Last week, the California Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees held their suspense committee hearings where they quickly dispense with bills that are keyed fiscal and given a high price tag.

In the Assembly, any bill with a fiscal effect in any fiscal year of $150,000 or more will be placed on the suspense file. In the Senate, a bill is typically placed on the suspense file if its estimated cost to the general fund is $50,000 or more, or $150,000 or more to a special fund.

Bills can either pass out of committee as is, or with amendments — or be held in committee, meaning that bill is dead and not moving forward. Between both committees, nearly 1,100 bills were taken up on suspense last Friday.

See below for the suspense outcomes for priority California Credit Union League bills.

CA League Wins

• Assembly Bill 1365 (Garcia) CalAccount Program — This public banking network bill was HELD in committee, meaning it is dead and not moving forward. This is a great win for credit unions.
• Assembly Bill 1221 (Bryan) Workplace Surveillance Tools — HELD in committee. This bill would have required burdensome notice requirements on employers regarding their use of workplace surveillance tools and prohibited the use of certain tools.
• Assembly Bill 1355 (Ward) Location Privacy — HELD in committee. This bill would have placed new restrictions around location data collection and use practices by businesses in California in a manner that would have interfered with fraud protection/detection, as well as undermined and caused confusion with the requirements under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
• Senate Bill 354 (Limon) Insurance Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2025 — The Bill passed, but it was amended to allow for joint marketing to continue under a consumer opt-out as opposed to an opt-in. This is a favorable amendment for credit unions.
• Senate Bill 468 (Becker) High Risk Artificial Intelligence Systems: Protecting Personal Information — HELD in committee. This legislation is duplicative of existing robust information security regulations already in place at the federal level for credit unions.

Bills Moving Forward

• Assembly Bill 801 (Bonta) California Community Reinvestment Act — The bill passed committee last Friday with amendments relating to which credit unions the bill applies to. The League does not have the amendment language but will likely have it soon. The League speculates that it could be an asset threshold or related to field of membership. Regardless of the amendments, it does not change the League’s position on the bill.
• Assembly Bill 1018 (Bauer-Kahan) Automated Decision Systems — The bill passed committee last Friday without any amendments. As part of a financial services coalition, the League has offered the author amendments that would remove credit unions from the bill. Without amendments, the League believes this legislation has the potential to disrupt the extension of credit for California residents and compromise cybersecurity and anti-fraud efforts of financial institutions already abiding by robust federal and state laws, regulations, and supervisory guidance that are appliable to the use of all technologies, including automated decision systems.
• Assembly Bill 1331 (Elhawary) Workplace Surveillance — This bill passed with amendments to allow some video surveillance in common areas for worker safety. The League will review amendments, but it anticipates many concerns will remain. The League continues to work with a broad business coalition in opposition.
• Senate Bill 7 (McNerney) Employment: Automated Decision Systems — This bill passed out of committee. It would regulate the use of automated decision systems in almost every employment related decision. It targets businesses of all sizes, across every industry, adding onerous and impractical regulations surrounding the management of employees.
• Senate Bill 238 (Smallwood-Cuevas) Workplace Surveillance Tools — This bill passed out of committee and would require burdensome notice requirements that would be made public regarding an employer’s use of workplace surveillance tools. The League continues to oppose this bill.
• Senate Bill 766 (Allen) California Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS) Act — This bill passed out of committee but was amended to remove the private right of action from the bill.

As the California Legislative Session approaches the halfway point in, all bills must pass out of their house of origin by June 6.

Please stay tuned for more updates coming soon, especially on AB 801, the California Community Reinvestment Act bill. The League’s team will review the bill amendments once the language is available before activating on a grassroots campaign.