Current Legislative Updates and Board Legislative Positions as of April 3, 2026
2025–2026 LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
The Speech–Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board took the following positions on pending legislation during the 2025–2026 legislative session.
AB 45 (Bauer–Kahan) Privacy: health data: location and research.
Status: 9/26/2025–Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 134, Statutes of 2025.
Summary: Current law prohibits a person or business, as defined, from collecting, using, disclosing, or retaining the personal information of a person who is physically located at, or within a precise geolocation of, a family planning center, as defined, except as necessary to perform the services or provide the goods requested and prohibits a person or business from selling or sharing this personal information. Current law authorizes an aggrieved person or entity to institute and prosecute a civil action against a person or business for a violation of these provisions and specifies the damages and costs authorized to be recovered. This bill would recast the above–described provisions, and instead prohibit the collection, use, disclosure, sale, sharing, or retention of the personal information of a natural person who is physically located at, or within a precise geolocation of, a family planning center, except under certain circumstances, including, among others, for the collection or use as necessary to perform the services or provide the goods requested. The bill would also provide that these provisions do not alter applicable law regarding use by a law enforcement agency, as defined, of personal information generated by an electronic monitoring device.
Position: Watch
AB 82 (Ward) Health care: legally protected health care activity.
Status: 10/13/2025 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 679, Statutes of 2025.
Summary: Current law authorizes reproductive health care service providers, employees, volunteers, and patients, and individuals who face threats of violence or violence or harassment from the public because of their affiliation with a reproductive health care services facility, to complete an application to be approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of enabling state and local agencies to respond to requests for public records without disclosing a program participant's residence address contained in any public record and otherwise provide for confidentiality of identity for that person, subject to specified conditions. This bill would expand the address confidentiality program to a gender–affirming health care provider, employee, or volunteer, as defined, who faces threats of violence or harassment from the public because of their affiliation with a gender–affirming health care services facility. The bill would also make conforming changes.
Position: Watch
AB 144 (Committee on Budget) Health.
Status: 09/17/2025 – Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 105, Statutes of 2025.
Summary: Current law provides for the licensure and regulation of various healing arts practitioners by boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Current law provides an exemption from these requirements for a health care practitioner licensed in another state who offers or provides health care for which the practitioner is licensed during a state of emergency, as defined, and upon request of the Director of the Emergency Medical Services Authority, as specified. This bill would exempt health care practitioners licensed in another state, territory, or country from certain healing arts licensure, certification, or registration requirements, as described above, while providing professional services at Olympic and Paralympic activities, as defined, if the health care practitioner has been invited by the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games to provide those services and the committee provides specified information to the Director of Consumer Affairs. The bill would specify that the exemption applies while the health care practitioner is providing professional services at the invitation of the committee and only during the time sanctioned by the committee.
Position: Watch
AB 322 (Ward) Precise geolocation information.
Status: 8/28/2025–Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(a)(11). (Last location was APPR. SUSPENSE FILE on 8/18/2025)(May be acted upon Jan 2026)
Summary: The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) grants a consumer various rights with respect to personal information, as defined, that is collected or sold by a business, as defined, including the right to direct a business that collects sensitive personal information about the consumer to limit its use, as prescribed. Current law defines "sensitive personal information" to mean, among other things, personal information that reveals a consumer's precise geolocation. The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, approved by the voters as Proposition 24 at the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, amended, added to, and reenacted the CCPA. This bill would require a business that collects precise geolocation information to prominently display, when information is being collected, a notice to the consumer whose information is being collected that states certain information related to the collection of the information and its use by the business, including the goods or services requested by the consumer for which the business is collecting, processing, or disclosing the geolocation information and a description of how the business will process the geolocation information to carry out those purposes.
Position: Watch
AB 346 (Nguyen) In–home supportive services: licensed health care professional certification.
Status: 8/29/2025–Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(a)(11). (Last location was APPR. SUSPENSE FILE on 7/14/2025)(May be acted upon Jan 2026)
Summary: Current law defines supportive services for purposes of the county–administered In–Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program to include those necessary paramedical services that are ordered by a licensed health care professional, which persons could provide for themselves, but for their functional limitations. Current law requires an applicant for, or recipient of, in–home supportive services, as a condition of receiving these services, to obtain a certification from a licensed health care professional declaring that the applicant or recipient is unable to perform some activities of daily living independently, and that without services to assist the applicant or recipient with activities of daily living, the applicant or recipient is at risk of placement in out–of–home care, and defines a licensed health care professional for this purpose to mean an individual licensed in California by the appropriate California regulatory agency, acting within the scope of their license or certificate as defined in the Business and Professions Code. This bill would use the above–described definition of “licensed health care professional” for purposes of the provisions relating to paramedical services, and would, for purposes of the certification requirement, add to the above–described definition of “licensed health care professional” that the licensed individual has primary responsibilities to diagnose or provide treatment and care for physical or mental impairments that cause or contribute to an individual's functional limitations.
Position: Watch
AB 364 (DeMaio) Personal information: maintenance.
Status: 5/1/2025–Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(a)(2). (Last location was P. & C.P. on 3/13/2025)(May be acted upon Jan 2026)
Summary: Would enact the Stop Foreign Governments from Accessing Californians' Sensitive Personal Information Act which would additionally require a business to disclose to a consumer if the business intends to maintain the consumer's personal information outside of the United States. The bill would prohibit a business from maintaining a consumer's personal information outside of the United States unless, among other things, the consumer explicitly consented to the business maintaining the consumer's personal information outside of the United States. The bill would also prohibit a business from maintaining personal information that is health care information, financial information, or geolocation data in the custody of a foreign government or a third party that is owned or controlled by a foreign government. This bill would declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020.
Position: Watch
AB 410 (Wilson) Bots: disclosure.
Status: 8/29/2025–Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(a)(11). (Last location was APPR. SUSPENSE FILE on 8/18/2025)(May be acted upon Jan 2026)
Summary: : Current law makes it unlawful for any person to use a bot to communicate or interact with another person in this state online with the intent to mislead the other person about its artificial identity for the purposes of knowingly deceiving the person about the content of the communication in order to incentivize a purchase or sale of goods or services in a commercial transaction or to influence a vote in an election, unless the person using the bot discloses that it is a bot. Current law defines a “bot” as an automated online account where all or substantially all of the actions or posts of that account are not the result of a person. This bill would require a person who uses a bot to autonomously communicate with another to ensure that the bot discloses to any person with whom the bot communicates when the bot first communicates with the person that the bot is a bot and not a human being, answers truthfully any query from a person regarding its identity as a bot or a human, and refrains from attempting to mislead a person regarding its identity as a bot.
Position: Watch
AB 485 (Ortega) Labor Commissioner: unsatisfied judgments: nonpayment of wages.
