1127 11TH STREET, SUITE 300, SACRAMENTO, CA 95814 • 916.974.9270 • PUBLICPOLICYGROUP.COM PAGE 1 Date: July 8, 2026
To: Christian Clegg, City Manager
City of Bakersfield
From: Sharon Gonsalves
Managing Director
California Public Policy Group
Re: CPPG Legislative Summary: June 2026
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
June Marked Key Deadlines for Legislation and for the State Budget June concluded an active several months for the Legislature, encompassing the June 15 deadline to pass a Budget Act and the bulk of committee hearings leading to the July 2 deadline by which all policy committees must meet and confer on bills in their seco nd house. Bills that remain in motion reside in their second house, meaning that Assembly bills are being heard in the Senate and Senate bills are being heard in the Assembly. June 25 also marked the final day for measures to be added to, or withdrawn from, the November 2026 ballot.
On July 2, the Legislature adjourned for Summer Recess, and when it reconvenes on August 3, with limited exceptions, only appropriations committees may meet to determine the fate of fiscal measures. The deadline for fiscal measures to clear their second-house Appropriations Committee is August 14. The final two weeks of session leading up to the last day of the 2025 -2026 legislative session on August 31 are reserved for Floor deliberations only. The Governor has until September 30 to sign or veto all legislation passed by the Legislature after August 1.
Senate Bill 1164
SB 1164 (Cervantes) repeals the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 and replaces it with a new California Voting Rights Act of 2026. Presented as the Legislature’s response to recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions narrowing the federal Voting Rights Act, the bill significantly expands the types of voting-rights claims that may be brought against local governments. While current law is largely focused on challenges to at-large election systems, SB 1164 creates new causes of action for voter suppression and vote dilution and applies broadly to all local agencies that conduct elections, including both general law and charter cities. For agencies that have already transi tioned to by - district elections, the most consequential change is the elimination of the existing safe harbor.
Under current law, jurisdictions that transition to district -based elections have generally been insulated from CVRA claims. SB 1164 removes that protection and allows challenges to any method of election, including by-district systems with a rotating mayor or by-district systems with an at-large mayor. The bill also places no cap on the number of demand letters a jurisdiction may receive. Under existing law, an at-large jurisdiction that receives a demand letter has a 135 -day safe harbor period to transition to districts and is not liable to subsequent demand letters during the transition process.
SB 1164 eliminates that protection. Claims would no t require proof of discriminatory intent, and once a plaintiff demonstrates a “material disparity, ” a term left undefined in the bill, the burden would shift to the local agency to justify its electoral system. The bill also creates a more plaintiff - friendly litigation framework by authorizing one-way attorney’s fee recovery, granting broad standing
1127 11TH STREET, SUITE 300, SACRAMENTO, CA 95814 • 916.974.9270 • PUBLICPOLICYGROUP.COM PAGE 2 to sue, establishing expedited court procedures, and imposing a new state preclearance requirement on a limited category of jurisdictions with recent voting -rights violations or findings against them.
BUDGET UPDATE
2026-2027 State Budget Finalized
On June 29, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he had signed the primary budget bill, AB 109 (Gabriel), along with a series of budget trailer bills. He stated that he had delivered a “balanced budget with no deficit this year or next,” consistent with previous statements.
On June 26, the Senate released a summary of the budget agreement that had been reached between the Governor and both houses of the Legislature. The budget agreement approves the Governor's proposal for more than $5 billion in ongoing new revenues, including a federally compliant Managed Care Organization tax, a sales tax on pre -written software products, and a limitation on business tax credits. T he budget also provides approximately $375 million for Proposition 36 implementation, including court workload, substance use and mental health treatment, victim support, rehabilitation, and pretrial services. In addition, the budget defers action on the $250 million legislative discretionary allocation within the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and includes changes to the proposal to implement Cap-and-Invest at the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Air Resources Board. The budget provides $700 million for affordable housing programs, including the Multifamily Housing Program and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program. The budget also includes funding at the California Air Resources Board to support the deployment of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). Specifically, it provides $135.5 million in one-time funding for medium - and heavy -duty ZEV incentives through the Clean Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP), $135.5 million in one -time funding for light -duty ZEV incentives, and $1 7 million annually for five years for the Clean Cars 4 All program.
