California Dream for All Program: descendants of formerly enslaved people.

The document was reformatted from a formal enrolled bill layout (with chapter number, clerk/governor signature blocks, and pagination) to a web-based presentation including navigation menus, bill history timeline, and metadata fields. No legislative language was altered.

The operative deadline was extended: SB 518 must now take effect on or before January 1, 2027 (previously January 1, 2026) for AB 57 to become operative.

Removed the requirement that the descendant certification process include a defined historical period for when an applicant's ancestor must have been subjected to enslavement within the United States. This gives the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery more flexibility in setting eligibility criteria.

Simplified the trigger for reserving 10 percent of fund moneys: it now activates upon establishment of the certification process itself, rather than upon establishment of 'an agency to determine whether an applicant qualifies as a descendant of a formerly enslaved person.'

Fixed a grammatical error changing 'are have been certified' to 'have been certified' in both the bill summary and operative text.

Applicants must now be certified as descendants of formerly enslaved people by the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery, rather than simply being descendants. This adds a formal certification step to the eligibility process.

The language changed from 'shall be made available to' to 'shall be reserved for,' making the 10 percent fund allocation a stronger, more binding commitment rather than a discretionary availability.

A new Section 2 was added stating the bill becomes operative only if SB 518 of the 2025-26 Regular Session is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2026, and establishes the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery. This makes the entire bill contingent on companion legislation.

The digest was revised to remove the separate reference to the Home Purchase Assistance Program and focus solely on the California Dream for All Program, clarifying that the bill applies only to the shared appreciation loan program.

Section 51344 of the Health and Safety Code was removed entirely. This section had required that at least 10% of moneys in the Home Purchase Assistance Program fund be made available to descendants of formerly enslaved people. Its removal means the 10% set-aside now applies only to the California Dream for All Fund, not the broader Home Purchase Assistance Program.

The legislative digest was updated to identify the bill as relating to the 'California Dream for All Program' rather than the broader 'Home Purchase Assistance Program,' clarifying that the 10% set-aside applies specifically to the shared appreciation loan program.

In Section 51523(c)(1), the language was changed from 'shall be made available to applicants' to 'shall be reserved for applicants.' This shifts the requirement from making funds accessible to descendants of formerly enslaved people to dedicating a specific portion of the fund exclusively for them.

Assembly Members Kalra and Ortega were added as coauthors of the bill.

A new California Dream for All Program is established under Section 51523 of the Health and Safety Code to provide shared appreciation loans to qualified first-time homebuyers, limited to low- and moderate-income purchasers of owner-occupied homes.

The bill's stated purpose was broadened from simply adding Section 51344 to also amending Section 51523, reflecting the addition of the entire California Dream for All Program framework.

The program sets a goal of eventually providing up to $1 billion per year for first-time homebuyers through a revolving shared appreciation loan structure, with all repayments deposited back into the fund.

The agency must adopt policies to expand homeownership access, maximize households assisted over time (including selling subordinate second mortgages to investors), ensure sustainability without harming borrowing capacity, and provide adequate consumer protection and disclosure.

The 10% set-aside for descendants of formerly enslaved people is now conditioned on the establishment of an agency specifically tasked with determining whether an applicant qualifies as a descendant. This agency must also establish eligibility criteria including a defined historical period for when an ancestor must have been subjected to enslavement within the United States.

Policies, rules, and regulations adopted under the new program are exempt from Chapter 3.5 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code (the Administrative Procedure Act), allowing faster rulemaking.

Removed a second section that expressed legislative intent to reserve a portion of Home Purchase Assistance Program moneys for descendants of slaves. This was a non-binding intent statement that duplicated the operative 10% requirement already in the bill.

Fiscal committee vote changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now has fiscal committee approval, which is typically required before a bill can advance in the Assembly.

New Section 51344 added to the Health and Safety Code requiring that at least 10 percent of moneys in the Home Purchase Assistance Program fund be made available to applicants who are descendants of formerly enslaved people. This is a binding funding requirement, not merely a statement of intent.

The bill changed from expressing only legislative intent (non-binding) to creating an actual enforceable statutory requirement with a specific 10 percent minimum threshold. The original intent language was retained as a second section alongside the new binding provision.

Multiple coauthors were added: Assembly Members Bonta, Bryan, Elhawary, Gipson, Jackson, Ransom, Sharp-Collins, and Wilson, plus Senators Richardson, Smallwood-Cuevas, and Weber Pierson.

The fiscal committee vote changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now has a concrete fiscal impact that the committee can assess and support.