CFRW CAPITOL UPDATE – September 13, 2025

Opposed

AB 1231 Criminal procedure: Safer Communities Through Opportunities Act
California’s proposed legislation, AB 1231, seeks to introduce substantial alterations to felony sentencing processes by expanding diversion eligibility for a wide range of felony offenses. However, critics argue that this broad approach lacks a clear and commensurate benefit to public safety. The bill establishes a new felony diversion program, allowing individuals accused of various felonies—including hate crimes, looting, and repeat theft and drug offenses—to qualify for diversion away from sentencing.
 
Opponents of AB 1231, including the California Police Chiefs Association (CPCA), the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), the California State Sheriffs’ Association (CSSA), and the Chief Probation Officers of California (CPOC), express concerns that the legislation permits felony offenders to evade significant consequences for their actions. This concern is underscored by the recent passage of Proposition 36, which aimed to strengthen penalties for some of the very offenses that AB 1231 proposes to divert from sentencing. Even after amendments made on September 8, 2025, these organizations continue to oppose the bill.
Current Status:  Ordered to a third reading
 
 
SB 577:  Eliminates Civil Protections for Child Sexual Assault Victims
SB 577, if enacted, could significantly undermine the protections for victims established by the Justice for Survivors Act (AB 452, 2023 – Addis). This legislation has the potential to reverse many of the advancements made over the years for survivors of childhood sexual assault. Key concerns include the prioritization of the financial interests of public entities at the expense of justice and the erosion of survivors’ rights to pursue accountability. Specific issues associated with this bill include the removal of treble damages for instances of public entity cover-ups, an increased burden of proof for victims over the age of 40, and strict limitations on the refiling of previously dismissed cases.
Current Status:  Ordered to the inactive file. This bill is a two-year bill; it will be brought back in January 2026. We need to keep this on our radar.


JOB KILLERS
From here down, the information was pulled directly from the California Chamber of Commerce website. The bill number, highlighted in blue, is a direct link,
 
SB 7 (McNerney; D-Pleasanton) Restricts Use of Automated Decision Systems in Employment: Imposes impractical requirements on employers of every size related to automated decision systems, which will discourage the use of such tools and subject employers to costly litigation and onerous new compliance procedures, thereby driving up costs and ultimately impacting consumer prices.
Current Status:  Hearing 9/12/2025

SB 222 (Wiener; D-San Francisco) Climate-Related Disaster Liability: Sets a troubling precedent of singling out a small, targeted group of companies and makes them jointly, severally, and strictly liable for virtually all damages suffered as a result of climate-related disasters, regardless of cause or fault. Failed passage in Senate Judiciary Committee, April 8. Failed deadline to move from policy to fiscal committee.

SB 259 (Wahab; D-Hayward) Online Pricing: Prohibits businesses from using any input data to create prices or discounts. Forces companies to overhaul their pricing models and strategies at significant cost, to the detriment of both the businesses themselves and their consumers. This threatens not only the profitability of businesses but also potentially reduces the availability of discounts and personalized deals for consumers.
Current Status:  Suspended 9/9

SB 295 (Hurtado; D-Bakersfield) Pricing Algorithms: Prohibits a person from using or distributing pricing algorithms that use, incorporate, or were trained on “nonpublic competitor data.” Exposes businesses to significant uncertainty and aggressive liability, and creates a chilling effect on the use of this technology by imposing significant costs on all businesses using technological tools.
Current Status:  Suspended 9/9

SB 310 (Wiener; D-San Francisco) Expands Private Right of Action for Penalties: Creates a new private right of action for wage and hour penalties that will be manipulated by trial attorneys, undermining the 2024 Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) reform, which sought to reduce avenues for litigation abuse and overall costs on employers. To Senate Inactive File at author’s request, June 5, 2025.

SB 318 (Becker; D-Menlo Park) Air Quality Governance: Imposes extensive new mandates and permitting requirements that introduce significant regulatory uncertainty, force costly technology upgrades on stationary sources, and increase the cost of operating in California for critical sectors such as energy, food production, manufacturing, and recycling. Such costs undermine the state’s competitiveness and further strain affordability for residents. Held in Senate Appropriations.

SB 384 (Wahab; D-Hayward) Prohibition on Using Information to Set Competitive Pricing: Effectively banning the use of technology to help set prices or help manage supply levels. Will make it harder for businesses to offer discounts and competitive pricing to their customers. Held in Assembly Appropriations.