Assembly Bill 179
On June 29, the Legislature passed AB 179 (Committee on Budget). AB 179 is a housing budget trailer bill for the 2025 -2026 session that restructures statewide housing and homelessness funding and conditions access to that funding on local housing policy, fee policy, encampment policy, and regional coordination. The bill adds a new chapter on local impact fees under Health and Safety Code Sections 50160 and 50161, which rewards fee waivers in competitive scoring and reduces awards to city lead applicants that decline to waive their fees. The bill also establishes a homelessness funding framework—the Round 7 program built on the Sections 50220 through 50246 series—that sets aside 42 percent of base funds for cities of 300,000 or more and conditions all recipient funding on a Prohousing designation, an encampment policy consistent with state guidance, matching funds, and reporting. In addition, the bill restructures the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program by splitting administration between the Strategic Growth Council and a new Housing Development and Finance Committee. The bill also creates a new Disaster Rebuilding F und Act administered by CalHFA and includes an administrative building standards provision that applies to all cities. The Governor will likely sign this bill in the next several days.
Senate Bill 417
On June 25, the Legislature passed, and the Governor signed, SB 417 (Limón and Rivas). SB 417 proposes an $11.250 billion housing bond for the November 3, 2026 ballot. If approved by voters, the
1127 11TH STREET, SUITE 300, SACRAMENTO, CA 95814 • 916.974.9270 • PUBLICPOLICYGROUP.COM PAGE 3 bond would allocate $10 billion to various housing programs administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and the California Housing Finance Agency (CHFA), and $1.250 billion to support housing programs administered by the California Depar tment of Veteran’s Affairs (DVA).
HHAP
The final budget agreement provides $900 million for Round 7 of Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program.
2026 ELECTIONS UPDATE
California Chamber of Commerce Measure
On June 16, the Secretary of State published on their website that a ballot measure aimed at significantly curtailing the scope and timing of environmental reviews under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) had become eligible for the November ballot, setting the stage for one of the state ’s most consequential policy debates of the year. The measure, known as the “Building an Affordable California Act ,” is backed by the California Chamber of Commerce and a broad coalition of business, housing, infrastructure, and clean -energy organizations. Supporters argue that California ’s environmental review process has become overly burdensome, costly, and vulnerable to abuse, making it more difficult to build the housing, transportation, clean -energy, and infrastructure projects needed to address the state’s affordability and climate challenges.
If approved by voters, the measure would establish new procedures for reviewing designated “essential projects,” including firm deadlines for environmental review and accelerated timelines for public comment and legal challenges. In most cases, public agencies would be required to complete environmental reviews within one year after a project application is deemed c omplete.
Court challenges to project approvals would also be subject to expedited review. Proponents contend that the measure would reduce project delays, lower development costs, and help address California’s housing shortage and broader cost-of-living challenges. They argue that CEQA litigation and lengthy review processes have become significant barriers to building critical projects across the state. Opponents are expected to argue that the proposal weakens one of California ’s most important environmental protection laws. Environmental organizations and local -government advocates are likely to contend that shorter review periods and restrictions on litigation would limit public participation and reduce opportunities to identif y and mitigate environmental impacts. The debate comes less than a year after Governor Gavin Newsom and the Legislature enacted major CEQA reforms as part of the state budget package, including new exemptions for many urban infill housing projects. Supporters of the initiative argue that those changes were on ly a first step and do not go far enough to address systemic barriers to development. Critics, meanwhile, are expected to argue that the state should allow the recently enacted reforms to take effect before pursuing more sweeping changes through the ballot box.
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association Measure
This measure (#1983/25 -0006A1), sponsored by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA), would have invalidated certain local tax increases retroactively, eliminated real estate transfer taxes, and imposed stricter requirements on cities and counties seeking to adopt new taxes. It would also have limited future revenue -raising options by increasing voter -approval thresholds for some taxes and restricting the types of taxes local governments may enact. The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), the Legislat ure’s non -partisan research and advisory division, had estimated that local
1127 11TH STREET, SUITE 300, SACRAMENTO, CA 95814 • 916.974.9270 • PUBLICPOLICYGROUP.COM PAGE 4 governments could collectively lose several billion dollars in annual revenue. The measure qualified for the ballot in April 2026.
