AB 2134: City council members: absences without permission. - California

08/24/26 - Chaptered → AB2134 · 1 edit

MINOR

The diff reflects a change in document format rather than any substantive policy change. The bill text moved from a traditional chaptered document layout (with page numbers and formal formatting) to a web-based legislative tracking platform layout that includes navigation menus, search fields, and version history links. The actual legislative content - the amendment to Government Code Section 36513 regarding parental leave for city council members - is identical in both versions.

TECHNICAL

The document was reformatted from a traditional chaptered bill layout (with page numbers, centered headers, and formal spacing) into a web page format that includes site navigation elements such as skip-to-content links, search boxes, version history dropdowns, and tracking/favorite buttons. No changes to the underlying legal text were made.

08/05/26 - Enrolled → 08/24/26 - Chaptered · 3 edits · Aug 24, 2026

MINOR

No substantive policy changes occurred between the enrolled and chaptered versions of AB 2134. The differences are purely administrative: the bill was assigned Chapter 123, the Governor's approval date (August 24, 2026) was added, and the document was reformatted from an enrolled bill layout to a standard chaptered law layout.

TECHNICAL

The bill was designated as Chapter 123 and the Governor's approval and filing date of August 24, 2026 was inserted.

Assembly and Senate passage headers, clerk signatures, and the blank 'received by the Governor' line were removed in favor of the standard authenticated electronic legal material header.

Page numbering, indentation, and line breaks throughout the legislative text were reformatted to match the chaptered law style. The substantive language of Sections 1, 2, and 3 is unchanged.

06/25/26 - Amended Senate → 08/05/26 - Enrolled · 3 edits · Aug 5, 2026

MINOR

This is the transition from the Senate-amended version to the enrolled (final) version of AB 2134. The only substantive change is a cleanup in Section 36513(e) that removes references to 'employee' from the definition of parental leave, leaving only 'city council member.' All other changes are procedural: removal of amendment history, addition of passage dates, and removal of the coauthor list.

DEFINITION

Section 36513(e) definition of 'parental leave' was cleaned up to remove all references to 'employee,' now referencing only 'city council member.' The prior version contained amendment markup showing 'employee' being replaced with 'city council member'; the enrolled version reflects the final clean text.

TECHNICAL

Coauthor list (Assembly Members Aguiar-Curry, Ahrens, Celeste Rodriguez; Senator Rubio) was removed, which is standard when a bill reaches enrolled status.

Header changed from showing amendment history dates to showing final passage dates (Assembly August 3, 2026; Senate July 2, 2026) and adding the Governor's receipt/approval block.

06/04/26 - Amended Senate → 06/25/26 - Amended Senate · 4 edits · Jun 25, 2026

MODERATE

The June 25 amendment to AB 2134 removes an explicit prohibition on cities refusing parental leave permission for council members, weakens the public meeting restriction by removing its specific Ralph M. Brown Act reference, and expands the definition of parental leave to explicitly cover city council members (not just employees). The legislative findings are also reworded to add a rationale about uniform protections for starting or growing a family.

REQUIREMENT

Removed the explicit prohibition on a city refusing permission for a council member to take absences for parental leave. The bill still requires a notification process and excludes parental leave from absence counts, but no longer states that cities cannot deny the leave outright.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'parental leave' now explicitly includes 'city council member' alongside 'employee' in both the birth and adoption/foster care provisions, making clear the definition applies to council members specifically rather than only by analogy to employees.

ENFORCEMENT

Removed the specific subsection referencing the Ralph M. Brown Act that prohibited requiring a council member to request approval for parental leave at a public hearing. A general prohibition on requiring declaration at a public meeting remains in the notification process language, but the Brown Act-specific framing is gone.

SCOPE

The statewide concern finding in Section 2 is reworded to add explicit rationale: 'because all councilmembers across the State of California should have uniform protections when starting or growing a family.' The legal effect (applying to all cities including charter cities) is unchanged.

