June 1, 2026
As the Legislature moves beyond the House of Origin and key policy committee deadlines, several bills tracked by the Orange County Business Council (OCBC) are no longer moving forward this year, while other measures continue advancing through the legislative process.
Throughout the session, OCBC actively engaged on a broad range of proposals through coalition advocacy, position letters and direct engagement with policymakers to ensure the voice of Orange County’s business community was represented.
Bills No Longer Moving Forward in 2026
Housing, Land Use and Development
- AB 1543 (Quirk-Silva) – Would have expanded statewide application of Mobilehome Residency Law rent increase caps to all mobilehome parks, extending existing rent limitation frameworks beyond current jurisdictional applicability. OCBC Position: Opposed
- AB 1553 (Connolly) – Would have authorized electronic mail as an alternative method for certain CEQA public notice requirements when affirmatively requested by recipients, modifying existing public notice procedures under environmental review law. OCBC Position: Opposed
Energy, Environment and Regulatory Authority
- AB 1777 (Garcia) – Would have authorized the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations addressing emissions from indirect sources of pollution where necessary to achieve ambient air quality standards, expanding state-level authority into an area currently shared with air districts. OCBC Position: Opposed
Business Regulation, Technology and Economic Policy
- AB 1898 (Schultz) – Would have required employer notice and disclosure regarding the use of workplace artificial intelligence tools in employment-related decisions, including maintenance and reporting of AI tool inventories and related enforcement provisions. OCBC Position: Opposed
- AB 2027 (Ward) – Would have established limitations on the use of worker personal information in the training of artificial intelligence systems, including prohibiting the use or disclosure of such data to develop AI tools intended to replicate or replace a worker’s job and setting parameters around related data use and sharing. OCBC Position: Opposed
- AB 2064 (Sharp-Collins) – Would have expanded nondiscrimination protections under the Unruh Civil Rights Act to include criminal history as a protected category within business establishment access requirements. OCBC Position: Opposed
- AB 2170 (Boerner) – Would have required full CEQA review for specified industrial development projects located in or near overburdened communities and would limit the availability of statutory exemptions and ministerial review processes for those projects. OCBC Position: Opposed
Workforce and Economic Policy
- SB 690 (Caballero) – Would have added an exemption to existing communications interception restrictions for defined commercial business purposes, including certain data processing activities subject to consumer opt-out rights. OCBC Position: Support
- SB 982 (Wiener) – Would have authorized the Attorney General to bring civil actions against specified fossil fuel companies to recover climate-related costs and would have established strict liability for covered entities. OCBC Position: Opposed
*A similar Assembly bill, AB 1776 (Aguiar-Curry), did pass through* - SB 1074 (Wiener) – Would have prohibited covered digital platform providers from self-preferencing their own products and imposed interoperability and data portability requirements for business users and consumers under antitrust law. OCBC Position: Opposed
- SB 1222 (Choi) – Would have established regulatory changes intended to improve operational clarity and efficiency in business and development-related processes. OCBC Position: Support
- SB 1318 (Allen) – Would have addressed infrastructure and development-related policy changes with implications for project delivery timelines and associated costs. OCBC Position: Opposed
Held in Suspense
Tax Policy
- AB 1790 (Connolly) – The Corporation Tax Law imposes tax on corporate net income and provides rules for apportioning income for multistate and multinational corporations, including the option for taxpayers to file using a water’s-edge election or a worldwide unitary reporting method. This bill would modify existing rules governing the water’s-edge election by requiring certain U.S. shareholder income from controlled foreign corporations to be included within the water’s-edge group and adjusting the treatment of apportionment factors for specified corporations beginning in 2026. OCBC Position: Opposed
Bills Still Advancing in 2026
Antitrust and Competition Policy
- AB 1776 (Aguiar-Curry) – The Cartwright Act prohibits unlawful restraints of trade and establishes standards for enforcement of antitrust violations under California law. Existing law provides pleading standards and applies a “rule of reason” analysis in evaluating certain antitrust claims, balancing anticompetitive effects against potential procompetitive justifications. This bill would expand prohibitions on conduct deemed to monopolize or restrain trade, including prohibiting certain anticompetitive effects in one market from being offset by benefits in another market and limiting the consideration of broader justifications when evaluating alleged antitrust harms. OCBC Position: Opposed
Housing Policy
- AB 1903 (Wicks) – Establishes an alternative certified building process for certain condominium and townhouse developments beginning in 2027, including private inspection, repair, and certification procedures intended to streamline construction defect resolution and improve predictability in post-construction claims. The bill passed the Assembly Floor with strong bipartisan support. OCBC Position: Support
Workforce and Technology Policy
- SB 947 (McNerney) – Restricts employer use of automated decision systems in employment-related contexts, including limitations on use for employment decisions, disclosure requirements, and employee access to related data, along with enforcement and penalty provisions. OCBC Position: Oppose
Energy and Infrastructure Policy
- SB 1359 (Stern) – Would require the California Public Utilities Commission, prior to approving certain capital investments by gas corporations exceeding $10 million for natural gas distribution infrastructure, to make specified findings related to consistency with the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. The bill would also require utilities to provide supporting evidence regarding the proposed investment. OCBC Position: Opposed
OCBC Policy Newsroom
The OCBC Policy Newsroom serves as a central hub for members and stakeholders to stay informed on key legislative and regulatory developments affecting Orange County’s business community. The newsroom provides timely updates on priority bills, OCBC advocacy efforts, coalition activities and policy outcomes.
For questions, please email Amanda Walsh, Vice President of Government Affairs.
