SB 456 California Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Contractors: exemptions: muralists.

Summary

Existing law, the Contractors State License Law, establishes the Contractors State License Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs and sets forth its powers and duties relating to the licensure and regulation of contractors. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for a person to engage in the business, or act in the capacity, of a contractor without a license, unless exempted. Existing law exempts from the Contractors State License Law, among other things, a nonprofit corporation providing assistance to an owner, as specified. This bill would exempt from that law an artist who draws, paints, applies, executes, restores, or conserves a mural, as defined, pursuant to an agreement with a person who could legally authorize the work.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Sep 2025

Senate Passage

Jun 2025

Assembly Passage

Sep 2025

Signed into Law

Oct 2025

Introduced Feb 19, 2025 Signed Oct 13, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

04/02/25 - Amended Senate → 09/08/25 - Enrolled · 4 edits · Sep 8, 2025

MODERATE

The enrolled version of SB 456 streamlined the bill from a two-section measure to a single section. The Amended Senate version both added new Section 7050 and amended existing Section 7044 to embed the muralist exemption within the general contractor exemptions list. The enrolled version dropped the Section 7044 amendment entirely, leaving only the standalone Section 7050. The core policy of exempting mural artists from contractor licensing remains intact, but the legislative vehicle was simplified.

SCOPE

The amendment to Section 7044 (adding a muralist exemption as paragraph (5) within the existing list of contractor license exemptions) was dropped entirely. The muralist exemption now exists only in the new standalone Section 7050 rather than also being embedded in the general exemptions section.

DEFINITION

The defined term 'muralist' (an artist who draws, paints, applies, executes, restores, conserves, or affixes visual art directly onto walls) was removed along with the Section 7044 amendment. The final bill uses only the term 'artist' in Section 7050.

ELIGIBILITY

The word 'affixes' appeared in the dropped Section 7044 definition of muralist but is absent from the final Section 7050 text. This means an artist who affixes (installs) a pre-made artwork to a wall may not qualify for the exemption under the enrolled version, whereas it would have under the dropped amendment.

TECHNICAL

Procedural changes reflecting the bill's passage: Senate passage date of June 2, 2025, Assembly passage date of September 4, 2025, and Governor receipt/approval lines were added. The coauthors list and introduction details from the earlier version were removed.

02/19/25 - Introduced → 04/02/25 - Amended Senate · 5 edits · Apr 2, 2025

MODERATE

The amended bill adds a new standalone Section 7050 to the Business and Professions Code that exempts artists who create, restore, or conserve murals from contractor licensing requirements, in addition to retaining the original muralist exemption within Section 7044. The new section uses a broader definition of 'mural' (covering fixtures and appurtenances, using 'fine art' language) and explicitly excludes painted wall signs. This effectively creates two overlapping exemptions for mural work, broadening the scope of who is exempt from licensing.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a single muralist exemption within the existing Section 7044 exemptions list to two separate exemptions: a new standalone Section 7050 with a broader definition of mural (including fixtures and appurtenances, excluding painted wall signs) alongside the original Section 7044(5) exemption.

SCOPE

New Section 7050 added to the Business and Professions Code creating a standalone exemption for any artist who draws, paints, applies, executes, restores, or conserves a mural pursuant to an agreement with a person who could legally authorize the work.

The bill now contains two separate mural exemptions: the new Section 7050 (broader, covers fixtures and appurtenances, uses 'fine art' language) and the retained Section 7044 paragraph (5) (uses 'visual art' language, limited to walls and ceilings, includes 'affixes' as an action).

DEFINITION

Section 7050 defines 'mural' as a unique work of fine art protected by copyright, trademark, label, or patent, drawn or painted by hand directly onto interior or exterior walls, ceilings, fixtures, or other appurtenances of a building or structure. It explicitly excludes painted wall signs.

TECHNICAL

Gender-neutral drafting changes throughout: 'his or her' replaced with 'the owner's' and 'himself or herself' replaced with 'claimed.'

Assembly Members Ahrens, Berman, Jeff Gonzalez, Haney, Jackson, McKinnor, and Pellerin added as coauthors.

Floor votes · Senate Jun 2, 2025 · Assembly Sep 4, 2025

How they voted

38–0

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 40

Jun 2, 2025

D Democratic30

28 Yea 2

93% Yea

R Republican10

10 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Oct 13, 2025

Signed into law

Approved by the Governor.

legislature

Sep 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.

upper

Sep 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 2905.) Ordered to the Senate.

lower

Aug 20, 2025

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (August 20).

lower

Jul 8, 2025

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (July 8). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Jun 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on B. & P. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 24). Re-referred to Com. on B. & P.

lower

Jun 12, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Coms. on A.,E.,S., & T. and B. & P. pursuant to Assembly Rule 96.

lower

Jun 9, 2025

Committee

Referred to Com. on B. & P.

lower

Jun 2, 2025

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 1402.) Ordered to the Assembly.

upper

Apr 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8.

upper

Apr 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 10. Noes 0. Page 680.) (April 7). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Apr 2, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on B. P. & E.D.

upper

Feb 26, 2025

Committee

Referred to Com. on B. P. & E.D.

upper

Feb 19, 2025

Introduced

Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

upper

1 primary · 8 co-sponsors