AB184 - State government.

Amended IN Senate August 28, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 184 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. to amend Section 2296 of the Corporations Code, to amend Sections 20000, 99352, and 100425 of the Education Code, to amend Section 19254 of the Elections Code, to amend Sections 7923.601, 11011.24, and 11549.53 of, to amend, repeal, and add Section 14664 of, to repeal Section 13296 of, and to repeal and add Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 13400) of Part 3 of Division 3 of Title 2 of, the Government Code, to amend Section 1106 of the Military and Veterans Code, to amend Sections 7404 and 7424 of the Penal Code, to amend Section 1604 of the Public Contract Code, and to amend Section 5096.360 of the Public Resources Code, relating to state government, and making an appropriation therefor, to take effect immediately, bill related to the budget. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 184, as amended, Committee on Budget. Budget Act of 2025. State government. (1) Existing property tax law requires the county auditor, in each fiscal year, to allocate property tax revenue to local jurisdictions in accordance with specified formulas and procedures, and generally provides that each jurisdiction be allocated an amount equal to the total of the amount of revenue allocated to that jurisdiction in the prior fiscal year, subject to certain modifications, and that jurisdiction’s portion of the annual tax increment, as defined. Existing property tax law also requires that, for purposes of determining property tax revenue allocations in each county for the 1992–93 and 1993–94 fiscal years, the amounts of property tax revenue deemed allocated in the prior fiscal year to the county, cities, and special districts be reduced in accordance with certain formulas. It requires that the revenues not allocated to the county, cities, and special districts as a result of these reductions be transferred to the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund in that county for allocation to school districts, community college districts, and the county office of education. 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 that is subject to registration under the Vehicle Code. Beginning with the 2004–05 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, existing law requires that each city, county, and city and county receive additional property tax revenues in the form of a vehicle license fee adjustment amount, as defined, from a Vehicle License Fee Property Tax Compensation Fund that exists in each county treasury. Existing law requires that these additional allocations be funded from ad valorem property tax revenues otherwise required to be allocated to educational entities. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature for the state to work collaboratively with the representatives of the County of Alpine, the County of Mono, and the County of San Mateo, representatives of cities within those counties, and representatives of other potentially impacted cities and counties to develop mutually agreeable legislative and fiscal solutions to the revenue shortfall from the vehicle license fee that the counties and cities are experiencing due to the operation of the above-described provisions relating to additional property tax revenues and vehicle license fees. The bill would further state the intent of the Legislature that any solution be operative beginning in the 2027–28 fiscal year and apply to all state counties and cities to the extent those counties and cities experience revenue shortfall from the vehicle license fee in any fiscal year beginning with the 2027–28 fiscal year. (2) Existing law establishes the Victims of Corporate Fraud Compensation Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, within the State Treasury administered by the Secretary of State, the sole purpose of which is to provide restitution to victims of corporate fraud. Existing law provides that an aggrieved person who obtains a final judgment, as specified, against a corporation based upon the corporation’s fraud, misrepresentation, or deceit, made with intent to defraud, may file an application with the Secretary of State for payment from the fund for the amount unpaid on the judgment that represents the awarded actual and direct loss to the claimant in the final judgment. This bill would prohibit the Secretary of State from accepting any new applications from claimants for payment from the fund. The bill would require the Secretary of State to wind down the activities of the fund in accordance with certain procedures. The bill would provide that funding for purposes other than those described in those provisions after all outstanding claims are paid is contingent upon an appropriation of funds by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act. (3) The California Constitution prohibits the Legislature from creating a debt or liability that singly or in the aggregate with any previous debts or liabilities exceeds the sum of $300,000, except by an act that (A) authorizes the debt for a single object or work specified in the act, (B) has been passed by a 2 / 3 vote of all the Members elected to each house of the Legislature, (C) has been submitted to the people at a statewide general or primary election, and (D) has received a majority of all the votes cast for and against it at that election. The California Constitution authorizes the Legislature to reduce the amount of the indebtedness authorized by law at any time after the approval of law by the people to an amount not less than the amount contracted at the time of the reduction. Various laws authorize the issuance of specified amounts of moneys in bonds for certain purposes, including, among others, the California Reading and Literacy Improvement and Public Library Construction and Renovation Bond Act of 2000 which authorizes the issuance of up to $350,000,000 in bonds for the construction and renovation of public library facilities, as provided. This bill would reduce the amount of indebtedness authorized under the bond act described above by $5,040,000. Existing law, as part of the Class Size Reduction Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 1998, authorizes $6,700,000,000 in bonds to be issued and sold for kindergarten through 12th grade school facilities, as provided. This bill would reduce that debt limit by $35,000. Existing law, as part of the Voting Modernization Bond Act of 2002, authorizes the creation of $200,000,000 in bonds to assist counties in the purchase of updated voting systems, as provided. This bill would reduce that debt limit by $10,430,000. Existing law, as part of the Veterans’ Homes Bond Act of 2000, authorizes $50,000,000 in bonds to be issued and sold for veterans’ facilities, as provided. This bill would reduce that debt limit by $975,000. Existing law, as part of the New Prison Construction Bond Act of 1988, authorizes the creation of state debt in the aggregate principal amount of $817,000,000 for prison construction purposes, as provided. This bill would reduce that debt limit by $1,245,000. Existing law, as part of the New Prison Construction Bond Act of 1990, authorizes the creation of state debt in the aggregate principal