Budget & Economy

Increases penalties for Cartwright Act conspiracies to deter trade restraints. Raises corporate fines to 6,000,000 or more based on gain or loss. Raises individual penalties to 1,000,000. Adds civil penalties up to 1,000,000 per violation with assessment factors and cumulative remedies.

Updates the Unclaimed Property Law to treat digital financial assets as intangible property. Establishes a three-year escheat period for digital assets with restart options. Requires notices and a restart form; penalties may apply for noncompliance. Authorizes Controller to appoint licensed custodians and convert digital assets to fiat.

Expands enforcement to investigate off-site gambling violations. Authorizes on-site and off-site investigations, seizures, subpoenas, and depositions. Creates a regulatory regime for major league sports raffles with 50% to charity. Requires a 2/3 vote for changes to charitable receipts, and creates a dedicated enforcement fund.

Requires integration of enhanced data collection into the motion picture tax credit framework. Adds demographic data such as disability, veteran, and LGBTQ+ status, plus ZIP Code hires and apprenticeships. Adopts definitions and templates, reduces nonresponse, and allows aggregate payroll data. Enforcement relies on existing tax credit rules with no new penalties and upon appropriation.

Shifts prelicensing from 20 hours to a 12-hour ethics/code requirement. Establishes a curriculum board to shape exams, CE curricula, and provider standards. Implements a fee-based framework for ethics course certification and CE providers. Creates cargo shipper limited license with no exam and vehicle service contract licensing.

Authorizes the CFPA to access bonds and loans through IBank to fund claims. Requires prior approval from the Insurance Commissioner for financing actions. Establishes a continuous lien on collateral to secure financing. Bonds are not state debt and may be repaid from CFPA assets, with oversight.

Establishes a local tax or bond measures framework with expanded voter disclosures. Requires MIS for multi-rate taxes or bonds detailing purpose, rates, duration, and debt service. Allows ballot to refer to the county voter guide for rate or debt details. Sets 88-day MIS filing, enables electronic delivery, and notes MIS estimates do not bind the tax.

Establishes a five-mile radius reassessment for Chiquita Canyon to reflect value declines since 2022. Requires notices of value changes and refunds for prior overpayments. Extends installment relief and suspends taxes through 2030 if payments were timely by Jan 7, 2025. Enacts hardship-based penalty cancellations tied to shelter-in-place orders and the landfill event.

Establishes GO-Biz to craft industry strategies for blueprint sectors with quantum priority. Requires quantum technology strategy submission by July 1, 2026 with regional input. Ensures six elements are included: overview, risks, projects, policies, outcomes, public info. Requires no new appropriation and relies on oversight through reporting.

Imposes a one-year ban on canceling or renewing commercial property policies in fire-affected ZIPs. Requires CAL FIRE and OES to define the fire perimeter and issue a bulletin listing affected ZIP codes. Carves out exceptions for willful negligence, unrelated losses, or changes making the risk uninsurable. Overrides the premium threshold for HOAs, condos, student housing, and other housing.

Extends base-year value transfer window for 2025 fires by 3 years. Establishes a new valuation for real property damaged in 2025 fires using damage-date value. Conditionally operative: dependent on SB 663 and AB 245 being enacted last. No appropriation; local reimbursements for property tax losses are not provided.

Establishes wildfire-damage extensions for filing family-transfer exclusions. Establishes a 3-year extension for exclusions and 1-year for exemptions during wildfire emergencies. Requires quarterly assessor reports to monitor the $1,000,000 cap and allows a late-file processing fee up to $175. Empowers emergency regulations and SBOE form design to implement the changes.

Creates the disaster-impacted small business recovery fund and grants program. Allocates 90% to grants and 5% each to technical assistance and capital infusion. Requires dollar-for-dollar matches, grants range $2,500 to $100,000, retroactive use allowed. Requires a 180-day report after each emergency and a 2032 sunset.

Authorizes up to 10 new Colusa on-sale licenses for bona fide eating places. Requires ABC licensing process for Colusa licenses and enforcement by ABC. Prohibits cross-county transfer and caps resale at original fee. Extends glassware program to 2029; sunset on Jan 1, 2029.

Ratifies the fourth amendment to the Chukchansi tribal gaming compact. Exempts specified compact actions from CEQA review. Preserves CEQA duties for actions not listed as exempt. Declares it an urgency statute with immediate effect and no appropriation.

Revises cannabis excise tax to 19% for Jul-Sep 2025, then 15% Oct 2025-Jun 2028. Establishes biannual rate adjustments to approximate prior cultivation tax revenue, capped at 19%. Requires annual interagency revenue reporting and data sharing, with sunset in 2029. Maintains at-sale payment, retailer collection, separate invoicing, and medicinal exemptions.

Extends base-year value transfer window to eight years for listed fires. Expands local reassessment authority with extended filing window for disasters. Expands veteran exemption amounts and adds disaster reconstruction eligibility. Creates temporary use-based exemption for disaster-damaged property with 2033 sunset.

Authorizes districts with transportation tax authority to enact a retail tax by initiative. Requires the initiative to stay within the maximum rate and include a transportation expenditure plan with accountability. May create state-mandated local costs for county elections with reimbursement rules.

Extends the Green Empowerment Zone to 2040 and adds four new cities. Declares the act an urgency statute and takes effect immediately. Expands board to eight stakeholder groups including environmental justice directors. Establishes an executive committee by 2026 to develop metrics and post annual reports.

Updates local investment rules by extending maturity limits. Extends eligible prime quality paper maturity to 397 days. Delays major investment cap changes and zero-interest rules to 2031. Imposes penalties for late financial reports at 10 months after year end.

Excludes charitable remainder trusts from incomplete gift nongrantor trust status. Clarifies the exclusion is declaratory of existing law. Maintains grantor-level taxation for incomplete gift trusts unless exempt. Franchise Tax Board may issue rules to implement the change.

Requires GO-Biz to study tariff impacts on California international trade and aid small businesses. Convenes the Freight Advisory Committee within one calendar quarter to scope the study. Submits the study to the Legislature by January 1, 2029 with public-disclosure compliance. Sunsets the mandate on January 1, 2031 and carries no new appropriation.

Authorizes SLOCOG to levy up to 1% transactions and use tax with voter approval. Excludes the new rate from the county cap in rate calculations. Sets a 2026–2032 voting window and requires constitutional approval.

Expands exemptions for exempt bus operation to counties owning local transit systems. Imposes a 1-cent-per-gallon levy on exempt fuels paid to the CDTFA. Shifts administration from the State Board of Equalization to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Operative provisions take effect the first calendar quarter after more than 90 days.

Creates the Community Stabilization Act to stabilize disaster-impacted housing. Creates a tradable, non-interest security funded by CRA investments. Holds properties up to seven years and prioritizes owner occupancy in sales.