SB 635 California Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Food vendors and facilities: enforcement activities.

Summary

(1) Existing law authorizes a local authority, as defined, to adopt a program to regulate sidewalk vendors if the program complies with specified standards. These standards include restricting the local authority from requiring a sidewalk vendor to operate within specific parts of the public right-of-way, except when that restriction is directly related to objective health, safety, or welfare concerns. A violation of these provisions is punishable only by an administrative fine, as specified. This bill would prohibit a local authority, except as otherwise required by state or federal law, from providing voluntary consent to any individual to access, review, or obtain certain records of the local authority that include personally identifiable information of any sidewalk vendors in the jurisdiction without a subpoena or judicial warrant. The bill would also prohibit a local authority and its personnel from disclosing or providing in writing, verbally, or in any other manner personally identifiable information of any sidewalk vendor that is requested, except pursuant to a subpoena or a valid judicial warrant. The bill would define "personally identifiable information," for these purposes, to include an individual's name, business name, home address, business address, birthdate, telephone number, California driver's license or identification, and other related information. The bill would also define "immigration enforcement" for these purposes. Existing law authorizes a local authority to adopt additional requirements regulating the time, place, and manner of sidewalk vending if the requirements are directly related to objective health, safety, or welfare concerns. These include requiring the sidewalk vendor to obtain from the local authority a permit or valid business license, provided that the local authority issuing the permit or business license accepts a California driver's license or identification number, an individual taxpayer identification number, or a municipal identification number in lieu of a social security number for the issuance of a permit or business license, and that the number collected is not disclosed, except as specified. This bill would also prohibit a local authority, in the above-described circumstances, from inquiring into or collecting information about an individual's immigration or citizenship status, place of birth, or individual criminal history, or requiring an applicant to submit fingerprints, complete a LiveScan fingerprinting, or submit to a background check as part of an application for a permit or business license. The bill would require a local authority that inquired into or collected information or documentation regarding an individual's place of birth or criminal history, required an applicant to submit fingerprints or complete a LiveScan fingerprinting, or performed a background check before January 1, 2026, to destroy those records on or before March 1, 2026, unless those records are expressly required by law to be preserved. The bill would provide that specified personally identifiable information collected by a local authority is exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act. This bill would prohibit an agency or department of a local authority, including any nonpublic entity working on the local authority's behalf, as provided, from using local authority moneys or personnel to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect, or arrest persons for certain purposes, and from engaging in specified activities related to immigration enforcement, when enforcing certain provisions regulating sidewalk vendors. The bill, for specified contracts between a nonpublic entity and a local authority entered into or modified on or after January 1, 2026, would require a nonpublic entity to explicitly agree to adhere to these provisions and would immediately terminate the contract if it is found that the nonpublic entity has violated these provisions. (2) Existing law, the California Retail Food Code (the code) , establishes uniform health and sanitation standards for, and provides for regulation by the State Department of Public Health of, retail food facilities and requires local health agencies to enforce these provisions. Existing law requires compact mobile food operations to meet specified health and safety standards. For purposes of the code, a "compact mobile food operation," means a mobile food facility that operates from an individual or from a pushcart, stand, display, pedal-driven cart, wagon, showcase, rack, or other nonmotorized conveyance. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions by an operator or employee of a compact mobile food operation or a sidewalk vendor punishable only by an administrative fine, as specified. This bill would prohibit an enforcement agency, including any nonpublic entity working on the enforcement agency's behalf, as provided, from using enforcement agency moneys or personnel to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect, or arrest persons for certain purposes, and from engaging in specified activities related to immigration enforcement, when enforcing certain provisions regulating compact mobile food operations. The bill, for specified contracts between a nonpublic entity and an enforcement agency entered into or modified on or after January 1, 2026, would require a nonpublic entity to explicitly agree to adhere to these provisions and would immediately terminate the contract if it is found that the nonpublic entity has violated these provisions. This bill would also prohibit an enforcement agency from providing voluntary consent to any individual to access, review, or obtain certain records of the enforcement agency that include personally identifiable information of any sidewalk vendor or operator or employee of a compact mobile food operation in the jurisdiction without a subpoena or judicial warrant. The bill would further prohibit a local authority and its personnel from disclosing or providing in writing, verbally, or in any other manner personally identifiable information of any sidewalk vendor that is requested, except pursuant to a subpoena or a valid judicial warrant. Existing law prohibits a food facility from being open for business without a valid permit and requires a permit to be issued by the enforcement agency when investigation has determined that the proposed facility and its methods of operation conform to code requirements. This bill would require a permit application for a compact mobile food operation to comply with specified requirements. In this regard, the bill would require an enforcement agency to accept a California driver's license or identification number, an individual taxpayer identification, or a municipal identification number in lieu of a social security number. The bill would also prohibit an enforcement agency from, among other things, inquiring into the individual's immigration status, citizenship status, or criminal history, as prescribed. The bill would further require an enforcement agency that inquired into or collected information or documentation regarding an individual's place of birth or criminal history, required an applicant to submit fingerprints or complete a LiveScan fingerprinting, or performed a background check before January 1, 2026, to destroy those records on or before March 1, 2026, unless those records are expressly required by law to be preserved. The bill would provide that specified personally identifiable information collected by an enforcement agency is exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act. The bill would make other related changes to these provisions. To the extent the bill would impose new requirements on local governmental agencies, it would create a state-mandated local program. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Jul 2025