amount of $450,000,000 for prison construction purposes, as provided. This bill would reduce that debt limit by $605,000. Existing law, as part of the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000, authorizes $2,100,000,000 in bonds to be issued and sold for parks and resources improvement, as provided. This bill would reduce that debt limit by $8,025,000. (4) Existing law establishes the California Education Learning Laboratory, which is administered by the Government Operations Agency, to increase learning outcomes and close equity and achievement gaps using the science of human learning and adaptive learning technologies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines and other disciplines. Existing law requires the agency to award grants to competitive grant proposals from intersegmental faculty teams that apply principles of the science of human learning and adaptive learning technologies in STEM disciplines and other disciplines, as specified. Existing law requires laboratory funding to be awarded to California public postsecondary educational institutions in both northern and southern California, as specified. This bill would specifically require the California Education Learning Laboratory grant funding, instead of the California Education Learning Laboratory funding, to be awarded to public postsecondary educational institutions geographically located in California, and recipients of this grant funding to include public postsecondary educational institutions in both northern and southern California. (5) Existing law, the California Public Records Act, authorizes the inspection and copying of any public record except where specifically prohibited by law. Existing law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to, among other functions, investigate and determine the fitness of any person to serve as a peace officer, as specified. Existing law establishes the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division within POST to, among other things, review investigations conducted by law enforcement agencies or any other investigative authority and to conduct additional investigations, as necessary, into serious misconduct that may provide grounds for suspension or revocation of a peace officer’s certification. Existing law provides that, until January 1, 2027, specified peace officer personnel files and background investigation files that are in the custody of POST in connection with the above-described functions are not public records subject to disclosure, as specified. Existing law requires POST, upon receiving a request to disclose a record that is exempt under these provisions, to forward the request to the agency that transmitted the record to POST and to notify the requestor of where the request was forwarded. This bill would require POST to take those actions within 10 days from receipt of the request. Under existing law, the agency that transmitted the record to POST is responsible for complying with the public record request, as provided. Existing law requires an agency that no longer has possession of the record to request copies of the record from POST and requires POST to provide the record to the agency if it is in the possession of POST. This bill would require the agency to make its request for copies of the record within 10 days from receipt of the forwarded request from POST, and would require POST, within 10 days from receipt of the agency’s request, to provide the record to the agency, or to notify the agency that POST does not possess the record. By imposing new duties on local entities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would extend this public records exemption until January 1, 2028. (6) Existing law authorized the Director of General Services to sell or exchange all or part of specified parcels of state property, including a property known as Camp Coombs, to the County of Napa or the Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District, as specified. Existing law terminated this authority on January 1, 2026. This bill would extend the duration of that authority to June 30, 2028. The California Constitution requires that the proceeds from the sale of surplus state property be used to pay the principal and interest on bonds issued pursuant to the Economic Recovery Bond Act, until the principal and interest on those bonds are fully paid, the final payment of which was made in the 2015–16 fiscal year, after which these proceeds are required to be deposited into the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties, a continuously appropriated fund. By increasing the amount transferred into the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties, a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (7) Existing law establishes the Office of Broadband and Digital Literacy, within the Department of Technology, to oversee the development, construction, maintenance, and operation of a statewide open-access middle-mile broadband network (middle-mile network) to facilitate high-speed broadband service and prioritize last-mile connections to unserved and underserved areas. Under existing law, the office is generally authorized to exercise the powers and authority necessary to implement the middle-mile network, including the authority to enter into contracts it deems necessary and appropriate. Existing law specifically prohibits the department or office from entering into, amending, or assigning a contract related to the middle-mile network if the contract is for an amount exceeding a total cost of $8,000,000, unless the contract is approved in advance by the Director of Finance. This bill would revise this prohibition to instead prohibit the department or office from entering into a contract for operation of the middle-mile network if the contract is for an amount exceeding a total cost of $8,000,000, unless the contract is approved in advance by the Director of Finance. (8) Existing law, the State Leadership Accountability Act, requires state agency heads to be responsible for the establishment and maintenance of systems of internal control with specific elements, including a plan of organization that provides segregation of duties appropriate for proper safeguarding of state agency assets. The act requires a state agency head to conduct a biennial review on the adequacy of the state agency’s systems of internal control and monitoring practices and report the results to the Legislature, California State Auditor, Controller, Secretary of Government Operations, the California State Library, and the Department of Finance (DOF). The act requires copies of the report to be, among other things, available for public inspection at the California State Library. The act requires DOF, in consultation with the California State Auditor and the Controller, to establish a system of reporting and a general framework to guide state agencies in conducting internal reviews of their systems of internal control, exempt from the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act and subject to modification, as specified. The act requires a state agency to investigate any allegation that an employee of the state agency provided false or misleading informati [Text truncated for display. 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