Status: 8/29/2025–Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(a)(11). (Last location was APPR. SUSPENSE FILE on 8/18/2025)(May be acted upon Jan 2026)
Summary: Current law authorizes the Labor Commissioner to investigate employee complaints and to take various actions against an employer with respect to unpaid wages. Current law generally prohibits an employer with an unsatisfied final judgment for nonpayment of wages from continuing to conduct business in California, unless that employer has obtained a bond from a surety company and filed that bond with the Labor Commissioner, as prescribed. Under current law, if an employer in the long–term care industry that is also required to obtain a license from the State Department of Public Health or the State Department of Social Services has violated the above provision governing unsatisfied judgments (unsatisfied judgment provision), either of those departments may deny a new license or the renewal of an existing license for that employer. Current law further requires the Labor Commissioner, upon finding that an employer in the long–term care industry is violating the unsatisfied judgment provision, to notify those departments. This bill would repeal the above–described provision applicable to employers in the long–term care industry. The bill would require a state agency, if an employer that is required to obtain a license or permit from that state agency is found to have violated the unsatisfied judgment provision, to deny a new license or permit or the renewal of an existing license or permit for that employer.
Position: Watch
AB 489 (Bonta) Health care professions: deceptive terms or letters: artificial intelligence.
Status: 10/11/2025–Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 615, Statutes of 2025.
Summary: Current law establishes various healing arts boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs that license and regulate various healing arts licensees. Current laws, including, among others, the Medical Practice Act and the Dental Practice Act, make it a crime for a person who is not licensed as a specified health care professional to use certain words, letters, and phrases or any other terms that imply that they are authorized to practice that profession. Current law requires, with certain exemptions, a health facility, clinic, physician’s office, or office of a group practice that uses generative artificial intelligence, as defined, to generate written or verbal patient communications pertaining to patient clinical information, as defined, to ensure that those communications include both (1) a disclaimer that indicates to the patient that a communication was generated by generative artificial intelligence, as specified, and (2) clear instructions describing how a patient may contact a human health care provider, employee, or other appropriate person. Current law provides that a violation of these provisions by a physician shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, as appropriate. This bill would make provisions of law that prohibit the use of specified terms, letters, or phrases to falsely indicate or imply possession of a license or certificate to practice a health care profession, as defined, enforceable against an entity who develops or deploys artificial intelligence (AI) or generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technology that uses one or more of those terms, letters, or phrases in its advertising or functionality. The bill would prohibit the use by AI or GenAI technology of certain terms, letters, or phrases that indicate or imply that the advice, care, reports, or assessments being provided through AI or GenAI is being provided by a natural person with the appropriated health care license or certificate.
Position: Watch
AB 784 (Hoover) Special education: specialized deaf and hard–of–hearing services.
Status: 7/14/2025–Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 44, Statutes of 2025
Summary: Current law requires local educational agencies to identify, locate, and assess individuals with exceptional needs and to provide those individuals with a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment, with special education and related services, as reflected in an individualized education program. Current law defines “special education” as specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parent, to meet the unique needs of individuals with exceptional needs. Current law includes in that definition speech–language pathology services and certain other services if the service is considered special education rather than a designated instruction and service or related service under state standards. This bill would prohibit those provisions from being construed to prohibit an individualized education program from including specialized deaf and hard–of–hearing related services as the only services.
Position: Watch
AB 970 (McKinnor) Child abuse and neglect reporting.
Status: 5/1/2025–Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(a)(2). (Last location was PUB. S. on 4/8/2025)(May be acted upon Jan 2026)
Summary: The Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act establishes procedures for the reporting and investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect. The act requires certain professionals, including specified health practitioners and social workers, known as “mandated reporters,” to report by telephone known or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect to a local law enforcement agency or a county welfare or probation department, as specified. Current law authorizes a county welfare agency to develop a program for internet–based reporting of child abuse and neglect, as specified. Current law authorizes a mandated reporter in a county where the program is active to use the internet–based reporting tool in lieu of the required initial telephone report. This bill would authorize the County of Los Angeles to establish a 2–year pilot program to test a new model for the mandatory reporting of child abuse or neglect. The bill would require the pilot program to include a comprehensive County of Los Angeles mandated reporter training that may be made available to all mandated reporters in the county. The bill would require the pilot program to also include the development and deployment of an internet–based decision–support tool, developed through a collaborative process with, among others, the State Department of Social Services, for mandated reporters who have completed that training. The bill would require the decision–support tool to, among other things, make a recommendation on whether or not to report and would prohibit the decision–support tool from using predictive analysis. The bill would, during the time the pilot program is in effect, deem a mandated reporter to have satisfied their reporting duties if the reporter completed the training, used the decision–support tool, and complied with the recommended action.
Position: Watch
AB 1015 (Patel) Discrimination and harassment prevention training.
Status: 02/02/2026 – From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
Summary: Current law requires a specified employer with 5 or more employees to, by January 1, 2021, provide at least 2 hours of classroom or other effective interactive training and education regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory employees and at least one hour of classroom or other effective interactive training and education regarding sexual harassment to all nonsupervisory employees in California and, after that date, once every 2 years. Current law requires that a method be provided for employees who have completed the training to save electronically and print a certificate of completion. Current law requires that an employee who has received training in compliance with these provisions within the prior 2 years either from a current or a prior employer be given, and be required to read and acknowledge receipt of, the employer’s antiharassment policy within 6 months of assuming the employee’s new position and requires that the employee then be put on a 2–year tracking schedule based on the employee’s last training. This bill would authorize an employer to satisfy the training requirements by demonstrating that the employee possesses a certificate of completion within the past 2 years.
Position: Watch
AB 1110 (Ortega) Safety rules and regulations: notice.
Status: 02/02/2026 – From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
Summary: Current law requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Department of Industrial Relations to prepare a notice, to be posted by employers, containing information regarding safety rules and regulations in the workplace. Current law requires the notice to contain specified items of information, including, among other things, the address and telephone number of the nearest division office. This bill would also require the notice to contain the email address of the nearest division office.
Position: Watch
AB 1192 (Carrillo) Child abuse or neglect: reporting.
