City of Paso Robles
State Legislative Update
April 7, 2026
PRESENTATION OVERVIEW
Slide 2
Key State Legislative Items for 2026
State Budget Update
Federal Appropriations/Funding
2026 Legislative Session Timeline
Slide 3
January – Governor’s preliminary Budget
Proposal released
January – April – Advocacy on funding
priorities
May – May Revision released
June 15th – Budget Act must be approved
by the Legislature
June & August – Budget clean up
legislation
Legislation Budget
January 5 – Session Convened
February 20 – Bill Introduction Deadline
March & April – Policy committees meet
May & June – Appropriations and House
of Origin Deadline
June & July – Second House Policy
Committees meet
July – Summer Recess
August 31 – End of Session
September 30 – Deadline for Governor
to act on bills
2026 Legislative Session: Session Dynamics
Slide 4
Dueling State/Federal
Priorities
November Election:
Ballot Initiatives & District
Contests
New Senate Leadership
and Committee Changes
Potential for Economic
Slowdown
KEY STATE LEGISLATIVE ITEMS FOR 2026
Slide 5
E-bike Safety
Reforms
Housing and Land
Use
Wildfire
Preparedness and
Response
Revenue & Taxation
Policy
E-BIKE SAFETY REFORMS
Slide 6
SB 956 (Choi) authorizes cities to
adopt and enforce local ordinances
regulating ebikes - including speed
limits, age requirements, equipment
rules, and potential registration—and
allows local governments to override
certain statewide rules such as the
age limit for Class 3 e-bikes.
AB 1942 (Bauer-Kahan) creates a
statewide e-bike licensure and
registration regime for class 2 and 3
e-bikes
AB 2346 (Wilson) updates e-bike
requirements, requires retailer
disclosures, and authorizes local
control over speed limits
HOUSING AND LAND USE
Slide 7
AB 1680, AB 1795, and
SB 876 – all make
commonsense reforms to the
state’s fire insurance market
to stabilize rates and
increase access to coverage
AB 1708 (Solache) –
Provides a process for a
direct allocation of state
homelessness funding
(HHAP) to cities of less than
300,000 people through their
Continuum of Care
AB 2296 (Papan) – Improves
housing element review
process by extending
timelines and requiring HCD
to provide greater clarity.
WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE
Slide 8
AB 2517 (Calderon) –
Requires State Fire
Marshall to solicit local
feedback during the
process of evaluating
state wildfire maps
AB 1934 (Bennett) –
Requires the State Fire
Marshall to develop a
home hardening
certification program by
2028
AB 2724 (Bauer-Kahan) –
Modifies the definition of
distressed counties for the
purpose of Catastrophe
Modeling home insurance
regulations
REVENUE & TAXATION POLICY
Slide 9
SB 922 (Laird) - Clarifies that
local agencies may charge
fees to recover street
maintenance and public
service costs, limiting the
existing prohibition to weightbased charges.
SB 1172 (Hurtado) - Limits
compensation that can be
paid to those facilitating tax
sharing agreements and
requires agreements to be
publicly posted
SB 1005 (Caballero) – Allows
local governments to round
payments or refunds made
wholly/partially in cash to the
nearest five cents, if
authorized by local resolution
2026 Legislative Session: January Budget Proposal
Slide 10
$348.9 Billion
in Total Spending
$2.9 Billion
projected budget
deficit
No New Taxes
Proposed
$42.3 Billion
in revenues above
projections
$14.4 Billion
remaining in Rainy
Day Fund
STATE BUDGET DYNAMICS
Slide 11
Fluctuating Revenue
Projections
(Revenue collection
above projected
levels)
No Additional
Funding for Housing
and Homelessness
Proposed by
Governor
Proposition 4
Climate Bond Roll
Out
Local Exposure to
Federal Cost Shifts
Pressure to Respond
to Rising Costs of
Goods (including
gasoline)
Negotiations and
Budget Committees
Ongoing – Next
Milestone during
May Revision
FEDERAL APPROPRIATIONS
Slide 12
Members Soliciting Community Projects
for Inclusion in FY 2027 Spending Bills
City Submitted Three Projects for
Consideration to Congressman Panetta
and Senators Schiff and Padilla
• City Library Improvements
• Middle-Mile Broadband to Spaceport
• Public Safety Camera Upgrades
Paso Robles Library Redesign
Advanced for Consideration by
Congressman Panetta
• $1,500,000 THUD EDI requested
Committee Mark-up later this Spring
FY 2026 FY 2027
Appropriations Bills Approved over the
Course of Three Months – November
2025 – February 2026
Congressionally Directed Spending
Included in Final Bills – Many project
requests had been pending for nearly two
year due to FY25 Continuing Resolution
Funding for Paso Robles – The signed
Appropriations bills included:
• $850,000 for Pine Street Affordable
Housing Development
• $1,000,000 to Cal Poly Partners for the
Paso Robles Spaceport Training and
Research Center
GRANT FUNDING UPDATE
Slide 13
Paso Robles Blue Bag Grant Project - $50,000
Safe Streets and Roads for All - $150,000
Montebello Oaks Drive Intersection Beacons - $280,530
Signal and Striping Upgrades at Creston and Golden Hill - $100,000 Paso Robles Library Play 4 All Grant - $75,000
Regional Fire and Emergency Services Training Facility (FY23 CPF) - $500,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund for Beechwood Park - $4,000,000 Bike and Pedestrian Master Plan Update and Preliminary 13th Street Corridor Bicycle Improvement Plan - $420,000
Cannabis Tax Fund Grant Program: Paso Robles Cannabis Enforcement - $202,000 Funding Secured
Pending Funding Requests
Questions?
Slide 14
Casey Elliott
Vice President & CSO
[email protected]
California Advocacy | Federal Advocacy | Grant Writing
www.TownsendPA.com