@Ophelia Szigeti
The efforts of special district officials attending this year’s Special Districts Legislative Days paid off last week when the two workplace technology bills opposed during the event’s 90 legislative office visits organized by CSDA were held under submission, effectively killing the legislation.
California lawmakers advanced hundreds of bills on May 14, 2026, as the State Senate and Assembly Committees on Appropriations held their respective Suspense File hearings. This is one of the Legislature’s key deadlines for determining which measures will continue moving through the legislative process.
During the hearings, leaders of both committees acknowledged the difficult decisions involved in weighing policy priorities against the state’s fiscal constraints. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Sabrina Cervantes noted that committee members faced challenging decisions as they evaluated the costs associated with advancing legislation amid the state’s current fiscal environment.
Assembly Appropriations Committee Chair Buffy Wicks similarly stated that the committee remained focused on the broader fiscal picture while reviewing legislation, including how policy proposals could affect the state budget and whether measures would provide meaningful benefits for constituents and taxpayers. She also noted the importance of avoiding additional financial burdens on Californians while continuing to support critical public services and social safety net programs, including housing, higher education, transportation infrastructure, and healthcare access.
Bills approved by the Appropriations Committees were designated as either “do pass” or “do pass as amended.” In the Assembly, 637 bills were on the Suspense File, with 468 of those bills advancing out of the committee. In the Senate, 332 bills were on the Suspense File, with 242 bills advancing. Bills that were held under submission are dead for this Legislative Session.
Two Priority Oppose Measures Defeated Following Advocacy by CSDA Members
CSDA has been a leader advocating on workplace technology issues for the benefit of the communities special districts serve. CSDA and its coalition partners have advocated for preserving flexibility in public agency uses of artificial intelligence (AI), automated decision systems (ADS), surveillance, and other technologies that enable special districts to deliver affordable essential services like water, wastewater, fire protection, resource conservation, healthcare, parks and recreation, and more, while protecting critical infrastructure, and keeping employees and communities safe.
CSDA elevated two priority “Oppose” measures that would have unduly restricted workplace technology and organized 200 special district leaders to advocate directly to their legislators at Special Districts Legislative Days in April. Both measures were held on suspense and defeated for the year:
CSDA and its coalition partners opposed these measures because they would have placed unreasonable restrictions on workplace technologies such as AI and ADS, and they failed to account for existing protections and unique aspects of the public sector workforce and public sector service delivery.
Despite these early wins, significant work remains before the end of the August 31 close of the 2025-2026 State Legislative Session. CSDA and other stakeholders will continue advocacy on numerous remaining technology measures that passed out of the Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees, including:
SB 947 (McNerney) Employment: automated decision systems. This bill requires employers that primarily rely on an ADS to make a discipline, termination, or deactivation decision to provide a specified notice and to appoint a human reviewer to investigate and compile supporting evidence for the decision. This bill provides an employee with the right to request and requires an employer to provide a copy of the most recent 12 months of the worker’s own data primarily used by an ADS to make a disciplinary, termination, or deactivation decision. A worker is limited to one request every 12 months for a copy of their own data used by an ADS to make a disciplinary, termination, or deactivation decision. This bill requires employers primarily relying on ADS to make a disciplinary, deactivation, or termination decision to provide a post-use notice, as specified. CSDA is the local government and school coalition leader on this measure.
SB 951 (Reyes) Employment: technological displacement: notice. Would provide that written notice is required in connection with the adoption of AI or automated technology that causes, in whole, layoffs or ceases employers’ hiring, as specified. This bill grants employees of employers with over 100 employees the opportunity to apply first in other positions of the company/organization if affected by technology displacement or termination, provided this does not conflict with a collective bargaining agreement. Employers who fail to provide notice within the allotted time frame are liable for employee back pay and the cost of any benefits.
AB 1883 (Bryan) Workplace surveillance tools. Places restrictions on employers utilizing workplace surveillance technology. This measure will next be taken up for a vote on the Assembly floor.