Status: 02/02/2026 – From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
Summary: The Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act establishes procedures for the reporting and investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect. Current law requires certain professionals, including specified health practitioners and social workers, known as “mandated reporters,” to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect to a local law enforcement agency or a county welfare or probation department, as specified. Current law requires an employee of those agencies, in certain circumstances, to send or have sent, within 36 hours, a copy of a report made pursuant to these provisions to the attorney who represents the child, who is the subject of the report, in dependency court. Current law requires the agency to maintain a copy of the written report and provide all information requested by the attorney for the child or the child’s guardian ad litem within 30 days of the request. This bill would require an employee of those agencies to additionally send a copy of the report to the attorney who represents a parent or legal guardian of the child, as specified. Under the bill, that requirement would not apply to certain individuals, including a parent whose parental rights have been terminated or a parent who is not entitled to reunification services. The bill would require the agency to redact all personal identifying information, as defined, regarding all persons, other than the child, who are identified in the report. If the suspected abuse or neglect occurred in a placement, as provided, the bill would require an employee of the agency to send a copy of the report to all attorneys who represent children with an open dependency case in that placement, subject to specified redaction.
Position: Watch
AB 1327 (Aguiar–Curry) Home improvement and home solicitation: right to cancel contracts: notice.
Status: 10/6/2025–Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 348, Statutes of 2025.
Summary: Current law authorizes a buyer to cancel certain home improvement and home solicitation contracts or offers until midnight of the 3rd business day after the day on which the buyer signs an agreement or offer to purchase that complies with specified requirements. Current law provides an alternate 5–day period of time to cancel the contracts or offers described above if the buyer or property owner is a senior citizen, as defined, for contracts entered into, or offers to purchase conveyed, on or after January 1, 2021. Current law also provides a 7–day period of time to cancel the contracts or offers described above if the contract is for the repair or restoration of residential premises damaged by any sudden or catastrophic event for which a state of emergency or local emergency has been declared. Current law requires a home improvement or home solicitation contract or offer to include a notice of cancellation form with specified statements as to the buyer’s right to cancel, including how a notice of cancellation may be delivered to the seller. This bill would require that notice of cancellation to also be delivered by email and require the seller to include in the contract an email address to which the notice of cancellation is to be sent and a telephone number to assist the buyer with locating and filling out the notice of cancellation, and would make conforming changes.
Position: Watch
AB 1542 (Ward) Sensitive personal information.
Status: 02/02/2026 – Referred to Com. on P. & C.P.
Summary: The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) grants a consumer various rights with respect to personal information, as defined, that is collected or sold by a business, as defined, including the right to direct a business that collects sensitive personal information, as defined, about the consumer to limit its use, as prescribed. The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, approved by the voters as Proposition 24 at the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, amended, added to, and reenacted the CCPA. This bill would, under the CCPA, prohibit a business, service provider, or contractor from selling or sharing sensitive personal information to a third party.
Position: Watch
AB 1564 (Ahrens) Employer–employee relations: confidential communications.
Status: 03/18/2026 – From committee: Do pass and re–refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (March 18). Re–referred to Com. on APPR.
Summary: Current law that governs the labor relations of public employees and employers, including, among others, the Meyers–Milias–Brown Act, the Ralph C. Dills Act, provisions relating to public schools, and provisions relating to higher education prohibits employers from taking certain actions relating to employee organization, including imposing or threatening to impose reprisals on employees, discriminating or threatening to discriminate against employees, or otherwise interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees because of their exercise of their guaranteed rights. Those provisions of existing law further prohibit denying to employee organizations the rights guaranteed to them by existing law. This bill would prohibit a public employer from questioning a public employee, a representative of a recognized employee organization, or an exclusive representative regarding communications made in confidence between an employee and an employee representative in connection with representation relating to any matter within the scope of the recognized employee organization's representation.
Position: Watch
AB 1566 (Jackson) Crimes: mandated reporters: severe neglect.
Status: 03/05/2026 – Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
Summary: The Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act makes certain persons, including teachers and social workers, mandated reporters. Under current law, mandated reporters are required to report whenever the mandated reporter, in their professional capacity or within the scope of their employment, has knowledge of or observes a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect. Failure by a mandated reporter to report an incident of known or reasonably suspected child abuse or neglect is a misdemeanor. Current law, for the purposes of the act, defines "severe neglect" as the negligent failure of a person having the care or custody of a child to protect the child from severe malnutrition or medically diagnosed nonorganic failure to thrive, as well as those situations of neglect where any person having the care or custody of a child willfully causes or permits the person or health of the child to be placed in a situation such that their person or health is endangered as proscribed by specified law, including the intentional failure to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care. This bill would recast the definition of "severe neglect" for the purposes described above.
Position: Watch
AB 1593 (Dixon) State agencies: revenue: report.
Status: 03/24/2026 – Re–referred to Com. on APPR.
Summary: Existing law imposes various reporting requirements on state agencies. This bill would require state agencies that impose monetary charges, as defined, to report the revenue generated from those charges on their internet website on or before January 1, 2028, and annually thereafter. The bill would require the reports to be made available for download in machine–readable format, as specified.
Position: Watch
AB 1652 (Patterson) State agencies: regulations and legislation: nondisclosure agreements.
Status: 03/10/2026 – From committee: Do pass and re–refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (March 10). Re–referred to Com. on APPR.
Summary: Current law prohibits Members of the Legislature from entering into, or requesting that another party enter into, a nondisclosure agreement relating to the drafting, negotiation, or discussion of proposed legislation, and makes any nondisclosure agreement relating to the drafting, negotiation, or discussion of proposed legislation void and unenforceable. Current law provides an exception for nondisclosure agreements, or portions thereof, that prevent only the disclosure of trade secrets, financial information, or proprietary information, as specified. This bill would prohibit an elective or appointive officer of a state agency acting in their official capacity from entering into, or requesting that another party enter into, a nondisclosure agreement relating to the drafting, negotiation, or discussion of a proposed regulation or legislation. The bill would also make any nondisclosure agreement relating to the drafting, negotiation, or discussion of a proposed regulation or legislation entered into by an elective or appointive officer of a state agency acting in their official capacity after the effective date of this bill void and unenforceable.
Position: Watch
AB 1671 (Tangipa) Rural medical services grant program.
Status: 03/23/2026 – Re–referred to Com. on APPR.
Summary: Existing law establishes the Office of Rural Health within the California Health and Human Services Agency to promote a strong working relationship between state government and local and federal agencies, universities, private and public interest groups, rural consumers, health care providers, foundations, and other offices of rural health, as well as to develop health initiatives and maximize the use of existing resources without duplicating existing effort. Existing law requires the office to serve as a key information and referral source to promote coordinated planning for the delivery of health services in rural California. This bill would require the office to develop and administer, upon appropriation by the Legislature, a competitive grant program for the delivery of, or the support, sustenance, or expansion of the delivery of, medical services, as defined, to individuals who reside in rural areas, as defined.
Position: Watch
AB 1688 (Carrillo) Child abuse or neglect: reporting.
Status: 03/16/2026 – Re–referred to Com. on PUB. S.
