Food vendors and facilities: enforcement activities.

Senator Durazo's Street Vendor Business Protection Act establishes new privacy safeguards for sidewalk vendors and mobile food operators while reforming how local authorities regulate street vending. The legislation prohibits local agencies from collecting information about immigration status, citizenship, or criminal history during permit applications, and bars the disclosure of vendors' personal information without a court order.

The bill replaces criminal penalties with administrative fines for vending violations, creating a tiered system starting at $100 for first offenses and capping at $500 for subsequent infractions. Local authorities must consider vendors' ability to pay when assessing fines and may offer alternatives like community service. Vendors can now use California driver's licenses, individual taxpayer identification numbers, or municipal IDs instead of social security numbers when applying for permits.

Local agencies and their contractors are barred from using public resources to assist with immigration enforcement when regulating street vendors. Any existing records containing vendors' immigration status, birthplace, or criminal history must be destroyed by March 2026 unless specifically required by law. The legislation also exempts vendors' personal information from disclosure under the California Public Records Act.

For implementation, the bill requires that any contracts between local authorities and private enforcement entities explicitly incorporate these new privacy protections, with immediate termination for violations. While imposing new administrative requirements on local agencies, the legislation provides for state reimbursement of mandated costs as determined by the Commission on State Mandates.