Association staff and members successfully secured votes and Governor’s signatures for sponsored bills, improved concerning measures with necessary amendments, and educated stakeholders on proposed policy impacts throughout the first year of the 2025-26 legislative session.
By Arianna Smith
Managing Editor
Transit California
The California Legislature has concluded regular business for the year, and Governor Gavin Newsom has signed or vetoed all bills that the Legislature sent his way. Measures signed into law this year will, with a few exceptions, go into effect beginning on January 1, 2026. Even as the Association was deeply involved in protecting transit funding during this year’s Cap-and-Invest and budget negotiations, advocates also worked tirelessly to advocate on transit’s behalf during policy bill discussions.
Here are the transit policy highlights and points of interest from the 2025 legislative year.
Association-sponsored bills signed into law!
Bill sponsorship goes beyond simply expressing strong support of a measure; it is a reflection of the sponsor’s expertise and commitment to the topic. In 2025, the Association’s sponsored measures began as priorities approved by the State Legislative Committee. Association advocates then actively recruited legislators to serve as authors for the measures and as champions of the proposed policies. Two of the 2025 Association-sponsored bills have been signed into law.
SIGNED! SB 71 (Wiener) CEQA Exemptions for Transit Projects (Co-Sponsor): This new law, which the Association co-sponsored with SPUR, the Bay Area Council, and LA Metro, builds on previous legislation (SB 288 in 2020, SB 922 in 2022, and AB 2503 in 2024), all of which created temporary exemptions to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for transit construction projects that would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The previous laws acknowledge that certain applications of CEQA were regularly slowing down transit projects that would have helped the state achieve its environmental goals; this new law reaffirms this acknowledgement. It extends the current January 1, 2030 sunset date of the exemptions to January 1, 2040, expands exemptions to ferry terminals, transit operational analysis, bus stops, and bus shelters, and makes procedural changes surrounding board actions, such as the board process for establishing a project's cost estimate.
SIGNED! AB 394 (Wilson) Enhanced Penalties for Transit Employee Assaults (Co-Sponsor): Authored by the Chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee, AB 394 originated from the Association’s Transit Operator and Rider Safety Subcommittee’s work to identify necessary policy changes and best practices to protect the transit workforce and passengers from violent passengers. This new law extends existing enhanced battery penalties to all transit employees and clarifies that transit agencies are considered “employers” for the purpose of acquiring temporary restraining orders against violent trespassers. The Association co-sponsored the measure with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), the Teamsters, and SMART-TD.
HELD IN 2025. SB 752 (Richardson) Zero-Emission Bus Sales Tax Exemption Sunset Extension (Sponsor): This bill would have extended from 2026 to 2028, the partial sales and use tax (SUT) exemption for zero-emission buses (ZEBs) first established in 2019 and subsequently renewed in 2022. Since 2019, California transit agencies that operate bus systems have been able to speed up their transition to Zero-Emissions Buses (ZEBs) partly because of a partial SUT exemption that decreases purchase costs by about 4.5%. This partial SUT exemption expires on January 1, 2026. The measure was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
In addition to sponsored measures, the Association offered official “support” positions on several bills throughout the 2025 session. For a list of all measures that Association advocates, the State Legislative Committee, and Association members supported or otherwise engaged with in 2025, read the Association’s full 2025 Legislative Update.
The Association engages on bills to improve outcomes for transit agency members
Beyond sponsored and supported measures, the Association advocacy team secured critical amendments in legislation that posed various policy and cost concerns for Association members.
SIGNED - SB 30 (Cortese) Restrictions on Sales and Transfers of Diesel-Powered Train Equipment: This bill was introduced following the transfer of Caltrain’s decommissioned 1990s-era diesel trainsets to the city of Lima, Peru in 2024. Caltrain coordinated with the State Department for this transfer, following the Bay Area Air Quality Management’s study and verification that the transfer would result in net air quality improvements in Lima because of the projected high ridership and the resulting cars off the road. As originally introduced, the measure would have prohibited any public entity from selling, donating, or otherwise transferring diesel-powered trainsets and equipment to other localities, even if the equipment would improve the air quality in the locale. Such a law would have had a significant negative effect on California's rail agencies, all of whom operate enhanced and higher-tier diesel fleets. As a result, Association staff, in collaboration with the Association’s member rail agencies, adopted an “Oppose unless Amended” position and sought amendments to the bill.
Association advocates engaged in significant advocacy over a period of several months with the author and with several policy committee members and staff. The Association successfully argued that trains play a critical role in improving air quality across the globe; therefore, agencies that can demonstrate air quality improvements in the proposed-transfer localities should be allowed to make trainset equipment transfers. Ultimately, Association staff secured favorable amendments to the legislation: the new law permits a public entity to transfer Tier II, Tier III, and Tier IV locomotives, or a locomotive with the equivalent emissions of a Tier II, III or IV engine, if authorized at a public meeting. The bill continues to prohibit a public entity from transferring a Tier 0 or Tier I diesel-powered locomotive for continued use after the public entity ceases the service of the locomotive; for this reason, the Association retained its “Oppose Unless Amended” position. The measure – with these notable improvements for transit agencies with diesel-trainsets - was signed into law by Governor Newsom.
