SB769 - The Golden State Infrastructure Corporation Act.

Amended IN Assembly August 18, 2026 Amended IN Assembly July 02, 2025 Amended IN Senate May 01, 2025 Amended IN Senate April 10, 2025 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 769 Introduced by Senator Caballero (Coauthors: Assembly Members Petrie-Norris and Solache) February 21, 2025 An act to add Part 15 (commencing with Section 16000) to Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to infrastructure finance, and making an appropriation therefor. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 769, as amended, Caballero. The Golden State Infrastructure Corporation Act. Existing law, the Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Act, authorizes the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, governed by a board of directors, to make loans, issue bonds, and provide other financial assistance for various types of infrastructure and economic development projects. Existing law establishes the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, to support the bank. This bill would enact the Golden State Infrastructure Corporation Act and would establish the Golden State Infrastructure Corporation, within the State Treasurer’s Office, as a not-for-profit corporation for the purpose of administering the act and financing infrastructure projects. The bill would require the corporation to be governed by a board of directors, with a prescribed membership, and would require the business and affairs of the corporation to be managed by an executive director appointed by the Treasurer. This bill would prescribe the powers and duties of the corporation, including entering into financing transactions, borrowing money or issuing bonds, and setting and charging fees for obtaining financing from the corporation. Under the bill, the state would not in any way be liable for any obligation of the corporation, and the corporation would not be required to pay any taxes, except as provided. The bill would require the corporation, not later than January 1 of each year, to submit to the Governor, the Legislature, and the Legislative Analyst’s Office a report for the preceding fiscal year containing information on the infrastructure corporation fund Golden State Infrastructure Corporation Fund, which the bill would create, and the corporation’s activities, including specified information. This bill would authorize the corporation to extend financing to either an infrastructure company, a governmental entity, or a combination of those entities, as provided, if the board determines that the financing meets specified criteria. The bill would authorize the corporation, upon board approval, to issue revenue bonds, in a principal amount that the board determines to be necessary, convenient, or desirable to provide moneys for the corporation’s purposes, which may include, among others, to provide financing to one or more governmental entities or infrastructure companies for infrastructure projects, as provided. The bill would prescribe requirements for issuing the bonds. The bill would require the board to approve operational policies prior to providing financing for any infrastructure project. The bill would, for purposes of the California Public Records Act, treat the corporation as a state agency, as defined. The bill would, however, exempt from disclosure under that act specified corporate financial records or critical infrastructure information, as defined, furnished to the corporation that have not previously been made public, and would authorize the board, notwithstanding the provisions of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, to meet in closed session to review or discuss corporate financial records or critical infrastructure information necessary for the board to consider whether to approve or modify a financing, or to discuss the performance of any financing, provided to an infrastructure company for an infrastructure project. This bill would create the Golden State Infrastructure Corporation Fund and would provide that all moneys in the fund Golden State Infrastructure Corporation Fund are continuously appropriated for the support of the corporation, to be available for expenditure for the purposes stated in the bill. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. Digest Key Vote: 2/3 Appropriation: YES Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Part 15 (commencing with Section 16000) is added to Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read: PART 15. THE GOLDEN STATE INFRASTRUCTURE CORPORATION ACT CHAPTER 1. General Provisions 16000. This part shall be known, and may be cited, as the Golden State Infrastructure Corporation Act. 16001. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) The health, safety, welfare, and economic well-being of the people of California are dependent upon a system of well-functioning infrastructure. (b) Improvements and additions to the existing infrastructure landscape are vital to supporting the growth of the California economy. Businesses and governments depend on a well-conceived and functioning system of public improvements. (c) The current pace of infrastructure development and construction in California is not sufficient to meet the needs of California’s population and economy. (d) To ensure and enhance the economic well-being of Californians, and their businesses and governments, it is a public policy necessity to support the expansion and enhancement of infrastructure. (e) The shortfall in the pace of infrastructure improvement and development in California is due to a variety of factors, chief among them the lack of access to capital to fund the development, design, construction, and operation of infrastructure projects. (f) California needs to create an entity structured with broad authority to provide financing, and to participate in the financial markets, to fund the development and improvement projects of key infrastructure projects. (g) The mechanisms for financing infrastructure development and improvement provided for in this part are in the public interest, serve a public purpose, and will promote the health, welfare, and safety of the citizens of California. (h) The public policies and responsibilities of California, including all of the above purposes and functions, cannot be fully obtained without the creation of the Golden State Infrastructure Corporation. 