AB 2597 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Claims against the state: appropriation.

Summary
Under existing law, if sufficient appropriations are not available for the payment of certain claims, settlements, or judgments, the Attorney General is required to report the claims, settlements, and judgments to the chairperson of either the Senate Committee on Appropriations or the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, who is then required to cause introduction of legislation appropriating the funds necessary for payment. This bill would appropriate $7,391,650.83 from the General Fund to the Attorney General for the payment of claims, settlements, or judgments against the state arising from 8 specified actions. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Aug 2026
Assembly Passage
Aug 2026
Senate Passage
Aug 2026
Governor
Introduced Feb 20, 2026 Last action Aug 30, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

02/20/26 - Introduced 06/30/26 - Amended Assembly · 4 edits · Jun 30, 2026
MODERATE
AB 2597 was transformed from a placeholder bill with blank fields for an unspecified amount and case into a specific appropriation of $7,391,650.83 from the General Fund to the Attorney General. The amended version allocates funds across eight specified court cases involving claims against the state, several of which relate to gun regulation (Bonta as defendant) and charitable trust registration. This matters because it converts a template into an actionable funding mechanism for specific judgments.
Scope change
Changed from an unspecified single-case appropriation (template with blanks) to a specific multi-case appropriation totaling $7,391,650.83 covering eight named court cases, several involving California's gun regulation laws and charitable trust registration.
FISCAL

The appropriation amount changed from an unspecified blank to a specific total of $7,391,650.83 from the General Fund.

SCOPE

The bill's scope expanded from appropriating funds for a single unspecified judgment to allocating funds across eight specified court cases, including Hoffman v. Bonta ($165,000), California Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bonta ($128,206.50), California Chamber of Commerce v. Bonta ($2,775,000), California Chaparral Institute v. Board of Forestry ($553,159.23), Catholic Medical Mission Board and Food for the Poor v. Attorney General ($887,685.38), Safari Club International v. Bonta ($481,749.72), Junior Sports Magazines Inc. v. Bonta ($900,000), and The Personal Care Products Council v. Bonta ($1,500,000).

REQUIREMENT

A detailed allocation schedule was added specifying exact dollar amounts for each of the eight cases, including sub-allocations within two cases (Catholic Medical Mission Board receiving $595,954.03 and Food for the Poor receiving $291,731.35; Law Offices of Donald Kilmer receiving $350,000 and Michel and Associates receiving $550,000).

DEFINITION

The legislative digest was updated to reflect the specific dollar amount and to describe the appropriation as covering claims arising from eight specified actions rather than a single unspecified case.

Floor votes · Senate Aug 30, 2026 · Assembly Aug 10, 2026

How they voted

400
Passed
Total votes 40
Aug 30, 2026
D Democratic30
30 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican10
10 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
17
Key actions
8
Committee
7
Amendments
3
Aug 30, 2026
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (40-0)
senate
Aug 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling.
lower
Aug 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 40. Noes 0.).
upper
Aug 27, 2026
Upper · Passed
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (August 27).
upper
Aug 12, 2026
Committee
Referred to Com. on APPR.
upper
Aug 10, 2026
Assembly · Passed
Assembly Vote: pass (75-0-3)
assembly
Aug 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 76. Noes 0. Page 6104.).
lower
Aug 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (August 5).
lower
Jul 1, 2026
Committee
Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
lower
Jun 30, 2026
Introduced
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. Read second time and amended.
lower
Mar 9, 2026
Committee
Referred to Com. on APPR.
lower
Feb 21, 2026
Lower · Passed
From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Buffy Wicks
Buffy Wicks
DDemocratic
CA
14