By: @Ophelia Szigeti
On January 22, the California State Senate and Assembly Committees on Appropriations held their respective Suspense File hearings ahead of the deadline for committees to report to the floor “two-year” bills introduced in their house of origin. Among the key bills impacting special districts were three costly measures opposed by CSDA: AB 810, AB 1439, and AB 1383.
Of particular concern to CSDA and its members was AB 810 (Irwin) Local government: internet websites and email addresses, which would have required local government agencies, including special districts, to adhere to a specified website format which would have included using the specified domains of ".gov" or ".ca.gov," and would have required employees of those agencies to use email addresses similarly formatted. The bill also would have permitted certain educational agencies to use a ".edu" domain instead of the ".ca.gov" or ".gov" domains, although K-12 schools have been amended out of the bill.
AB 810 would have established a January 1, 2023, deadline for implementing its mandated transitions. In 2025, the bill was made a two-year bill in the Assembly Appropriations Committee eligible for consideration in January 2026. CSDA has led a local government coalition opposed to the bill, which would have imposed a significant cost on local agencies. CSDA remained engaged with the committee and the measure has now officially failed passage as it can no longer meet required deadlines.
CSDA also advocated in opposition to a pair of measures which threaten to undermine the financial stability of the state’s pension systems. AB 1439 (Garcia) Public retirement systems: development projects: labor standards, would have required public pensions to ensure certain labor standards, including payment of prevailing wages, on development projects in which the pension systems invest. The bill passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee with amendments limiting it to simply requiring the state to conduct a new study on the topic.
AB 1383 (McKinnor) Public employees’ retirement benefits, would make several significant changes to public pension plans, which would undermine the landmark pension reform law known as the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA). The bill passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee with amendments to narrow it somewhat.
CSDA remains opposed to both AB 1439 and AB 1383 at this time.
The purpose of the Legislature’s Suspense File is to allow lawmakers to determine which bills with a fiscal cost will advance to the floor of each house and which will be held in committee and not advance. This year, the Appropriations Committees reviewed 80 measures—48 in the Assembly and 32 in the Senate. Bills that advanced from the Appropriations Committees were designated as either “do pass” or “do pass as amended.”
CSDA closely monitored both hearings, with special interest in the following measures, in addition to the three bills described above.
Below is a selection of notable Senate Bills that were voted off the Suspense File in the Senate Committee on Appropriations as either do pass or do pass as amended. These measures now move to the Senate Floor for consideration:
Below is a selection of notable Assembly Bills that were voted off the Suspense File in the Assembly Committee on Appropriations as either do pass or do pass as amended. These measures now move to the Assembly Floor for consideration:
The deadline for all two-year bills to pass off the Floor of the house in which they were introduced is January 31. Additional suspense hearings for legislation introduced in 2026 will be held this spring.
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