The Association’s 2025 sponsored legislation reflects member agency priorities of protecting riders and employees from violence, keeping costs manageable for ZEVs, and streamlining transit project construction.
By Arianna Smith
Managing Editor
Transit California 
The Association’s ambitious 2025 legislative package addresses some major issues that members care about the most. The Association recruited three transit leaders in the Legislature to author three sponsored bills that reflect longtime priorities developed and approved through the State Legislative Committee and the Executive Committee.
Here’s what this year’s Association-sponsored bills would accomplish if they become law.
Assembly Bill 394: Protecting transit workers and riders from violence
This measure reflects the expertise of the Association’s Transit Operator and Rider Safety Subcommittee, which has, for years, worked to identify needed policy changes and best practices to protect the transit workforce and passengers from violent passengers.
Specifically, AB 394 would promote safer transit environments by thoughtfully strengthening existing law regarding the security of transit facilities and systems. The measure extends existing enhanced assault and battery penalties to transit employees and contractors, who are not currently covered by the law. The measure also provides transit operators stronger tools to prohibit violent passengers from entering transit facilities by expanding existing misdemeanor trespassing law to cover all transit facilities, clarifying enforcement roles, and creating a court-ordered prohibition order process for violent trespassers. The measure will be heard first in the Assembly Public Safety Committee.
“As someone who regularly relies on public transportation to commute to and from Sacramento, I understand firsthand the importance of ensuring a safe and reliable experience for all riders and transit workers,” said Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson, authors of the measure. “AB 394 is a vital step in protecting those who keep our transit systems running and the millions who depend on them daily. I’m proud to author this measure to provide transit agencies with the necessary tools to address safety concerns, because every Californian deserves to feel secure when using public transportation.”
Assemblymember Wilson is the Chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee, which considers legislation that affects nearly all policies related to transit. (For more information about Assemblymember Wilson, see Transit California’s 2024 “On Board With…” profile).
Senate Bill 71: Common sense extensions to CEQA exemptions
SB 71, authored by Senator Scott Wiener, builds on previous legislation (SB 288 in 2020, SB 922 in 2022, and SB 2503 in 2024) which heralded several temporary exemptions to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for transit construction projects that, once completed, would help the state meet its goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This measure acknowledges the positive outcome of these exemptions by making them permanent.
For transit agencies, CEQA requires the evaluation, disclosure, and possible mitigation of potential environmental impacts related to nearly all types of development or construction projects. Unfortunately, CEQA has regularly slowed down transit agency projects that would otherwise help the state achieve its environmental goals due to lengthy and costly delays from studies, appeals, and litigation.
Communities would benefit from a variety of transit projects that would receive the permanent exemption and could include sidewalks, bike lanes, bus-only lanes, transit signal priority infrastructure, bus and rail stations, passenger rail projects within public rights-of-way, zero-emission charging infrastructure, lane and shoulder conversions for buses and carpools, and planning decisions related to minimum parking requirements.
Senator Wiener is a longtime transit champion in the Legislature who currently serves as Chair of the Senate Budget Committee. (For more information about Senator Scott Wiener, see Transit California’s 2022 “On Board With…” profile).
“This bill is a simple, proven way to give Californians what they want: more public transit options, more bike lanes and sidewalks, and more ways to get from one place to another without cars,” said Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). “Under the temporary CEQA exemption, we delivered 92 such projects quickly and safely. This bill makes the exemption permanent.”
Senate Bill 752: Making the transition to Zero-Emissions Buses less expensive
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 Sales and Use Tax (SUT) exemption that decreases purchase costs by about 4.5%. Under current law, this partial SUT exemption expires in less than a year (January 1, 2026). Agencies making plans for 2026 and beyond may hold off on greenhouse gas reducing ZEB purchases if the partial SUT exemption is not renewed.
SB 752, introduced by Senator Laura Richardson, simply extends the exemption to expire on January 1, 2028 so that transit agencies can continue to plan further into the future on bus purchases that help achieve greenhouse gas reductions.
Senator Richardson, newly elected to the Senate, is the Chair of the Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor and Transportation, which considers and approves funding for public transit.
The bills are introduced. Now what?
Bill introduction is one of the earliest steps in a multi-step process for the Legislature and the Governor to consider whether bills should become law. Along with the thousands of other bills that have been introduced in 2025, each of the Association’s three sponsored bills will next be assigned to at least one policy committee based on the bills’ subjects. The policy committees will hold public hearings on introduced legislation throughout the spring.
The bills’ authors, Association advocates, and member transit agencies will contact legislators who serve on the committee to explain and discuss the bill’s benefits. If any of the bills have opposition, the legislators will also hear from opposing organizations. At the policy committee hearings, representatives of these individuals will also make presentations before legislators about the bills. Bills are typically approved by a majority vote in their policy committees. If the bill has “fiscal” implications - that is, if the bill costs or makes money for the state – it will next go to the Appropriations Committee, where it must be approved by May to move forward to consideration by the whole body of the Assembly or Senate in a floor vote. If approved there, it moves to the “second house,” where the consideration process – policy committee to Appropriations Committee to floor vote – starts again. By mid-September, all approved bills must be approved by the Legislature. A bill can fail a vote and die at any step in this process, but if it is approved at each step, the Legislature will send the bill to the Governor’s Desk for his signature or veto.
In most cases, if the Governor signs an approved bill by mid-October, the bill will become law on January 1, 2026. In 2024, Governor Newsom signed over 80% of the bills that reached his desk.
At each step in the legislative process, the text of the bill may be amended, or changed, by the bill’s author or by a committee in order to reflect agreements reached in stakeholder negotiations. Since 2025 is the first year of a two-year session, bills may also get temporarily held back at any step of the above-described process so that stakeholders can work together and have the bill reconsidered for approval during the second year of session in 2026.
At this point, bill authors and Association advocates are mapping out paths to legislative success for each of the sponsored bills.
As with every legislative session, the Association actively sought leaders in the transit arena to serve as authors for sponsored bills. This tactic helps grow the knowledge within the Legislature on issues of interest to Association members, and it helps build relationships with legislators and staff whose voices are most critical to transit budget and policy conversations. Be sure to watch the weekly Executive Director’s Report and monthly Transit California editions for updates about sponsored legislation and more throughout the session.