16002. For purposes of this part, the following words and terms have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates or requires another or different meaning or intent: (a) “Act” means the Golden State Infrastructure Corporation Act. (b) “Board” means the board of directors of the corporation. (c) “Bonds” means any of the following: (1) Bonds, including structured, senior, and subordinated bonds or other securities. (2) Loans. (3) Notes, including bond, revenue, tax, or grant anticipation notes. (4) Commercial paper. (5) Floating rate and variable maturity securities. (6) Any other evidences of indebtedness or ownership, including certificates of participation or beneficial interest, asset-backed certificates, or lease-purchase or installment purchase agreements. (d) “Corporation” means the Golden State Infrastructure Corporation. (e) “Cost,” as applied to an infrastructure project, means all or any part of the expense of any of the following: (1) The design, development, entitlement, construction, renovation, and acquisition of all lands, structures, and interests in real or personal property. (2) Demolishing or removing any natural or artificial impediments, improvements, buildings, or structures on land acquired, and includes acquiring any lands to which any buildings, or structures may be moved or constructed. (3) All materials, machinery, equipment, and financing charges. (4) Interest prior to, during, and for a period after completion of construction, renovation, improvement, addition, deletion, or acquisition, as determined by the corporation. (5) Provisions for working capital in an amount not to exceed 5 percent of the aggregate amount of money expended designing and constructing the infrastructure project in question. (6) Reserves for principal and interest and for extensions, enlargements, additions, replacements, renovations, and improvements. (7) Architectural, engineering, financial, and legal services, plans, specifications, estimates, administrative expenses, and other items necessary or incidental to determining the feasibility of an infrastructure project or incidental to the construction, acquisition, or financing of an infrastructure project. (f) “Executive director” means the executive director of the corporation appointed pursuant to Section 16020. In the absence of the executive director, the term “executive director” as used herein shall mean the person designated as “acting executive director” pursuant to Section 16020. (g) “Financing” in connection with an infrastructure project, includes, but is not limited to, one or any combination of making loans secured by real or personal property, making unsecured loans, purchasing ownership positions in an infrastructure company, purchasing securities, whether issued or traded on in public or private markets, purchasing notes or loan participation interests, purchasing bonds, leasing real or personal property, purchasing or selling real or personal property to be repaid in a lump sum, installments, or a combination of both, acquiring royalties or revenue streams, issuing insurance, guarantees, or other credit enhancements or liquidity facilities, or any other type of mechanism whereby the corporation provides capital, or commits to provide capital to an infrastructure company or governmental entity in connection with an infrastructure project in return for a promise of repayment, revenue, or appreciation in an interest in an infrastructure company. (h) “Governmental entity” means either one or a combination of the following: (1) The state, or any division, department, agency, commission, board, or nonprofit corporation of the state. (2) A local government, including a city, county, nonprofit corporation formed by or on behalf of a city or county, special district, assessment district, school district, or joint powers authority within the state. (i) (1) “Infrastructure” means any of the following: (A) Real or tangible personal property located in the state, whether temporary or permanent, intended to support human activities, including, without any limitation, buildings, whether for habitation or other purposes. (B) Facilities for the movement, conveyance, transmission, or distribution of people, goods, materials, equipment, energy resources, or communication signals. (C) Facilities for the impoundment, transmission, or distribution of fluids. (D) Facilities for the creation, restoration, or enhancement of geologic, atmospheric, or hydraulic features or plants or animals. (E) Facilities or improvements intended to remove or remediate pollution, or to treat or improve air, water, land, plant, or animal resources. (F) Facilities or improvements intended to treat, store, dispose of, recycle, or reuse discarded or previously used items. (G) Structures and associated improvements for education, learning, childcare, or the collection or dissemination of information and knowledge. (H) Facilities for the operation of governmental or military functions. (2) For real property located partially within and partially outside the state, only the portion located within the state qualifies as infrastructure. (3) For personal property that will be located at times within the state and at times outside of the state, the personal property will be considered infrastructure for purposes of this part, but the maximum financing amount related to the acquisition, assembly, construction, operation, maintenance, or use of the personal property will be based on the relative proportion of time the personal property is obligated to be within the state, as provided for in a contract with the corporation. (j) “Infrastructure company” means any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust or trustee, or joint venture, or any group or combination, whether formed for profit or not for profit, the organizational purpose of which includes the development, construction, ownership, or operation of one or more items of infrastructure. (k) “Infrastructure corporation fund” means the Golden State Infrastructure Corporation Fund. (l) “Infrastructure project” means designing, acquiring, planning, permitting, entitling, constructing, improving, extending, restoring, financing, and generally developing infrastructure. (m) “Operational policies” means any and all policies and procedures necessary, desirable, or convenient for the operation, governance, and administration of the corporation, and include, but are not limited to, policies and procedures for underwriting and financing infrastructure projects, debt management, investment of idle cash, and preparation of financial statements and the audit thereof. (n) “Priority governmental entity” means any governmental entity with boundaries located wholly within a geographic area that satisfies at least one of the following: (1) Has a population with a median household income at or below 80 percent of the statewide median household income. (2) Has a population with a median household income at or below the threshold designated as low income by the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s most current listing of state income limits. CHAPTER 2. Creation of the Golden State Infrastructure Corporation 16010. (a) There is within the State Treasurer’s Office the corporation, which shall be responsible for administering the provisions of this part. (b) The corporation is hereby established as a not-for-profit corporation for the purpose of financing infrastructure projects. The principal office of the corporation shall be in the County of Sacramento. Articles of incorporation of the corporation shall be prepared and, upon approval by the board, filed with the Secretary of State by the executive director. The articles of incorporation may be amended, in whole or in part, upon approval by the board. The corporation shall be treated as a separate legal entity with its separate corporate purpose as described in this part, and the assets, liabilities, and funds of the corporation shall be neither consolidated nor commingled with those of the state. (c) The corporation shall be governed and its corporate power exercised by a board of directors that s [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]