Bill Watch List / 2026 Session

Updated: 6/5/2026 9:40 AM

SUPPORT:

• AB2249 – Cannabis: Labels, Packaging, and Manufacturing – 2026
  6/3/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee – Strengthens cannabis regulations by prohibiting products, packaging, and labeling that are “attractive to children” as defined in the bill, and requires the state to create clear standards and a voluntary review process to help businesses ensure compliance.

• AB2534 – Forced Marriage Added to Domestic Violence Law – 2026
  5/20/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee – Expands California’s Domestic Violence Prevention Act to explicitly recognize and address forced marriage as a form of domestic violence, providing courts with broader authority to issue protective orders and prevent related coercive conduct.

• AB2212 – Campus Digital Sexual Exploitation Policy and Training Expansion – 2026
  5/27/2026 – Passed Assembly – Sent to the Senate – The original bill strengthened campus sexual harassment policies through improved prevention training and reporting requirements, while the amended version greatly expands the bill by adding AI- and technology-related sexual misconduct definitions (such as sextortion, doxing, and nonconsensual explicit images), requiring colleges to adopt expanded policies, training, victim resources, and reporting procedures, and tying compliance to eligibility for state financial aid funding.

• SB300 – Companion Chatbot Safety and Minor Protections – 2026
  5/11/2026 – Passed Senate – Referred to Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committees – Amends CA law to strengthen requirements for companion chatbot operators, mandating clearer user notifications, enhanced protocols to prevent harmful content, and stricter protections for minors against sexually explicit material.

• SB1373 – Stricter Eligibility for Mental Health Diversion – 2026
  6/4/2026 – Passed Senate – Referred to Assembly Public Safety Committee – Tightens eligibility and suitability requirements for California’s mental health diversion program by requiring a recent diagnosis (within 5 years), expanding the list of disqualifying offenses—including attempted murder, kidnapping, carjacking, human trafficking, child abuse, and crimes causing great bodily injury—restricting eligibility for repeat and “Three Strikes” offenders, raising the standard for public safety risk, and adding additional court hearing requirements.

• AB1705 – Pornographic Website Consent and Verification Requirements – 2026
  6/3/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee – Requires pornographic websites to make sure sexual content is posted only with consent, requires uploaders to confirm no minors are involved, and allows victims to sue if these rules are broken.

• SCR153 – National Day of Prayer – 2026
  5/7/2026 – Passed Senate – Sent to the Assembly – RESOLUTION. Designates May 7, 2026, as the National Day of Prayer in California, encouraging collective reflection and prayer.

• AB2242 – Sextortion Awareness Posters in School Restrooms – 2026
  6/1/2026 – Passed Assembly – Sent to the Senate – Requires California public schools serving grades 7–12 to display restroom posters in English and any additional language spoken by at least 15% of students, providing information and resources on sextortion.
• SB1276 – Expanded Child Sexual Exploitation and AI-Generated Content Ban – 2026
  6/1/2026 – Passed Senate – Referred to Assembly Public Safety Committee – Expands the crime of child sexual exploitation to include downloading, streaming, or accessing illegal material and adds AI-generated or digitally altered images of minors engaged in sexual conduct to the definition of unlawful content.

• AB1709 – Minimum Age for Social Media Accounts – 2026
  6/1/2026 – Passed Assembly – Sent to the Senate – Prohibits social media platforms from permitting a user who is under 16 years of age to create or maintain an account, requires them to implement reasonable measures to prevent users under 16 years of age from accessing or using accounts, grants the Attorney General authority to adjust which platforms are covered, and creates a new e-Safety Advisory Commission to oversee implementation and enforcement.
• AB1946 – Social Media Liability for Child Sexual Exploitation – 2026
  6/3/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Privacy, Digital Technologies, and Consumer Protection and Judiciary Committees – Establishes and strengthens civil penalties for social media platforms that facilitate child sexual exploitation, expands coverage to include AI-generated abuse content, requires clear reporting systems with rapid review and removal timelines, mandates audit reporting to the state, and directs penalties to support victims.
• SB1128 – “Wait Until 8th” Social Media Program Authorization – 2026
  6/4/2026 – Passed Senate – Referred to Assembly Education Committee – June 17 hearing postponed – Allows school districts and charter schools to establish a “Wait Until 8th” program encouraging families to delay social media use until at least eighth grade, while keeping existing authority to restrict student social media use during school hours.

• AB2592 – Lobbyist Ethics Training Modernization – 2026
  5/27/2026 – Passed Assembly – Sent to the Senate – Shifts responsibility for lobbyist ethics training to the Fair Political Practices Commission, requires an online course covering lobbying laws and harassment policies, and ties completion of the course to lobbyist certification.

