This report for the first year of the 2025–2026 legislative session focuses on California legislators’ votes on California Chamber of Commerce priority bills.
This is the 51st vote record the CalChamber has compiled in response to numerous requests from member firms and local chambers of commerce that would like a gauge by which to measure the performance of their legislators.
View print-friendly pdf of vote record.
Partial Picture
No vote record can tell the entire story of a legislator’s attitude and actions on issues of importance to business. To fully evaluate your legislative representative, consult the legislative journals and examine your legislator’s votes in committee and on floor issues.
Many anti-business bills were rejected by legislators in policy or fiscal committees, thus stopping proposals before they reached the floor for a vote.
Most bills in this report cover major business issues that are of concern to both small and large companies.
The CalChamber recognizes that there are many bills supported or opposed by business that are not included in this vote record and analysis.
Factors Considered
The CalChamber considers the following factors in selecting vote record bills:
• The bills and votes reflect legislators’ attitudes toward private enterprise, fiscal responsibility and the business climate.
• Each bill was a CalChamber priority in a particular field. Priority bills generally have appeared in the “Status Report” sections of Alert.
• This year’s vote record charts show selected key committee votes. If a legislator served on two committees, the votes are shown in the column for the bill in the order in which the committee votes occurred.
• The vote record also covers 11 bills voted on by the full Senate and 13 bills voted on by the full Assembly.
• Unless otherwise noted, final floor votes are shown. Concurrence votes are considered final votes.
When ‘Not Voting’ Helps
Sometimes a legislator is unwilling to vote against a colleague but is willing to support the CalChamber’s opposition to a bill. In such cases, a legislator may abstain from voting, which will hinder passage of a bill, just as a “no” vote does.
To recognize that not voting can aid the CalChamber’s opposition to a bill, the vote record includes the number of times legislators did not vote “aye” on a CalChamber-opposed bill in the total for the column listing actions “in accord with” the CalChamber’s position, if the legislator was not absent for the day.
Priority Bills
Air Quality
• AB 914 (Garcia; D-Rancho Cucamonga) Massive Expansion of CARB Regulatory Authority. Hands the California Air Resources Board (CARB) blank check fee authority, transferring a core power of the Legislature to an unelected bureaucracy with little to no oversight. Passed Assembly Natural Resources, April 28, 10-4. Assembly Inactive File, June 2. Not heard in Senate. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
• SB 318 (Becker; D-Menlo Park) Air Quality Governance. Imposes extensive new mandates and permitting requirements that introduce significant regulatory uncertainty, force costly technology upgrades on stationary sources, and increase the cost of operating in California for critical sectors such as energy, food production, manufacturing, and recycling. Such costs undermine the state’s competitiveness and further strain affordability for residents. Passed Senate Environmental Quality, April 23, 5-3. Held in Senate Appropriations. Not heard in Assembly. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
Artificial Intelligence/Privacy/Anti-Trust
• AB 325 (Aguiar-Curry; D-Winters) Cartwright Act: Nonpublic Competitor Data Violations. Creates new definitions for “common pricing algorithm” and “coercion” under state’s anti-trust statute and prohibits a person from using a pricing algorithm that uses, incorporates or was trained with nonpublic competitor data. Cost Driver tag removed due to amendments. Passed Assembly, June 2, 54-17 (vote shown). Passed Senate Judiciary, July 1, 11-2 (vote shown). Passed Senate, September 11, 29-9. Assembly concurred in Senate amendments, September 12, 54-18. Signed—Chapter 338. CalChamber Opposed/Former Cost Driver 2025.
• AB 412 (Bauer-Kahan; D-Orinda) Generative Artificial Intelligence: Training Data. Requires a developer that makes a generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) system or model available to Californians for use to, among other things, document both the copyrighted materials used to train the system model and the copyright owner of that material. Undercuts California’s status as an AI leader. Passed Assembly, May 12, 45-16. In Senate Judiciary, May 21; Failed Deadline. CalChamber Opposed.