05/04/26 - Amended Assembly → 06/04/26 - Amended Senate · 4 edits · Jun 4, 2026

MODERATE

The Senate amendment to AB 2134 adds a new requirement that cities must establish a written notification process for council members taking parental leave, directing notice to the city clerk or designated official rather than requiring a public meeting declaration. It also adds a new legislative finding justifying the bill as a matter of statewide concern based on the need for uniform family protections across all California cities. Coauthors were expanded to include Assembly Member Celeste Rodriguez and Senator Rubio.

REQUIREMENT

Cities must now establish a process for council members to notify the city clerk or other designated official in writing that they are taking parental leave. The process cannot require the declaration to be made at a public meeting.

SCOPE

A new legislative finding was added stating that because all councilmembers across California should have uniform protections when starting or growing a family, the act is a matter of statewide concern and applies to all cities including charter cities. This provides an additional constitutional basis beyond the original finding.

Coauthors were expanded from Assembly Members Aguiar-Curry and Ahrens to include Assembly Member Celeste Rodriguez and Senator Rubio, indicating broader bipartisan support in the Senate.

TECHNICAL

The subdivisions of Section 36513 were renumbered to accommodate the new notification process provision, though the Senate version contains apparent numbering errors with duplicate subdivision letters (two (c)s, two (d)s, and two (e)s).

03/16/26 - Amended Assembly → 05/04/26 - Amended Assembly · 4 edits · May 4, 2026

MODERATE

AB 2134 was amended to narrow the scope of its parental leave protections for city council members. The prohibition on cities refusing parental leave now only applies when the city provides a parental leave period longer than 12 workweeks to its employees, and a new definition caps parental leave at 12 workweeks or the city's employee leave period, whichever is longer. Coauthors were also added.

SCOPE

The prohibition on cities refusing parental leave for council members now only applies if the city provides a parental leave period longer than 12 workweeks to its own employees. Previously the bill prohibited refusal unconditionally.

DEFINITION

A new subsection (f) defines 'parental leave' as leave for the birth of a child or placement of a child in connection with adoption or foster care, limited to 12 workweeks or the length of parental leave provided to employees of the council member's city, whichever is longer.

TECHNICAL

Assembly Members Aguiar-Curry and Ahrens were added as coauthors.

The bill summary language stating 'This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that provision' was removed, reflecting that the amendment made substantive policy changes.

02/18/26 - Introduced → 03/16/26 - Amended Assembly · 6 edits · Mar 16, 2026

MODERATE

AB 2134 was substantially expanded from a nonsubstantive cleanup of existing city council absence rules into a bill that adds specific parental leave protections for city council members. The amended version prohibits cities from refusing parental leave, excludes parental leave from counting toward allowed absences, and bars requiring approval at a public hearing. New legislative findings ensure the law applies to charter cities and address constitutional concerns about limiting public access to meetings.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded significantly. The introduced version was purely nonsubstantive (formatting and pronoun updates to existing law). The amended version adds new substantive rights for city council members regarding parental leave and includes findings that extend applicability to charter cities, which the original provision may not have covered.

ELIGIBILITY

New subdivision (c) provides that parental leave shall not count toward the existing number of allowed absences allotted to each council member.

REQUIREMENT

New subdivision (d) prohibits a city from refusing permission for a council member to take absences for parental leave.

ENFORCEMENT

New subdivision (e) prohibits a city from requiring a council member to request approval for parental leave at a public hearing, notwithstanding the Ralph M. Brown Act.

SCOPE

New Section 2 includes legislative findings that the act addresses a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair, making it applicable to all cities including charter cities.

TECHNICAL

New Section 3 includes legislative findings under Article I, Section 3 of the California Constitution demonstrating that the limitation on public access to meetings is necessary to protect the privacy of city council members.

Gender-neutral language changes throughout (replacing 'he or she' with 'they') and formatting adjustments.

City council members: absences without permission.

What changed between versions

How they voted

Actions timeline

Sponsors