Summary: The Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act establishes procedures for the reporting and investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect. Existing law requires certain professionals, including specified health practitioners and social workers, known as "mandated reporters," to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect to a local law enforcement agency or a county welfare or probation department, as specified. Existing law requires an employee of those agencies, in certain circumstances, to send or have sent, within 36 hours, a copy of a report made pursuant to these provisions to the attorney who represents the child, who is the subject of the report, in dependency court. Existing law requires the agency to maintain a copy of the written report and provide all information requested by the attorney for the child or the child's guardian ad litem within 30 days of the request. This bill would require an employee of those agencies to additionally send notice of the report to the attorney who represents a parent or legal guardian of the child, as specified. Under the bill, that requirement would not apply to a parent whose parental rights have been terminated.
Position: Watch
AB 1803 (Lowenthal) Employment: sexual harassment training and education: anti–hate speech training.
Status: 03/19/2026 – From committee: Do pass and re–refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (March 18). Re–referred to Com. on JUD.
Summary: The California Fair Employment and Housing Act makes specified employment practices unlawful, including the harassment of an employee directly by the employer or indirectly by agents of the employer with the employer's knowledge. Under existing law, the Civil Rights Department administers these provisions. Current law requires a specified employer with 5 or more employees to, by January 1, 2021, provide at least 2 hours of classroom or other effective interactive training and education regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory employees and at least one hour of classroom or other effective interactive training and education regarding sexual harassment to all nonsupervisory employees in California and, after that date, once every 2 years. This bill would additionally require that the above–described training and education include, as a component of the training and education, anti–hate speech training.
Position: Watch
AB 1898 (Schultz) Workplace artificial intelligence tools.
Status: 03/25/2026 – From committee: Do pass and re–refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 10. Noes 3.) (March 25). Re–referred to Com. on JUD.
Summary: Would require an employer to provide a written notice to a worker that a workplace AI tool, as defined, was used to assist the employer in making employment–related decisions or to surveil workers in the workplace. The bill would require the notice to be given to a worker within a specified time and would require the notice to contain specified information, including the specific employment–related decisions likely to be affected by the use of the workplace AI tool. The bill would require an employer to maintain an updated list of all workplace AI tools currently in use and their impact on jobs, as specified, and to provide the list to workers annually. The bill would provide for enforcement by the Labor Commissioner or a public prosecutor, and alternatively would authorize any worker who has suffered damages, or their exclusive representative, to file a civil action for damages caused by the adverse action. The bill would establish remedies and penalties for violations, including a penalty of up to $500 for each violation.
Position: Watch
AB 2021 (Schiavo) California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018: whistleblower complaints.
Status: 03/02/2026 – Referred to Coms. on P. & C.P. and JUD.
Summary: The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, an initiative measure approved by the voters as Proposition 24 at the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, amended, added to, and reenacted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA). The CCPA establishes the California Privacy Protection Agency with full administrative power, authority, and jurisdiction to implement and enforce the CCPA. The CCPA law makes a business, service provider, contractor, or other person that violates the CCPA liable for an administrative fine, as provided. The CCPA creates the Consumer Privacy Fund in the State Treasury and makes moneys in the fund available upon appropriation by the Legislature. Current law requires 95% of any administrative fine assessed, and of the proceeds of any settlement, to be deposited into the Consumer Privacy Subfund, which is created within the Consumer Privacy Fund. The CCPA law requires the funds to be used exclusively by the agency in carrying out its duties under the CCPA. The CCPA requires the other 5% of any administrative fine, and of the proceeds of any settlement, to be deposited into the Consumer Privacy Grant Subfund, also within the Consumer Privacy Fund, to be used exclusively by the agency to administer and distribute grants to promote and protect consumer privacy, as provided. This bill would authorize a person to submit to the agency, a whistleblower complaint, as defined, and would make the whistleblower eligible for an award if the agency designates a complaint for administrative enforcement and certain requirements are met. The bill would require an eligible whistleblower to receive at least 15% but not more than 33% of the fines collected through an administrative enforcement action or settlement, calculated after the allocation to Consumer Privacy Grant Subfund described above. The bill would require the agency to consider certain factors in determining the amount of the award.
Position: Watch
AB 2063 (Wallis) Legislative information system: bill position letters.
Status: 02/19/2026 – From printer. May be heard in committee March 21.
Summary: Current law requires the Legislative Counsel, with the advice of the Assembly Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules, to make certain legislative information available to the public in electronic form, including the text, bill history, and bill status of each bill introduced and amended in each current legislative session and all bill analyses prepared by legislative committees in connection with each bill in each current legislative session. This bill would add all letters submitted through the Legislature's internet portal in connection with each bill, commencing with bills introduced during the 2027–28 Regular Session, to the information the Legislative Counsel is required to make publicly available in electronic form.
Position: Watch
AB 2064 (Sharp–Collins) Discrimination: formerly incarcerated status.
Status: 03/12/2026 – In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
Summary: The Unruh Civil Rights Act provides that all persons within the jurisdiction of this state are entitled to full and equal accommodations in all business establishments regardless of their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status. This bill would add formerly incarcerated status, as defined, to the list of protected characteristics under the Unruh Civil Rights Act.
Position: Watch
AB 2095 (Lee) Employment discrimination: conviction history.
Status: 03/09/2026 – Referred to Coms. on L. & E. and JUD.
Summary: The California Fair Employment and Housing Act, except as specified, makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer with 5 or more employees to include on any application for employment, before the employer makes a conditional offer of employment to the applicant, any question that seeks the disclosure of an applicant's conviction history, to consider the conviction history of the applicant until after the employer has made a conditional offer of employment to the applicant, or to distribute information about an arrest not followed by conviction, referral to or participation in a pretrial or posttrial diversion program, or convictions that have been sealed, dismissed, expunged, or statutorily eradicated or any conviction for which the convicted person has received a full pardon or has been issued a certificate of rehabilitation while conducting a conviction history background check in connection with an application for employment, as specified. This bill would include among those things that it is unlawful for an employer with 5 or more employees to do while conducting a conviction history background check in connection with an application for employment, asking any question that directly or indirectly seeks consent for a conviction history background check or requesting consent for or beginning a conviction history background check before providing the applicant with a list of all specific job duties of the position with which a conviction may have a direct and adverse relationship and potentially result in an adverse action, requiring a job applicant to cover the cost of a conviction history background check.
Position: Watch
AB 2190 (Wallis, R) Internet website accessibility.
Status: 03/09/2026 – Referred to Coms. on JUD. and P. & C.P.