Senate Passage

Jun 2025

Assembly Passage

Sep 2025

Signed into Law

Oct 2025

Introduced Feb 20, 2025 Signed Oct 7, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 9 comparisons

What changed between versions

10/07/25 - Chaptered → SB635 · 1 edit

MINOR

No substantive policy changes occurred between these two versions. The difference is purely presentational: the 'From' version is the official chaptered document with formal headers, page numbers, and column formatting, while the 'To' version is a web-based rendering of the same bill text from the California Legislature website, complete with navigation menus and site metadata.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was reformatted from an official chaptered document (with 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGISLATIVE MATERIAL' header, page numbers, and column headers) into a web page layout that includes site navigation elements (home, accessibility, FAQ, sitemap, login), quick search fields, and metadata such as publication date and vote/appropriation/fiscal committee designations.

09/02/25 - Amended Assembly → 09/04/25 - Amended Assembly · 6 edits · Sep 4, 2025

MODERATE

The September 4 amendment to SB 635 makes several substantive changes to sidewalk vendor protections. The definition of 'immigration enforcement' is broadened to include state-level immigration laws, not just federal. The prohibition on sharing records with immigration authorities is expanded to cover 'any individual,' not just official agents, but also loosened by adding subpoena as an acceptable basis for disclosure. The blanket ban on contracting with nonpublic entities for sidewalk vending enforcement is replaced with a compliance-and-termination framework for contracts entered into or modified on or after January 1, 2026.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'immigration enforcement' is expanded from covering only federal civil and criminal immigration laws to also covering state civil and criminal immigration laws.

SCOPE

The prohibition on voluntarily providing records to immigration authorities now covers consent given to 'an immigration enforcement agent any individual,' broadening the protection beyond official agents to any person seeking the records for immigration enforcement purposes.

The Public Records Act disclosure exemption is narrowed from covering 'specified information' collected by a local authority to only 'specified personally identifiable information,' potentially leaving other types of collected data subject to public records requests.

ELIGIBILITY

The exception allowing disclosure of personally identifiable information is expanded from only 'a valid judicial warrant' to 'a subpoena or a valid judicial warrant,' making it easier for authorities to obtain vendor information through subpoenas.

REQUIREMENT

The records destruction requirement no longer explicitly covers information about an individual's immigration or citizenship status. Only place of birth and criminal history records are now subject to the mandatory destruction deadline of March 1, 2026.

ENFORCEMENT

The previous blanket prohibition on local authorities delegating enforcement authority to nonpublic entities (for enforcing rules, impounding equipment, or citing/fining vendors) is removed and replaced with a new requirement that contracts between nonpublic entities and local authorities entered into or modified on or after January 1, 2026 must include explicit agreement to comply with the bill's provisions, with immediate contract termination upon violation.

05/29/25 - Amended Senate → 09/02/25 - Amended Assembly · 6 edits · Sep 2, 2025

MODERATE

The Assembly amended SB 635 (Street Vendor Business Protection Act) to narrow the scope of records protections, add an exception to the record destruction requirement, create a new Public Records Act exemption for vendor information, and explicitly extend immigration enforcement prohibitions to private contractors working on behalf of local authorities. These changes balance vendor privacy protections against law enforcement needs and public transparency obligations.