On June 22, AB 736 (Mark González) was gut-and-amended to serve as the Legislature ’s vehicle for negotiating with HJTA in the hope of securing the measure’s withdrawal from the ballot. On June 23, HJTA announced that it had rejected the proposal and would not remove the measure from the November 2026 ballot. On June 25, the Legislature withdrew AB 736 from its scheduled hearing, pausing consideration of the bill after a deal was reached to remove the HJTA-qualified initiative from the November ballot in exchange for placing a narrower constitutional amendment before voters and withdrawing ACA 13 (Ward, 2023). ACA 13 had already qualified for the November 3, 2026, ballot and served as the Legislature ’s leverage to bring HJTA to the negotiating table: by raising the bar for initiatives seeking to impose higher voter-approval thresholds, it posed a direct threat to the passage of HJTA ’s qualified initiative. Withdrawing ACA 13 was therefore the concession that secured the agreement. The agreement was implemented through two measures: ACA 21 (Rivas) and ACA 22 (Wicks). ACA 21 directed the Secretary of State to withdraw ACA 13 from the November 3, 2026, ballot. ACA 22 placed a narrower constitutional amendment on the ballot that would require a two - thirds vote to impose, extend, or increase any local special tax, including those proposed through the voter initiative process, beginning January 1, 2027. By applying the same voting threshold to initiative measures, it would effectively close the “Upland loophole,” under which some courts have held that citizen-sponsored special taxes may be approved by a simple majority. The measure would also prohibit the adoption of new local ad valorem property taxes, including those proposed by voter initiative. Both provisions are expressly drafted to apply notwithstanding the constitutional initiative power and charter city home -rule authority, thereby ensuring their application to citizen initiatives and charter cities alike. Both ACA 21 and ACA 22 received the required two-thirds vote in each house on the afternoon of June 25. Unlike bills, proposed constitutional amendments become eligible for the ballot upon approval by the Legislature and are not subject to the Governor’s signature.
ADMINISTRATIONS ACTIONS UPDATE
High Speed Rail Authority Tax Increment Financing Proposal The California High-Speed Rail Authority continues to advocate for a proposal that would authorize the Authority to cap and capture property and sales tax revenues and exercise land use authority within a half -mile of high -speed rail stations through state -administered tax increment financing (TIF) districts. The Authority argues in its 2026 draft business plan that it should be granted the ability to establish TIF districts to help fund rail construction and operations. The proposal would represent a substantial expansion of state authority, as it would likely require constitutional amendments to vest the Authority with independent taxing authority and land use powers. A local government association opposition letter can be found here. As of this writing, the proposal has not yet been introduced in legislative form.
ACTIVE POSITIONED BILLS
• AB 1265 (Haney) Income taxes: credits: rehabilitation of certified historic structures. o Location: Senate Appropriations
o Position: Support
• AB 1383 (McKinnor) Public employees’ retirement benefits. o Location: Senate Appropriations
o Position: Watch
1127 11TH STREET, SUITE 300, SACRAMENTO, CA 95814 • 916.974.9270 • PUBLICPOLICYGROUP.COM PAGE 5 • AB 1436 (Ávila Farías) State Air Resources Board: air pollution regulations: private fleets:
exception.
o Location: Senate Environmental Quality
o Position: Support
• AB 1439 (Garcia) Public retirement systems: development projects: labor standards. o Location: Senate Appropriations Suspense File
o Position: Watch
• AB 1821 (Pacheco) California Public Records Act: agency response time. o Location: Senate Appropriations
o Position: Support
• AB 1903 (Wicks) Construction defects.
o Location: Senate Housing
o Position: Support
• SB 661 (Hurtado) Airports: financial assistance.
o Location: Assembly Appropriations
o Position: Support
• SB 892 (Grove) Public postsecondary education: priority registration: members and former members of the Armed Forces of the United States and State Guard. o Location: Assembly Appropriations
o Position: Support
• SB 1013 (Cervantes) Automated license plate recognition systems. o Location: Assembly Appropriations
o Position: Watch
• SB 1159 (Cabaldon) Artificial intelligence: transparency and governance. o Location: Assembly Third Reading
o Position: Support
• SB 1172 (Hurtado) Bradley-Burns Uniform Local Sales and Use Tax Law: tax sharing agreements.