Summary: The Unruh Civil Rights Act requires persons within the jurisdiction of the state to be free and equal and, regardless of the person's sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status to be entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments, as prescribed, and makes a violation of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) a violation of the act. Current law imposes liability upon a person who denies, aids, or incites a denial of, or makes any discrimination or distinction contrary to, rights afforded by law for actual damages suffered, exemplary damages, a civil penalty, and attorney's fees, as specified, to any person who was denied the specified rights. Current law also imposes liability upon a person, firm, or corporation that denies or interferes with admittance to, or enjoyment of, public facilities or otherwise interferes with the rights of an individual with a disability, as specified, for damages and attorney's fees to a person who was denied those rights. This bill would grant to an entity an affirmative defense to a claim seeking statutory damages under the provisions described above on the basis of a specific accessibility barrier on the entity's internet website, as defined, if the entity provided evidence to the plaintiff demonstrating within an unspecified number of days of receiving a written pre–lawsuit demand from the plaintiff that either (1) the entity published a digital accessibility report on the accessibility page of its internet website disclosing the specific access barrier and updated that report to reflect remediation of the access barrier or (2) that various things were true regarding the entity's efforts to identify and remediate access barriers on its internet website, including the entity had a reasonable and good faith basis to believe that the internet website was accessible and conformed with the internet website accessibility standard, as specified.
Position: Watch
AB 2195 (Rodriguez, Celeste) Child support: license suspensions.
Status: 03/16/2026 – Referred to Coms. on JUD. and B. & P.
Summary: Current law delegates to the Department of Child Support Services and local child support agencies the responsibility for collecting and enforcing child support obligations, including child support delinquencies, as defined. Current law requires a local child support agency to maintain a list of those persons included in certain child support cases. Current law requires the Department of Child Support Services to consolidate and certify the local child support agency lists and provide the consolidated list to specified state entities that are responsible for the regulation of licenses, including, but not limited to, the Department of Motor Vehicles. Current law requires those entities, prior to the issuance or renewal of a license, to determine whether the applicant is on the most recent certified consolidated list provided by the department, and authorizes the entity to withhold issuance or renewal of the license of an applicant on the list, as specified. Current law prohibits the department from including in the list sent to the Department of Motor Vehicles, for the purpose of denying, withholding, or suspending a driver's license, the information of a support obligor whose annual household income is at or below 70% of the median income for the county in which the department or the local child enforcement agency believes the support obligor resides. Commencing January 1, 2027, current law would only apply this prohibition to noncommercial driver's licenses. This bill would expand the prohibition on the department to also prohibit the department from sending the above–described income information to all boards, as defined, that issue a license, certificate, credential, permit, registration, or any other authorization to engage in a business, occupation, or profession, or operate a motor vehicle, for the purpose of denying, withholding, or suspending a license.
Position: Watch
AB 2233 (Ta) Behavioral health treatment plans.
Status: 03/25/2026 – From committee: Do pass and re–refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (March 24). Re–referred to Com. on APPR.
Summary: Current law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Current law requires a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy to provide coverage for behavioral health treatment for pervasive developmental disorder or autism. Current law requires this treatment to be provided under a prescribed treatment plan that is reviewed no less than every 6 months by the qualified autism service provider. This bill would prohibit a health care service plan or health insurer from imposing restrictions on the utilization of authorized treatment hours within the treatment plan's 6–month authorization period. The bill would require authorized hours to remain available for use throughout the authorization period. Because a willful violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state–mandated local program.
Position: Support
AB 2360 (Arambula) State agencies: governmental linguistics.
Status: 03/09/2026 – Referred to Com. on G.O.
Summary: Current law requires each department, commission, office, or other administrative agency of state government to write each document, as defined, that it produces in plain, straightforward language, avoiding technical terms as much as possible, and using a coherent and easily readable style. This bill would specify that the plain, straightforward language requirement applies to both digital and printed documents, and would define "plain language" for purposes of that provision. The bill would require each state agency, as described above, to create, adopt, and post on its internet website a plain language policy that identifies how the state agency will incorporate or strengthen plain language writing and design principles and practices.
Position: Watch
AB 2366 (Ávila Farías) Administrative Procedure Act: proposed regulations: cost–of–living impact on residents of the state.
Status: 03/09/2026 – Referred to Coms. on E.D., G., & H.I. and JUD.
Summary: Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs the procedure for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. The act requires a state agency proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal any administrative regulation to assess the potential for adverse economic impact on California business enterprises and individuals and requires the state agency to adhere to specified requirements in making that assessment. This bill would include among those requirements for assessing the potential for adverse economic impact the consideration of the proposal's cost–of–living impacts on residents of the state, as defined. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Watch
AB 2412 (Ta) State agencies or departments: public communications.
Status: 03/09/2026 – Referred to Com. on P. & C.P.
Summary: Current law requires a state agency or department that utilizes generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to directly communicate with a person regarding government services and benefits to ensure that those communications include a disclaimer that indicates to the person that the communication was generated by GenAI, as specified, and information describing how a person may contact a human employee of the state agency or department. This bill would instead require that disclaimer when a state agency or department communicates with the public.
Position: Watch
AB 2414 (Nguyen) Developmental services: direct support professionals.
Status: 03/09/2026 – Referred to Com. on HUM. S.
Summary: The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act requires the State Department of Developmental Services to contract with regional centers for the provision of community services and supports for persons with developmental disabilities and their families. Current law finds and declares that direct service professionals are critical to the provision of services and supports to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. Current law requires the department to develop or utilize existing curriculum to implement enhanced direct service professional training that promotes services that are person centered and culturally and linguistically sensitive, and that improve outcomes for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This bill would change the title of direct service professionals to instead be direct support professionals, and would define that latter term as an individual who receives compensation to provide direct support to children or adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, is employed by a service provider receiving regional center funding, and spends at least 50% of their working time completing direct support tasks, as specified.
Position: Watch
AB 2557 (Bauer–Kahan) Legislative information system: bill position letters.
Status: 02/21/2026 – From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.
Summary: Current law requires the Legislative Counsel, with the advice of the Assembly Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules, to make certain legislative information available to the public in electronic form, including the text, bill history, and bill status of each bill introduced and amended in each current legislative session and all bill analyses prepared by legislative committees in connection with each bill in each current legislative session. This bill would add all position letters submitted through the Legislature's internet portal in connection with each bill in each current legislative session to the information the Legislative Counsel is required to make publicly available in electronic form.
Position: Watch
AB 2575 (Ortega) Health care services: artificial intelligence.
Status: 03/26/2026 – Assembly Rule 56 suspended. (Pending re–refer to Com. on L. & E.)