SB 464 (Smallwood-Cuevas; D-Los Angeles) Publication of Pay Data: Encourages litigation against employers based on the publication of broad, unreliable data collected by the state. Cost Driver status and opposition removed based on the May 1, 2025, amendments. CalChamber neutral.

SB 573 (Smallwood-Cuevas; D-Los Angeles) Corporate Tax Increase: Originally more than doubled California’s corporate tax rate (to as much as 22.5%) for targeted employers, decreasing California’s business competitiveness and increasing employer costs. Cost Driver status and opposition were removed on April 3, 2025, due to amendments changing the bill to a different subject. CalChamber neutral.

SB 601 (Allen; D-Santa Monica) New Water Quality Permitting Regime: Originally created duplicative permitting obligations and dramatic legal liability requirements for businesses, agriculture, and water and wastewater utilities by granting the water boards broad authority to impose permitting requirements without considering economic impacts or the critical need for housing and recycled water projects. As amended requires new permits for those interacting with a vague category of “nexus waters.” The permit would be subject to prescriptive federal permitting requirements and punitive enforcement measures. Cost Driver status removed due to the removal of the private right of action, but CalChamber remains opposed.

SB 632 (Arreguín; D-Berkeley) Expands Costly Presumption of Injury: Significantly increases workers’ compensation costs for public and private hospitals by presuming certain diseases and injuries are caused by the workplace and establishes an extremely concerning precedent for expanding presumptions into the private sector. Has been tried nine times before and failed every time. Failed to meet the deadline to pass the policy committee in the second house on July 17, 2025.

SB 682 (Allen; D-Santa Monica) De Facto PFAS Ban: Creates a de facto ban on the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in all commercial and consumer products, unless the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is petitioned and makes an affirmative determination that the PFAS in a particular product is an unavoidable use. Because of the breadth and scope of PFAS use, including in aerospace, lithium-ion batteries, medical devices, automotive, and semiconductors, to name a few, the regulatory program established is unworkable and ultimately will lead to a ban on critically important products or otherwise make certain products less safe, and ultimately drive up prices for consumers. Cost Driver status was removed due to June 23, 2025, amendments that significantly reduced the types of products to which it applies. CalChamber remains opposed.

SB 684 (Menjivar; D-San Fernando Valley) Climate Superfund: Imposes retroactive financial liability on companies for lawful greenhouse gas emissions dating back to 1990, sending the message that even strict adherence to the state’s compliance programs is not enough to avoid retroactive penalties down the road. April 22 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing canceled at author’s request. Failed deadline to move from policy to fiscal committee.

SB 755 (Blakespear; D-Encinitas) Climate Disclosure Mandate: Imposes significant, costly new mandates on businesses that contract with the state and risks reducing participation in state contracting at a time when public procurement should be more efficient, not more burdensome. Held in Senate Appropriations Suspense File, May 23, 2025.

SB 763 (Hurtado; D-Bakersfield) Vast Expansion of State Antitrust Penalties: Raises penalties under California’s antitrust law, the Cartwright Act, from $1 million to $6 million, and individual penalties from $250,000 to $1 million, with no demonstrated need for reform or adjustment, thereby increasing liability and costs on businesses. Cost Driver status removed due to amendments.

SB 766 (Allen; D-Santa Monica) Slower Car-Buying Process and Changes to Right of Return: The Original bill dramatically increased legal liability to car dealers. Now rewrites the existing car-buying process, including: (1) additional disclosures and advisements; (2) creating a longer right to return vehicles and dealership right to recover costs of return. Cost driver tag removed after removal of private right of action with the June 26, 2025, amendments. Opposition removed after July 17, 2025, amends the removal of a variety of new obligations, and addition of dealerships’ ability to recover for costs of return. CalChamber Neutral.

AB 298 (Bonta; D-Alameda) Prohibits Cost Sharing: Increases premiums for California’s employers and employees by restricting insurers from imposing a deductible, coinsurance, or copayment for in-network health care services provided to an enrollee under 21 years of age. The author delayed action until 2026 (see statement)—failed deadline to move from policy to fiscal committee.

AB 303 (Addis; D-Morro Bay) Battery Energy Storage Facilities: Slows down the construction of clean energy projects statewide. Died in the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee.

AB 325 (Aguiar-Curry; D-Winters) Cartwright Act: Nonpublic Competitor Data Violations: Prohibits a person from using or distributing any pricing algorithm that uses, incorporates, or was trained with nonpublic competitor data. Much like SB 1154 (Hurtado) last year, a bill that was designated a Job Killer, it would fail to actually limit the bill to nonpublic data in any meaningful way. The most notable difference between this bill and SB 1154 is that this bill does not include SB 1154’s additional liability provisions. AB 325 remains as serious a concern, in part because other related bills that address the liability components of these issues, and existing law impose significant liability on the misuse of pricing algorithms. Such liability, combined with the bill’s broad and vague standards, would have a chilling effect on the use of such technologies among businesses, particularly smaller ones that rely more heavily on these technologies to be more competitive with larger businesses with access to far more data.
Current Status:  Passed, ordered to Assembly, 9/11

AB 405 (Addis; D-Morro Bay) New Climate Disclosure Requirements: Imposes costly, duplicative, and misaligned regulatory requirements on apparel companies that will increase clothing prices and worsen affordability for Californians. Dramatically expands existing disclosure rules under SB 253 (2023), for which rulemaking hasn’t even begun yet. Failed deadline to move from fiscal committee to the Assembly Floor.

AB 446 (Ward; D-San Diego) Burdens Rewards Programs with New Private Right of Action: Makes it considerably harder to offer basic, consumer-friendly pricing practices — such as local discounts, loyalty programs, and others — by creating a private right of action for any use of personal information or aggregate data in pricing if new consent standards are not met. Also conflicts with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) by rewriting disclosure and consent obligations necessary to use personally identifiable information, and creates entirely new consent and opt-in obligations for the use of aggregate information. Creates a private right of action to enforce its provisions. Cost Driver tag removed due to August 29, 2025, amendments. Action delayed until January 2026.

AB 796 (Lowenthal; D-Long Beach) Tax on Digital Advertising Revenue: Implements a new tax on digital ads. In addition to increasing costs for businesses and, in turn, consumers, it is likely unconstitutional. Died in Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee.

AB 858 (Lee; D-San Jose) Onerous Return to Work Mandate: Originally unnecessarily transformed prior COVID-19 specific law that created an onerous and stringent process for specific employers to return employees to the workforce for specified industries into a new mandate that applies to any state of emergency. Cost Driver tag removed due to August 29, 2025, amendments narrowing the scope and duration of the bill. CalChamber is still opposed.

AB 914 (Garcia; D-Rancho Cucamonga) Massive Expansion of CARB Regulatory Authority: Hands the California Air Resources Board (CARB) blank check fee authority, transferring a core power of the Legislature to an unelected bureaucracy with little to no oversight. Placed on Assembly Inactive File at author’s request, June 2, 2025.

AB 1018 (Bauer-Kahan; D-Orinda) Impact Assessments of Automated Decision Systems: Limits use of automated decision systems (ADS), including by small businesses, which will lead to significant liability and increased costs that will ultimately be borne by consumers. It would also hinder many beneficial uses of ADS, including but not limited to: enabling faster approvals and expanded access to credit, and enhancing real-time fraud detection.
Current Status:  Ordered to third reading

AB 1221 (Bryan; D-Los Angeles) Restricts Use of Data in Employment: Imposes impractical requirements on employers of every size relating to any worker data collected by a workplace surveillance tool, which is defined so broadly that it would impact everything from security footage to emails. These requirements will drive up costs and impact consumer prices. Held in Assembly Appropriations.

AB 1234 (Ortega; D-San Leandro) Creates New Penalty and Revises Wage Claim Procedures: Imposes a new 30% penalty on orders issued by the Labor Commissioner, which penalizes employers that exercise their due process rights and also makes other burdensome changes to the existing claims process. Placed on Senate Inactive file, September 3, 2025.

AB 1243 (Addis; D-Morro Bay) Climate Superfund: Imposes retroactive financial liability on companies for lawful greenhouse gas emissions dating back to 1990, sending the message that even strict adherence to the state’s compliance programs is not enough to avoid retroactive penalties down the road. April 29 hearing in Assembly Judiciary Committee canceled at author’s request. Failed deadline to move from policy to fiscal committee.

AB 1331 (Elhawary; D-Los Angeles) Restricts Workplace Safety and Security Tools: Undermines workplace safety in every California workplace by effectively prohibiting the use of any surveillance technology in certain areas of the workplace, including security cameras, cybersecurity systems, and anti-theft devices.
Current Status:  Ordered to third reading