AB 162: Elections.

California · Assembly · 2025–2026 Regular Session · last verified December 7, 2025

What AB 162 does, verified December 7, 2025

A special election will be held throughout the state on November 4, 2025, to consolidate local elections. This will allow voters to decide on questions, propositions, or offices without having to participate in separate local and statewide elections. The bill would prohibit county elections officials from certifying the results of local elections before the 28th calendar day following the election. The Secretary of State is required to report on the final costs of the statewide special election by April 1, 2026, and the bill would provide $100,000 from the general fund to support this reporting. The bill takes effect immediately.

Bill journey

✓IntroducedComplete

✓In CommitteeComplete

✓First Chamber FloorComplete

4Second ChamberCurrent

5GovernorPending

6ChapteredPending

Last action: Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Grayson. (2025-09-08)Alert me

Author and sponsors

Asm. Jesse GabrielAuthor · California State Assembly

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Recent actions16 total · showing 5

Sep. 13, 2025	Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Grayson.
Sep. 11, 2025	Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
Sep. 10, 2025	From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (September 10).
Sep. 08, 2025	Senate Rule 29.3(b) suspended. (Ayes 28. Noes 8. Page 2568.)
Sep. 08, 2025	From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on B. & F. R.

Full action history, 11 earlier actionsConnect Plus

Latest bill textAmended version, September 8, 2025 · 978 words

Amended IN Senate September 08, 2025

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 162

Introduced by ~~Assembly Member Gabriel~~ Committee on Budget (Assembly Members Gabriel (Chair), Addis, Ahrens, Alvarez, Bennett, Bonta, Connolly, Fong, Haney, Hart, Jackson, Lee, Muratsuchi, Ortega, Patel, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Rogers, Schiavo, Schultz, Sharp-Collins, Solache, Ward, and Wilson)

January 08, 2025

~~An act relating to the Budget Act of 2025.~~ An act to amend Section 4 of Chapter 97 of the Statutes of 2025, relating to elections, and making an appropriation therefor, to take effect immediately, bill related to the budget.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 162, as amended, Committee on Budget. ~~Budget Act of 2025.~~ Elections.

A special election will be held throughout the state on November 4, 2025. Existing law authorizes consolidation of a local election for the submission of any question, proposition, or office to be filled, which was called by a district, city, or other political subdivision on or before August 8, 2025, and scheduled to be held on November 4, 2025, with the statewide special election. Existing law prohibits a county elections official from certifying the results of the statewide special election before the 28th calendar day following the election.
This bill would also prohibit a county elections official from certifying the results of a local election called by a district, city, or other political subdivision on or before August 8, 2025, and scheduled to be held on November 4, 2025, before the 28th calendar day following the election.
Existing law requires the Secretary of State to report on the final costs of the statewide special election to the Director of Finance and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee no later than April 1, 2026.
This bill would appropriate $100,000 from the General Fund to the Secretary of State for purposes of that report.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.
~~This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact statutory changes relating to the Budget Act of 2025.~~

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NOYES Fiscal Committee: NOYES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 4 of Chapter 97 of the Statutes of 2025 is amended to read:

SEC. 4.

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure counties have sufficient funding to effectuate the November 4, 2025, statewide special election. An amount is hereby appropriated from the General Fund ~~to the Controller~~ for the actual and reasonably necessary costs, as determined by the Director of Finance, for the counties to conduct the November 4, 2025, statewide special election.

(b) Notwithstanding any other law, the Controller shall allocate these funds to counties according to a schedule provided by the Director of Finance. Any excess funds received by the county shall be used to offset state costs for the next statewide election conducted by the county. Each county shall report its final total cost to administer the statewide special election to the Secretary of State in a manner and by a date determined by the Secretary of State.

(c) An amount is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Secretary of State for the actual and reasonably necessary costs, as determined by the Director of Finance, for the Secretary of State to administer the November 4, 2025, statewide special election.

(d) No later than April 1, 2026, the Secretary of State shall report on the final costs of the statewide special election to the Director of Finance and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. The report shall include all of the following:

(1) The total cost of the statewide special election by county.

(2) The costs broken out by category for each county.

(3) Any funds remaining, by county, that can be used to offset state costs for the next election conducted by the county.

SEC. 2.
(a) Notwithstanding Sections 10262, 10551, 15301, and 15372 of the Elections Code, for any regular or special local election for the submission of any question, proposition, or office to be filled, which was called by a district, city, or other political subdivision on or before August 8, 2025, and scheduled to be held on November 4, 2025, the elections official shall not certify the results of the election prior to the 28th calendar day following the election. Subdivisions (f), (g), and (h) of Section 3 of Chapter 97 of the Statutes of 2025 apply to that election in the same manner as those provisions apply to the November 4, 2025, statewide special election.
(b) To the extent that the requirement in paragraph (1) of subdivision (f) of Section 3 of Chapter 97 of the Statutes of 2025 is inconsistent with duties of the elections official under Sections 3001, 3105, or 13303 of the Elections Code, for an election scheduled after November 4, 2025, and before December 31, 2025, the County of Santa Clara may by resolution adopt other reasonable timeframes for the elections official to fulfill these duties, provided that the timeframes are consistent with the requirements in paragraph (1) of subdivision (f) of Section 3 of Chapter 97 of the Statutes of 2025.

SEC. 3.

The sum of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Secretary of State for the 2025–26 fiscal year for purposes of developing the report on the final costs of the November 4, 2025, statewide special election pursuant to Section 4 of Chapter 97 of the Statutes of 2025.

SEC. 4.
This act is a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill within the meaning of subdivision (e) of Section 12 of Article IV of the California Constitution, has been identified as related to the budget in the Budget Bill, and shall take effect immediately.

SECTION 1.
~~It is the intent of the Legislature to enact statutory changes relating to the Budget Act of 2025.~~

Text of AB 162 as amended, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions