2026 Legislation

Over the past two years, California Democrats delivered the most significant housing reforms in a generation — bending the curve on the country’s housing crisis and building a national model for constructing homes faster in every corner of California.

Housing costs are the single biggest financial strain on working families. The fastest way to bring down costs is the one Assembly Democrats chose: cut the red tape and make it easier to build more affordable homes, faster.

Under Speaker Rivas’ leadership, Assembly Democrats developed, introduced, voted for and enacted the most sweeping housing affordability reforms in decades.

This includes a generational step towards lowering housing costs by putting an $11.25 billion Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026 before voters — a historic investment that fast-tracks construction and expands homeownership opportunities for veterans, military families, and working Californians. The bond will support tens of thousands of high-paying construction jobs and is designed to leverage federal tax credits and private financing so that every $1 invested by the state generates an estimated $4 in outside investment.

In addition to this, the Assembly took bold action, advancing dozens of bills to accelerate housing production, cut red tape, expand access to affordable housing, support first-time and middle-class homebuyers, and help more Californians find safe and stable places to live.

• AB 1751 (Quirk-Silva) — Make building townhomes easier and faster to offer more affordable housing options to middle-class Californians.
• AB 1786 (Harabedian) — Support local governments with housing, infrastructure and other public projects faster by expanding best-value contracting options.
• AB 1842 (Harabedian) — Protect disaster survivors from losing their homes by requiring mortgage forbearance when a declared emergency makes their home uninhabitable.
• AB 2074 (Matt Haney) — Speed-up housing construction near major transit hubs and helps lower barriers to building new homes.
• AB 2518 (Sharp-Collins) — Connect affordable housing, health facilities and other community projects to power faster by establishing clearer utility energization timelines.

Speaker Rivas kicked-off the 2025-2026 legislative session with a challenge for his Assembly colleagues — address the everyday cost-drivers for Californians and “chart a new path forward and renew the California Dream.”

And Assembly Democrats stepped up to the plate, delivering real solutions that will stabilize costs and alter the trajectory on affordability. From improving consumer protections to sustaining and expanding access to essential services that workers and families rely on, Assembly Democrats demanded accountability for large corporations, created new protections from predatory lenders and financial scams, and pushed back against Trump’s dangerous cuts to benefits and programs.

This legislative year, Assembly Democrats advanced the following solutions to:

• AB 1751 (Quirk-Silva) — Make building townhomes easier and faster, to offer more affordable housing options to middle-class Californians.
• AB 1786 (Harabedian) — Support local governments with housing, infrastructure and other public projects faster by expanding best-value contracting options.
• AB 2074 (Matt Haney) — Speed up housing construction near major transit hubs and helps lower barriers to building new homes.
• AB 2589 (Irwin) — Make sure that, when there are savings for investor-owned utilities due to federal corporate tax changes, those dollars are passed along to ratepayers.
• AB 2383 (Chavez-Zbur) — Protect Californians from being stuck with higher electricity costs driven by large energy users like data centers.
• AB 2463 (Petrie-Norris) — Bring greater transparency and accountability to how utility profits are determined so ratepayers can better see how electricity and gas rates are set.
• AB 2493 (Petrie-Norris) — Speed-up the process to connect new clean energy projects to the grid, helping California bring more affordable power online faster.
• AB 2739 (Soria) — Make water more affordable by creating a long-term fund to support water rate assistance and local water infrastructure investments.
• AB 1776 (Aguiar-Curry) — Strengthen California’s consumer protection laws to make sure there is competition between businesses, protecting small businesses and keeping costs down for everyday Californians.
• AB 2116 (Schiavo) — Defend small businesses against predatory lending practices and strengthen financial protections for entrepreneurs.
• AB 2646 (Krell) — Raise wages for farmworkers by setting a $19.75 minimum hourly wage for certain agricultural workers, with annual cost-of-living increases.

Despite Trump’s heartless cuts to health care under his H.R. 1 budget bill, Speaker Rivas and Assembly Democrats stood firm in their belief that everyone should be able to afford to see a doctor. Understanding that health care access is a matter of affordability, it became a defining principle of this legislative year.

