EBLC’s 2025 Legislative impact: 13 Bills Signed Into Law
2025 Policy Recap
Of the over 30 bills that EBLC took positions on during the 2025 legislative session, 13 were signed into law by the Governor. Mounting challenges related to climate change, housing affordability, transit service reliability, and overall cost of living drove the legislature’s focus this session, with environmental, energy, housing, and transportation policies emerging as significant priorities for both lawmakers and EBLC.
With the year coming to a close, we have compiled a full summary of EBLC-backed laws that either took effect immediately as urgency or tax statutes or are scheduled to begin in 2026.
SB 86 (McNerney) – Advanced Manufacturing Sales Tax Exemption
This law extends and expands a state sales tax exclusion program for clean energy and advanced transportation manufacturers by eliminating the 2026 sunset, increasing the cap, and adding nuclear fusion facilities as eligible projects.
SB 31 (McNerney) – Water Recycling Expansions
This law expands the use of treated wastewater for non-potable purposes such as irrigation and toilet flushing to increase water availability and support the state’s goal of recycling 1.8 million acre-feet of water annually by 2040.
SB 72 (Caballero) – Department of Water Resources Planning
This law requires the Department of Water Resources to set statewide long-term water supply targets and strengthen the California Water Plan so the state can more effectively plan for future water needs under changing climate and demand conditions.
SB 392 (Grayson) – East Bay Hills Conservation Program
This law creates the East Bay Hills Conservation Program, empowering the East Bay Regional Park District to enhance and protect wildlife habitats, recreation, and resilience in the East Bay Hills.
SB 79 (Weiner) – Upzoning Near Transit
This bill establishes upzoning standards for housing near major transit stops to promote transit-oriented development and address the housing shortage. It will apply in high-transit urban counties (i.e. Alameda) but not in less-served counties (i.e. Contra Costa).
AB 253 (Ward) – Private Plan Checks for Housing
This law allows small residential building permit applicants to hire licensed private professionals to conduct plan checks if local building departments take longer than 30 days.
AB 301 (Schiavo) – Timelines for State Housing Permit Reviews
This law applies timeline and transparency requirements to state post-entitlement housing permit reviews, requiring faster completeness determinations and decisions so state delays do not stall housing projects.
AB 462 (Lowenthal) – ADU Permit Exemptions During Emergencies
This law exempts certain ADUs from coastal development permits and speeds up approvals in counties under a state of emergency, removing barriers to housing production after disasters.
AB 1154 (Carrillo) – Eliminates Parking Requirements for Small ADUs
This law eliminates parking requirements for ADUs under 500 sq ft, removes certain owner-occupancy rules for Junior ADUs, and requires longer rental terms.
SB 486 (Cabaldon) – Public Education Housing Needs
This law requires regional planning agencies to account for changes in public university enrollment when forecasting population growth and determining housing needs, helping ensure housing and transportation plans better reflect actual demand driven by student populations.
AB 1007 (Rubio) – Reduction in Housing Approval Timeframe
This law requires responsible agencies to approve or disapprove housing development projects within 45 days instead of 90, helping accelerate permit decisions and reduce delay-related barriers to housing development.
AB 818 (Ávila Farías) – Reduced Temporary Housing Approval Timelines
This law requires local governments to approve or deny applications for temporary housing building permits within 10 business days of receipt of the application for structures used during disaster recovery, helping reduce permitting delays while homes are rebuilt.
SB 63 (Weiner, Arreguín) – Connect Bay Area Regional Transit Measure
This law authorizes placing a regional sales tax measure on the November 2026 ballot to fund transit operations and prevent service cuts, largely for BART, AC Transit, Muni, and Caltrain. Specifically, it’s a 14-year measure with a ½-cent sales tax in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties, and a 1-cent sales tax in San Francisco.
Discover more 2025 legislation signed into law on CalMatters.
The East Bay Leadership Council is a regional employer-led organization with a nearly 90-year history of advancing policies that strengthen the economy and improve quality of life in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties.