AB172 - State government.

Amended IN Senate June 26, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 172 Introduced by Assembly Member Gabriel Committee on Budget (Assembly Members Gabriel (Chair), Addis, Ahrens, Alvarez, Bennett, Bonta, Caloza, Connolly, Fong, Haney, Hart, Jackson, Lee, Ortega, Patel, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Rogers, Schiavo, Schultz, Sharp-Collins, Solache, Stefani, Ward, and Wilson) January 08, 2025 An act relating to the Budget Act of 2025. An act to amend Section 18824 of the Business and Professions Code, to add Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 99350) to Part 65 of Division 14 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to amend Sections 241, 242, and 4352 of, and to add Chapter 14.5 (commencing with Section 49025) to Division 17 of, the Food and Agricultural Code, to amend Sections 4526, 8310.4, 11549.53, 11549.59, 11856, 11860, 11865, 12527.6, 16418.7, 53115.1, 53115.2, and 65400 of, to add Sections 53121.1 and 53121.2 to, to add Article 4.7 (commencing with Section 12097.6) to Chapter 1.6 of Part 2 of Division 3 of Title 2 of, and to repeal Article 7 (commencing with Section 65059.1) of Chapter 1.5 of Division 1 of Title 7 of, the Government Code, to amend Sections 2204, 10304, 10306, and 10344 of, and to add Sections 1602, 1603, 1604, 1605, 1606, 1607, and 12112.1 to, the Public Contract Code, to amend Section 21159.9 of the Public Resources Code, and to repeal Section 2610.8 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to state government, and making an appropriation therefor, to take effect immediately, bill related to the budget. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 172, as amended, Committee on Budget. Budget Act of 2025. State government. (1) Existing law, the Boxing Act, also known as the State Athletic Commission Act, creates within the Department of Consumer Affairs the State Athletic Commission. Existing law requires a person who conducts a contest or wrestling exhibition, within 72 hours after the determination of every contest or wrestling exhibition for which admission is charged and received, to furnish to the commission certain fees. One fee is based, in part, on the amount paid for admission to the contest or wrestling exhibition, as specified. Existing law requires the fee for a professional contest or exhibition to be at least $1,250. This bill would increase the minimum amount of that fee to $2,500. Existing law also requires a person who conducts a contest or wrestling exhibition to furnish to the commission another fee based, in part, on the gross price of the sale, lease, or exploitation of the broadcasting or television rights for the event. Existing law prohibits this fee from exceeding $35,000. This bill would increase the maximum amount of that fee to $50,000. (2) Existing law establishes the California Education Learning Laboratory, which is administered by the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, for purposes of increasing learning outcomes and closing equity and achievement gaps, using technologies involving learning science and adaptive learning, as defined, in online or hybrid college-level lower division courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and other disciplines. Existing law requires, in administering the California Education Learning Laboratory, the office to issue calls for, evaluate, and annually award funds to, competitive grant proposals from intersegmental faculty teams that apply principles of learning science and adaptive learning technologies in online or hybrid course series in STEM and other disciplines, as specified. This bill would revise and recast the California Education Learning Laboratory to, among other things, instead establish the program for purposes of increasing learning outcomes and closing equity and achievement gaps using the science of human learning and adaptive learning technologies in STEM disciplines and other disciplines. The bill would require the program to be administered by the Government Operations Agency instead of the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation. (3) Existing law establishes the Department of Food and Agriculture under the control of the Secretary of Food and Agriculture. Existing law authorizes the secretary to charge a bureau, division, board, or other agency of the department that is not supported by appropriations from the General Fund its proportionate share of the administrative expenses of the department, or a share in an amount that is computed to reasonably compensate the department for the administrative services that it renders. Existing law prohibits the proportionate or computed share charged from exceeding 5% of the collections that are made by the department for the bureau, division, board, or other agency. This bill would instead prohibit the proportionate or computed share charged to the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund from exceeding 5% of the total departmentwide expenditures, except for expenses associated with information technology, legal services, human resources, and the Office of Civil Rights, as specified. By increasing the amount of continuously appropriated moneys in the fund that may be expended for administrative purposes, the bill would make an appropriation. (4) Existing law creates the State Race Track Leasing Commission and authorizes the commission to enter into leases or other agreements for the use of the Del Mar Race Track and any other property owned or controlled by the 22nd District Agricultural Association that the commission deems necessary to provide horse racing at the Del Mar Race Track. Existing law requires the Department of Finance to provide clerical services to the commission. This bill would instead require the Department of Food and Agriculture to provide those clerical services to the commission. (5) Existing law creates the Office of Farm to Fork within the Department of Food and Agriculture, and requires the office, to the extent that resources are available, to work with various entities, including, among others, the agricultural industry and other organizations involved in promoting food access, to increase the amount of agricultural products available to underserved communities and schools in the state. This bill would establish the California Farm to School Program, to be developed, administered, and implemented by the office, as specified, for purposes of cultivating equity, nurturing students, building climate resilience, and creating scalable and sustainable change in the school food system. The bill would require that the program, among other things, increase procurement of foods that are grown or produced in California and are whole or are minimally processed from food producers in California for school meal programs, increase hands-on food education opportunities that engage pupils and connect the classroom with the cafeteria, and administer the California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program. The bill would authorize the office to implement initiatives under the program, including, but not limited to, initiatives that advance the California farm to school network and facilitate a California Farm to School Interagency Working Group, including, but not limited to, specified state agencies. (6) The California Constitution authorizes state and local governmental entities to contract with private entities for architectural and engineering services. Existing statutory law requires the selection by a state or local agency