Under existing law, the purpose of the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority Act is to advance the state's goals of reducing the levels of greenhouse gas emissions, increasing the deployment of sustainable and renewable energy sources, implementing measures that increase the efficiency of the use of energy, creating high quality employment opportunities, and lessening the state's dependence on fossil fuels and to that end to provide an alternative method of financing in providing and promoting the establishment of facilities utilizing alternative methods and sources of energy and facilities needed for the development and commercialization of advanced transportation technologies. Existing law establishes the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority to carry out that purpose. Existing Public Utilities Commission decisions established the California Hub for Energy Efficiency Financing program, administered by the authority and funded through charges collected by specified electrical corporations and gas corporations from their ratepayers. This bill would require the authority to administer the GoGreen Program, previously known as the California Hub for Energy Efficiency Financing program, and would authorize the authority to use moneys collected from the ratepayers of electrical and gas corporations, as directed by the commission, and other available funding sources, consistent with the program's purposes. The bill would require the program to provide financing assistance to participating lenders to support residents in financing eligible energy efficiency and decarbonization measures at costs that are competitive with or below market rates. The bill would authorize the authority to receive, administer, and deploy additional moneys from federal, state, local, or private sources to support and expand the GoGreen Program, if those moneys are used in a manner consistent with the program's goals and the parameters of the funding source. The bill would create the GoGreen Program Fund in the State Treasury and would make all moneys in the fund available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the authority for expenditure, as provided.
Existing law authorizes various local governmental entities, subject to certain limitations and approval requirements, to levy a transactions and use tax for general or specific purposes, in accordance with the procedures and requirements set forth in the Transactions and Use Tax Law, including a requirement that the combined rate of all taxes that may be imposed in accordance with that law in any county not exceed 2%. This bill would authorize, until December 31, 2031, the County of Los Angeles, by an ordinance adopted by the county, to levy a tax pursuant to the Transactions and Use Tax Law at a rate not to exceed 0.5% for general and special purposes, subject to voter approval, as specified. The bill would also authorize, until December 31, 2031, the County of Contra Costa, by an ordinance adopted by the county, to levy a tax pursuant to the Transactions and Use Tax Law at a rate not to exceed 0.625% for general or specific purposes, subject to voter approval, as specified. The bill would authorize those taxes to exceed the 2% limit described above. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Contra Costa and Los Angeles. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is in part governed by, and funded pursuant to, federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing federal law, enacted on July 4, 2025, sets forth various changes to different health care programs, including certain requirements for Medicaid eligibility with regard to work or community engagement reporting, redeterminations, and cost sharing, among other factors, for certain Medicaid populations pursuant to a specified implementation timeline. This bill would create the California Health Access Fund, to be administered by the department. Under the bill, moneys in the fund would include deposits, through any applicable transfers made by the Legislature, equal to the amount of any savings to the state resulting from decreased enrollment in the Medi-Cal program caused by enrollment barriers created by the above-described federal law. Under the bill, moneys in the fund would, upon appropriation, be used to ensure that California residents losing health care coverage due to the impacts of the federal law or due to any other divestments from the health care system can continue to receive health care services and that health care providers are reimbursed for these services.