Sen. Sabrina Cervantes

Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, prohibits a public officer from expending, and a candidate from accepting, public moneys for the purpose of seeking elective office. This bill would remove prohibitions imposed on a public officer or candidate to expend or accept public funds, as defined, for the purpose of seeking elective office unless the funds are earmarked by a state or local entity for education, transportation, or public safety. The bill would require candidates to abide by specified expenditure limits and meet strict criteria, as defined, to qualify for public funds. The bill would prohibit public funds from being used to pay legal defense fees or fines or to repay personal loans to their campaign. The bill would permit a statute, ordinance, or charter to establish standards to increase the expenditure limits for each qualified, voluntarily participating candidate pursuant to a specified formula. The bill would provide that the Fair Political Practices Commission is not responsible for administering or enforcing a system of public funding of candidates established by a local governmental agency. Existing law prohibits a foreign government or foreign principal, as defined, from making a contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure in connection with the qualification or support of, or opposition to, any state or local ballot measure or in connection with the election of a candidate to state or local office. Under existing law, a person who violates this prohibition is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine equal to the amount contributed or expended. This bill would instead require that a person guilty of that misdemeanor, in addition to other penalties, be fined an amount at least equal to the amount contributed or expended, but not exceeding a maximum amount of 3 times the amount contributed or expended. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the act may be amended by a statute that becomes effective upon approval of the voters. This bill would require the Secretary of State to submit the provisions of the bill, as specified, to the voters for approval at the November 3, 2026, statewide general election. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 85320 of the Government Code proposed by AB 953 to be operative pursuant to specified conditions.

(1) Existing state and federal law provides for the enforcement of laws related to elections and provides procedures to challenge the conduct of elections and election results. This bill would require a state or local agency or political subdivision that files or is served with a court action relating to elections that contains a claim arising under federal law to provide written notice to the Secretary of State and the Attorney General within 3 days. The bill would require a state or local agency or political subdivision, at least 14 days before entering into a settlement, consent decree, or other court-approved agreement with respect to such a claim arising under federal law, to provide notice of the settlement, consent decree, or other court-approved agreement to the Secretary of State and the Attorney General. The bill would exempt records or information exchanged pursuant to this provision from the California Public Records Act. (2) Existing law requires an elections official, upon completion of the count, to add the results of write-in votes and any paper ballots used as certified by the precinct board, and thereupon declare the vote. Existing law requires the elections official to prepare a certified statement of the results of the election and submit it to the governing body within 30 days of the election, as specified. Existing law requires the elections official to send to the Secretary of State within 31 days of the election in an electronic format a complete copy of specified election results, including the vote given for persons for electors of President and Vice President of the United States, all candidates voted for statewide office, and all statewide measures. This bill would specify that the duties described above imposed on elections officials are ministerial and nondiscretionary. Existing law, if the Secretary of State determines that state election laws are not being enforced, requires the Secretary of State to call the violation of those laws to the attention of the district attorney of the county or to the Attorney General. This bill, if an elections official fails to prepare a certified statement of the results of the election, would require the Secretary of State to call the violation to the attention of the district attorney of the county or to the Attorney General and authorize the Secretary of State to assist the county elections official in discharging their duties, consistent with those provisions. (3) Existing law requires a governing body to declare elected or nominated the person having the highest number of votes for each office voted on at an election under its jurisdiction and to declare the results of each measure voted on at an election under its jurisdiction. This bill would specify that these duties are ministerial and nondiscretionary. (4) Existing law establishes a crime punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or both, for a person who hires or arranges for a person in possession of a firearm or any uniformed peace officer, private guard, or security personnel or any person who is wearing a uniform of a peace officer, guard, or security personnel, to be stationed in the immediate vicinity of, or posted at, a polling place without written authorization of the appropriate elections official. This bill would apply the above penalties with respect to a uniformed law enforcement officer, including an officer or agent of a federal law enforcement agency, rather than to a uniformed peace officer. The bill would expand the scope of the crime to include the presence of any of the above persons in the immediate vicinity of or at a county elections office. (5) Existing law makes it a crime to display a container for the purpose of collecting ballots with the intent to deceive a voter into casting a ballot in an unofficial ballot box. Existing law also makes it a crime to direct or solicit a voter to place a ballot in such a container. Existing law makes these crimes punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000, by imprisonment for 16 months or two or three years, or by both fine and imprisonment. This bill would also make it a crime to display an envelope for the purpose of collecting ballots, with the intent to deceive a voter into casting a ballot in an unofficial ballot box. The bill would make it a crime to direct or solicit a voter to place a ballot in such an envelope. (6) Existing law provides requirements for the certification of voting systems. Existing law requires the Secretary of State to adopt and publish voting system standards that meet or exceed federal voluntary voting system guidelines prescribed by the United States Election Assistance Commission, as specified. This bill would repeal the above requirement and instead require the Secretary of State to adopt and publish voting standards that meet the minimum requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 and that incorporate best practices in election technology. (7) Existing law requires a vendor, jurisdiction, and applicant for certification or approval of a remote accessible vote by mail system to notify the Secretary of State and local elections officials, as applicable, if they learn of a defect, fault, or failure in the system or part of the system. Existing law requires the Secretary of State, after receiving notice, to further notify and submit a report to the United States Election Assistance Commission. This bill would repeal the above requirements that the Secretary of State notify and submit a report to the United States Election Assistance Commission. (8) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. (9) By broadening the scope of existing crimes, and by establishing new procedures for the conduct of elections, including with respect to enforcement of local election laws, disclosure of voter registration information, and ballots, this bill would establish 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. (10) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law requires the board of governors to adopt regulations to establish and maintain the minimum qualifications for service as a faculty member teaching credit instruction, a faculty member teaching noncredit instruction, a librarian, a counselor, an educational administrator, an extended opportunity programs and services worker, a disabled students programs and services worker, an apprenticeship instructor, and a supervisor of health. Existing law provides, notwithstanding that provision, that a person authorized to serve as a community college instructor, librarian, counselor, student personnel worker, supervisor, administrator, or chief administrative officer under a credential shall retain the right to serve under the terms of that credential, and, for that purpose, shall be deemed to possess the minimum qualifications specified for every discipline or service covered by the credential until the expiration of that credential. Existing law requires the board of governors to adopt regulations authorizing local governing boards to employ faculty members and educational administrators who do not meet the specified minimum qualifications, subject to alternative minimum qualifications. This bill would explicitly require a community college instructor, librarian, counselor, student personnel worker, supervisor, administrator, chief administrative officer, extended opportunity programs and services worker, disabled students programs and services worker, apprenticeship instructor, or supervisor of health to be a person who meets the above-described minimum qualifications to serve in that position or the alternative qualifications to serve in that position.

