SB 628 California Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Employment: employer contributions: employee withholdings: credit: agricultural employees.

Summary
The Personal Income Tax Law imposes taxes on taxable income, as provided. Under existing law, every employer who pays wages to a resident employee for services performed either within or without this state, or to a nonresident employee for services performed in this state, is required to deduct and withhold from those wages, except as provided, for each payroll, a tax computed in an amount substantially equivalent to the amount reasonably estimated to be due under the Personal Income Tax Law. Under existing law, every employer required to withhold those taxes is required to, for each calendar quarter, file a withholding report, a quarterly return, and a report of wages in a form prescribed by the Employment Development Department, and pay over the taxes required to be withheld. This bill would authorize an employer to claim a credit in an amount equal to the amount of overtime wages, as defined, paid during that quarter to specified agricultural employees covered by a certain wage order. The bill would require the credit to be claimed on the employer's report of contributions, quarterly return, and report of wages, or in an electronic funds transfer, as specified. The bill would prohibit the total amount claimed in any given quarter from exceeding the amount that would have been remitted for that quarter to the Employment Development Department for employee withholdings.
Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 20, 2025 Last action Feb 2, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

02/20/25 - Introduced 04/02/25 - Amended Senate · 3 edits · Apr 2, 2025
MINOR
The amended version adds a lengthy new Section 1 containing legislative findings and declarations that provide context and justification for the overtime credit, citing economic challenges facing California agriculture, hardships experienced by agricultural workers, comparisons to Oregon and New York similar credits, and evidence that the 2016 Phase-In Overtime Act may not be benefiting workers as intended. The operative provisions of the credit itself (now renumbered as Section 2) are substantively unchanged from the introduced version.
SCOPE

A new Section 1 was added containing extensive legislative findings and declarations covering: drought-related farmland loss, farm closures, wine industry oversupply, falling agricultural land values, healthcare access barriers for rural workers, housing overcrowding among agricultural employees, comparisons to Oregon HB 4002 and New York's farm employer overtime credit, evidence that the 2016 Phase-In Overtime Act has not increased farmworker earnings, and a statement of public interest in supporting agricultural employees through financial support of overtime wages.

TECHNICAL

The original Section 1 (the operative credit provisions) was renumbered to Section 2. The substantive content of the credit mechanism, quarterly cap, claiming procedures, and definitions remains unchanged.

Assembly Members Alanis, Gallagher, Jeff Gonzalez, Hoover, and Macedo were added as coauthors of the bill.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
7
Key actions
1
Committee
2
Amendments
1
Apr 23, 2025
Committee
April 23 set for first hearing. Failed passage in committee. (Ayes 1. Noes 4. Page 870.) Reconsideration granted.
upper
Apr 2, 2025
Upper · Passed
From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on L., P.E. & R.
upper
Mar 5, 2025
Committee
Referred to Com. on L., P.E. & R.
upper
Feb 20, 2025
Introduced
Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.
upper
1 primary · 5 co-sponsors

Sponsors