SCOPE

The prohibition on voluntary consent to immigration enforcement agents accessing records was narrowed from covering 'any of the local authority's records' to only 'records obtained pursuant to this chapter.' This means the protection no longer extends to all records a local authority might hold about sidewalk vendors, only those collected under this specific law.

The prohibition on disclosing personally identifiable information for immigration enforcement purposes was similarly narrowed to cover only information 'obtained pursuant to this chapter,' rather than any PII the local authority possesses about sidewalk vendors.

REQUIREMENT

An exception was added to the requirement that local authorities destroy previously collected immigration, citizenship, birth, and criminal history records by March 1, 2026. Records that are 'expressly required by law to be preserved' no longer need to be destroyed.

A new provision was added making information collected by a local authority under this chapter exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act. This creates a blanket confidentiality shield for vendor data collected through sidewalk vending programs.

ENFORCEMENT

The prohibition on immigration enforcement activities when enforcing sidewalk vending rules was expanded to explicitly include 'any nonpublic entity working on the local authority's behalf, as provided.' This closes a potential loophole where private contractors could conduct immigration-related enforcement without being directly covered by the original language.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'personally identifiable information' was slightly reworded from 'home and business address' to 'home and address, business address,' separating home address and business address as distinct data elements in the list.

04/07/25 - Amended Senate → 05/01/25 - Amended Senate · 5 edits · May 1, 2025

MODERATE

The May 1 amendment to SB 635 adds a new explicit prohibition on local authorities disclosing personally identifiable information of sidewalk vendors for immigration enforcement purposes (except pursuant to a valid judicial warrant), adds a new statutory definition of 'immigration enforcement,' and expands the definition of 'personally identifiable information' to specifically include home and business addresses. It also corrects a drafting error in the record destruction provision and fixes a cross-reference.

REQUIREMENT

New Section 51038(b)(7) prohibits a local authority and its personnel from disclosing or providing personally identifiable information of any sidewalk vendor that is requested for purposes of immigration enforcement, except pursuant to a valid judicial warrant. This applies in writing, verbally, or in any other manner.

DEFINITION

New Section 51036(f) defines 'immigration enforcement' as any and all efforts to investigate, enforce, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal civil immigration law, and also includes efforts to investigate, enforce, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes a person's presence in, entry or reentry to, or employment in, the United States.

The definition of 'personally identifiable information' in Section 51036(e) was expanded from 'address' to 'home and business address,' making it more specific about what types of addresses are protected.

TECHNICAL

Corrected a drafting error in Section 51038(b)(4)(C)(ii) that read 'an enforcement agency a local authority' to simply 'a local authority' in the provision requiring destruction of previously collected immigration-related records by March 1, 2026.

Fixed a cross-reference in Section 51039(e) from 'inconsistent with the standards described in subdivision (b) Section 51038' to 'inconsistent with the standards described in subdivision (b) of Section 51038.'

03/26/25 - Amended Senate → 04/07/25 - Amended Senate · 3 edits · Apr 7, 2025

MINOR

The April 7 amendment makes two substantive policy changes to SB 635 (Street Vendor Business Protection Act). First, it replaces language that would deem sidewalk vending agencies 'California law enforcement agencies for purposes of' the California Values Act with simpler language making them directly 'subject to' the Act. Second, it expands the record destruction requirement to cover a broader range of entities (local authorities rather than just enforcement agencies) and a broader range of data (now including immigration status, citizenship status, and place of birth, not just criminal history). The remaining changes are typo corrections and formatting cleanup.

ENFORCEMENT

The bill no longer deems sidewalk vending agencies or compact mobile food operation enforcement agencies as 'California law enforcement agencies for purposes of' the California Values Act. Instead, it now provides that they simply 'shall be subject to' the Act (Chapter 17.25 of Division 7 of Title 1). This removes the intermediate legal step of creating a deemed law enforcement status and directly applies the Act's restrictions.

REQUIREMENT

The record destruction requirement was expanded in two ways: (1) it now applies to 'a local authority' rather than just 'an enforcement agency,' broadening which entities must destroy records; and (2) it now covers information regarding an individual's immigration or citizenship status, place of birth, or criminal history, rather than only criminal history. Agencies that collected any of this data before January 1, 2026 must destroy it by March 1, 2026.