• AB 1018 (Bauer-Kahan; D-Orinda) Impact Assessments of Automated Decision Systems. Limits use of automated decision systems (ADS), including by small businesses, which will lead to significant liability and increased costs that will ultimately be borne by consumers. It would also hinder many beneficial uses of ADS, including but not limited to: enabling faster approvals and expanded access to credit and enhancing real-time fraud detection. Passed Assembly, June 2, 50-16. Passed Senate Judiciary, July 15, 11-2. Senate Inactive File, September 13. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
• AB 1064 (Bauer-Kahan; D-Orinda) AI Development. Bans the development and use of certain AI systems intended for use by or on minors, including AI systems that could foreseeably attempt to provide therapy, a minor could develop an attachment to, or that may manipulate a child in dangerous behavior; as well as tools that collect or process biometric data, use scraped images of minors, engage in social scoring, or assess mental state. It is enforced by the Attorney General and private right of action. The bill also prohibits using minors’ data to train or fine-tune one of the covered AI systems. The impact goes far beyond products for minors however, let alone companion chatbots for minors. It also impacts AI tools for adults. Contains vague and ambiguous definitions, unreasonable knowledge standards and unclear compliance burdens that would thwart innovation and put Californians’ privacy at risk — especially children. Passed Assembly, June 2, 59-12. Passed Senate, September 10, 31-6. Assembly concurred in Senate amendments, September 11, 60-8 (vote shown). Vetoed. CalChamber Opposed.
• AB 1355 (Ward; D-San Diego) Location Privacy. Seeks to place new restrictions around location data collection and use practices by businesses in California in a manner that will significantly undermine and cause confusion with the California Consumer Privacy Act, which already addresses these policy questions and data privacy concerns. Passed Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection, April 22, 9-3. Passed Assembly Judiciary, April 29, 7-3. In Assembly Appropriations Suspense File, May 7; Failed Deadline. Not heard in Senate. CalChamber Opposed.
• SB 259 (Wahab; D-Hayward) Online Pricing. Prohibits businesses from using any input data to create prices or discounts. Forces companies to overhaul their pricing models and strategies at significant cost, to the detriment of both the businesses themselves and their consumers. This threatens not only the profitability of businesses, but also potentially reduces the availability of discounts and personalized deals for consumers. Passed Senate, May 18, 30-9. Passed Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection, June 24, 10-4. Passed Assembly Judiciary, July 15, 8-3. Assembly Inactive File, September 12. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
• SB 295 (Hurtado; D-Bakersfield) Pricing Algorithms. Prohibits a person from using or distributing pricing algorithms that use, incorporate, or were trained on “nonpublic competitor data.” Exposes businesses to significant uncertainty and aggressive liability and creates a chilling effect on the use of this technology by imposing significant cost on all businesses using technological tools. Passed Senate, June 3, 29-10. Failed passage in Assembly, September 13, 13-24. Failed passage in Assembly. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
• SB 384 (Wahab; D-Hayward) Prohibition on Using Information to Set Competitive Pricing. Effectively bans the use of technology to help set prices or help manage supply levels. Will make it harder for businesses to offer discounts and competitive pricing to their customers. Passed Senate, June 3, 28-10. Passed Assembly Judiciary, July 1, 9-2. Passed Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection, July 16, 9-4. Held in Assembly Appropriations Suspense File, August 29. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
• SB 435 (Wahab; D- Hayward) Sensitive Personal Information. Expands the scope of the California Consumer Privacy Act’s (CCPA) definition of sensitive personal information while ignoring the protections existing law already creates and the law’s careful balance between consumer privacy and the free flow of information. Failed passage in Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection, July 16, 7-5; Failed Deadline. Not heard in Senate. CalChamber Opposed.
• SB 763 (Hurtado; D-Bakersfield) Vast Expansion of State Antitrust Penalties. Raises penalties under California’s antitrust law, the Cartwright Act, from $1 million to $6 million, and individual penalties from $250,000 to $1 million, with no demonstrated need for reform or adjustment, thereby increasing liability and costs on businesses. Cost Driver status removed due to amendments. Passed Senate Judiciary, April 8, 11-2 (vote shown). Passed Senate Public Safety, April 29, 5-1 (vote shown). Significant amendments taken to remove Cost Driver status. Passed Senate, June 4, 29-10. Passed Assembly, September 12, 53-10. Senate concurred in Assembly amendments, September 13, 29-8. Signed—Chapter 426. CalChamber Opposed/Former Cost Driver 2025.
