Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael P. Callagy, County Executive
Connie Juarez-Diroll, Chief Legislative Officer
Subject: State and Federal Legislative Update #6 - 2025 End-of-Session Wrap-Up
RECOMMENDATION:
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Accept the October 2025 informational report on the 2025-26 state and federal legislative sessions.
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BACKGROUND:
On September 13, 2025, the first year of the 2025-26 state legislative session officially concluded, following the extension of floor proceedings by one day to finalize action on a massive climate, energy, and affordability bill package. In the weeks and days leading up to the final deadline, lawmakers put in long hours into the evening to determine the fate of over 1,000 bills. The Governor’s deadline to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature was October 13, 2025. All new statutes will take effect January 1, 2026, and the Legislature will reconvene January 5, 2026, to continue the second year of the 2025-26 state legislative session. Furthermore, starting November 17, 2025, Senator Monique Limón will become the acting Senate Pro Tem, bringing changes to Senate leadership and committee structures.
With Congress unable to reach a funding agreement, the federal government entered a shutdown on October 1, 2025, the first since 2019.
DISCUSSION:
State Legislative Update
All in all, approximately 2,800 bills were introduced in the 2025 legislative session, with nearly 500 of those bills making it to the Governor’s desk in the last few weeks alone. Now, there are about 1,100 remaining bills in the legislature (considered 2-year bills) that may be acted upon at the start of the next session, January 2026. Additional measures may also be introduced next year.
The end of the legislative session is often a stressful time. Still, this year's session was especially challenging due to the State's urgent need to address out-of-state developments, along with significant funding cuts and legislative changes at the federal level. During the final stretch of the session, Proposition 50 qualified for the special election scheduled for November 4, 2025 (as analyzed in the September 9, 2025, Board of Supervisors meeting linked here). Additionally, the legislature introduced several budget trailer bills at the last minute to tackle budget issues arising from H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
In total, 18 budget trailer bills were introduced during the last week of the session as part of an extensive September budget package. This package continues discussions held in June and includes several points of interest for counties, such as the allocation of Proposition 4 bond funds (the 2024 Climate Bond), actions to prepare for the implementation of federal H.R. 1, and changes that enable counties to administer the statewide special election effectively.
Moreover, after extensive negotiations between the Administration and the legislature, and with a one-day extension of the legislative session rules to finalize this agreement, lawmakers passed a comprehensive climate-related bill package. This package extends the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF)-now referred to as the Cap-and-Invest program-until 2045. As part of California's strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the final package includes critical investments in transportation, housing, and wildfire prevention. While we support this agreement, our state associations will continue to advocate for a revised expenditure plan that addresses organic waste management and climate adaptation infrastructure.
For specific details on the six climate and energy bills signed into law, please see below:
• AB 825 (Petrie-Norris) would authorize the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and the electrical corporations whose transmission is operated by the CAISO to use voluntary energy markets governed by an independent regional organization.
• AB 1207 (Irwin) would extend authorization for the California Air Resources Board (CARB) cap-and-trade regulation through 2045 and require CARB to ensure that emissions from covered sources decline with the 2030 and 2045 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets, among other things.
• SB 237 (Grayson) would safely and responsibly increase in-state oil production, while also soliciting additional information to mitigate rising fuel costs and assess medium- to long-term strategies in line with recent work from the California Energy Commission.
• SB 254 (Becker) would propose various policies affecting regulation, management, and ratepayer costs of the state’s electric and gas utilities, including authorizing public financing and ownership of electric transmission infrastructure; addressing wildfire mitigation spending and financing; liability of wildfire property claims; and permitting of clean energy projects, among other things.
• SB 352 (Reyes) would modify requirements for community air monitoring systems and the monitoring plan established by AB 617 (C. Garcia, Chapter 136, Statutes of 2017) and require the CARB to report and appear before the Legislature regarding monitoring progress.
• SB 840 (Limón) would reconfigure the continuous appropriations established for the GGRF and would set new legislative intent for how GGRF monies are spent; direct CARB to assess and update compliance offset protocols and establish a new unit within the Legislative Counsel Bureau to support climate and environmental policymaking efforts.
