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All CDA Priority Bills Are on the Governor’s Desk
Every bill CDA supported this year passed the Legislature and is now sitting with Governor Newsom. As of September 16, he has not acted on any of them. He has until September 30 to sign or veto, and after that any bill he has not signed or vetoed becomes law without his signature.
The Governor has been signing bills in batches through September, but the vast majority of bills remain on his desk.
The Legislature will swear in its new members on December 7 and reconvene in January. As a new session, any bills that did not pass this year will need to be reintroduced and restart the process.
Status of CDA priority bills as of September 16:
● AB 1740 (Zbur D) — Urban, Transit-Rich Coastal Communities. On the Governor’s desk since August 31.
● AB 1815 (Wicks D) — Factory-Built Housing. On the Governor’s desk.
● AB 2074 (Haney D) — The Downtown Revitalization Act. On the Governor’s desk.
● AB 1679 (Gonzalez D) — Temporary Commercial Permits. On the Governor’s desk.
● AB 1693 (Zbur D) — Accelerated Retail Building Plan Approval. On the Governor’s desk.
● AB 2418 (Gonzalez D) — Nonresidential Permit Streamlining. On the Governor’s desk since August 27.
● AB 1941 (Gonzalez D) — Metal Theft. On the Governor’s desk.
● AB 2663 (Rodgers D) — Alcoholic Beverage Off-Sale Privileges. On the Governor’s desk.
The one bill CDA opposed is also awaiting action:
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SB 1203 (Smallwood-Cuevas D) — Security Services. Raises the training requirement for proprietary private security officers to 42 hours of classroom instruction beginning January 1, 2029, and adds a two-hour workers’ rights component that a labor organization may be certified to deliver. The author declined to carve out CDA members. The coalition remains opposed and is asking the Governor for a veto.
Ballot Update: CEQA Measure Prop 45 Has Tightened
The Public Policy Institute of California released its September statewide survey on September 15. The numbers on the measures CDA is watching have moved as we get closer to the November Election.
Proposition 45 (CEQA measure) CDA endorsed Prop 45 earlier this year, which is now a close race. After hearing the official ballot title and label, likely voters split 49 percent yes to 46 percent no, with 5 percent undecided. PPIC’s mid-July survey had it at 73 percent to 24 percent. Support is nearly flat across party — 51 percent of Republicans, 48 percent of Democrats, 45 percent of independents — which means the usual partisan turnout math will not decide it. The largest gap is by gender: men 55 percent yes, women 42 percent.
Proposition 1 (Housing Bond) holds a majority at 55 percent yes to 43 percent no. It is carried by renters (72 percent) and voters under 35 (69 percent); homeowners are split at 49 percent and voters 55 and older come in at 46 percent.
Proposition 37 (Loan Program for Middle-Income Home Buyers) is the strongest of the housing measures at 61 percent yes to 35 percent no, with majorities in every region and demographic group PPIC reports.
Proposition 43 (Limits Voters’ Ability to Raise Revenues for Local Government Services) would raise the threshold for voter approval of local special taxes from a majority to two-thirds. It is losing, 43 percent yes to 51 percent now. This is the measure with the most direct consequence for how downtown districts and local governments fund services, and it has gotten almost no attention.
Context for CDA Members
The size of the Prop 45 move deserves a caveat. The September survey read respondents the official ballot title and label; the July number was taken earlier in the cycle, before the label was in front of voters. Some of the drop is likely the label rather than a real collapse in support. Even allowing for that, a 49-46 split means Prop 45 is genuinely in play, and a measure polling under 50 percent this close to an election is in a tougher position.
The broader environment is also crowded. There are 14 measures on the November 3 ballot, the most since November 2016, and 77 percent of likely voters agree there are too many propositions on the state ballot. When PPIC asked which measure voters are most interested in, only 1 percent named Prop 45. Undecided and inattentive voters default to no.
Political Update: A Wide Governor’s Race and a Full Transition in January
PPIC’s poll has Xavier Becerra (D) leading Steve Hilton (R) 60 percent to 38 percent among likely voters, up from a 61-36 lead in July. Becerra takes 93 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of independents. Affordability is the issue of the race. Sixty-five percent of likely voters say the candidates’ positions on affordability are very important to their vote, and that holds across party — 69 percent of Democrats, 65 percent of Republicans, 59 percent of independents. It is also the frame both campaigns are using, which means housing production, permitting cost and the cost of doing business downtown are live subjects rather than background.
The mood underneath those numbers is sour. Fifty-two percent of likely voters say the state is headed in the wrong direction, and 73 percent expect bad economic times over the next year. Governor Newsom’s approval sits at 51 percent and the Legislature’s at 48 percent among likely voters.
Context for CDA Members
While Xavier Becerra is heavily favored, whoever wins, January brings a full turnover of the executive branch. A new governor takes office and appoints a new cabinet, new agency secretaries and new department heads. Career staff stays, but many of the people who set priorities and sign off on regulations do not.
The new administration’s first budget proposal comes out in January and will set the tone for everything that follows — including whether the homelessness funding local governments received this year continues at that level.
We will have a fuller look at the transition, the new legislative calendar and CDA’s 2027 priorities after the November Election and as we transition to the new year.
Jason Bryant
CDA’s Legislative Advocate
Principal, Bryant Government Affairs
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