Existing law declares the public policy of the state regarding labor organization, including, among other things, that it is necessary for a worker to have full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing, to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment, and to be free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of employers of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives or in self-organization or in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. Existing law establishes the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) in state government as a means of resolving disputes and enforcing the statutory duties and rights of specified public employers and employees under various acts regulating collective bargaining. Under existing law, PERB has the power and duty to investigate an unfair practice charge and to determine whether the charge is justified and the appropriate remedy for the unfair practice. Existing law, the federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) , establishes a comprehensive statutory scheme regulating unfair labor practices on the part of employers and labor organizations in industries affecting interstate commerce, and vests in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) the power to conduct elections to determine employee representatives and to prevent unfair labor practices affecting commerce. Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires that public records, as defined, be available to the public for inspection and made promptly available to any person. This bill would expand PERB's jurisdiction by authorizing a worker, to petition PERB to protect and enforce prescribed rights under specified circumstances, including if the worker is employed in a position subject to the NLRA but the NLRB has expressly or impliedly ceded jurisdiction. The bill would authorize PERB to, among other things, decide unfair labor practice cases pursuant to a specified timeline and order all appropriate relief for a violation, including civil penalties, as prescribed. In order to pursue relief from PERB, the bill would require a covered worker or their representative to file an unfair practice charge or petition that includes specified information, including, where applicable, the original charge or petition filed with the NLRB. The bill would require PERB to hold the supporting documentation and evidence confidential and maintain it as part of its investigatory file and would exempt this documentation and evidence from the California Public Records Act. If PERB determines, among other things, it has insufficient resources to process certain cases or doing so would prevent it from meeting specified statutory deadlines, the bill would require PERB to process and prioritize charges, as specified. The bill would also establish the Public Employment Relations Board Enforcement Fund (fund) in the State Treasury, would require the above-described civil penalties to be deposited into the fund, and would make moneys in the fund available upon appropriation by the Legislature to PERB for the purpose of administering the above-specified provisions. The bill would authorize PERB to rely on its own decisions and precedent under the NLRA and would authorize review of its decisions by a state appellate court, as specified. Existing law, the Alatorre-Zenovich-Dunlap-Berman Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, grants agricultural employees the right to form and join labor organizations and engage in collective bargaining, as specified, and prohibits agricultural employers and labor organizations from engaging in unfair labor practices. Those provisions establish the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) and empower the ALRB to prevent any person from engaging in those practices. Existing law establishes various definitions for these purposes. Existing law requires the ALRB to follow applicable precedents of the NLRA. This bill would specify that the ALRB has exclusive jurisdiction in all phases of the administration of the act, and to determine whether any person or entity meets one or more of those definitions. The bill would instead authorize the board to follow applicable precedents of the NLRA, but would not obligate the board to follow precedents where the ALRB deems it inappropriate to do so. This bill would make related findings and declarations and would make its provisions severable. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The California State University comprises 23 institutions of higher education located throughout the state. The California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 2001 requires all agencies and museums, which is defined to include higher education institutions, that receive state funding and have possession or control over collections of California Native American human remains and associated funerary objects to inventory those remains and objects for repatriation to the appropriate California Indian tribes, as specified. Existing law requires the California State University to comply with additional requirements regarding the handling, maintenance, and repatriation of Native American human remains and cultural items under the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 2001, including adopting and implementing policies and procedures on the systemwide requirements for submitting, processing, and implementing claims for the repatriation of human remains and cultural items, as specified. This bill would require the California State University to develop a policy for the reburial of Native American human remains that have been repatriated on land owned by the California State University, as provided. The bill would require the policy to require the California State University to consult with California Indian tribes, including on specified topics. The bill would also require the policy to require that any proposed location for the reburial of repatriated Native American human remains be mutually agreed upon by the California State University and the California Indian tribes that are culturally affiliated with the potential reburial land.