Climate Change
• AB 1243 (Addis; D-Morro Bay) Climate Superfund. Imposes retroactive financial liability on companies for lawful greenhouse gas emissions dating back to 1990, sending the message that even strict adherence to the state’s compliance programs is not enough to avoid retroactive penalties down the road. Passed Assembly Natural Resources, April 21, 9-4. April 29 hearing in Assembly Judiciary canceled at author’s request; Failed Deadline. Not heard in Senate. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
• SB 684 (Menjivar; D-San Fernando Valley) Climate Superfund. Imposes retroactive financial liability on companies for lawful greenhouse gas emissions dating back to 1990, sending the message that even strict adherence to the state’s compliance programs is not enough to avoid retroactive penalties down the road. Passed Senate Environmental Quality, April 2, 5-3. April 22 Senate Judiciary hearing canceled at author’s request. Failed Deadline. Not heard in Assembly. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
• SB 755 (Blakespear; D-Encinitas) Climate Disclosure Mandate. Imposes significant costly new mandates on businesses that contract with the state and risks reducing participation in state contracting at a time when public procurement should be more efficient, not more burdensome. Passed Sente Environmental Quality, April 30, 5-2. Held in Senate Appropriations Suspense File, May 23; Failed Deadline. Not heard in Assembly. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
Elections
• AB 596 (Ortega; D-San Leandro) Upends the Referendum Process. Amended September 9 to make unnecessary changes to the state’s direct democracy process, which will make ballot initiative lengthy and more confusing for voters. Passed Senate, September 12, 26-9. Assembly failed to concur in Senate amendments, September 13, 37-22. CalChamber Opposed.
Energy
• AB 825 (Petrie-Norris; D-Irvine) Independent Regional Energy Organization. Originally introduced as SB 540 (Becker; D-Menlo Park) Authorizes the California Independent System Operator and California utilities to integrate into a broader regional energy market governed by an independent regional organization. Will reduce energy costs for Californians. Passed Senate, September 13, 34-0. Assembly concurred in Senate amendments, September 13, 74-1. Signed—Chapter 116. CalChamber Supported/Cost Cutter 2025.
• SB 222 (Wiener; D-San Francisco) Climate-Related Disaster Liability. Sets a troubling precedent of singling out a small, targeted group of companies and makes them jointly, severally, and strictly liable for virtually all damages suffered as a result of climate-related disasters regardless of cause or fault. Failed passage in Senate Judiciary, April 8. 5-2. Not heard in Assembly. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
• SB 254 (Becker; D-Menlo Park) State Wildfire Fund. Strengthens California’s Wildfire Fund to ensure sufficient resources are available to help wildfire victims and communities recover and rebuild, while also taking steps to improve electricity affordability. Opposition removed following major September 10 amendments resulting in the balanced measure signed into law. Passed Senate, September 13, 30-2. Passed Assembly, September 13, 69-0. Signed—Chapter 119. CalChamber Supported.
Environmental Regulation
• AB 405 (Addis; D-Morro Bay) New Climate Disclosure. Imposes duplicative, costly and misaligned regulatory requirements on apparel companies that will increase clothing prices and worsen affordability for Californians, all without delivering meaningful sustainability improvements to global supply chain. Passed Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials, April 8, 5-2. Passed Assembly Natural Resources, April 28, 10-4. Assembly Appropriations Suspense File, May 14. Failed Deadline. Not heard in Senate. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
Labor and Employment
• AB 858 (Lee; D-San Jose) Onerous Return to Work Mandate. Unnecessarily transforms prior COVID-19 specific law that created an onerous and stringent process for specific employers to return employees to the workforce for specified industries into a new mandate that applies to any state of emergency. Cost Driver tag removed due to August 29 amendments narrowing scope and duration of the bill. CalChamber remained opposed. Passed Assembly, June 3, 52-19 (vote shown). Passed Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement, July 9, 4-1 (vote shown). Passed Senate, September 10, 29-10. Assembly concurred in Senate amendments, September 11, 49-19. Signed—Chapter 280. CalChamber Opposed/Former Cost Driver 2025.