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction at the community college campuses they operate and maintain. This bill would prohibit, commencing with the 2027–28 fiscal year, a community college district's annual unrestricted general fund balance, as specified, for a fiscal year from exceeding 50% of its unrestricted general fund expenditures for that year, unless the community college district meets specified conditions. The bill would prohibit a community college district from transferring unrestricted general funds to another fund if the receiving fund has an existing balance of 33% or more of the community college district's unrestricted general fund expenditures for that fiscal year or if the transfer would cause the receiving fund to have a balance of 33% or more of the community college district's unrestricted general fund expenditures for that fiscal year. For a community college district that violates the above-described prohibitions, the bill would require the community college district to distribute the amount of the annual unrestricted general fund balance that exceeds 50% to nonsupervisory and nonmanagement employees of the community college district, as provided. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill, the Shortline Railroad Modernization Act of 2026, would allow credits against those taxes for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2027, and before January 1, 2032, to a qualified taxpayer in an amount equal to 50% of the qualified shortline railroad expenditures and for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2028, and before January 1, 2033, in an amount equal to 50% of the qualified new rail infrastructure expenditures, as defined and specified. Existing law requires a bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law provides funding for career technical education (CTE) programs, including through, among others, the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program, the Strong Workforce Program, and a K–12 component of the Strong Workforce Program, with the purpose of creating, maintaining, supporting, encouraging, strengthening, and expanding the delivery of CTE programs in the state, as provided. This bill would establish the Career Technical Education Technical Assistance and Equity Pilot Program, a 3-year pilot program related to technical assistance in CTE, with a focus on equity and inclusion. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to designate, based on specified criteria, a county office of education to serve as the lead agency for administering the program. The bill would also require the Superintendent to designate 2 pilot regions to receive intensive technical assistance services, as provided. The bill would appropriate $4,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent for allocation to the lead agency for purposes of implementing the pilot program for the 2026–27 fiscal year. The bill would require the lead agency to, among other things, (1) further develop and disseminate exemplary models for inclusive CTE pathways that effectively serve pupils with disabilities, English learners, and other historically underserved populations, (2) create scalable frameworks and toolkits for industry-education partnerships, (3) provide technical assistance, capacity building, and coordination support to participating county offices of education within the designated pilot regions, (4) develop and maintain a public-facing internet website, and (5) submit annual reports to the Superintendent, the Governor, and the Legislature, as provided. The bill would encourage county offices of education within designated pilot regions to participate in the technical assistance services provided by the lead agency, and would require participating county offices of education to, among other things, designate staff to coordinate CTE technical assistance within their jurisdiction. The bill would require the lead agency to prioritize support to county offices of education serving high proportions of historically underserved populations or demonstrating significant equity gaps in CTE access and outcomes. The bill would require school districts and charter schools that choose to receive direct technical assistance from their county office of education to participate in specified data collection and reporting processes, share promising practices and lessons learned, and commit to implementing recommendations and improvement strategies developed through the technical assistance process. The bill would require the pilot program to be funded through an annual appropriation in the Budget Act for the duration of the 3-year pilot program, require the appropriated funds to be allocated to the lead agency, authorize the lead agency to expend the allocated funds for specified purposes, and establish that the lead agency is subject to audit by the California State Auditor. The bill would require the Superintendent to designate the lead agency and pilot regions no later than 6 months following the effective date of the bill and the lead agency to commence providing services no later than the beginning of the fiscal year following designation. The bill would require the lead agency, no later than 6 months before the conclusion of the 3-year pilot period, to submit a comprehensive evaluation report to the Superintendent, the Governor, and the Legislature, as provided, and to post the report on the lead agency's public-facing internet website. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2032. This bill would state that its provisions are severable.