OPPOSE:

• AB1854 – Anti-Reproductive-Rights Crimes Reporting – 2026
  5/28/2026 – Passed Assembly – Sent to the Senate – Expands California’s existing “shield law” by broadly prohibiting law enforcement, government entities, and private organizations from cooperating with out-of-state investigations or legal actions related to health care activities—such as abortion or gender-related care—that are legal in California, even if those activities occur outside the state, and imposes penalties for violations.
• AB1930 – Restrictions on Sharing Reproductive and Gender Care Data – 2026
  5/28/2026 – Passed Assembly – Sent to the Senate – Limits when California businesses can share information with out-of-state or federal authorities about abortion or gender-affirming care, and lets the Attorney General enforce the law and penalize violations.
• AB1973 – Expanded Non-Physician Abortion Provider Authority – 2026
  5/27/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee – Allows nurse practitioners, ceritfied nurse mid-wives, and physician assistants to perform second and third trimester abortions and limits disciplinary actions against out-of-state providers for abortion-related “care.”
• AB2164 – Out-of-State Abortion Protection and Extradition Limitation – 2026
  6/3/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Public Safety and Judiciary Committees – Expands California’s legal protections for those involved in abortion and gender-affirming procedures by extending safeguards to actions taken in other states (if lawful there) and restricting extradition for individuals accused of participating in these activities.
• AB2531 – Veterans’ Access to Reproductive Health Services – 2026
  5/27/2026 – Passed Assembly – Sent to the Senate – Expands a California reproductive health grant program to include eligible veterans lacking coverage for abortion and contraception, and requires the state to provide online access to abortion information for women veterans.
• AB2540 – Medication Abortion Services Expansion – 2026
  5/27/2026 – Passed Assembly – Sent to the Senate – Requires public university health centers to actively promote medication abortion and, if funded by the state, offer medication abortions onsite.
• SB106 – Budget Amendment Funding Planned Parenthood (Companion to AB106)
  2/11/2026 – Passed Senate & Assembly – Signed into law by the Governor – Budget Trailer. Includes $90 million in one-time general fund appropriations for grants to reproductive health care providers like Planned Parenthood. (Companion to AB106)

• SB10 – Climate Gender Impact Assessments and Border Infrastructure Funding – 2026
  5/14/2026 – Passed Senate – Referred to Assembly Natural Resources Committee – Expands California climate planning requirements by mandating gender impact assessments in statewide climate adaptation and extreme heat policies, including analysis of “gendered impacts” and inequities related to climate change.

• AB2697 – Drive-Through Cannabis Sales Authorization – 2026
  5/20/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee – Allows local governments to permit licensed cannabis retailers to sell or deliver cannabis through secure drive-through windows.

• AJR29 – Opposition to Federal Limits on Vote-by-Mail – 2026
  5/20/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee – RESOLUTION. Opposes federal actions that would restrict California’s vote-by-mail system, affirms its security and accessibility, and urges Congress to protect states’ authority over elections.

• AB1792 – Dating Abuse and Digital Violence Education Review – 2026
  5/27/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Education Committee – Requires California’s Instructional Quality Commission to consider adding comprehensive sexual health education on dating abuse and digital violence, with a focus on pushing LGBTQIA+ ideology on students in the name of teaching safety.
• AB1851 – Student Social Emotional Learning Mandate – 2026
  5/28/2026 – Passed Assembly – Sent to the Senate – Directs the state to develop guidance for a statewide social-emotional learning (SEL) and behavioral health framework, requires schools to implement it to the extent funding is available, establishes regional lead agencies to support implementation, and adds phased rollout and staff training requirements. EDITOR’S NOTE: SEL programs often extend beyond teaching emotional skills and character traits by incorporating lessons on personal identity, race, gender, and other social identities; introducing concepts related to equity, privilege, and systemic injustice; encouraging student activism or advocacy on public issues; framing current political and social controversies through a secular humanist perspective; and promoting values or societal viewpoints that are ideological rather than educational.
• SB608 – Mandated Condom Access in Grades 7-12 in Public Schools – 2026
  5/4/2026 – Passed Senate – Referred to the Assembly Education and Health Committees – Requires public schools to make condoms readily available to students in grades 7-12 and bans stores from refusing to sell contraception based on age.

• AB1980 – Construction Apprenticeship Grants for Underrepresented Groups – 2026
  6/3/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee – Establishes a grant program that provides construction apprenticeships to women, nonbinary identified individuals, and other underrepresented populations in California, consequently discriminating against people because of their sex or sexual orientation.