o Location: Assembly Third Reading
o Position: Support
• SB 1425 (Cortese) High-Speed Rail Authority: property: operating right-of-way. o Location: Assembly Appropriations
o Position: Watch
LOOKING FORWARD
• August 3: Legislature reconvenes from Summer Recess
• August 31: Last day for the Legislature to pass bills; end of the session • September 30: Last day for the Governor to sign or veto bills
GRANT WRITING
CPPG continues to monitor new regional, state, and federal grant opportunities on behalf of the City of Bakersfield. The June 2026 Municipal Funding Outlook was sent out on June 17th. On June 4th CPPG Consultant Bruce Rudd and Grants Analyst Remi Beck met with Walter Villa to discuss the Statewide Park Community Development and Revitalization Grant. Also on June 4 th, Senior Grant Writing Associate Maira Durazo met with Staff and CapK to go over the City’s Homekey+ application.
Director of Grant Services Jake Whitaker, B. Rudd, and R. Beck met with Cecilia Griego, Victor
1127 11TH STREET, SUITE 300, SACRAMENTO, CA 95814 • 916.974.9270 • PUBLICPOLICYGROUP.COM PAGE 6 Palacio, and Jennnifer Beyers on June 9 th to discuss applying for the Transformative Climate Communities Grant for the PNI project. B. Rudd and R. Beck had a follow -up meeting with Staff regarding the Statewide Park Community Development and Revitalization Grant. On June 18 th J.
Whitaker, M. Durazo, R. Beck, and Grant Services Assistant Kylie Sheridan met with Staff for the Monthly Grants Meeting. Opportunities are being tracked for many of the City’s high priority project areas, including Martin Luther Kin g Jr. Park, Economic and Community Development, Housing and Homelessness, High -Speed Rail Station Area Development, Water Sustainability, Environmental Sustainability, and Community Violence Reduction.
Grant applications in -progress include: Transformative Climate Communities, Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program, and Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program.
Pending applications include the following:
• Hazard Mitigation Grant Program submitted on September 19, 2025 for $61,216.85.
Funding will be used to install a standby generator at Station 3. • Illegal Disposal Site Abatement Program submitted on October 15, 2025 for $275,000.
Funding will be used for cleanup at four sites across the City. • Community Project Funding FY27 submitted to Rep. Fong on March 6, 2026 for $1,500,000.
Funding will be used for the TRIP Hageman Flyover Project. Earmark request has been forwarded for appropriation.
• Community Project Funding FY27 submitted to Rep. Fong on March 6, 2026 for $391,651.
Funding will be used for a MedEvac Emergency Rescue and Response Vehicle. Earmark request has been forwarded for appropriation.
• Community Project Funding FY27 submitted to Rep. Valadao on March 9, 2026 for $5,000,000. Funding will be used for the Monitor Street Phase II Project. Earmark request has been forwarded for appropriation.
• Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program submitted on May 5, 2026 for $999,999. Funding will be used to run ASO flight programs and collect snow runoff. • Urban Greening Program submitted on June 4, 2026 for $1,750,000. Funding will be used for the Central City Corridor Tree Canopy Project to plant 717 trees across the city. • Assistance to Firefighters Grant submitted on June 22, 2026 for $347,000. Funding will be used to purchase Thermal Imaging Cameras.
• Fire Prevention & Safety Grant submitted on June 22, 2026 for $250,000. Funding will be used to purchase turnout gear and equipment.
• Encampment Resolution Fund submitted on June 30, 2026 for $13,549,119. Funding will be used to provide services for unhoused individuals in encampments between Hwy 99 and Hwy 178.
Additionally, CPPG sent grant alerts on the following upcoming funding opportunities: FEMA Firefighter Grants, Wildfire Safety & Preparedness Grant, Beverage Container Recycling Grant, COPS Hiring Program, Transformative Climate Communities Program, Commun ity Resilience Centers Program, Pathways to Removing Obstacles for Housing (PRO Housing) Grant, Law Enforcement
1127 11TH STREET, SUITE 300, SACRAMENTO, CA 95814 • 916.974.9270 • PUBLICPOLICYGROUP.COM PAGE 7 Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA), Extreme Heat and Community Resilience, School Violence Prevention Program.