SB 902 California Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Early childhood education and childcare: electronic signatures.

Summary

Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, administered by the State Department of Social Services, establishes a system of childcare and development services for children up to 13 years of age, which includes various programs and services, including, among others, general childcare and development programs and migrant childcare and development programs. Existing law, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) , provides that a record or signature may not be denied legal effect or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form. This bill would specify that a signature required by the Child Care and Development Services Act may be satisfied by use of an electronic signature in compliance with the UETA. The bill would authorize documents with an electronic signature to be created and stored in an electronic format in compliance with the UETA, and would authorize the department to adopt regulations to implement these provisions. Existing law, the Early Education Act, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to, among other things, provide an inclusive and cost-effective preschool program. The Early Education Act and the Child Care and Development Services Act authorize contractors operating or providing services under the acts to use digital signatures that comply with state and federal standards, including specified state regulations. This bill would instead condition the authority of contractors operating under the Early Education Act and the Child Care and Development Services Act to use an electronic signature on compliance with the UETA.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Aug 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

Assembly Passage

Aug 2026

Governor

Introduced Jan 21, 2026 Last action Aug 21, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

08/19/26 - Enrolled → SB902 · 1 edit

MINOR

No substantive policy changes occurred between these two versions. The legislative text of all three sections is identical. The differences are entirely presentational: the 'from' version is a formatted official enrolled bill document with page numbers and signature blocks, while the 'to' version is a web page rendering of the same enrolled text with navigation elements added.

TECHNICAL

The document was reformatted from an official enrolled bill layout (with page numbers, signature lines for Secretary of the Senate, Chief Clerk of the Assembly, and Governor) into a web page format with site navigation, search tools, and status tracking elements. The underlying legislative language is unchanged.

03/03/26 - Amended Senate → 06/03/26 - Amended Assembly · 6 edits · Jun 3, 2026

MODERATE

The Assembly amendment significantly expands SB 902 from a narrow childcare-only electronic signature provision to a broader early childhood education and childcare bill covering both electronic signatures and electronic record-keeping. It adds a new section to the Education Code (Section 8234) for preschool program contractors and amends an existing Welfare and Institutions Code section (10269) for childcare contractors, while retaining the original new section (10209.7). The bill also shifts terminology from 'digital signature' to 'electronic signature' to align with the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.

Scope change

The bill expands from covering only childcare contractors under the Welfare and Institutions Code to also covering early childhood education (preschool) contractors under the Education Code. It also broadens from addressing only electronic signatures to encompassing full electronic record-keeping, including creation, storage, conversion from paper, and retention requirements.

SCOPE

New Section 8234 of the Education Code is added, extending electronic records and electronic signature authority to contractors operating under the Early Education Act (preschool programs), which was not covered in the Senate version.

The bill's stated purpose expands from 'relating to childcare' to 'relating to early childhood education and childcare,' reflecting the addition of the Education Code provisions.

REQUIREMENT

New Section 10269 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to explicitly authorize childcare contractors to maintain records electronically, with specific compliance standards referencing Government Code Section 12168.7 and California Code of Regulations Chapter 15 (Division 7, Title 2).

Record retention requirements are added: contractors must retain electronic records for at least five years, or until a state agency audit is resolved, whichever is longer.

Electronic signature validity is now conditioned on compliance with multiple specific standards: Government Code Section 16.5, CCR Chapter 10 (Division 7, Title 2), and UETA, rather than relying solely on state and federal standards as determined by the department.

DEFINITION

Terminology is changed throughout from 'digital signature' to 'electronic signature,' aligning the bill's language with the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) and Civil Code Section 1633.2 definitions.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 30, 2026 · Assembly Aug 13, 2026

How they voted

36–0

Passed · 4 other

Total votes 40

Apr 30, 2026

D Democratic30

27 Yea 3

90% Yea

R Republican10

9 Yea 1

90% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Aug 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 39. Noes 0.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.

upper

Aug 13, 2026

Introduced

In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.

upper

Aug 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate.

lower

Aug 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (August 5).

lower

Jul 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (July 1). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Jun 17, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on ED. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 16). Re-referred to Com. on ED.

lower

Jun 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

May 11, 2026

Committee

Referred to Coms. on HUM. S. and JUD.

lower

Apr 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 36. Noes 0. Page 4113.) Ordered to the Assembly.

upper

Apr 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Apr 15, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 12. Noes 0. Page 3867.) (April 14). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Apr 7, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 5. Noes 0. Page 3740.) (April 6). Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

upper

Mar 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Referred to Coms. on HUMAN S. and JUD.

upper

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

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

upper

1 primary · 8 co-sponsors