2023 Legislation

2023-2024 Legislative Session

11 bills signed 

• AB 413 - Safer Streets for Drivers, Bicyclists and Pedestrians
  • Makes our roads safer for everyone, whether it be drivers, pedestrians, or bicyclists. The bill aims to reduce traffic collisions by keeping 20 feet of an intersection or crosswalk’s approach side clear of stopped vehicles—a safety measure known as daylighting. 
• AB 652 - Environmental Justice Advisory Committee
  • Enables communities disproportionately impacted by pesticide exposure the opportunity to meaningfully provide input on the use of pesticides. The bill will establish the Environmental Justice Advisory Committee in the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR). The committee will recommend ways for DPR to integrate environmental justice into its policies and programs.
• AB 835 - Single Staircase Reform
  • Directs the State Fire Marshal to study building single staircase apartments above three stories, a starting point to ultimately create more housing and a greater variety of homes while maintaining high fire safety standards. 
• AB 502 - Small Business Protection
  • In order to protect our small businesses, this bill prohibits a listing service, such as Yelp or Google, from posting a phone number under a restaurant that doesn't go directly to the restaurant as well as require a disclosure to the consumer if an order they are placing through the listing service will result in a cost to the restaurant.
• AB 664 - California Safe Drinking Water Act: Domestic Wells
  • Ensures that renters served solely by their wells have access to potable water in California. The bill requires well owners who turn down consolidation—the joining of two or more water systems when they fail or are at risk of failing—to assume responsibility for ensuring that tenants have access to safe drinking water. 
• AB 604 - Mobile Home Water Charge Protection
  • Protects all mobile home residents from unfair water service charges. This bill builds on AB 1061 (Lee, 2021) that was signed into law, which prevents park management from charging mobile home residents for more than their actual share of water service charges, plus a reasonable management fee. 
• AB 971 - Transit Lanes
  • Aims to reduce traffic by giving local authorities the flexibility to expand the types of vehicles allowed on bus lanes, such as free shuttles. 
• AB 1490 - Adaptive Reuse
  • Increases implementation of adaptive reuse affordable housing projects (such as motel and hotel conversions) by providing developments that meet certain qualifications with incentives, such as guaranteed permit turnaround times.
• AB 1503 - Excused Absences
  • Allows K-12 students to receive an excused absence of one full school day per semester to attend religious retreats, up from 4 hours. 
• AB 1627 - California Safe Drinking Water Act: Food Facilities
  • Preserves the state’s authority to implement the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). It conforms the California Safe Drinking Water Act to federal requirements, protecting the state’s authority to implement both the state and federal SDWA. 
• AB 1716 - Hazardous Material Regulations
  • Assists regulators by making technical changes to hazardous materials and wastes laws.

Vetoed

• AB 309 - Social Housing
  • Proposed to develop up to three social housing developments on state-owned excess land that’s deemed suitable for housing.

Introduced 

• AB 38 - Reducing Artificial Light at Night
  • In order to reduce light pollution and harmful effects of Artificial Light at Night (ALAN), AB 38 proposed to limit outdoor night lighting on state buildings to promote safety for people, ecosystems, and other wildlife.
• AB 83 - Stop Foreign Influence in California Elections Act
  • The bill would prohibit foreign influenced corporations from contributing to candidates, parties, or committees (including super PACs) as well as from engaging in their own direct election spending. 
• AB 259 & ACA 3 - Wealth Tax
  • The California Tax on Extreme Wealth Act would impose an annual excise tax at a rate of 1% on extreme wealth in excess of $50 million and at a rate of 1.5% on extreme wealth in excess of $1 billion and would generate an estimated $21.6 billion.
• AB 270 - Public Campaign Financing
  • The bill proposed to provide voters the opportunity to decide on a measure during the November 2024 ballot to remove the current prohibition on public financing of campaigns in California. If the prohibition is removed, counties, districts, general law cities, and the State would have the option to enact public financing of campaigns to reduce the influence of money in elections and empower voters.
• AB 320 - Student Aid Commission
  • The bill aimed to improve student representation on the California Student Aid Commission by adding two additional student commissioners to the Student Aid Commission so that there are four student members, one from each type of higher education institution.
• AB 332 - Shelter Animal Collection Data Act
  • Proposed to require the Department of Public Health to resume collecting important information about shelter animals so resources are better optimized to help pets find their forever homes.
• AB 362 - Land Value Taxation Study
  • This study would have explored the potential benefits of a system that would instead tax underlying land without regard to buildings, personal property, or other improvements. This would open the door for fairer assessments and more freedom for landowners to utilize their properties however they want.
• AB 640 - Expanded Work Permits
  • Currently, work permits for minors are only authorized for businesses with physical locations. This bill proposed to expand the scope of work permits to online businesses.