• AB2047 – Regulating 3-D Printers to Block Firearm Production – 2026
  6/3/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committees – Regulates the manufacturing of 3D printers to ensure they cannot be used to produce firearms and illegal firearm parts.
• ACR191 – National Gun Violence Awareness Day Resolution – 2026
  6/4/2026 – Passed Assembly – Sent to the Senate – Declares June 5, 2026, as National Gun Violence Awareness Day in California and encourages citizens to support efforts to prevent gun violence and honor victims and survivors. The resolution also promotes wearing orange to raise awareness about gun violence prevention.

• AB1578 – Antihate Speech Training for Public Officials – 2026
  6/3/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Local Government and Governmental Organization Committees – Requires state and local officials to complete ongoing anti-hate-speech training—both as a standalone requirement and as a component of existing sexual harassment training—and mandates record keeping of completion, but does not define “hate speech,” raising concerns that it could be used to pressure Christian officials to view or express their beliefs as hateful or unacceptable.
• AB1803 – Workplace Hate Speech Training – 2026
  5/13/2026 – Passed Assembly – Sent to the Senate – Amends California law to require employers with five or more employees to include anti-hate speech training as part of existing mandatory sexual harassment and abusive conduct prevention training for employees.

• AB2624 – Stop Nick Shirley Act – 2026
  5/27/2026 – Passed Assembly – Sent to the Senate – Seeks to punish the work of independent journalists, like Nick Shirley, who are exposing corruption among many of the service providers receiving government funds to help recent legal and illegal immigrants. It prohibits the public posting, display, solicitation, sale, or trading of personal information or images of designated immigration support services providers, employees, or volunteers on the internet with the intent to incite violence or threats, or to place individuals in reasonable fear for their safety.

• AB1540 – Expanded Suicide Prevention Resources for the LGBTQ+ Youth Fund – 2026
  5/28/2026 – Passed Assembly – Sent to the Senate – Requires California to add an LGBTQ+ routing option to the 988 suicide hotline.
• AB1876 – Health Insurance Gender Affirming Coverage Mandate – 2026
  6/4/2026 – Passed Assembly – Passed Senate Health Committee and Referred to Judiciary Committee – Prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage for sex rejecting medical procedures and drugs, like puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, or double mastectomies for minors, referred to in the text as “gender affirming care.”
• AB2563 – Expanded Definition of Sex Discrimination – 2026
  5/27/2026 – Passed Assembly – Sent to the Senate – Requires all California laws prohibiting sex or gender discrimination to be interpreted broadly and expands the definition of “sex” to include perceived characteristics and gender stereotypes under civil rights and employment laws.
• SB934 – Conversion Therapy Lawsuit Framework – 2026
  6/3/2026 – Passed Senate – Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee – Allows people to sue for damages caused by “sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts” from a licensed mental health provider within 22 years after date of the alleged damage, if the person was a minor at the time, and within 10 years if they were 18 years of age or older. “The bill defines ‘sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts’ to include efforts to direct a patient toward a particular sexual orientation or a particular gender identity.” EDITOR’S NOTE: This bill, sponsored solely by Democrats, is obviously directed at “licensed mental health care providers” who would attempt to steer patients away from “changing” their biological gender.”
• SB1114 – Disclosure Limits for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data – 2026
  5/26/2026 – Passed Senate – Sent to the Assembly – Prohibits disclosure of data on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and intersex status collected by state agencies and public colleges by restricting its disclosure in personally identifiable form and limiting access outside of California state government.
• SB1328 – Equity in Higher Education Act – 2026
  5/26/2026 – Passed Senate – Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee – Requires California State University and Community College campuses to designate and publicize LGBTQ+ points of contact at main and additional campus locations, ensures access to support services across sites, and provides confidentiality protections while clarifying these contacts are separate from Title IX reporting roles.

• AR111 – Relative to International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia, and Transphobia. (Companion to SR111) – 2026
  5/18/2026 – Passed Assembly – Voice Vote – Designates May 17, 2026, as International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia, and Transphobia in California, urging support for LGBTQ+ communities and reaffirming the state’s commitment to equality and inclusion. (Companion to SR111)
• SR111 – Relative to International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia, and Transphobia. (Companion to AR111) – 2026
  5/19/2026 – Passed Senate – Designates May 17, 2026, as International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia, and Transphobia in California, urging support for LGBTQ+ communities and reaffirming the state’s commitment to equality and inclusion. (Companion to AR111)

• AB2017 – Eid Holidays State Recognition – 2026
  6/3/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Governmental Organization and Education Committees – Designates Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha as official California state holidays, authorizing school and workplace closures, even though only 1-2 percent of California’s population is Muslim.
• ACA7 – Constitutional Amendment Narrowing Anti-Discrimination Protections in Public Education – 2026
  6/4/2026 – Passed Assembly – Passed first Senate Committee and Re-referred Elections and Constitutional Amendments – Constitutional Amendment. Keeps the anti-discrimination and anti-preferential treatment rules in place for state jobs, college admissions, and public contracts, but on the positive side, it would no longer apply to other public education settings.

