…& Legislative Update
March, 2026
How is Sacramento spending our tax dollars this month? Let’s sniff out the ways…
Compiled by Jennifer Zeiter
More ‘Resistance Legislation’
Fear and desperation motivate California Democrat lawmakers as they continue to introduce (not yet law) more ‘resistance legislation:’ Stop President Trump, protect non-citizen criminals, hinder law enforcement, and defy federal immigration laws. Here we go:
AB 1539 - Presidential elections: qualifications for office. This bill exemplifies Democrats’ stark terror that President Trump might actually run for reelection again in 2028. The bill would require a representative of each qualified political party to certify, under penalty of perjury, that the party’s nominees for President and Vice President are both qualified to be elected President under the Twenty-Second Amendment. (The Twenty-Second Amendment limits Presidents to 2 terms.) If that certification is not made, the bill would prohibit placing the names of the party’s nominees for President and Vice President on the general election ballot.
SB 882 - Remote court appearances, shielding non-citizens and thwarts federal immigration enforcement agents. Requires courts to allow any party to appear remotely at a civil or criminal state court hearing, trial, until 2029.
SB 1105 - Law enforcement: remove arrest authority. This bill would remove the arrest authority or peace officer status for federal criminal investigators, law enforcement officers, and federal employees. It would prohibit a California police from participating in a joint law enforcement task force without seeking authorization from the Attorney General.
AB 1627 - Public employment disqualifications. This bill takes the prize for outrageous resistance legislation. When we think of criteria that should disqualify a person from public employment in the fields of law enforcement and education, what generally comes to mind are things like guilty of a felony, being mentally ill, a sex offender, etc. What doesn’t come to mind is someone who was employed by ICE between September 1, 2025 and January 20, 2029—years of the Trump Administration.
This bill would disqualify a person from being a peace officer, teacher, principal, superintendent, chancellor, or other administrator by any school district, charter school, county office of education, or community college district, or by the University of California, or by the California State University, if they were employed by ICE between September 1, 2025, and January 20, 2029.
Supporting premise: “Participating in the operations of the ICE on or after January 20, 2025, demonstrates an immorality that California cannot afford to have in its ranks of peace officers, teachers, and other public employees whose duties include interacting with the public.”
AB 1764 - Elections: voter registration would require the Secretary of State or county elections officials, to use data obtained from the State Department of Health Care Services and the federal Social Security Administration to cancel the affidavits of registrations of deceased persons. THIS IS A GOOD ONE!
AB 1993 - Voting by mail: identification envelopes. Citizens across the state have been concerned about their vote being visible through a hole in the VBM envelope. This bill would eliminate the issue. The bill would apply to all elections conducted on or after 2028. ANOTHER GOOD ONE!
SB 994 – Local government: nondisclosure agreements. Transparency is critical for accountability to the taxpayers. This bill would prohibit a local government official acting in their official capacity from entering into, or requesting that another individual enter into, a nondisclosure agreement relating to public business that precludes their ability to share information with fellow local government officials serving on the same council, board, commission, district, or agency. Prohibiting non-disclosures is a necessary step Only effective on and after 2027. ANOTHER GOOD ONE!
SB 545 – Deals with the High-Speed Rail Authority, in the latest iteration of a “draft business plan,” wants to capture local tax revenue.
This state agency in charge of the runaway High Speed Rail is seeking control over land-use and tax revenues within a half-mile of its future stations. It wants to capture the increase in property and sales tax revenues generated in an area by the arrival of a Rail station. That would mean city and county budgets do not capture those extra property and sales tax dollars, which typically pay for police, fire and other essential public services. That tax revenue would be diverted to the High-Speed Rail
SB 948 - Firearms: safety certificates. This bill would require an applicant for a firearm safety certificate, to complete a minimum 8 hour training course (including live fire). Imposing an additional obstacle between citizens and their Constitutional right to own a firearm.
SB 1035 - Motor vehicle fuel tax greenhouse gas reduction tax. This bill would suspend the Low Carbon Fuel Standard regulations for one year and would suspend the imposition of the tax on motor vehicle fuels for one year. ANOTHER GOOD ONE!
AB 1550 - Personal Income tax law: homeowners’ insurance premium. This bill will allow qualified tips and overtime compensation to be deducted in addition to the standard deduction. ANOTHER GOOD ONE!
AB 1620 - Deduction for Homeowner’s insurance premium. This bill will allow homeowners to deduct the insurance premium for their primary residence on state income tax. ANOTHER GOOD ONE! But unlikely to pass.
AB 1687 - Driver’s licenses: revocation. This bill would substantially increase the penalties for DUIs. It would require the DMV to immediately revoke the driving privilege of a person upon a showing that the person has 3 or more convictions for, among other things, DUIs. The bill would prohibit the department from reinstating these driving privileges for the above-described person until the expiration of 8 years after the date of revocation. ANOTHER GOOD ONE!
AB 1948 - Firearms: CCW licenses. This bill would extend the duration of CCW licenses to 3 years from the date of the new license and 6 years from the date of the license for renewal. ANOTHER GOOD ONE!
AB 1766 - Health curriculum: human trafficking and online safety. This bill requires that when the health curriculum framework is next revised, the commission consider the inclusion of “how to prevent human trafficking, how to prevent exploitation for labor and services, how to stay safe from sexually exploitative materials and deep-fakes online. The bill would require the recommended lessons to follow a cumulative, age-appropriate progression from kindergarten to grades 1 to 12. POTENTIALLY ANOTHER GOOD ONE!
STOP THE SAVINGS TAX INITIATIVES
Carl DeMaio/Reform California has launched a statewide signature drive to qualify the Stop the Savings Tax Initiative, a ballot measure designed to block California politicians from imposing taxes on personal assets such as savings accounts, retirement funds, investments, and property.
Passed out of Committee by Carl DeMaio. The No Aid for Ghost Students Act stamps out California's community college financial aid fraud. Newsom did nothing about 1.2 million fake applicants. Also Delilah’s Law to prevent those here illegally from getting commercial driver’s licenses.
SPLIT PROPERTY TAX ROLLS - Tom Steyer, candidate for governor, is pushing for a “split roll” on property taxes in CA, targeting so called “evil corporations and businesses.” He seeks to eliminate Prop 13 for non-residential properties, another effort to weaken Prop. 13, which efforts have a history of failure. But that doesn’t stop the radical left from trying. The left tried this before, most recently in 2020, but lost by about 4% points.
A multi-billion-dollar property tax increase on businesses would translate into a higher cost of living, trickle down taxation. Many small businesses rent their property under the terms of a “triple net lease” leaving them on the hook for all the tax hikes imposed on their landlords. This would hurt small businesses most.
(Thanks to Olena from Pixabay for the logo image)