Take Action

Cal Cities' advocacy efforts are strongest when joined by the voices of city leaders. Below is a list of current legislative proposals that local officials should act on to support cities' top legislative priorities, along with sample support or opposition letters.

Action requested: Call your legislators today to take action on Cal Cities’ priority bills related to housing.

The legislative session ends on Aug. 31, leaving a small window to take action on these bills before they reach the Governor’s desk.  Call your legislator today!  

SUPPORT BILLS

*AB 2296 (Papan) Planning and zoning: housing element: regional housing needs allocation.

Allows cities to begin their housing elements six months earlier than the existing law, providing additional time and assistance needed to complete housing elements and get certified by the state on time.

OPPOSE BILLS

AB 1751 (Quirk-Silva) Missing Middle Townhome Ownership Act.

Requires local governments to ministerially approve townhomes that are less than three stories in multifamily zones and vacant single-family zones regardless of compliance with state-certified housing elements. In multifamily zones, a developer could propose smaller projects than planned in housing plans, meaning cities could be required to find additional housing sites to maintain housing element certification.

SB 1117 (Cervantes) Accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units.

Dramatically limits impact fees cities can collect for accessory dwelling units larger than 750 square feet. For example, if a project applicant proposes a 1,000-square-foot unit, cities could only charge impact fees for 250 square feet, a 75% reduction in impact fees that provide essential infrastructure and public services for new housing development.

Resources: Links to each bill, including sample letters, are linked above. Asterisks indicate a Cal Cities-sponsored bill.

Questions? Contact RPAM or Brady Guertin, Legislative Advocate, Housing, Community, and Economic Development bguertin@calcities.org.

Action requested: Submit an oppose unless amended letter to SB 1013 (Cervantes), which limits the use of automated license plate recognition (APLR) data. The bill will be heard in the Assembly Transportation Committee on June 22, 2026.

 What does this bill do?

• Prohibits local governments from using APLR technology unless it is for locating vehicles or persons suspected of being involved in a public offense or locating a missing individual.
• Limits storage of ALPR data for 30 days unless it is retained in the evidence file of an active investigation or criminal proceeding or matches information on an authorized hot list (Amber Alerts, Silver Alerts, Missing Persons, and serious and violent felonies).
• Restricts inter-agency sharing beginning Jan. 1, 2027. New or changed ALPR contracts won’t have automatic access to any ALPR national databases. Sharing with other California law enforcement agencies can only be turned on manually and under specified conditions.

Why this is important to Cal Cities members: Cal Cities is in opposition to SB 1013 (Cervantes)unless amended to address concerns regarding the data limitations. ALPR technology has provided law enforcement with a significant tool that is employed in solving crimes, including serious violent felonies. Limiting data storage to 30 days will significantly restrict law enforcement’s ability to use this information if a case is reported after 30 days or if an investigation takes longer than 30 days.

While the intent of this bill is to restrict data sharing with the federal government, it also poses significant restrictions on sharing with other California law enforcement agencies during significant events, including human trafficking, sexual assault, and other cases that often require longer to solve and file charges.

Additional links and attachments: Cal Cities letter and sample city letter, click here.

Where to send your letter: Submit your letter in the legislative portal and then email a copy to cityletters@calcities.org.

Questions? Contact Jolena Voorhis, jvoorhis@calcities.org, or Serena Scott, sscott@calcities.org.

Action Requested: Call your senator ASAP to oppose AB 1383 (McKinnor), which makes significant changes to the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act (PEPRA) that would result in substantial cost increases for cities and other public agencies. The bill is on the Senate Floor, and the legislative session ends on Aug. 31, leaving a small window to stop AB 1383 from reaching the Governor’s desk.  Call your senator today!

Key Messages

• AB 1383 would increase pension costs for local governments at a time when cities, like the state, are already managing rising pension obligations, stagnant revenues, and new federal and state mandates. Describe your city’s current budget situation using current data and specific examples and describe how increases to pension liabilities will impact your city’s budget.
• Does Not Apply to Just Firefighters and Police. Although adjustments to retirement age apply to PEPRA safety plans (e.g., fire and police), the bill also significantly increases the maximum pensionable compensation cap for the all of the highest paid employees to as much as $249,075, not just for fire and police. This provision alone accounts for $4.2 billion of the cost estimated by CalPERS.
• The bill would weaken PEPRA reforms that have produced an estimated $5.8 billion in savings to date and are projected to save $26.5 billion over 10 years.
• There is nothing optional about the new bargainable tier, especially when cities are already struggling with recruitment and retention. If one city adopts the new tier, workers will go to that agency, forcing cities to pay up to keep up. Higher pension costs would put pressure on city budgets and could affect core services, staffing levels, workforce compensation, community programs, and overall fiscal stability.
  

What AB 1383 would do

CalPERS estimates at least $4.8 billion in costs, and potentially as much as approximately $8.2 billion:

• Increasing the pensionable compensation cap for PEPRA public employees (Safety and Non-Safety).
• Reducing the retirement age for public safety employees from 57 to 55, applied prospectively.
• Creating a new fourth safety tier with a 3% at 55 formula that would be prospective and subject to collective bargaining.
  
  

Questions? Please contact your regional public affairs manager with any questions.

Materials: 

• AB 1383 (McKinnor) Senate Floor Alert
• AB-1383 DOF Analysis

Action requested: Submit a letter and call your legislator urging support of a $400 million budget request to fully fund Proposition 36.

Why is this budget request important for cities:

• California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 36, the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act, in 2024. This measure created a new Treatment-Mandated Felony to address the surge in retail theft and shoplifting.
  
• Last year, the Legislature provided approximately $100 million to begin Prop. 36 implementation, but no funding was provided for probation — a key factor to ensuring offenders are held accountable and receive treatment.
  
• This $400 million budget request addresses the investments needed to expand service capacity, secure in-custody treatment, and allow for individualized planning and monitoring for those in our communities.
  

Additional background: Cal Cities is urging lawmakers to approve a $400 million request from Asm. Stephanie Nguyen and Sen. Catherine Blakespear for probation, accountability, and assessment. Cal Cities also testified in support of the funding during an Assembly Budget subcommittee in mid-March.  

Links and attachments: Cal Cities support letter for the $400 million request and a sample city letter.

Where to send letters:  Please send your letter to the staffer for Senate Budget Subcommittee #5 members (see below), your legislator, cityletters@calcities.org, and RPAM email.

Senate Subcommittee 5 members and contact email.

Questions? Please contact Jolena Voorhis, jvoorhis@calcities.org  or Serena Scott, sscott@calcities.org  with any questions. We can also assist, if you need help finding the best email address for your legislator’s staff.

Cal Cities Support Letter  Sample City Letter