TECHNICAL

Multiple typos were corrected throughout the bill, including 'phone telephone number' to 'telephone number,' duplicated words like 'fingerprints or fingerprints' and 'LiveScan, LiveScan fingerprinting,' and gendered pronoun errors like 'he or she they' to 'they.' Duplicate section numbers in the old version were also cleaned up.

02/20/25 - Introduced → 03/26/25 - Amended Senate · 8 edits · Mar 26, 2025

MODERATE

The Senate amendment to SB 635 adds a new section of legislative findings emphasizing the protection of immigrant sidewalk vendors from deportation risks, expands the definition of personally identifiable information to include business location, consular identification, and social media identifiers, requires destruction of previously collected criminal history records by March 1, 2026, and prohibits local authorities from outsourcing enforcement of sidewalk vending or compact mobile food operation rules to nonpublic entities. The bill is also renamed from the 'Street Vendor Protection Act' to the 'Street Vendor Business Protection Act.'

SCOPE

Bill title changed from 'Street Vendor Protection Act' to 'Street Vendor Business Protection Act,' broadening the framing to emphasize business protection.

REQUIREMENT

New Section 2 adds legislative findings and declarations, including that immigrant sidewalk vendors face increased threats of detention and deportation, that the bill addresses a matter of statewide concern, and that the Legislature intends to promote entrepreneurship and protect vendor privacy.

New requirement that an enforcement agency which collected criminal history information, required fingerprints or LiveScan fingerprinting, or performed a background check before January 1, 2026 must destroy those records on or before March 1, 2026. This applies to both sidewalk vending and compact mobile food operation contexts.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'personally identifiable information' is expanded to include 'business location,' 'consular identification,' and 'social media identifiers' in addition to the previously listed items.

ENFORCEMENT

New prohibition barring a local authority from delegating or assigning authority to, or contracting with, a nonpublic entity to enforce sidewalk vending rules, impound sidewalk vending equipment, or cite, fine, or prosecute a sidewalk vendor for violations.

Similar new prohibition barring an enforcement agency from delegating or contracting with a nonpublic entity to enforce compact mobile food operation provisions, impound compact mobile food operation equipment, or cite, fine, or prosecute an operator or employee of such an operation.

TECHNICAL

Language changed from 'for purposes of the California Values Act' to 'for purposes of subject to the California Values Act,' a minor grammatical clarification of how the California Values Act applies to these agencies.

Gender-neutral language updates throughout: 'he or she' replaced with 'they' and 'his or her' replaced with 'their' in multiple provisions.

Floor votes · Senate Jun 3, 2025 · Assembly Sep 12, 2025

How they voted

28–10

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 40

Jun 3, 2025

D Democratic30

28 Yea 2

93% Yea

R Republican10

10 Nay

100% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Oct 7, 2025

Signed into law

Approved by the Governor.

legislature

Sep 13, 2025

Upper · Passed

Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 29. Noes 8. Page 3024.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.

upper

Sep 12, 2025

Introduced

In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.

upper

Sep 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 58. Noes 15. Page 3393.) Ordered to the Senate.

lower

Sep 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

Read third time and amended.

lower

Sep 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

lower

Aug 29, 2025

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 4.) (August 29).

lower

Jul 16, 2025

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (July 15). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Jul 3, 2025

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. (Ayes 8. Noes 1.) (July 2). Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.

lower

Jun 9, 2025

Committee

Referred to Coms. on L. GOV. and PUB. S.

lower

Jun 3, 2025

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 28. Noes 10. Page 1437.) Ordered to the Assembly.

upper

May 29, 2025

Upper · Passed

Read third time and amended.

upper

May 19, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8.

upper

May 1, 2025

Upper · Passed

Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Apr 30, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 1. Page 945.) (April 29).

upper

Apr 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.

upper

Apr 3, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. (Ayes 5. Noes 2. Page 637.) (April 2).

upper

Mar 26, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on L. GOV.

upper

Mar 19, 2025

Committee

Referred to Coms. on L. GOV. and PUB. S.

upper

Feb 20, 2025

Introduced

Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

upper

1 primary · 11 co-sponsors