APA California Legislative Update: August 2025

After a month-long summer recess, the Legislature returns on August 18 for the final month of the 2025 Legislative Session. In these last few weeks, the Legislature will turn their attention back to the appropriations committees and their respective house for work on each floor. Nearly all high priority bills that APA California is tracking or directly working on are continuing to move and will now be considered in both houses for final floor votes before being sent to the Governor for consideration. This session will end on September 12, and all bills that are sent to the Governor in the final days must be acted on by October 12.

APA California continues to track over 300 bills of interest to planners, while working on several of higher priority. We continue to share position letters online. Remember, even if you don’t see a position letter on a particular bill, that doesn’t mean we aren’t working on it. We are often working in advance of taking a position to try and address concerns where possible or are asked to provide technical feedback on bills generally as they move. Please reach out to policy@apacalifornia.org if you have questions or thoughts on a particular bill or issue before the Legislature.

2025 has been yet another busy year for planning-related legislation and there’s a lot to discuss. For more details, please join us at the APA California Conference in Monterey on September 30, for the extended Legislative Update Session. This year we will be offering two sessions, back-to-back, providing more time to dive into legislation related to housing, land use and CEQA, among many other topics the Legislature focused on this year. As always, we will provide an in-depth recap of the 2025 Legislative Session overall and look forward to seeing you.

Governor Newsom recently issued an Executive Order in response to concerns from local elected officials about the potential for widespread SB 9 development concentrated in areas rebuilding from the fires in Los Angeles County. The intent is to give local government the discretion to limit SB 9 development in these impacted areas.

If you’re interested in receiving updates on legislative and regulatory issues from the Chapter’s Policy and Legislation Team, please join here. Have questions on policy and legislative related issues, including bills and regulations? APA California members are welcome to reach out to the VP for Policy and Legislation at policy@apacalifornia.org.

APA California has a robust legislative program at the Chapter level that engages with the California Legislature. The Policy and Legislation team includes an elected VP for Policy and Legislation, two appointed Legislative Technical Advisors, and a Lobbyist retained by the Chapter. The team engages directly with APA California Section Legislative Representatives from each of the 8 Sections within the Chapter to discuss feedback on legislation and other relevant issues regularly throughout the year. To view the Policy and Legislation team, visit the Board of Directors page.

APA California actively engages in many bills throughout the year. In fact, we work closely with legislative and committee staff on amendments and clarifications to bills before taking a position. As an organization, APA California is often asked to provide feedback on planning related bills and provide technical expertise, giving a voice to planners and an opportunity to help shape legislation. This is a valuable role that the Chapter works hard to maintain. More broadly, we will continue to discuss the work planners are doing at the local level to implement and keep up with all the planning related bills that pass year over year and how that relates to the cumulative impact of bills on the table this year. We also continue seek opportunities to suggest tangible ways, absent fiscal resources at the state level, that the Legislature can help to make implementation more successful and support the planning community.