(1) The California Constitution provides for the fundamental rights of privacy and to choose to have an abortion. Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, prohibits the state from denying or interfering with a pregnant person's right to choose or obtain an abortion before the viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person. Existing law prohibits conditions or restrictions from being imposed on abortion access for incarcerated persons and committed juveniles. Existing laws requiring parental consent for abortion and making assisting in or advertising abortion a crime have been held to be unconstitutional. This bill would repeal those unconstitutional provisions and delete obsolete references to criminal abortion penalties. The bill would make technical changes to provisions authorizing abortion for incarcerated and committed persons. (2) Existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, provides for labeling requirements of drugs and devices. The Pharmacy Law requires a pharmacist to dispense a prescription in a container that is correctly labeled with specified information, including the name of the prescriber and the name address of the pharmacy. A violation of the Pharmacy Law is a misdemeanor. This bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to adopt regulations to include or exclude mifepristone and other medication abortion drugs from the requirements of the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, but would exclude the drugs from those requirements if the drugs are no longer approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) , as specified. The bill would authorize a pharmacist to dispense mifepristone or other drug used for medication abortion without the name of the patient, the name of the prescriber, or the name and address of the pharmacy, subject to specified requirements. The bill would require the pharmacist to maintain a log, as specified, that is not open to inspection by law enforcement without a subpoena, and would prohibit the disclosure of the information to an individual or entity from another state. The bill would prohibit criminal, civil, professional discipline, or licensing action against a pharmacist for manufacturing, transporting, or engaging in specified other acts relating to mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs, and would prohibit the California State Board of Pharmacy from denying an application for licensure or taking disciplinary action against an applicant or licensee for engaging in certain acts relating to mifepristone or other medical abortion drugs. By expanding the scope of a crime under the Pharmacy Law, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law establishes various healing arts boards in the Department of Consumer Affairs that license and regulate various healing arts licensees. This bill would prohibit subjecting a healing arts practitioner who is authorized to prescribe, furnish, order, or administer dangerous drugs to civil, criminal, disciplinary, or other administrative action for prescribing, furnishing, ordering, or administering mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs for a use that is different from the use for which that drug has been approved for marketing by the FDA or that varies from an approved risk evaluation and mitigation strategy under federal law, as specified. The bill would state that the laws of another state or federal actions that interfere with the authority of a healing arts practitioner to take specified actions relating to mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs are against the public policy of this state. The bill would prohibit criminal, civil, professional discipline, or licensing actions against an applicant or licensee for manufacturing, transporting, or engaging in certain other acts relating to mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs. (4) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of clinics and health facilities by the State Department of Public Health. This bill would prohibit criminal, civil, professional discipline, or licensing action against a licensed clinic or health facility for transporting or engaging in certain other acts relating to mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs that are lawful in California. The bill would prohibit the department from denying an application for licensure or taking disciplinary action against an applicant or licensee for engaging in certain acts relating to mifepristone or other medical abortion drugs. (5) Existing law prohibits a health care provider from knowingly disclosing, transmitting, transferring, sharing or granting access to identifiable medical information related to an individual seeking, obtaining, providing, supporting, or aiding in the performance of an abortion that is lawful under the laws of this state, as specified and subject to specified exclusions. Existing law exempts a health care provider from liability for damages or from civil or enforcement actions for failing to comply this prohibition before January 31, 2026, if the health care provider is working diligently and in good faith to comply with the prohibition. This bill would exempt a health care provider from liability for damages or from civil or enforcement actions for an additional year, until January 31, 2027. (6) Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of disability and health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law prohibits a health care service plan contract or a group or individual disability insurance policy or certificate that covers prescription drugs from limiting or excluding coverage of a drug on the basis that the drug is prescribed for a use that is different from the use for which that drug has been approved for marketing by the FDA. Existing law prohibits a contract between a health care service plan or health insurer and a health care services provider from containing any term that would result in termination or nonrenewal of the contract or otherwise penalize the provider based on a civil judgment, criminal conviction, or another professional disciplinary action in another state if the judgment, conviction, or professional disciplinary action is solely based on the application of another state's law that interferes with a person's right to receive care that would be lawful if provided in California. Existing law also prohibits a health care service plan or health insurer from discriminating against a licensed provider solely on the basis of a civil judgment, criminal conviction, or another professional disciplinary action in another state if the judgment, conviction, or professional disciplinary action is solely based on the application of another state's law that interferes with a person's right to receive care that would be lawful if provided in California. This bill would prohibit a health care service plan contract or a group or individual health insurance policy or certificate that covers prescription drugs from limiting or excluding coverage for brand name or generic mifepristone solely on the basis that the drug is prescribed for a use that is different from the use for which that drug has been approved for marketing by the FDA or that varies from an approved risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, except if the state deems it necessary to address an imminent health or safety concern. The bill would require those contracts and policies to include coverage for brand name or generic mifepristone, even if it has not been approved by the FDA if specified requirements are met, except if the state deems it necessary to address an imminent health or safety concern. The bill would prohibit a plan or insurer from contracting with a health care services provider to terminate or nonrenew the contract or otherwise penalize the provider, or from discriminating against a licensed provider, for manufacturing, transporting, or engaging in certain other acts relating to mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs that are lawful in California. Because a violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (7) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4076 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 1503 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1503 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (8) 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. (9) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