• AB 1221 (Bryan; D-Los Angeles) Restricts Use of Data in Employment. Imposes impractical requirements on employers of every size relating to any worker data collected by a workplace surveillance tool, which is defined so broadly that it would impact everything from security footage to emails. Passed Assembly Labor and Employment, April 2, 5-0. Passed Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection, May 1, 10-1. Held in Assembly Appropriations Suspense File, May 23. Not heard in Senate. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
• AB 1234 (Ortega; D-San Leandro) Creates New Penalty and Revises Wage Claim Procedures. Imposes up to a 30% penalty on all orders issued by the Labor Commissioner, which penalizes employers that exercise their due process rights, and also makes other burdensome changes to the existing claims process. Passed Assembly, June 4, 50-14. Passed Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement, June 25, 4-1. Passed Senate Judiciary, July 15, 11-2. Senate Inactive File, September 3. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
• AB 1331 (Elhawary; D-Los Angeles) Restricts Workplace Safety and Security Tools. Undermines workplace safety in every California workplace by effectively prohibiting the use of surveillance technology in the workplace, including security cameras, cybersecurity systems, and anti-theft devices. Passed Assembly, June 5, 55-15. Passed Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement, June 25, 4-1. Passed Senate Judiciary, July 15, 9-2. Senate Inactive File, September 13. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
• SB 7 (McNerney; D-Pleasanton) Restricts Use of Automated Decision Systems in Employment. Imposes impractical requirements on employers of every size related to automated decision systems, which will discourage the use of such tools and subject employers to costly penalties and onerous new compliance procedures. Passed Senate, June 2, 27-10 (vote shown). Passed Assembly, September 11, 45-17. Senate concurred in Assembly amendments, September 12, 28-9. Vetoed. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
• SB 310 (Wiener; D-San Francisco) Expands Private Right of Action for Penalties. Creates a new private right of action for wage and hour penalties that will be manipulated by trial attorneys, undermining the 2024 Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) reform, which sought to reduce avenues for litigation abuse. Passed Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement, April 9, 4-1. Passed Senate Judiciary, April 22, 10-2. To Senate Inactive File at author’s request, June 5. Not heard in Assembly. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
• SB 464 (Smallwood-Cuevas; D-Los Angeles) Publication of Pay Data. Encourages litigation against employers based on the publication of broad, unreliable data collected by the state, which will unnecessarily drive up costs. Cost Driver status and opposition removed based on May 1 amendments removing publication provision. Passed Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement, April 23, 4-1 (vote shown). Significant amendments taken to remove Cost Driver status. Passed Senate, June 2, 27-9. Passed Assembly, September 9, 64-7. Signed — Chapter 760. CalChamber Neutral/Former Cost Driver 2025.
Legal Reform
• AB 446 (Ward; D-San Diego) Burdens Grocery Discounts in California. Makes it considerably harder to offer basic, consumer-friendly pricing practices — such as local discounts, loyalty programs, and others — by restricting the types of discounts that can be offered based on personal data. Also conflicts with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) by rewriting disclosure and consent obligations necessary to use personally identifiable information. Originally created private right of action to enforce its provisions. Removed from Cost Driver list due to amendments to narrow the scope of data obligations, remove the private right of action, and limit the bill to grocery establishments. CalChamber remained opposed. Passed Assembly, May 12, 47-20. Passed Senate Judiciary, July 15, 10-2. To Senate Inactive file, September 10. CalChamber Opposed/Former Cost Driver 2025.
• SB 766 (Allen; D-Santa Monica) Slower Car-Buying Process and Changes to Right of Return. Original bill dramatically increased legal liability to car dealers. Now rewrites existing car-buying process, including: (1) additional disclosures and advisements; (2) creating a longer right to return vehicles and dealership right to recover costs of return. Cost driver tag removed after removal of private right of action (June 26). Opposition removed after July 17 removal of a variety of new obligations, and addition of dealerships’ ability to recover for costs of return. Passed Senate, June 2, 27-9 (vote shown). Passed Assembly Judiciary, July 1, 9-1 (vote shown). Passed Assembly, September 10, 76-1. Senate concurred in Assembly amendments, September 11, 30-8. Signed — Chapter 354. CalChamber Neutral/Former Cost Driver 2025.