Summary: Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of health facilities and clinics by the State Department of Public Health. Existing law generally makes a violation of these provisions a crime. The Medical Practice Act establishes the Medical Board of California for the licensing, regulation, and discipline of physicians and surgeons. Existing law requires a health facility, clinic, physician's office, or office of a group practice that uses generative artificial intelligence to generate written or verbal patient communications pertaining to patient clinical information, as defined, to ensure that those communications include both a disclaimer that indicates to the patient that a communication was generated by generative artificial intelligence, as specified, and clear instructions describing how a patient may contact a human health care provider, employee, or other appropriate person. This bill would require a health facility, clinic, physician's office, or office of a group practice that uses or deploys a covered tool, as defined, for patient care to disclose required information to any licensed health care professional or other person using a covered tool or viewing outputs from a covered tool. The bill would require, among other things, the disclosure to include a notice that a worker providing direct patient care is permitted to override the output of a covered tool if, in the judgment of the worker acting in their scope of practice, an override is appropriate for the patient, or as necessary to comply with applicable law, including civil rights law.
Position: Watch
AB 2746 (Schiavo) Consumer debt: medical debt.
Status: 03/16/2026 – Referred to Coms. on B. & F. and HEALTH.
Summary: Current law, the Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act, defines and regulates consumer credit reports and consumer credit reporting agencies. Existing law regulates the treatment of medical debt in this regard by, among other things, prohibiting a consumer credit reporting agency from making any consumer credit report containing medical debt information, prohibiting a person who uses a consumer credit report in connection with a credit transaction from using medical debt as a negative factor when making a credit decision, and prohibiting a person from furnishing information regarding a medical debt to a consumer credit reporting agency. Existing law makes a violation of certain provisions related to medical debt by a person holding a license or permit issued by the state to be deemed a violation of the law governing that license or permit. This bill would, instead, define "medical debt" for these purposes as a debt related to, in whole or in part, a transaction, account, or balance arising from a medical service, product, or device, except as provided. By changing the scope of what is considered medical debt, and because certain violations of the Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act are deemed a violation of a licensing statute and the violation of some licensing statutes is a crime, this bill would impose a state–mandated local program.
Position: Watch
SB 81 (Arreguín) Health and care facilities: information sharing.
Status: 9/20/2025–Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 123, Statutes of 2025.
Summary: The Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) prohibits a provider of health care, a health care service plan, a contractor, or a corporation and its subsidiaries and affiliates from intentionally sharing, selling, using for marketing, or otherwise using any medical information, as defined, for any purpose not necessary to provide health care services to a patient, except as provided. The CMIA prohibits a provider of health care, health care service plan, or contractor from disclosing medical information regarding a patient of the provider of health care or an enrollee or subscriber of a health care service plan without first obtaining authorization from the patient, except if the disclosure is compelled by, among other things, a search warrant lawfully issued to a governmental law enforcement agency or a court order. Current law makes a violation of these provisions that results in economic loss or personal injury to a patient punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would revise the definition of "medical information" to include immigration status, including current and prior immigration status, and place of birth, if that information is known or collected, as specified, and would define "immigration enforcement" to mean any and all efforts to investigate, enforce, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law, and also includes any and all efforts to investigate, enforce, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes a person's presence in, entry or reentry to, or employment in, the United States. The bill would specify that a provider of health care, health care service plan, or contractor shall disclose medical information regarding a patient of the provider of health care or an enrollee or subscriber or a health care service plan pursuant to a valid search warrant issued by a judicial officer, including a magistrate, to a governmental law enforcement agency, or pursuant to a state or federal court order issued by a court of this state or a federal court.
Position: Watch
SB 82 (Umberg) Contracts: consumer goods and services: dispute resolution provisions.
Status: 10/6/2025–Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 350, Statutes of 2025.
Summary: Current law regulates the formation and enforcement of contracts, including imposing certain restrictions on the terms of a contract for the sale or lease of consumer goods or services. In this regard, current law prohibits a provision waiving the consumer's right to make any statement regarding the seller, lessor, or its employees or agents, or concerning the goods or services. Current law also prohibits a consumer service contract from limiting a consumer's ability to file a complaint with a licensing board that regulates the consumer service provider or to participate in the board's investigation into the consumer service provider, as specified. This bill would, for a consumer use agreement, limit the dispute resolution terms and conditions to the use, payment, or provision of the good, service, money, or credit provided by the consumer use agreement. The bill would make a waiver of these provisions void and unenforceable, as provided, and would require that the provisions be liberally construed for the purpose of protecting consumers.
Position: Watch
SB 294 (Reyes) The Workplace Know Your Rights Act.
Status: 10/12/2025–Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 667, Statutes of 2025.
Summary: Current law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, headed by the Labor Commissioner, within the Department of Industrial Relations, for the purpose of enforcing labor laws. Existing law prescribes the duties and rights of employers and employees relating to specified labor laws, including, among other things, workers' compensation and notice requirements related to inspections conducted by an immigration agency. This bill would establish the Workplace Know Your Rights Act. The bill would require an employer, on or before February 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, to provide a stand–alone written notice to each current employee of specified workers' rights, including, among other things, the categories described above, as well as constitutional rights of an employee when interacting with law enforcement at the workplace, as specified. The bill would also require the employer to provide the written notice to each new employee upon hire and to provide the written notice annually to an employee's authorized representative, if any. This bill would require the Labor Commissioner to develop a template notice that an employer may use to comply with the notice requirement described above. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner to post the template notice on its internet website on or before January 1, 2026, and to post an updated template notice annually thereafter.
Position: Watch
SB 402 (Valladares) Health care coverage: autism.
Status: 10/6/2025–Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 413, Statutes of 2025.
Summary: Existing law, the Knox–Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires a health care service plan contract or a health insurance policy to provide coverage for behavioral health treatment for pervasive developmental disorder or autism and defines "behavioral health treatment" to mean specified services and treatment programs, including treatment provided pursuant to a treatment plan that is prescribed by a qualified autism service provider and administered either by a qualified autism service provider or by a qualified autism service professional or qualified autism service paraprofessional. Existing law defines "qualified autism service provider, "qualified autism service professional," and "qualified autism service paraprofessional" for those purposes. Those definitions are contained in the Health and Safety Code and the Insurance Code. This bill would move those definitions to the Business and Professions Code. The bill would also make technical and conforming changes. This bill contains other related provisions.
Position: Watch
SB 446 (Hurtado) Data breaches: customer notification.
Status: 10/3/2025–Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 319, Statutes of 2025.
Summary: Current law requires an individual or a business that conducts business in California, and that owns or licenses computerized data that includes personal information, to disclose a breach of the security of the system following discovery or notification of the breach in the security of the data to a resident of California whose unencrypted personal information was compromised, as specified, and requires that disclosure to be made in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, consistent with the legitimate needs of law enforcement, as specified, or any measures necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore the reasonable integrity of the data system. This bill would require that data breach disclosure to be made within 30 calendar days of discovery or notification of the data breach but would authorize an individual or business to delay the disclosure to accommodate the legitimate needs of law enforcement, as specified, or as necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore the reasonable integrity of the data system.