(1) Existing state sales and use tax laws impose a tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state or on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state. The Sales and Use Tax Law provides various exemptions from those taxes. This bill would, on and after July 1, 2027, and before July 1, 2032, exempt from those taxes the gross receipts from the sale of, and the storage, use, or other consumption of a used motor vehicle sold by specified dealers or their affiliates or a new motor vehicle. Existing law requires a bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would exclude the exemption from that requirement. The Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law authorizes counties and cities to impose local sales and use taxes in conformity with the Sales and Use Tax Law, and existing laws authorize districts, as specified, to impose transactions and use taxes in accordance with the Transactions and Use Tax Law, which generally conforms to the Sales and Use Tax Law. Amendments to the Sales and Use Tax Law are automatically incorporated into the local tax laws. This bill would provide that the exemption created by this bill does not apply to local sales and use taxes or transactions and use taxes. Existing law imposes or dedicates certain state sales and use tax rates for local funding, including through the Local Revenue Fund 2011. This bill would provide that the exemption created by this bill does not apply to those state sales and use tax rates imposed or dedicated for local government funding, including those rates for which revenues are deposited into the Local Revenue Fund 2011. (2) The Vehicle License Fee Law imposes a license fee for the privilege of operating upon the public highways in this state of specified vehicles, including any vehicle of a type which is subject to registration under the Vehicle Code. This bill would impose, on and after July 1, 2027, and before July 1, 2032, upon the sale of a used motor vehicle sold by specified dealers or their affiliates or the first sale of a new motor vehicle to a consumer, an additional license fee equal to 3.9375% of the gross receipts from the sale. The bill would require the dealer to collect the license fee, as described, and remit the funds. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to report the amounts collected to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and deposit those moneys in the General Fund. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature. (3) This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law creates the High-Speed Rail Authority to develop and implement a high-speed rail system in the state. Existing law requires moneys collected by the State Air Resources Board from the auction or sale of certain allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited into the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and continuously appropriates a portion of the moneys in the fund for various purposes, including a specified portion to the authority for certain purposes. Existing law prohibits the authority from entering into new funding commitments with those moneys for activities outside of the Merced to Bakersfield segment, until June 30, 2030, or when that segment is fully funded, whichever is sooner. Notwithstanding that prohibition, existing law authorizes the authority to enter into new funding commitments outside of the Merced to Bakersfield segment for certain purposes, including for additional activities, not to cumulatively exceed $500,000,000, that maximize the efficiency of delivering the project, as specified. This bill would revise and recast that authorization to instead authorize the authority to enter into new funding commitments with the above-described moneys outside of the Merced to Bakersfield segment in any amount for activities related to early works, as defined, and for projects developed through public partnership agreements or public-private partnership agreements, subject to the requirements that those funding commitments maximize the efficiency of delivering the project and do not delay the completion of the Merced to Bakersfield segment, as specified. By expanding the purposes for which continuously appropriated moneys may be used, the bill would make an appropriation.
Existing law, the Cal Grant Program, establishes the Cal Grant A Entitlement Awards, the Cal Grant B Entitlement Awards, the California Community College Expanded Entitlement Awards, the California Community College Transfer Entitlement Awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B Awards, the Cal Grant C Awards, and the Cal Grant T Awards under the administration of the Student Aid Commission. Existing law establishes eligibility requirements for awards under the Cal Grant Program for participating students attending qualifying postsecondary educational institutions. Existing law limits an award for access costs, as defined, under the Cal Grant B Program to no more than $1,551, except as specified, but allows this amount to be adjusted in the annual Budget Act. This bill, commencing with the 2027–28 award year, would instead require the award for access costs under the Cal Grant B program to be at least the maximum per-student amount provided in the 2025–26 award year and would require that award amount to be increased annually by the amount of the percentage increase, if any, in the California Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, as specified.
Existing law requires the governing board of each local educational agency to either provide for an audit of the books and accounts of the local educational agency or make arrangements with the respective county superintendent of schools to provide for that auditing. Existing law requires the governing board of each local educational agency, by January 31 of each year, to review, at a public meeting as an item on the agenda, the annual audit of the local educational agency for the prior year, any audit exceptions identified in that audit, the recommendations or findings of any management letter issued by the auditor, and any description of correction or plans to correct any exceptions or management letter issue, as provided. This bill would change the date by which the governing board or body of each school district, educational joint powers authority, county superintendent of schools, or charter school is required to review the above-described annual audit of the local educational agency at a public meeting from January 31 of each year to instead be within 45 days after the issuance of an audit report. The bill would additionally require the governing board or body of the local educational agency, at the public meeting described above, to accept or reject the annual audit report. To the extent the bill would impose additional duties on local educational agencies or other local entities or officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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.
