuation of an active solar energy system under certain valuation methods for purposes of calculating property tax revenues owed to counties and other local government agencies. This bill is estimated to result in an unknown, but potentially significant reduction in potential property tax revenues.  

Health and Human Services

AB 2194 (Valencia) Medi-Cal: special commissions – Senate Appropriations Committee 

CSAC Position: Oppose (opposition to be removed) 

This bill addresses the governing structure of CalOptima, the county organized health system Medi-Cal managed care plan in Orange County. The prior version of the bill would have removed two county supervisor slots from the CalOptima governing board and would have removed the authority to appoint the remaining members of the CalOptima governing board from the Board of Supervisors. The recent amendments strike those changes, make minor changes to the terms of CalOptima board members, and require an audit of CalOptima’s governance procedures and practices. With these amendments, CSAC (as well as UCC and RCRC) will be removing our opposition. 

SB 28 (Umberg) Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) court program – ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE 

CSAC Position: Oppose 

This bill proposes a large number of changes to the CARE Act, including expanding the scope of evidence that can be considered as part of a CARE petition, requiring the development of a model exit plan for individuals that may need a higher level of care than available through the CARE process, allowing courts to adopt CARE agreements as CARE plans under specified circumstances, and establishing a CARE Court ombudsperson to oversee complaints regarding the program, among other things. 

SB 1016 (Blakespear) Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court Program and court-ordered evaluations – ASSEMBLY APPRORPIATIONS COMMITTEE 

CSAC Position: Oppose 

This bill makes changes to the CARE Act and the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS Act), such as authorizing a court to order a county to conduct a prepetition screening for conservatorship under the LPS Act, before dismissing a CARE Act petition. 

SB 1054 (Cabaldon) Unemployment insurance: reporting requirements – ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE 

CSAC Position: Support 

This measure directs the Employment Development Department (EDD) to collect additional information from employers about wages, including number of hours worked, to support streamlined eligibility determinations for health and nutrition programs. Importantly, this measure will help mitigate some of the new workload impacts on counties resulting from H.R. 1 by improving the employment information available to support Medi-Cal and CalFresh work requirement verifications.  

Housing, Land Use, and Transportation 

AB 1436 (Avila-Farias) State Air Resources Board: air pollution regulations: private fleets: exception. – SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 

CSAC Position: Support 

This bill clarifies existing law by confirming that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) does not have the legal authority to regulate private fleets, either directly or indirectly, through the State and Local Government (SLG) Fleets provisions of the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulation. This bill is responding to CARB’s proposed changes to ACF regulations in June 2026, which seek to expand the applicability of the regulations to include private fleets that operate under contract with a public agency which could potentially encompass any county contract, regardless of the nature of the work. CSAC is supporting this bill due to the serious concerns about the practical and financial impacts that the June proposed changes to the ACF regulations will have on county vehicle fleets, contractors and ratepayers.    

AB 1457 (Bryan)  General plan: environmental justice element: disadvantaged communities. – SENATE APPROPRIATIONS 

CSAC Position: Oppose 

This bill imposes prescriptive new requirements for the development of environmental justice elements or related policies in local general plans. The bill would also require costly general plan updates, even for cities and counties that have recently completed comprehensive general plan updates and complied in good faith with environmental justice element requirements. 

AB 1621 (Wilson) Planning and Zoning Law: postentitlement phase permits: Housing Accountability Act. – SENATE APPROPRIATIONS 

CSAC Position: Oppose 

This bill would eliminate the ability of local governments to require more than two plan checks on a building permit application unless the local agency can make a written finding based on substantial evidence that additional review is necessary to address a specific, adverse impact on public health and safety. Also prohibits a local or state agency from requiring remediation of any non-compliant conditions if it is a deviation from a previously approved building plan, even if that condition adversely impacts public health and safety. 

AB 1859 (Ortega) Public Works – SENATE APPROPRIATIONS 

CSAC Position: Oppose Unless Amended 

This bill creates a new mandate on local agencies to allow representatives of a joint labor-management committee (JLMC) to access active public works job sites for the purpose of ensuring compliance with existing prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements. Additionally, this bill would grant third-party JLMCs the authority to file a private right of action, civil penalties, and attorney fees against public agencies for alleged denial of access. 

AB 2002 (Solache) Local government assistance: Regional Early Action Planning Fund. – SENATE APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE FILE 

CSAC Position: Support 

This measure would create a permanent funding source for Regional Early Action Planning (REAP) grants, The grants would support county planning activities to help meet the 7^th and future RHNA cycles. 

SB 1117 (Cervantes) Accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units. – ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS 

CSAC Position: Oppose 

This bill would limit the amount of impact fees a local government could charge on an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) more than 750 square feet. In the long term this bill would limit a county’s ability to ensure that the fees associated with new development will generate sufficient funding to construct the facilities required to support that development within a reasonable timeframe; making it difficult for counties to rely on these fee mechanisms as mitigation for the impacts associated with population growth. 

SB 1272 (Menjivar) Local ordinances: administrative fines or penalties. – ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS 

CSAC Position: Oppose 

This bill would mandate a six-month to one-year moratorium on administrative fines while delaying corrective action for certain building, plumbing, electrical, and structural or zoning violations — including conditions that, while not immediately dangerous, can deteriorate into fire hazards, contaminated drinking water, and life-safety emergencies before the grace period expires. This bill would layer an additional state-mandated delay of up to 12 months on top of those existing protection to existing state law that requires counties to provide property owners a reasonable period to remedy violations before fines are imposed. 

While the legislature is out of Sacramento 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 on August 3 to take on the final sprint before legislative business concludes less than a month later, when the 2026 session ends on August 31. Included below are major deadlines to be aware of: