City of Visalia
2025 State Legislative Wrap Up
PRESENTED BY MICHELLE RUBALCAVA AND GEOFF NEILL
March 2025
Your Advocacy Team
➢John Moffatt, Partner
➢25+ years of political experience
➢Michelle Rubalcava, Partner
➢25+ years of political experience
➢Geoff Neill, Senior Legislative Advocate
➢20+ years of political experience
Nielsen Merksamer LLP
2025 Legislative Recap
➢ 2,397 bills introduced last year
➢ 1,533 Assembly bills
➢ 864 Senate bills
➢ 917 bills made it to the Governor’s desk
➢ 794 bills signed
➢ 123 bills vetoed (13.4%)
2397 bills introduced
1536 passed house-of-
origin
917 passed the
Legislature and were
sent to the Governor
189 vetoed
794
signed
Warehouse Clean Up Legislation
➢ AB 98 (2024) regulates warehouse developments and truck routes ➢ Imposes design standards, permitting requirements, and location restrictions on “logistics use developments” ➢ Requires cities to update circulation elements on an extremely aggressive schedule to route trucks away from homes ➢ SB 415 (2025) cleanup / mitigation
➢ Narrows the scope of warehouses subject to the law
➢ Allows most cities to change truck routes by ordinance ➢ Delays truck route timeline to 2028 (or 2030 for smaller cities) ➢ Requires courts to consider mitigating circumstances and good faith efforts before imposing penalties Brown Act Legislation
➢ SB 707 will remain in effect at least through January 1, 2030, allowing a 5-year period for evaluation.
➢ The bill requires many legislative bodies, including most city councils and some commissions and advisory groups, to offer two-way telephonic or audiovisual access to meetings, enabling real-time remote public participation. ➢ SB 707 also mandates that local governments reasonably assist members of the public who wish to translate a meeting or receive interpretation from other members of the public.
CalCities Sponsored Legislation
➢ SB 346 (Durazo): allows cities to require that short-term rental property addresses be provided for listing purposes. Cities would also have audit authority for transient occupancy taxes collected. SIGNED by Governor.
➢ SB 454 (McNerney): helps fund local efforts to remove forever chemicals, or PFAS, from the water supply. SIGNED by Governor.
➢ AB 492 (Valencia): requires the Department of Health Care Services to send a written notice to the city or county where a new alcohol or other drug recovery or treatment facility is licensed at the same time the license is issued. SIGNED by Governor. ➢ AB 476 (Gonzalez): strengthens penalties and oversight for metal theft. SIGNED by Governor.
CalCities Sponsored Legislation
➢AB 620 (Jackson): allows cities to rent zero-emission vehicles when complying with the Advanced Clean Fleets regulation, rather than limiting cities to ownership. VETOED by Governor.
➢AB 650 (Papan): changes the process and timelines for housing element updates under RHNA. According to Cal Cities, it would “significantly improve the housing element review process by encouraging local jurisdictions to begin planning earlier and providing greater clarity and certainty to a difficult and complex process.” VETOED by Governor.
Visalia Bill Positions & Outcomes
The City engaged on 12 bills in the 2025 legislative session:
➢ AB 262 (Caloza): California Individual Assistance Act ➢ Visalia Position: Support. Final Action: Failed in Appropriations ➢ AB 339 (Ortega): Local public employee organizations: notice requirements ➢ Visalia Position: Oppose. Final Action: Signed
➢ AB 620 (Jackson): Medium and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicles: rentals ➢ Visalia Position: Support. Final Action: Vetoed
➢ AB 650 (Papan): Planning and zoning: housing element: RHNA ➢ Visalia Position: Support. Final Action: Vetoed
Visalia Bill Positions & Outcomes
➢ AB 735 (Carrillo): Planning and zoning: logistics use developments: truck routes ➢ Visalia Position: Neutral. Final Action: Policy moved forward as SB 415 ➢ AB 736 (Wicks): The Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026 ➢ Visalia Position: Support. Final Action: Pending, moving forward ➢ AB 911 (Carrillo): Emergency telecom medium and heavy-duty ZEVs ➢ Visalia Position: Support. Final Action: Pending, stalled ➢ SB 79 (Wiener): Housing development: transit-oriented development ➢ Visalia Position: Neutral. Final Action: Signed
Visalia Bill Positions & Outcomes
➢ SB 346 (Durazo): Local agencies: transient occupancy taxes: short-term rentals ➢ Visalia Position: Support. Final Action: Signed
➢ SB 415 (Reyes): Planning and zoning: logistics use developments: truck routes ➢ Visalia Position: Support. Final Action: Signed
➢ SB 569 (Blakespear): Department of Transportation: homeless encampments ➢ Visalia Position: Support. Final Action: Pending, stalled ➢ SB 707 (Durazo): Open meetings: meeting and teleconference requirements ➢ Visalia Position: Oppose. Final Action: Signed
Proposition 50
➢Proposition 50 passed with 64% support
➢Allows Legislature to draw congressional maps through 2030 ➢Republican legal challenge failed
➢Five Republican seats shift to favor Democrats
➢District 22 (Valadao) moves 4% left, still slight GOP advantage Governor’s January Budget
➢ Proposed budget is seen as status-quo; real proposals coming in May ➢ The state budget conundrum:
➢ Revenue estimates are $42 billion higher than assumed at the 2025 Budget Act ➢ Constitutional spending requirements like Prop 98 still result in a $2.9 billion shortfall ➢ Projected outyear deficits of more than $20 billion
➢ $348.9 billion expenditures from all funds; $280.8 billion from General Fund ➢ General Fund would end the 2026-27 fiscal year with $23 billion in reserves Looking Ahead to 2026
➢ Continued state response to federal actions
➢ HR 1 cuts to Medi-Cal and CalFresh
➢ Immigration enforcement
➢ Budget cuts to General Fund programs
➢ Regulating AI and automated decision systems
➢ Cost and availability of property insurance
➢ Mid-term elections
➢ Governor’s race
➢ Initiatives on taxes, voter ID, chatbots, CEQA, union spending, and a housing bond ➢ Governor Newsom’s lame-duck status and future ambitions Thank you.