SB 977 California Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Chain restaurants: children's meals.

Summary

Existing law, the California Retail Food Code, establishes uniform health and sanitation standards for, and provides for regulation by the State Department of Public Health of, retail food facilities, as defined, and requires local enforcement agencies to enforce these provisions. Existing law requires a restaurant that sells a children's meal that includes a beverage to make the default beverage water, sparkling water, or flavored water, as specified, or unflavored milk or a nondairy milk alternative, as specified. A violation of the code's provisions related to children's meals is an infraction. This bill would require a chain restaurant, as defined, that sells a children's meal to offer at least one children's meal that meets specified minimum nutrition standards, including, among others, that the meal not contain more than 550 calories and that the meal include at least 2 servings of specified types and quantities of food. The bill would require a chain restaurant that sells a children's meal, on or before July 1, 2027, to include information to its employees on how to comply with those requirements. By creating new crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Aug 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

Assembly Passage

Aug 2026

Governor

Introduced Feb 4, 2026 Last action Aug 27, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

08/25/26 - Enrolled → SB977 · 1 edit

MINOR

No substantive policy changes occurred between these two versions. The difference is purely presentational: the enrolled bill's formal legislative document format (with page numbers, signature blocks, and official headers) was replaced by a web page layout with navigation menus, search tools, and status metadata. All legal provisions remain identical.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was reformatted from an official enrolled legislative document (with page numbers, Secretary of the Senate and Chief Clerk signature lines, and Governor approval block) into a web page presentation with site navigation, quick search, bill tracking links, and publication metadata. No changes to any legal provision were made.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 30, 2026 · Assembly Aug 19, 2026

How they voted

36–0

Passed · 4 other

Total votes 40

Apr 30, 2026

D Democratic30

27 Yea 3

90% Yea

R Republican10

9 Yea 1

90% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Aug 24, 2026

Upper · Passed

Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 39. Noes 0.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.

upper

Aug 19, 2026

Introduced

In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.

upper

Aug 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate.

lower

Aug 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 14. Noes 1.) (August 13).

lower

Jun 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (June 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Jun 15, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH.

lower

May 11, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on HEALTH.

lower

Apr 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 36. Noes 0. Page 4110.) Ordered to the Assembly.

upper

Apr 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Apr 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Mar 26, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 11. Noes 0. Page 3689.) (March 25).

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on HEALTH.

upper

Feb 4, 2026

Introduced

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

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors