Data Collection & Government Transparency

Expands grounds for contractor discipline by including violations of architecture and engineering practice laws. Requires contractors to comply with additional regulations regarding water well drilling and building permits. Authorizes the Contractors State License Board to enforce violations of local building ordinances. Strengthens oversight of unlicensed practice in related professional fields like surveying and geology.

Expands California's Information Practices Act to cover local government agencies and strengthen privacy protections. Broadens the definition of personal information to include biometric, genetic, and neural data. Requires agencies to notify residents when their unencrypted personal data is breached. Makes both intentional and negligent privacy violations by agency employees grounds for termination.

Establishes a new state agency to verify and maintain a registry of American Freedmen residents in California. Creates a Genealogy Office by July 2027 to verify residents' ancestral connections to people enslaved in the U.S. Mandates strict privacy protections for personal data and prohibits sharing information with law enforcement. Requires annual legislative oversight hearings and regular performance audits starting January 2029.

Requires cities and school districts to publicly disclose legal expenses on their websites every two months. Mandates that legal invoices be shared with governing board members upon request without redaction. Exempts disclosure of legal fees for active litigation and attorney-client privileged information. Aims to prevent wasteful spending on legal services by increasing transparency of public fund usage.

Establishes a new Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery within the Department of Justice to manage reparations programs. Creates a process for descendants of enslaved people to reclaim property taken through racially motivated eminent domain. Requires the bureau to verify descendant status and establish compensation criteria for eligible individuals. Mandates the creation of educational programs about discriminatory urban planning and displacement in California.

Requires California cities and counties to collect detailed ancestry data for Black employees starting January 2027. Mandates additional demographic categories to track descendants of American Freedmen in local government hiring. Ensures privacy protection and secure handling of all collected demographic data. Provides state reimbursement to local governments for costs of implementing new data collection requirements.

Requires new voter-approved state bonds to include specific goals and performance metrics starting January 2026. Mandates state agencies to post detailed bond spending updates and project outcomes on their websites. Establishes annual reporting requirements to track if bond funds achieve their intended purposes. Requires agencies to collect and publish data measuring the effectiveness of bond-funded projects.

Expands privacy protections for public officials by prohibiting disclosure of personal data without consent. Requires businesses to remove officials' personal information within 48 hours of receiving a request. Makes it a felony to post officials' private data with intent to cause harm if injury results. Extends privacy protections to family members living with public officials.

Requires businesses to notify California residents of data breaches within 30 days of discovery. Mandates notification to the Attorney General within 15 days if a breach affects over 500 residents. Allows delayed notification only for law enforcement needs or to determine breach scope. Requires standardized breach notices with specific headings and plain language for affected residents.

Establishes a commission to coordinate California's celebration of America's 250th anniversary in 2026. Requires all funding to come from private donations and federal grants with no state money used. Dissolves the commission if sufficient private funding is not secured by February 1, 2026. Mandates transfer of all commission records to State Archives by December 31, 2028.

Requires state agencies to incorporate racial equity analysis into all strategic plans and budgets. Mandates agencies to gather input from historically disadvantaged communities when developing plans. Requires qualified diversity officers to conduct racial equity analysis before implementing new regulations. Makes all agency strategic plans publicly available to ensure transparency.

Requires public disclosure of biological data for energy facility certification applications. Authorizes Fish and Wildlife to restrict sensitive species location data if disclosure poses risks. Mandates maximum possible data release while protecting vulnerable species information.

Authorizes licensed professional fiduciaries to form professional corporations to provide fiduciary services. Requires fiduciaries to disclose when serving under a professional corporation in all cases and annual reports. Mandates professional fiduciary corporations to submit detailed reports about their operations to regulators. Establishes new court appointment criteria requiring either individual licensing or corporate compliance.

Establishes a Public Records Act Ombudsperson to review denied requests for government records through 2029. Requires the Ombudsperson to issue determinations on denied records requests within 30 days. Mandates state agencies provide requested records if the Ombudsperson determines they were wrongly withheld. Creates a process for individuals to protect their private information during records reviews.

Requires the Civil Rights Department to launch statewide anti-discrimination media campaigns by July 2026. Establishes an 11-member working group to develop and implement the media campaign strategy. Allocates advertising focus based on hate crime statistics from the Attorney General's latest report. Requires legislative funding approval before the program can begin operations.

Expands public records law to allow agencies extra response time during cyberattacks affecting electronic records. Requires state emergencies to directly impact agency operations to justify extended response deadlines. Limits response extensions to 14 days and only while electronic systems remain inaccessible. Maintains agency obligations to provide non-electronic records even during cyberattacks.

Requires state agencies to collect detailed demographic data for Middle Eastern and North African groups by 2026. Mandates public reporting of Middle Eastern and North African demographic data starting January 2027. Protects individual privacy by requiring agencies to aggregate data before public release. Applies to all California cities and requires regular updates based on U.S. Census data.

Establishes a process for victims of racially motivated eminent domain to reclaim property or receive compensation. Requires the Office of Legal Affairs to review claims and determine fair market value of historically seized properties. Authorizes dispossessed owners to receive returned property, equivalent public property, or financial compensation. Allows victims to challenge denied claims without any statute of limitations restrictions.