Legal & Administrative Procedures

Legislature: constitutional course.

Requires legislators and staff to complete a constitutional law course within six months of session start. Mandates a two-hour course covering federalism, civil rights, and separation of powers principles. Assigns the Joint Rules Committee to develop and conduct the constitutional training program.

Office of Regulatory Counsel.

Establishes a new Office of Regulatory Counsel within the Governor's office to draft and review state regulations. Requires Senate confirmation for the office director who serves concurrent with the appointing Governor's term. Mandates all operational costs be absorbed by existing state resources with no new funding. Expires automatically on January 1, 2035 unless renewed by the Legislature.

State Contract Act.

Makes technical changes to the name citation provision of the State Contract Act.

Local government: County of Orange.

Establishes new oversight requirements for the Orange County Investment Fund to prevent financial mismanagement. Requires fund managers appointed after January 2026 to meet strict qualification standards. Mandates annual public reporting of fund assets starting July 2026. Implements stricter oversight in response to Orange County's 1994 bankruptcy and recent authority changes.

Unclaimed property: notice.

Requires the State Controller to verify addresses before sending notices about unclaimed property worth $50 or more. Mandates the Controller to mail notices to corrected addresses if original addresses are found invalid. Establishes a 165-day deadline for the Controller to notify potential property owners after receiving reports. Prohibits the use of photographs or elected officials' names in public notices about unclaimed property.

Public retirement systems: development projects: labor standards.

Prohibits public pension systems from investing in California development projects that lack specific labor protections. Requires development projects to pay prevailing wages and use skilled workers for construction work. Mandates developers to ensure labor peace during union organizing campaigns. Allows pension boards to reject these requirements if they conflict with fiduciary duties.

State and local government: data protection and privacy: immigration.

Prohibits state and local agencies from collecting immigration data unless legally required and justified. Requires judicial warrants for sharing personal data with federal immigration authorities. Mandates biennial audits of government data-sharing agreements by the State Auditor. Establishes an Attorney General task force to monitor privacy violations and report annually.

Air districts: administrative rulemaking: standardized regulatory impact analysis.

Requires large air districts to analyze economic impacts of regulations exceeding $50 million in costs. Mandates standardized impact analysis for air quality regulations affecting over 5 million residents. Establishes new oversight process without requiring state finance department review. Allows districts to levy fees to cover costs of new regulatory requirements.

Immigration: unaccompanied undocumented minors: right to legal counsel.

Requires California to provide legal counsel to undocumented minors in federal custody or living with sponsors. Guarantees legal representation for immigration proceedings and related court matters. Mandates attorneys receive specialized training in asylum and immigration visa processes. Requires legal service providers to maintain malpractice insurance and indemnify the state.

GO-Biz: local immigrant integration initiatives: reporting.

Establishes competitive grants for local governments to develop immigrant integration programs and services. Requires grant applicants to conduct community input sessions and create plans for sustainable funding. Allows undocumented immigrants to access grant-funded services without disclosing immigration status. Mandates GO-Biz to submit annual program reports to the Legislature by May 1.

Maintenance of the codes.

Joint Sunset Review Committee.

Requires state agencies to submit comprehensive performance reports by December 2026 to justify their continued existence. Mandates public hearings every five years to evaluate if state agencies should continue, merge, or be eliminated. Establishes new oversight of regulations costing over $300 per person or $8,000 per business annually.

Civil Procedure: recovery of defense costs.

Expands the ability of defendants to recover legal costs when opposing parties file cases without good faith. Allows courts to award defense costs when granting demurrer motions that dismiss baseless claims. Requires courts to determine if plaintiffs filed their cases with reasonable cause before awarding costs. Covers attorney fees, expert witness costs, and consulting expenses in defense cost awards.

Court interpreters.

Establishes a new multiregional bargaining system for court interpreter employment terms across California. Requires courts to accept multiregional bargaining requests within 30 days if more than one region is negotiating. Maintains uniform pay rates within regions while allowing local courts to set additional compensation. Preserves existing health and pension benefits that match other court employees' benefits.

Civil actions: enforcement of judgments.

Updates civil judgment enforcement by extending address verification deadlines from 5 to 10 business days. Expands acceptable methods for verifying judgment debtor addresses to include certified mail and skip-tracing. Eliminates the requirement to serve wage garnishment orders directly on employees. Requires courts to return exempt wages within specific timeframes when garnished incorrectly.

Housing development approvals: residential units.

Streamlines approval for housing developments up to 8 units in single-family zones without discretionary review. Requires one unit to be deed-restricted affordable housing for households at 80% of area median income. Mandates local agencies to approve or deny housing applications within 60 days or projects are automatically approved. Prohibits local agencies from imposing parking requirements, height limits, and other restrictions that could block development.

Abandoned recreational vehicles.

Expands abandoned vehicle disposal rules to include recreational vehicles valued up to $4,000. Requires agencies to notify vehicle owners within 48 hours of removal and allow 15 days to claim the vehicle. Mandates a 72-hour warning notice be attached to vehicles before removal. Provides owners the right to request a hearing within 10 days to contest the vehicle removal.

Barbering and cosmetology.

Removes basic hair services like shampooing and styling from requiring a cosmetology or barber license. Requires unlicensed hair service providers to notify customers about their licensure status. Eliminates the hairstylist license category from state regulations. Sets maximum initial license fees ranging from $35 to $50 for beauty professionals.

Administrative Procedure Act.

Makes technical changes to provisions in the Administrative Procedure Act.

State shrub.

Establishes the bigberry manzanita as California's official state shrub. Recognizes a native plant species that helps prevent soil erosion in California's chaparral ecosystem. Highlights a historically significant plant used by Native Americans and the extinct California grizzly bear.

Representation of trust beneficiaries.

Modernizes trust administration by allowing authorized representatives to receive legal notices on behalf of beneficiaries. Requires written consent for representation and prohibits conflicts of interest between representatives and beneficiaries. Protects fiduciaries from liability when acting in good faith based on authorized representations. Specifies which parties can represent others in trust matters, including parents, guardians, and trustees.

Trial: statement of decision.

Requires courts to issue written statements explaining trial decisions when requested before case submission. Establishes a 10-day window for parties to object to court decisions after they are served. Extends the deadline for clerks to enter court judgments from immediate to 30 days after decision filing. Authorizes courts to order parties to prepare draft statements of judicial decisions.

California bar examination.

Requires the State Bar to conduct a cost-benefit analysis before making any changes to the bar examination. Mandates that analysis findings must be submitted to both the Supreme Court and Legislature for review. Evaluates the potential adoption of a uniform national bar exam to reduce costs for examinees. Requires collaboration between the examining committee and Law School Council on proposed changes.

Claims against the state: appropriation.

Appropriates $1.2 million from the General Fund to pay legal settlements against the state. Requires immediate disbursement of funds to resolve three specific court cases. Mandates unused funds return to the General Fund within 45 days of final payment.

Indemnity.

Makes technical changes to existing indemnification liability provisions.