AB 2656 (Petrie-Norris) Public employees: notice: artificial intelligence performing service within scope of work. Requires a public employer to provide a recognized employee organization no less than 45 days’ written notice before taking an action to develop, purchase, implement, or utilize any generative artificial intelligence to perform a service that is within the scope of work of the job classification represented by the recognized employee organization.
Elections in Focus
SB 1164 (Cervantes) Elections. This measure was voted out of the Senate Appropriations Committee and would enact sweeping changes to the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 (CVRA). The bill targets any practice that effectuates vote dilution; agencies would be prohibited from employing any method of election that has the effect, will likely have the effect, or is motivated in part by the intent, of diluting the vote of protected class members.
The standards for establishing/demonstrating vote dilution would be significantly revised as a result of SB 1164. An agency that responds in a timely manner to a notice alleging a violation of the CVRA by making the requisite changes demanded by the issuer of the notice would not only be potentially obligated to pay up to $25,000 (plus adjustment for CPI) for attorneys’ fees per current law, but would also now potentially be obligated to separately pay up to $50,000 (plus adjustment for CPI) for other costs, including consultant fees, as a result of SB 1164 establishing this new $50,000 settlement amount.
SB 1164 also implements a version of “pre-clearance” for jurisdictions previously found to have run afoul of voting rights similar to a mechanism previously established under the federal Voting Rights Act. As a comprehensive overhaul of the CVRA, SB 1164 contains many other provisions related to election practices.
SB 1360 (Cervantes) Elections: translation of election materials. This measure was also voted out of the Senate Appropriations Committee and would require expanded language assistance for election materials.
In addition to the assistance required for certain languages required under federal law, jurisdictions would be required to provide assistance for additional election materials and services (ballots, voter registration forms and instructions, voter education and outreach materials, voting-related notices, notices of in-language assistance availability, in-person bilingual poll workers and interpreters, live telephonic interpretation services, and websites) and provide that assistance in additional languages specified by the Secretary of State. The Secretary would be required to determine which California counties meet at least one element of a specified list of criteria. All materials and services provided by the state or counties in a language other than English would be required to be distributed at the same time as the corresponding English materials.
SB 1164 also stands up a process whereby interested citizens and entities may provide evidence to the Secretary of State demonstrating that a significant need exists for translated election materials for a language not part of the language determinations by the Secretary of State.
Tribal Relations
Because of the array of services provided by special districts in diverse regions of the state. CSDA has been engaged on pending measures concerning Native American tribal relations and tribal cultural resources. Several important measures advancing off the Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committee Suspense Files, include:
AB 1881 (Ramos) California Indian Freedom Act of 2026. Under existing law California Native American Tribes must be notified of a project by a local government if they are culturally and traditionally affiliated with the given project area, and given deference during any consultation that occurs. However, any information they provide during the environmental review process is exempt from being disclosed to the public.
This bill would prohibit the state from substantially burdening a tribe's exercise of spiritual practices on state public lands, including access to and use of land, sites or sacred objects. This includes any state or local permitting decisions, land use approvals, environmental reviews, and enforcement actions. The burden may be justified if there is a demonstrated, compelling government interest. This bill authorizes a tribe to challenge any violations. Before any project is undertaken, approved, permitted, funded, or authorized, there must be a good-faith consultation with the impacted tribe and the project must avoid any adverse impacts on sacred sites, cultural landscapes, and religious practices, including disclosure of the information under the California Public Records Act.
AB 2218 (Kalra) Water policy: California Native American tribes. This bill would set up a state policy to address the historic inequities against Native American tribes that were caused by state-sanctioned acts of termination, removal, and assimilation. The policy is to acknowledge and correct these inequities through financial assistance, protection of tribal uses, and consultation. This bill requires the State Water Resources Control Board, regional water quality boards, the Natural Resources Agency, the Delta Stewardship Council, and the Office of Land Use & Climate Innovation to consider and incorporate this policy when revising regulations, permits, or grants to address the identified inequities.
