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By Julie Schurman, Esq., Director of Public Policy, The Arc & UCP California Collaboration
August 13 was a major deadline at the California State Capitol. The Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees decided which bills that would have a cost to the state could continue moving through the Legislature. Bills that passed are now one step closer to the Governor’s desk. Bills that were “held under submission” will not move forward this year.
For The Arc & UCP California Collaboration, there was some good news. Several bills we support made it through Appropriations:
AB 2526 (Muratsuchi) – More Resources for Special Education
AB 2526 would change how certain special education funding is calculated and would provide additional resources to support students with significant disabilities.
AB 2081 (Stefani) – Expanding Home and Community-Based Services
AB 2081 would expand California’s Home and Community-Based Alternatives (HCBA) Waiver, which helps people who might otherwise need institutional care receive services in their homes and communities. Beginning in 2027, the bill would require California to increase the number of available waiver slots by 10,000, in addition to other planned increases. This is a bill that Assembly Member Stefani has repeatedly introduced over a number of years, and has been supported by the Arc of California each time.
AB 2233 (Ta) – Protecting Access to Autism Treatment
AB 2233 would give families more flexibility in using authorized behavioral health treatment hours. If treatment hours are approved as part of a six-month treatment plan, health plans and insurers generally could not restrict when those hours are used during that authorization period, as long as their use remains consistent with the treatment plan and clinical guidelines.
AB 2414 (Nguyen) – Recognizing Direct Support Professionals
AB 2414 takes an important step toward recognizing the professionalism and value of this workforce. By establishing a clear statutory definition of a Direct Support Professional and directing DDS to develop billing guidance to facilitate training-related pay differentials, this bill supports workforce development, promotes consistency across the developmental services system, and helps lay the foundation for improved recruitment and retention efforts. The bill also ensures that DSPs are appropriately recognized within future DDS rate model reviews, which is the first step toward increasing DSP pay.
SB 974 (Seyarto) – Special Needs Trusts and Family Homes
The bill would recognize qualifying special needs trusts as an eligible way to transfer certain family property for purposes of California’s applicable property tax exclusion. This could mean that some families will pay less property tax when transferring their family home to their disabled loved one through a Special Needs trust.
SB 1349 (Gonzalez) – Reviewing California Tax Breaks
SB 1349 would require the Legislative Analyst’s Office to review major state tax expenditures, including whether they are a cost-effective use of public resources and whether savings could be achieved by reducing or limiting them.
AB 880 (Bennett) – Prompt Payments for Nonprofits
AB 880 recognizes that nonprofit organizations providing public services to people with disabilities should be afforded the same basic expectation of timely payment as other entities doing business with the state. The nonprofit status of an organization does not eliminate payroll obligations, operating expenses, or the need for predictable cash flow. If anything, many community-based nonprofits have fewer financial reserves and less access to capital to withstand substantial payment delays. By expanding the Prompt Payment Act’s definition of “grant” to include agreements between state agencies and nonprofit organizations, AB 880 would help establish greater accountability and fairness in the state’s payment practices to non-profits that are paid via Medi-Cal.
Some Important Bills Did Not Move Forward
Unfortunately, several bills supported by The Arc & UCP California Collaboration were held in Appropriations and will not move forward this session. These include AB 1925 (Gonzalez), which proposed studying a statewide permanent disability certification that could potentially reduce the need for people with lifelong disabilities to repeatedly prove their disability; AB 2191 (Quirk-Silva), which would have supported statewide resources for alternate pathways to a high school diploma for students with disabilities; AB 2208 (Stefani), which addressed upcoming federal changes to Medi-Cal; and AB 2360 (Arambula), which would have strengthened plain-language requirements for state government documents.
SB 1202 (Weber Pierson), which would have required California to publicly track Medi-Cal enrollment, disenrollment, work requirements, and exemptions through a new data dashboard, was also held. SB 363 (Wiener), which sought greater accountability around health insurance treatment denials and independent medical reviews, did not advance either.
One Harmful Bill Made it Through Appropriations
AB 2490 (Valencia) – Lowering Experience Requirements for Long-Term Substitute Teachers
Unfortunately, AB 2490 also passed the Senate Appropriations Committee and will continue moving through the Legislature. The Arc & UCP California Collaboration opposes this bill because of its potential impact on students with disabilities.
AB 2490 would allow substitute teachers to spend more than one-third of the school year in a general or special education classroom, with only minimal training and unspecified support.
Staffing classrooms with untrained teachers is a solution for districts, not students. Students with disabilities deserve qualified and well-prepared educators who understand their individual needs and can implement their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). The Arc will continue opposing the bill as it moves through the final weeks of the legislative session.
What Happens Next?
For the bills that survived Appropriations, the legislative session is not over. They must still complete their remaining floor votes in the Senate or Assembly before they can be sent to the Governor for consideration.
Other Bill Updates
AB 1575 (Arambula), one of the Arc’s sponsored bills, which would change the term “consumer” in the Lanterman Act to “person eligible for regional center services” is headed to a final floor vote on August 17th.
AB 2189 (Ngyuen) related to Special Education advocacy will be converted to a budget bill, and is making its way through the 2026 budget bill process, with funding already earmarked for the initiative.
AB 2324 (Gonzalez), recently signed by the Governor, recognizes the valuable experience of young people who provide care to family members and helps connect those experiences to education and career opportunities in caregiving and direct support professions.
The Arc & UCP California Collaboration will continue advocating for legislation that strengthens services, protects access to health care and education, supports families and the disability workforce, and advances the rights of Californians with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Stay tuned as we head into the final weeks of the 2026 legislative session.