Transactions and use taxes: various jurisdictions.

The bill was approved by the Governor on August 17, 2026 and filed with the Secretary of State the same day, transitioning it from an enrolled bill to a chaptered law (Chapter 109).

Formatting changed from the enrolled bill layout (with Senate/Assembly passage dates, clerk signatures) to the standard authenticated electronic legal material format with chapter number and page references.

Line-number annotations (e.g., 'line 1', 'line 2') were removed throughout the bill text, which is standard when a bill moves from committee markup to enrolled format.

The header was changed from amendment tracking dates to the enrolled bill format showing passage dates: Passed the Senate August 3, 2026 and Passed the Assembly July 2, 2026, with a Governor's approval line added at the end.

The legislative counsel's digest was cleaned up: the phrase 'until December 31, 2031, 2030, or December 31, 2031' (a markup artifact) was corrected to 'until December 31, 2030, or December 31, 2031, as specified,' accurately reflecting that Santa Cruz County's deadline is 2030 while all other jurisdictions have a 2031 deadline.

An urgency clause was added, making the bill take effect immediately upon enactment rather than on January 1 of the following year.

The deadline for the County of Santa Cruz to have its tax ordinance approved was shortened from December 31, 2031 to December 31, 2030, giving the county one less year to act before the authorization expires.

The legislative vote requirement to pass the bill was raised from a simple majority to a two-thirds supermajority.

The City of Hercules can no longer impose its transactions and use tax by citizens' initiative; it must now be done by ordinance only. The prior version allowed either method.

Added 12 new jurisdictions authorized to impose transactions and use taxes exceeding the 2% combined rate limit: County of Santa Barbara (0.5%), City of Carpinteria (0.25%), City of Santa Maria (0.5%), City of Palo Alto (0.5%), City of Los Altos (1%), City of Santa Rosa (0.5%), City of Rohnert Park (0.75%), Town of Los Gatos (0.5%), City of Pacifica (1%), City of San Gabriel (1%), City of San Pablo (0.5%), and County of Santa Cruz (0.5%).

Removed the amendment to Government Code Section 66647 that would have allowed Bay Fill Clean-Up and Abatement Fund money to be used for enforcement activities by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.

Broadened the legislative findings from citing 'unique fiscal needs of the City of Hercules' to 'circumstances of the jurisdictions authorized to impose a tax pursuant to this act.'

Added sunset/repeal provisions for every jurisdiction: if no tax ordinance is approved by December 31, 2031 (or December 31, 2030 for Santa Cruz County), the applicable chapter is automatically repealed.

For the City of Hercules, removed 'by citizens' initiative' as a permissible method of imposing the tax; now only by ordinance. Also added a sunset provision for Hercules (repealed if no ordinance approved by December 31, 2031).

Fiscal committee vote changed from 'yes' to 'no,' and Senator Laird was added as principal coauthor.

Added an entirely new chapter (Chapter 3.13, Section 7287.17) to the Revenue and Taxation Code authorizing the City of Hercules to impose a transactions and use tax for general or specific purposes at a rate of no more than 1 percent that may exceed the combined rate limit of 2 percent established in Section 7251.1.

Provided that a transactions and use tax rate imposed under the new Hercules provision will not be counted toward the combined rate limitation in Section 7251.1, effectively allowing the city to exceed the 2 percent cap.

Removed the former Section 1 which stated it was the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation relating to natural resources.

Set requirements for the Hercules tax: the City Council must adopt an ordinance proposing the tax, the ordinance must be submitted to voters and approved by the applicable voting approval requirement under the California Constitution, and the tax must conform to the Transactions and Use Tax Law except for Section 7251.1.

In the Bay Fill Clean-Up and Abatement Fund provision, changed the list of permissible purposes from 'resource enhancement, or enforcement' to 'resource enhancement, enforcement,' removing the word 'or' to make enforcement a parallel item in the list rather than an alternative.

Added a legislative finding and declaration that a special statute is necessary for the City of Hercules due to its unique fiscal needs, as required by Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution.

The fiscal committee vote was changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now carries a fiscal impact that requires appropriation consideration.

Added a new Section 1 amending Government Code Section 66647 to expand the Bay Fill Clean-Up and Abatement Fund's permissible purposes to include enforcement activities, in addition to removing fill and resource enhancement.

Added language clarifying that fund expenditures may include funding of technology, services, programs, and personnel that directly support the fund's stated purposes (removing fill, resource enhancement, enforcement, and remedial cleanup or abatement actions).

The original Section 1 (legislative intent statement) was renumbered to Section 2. The fiscal note changed from 'Fiscal committee: no' to 'Fiscal committee: yes,' indicating the amendment now carries a fiscal impact.