2025-26 Legislative Session Highlights
Highlights of accomplishments and major issues dealt with in this session are summarized below. Many of these advocacy efforts were led by our state associations, the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) and the Urban Counties of California (UCC).
Funding for November Special Election
In response to heavy advocacy from CSAC, including coordinating efforts to push back on the notion that counties could absorb these costs or be reimbursed, the Administration announced that counties will receive full funding, in advance, for California’s special election in November. Counties will receive more than $250 million.
• San Mateo County’s allocation: $4,170,529
Brown Act Modernization
SB 707 (Durazo) represents the most sweeping and ambitious changes to the Brown Act in several years. CSAC worked throughout the year to carefully craft the bill’s language to balance the best interests of county governments and the accessibility of public meetings. The bill extends sunset dates on laws that provide meeting participation flexibility, adds new flexibility for multi-jurisdictional bodies, and addresses challenges in recruitment and retention for advisory bodies by allowing them the flexibility to meet remotely.
• San Mateo County is currently holding discussions regarding the implementation of this bill, and new guidance will be released in the coming months.
CalFresh Funding
CSAC led a county coalition highlighting the significant county cost increases that will result from the implementation of federal H.R. 1 and the need for state action to help counties preserve safety net programs. The September Budget Package includes up to $40 million ($20 million GF) for counties to address the increased workload for implementing expanded work requirements for CalFresh. It also provides funding and outlines multi-year activities for the California Department of Social Services to work with counties and other stakeholders to lower the state’s CalFresh error rate. This effort aims to reduce the state's share of the cost for CalFresh benefits once the provision of H.R. 1 is implemented.
• San Mateo County allocation is unknown/TBD.
Homelessness Funding
The 2025 Budget Act appropriated $500 million for Round 7 of the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) program in 2026-27. SB 158, one of the budget trailer bills included in the September Budget Package, would require the Housing and Community Development Department to begin work to administer Round 7 of the HHAP program to disburse funding starting September 1, 2026. CSAC coordinated efforts and pushed strongly for this Round 7 funding to be distributed as quickly as possible, including a specific request for the September 1 date.
• San Mateo County allocation is unknown/TBD.
2025-26 Legislation
Below is a list of selected bills that have been signed into law so far. A complete list of tracked bills by the Intergovernmental and Public Affairs (IGPA) Unit is included with this report. Please note that the bill tracker may become outdated by the time of the reading of this memo, as it was written before the Governor’s deadline to act on bills on October 13. An updated bill report will be provided to the Board of Supervisors at the end of the month.
Governor Newsom signed some of the nation’s strongest protections into law that protect our communities and individuals’ reproductive freedom. For notable bills, please see below:
Immigration
• AB 49 (Muratsuchi-D) would prohibit school officials and employees of a local educational agency (LEA) from allowing an officer or employee of an agency conducting immigration enforcement to enter a school site without providing a valid judicial warrant or court order. It would prohibit LEAs from giving information about pupils, their families, teachers, and school employees to immigration authorities. (San Mateo County supported this measure)
• SB 81 (Arreguin-D) would prohibit a health care provider entity and its personnel, unless required by state and federal law, from granting access to nonpublic areas of the facility for immigration enforcement without a valid judicial warrant or court order.
• SB 98 (Perez-D) would require the governing boards of school districts and county offices of education, and the governing boards of charter schools, to include procedures for notifying parents and school staff when immigration enforcement is confirmed on the school site within the school safety plan, and require the California State University, each California Community College District, and each Cal Grant qualifying independent institution of higher education and request the University of California Regents to issue a notification to specified individuals when the presence of immigration enforcement is confirmed on their respective campuses or schoolsites.
• SB 627 (Wiener-D) would make it a crime for law enforcement officers to wear a facial covering in the performance of their duties, except as specified. It would require any law enforcement agency operating in California to maintain and publicly post a written policy limiting the use of facial coverings.
• SB 805 (Perez-D) would require law enforcement agencies to adopt policies on visible display of identification; require specified law enforcement officers operating in California who are not uniformed to visibly display identification that includes either a name or badge number to the public when performing their duties; and would expand the crime of false personation of a peace officer.