Position: Watch
SB 470 (Laird) Bagley–Keene Open Meeting Act: teleconferencing.
Status: 10/1/2025–Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 222, Statutes of 2025.
Summary: Existing law, the Bagley–Keene Open Meeting Act, requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend any meeting of a state body. The act authorizes meetings through teleconference subject to specified requirements, including, among others, that the state body post agendas at all teleconference locations, that each teleconference location be identified in the notice and agenda of the meeting or proceeding, that each teleconference location be accessible to the public, that the agenda provide an opportunity for members of the public to address the state body directly at each teleconference location, and that at least one member of the state body be physically present at the location specified in the notice of the meeting. This bill would instead repeal these provisions on January 1, 2030.
Position: Watch
SB 497 (Wiener) Legally protected health care activity.
Status: 10/13/2025–Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 764, Statutes of 2025.
Summary: The United States Constitution generally requires a state to give full faith and credit to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. Existing law generally authorizes a California court or attorney to issue a subpoena if a foreign subpoena has been sought in this state but prohibits the issuance of a subpoena based on another state’s law that interferes with a person’s right to allow a child to receive gender–affirming health care or gender–affirming mental health care. Existing law generally prohibits a provider of health care, a health care service plan, or a contractor from disclosing medical information regarding a patient, enrollee, or subscriber without first obtaining an authorization unless an exception applies, including that the disclosure is in response to a subpoena. Existing law prohibits a provider of health care, a health care service plan, or a contractor from releasing medical information related to a person or entity allowing a child to receive gender–affirming health care or gender–affirming mental health care in response to a civil action, including a foreign subpoena, based on another state’s law that authorizes a person to bring a civil action against a person or entity that allows a child to receive gender–affirming health care or gender–affirming mental health care. This bill would additionally prohibit a provider of health care, a health care service plan, or a contractor from releasing medical information related to a person seeking or obtaining gender–affirming health care or gender–affirming mental health care in response to a criminal or civil action, including a foreign subpoena, based on another state’s law that interferes with an individual’s right to seek or obtain gender–affirming health care or gender–affirming mental health care. The bill would also prohibit a provider of health care, health care service plan, contractor, or employer from cooperating with or providing medical information to an individual, agency, or department from another state or, to the extent permitted by federal law, to a federal law enforcement agency that would identify an individual and that is related to an individual seeking or obtaining gender–affirming health care, as specified. The bill would prohibit these entities from releasing medical information related to sensitive services, as defined, in response to a foreign subpoena that is based on a violation of another state’s laws authorizing a criminal action against a person or entity for provision or receipt of legally protected health care activity, as defined. The bill would also generally prohibit the issuance of a subpoena based on a violation of another state’s law that interferes with a person’s right to seek or obtain gender–affirming health care or gender–affirming mental health care, as specified. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Watch
SB 744 (Cabaldon) Accrediting agencies.
Status: 10/6/2025–Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 425, Statutes of 2025.
Summary: Current law requires certain postsecondary educational institutions to be accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education to qualify as an independent institution of higher education to be eligible for certain programs and to receive an approval to operate. Current laws applicable to, among other things, the licensure and regulation of various professions and vocations by the Department of Consumer Affairs require applicants for licensure or licensees to satisfy educational requirements by completing programs or degrees from institutions or universities accredited by a regional or national accrediting agency or association recognized by the United States Department of Education, or otherwise impose a requirement that a school or program be accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education. This bill would require, for purposes of any code or statute, a national or regional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education as of January 1, 2025, to retain that recognition until July 1, 2029, provided that the accrediting agency continues to operate in substantially the same manner as it did on January 1, 2025. The bill would repeal those provisions on January 1, 2030.
Position: Watch
SB 861 (Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development) Consumer affairs.
Status: 10/10/2025–Approved by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 592, Statutes of 2025.
Summary: Current law establishes in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency the Department of Consumer Affairs, which is composed of various agencies that license and regulate various businesses and professions. Current law requires certain agencies to disclose information on the status of its licensees on the internet, as specified. In this regard, existing law specifies the licensees on which the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau is required to disclose information, including, among others, cemetery brokers, salespersons, and managers. This bill would also specify that the bureau is required to disclose information on licensed hydrolysis facilities and reduction facilities.
Position: Board Sponsored
SB 923 (Becker) Consumer privacy requests: deletion request records and request submission methods.
Status: 03/23/2026 – From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re–referred to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P.
Summary: The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) grants to a consumer various rights with respect to personal information that is collected by a business. The CCPA includes the right to request that a business delete personal information that the business has collected from the consumer. This bill would expand that right to include requesting the deletion of any personal information that the business has collected about the consumer. If the business did not obtain the personal information from the consumer, the bill would allow the business to retain a record of the deletion request and the minimum data necessary to ensure the consumer's personal information remains deleted from its records and is not being used for any other purpose.
Position: Watch
SB 980 (Hurtado) Access to medical records.
Status: 03/26/2026 – Set for hearing April 15
Summary: Existing law governs a patient's access to their health records. Existing law requires a health care provider, as defined, to provide a patient or the patient's representative with all or any part of the patient's medical records that the patient has a right to inspect, subject to the payment of clerical costs incurred in locating and making the records available, following a written request from the patient. Existing law entitles a patient, employee of a nonprofit legal services entity representing the patient, or the personal representative of a patient, to a copy, at no charge, of the relevant portion of the patient's records upon written request. Existing law also prohibits a health care provider from charging a fee to a patient for filling out forms or providing information responsive to forms that support a claim or appeal regarding eligibility for a public benefit program. Existing law makes a willful violation of these provisions by specified health care providers an infraction. This bill would additionally prohibit a health care provider form charging a fee to a patient for completing health–related forms required by an educational institution or childcare provider for participation in school, childcare, or school–sponsored activities.
Position: Watch
SB 986 (Seyarto) Major regulations.
Status: 03/26/2026 – Set for hearing April 14. From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re–referred to Com. on G.O.
Summary: The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) governs the procedures for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). The APA requires a state agency proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal an administrative regulation to, among other things, assess the potential for adverse economic impact on California business enterprises and individuals, and requires a state agency proposing to adopt, amend, or repeal a major regulation to prepare and submit to the Department of Finance for review, a standardized regulatory impact analysis, as provided. The APA defines "major regulation," for purposes of the act, to mean any proposed adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation subject to review by the OAL that will have an economic impact on California business enterprises and individuals in an amount exceeding $50,000,000, as provided. The APA provides exceptions for emergency regulations in the case of a situation that calls for immediate action to avoid serious harm to the public peace, health, safety, or general welfare. This bill would prohibit a major regulation from taking effect until the Legislature enacts a law to approve the regulation, except as provided for emergency regulations.
