On Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the final bill of the 2025-26 regular legislative session, and likely of his tenure, atop the Golden Gate Bridge. The bill, Senate Bill 895 by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), places a $7.5 billion science and health research bond before voters on the March 2028 ballot. The bond would support research at California universities and institutions in medicine, public health, climate, wildfire prevention, and agriculture, among other fields.

SB 895 was the last of 1,160 bills the governor acted on during the 2025-26 session and 7,803 bills acted on since he took office in 2019. The governor and the legislature continued to focus on wildfire prevention and preparedness through mitigation and hardening projects. They also continued to advance measures establishing protections and transparency around artificial intelligence.

MBEP Relevant Legislation

Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)

MBEP continued to lead on AAM policy and implementation by working with Assemblymember Lori Wilson in support of Assembly Bill 431, the Advanced Air Mobility Infrastructure Act. The bill builds on Caltrans’ report, The Advanced Air Mobility Infrastructure Readiness and Three-Year Implementation Work Plan, required by Senator Anna Caballero’s Senate Bill 800 of 2023.

AB 431requires the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), in coordination with the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), to include AAM in the next update of the California Transportation Plan. It also requires Caltrans to establish a statewide working group to facilitate stakeholder engagement and explore California’s role in the development and implementation of AAM technology. The governor signed the bill, and it takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.

Housing

Housing policy remained a major emphasis this session, with efforts aimed at streamlining production, reducing costs, and fostering innovation to meet the housing needs of the Monterey Bay region and the state. Below are the key MBEP-supported bills signed by the Governor:

• AB 1621 – Strengthens post-entitlement permitting, limits repeated plan-check reviews, and provides additional remedies when agencies fail to process housing permits within required timelines. The bill builds on AB 301 of 2025, which extended post-entitlement permitting deadlines to state agencies.
• AB 1732 – Expands CEQA streamlining and exemptions for qualifying affordable housing and for housing at UC, CSU, and community college campuses, helping accelerate student, faculty, and staff housing.
• AB 1751 – Creates the Missing Middle Townhome Ownership Act, providing a streamlined, ministerial approval pathway for qualifying townhome developments that meet objective standards.
• AB 1815 – Creates greater statewide consistency for factory-built housing by limiting local jurisdictions’ ability to impose building standards beyond applicable state requirements.
• AB 2270 – Changes Low-Income Housing Tax Credit scoring to make farmworker housing more competitive for funding, including treatment similar to large-family and rural projects.
• AB 2433 – Strengthens California’s Density Bonus Law by streamlining approval of qualifying housing and expanding incentives, particularly for projects that create affordable for-sale homes.
• SB 722 – Protects mobilehome and RV parks from redevelopment under SB 79 (2025), California’s transit-oriented housing law, by excluding those sites from eligibility. As an urgency measure, it took effect upon signature in July 2026.
• SB 1014 – Requires greater upfront information about on-site and off-site improvements that may be required for development projects, giving applicants earlier estimates of infrastructure requirements and associated costs.
• SB 1091 – Creates the Community Anti-Displacement and Preservation Program to finance the acquisition and rehabilitation of existing housing and preserve it as affordable housing for lower-income residents.

Broadband

Closing the digital divide in the region’s rural and underserved communities remains a priority. The governor signed the following broadband bills relevant to the region:

• AB 2790 – Expands eligibility for discounted internet service through the California Teleconnect Fund to include school districts and county offices of education serving preschool and transitional kindergarten through grade 12, and changes how federal E-rate discounts are applied.
• SB 1191 – Extends the California High-Cost Fund-A and Fund-B programs, which help keep voice and broadband service affordable in rural and high-cost areas, through Jan. 1, 2033. As an urgency measure, it took effect upon signature.

Workforce Development

The Legislature also acted on workforce training programs that regional employers, colleges, and workforce development boards rely on:

• AB 1534 – Establishes state oversight of the new federal Workforce Pell Grant program by requiring short-term training programs at California postsecondary institutions to receive state authorization before disbursing Workforce Pell funds. It also adds a participant training requirement for local workforce development boards.
• AB 2634 – Requires the California Workforce Development Board to give a scoring preference in High Road Training Partnership grants to applicants that are, or apply on behalf of, bona fide labor-management cooperation committees.