November 2026 Advocacy Update

With Governor Newsom’s September 30 bill-signing deadline behind us, the 2025-26 legislative session is effectively complete. CCBN ended the year with several positive outcomes on priority measures, including significant amendments to AB 801 (Bonta), the defeat of AB 1018 (Bauer-Kahan), AB 2285 (Valencia), SB 1041 (Arreguín), and AB 2674 (Schiavo), and successfully preventing proposals affecting bank accounts under SB 1288 (Laird) and a revived state bank proposal from advancing.

Attention now turns to the November 3 election and the start of a new legislative cycle. Democrat Xavier Becerra is heavily favored to become California’s next Governor, while Democrats are also expected to retain supermajorities in both the Assembly and Senate. 

California voters will also consider 14 statewide ballot measures, several of which could have significant policy and economic implications. Among them are Proposition 39, which would establish new voter identification requirements; Proposition 40, which would impose a one-time 5% tax on certain individuals and trusts with assets exceeding $1 billion; and Proposition 37, which would create a state-supported second-mortgage program for qualifying homebuyers and authorize up to $25 billion in bonds to fund the program.

Following the election, the 2027-28 Legislature will convene at noon on December 7. The new year will mark the beginning of a fresh two-year legislative session, meaning lawmakers will have an opportunity to introduce an entirely new slate of legislation. 

CCBN will be closely monitoring the election results, new legislative leadership and committee assignments, and early bill introductions as we prepare for the 2027 session. We also expect several issues from this year—including proposals related to a California Community Reinvestment Act, beneficiary notification requirements, and other financial services regulations—to potentially return in some form next year.