Product Regulation
• SB 682 (Allen; D-Santa Monica) Bans PFAS in Cookware. Originally created a de facto ban on the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in all commercial and consumer products, unless Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) was petitioned and determined that the PFAS in a product was an unavoidable use. Because of the breadth and scope of PFAS use, including in aerospace, lithium-ion batteries, medical devices, automotive and semiconductors, to name a few, the regulatory program established was unworkable and ultimately would have led to a ban on critically important products or otherwise made certain products less safe, ultimately driving up prices for consumers. Cost Driver status removed due to June 23 amendments significantly reducing the types of products to which it applies. CalChamber remained opposed because the bill treated fluoropolymers and other polymers of low concern the same as acidic PFAS chemistries for a limited number of product categories, including cookware despite overwhelming science that polymers of low concern exhibit inherently low toxicity, high molecular weight and negligible bioavailability or environmental persistence. Passed Senate Environmental Quality, April 2, 5-3 (vote shown), Passed Senate Health, April 30, 7-2 (vote shown). Passed Senate, June 3, 28-7. Significant amendments taken to remove Cost Driver status. Passed Assembly, September 12, 45-21. Senate concurred in Assembly amendments, September 13, 30-5. Vetoed. CalChamber Opposed/Former Cost Driver 2025.
Taxation
• AB 796 (Lowenthal; D-Long Beach) Tax on Digital Advertising Revenue. Implements a new tax on digital ads. In addition to increasing costs for businesses and in turn consumers, it is likely unconstitutional. Passed Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection, April 22, 8-4. Died in Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee, April 28. Not heard in Senate. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
Water Supply and Quality
• AB 1313 (Papan; D-San Mateo) Water Quality Permits. Requires commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities to obtain a new stormwater permit that would be subject to crushing compliance costs and a private right of action. Passed Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials, April 29, 5-2. Assembly Inactive File, June 4. Not heard in Senate. CalChamber Opposed.
• AB 1413 (Papan; D-San Mateo) Undermines Judicial Oversight and Water Rights Protections. Requires courts to defer to a groundwater sustainability agency’s (GSA) determination of sustainable yield in groundwater adjudications—stripping courts of their ability to independently assess facts, undermining water rights due process, and locking in potentially flawed or unvetted data. Passed Assembly, June 3, 45-21. Passed Senate Natural Resources and Water, July 8, 4-3. Passed Senate Judiciary, July 15, 10-3. Senate Inactive File, September 9. CalChamber Opposed Unless Amended.
• SB 601 (Allen; D-Santa Monica) New Water Quality Permitting Regime. Originally created duplicative permitting obligations and dramatic legal liability requirements for businesses, agriculture, and water and wastewater utilities by granting the water boards broad authority to impose permitting requirements without considering economic impacts or the critical need for housing and recycled water projects. As amended requires new permits for those interacting with a vague category of “nexus waters.” The permit would be subject to prescriptive federal permitting requiremens and punitive enforcement measures. Cost Driver status removed due to removal of the private right of action, but CalChamber remained opposed. Passed Senate, June 4, 23-12. Passed Assembly Judiciary, July 1, 8-2 (vote shown). Significant amendments taken to remove Cost Driver Status. Passed Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials, July 15, 5-2. Assembly Appropriations failed to hear bill, August 29. CalChamber Opposed/Former Cost Driver 2025.
Workers’ Compensation
• SB 632 (Arreguín; D-Berkeley) Expands Costly Presumption of Injury. Significantly increases workers’ compensation costs for public and private hospitals by presuming certain diseases and injuries are caused by the workplace and establishes an extremely concerning precedent for expanding presumptions into the private sector. Has been tried nine times before and failed every time. Passed Senate, June 4, 22-10. In Assembly Insurance, June 16; Failed deadline to pass policy committee in second house, July 17. CalChamber Opposed/Cost Driver 2025.