SIGNED - AB 1250 (Papan) Paratransit Operators: Recertification of Eligibility: This bill rightfully acknowledges the essential role paratransit service plays in our society, a policy view shared by Association membership. Originally, AB 1250 would have prohibited a transit operator from requiring a paratransit user from ever having to recertify their eligibility for paratransit services if their medical condition is not expected to improve. The author noted that the bill was originally introduced with the goal of improving the interaction between transit agencies and riders with permanent disabilities who are eligible for this service; however, some recertification process elements are critical for transit agencies to guarantee the safety of riders and that are necessary for our agencies to do their work. Association advocates worked with the author and the bill sponsor to craft and advance amendments that require transit agencies to establish a streamlined, lower-barrier recertification process for individuals with permanent disabilities, and ultimately the Association was able to take a “Support” position. The bill was signed into law.
Additional bills of interest to Association members that have been signed into law
Three key bills that could affect transit agencies and riders were also signed into law; the Association did not weigh in with an official position on these.
SIGNED - SB 707 (Durazo) Brown Act Reform: Association staff did not take a position on this measure, and instead worked throughout the legislative year to educate and inform Association members of the ways in which this measure will make changes to the Brown Act. The measure re-authorizes limited remote participation authority for just cause and creates a process for subsidiary bodies to meet remotely. The measure also creates a new category of “eligible legislative bodies” for purposes of the Brown Act, which includes city councils, county Boards of Supervisors, and Boards of Directors of Special Districts that serve populations over a certain size or in urban areas, with the intent of providing additional transparency, translation, and teleconference opportunities for members of the public. This measure was signed into law by the Governor and will be phased in during the first six months of 2026.
SIGNED - SB 79 (Wiener) Multifamily Housing Near Transit Stops: Authored by longtime transit champion Senator Scott Wiener of San Francisco, this measure updates rules about housing near transit stops and stations in eight urban counties (Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara). In these counties, the new law effectively eliminates single-family house zoning within a quarter to half mile of subway, light rail, bus rapid transit stations, and certain highly used commuter rail stations, and replaces it with zoning that allows for mid-rise multifamily housing to be built there. “All Californians deserve an affordable place to live — close to jobs, schools, and opportunity,” said Governor Newsom in a statement about signing the bill into law. “Housing near transit means shorter commutes, lower costs, and more time with family. When we invest in housing, we’re investing in people — their chance to build a future, raise a family, and be part of a community.” Parts of the law go into effect in mid-2026, when local governments will begin to adopt new development plans for these zones. Of specific interest to transit agencies and operators is the new authority to establish the law’s development standards on parcels they own. The law does not take full effect until 2030, and the Association will be a part of implementation discussions.
SIGNED - SB 63 (Wiener/Arreguin) Bay Area Transit Sales Tax Ballot Measure: Senator Wiener teamed up with Senator Jesse Arreguin of Oakland to author a regional sales tax proposal intended to fund fiscally distressed transportation authorities in the Bay Area. The approved measure takes the next step in ensuring that the proposal will appear on the 2026 ballots of voters in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara. Notably, the measure will not automatically go to voters; the newly formed Public Transit Revenue Measure District overseen by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission must first approve the measure for the ballot, which would require a ⅔ majority vote for its approval (alternatively, the measure could be placed on the ballot as a voter-initiated measure, which would require only a simple majority for its passage). If the measure does appear on the ballot and if it is approved by voters, it will impose a half-cent sales tax in four counties and a full-cent sales tax in San Francisco with the goal of generating nearly $1 billion in annual revenues for the transit operations of AC Transit, BART, Caltrain, Muni, County Connection, Tri Delta Transit, LAVTA, Union City Transit, WestCAT and SF Bay Ferry. SB 63 also requires financial audits of the major transit systems facing fiscal cliffs (AC Transit, BART, Caltrain, SF Muni) and provisions for stronger regional network management.
Looking ahead to 2026
Unless they include an “urgency” clause, the above measures that the Governor signed in September and October will begin to go into effect on January 1, 2026.
The California Legislature is in recess through December 2025. Lawmakers will return to the Capitol in January 2026 to complete the second year of the 2025-26 session. Some measures that were introduced in 2025, but did not move forward beyond certain deadlines, may be brought up for a vote during the first month of 2026. Additionally, legislators will have the opportunity to introduce entirely new measures in January and February.
With the second year of session also comes an election year and a slightly truncated legislative calendar. All Assemblymembers and some Senators will be up for re-election. Some legislators will “term out,” and this will be their final year in office; others are running for new offices; most incumbents are likely to remain in their seats for another session. In 2026, bills must be approved no later than August 31, and the Governor must sign or veto bills by the end of September. The 2026 General Election will take place on November 3.
Members interested in additional in-depth lookbacks at the first year of the 2025-26 Legislative Session, and previews of emerging 2026 priorities won’t want to miss our 60th Annual Fall Conference & Expo!
In the Concurrent Session panel “Under the Dome: 2025 State Legislative Update,” attendees will have the opportunity to hear from transit leaders about how the Association’s recent legislative wins and policy frameworks are enabling agencies to expand services, invest in infrastructure, and respond to evolving rider needs. (And for more information about all of the Association’s panels, be sure to check out Transit California’s October 2025 feature article). We hope to see you there!