The Legislature completed the 2025-2026 session on August 31st. For 2026, more than 1,800 bills were introduced, and more than 900 bills are currently awaiting action from the Governor. This year was a particularly active year for California ACC advocacy as you will read. Many of the bills we advocated are currently on the Governor’s desk. The Governor has until September 30th to sign or veto bills. I will send out an additional report after the Governor takes action.
SB 869 (Weber Pierson) – California ACC Position – Support
This bill would require chain restaurants, by January 1, 2029, to place an added sugar icon and warning next to standard menu beverage items with high added sugar content and to provide this information on drive-through menus and either physical or digital menus.
Location – On Governor’s Desk
SB 945 (Weber Pierson) – California ACC Position – Support
This bill was introduced to require schools to include CPR and AED training as a condition of graduation. Due to pushback from the Senate Education Committee the bill was amended to require the Instructional Quality Commission, when the physical education framework is next revised after January 1, 2027, to consider including content on the importance, performance, and use of CPR and automated external defibrillators.
Location – On Governor’s Desk
AB 539 (Schiavo) – California ACC Position – Support – This bill would require health plans, for approved prior authorization requests, to have them remain valid for up to 12 months.
Location – On Governor’s Desk
SB 1089 (Richardson) – California ACC Position – Support
The bill would authorize California to partner with other pharmaceutical manufacturers to create least one FDA-approved GLP-1 anti-obesity medication for distribution to Californians.
Location – On Governor’s Desk
SB 964 (Smallwood-Cuevas) – California ACC Position – Support
The bill would allow a treating physician to request a health plan adjust a drug’s dose or frequency for a patient without prior authorization or later utilization management, and would require a written response within 72 hours.
Location – On Governor’s Desk
SB 1199 (Weber Pierson) – California ACC Position – Support
The bill would require health care service plans and health insurers to count amounts paid for covered prescription drugs toward an enrollee’s cost sharing and out-of-pocket maximum, with certain exceptions.
Location – On Governor’s Desk
AB 387 (Alanis) – California ACC Position – Support – This bill would expand youth sports AED requirements by making public and private local facilities with permanent sports infrastructure responsible for providing, maintaining, and making accessible an AED for official practices and matches beginning January 1, 2028. It would also require youth sports organizations to ensure access to an operational AED when one is not available at the facility and would direct facilities and organizations to collaborate on access and cost-sharing for installation, maintenance, and use of the AED.
Location – On Governor’s Desk
SB 1333 (Jones) – California ACC Position – Oppose
The bill proposes to expand their capabilities to include minor office procedures such as managing lacerations, skin lesions, and performing tasks like incision and drainage of abscesses. Additionally, under existing law, naturopathic doctors can prescribe some controlled substances with physician supervision and standardized protocols. The bill aims to significantly expand these prescriptive powers to include Schedule II to V controlled substances and remove the supervision requirement, thereby allowing naturopathic doctors greater autonomy in prescribing medication.
Location – Senate Business and Professions Committee – Bill was not heard and is dead
SB 1303 – California ACC Position – Oppose
This bill was amended late in the session to include the provisions from SB 1333 to expand the scope of practice for naturopathic doctors. California ACC moved quickly to work with CMA and other medical specialty groups to effectively block those amendments and force them to be removed from the bill.
AB 2244 (Gabriel) – California ACC Position – Support
The bill would create a state “Non-Ultra processed Certified” labeling program for food products, with accredited certifiers, public reporting, enforcement authority, and a dedicated fund to support administration and public education.
Location – On Governor’s Desk
AB 2497 (Johnson) – California ACC Position – Oppose
The bill would authorize physical therapists (PTs) to diagnose conditions of the movement system, order imaging and studies for interpretation by other licensed health care professionals, clarifies that PTs may perform and interpret musculoskeletal ultrasound imaging, authorizes PTs to penetrate tissue using electrode and solid filiform needles to evaluate and treat the musculoskeletal system.
Location – Did not pass the Assembly – Dead for 2026
AB 1819 (Sanchez) – California ACC Position – Support
This bill requires a structure that serves a population of adults 55 years of age or older and has the capacity to serve 50 or more adults 55 years of age or older, to install an automated external defibrillator (AED) device.
Location – Held in Assembly Appropriations Committee
AB 1868 (Hadwick) – California ACC Position – Support
The bill would require the State Department of Public Health to update its regulation on cardiovascular operative services by January 1, 2030, so that the rules for extracorporeal bypass surgery reflect current professional standards of care.
Location – Held in Senate Appropriations Committee
AB 2171 (Patterson) – California ACC Position – Support
The bill would change how CalFresh (California’s SNAP program) can be used by prohibiting recipients from using CalFresh benefits to buy defined sweetened beverages and candy, except when purchased at restaurants. This prohibition would override the current statutory directive that the Department of Social Services maximize available food choices for CalFresh recipients.
Location – Failed to pass out of policy committee, Dead for 2026
AB 2431 (Patel) – California ACC Position – Support
The bill would also ban discriminatory or targeted downcoding against physicians or other providers who commonly treat patients with serious, complex, or chronic conditions, and it would let the relevant state departments take action if discriminatory or other prohibited practices occur. Because willful violations would be criminal for service plans, the bill would create a state-mandated local program.
Location – Held in Assembly Appropriations Committee
SB 535 (Richardson) – California ACC Position – Support – This bill requires health plans and health insurers that provide coverage for outpatient prescription drug benefits to include coverage intensive behavioral therapy, bariatric surgery, and at least one Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved anti-obesity medication.
Location Held in Assembly Appropriations Committee
SB 29 (Laird) – California ACC Position – Oppose unless Amended – This bill was introduced to remove the limitation on the recoverability of damages for pain, suffering, or disfigurement and would make all loss and damages generally recoverable by a successor of the decedent. We are asking for an amendment to remove medical liability cases from the bill.
The bill had been held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and was essentially dead for 2025. During the last week of session, the author negotiated with the Speaker of the Assembly to allow SB 29 to move out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and go to the Assembly Floor with an amendment to limit of only allowing the provisions of the bill to extent for one year. This immediately turned into a large battle between various medical groups including California ACC fighting against the trial attorneys and unions for the last three days of the session. Ultimately, the author and proponents of the bill could not secure the votes on the Assembly floor, and the bill did not move forward. This was a great victory against some significant political groups.
This bill was still eligible to be taken up in 2026. There had been rumors of the bill being resurrected but it was never brought up.
Location – Remained on Assembly Floor
SB 1049 (Weber Pierson) – California ACC Position – Support
The bill would give providers at least 90 days to submit a corrected health care claim after a denial or overpayment notice based on a fixable defect and would bar plans and insurers from rejecting the corrected claim for missing a different filing deadline.
Location – On Governor’s Desk