In February, California accelerated $90 million in critical funding to protect access to reproductive and women’s health care services statewide, ensuring Planned Parenthood centers remain open and able to provide essential care — including cancer screenings, contraception, STD testing and treatment, and safe abortion services — even as federal actions have forced clinic closures in other states.

The 2026-27 state budget was the main vehicle for protecting Californians’ access to the services they rely on: standing against Trump’s relentless attacks on our health care system, which take away more than $30 billion from California patients, families, seniors and children.

The budget makes key health investments in the areas they’re needed most:

• Supports distressed hospitals by authorizing $190 million in loans
• Lowers Covered California premiums with $300 million in subsidies
• Protects reproductive health care and gender-affirming care with tens of millions in dedicated investments
• Rejects Trump’s most damaging cuts to Medi-Cal, clinic funding, and dental care, and delays punishing cuts that target California’s immigrant communities

Assembly Democrats also fought to protect care through their legislation — passing bills that ensure Californians remain connected to the resources they rely on most.

• AB 2081 (Stefani) — Expand access to home-based care so Californians with significant medical needs can receive care in their communities instead of more costly institutional settings.
• AB 2531 (Irwin) — Help veterans access abortion and contraception care when those services are not covered by their existing health care.
• AB 1591 (Rodriguez) — Build California’s health care workforce by creating a pipeline program for students pursuing careers in podiatric medicine.
• AB 1857 (Aguiar-Curry) — Improve food access by stopping large grocery chains from using restrictive covenants to block new grocery stores from opening on abandoned sites.
• AB 2244 (Gabriel) — Make it easier for families to identify healthier foods by creating a “Non-Ultraprocessed Certified” food standard and seal.
• AB 2765 (Ahrens) — Protect children, families and foster youth from hunger by expanding CalWORKs support and seeking federal protection from SNAP cuts.

Trump’s cuts are increasing health care costs, but instead of passing increases on to patients, the Assembly fought to protect access, keep as many Californians covered as possible, and lower health insurance premiums.

California continues to confront the impact of climate change, pollution and extreme weather, and Assembly Democrats are leading on policies to strengthen environmental safeguards and build a cleaner, more sustainable future.

• AB 2313 (Berman) — Helps homeowners make the switch from gas to clean electric energy when gas service lines need replacement.
• AB 2619 (Papan) — Requires data centers to disclose water use and helps local communities plan for the strain large facilities can place on water supplies.
• AB 1603 (Schultz) — Restricts PFAS-containing pesticides and increases transparency around their use.

Making sure schools, teachers and students have the tools and resources they need to succeed is always a top priority for Speaker Rivas and Assembly Democrats.

This year, the Assembly delivered major investments in classrooms, teachers and student success and new legislation to help kids learn, educators thrive and schools meet the needs of their communities.

From a historic cost-of-living adjustment for school districts and record per-student funding to fully paid pregnancy leave for educators and stronger teacher preparation and training, the 2026-27 budget makes significant investments in California’s public education system while protecting the state’s long-term fiscal stability.

Assembly Democrats also advanced legislation that targets student achievement, strengthens the state’s teacher workforce and ensures California continues to set every child up for a bright future:

• AB 1904 (Gipson) — Builds California’s teacher workforce by establishing a stronger credentialed educator apprenticeship pathway.
• AB 2429 (Rubio) — Helps early childhood educators better support children’s social-emotional development by reducing red tape in early childhood mental health consultation services.
• AB 2580 (Muratsuchi) — Expands teacher preparation pathways, including new online options to help rural and underserved communities train and retain educators.
• AB 2225 (Patel) — Creates a statewide plan with goals and benchmarks aimed at closing student achievement gaps.

California is leading the nation in holding Trump accountable for his failed immigration policies. Speaker Rivas and Assembly Democrats have repeatedly stood up against the Trump administration’s indiscriminate ICE raids, inhumane detention centers, heartless cuts to essential services and fear campaigns targeting communities of color.

Since the beginning of 2026, they have continued the fight: advancing legislation empowering state law enforcement to investigate federal agent killings, imposing new levies on detention centers, requiring disclosures when ICE is present in our communities and preventing locals from assisting heartless immigration raids.