Reproductive Rights
• AB 260 (Aguiar Curry-D) would repeal unconstitutional and delete obsolete provisions of current law relating to criminal abortion penalties, and authorize the California Department of Public Health to adopt regulations specific to mifepristone and other medication abortion drugs, including exempting those drugs from specific requirements if the United States Food and Drug Administration no longer approves the drugs.
• AB 1525 (Committee on Judiciary) would clarify the disciplinary rules for attorneys providing advice related to sensitive services and provide that a California attorney cannot be disciplined for providing accurate legal advice about the provision of sensitive services in California.
• AB 45 (Bauer-Kahan-D) would 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.
• AB 50 (Bonta-D) would authorize a pharmacist to furnish over-the-counter contraceptives without the standardized procedures or protocols required for prescription-only self-administered hormonal contraceptives.
San Mateo County Supported Bills Signed into Law
• AB 752 (Avila Farias) would require a daycare center when colocated with multifamily housing, to be considered a residential use of property and a use by right, and prohibit a local jurisdiction from imposing a charge, tax, or fee for a business license, equivalent instrument, or permit for the privilege of operating a daycare center that is colocated with multifamily housing.
• AB 1288 (Addis) would make various changes to the scope, education, training, and examination of registered environmental health specialists and environmental health specialist trainees, as well as to the Environmental Health Specialist Registration Committee
• AB 1139 (Rogers) would expand an exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act for a change in use approved by a park district to allow public access for non-motorized recreation on preexisting roads, trails, and pathways owned or managed by the park district, to allow the exemption in cases where the lead agency is a county park agency.
• SB 378 (Wiener) would, beginning on July 1, 2026, place obligations on online marketplaces where advertising or sales of illicit cannabis or hemp products occur, and prohibit “unlawful paid online advertising,” related to unlicensed sellers of cannabis or cannabis products, intoxicating hemp products, or unregistered hemp products.
• SB 413 (Allen) would provide specified attorneys access to a juvenile case file without a court order for specified purposes.
Updates on the final status of remaining bills will be shared after the October 13 deadline.
Federal Update
As of the time of writing this report, negotiations to resolve the federal government shutdown are at a standstill, with no significant progress made over the past two weeks, and partisan divisions remain deeply entrenched.
On Thursday, October 9th, the Senate rejected competing funding proposals for the seventh time, effectively ensuring that the shutdown will extend into a third week. The Senate has recessed for the holiday weekend and is not scheduled to return to the Capitol until Tuesday, October 14th. Meanwhile, the House has remained in their home states for the past two weeks, instead of convening in Washington, D.C. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has announced that the House will not be in session again during the week of October 13th. The last time the House was in session was September 19th, and it will remain on a 48-hour recall notice until the Senate acts on the House-passed continuing resolution.
Republicans continue to push for a short-term extension of current funding levels, along with additional security resources for public officials. In contrast, Democrats insist that any stopgap measure include permanent extensions of Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits, a reversal of Medicaid cuts enacted earlier this summer, and the restoration of federal funds that the administration sought to rescind or withhold.
While some moderate Republicans have expressed openness to extending ACA subsidies, GOP leaders have resisted including significant policy changes in a temporary funding bill. The Republican conference is itself divided, with some conservatives advocating for curtailing the subsidies while others argue for their complete expiration.
Several critical deadlines are now approaching, increasing pressure on lawmakers to reach an agreement. The first missed paycheck for many federal employees is expected on Friday, October 10th, followed by a politically sensitive deadline on October 15th, when active-duty military personnel may also miss their pay if Congress does not take action. Historically, missed military pay has been a significant turning point during shutdowns, often intensifying pressure on both parties to negotiate a deal.
Speaker Johnson has made it clear that he does not plan to bring a standalone bill to pay the troops to the floor before October 15th. GOP leaders argue that advancing a separate troop pay bill would weaken their negotiating position with Senate Democrats.
Finally, on October 10th, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought announced that Reduction in Force (RIF) notices have started being issued to federal employees across various agencies, warning that federal firings would be “substantial.” Reports indicate that employees at the Departments of Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Treasury, and the Environmental Protection Agency have begun receiving RIF notices.