• SR113 – International Day of Peace Resolution – 2026
  5/20/2026 – Passed Senate Committees and waiting for a vote by the full Senate – Commemorates the United Nations-designated International Day of Peace and encourages Californians to promote peace, nonviolence, mutual understanding, and international cooperation. The resolution also honors the late Chancellor Young-Seek Choue for helping initiate the concept that led to the UN observance.

WATCH:

• SB1083 – Statewide Educator Misconduct Reporting and Database – 2026
  5/22/2026 – Passed Senate – Sent to the Assembly – Requires schools to report and investigate serious employee misconduct and creates a statewide database that schools must check before hiring—including private schools—while expanding requirements to mandate timely investigations, completion even if an employee leaves, employee notice and hearing rights, and ongoing reporting of substantiated and pending cases.

• AB1628 – Keeping Infants From Danger Act – 2026
  6/3/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee – Extends CA safe surrender law to allow infants up to 30 days old to be safely surrendered without prosecution and requires schools to educate students about this option. Currently, the law only applies to infants 72 hours old or younger.

• AB2448 – Expanded Medical Data Privacy Requirements – 2026
  5/20/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Privacy, Digital Technologies, and Consumer Protection Committee – Requires businesses that store medical data to strengthen security protections—especially for sensitive services like abortion and gender-related care—and expands enforcement of existing privacy laws.
• SB1088 – Updates Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Laws – 2026
  5/26/2026 – Passed Senate – Referred to Assembly Committees on Health and Judiciary – Modernizes California’s POLST laws by expanding who can execute and sign forms, allowing electronic signatures, recognizing out-of-state orders, and clarifying that participation is voluntary. EDITOR’S NOTE: Monitoring for any potential impact on assisted suicide policies.

• AB1784 – Expanded Pregnancy and Nondiscrimination Protections in Colleges – 2026
  6/3/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Education and Judiciary Committees – Expands nondiscrimination protections in colleges to include pregnancy and related conditions, requires accommodations and leave options for both undergraduate and graduate students, and strengthens school responsibilities to inform and support affected students. Watching because it embeds abortion-related accommodations into state higher-ed policy.

• AB2246 – Children’s Online Privacy and Safety Protections – 2026
  6/3/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Privacy, Digital Technologies, and Consumer Protection and Judiciary Committees – Strengthens rules for online services used by minors by requiring safer design practices, stricter data protections, and penalties for companies that fail to protect children.
• SB1111 – Digital Replica Consent and Impersonation Protections – 2026
  5/18/2026 – Passed Senate – Referred to Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection & Public Safety Committees – Expands laws on likeness rights to include digital replicas, making it illegal to use someone’s image or voice without consent, strengthens penalties for AI-based impersonation, and clarifies certain contractor licensing rules.

• AB2003 – Expanded School Suicide Prevention Training and Reporting – 2026
  6/3/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Education Committee – Shifts suicide prevention training to a state behavioral health commission, expands it to all K–12 students, and requires schools that conduct suicide risk screenings to report student data to the state. EDITOR’S NOTE: While framed as a mental health measure, the bill raises concerns that deeply personal evaluations and sensitive questions could be administered to students, and their data collected, without clear parental knowledge, oversight, or affirmative consent.

• SB1412 – Parental Access and Communication in Schools – 2026
  6/1/2026 – Passed Senate – Referred to Assembly Education Committee – Reaffirms parents’ rights to engage in their child’s education and expands access by requiring schools to allow parents who cannot attend in person to communicate with teachers through two-way phone or video platforms, while leaving existing parental rights and notification laws largely unchanged.

• AB2664 – Religious Worship Buffer Zone – 2026
  6/3/2026 – Passed Assembly – Referred to Senate Public Safety Committee – Makes it illegal to approach within 8 feet of someone near a place of worship (within 100 feet of entrances or exits) without consent to protest, distribute materials, or engage in harassing, obstructive, threatening, or intimidating behavior. 4-16-26 Amendment reduces the financial penalties for violating the bill, lowering fines from up to $10,000 to $1,000 for a first offense and from up to $25,000 to $5,000 for repeat offenses.