This summer, lawmakers voted to deliver a 2026-27 state budget that makes significant, strategic investments to ensure California’s immigrants will continue to access health care, legal aid, essential services and feel protected and safe in their communities:

• Invests $257 million to support immigrant communities, including legal services and DREAM Resource Centers — helping workers, parents, students and families access legal representation, navigate the immigration system and connect with critical resources in their communities.
• Prevents health insurance premium increases for many immigrant Californians for an entire year — including DACA recipients, students, workers and undocumented individuals. The new budget sustains health access for thousands of families.
• Preserves access to Medi-Cal coverage for asylees and other qualified immigrants by delaying proposed restrictions due to Trump’s agenda. The budget also extends full-scope Medi-Cal coverage for refugees and asylees through the current fiscal year.
• Defends access to care by delaying proposed dental benefit cuts and clinic payment reductions, ensuring immigrant families can continue receiving preventive and routine health services.

The Assembly also passed dozens of bills that enhance public safety and oversight of ICE, and make sure immigrant families and communities of color are safe at our schools, businesses, hospitals and child care centers:

• AB 1049 (C. Rodriguez) — Makes California Food Assistance Program eligibility more accessible by limiting and ultimately eliminating federal sponsor-deeming rules for the state-funded food assistance program.
• AB 1537 (Bryan) — Stops California peace officers from moonlighting as ICE agents by prohibiting secondary employment involving federal immigration enforcement.
• AB 1627 (Ávila Farías) — Prevents immigration enforcement officers with serious misconduct histories that would disqualify other law enforcement officers from becoming California peace officers.
• AB 1633 (Haney) — Imposes a 50 percent tax on private immigration detention centers and directs the revenue to immigration-related services.
• AB 1650 (Caloza) — Requires rented vehicles used in law enforcement operations to clearly identify the agency using them, bringing transparency to unmarked ICE-style enforcement tactics.
• AB 1655 (Bryan) — Protects families from losing CalWORKs aid when a child or household member is unlawfully detained by ICE.
• AB 1801 (Lee) — Requires cities, counties and other public agencies to provide public notice and follow specified procedures before approving the construction or reuse of buildings for private detention facilities.
• AB 1806 (Gabriel) — Requires an independent state investigation into fatal federal immigration officer-involved shootings.
• AB 1807 (Gabriel) — Keeps ICE operations off state-owned property by prohibiting state facilities from being used for immigration enforcement staging, processing, detention or operations.
• AB 1896 (M. González) — Disqualifies certain individuals who personally engaged in federal immigration enforcement from becoming California peace officers or holding other public employment.
• AB 1994 (Alvarez) — Requires law enforcement and prosecutors to provide an Immigrant Victims Rights and Resources card, including information on U visas, T visas and VAWA relief.
• AB 2230 (Ávila Farías) — Protects children and families by prohibiting child care facilities from voluntarily allowing law enforcement into nonpublic areas without a judicial warrant, subpoena or court order, except in limited circumstances.
• AB 2318 (Elhawary) — Prohibits law enforcement from denying or delaying emergency medical care for people under their control when treatment can be safely provided.
• AB 2379 (Solache) — Requires family daycare providers to receive clear, multilingual training on their rights during ICE or other law enforcement encounters.
• AB 2393 (Addis) — Cracks down on ICE impersonators and false arrests by allowing victims to seek damages when false imprisonment involves masks, restraints, weapons or forced transport.
• AB 2460 (C. Rodriguez) — Requires schools to update behavioral health referral protocols to better support students and families affected by immigration enforcement or deportation.
• AB 2465 (Ortega) — Cuts off state grants, loans and tax credits for businesses that profit from private detention facilities or federal immigration enforcement contracts.
• AB 2495 (Kalra) — Expands the scope of prohibited unfair immigration-related practices that unscrupulous employers use to intimidate and dissuade workers from asserting their workplace rights.
• AB 2624 (Bonta) — Extends California’s existing Safe at Home address confidentiality program to immigration support service providers, employees and volunteers who face documented threats, harassment or violence.
• AB 2721 (Carrillo) — Requires hotels to notify workers when ICE or Border Patrol has a reservation on site.

Since the first day of Rivas’ time as Speaker, Assembly Democrats have leveled-up oversight: cracking down on corruption and abuse, increasing transparency and holding corporations and public officials accountable. The Speaker has always prioritized government accountability — he even created a new Budget subcommittee focused on oversight and lowered the number of bills legislators can carry each two-year session from 50 to 35.

