APA California Legislative Update: June 2026

After several weeks of policy committee hearings and negotiations on the state budget, the Legislature adjourned for their summer recess on July 2. Nearly all high priority bills that APA California is tracking are continuing to move and will be considered in the Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees upon the Legislature’s return in August. At that time, they will have four weeks to complete their work and send remaining bills to the Governor for consideration. Session will end on August 31, and the Governor will have until September 30 to act on bills that make it to his desk in the final days of session.

APA California continues to track nearly 300 bills of interest to planners, while working on several, including AB 1457 (Bryan), which is a newly amended bill that would require local governments subject to the provisions of SB 1000 (Leyva, 2016) to adopt or review the environmental justice element, or the environmental justice goals, policies, and objectives in other elements, upon the earliest of the adoption or next revision of two or more elements concurrently on or after January June 30, 2028. The bill would also require specified new meaningful public engagement before the update is adopted. The goal of the bill is to ensure SB 1000 is compiled with and APA California is currently discussing technical amendments that would provide a safe harbor for jurisdictions who’ve already complied and to address some of the prescriptive provisions around community engagement that may be challenging to implement.

Somewhat related, we reported a few months ago on SB 1075 (Reyes), which was intended to address impacts of emissions on overburdened communities through changes to CARB’s Community Air Protection Program. Specific to planning, the bill would have restricted a local government’s land use planning authority and required the environmental justice element of the general plan to comply with an applicable community emissions reduction program (CERPs) or local community emissions reductions programs (LCERPs), among other provisions. APA California and other local government organizations opposed the bill as introduced. After several sets of amendments, those provisions have been removed and so will our opposition.

The Governor and legislative leadership recently reached a deal on an affordable housing bond SB 417 (Cabaldon), which was amended to reflect this agreement. The Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026, if approved by voters in November, will provide $11.25 billion for the preservation and building of affordable housing. The Governor signed the bill on June 25.

Governor Newsom and legislative leaders reached agreement on the final 2026-27 State Budget package. The $351.7 billion spending plan closes the state’s projected budget shortfall through a combination of targeted revenue increases, spending reductions, and other fiscal actions while maintaining the state’s reserves. The package also places a constitutional amendment before voters to strengthen California’s rainy day fund in the future. For planners, the final agreement restores several key housing and homelessness investments omitted from the Governor’s May Revision and advances budget trailer bills affecting housing finance, local development impact fees, and CEQA administration, among other issues.

Several items of interest to planners include:

• Provides $500 million for enhanced state Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and $200 million for the Multifamily Housing Program.
• Provides $900 million for the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program, to be administered with additional accountability and performance requirements.
• Includes trailer bill language intended to encourage local fee reductions on state-funded affordable housing projects.

• Authorizes the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation to charge a fee upon submission of electronic CEQA documents to the State Clearinghouse database, limited to the reasonable costs of implementing and maintaining the database.

A list of the budget bill, budget bill juniors, and budget trailer bills comprising the final budget package is included in the Governor’s press release. It’s possible additional trailer bills or changes to those not yet passed may appear when the Legislature returns from summer recess. All budget trailer bills must be approved by the end of session on August 31.

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 [email protected].

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.