This measure would proclaim November 2025 as Epilepsy Awareness Month and call upon all Californians to recommit their communities to increasing awareness and understanding of those living with epilepsy.

This measure would proclaim the month of October 2025 as California Firefighter Appreciation Month and October 4, 2025, as California Firefighters Memorial Day.

This measure would state, among other things, the Legislature and the State of California's commitment to protecting, to the fullest extent of the law, all the data and information provided by students and their families to California's postsecondary education.

The State Housing Law, among other things, requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to adopt, amend, or repeal rules and regulations for the protection of the health, safety, and general welfare of the occupant and the public relating to specified residential structures. Existing law provides for the inspection of homeless shelters and makes a violation of these provisions a crime. Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services to, in collaboration with an advisory committee, administer sexual assault/rape crisis center victim services programs and provide grants to proposed and existing sexual assault services programs that are operating a local rape victim center. Existing law requires domestic violence shelter-based program staff to work with social service agencies, schools, and law enforcement agencies in an advocacy capacity. This bill, the Keep Safe Spaces Safe Act, would prohibit, to the extent possible, an employee of a homeless shelter, rape crisis center, domestic violence shelter, family justice center, or human trafficking service provider from allowing access to the nonpublic areas of those facilities, except as required by state or federal law, for immigration enforcement activity, as defined, unless specified criteria are met, including a valid judicial warrant. This bill would provide that its provisions are severable. By creating a new crime, this 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.