SB 1326 (Wahab) California Environmental Quality Act: tribal cultural resources: mitigation measures. This bill states that tribal cultural resources are separate and distinct from other cultural or archaeological resources. The bill expands the definition of a tribal cultural resource to include, "a site, feature, place, cultural landscape, sacred place, including a sanctified cemetery, cemetery, or burial area of a California Native American tribe, or object with cultural value to a California Native American tribe that is 1) included or determined to be eligible for the California or National Register of Historical Resources, or 2) included in a local register of historical resources, or 3) identified by the Native American Heritage Commission, or 4) included in a local tribal register.
The bill recasts lead agencies’ responsibilities related to consultations with tribes, including avoiding or minimizing significant impacts on tribal cultural resources, where feasible. The bill sets forth additional means for avoidance and mitigation, including, 1) relocation or reburial to protect from any future disturbance, 2) relinquishing the resource to the consulting tribe,3) providing the tribe access to the resource of cultural practices, heritage teachings, stewardship or co-management of lands. If the lead agency determines avoidance or preservation are not feasible, the lead agency, consistent with existing law, demonstrates its decision by substantial evidence.
Other Significant Bills Passed Off Suspense Files and Moving to a Floor Vote
AB 1578 (Jackson) State and local officials: sexual harassment training and education: anti-hate speech training. Would modify existing requirements related to the mandatory sexual harassment prevention training that local agency officials and employees are generally obligated to complete every two years. If signed into law, beginning January 1, 2028, AB 1578 would require that the sexual harassment prevention training include anti-hate speech training as a component of the training and education.
The impetus for this legislation arose from the work of the California Commission on the State of Hate, particularly the Commission’s 2023-24 annual report which recommended that training and onboarding for officials include information about how to address threats, harassment, and hate.
AB 1710 (Carrillo) Housing developments: ordinances, policies, and standards. Among other things, this measure would extend the “vesting” rights that apply to local agency reviews of housing developments under the Housing Crisis Act (HCA) to include materials requirements, post entitlement permit standards, and any rules, regulations, determinations, and other requirements adopted or implemented by other public agencies. Additionally, it would also extend the “reasonable person” standard to public agency determinations of whether a housing development project is consistent, compliant, and in conformity with applicable plans, policies, and ordinances for purposes of the Permit Streamlining Act (PSA).
AB 1859 (Ortega) Public works. This bill would require a public works site to allow reasonable access to monitor prevailing wage compliance by "representatives of a joint-labor management committee." The bill requires the representative to comply with safety standards, including personal protective equipment. The bill specifically states that any injury would fall under the committee’s workers’ compensation and insurance, and there is no legal recourse against the contractor or site. A representative has only six months to bring an action if reasonable access is willfully denied, for statutory damages of $1,000 and attorney's fees per violation. The bill does not apply to school districts.
Below is a selection of other notable Assembly Bills that were voted off the Assembly Committee on Appropriations Suspense File and moving to an Assembly Floor vote:
Other Significant Bills Held Under Submission and Not Advancing
AB 2170 (Boerner) California Environmental Quality Act: overburdened communities: notices and hearings: translations. This bill would have removed a number of CEQA exemptions for certain projects such as public infrastructure, housing, clean transportation, and "advanced manufacturing" if the project is in an "overburdened community." The bill further would have required that a project go through a public hearing and that the CEQA documents be translated into all the threshold languages in California.
The required documents for translation included notices of public hearings, exemptions, intent to adopt a negative or mitigated negative declaration, preparation of an environmental impact report, and notices of availability, completion, or determination.
Below is a selection of other notable Assembly Bills that were held in the Assembly Committee on Appropriations and are therefore dead:
Below is a selection of other notable Senate Bills that were held on the Senate Committee on Appropriations Suspense File, and are therefore dead:
What’s Next?
May 29, 2026, is the deadline for bills to be voted out of their house of origin. The State Legislature has until August 31, 2026 to pass all bills, after which Governor Gavin Newsom has until September 30, 2026 to sign or veto them, marking the end of the 2025-2026 Legislative Session.
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