Position: Watch
SB 1050 (Ashby) False advertising: synthetic digital performers.
Status: 03/10/2026 – Set for hearing April 6.
Summary: Current law makes it a misdemeanor for a person or a firm, corporation, or association, or any employee thereof, to engage in false or misleading advertising practices. Current law makes various unfair competition practices unlawful, including any unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive, untrue, or misleading advertising. This bill would make it an unlawful advertising practice for a person, in connection with the creation or dissemination of an advertisement in this state, to use or cause to be used a synthetic performer without a clear and conspicuous disclosure that the performer is synthetic.
Position: Watch
SB 1130 (Reyes) Crimes: invasion of privacy: wearable recording devices.
Status: 03/26/2026 – From committee: Do pass as amended and re–refer to Com. on RLS. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (March 24).
Summary: Current law prohibits tapping a communication wire or intercepting or recording a telephone communication, as specified, without the consent of all parties, and prohibits trespassing on property for the purpose of committing, or attempting to commit, a violation of those prohibitions. A violation of those provisions is punishable by a fine not exceeding $2,500, by imprisonment as either a misdemeanor or a felony, or by both the fine and imprisonment, unless otherwise exempted. If that person has previously been convicted of a violation of any of the above–described laws, except for the prohibition on trespassing, a violation of any of those provisions is punishable by a fine not exceeding $10,000, by imprisonment as either a misdemeanor or a felony, or by both the fine and imprisonment. This bill would additionally prohibit a person from operating a wearable recording device, as defined, to capture sound or video of any other person in any area within a place of business, as defined, where the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy unless the person operating the device has the explicit consent of that person to capture sound or video of that person. The bill would prohibit a person from disabling any light or other device on a wearable recording device that indicates that the device is capturing sound or video. The bill would prohibit a person or entity from manufacturing, selling, delivering, holding, or offering for sale in commerce any technology that enables a person to disable any light or other device on a wearable recording device that indicates that the device is capturing sound or video and would prohibit a person from purchasing, trading for, otherwise acquiring, or using that technology, as specified.
Position: Oppose Unless Amended
SB 1146 (Gonzalez) Advertisement claims: health–related consumer products and services: artificial intelligence.
Status: 03/25/2026 – From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re–referred to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P.
Summary: Existing law makes it unlawful for any person doing business in California and advertising to consumers in California to make any false or misleading advertising claim. Existing law makes it unlawful for healing arts licensees, as specified, to disseminate or cause to be disseminated any form of public communication containing a false, fraudulent, misleading, or deceptive statement, claim, or image in order to induce the provision of services or products in connection with their licensed professional practice or business. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions punishable as a misdemeanor. misdemeanor and, in the case of a licensed person, provides that a violation constitutes unprofessional conduct and grounds for suspension or revocation of a license by the relevant board. This bill would, subject to specified exceptions, require an advertisement that uses the image, audio, or video of a person representing themselves to be, or identifiably depicting a person as, a health care provider that is generated or substantially altered using artificial intelligence or other computer technology to promote the sale of a health–related consumer product or service to include a clear and conspicuous disclosure that the image, audio, or video, as applicable, of the person in the advertisement was generated or substantially altered by artificial intelligence and that the person identifiably depicted is not a health care provider.
Position: Watch
SB 1159 (Cabaldon) Artificial intelligence: transparency and governance.
Status: 03/27/2026 – Set for hearing April 6.
Summary: The California Constitution provides that people have the right of access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business. Various provisions of existing law, including the California Public Records Act, the Bagley–Keene Open Meeting Act, and the Ralph M. Brown Act, provide, with some exceptions, for public access to government records and meetings of government bodies. Among those acts, the California Public Records Act defines "person" to include any natural person, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, firm, or association. This bill would specify that, for purposes of the California Public Records Act, the Bagley–Keene Open Meeting Act, the Ralph M. Brown Act, the Political Reform Act of 1974, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), "person, "interested person, "participant, "member of the public, as applicable, and any other similar terms under each act referring to those who may engage with governmental agencies, do not include artificial intelligence, as defined, systems, autonomous agents, robots, or other nonhuman entities, whether physical or digital. The bill would make findings and declarations related to these provisions.
Position: Watch
SB 1204 (Ochoa Bogh) Administrative regulations.
Status: 03/27/2026 – Set for hearing April 13.
Summary: Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, sets forth requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and implementation of regulations by state agencies, and for review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. Existing law requires the office to review regulations on the bases of necessity, authority, clarity, consistency, reference, and nonduplication and requires the office to either approve or disapprove the regulation within 30 working days. If the office disapproves a regulation, existing law requires the office to return it to the adopting agency and include the reasons for disapproval, as specified. This bill would require the office to report a disapproval and the reasons for disapproval to the Legislature within 60 days of returning a regulation to the adopting agency, as specified.
Position: Watch
SB 1248 (Cabaldon) State agencies: automated decision systems.
Status: 03/24/2026 – From committee: Do pass and re–refer to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (March 24). Re–referred to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P.
Summary: This bill would impose certain restrictions on the use of an automated decision system by a state agency to confer services, defined as, among other things, the issuance of professional licenses and provision of public benefits. Among the restrictions, the bill would include a prohibition on using an output from the system as the sole basis for an adverse service determination affecting a natural person, except as specified. The bill would require the state agency to verify the accuracy of the system's outputs and to promote nondiscrimination in its use, as specified. The bill would require the director or designee of a state agency to provide for quality control review of the outputs, as specified, to assure acceptable accuracy. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Watch
SB 1368 (Wahab) Hearing aid dispensers.
Status: 03/04/2026 – Referred to Com. on B. P. & E.D.
Summary: Current law generally regulates the licensing and oversight of hearing aid dispensers by the Speech–Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board. Existing law imposes various requirements regarding the place of business of a "licensee, which is defined as person holding a hearing aid dispenser license. Existing law defines a "hearing aid dispenser" as a person engaged in the practice of fitting or selling hearing aids to an individual with impaired hearing. This bill would specify that some of those provisions apply to hearing aid dispensers instead of licensees, and would change some of those provisions so they apply to an address or addresses instead of a place of business. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Support
SB 1391 (Wahab) Department of Consumer Affairs: retired category licenses.
Status: 03/27/2026 – Set for hearing April 13.
Summary: Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various professions and vocations by boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law authorizes any of the boards within the department, except as specified, to establish by regulation a system for a retired category of license for persons who are not actively engaged in the practice of their profession or vocation. This bill would additionally require a board that offers a retired category of licensure to disclose that information on its internet website.
Position: Watch