This year marked the successful completion of the Assembly’s pilot cohort of the Outcomes Review project. Launched by Speaker Rivas in 2025, the Outcomes Review program is a first-in-the-nation oversight effort designed to evaluate whether enacted laws are delivering real-world results.

15 Assemblymembers participated in the pilot cohort, reviewing 14 enacted bills with topics ranging from housing, affordability, energy, health care, worker protections, wildfire recovery, foster care and more.

Dozens of hearings convened experts, advocates, community groups, and local leaders to examine how legislation is implemented and understand where adjustments may be needed. These hearings asked tough questions, allowed for public input and made progress on solutions to ensure lasting benefits for Californians.

The Assembly also passed new legislation to strengthen government accountability and protect taxpayer dollars.

• AB 69 (Calderon) — Improves transparency, strengthening reporting requirements and making it easier for FAIR Plan policyholders to learn about and access coverage options in the traditional market.
• AB 1842 (Harabedian) — Would establish a permanent statewide emergency mortgage forbearance framework.
• AB 1847 (Harabedian) — Would extend relief for survivors of the Eaton and Palisades Fires as rebuilding continues.
• AB 2221 (Irwin) — Strengthened oversight of online charitable fundraising to ensure donations raised on platforms get to charitable organizations.
• AB 1813 (Ward) — Requires the CPUC to amend its program to meet the original intent of AB 2316.
• AB 2103 (Irwin) — Strengthens how Californians engage with state government through the Office of Data and Innovation.
• AB 1729 (Lee) — Promotes transparency and taxpayer savings by requiring clearer state telework policies and tracking the cost-effectiveness of remote work.
• AB 2409 (Valencia) — Prevents public officials from using their positions to profit from meme coins.

Speaker Rivas and Assembly Democrats want every corner of California to be a safe place to live, work and raise a family. They have taken a comprehensive approach to public safety — prioritizing accountability for offenders, support for victims of crime, and investment in prevention and rehabilitation programs that make communities safer over the long term.

And Assembly Democrats are making sure the state adapts to the ever-changing digital landscape. From AI chatbots to social media, the Assembly’s focus remains on protecting Californians online — especially when it comes to kids.

This includes holding social media companies accountable for causing harm to children, legislation to enhance online privacy and new protections surrounding artificial intelligence’s use in health care settings and impact on the workforce.

The Assembly also passed a first-in-the-nation law to prohibit children under 16 from using social media accounts on platforms with addictive features.

• AB 2047 (Bauer-Kahan) — Helps stop the spread of 3D-printed ghost guns by requiring firearm-blocking technology in certain 3D printers.
• AB 1883 (Bryan) — Protects workers from invasive AI-powered workplace surveillance by limiting employers’ use of tools that track, profile or make sensitive inferences about employees.
• AB 1709 (Lowenthal) — Protects kids under 16 from addictive social media features.
• AB 2727 (Ngyuen) — Raises parole standards for people convicted of serious sex crimes against children and strengthens review before release.
• AB 1546 (Schultz) — Increases criminal penalties for repeat DUIs.
• AB 1946 (Wicks) — Holds social media platforms accountable for responding to child sexual abuse material and strengthens protections for children online.
• AB 1856 (Wicks) — Strengthens California’s online age-safety law so websites, browsers and apps can better protect children’s privacy and safety.

Speaker Rivas and Assembly Democrats believe deeply that the California Dream should be achievable for everyone. As Trump and Congressional Republicans escalate their attacks on diversity, civil rights and the social safety net, California continues to lead by protecting opportunity, representation, and equal treatment for all.

From supporting the LGBTQ+ community to combatting hate speech in workplace and school settings, Assembly Democrats are always working to make sure all Californians feel protected.

• AB 1883 (Bryan) — Restricts employers’ use of invasive AI-enabled workplace surveillance, including tools that infer workers’ emotions or collect highly sensitive biometric or neural data.
• AB 2374 (Fong) — Creates a state designation for colleges and universities that excel at supporting Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students.
• AB 1881 (Ramos) — Protects Native American religious and spiritual practices on state lands.