for professional engineering, environmental, land surveying, or construction project management firms to be on the basis of demonstrated competence and on the professional qualifications necessary for the satisfactory performances of the services required, and further requires a state agency to adopt procedures by regulation that, among other things, assure that these services are engaged on the basis of demonstrated competence and qualifications for the types of services to be performed. This bill would authorize a state agency to use the procedures adopted by the Department of General Services until the state agency adopts their own procedures by regulation. (7) Existing law, commencing January 1, 2028, requires state and local agencies, as defined, that collect demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians to use separate collection categories and tabulations for major Middle Eastern or North African groups, as specified, and, with certain exceptions, to include that data in every demographic report published on or after January 1, 2029, and to make the aggregated data available to the public. This bill would, instead, commencing January 1, 2029, require state and local agencies, as defined, that collect demographic data as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians to use separate collection categories and tabulations for a major Middle Eastern or North African group, including minor groups, as specified, and, with certain exceptions, to include that data in every demographic report published on or after January 1, 2030. The bill would require each state and local agency to apply de-identification and privacy protection methods to demographic data collected pursuant to these provisions, as described. The bill would require a state or local agency that collects or reports demographic data in a manner that differs from the above-described provisions pursuant to federal program requirements to comply with the requirements of the above-described provisions, as specified. By imposing additional duties on local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (8) Existing law establishes the Department of Technology. Existing law establishes the Office of Broadband and Digital Literacy within the department and requires the office to oversee the acquisition and management of contracts for the development and construction of, and for the maintenance and operation of, a statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network to provide an opportunity for last-mile providers, anchor institutions, and tribal entities to connect to, and interconnect with other networks and other appropriate connections to, the broadband network to facilitate high-speed broadband service, as specified. Existing law provides that the office has the powers and authorities necessary to implement these and related provisions, including, but not limited to, the authority to enter into contracts with one or more entities to acquire goods and services and to take actions it deems necessary and appropriate for the development, acquisition, construction, maintenance, and operation of a statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network, including the creation of rural exchange points. This bill would prohibit the department or the office from entering into, amending, or assigning a contract related to the statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network if the contract is for an amount exceeding a total cost of $8,000,000 unless the contract is approved by the Director of Finance. The bill would prohibit the Director of Finance from approving that contract until at least 30 days after informing the Joint Legislative Budget Committee of the director’s intent to approve the contract unless that notification period is waived by the Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee or the chairperson’s designee. The bill would require the approval of the Director of Finance to take effect immediately following either the completion of the 30-day notification period or the waiver of that period. The bill would specify that these provisions do not apply in the case of an emergency, as defined. Existing law establishes the State Middle-Mile Broadband Enterprise Fund, consisting of fees for connection to the statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network, revenues payable to the department for activities undertaken by the department for maintenance, operation, repair, and expansion of the statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network, and proceeds from the disposition of fixed assets and leasehold interests related to the network. Existing law provides that funds deposited into the fund are continuously appropriated to the department for the maintenance, operation, repair, and expansion until July 1, 2027, and thereafter are available upon appropriation for those purposes. This bill would extend the date the moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to July 1, 2031. By extending the term of a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (9) Existing law, the Financial Information System for California (FISCal) Act, establishes the Department of FISCal within the Government Operations Agency to implement a single integrated financial management system for use by state departments and agencies. The act requires the partner agencies to collaboratively develop enhancements to the system, utilize the system, and assist the department to maintain the system, and defines “partner agencies” to mean the Department of Finance, the Controller, the Department of General Services, and the Treasurer. This bill would require the department to work in consultation with the Department of Finance and the Department of Technology in ongoing maintenance and roadmap activities of the system, as specified. (10) Existing law creates the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) and requires GO-Biz to serve the Governor as the lead entity for economic strategy and the marketing of California on issues relating to business development, private sector investment, and economic growth. This bill would create the Office of Regional Economic Development Initiatives within GO-Biz. Under the bill, the Director of GO-Biz would oversee the office and a deputy director appointed by the Governor would administer the office. The bill would set forth the duties of the office, including, among other things, supporting regional partners in developing, maintaining, and implementing their regional economic development strategies. (11) Existing law authorizes the court, in an action brought by the Attorney General under specified unfair competition and false advertising laws, to award the remedy of disgorgement. Existing law requires the funds recovered by the Attorney General under these provisions to be deposited into the Victims of Consumer Fraud Restitution Fund, and makes the funds available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Attorney General to provide restitution to victims of acts or practices for which consumer restitution has been ordered but not paid, as provided. This bill would make an appropriation by making the money in the Victims of Consumer Fraud Restitution Fund continuously appropriated to the Attorney General for purposes of the restitution described above. (12) Existing law, until December 31, 2030, establishes the Projected Surplus Temporary Holding Account in the State Treasury as a General Fund reserve to hold a portio [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]