Senate BillVetoedGovernment
SB 509: Office of Emergency Services: training: transnational repression.
What SB 509 does, verified March 3, 2026
The bill aims to enhance the state's emergency response services by requiring the Office of Emergency Services to develop a training program on recognizing and responding to transnational repression. This training will be provided through the California Specialized Training Institute by January 1, 2027. The goal is to equip emergency responders with the necessary skills to address the complex and evolving nature of transnational repression, which can include human rights abuses and other forms of oppression.
Bill journey
✓IntroducedComplete
✓In CommitteeComplete
✓First Chamber FloorComplete
✓Second ChamberComplete
5GovernorCurrent
6ChapteredPending
Last action: Veto sustained. (2026-03-02)Alert me
Author and sponsors
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| Mar. 02, 2026 | Veto sustained. |
| Mar. 02, 2026 | Stricken from file. |
| Oct. 13, 2025 | In Senate. Consideration of Governor's veto pending. |
| Oct. 13, 2025 | Vetoed by the Governor. |
| Sep. 22, 2025 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m. |
Latest bill textEnrolled version, September 16, 2025 · 926 words
| Enrolled September 16, 2025 |
| Passed IN Senate September 11, 2025 |
| Passed IN Assembly September 10, 2025 |
| Amended IN Assembly September 04, 2025 |
| Amended IN Assembly July 16, 2025 |
| Amended IN Assembly July 09, 2025 |
| Amended IN Senate May 29, 2025 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 509
| Introduced by Senator Caballero (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bains and Soria) |
February 19, 2025 |
An act to add Section 8588.13 to the Government Code, relating to state government.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 509, Caballero. Office of Emergency Services: training: transnational repression.
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, establishes the Office of Emergency Services and vests the office with responsibility for the state’s emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or manmade disasters and emergencies, as specified. Existing law establishes the California Specialized Training Institute within the Office of Emergency Services.
This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2027, the Office of Emergency Services, through the California Specialized Training Institute, to develop a transnational repression recognition and response training, as specified.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:(a) Transnational repression against individuals and organizations that live outside their countries of origin, prominent or vocal antiregime figures, and persons who provide aid and support to dissidents and religious and ethnic minority communities is a human rights violation that seeks to stifle dissent and enhance control over exile, activist, emigrant, and diaspora communities.
(b) Transnational repression can include acts such as extrajudicial killings, physical assaults, unexplained disappearances, physical or online surveillance or stalking, intimidation, digital threats such as cyberattacks, targeted surveillance and spyware, and online harassment, and coercion such as harassment of, or threats of harm to, family and associates both within and outside the United States.
(c) Transnational repression is a threat to individuals, democratic institutions, the exercise of rights and freedoms, and national security and sovereignty.
(d) Authoritarian actors routinely attempt to deter and silence the voices of dissident and exile communities at international fora, as documented by the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights in the Secretary-General’s annual report on reprisals to the United Nations Human Rights Council.
(e) It is the policy of the State of California to do all of the following:
(1) Protect persons and organizations in the state from transnational repression.
(2) Pursue criminal prosecutions, as appropriate, against those who engage in transnational repression.
(3) Provide support services for victims and communities in the state that may credibly be targeted in transnational repression.
(4) Meaningfully hold accountable foreign governments engaged in transnational repression and limit their ability to influence state policy or public opinion.
(5) Coordinate actions to enhance and complement any federal laws or regulations related to transnational repression.
SEC. 2.
Section 8588.13 is added to the Government Code, to read:8588.13.
(a) On or before January 1, 2027, the Office of Emergency Services, through its California Specialized Training Institute and in consultation with the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, shall develop a transnational repression recognition and response training. The training is intended to provide law enforcement with unbiased information on transnational repression, including trends and guidance from federal authorities.(b) The training developed pursuant to this section shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) How to identify different tactics of transnational repression in physical and nonphysical forms, including, but not limited to, tools of digital surveillance and other cybertools frequently used to carry out transnational repression activities.
(2) Those governments that are known to employ transnational repression, including those that use it most frequently and the specific tactics commonly used by specific foreign governments.
(3) Best practices for appropriate local and state law enforcement prevention, reporting, and response tactics.
(4) Information about communities targeted by transnational repression and misinformation that may be perpetuated by foreign governments, including, but not limited to, improper labeling of dissidents as terrorist threats and notice abuses effectuated through international law enforcement cooperatives that otherwise play a critical role in addressing transnational crime, including the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).
(5) Any guidance, best practices, definitions, or identified trends or threats issued by federal authorities on national security and public safety.
(6) Culturally competent outreach to diverse impacted diaspora communities and subject matter experts in order to support effective and unbiased law enforcement responses to transnational repression.
(c) As used in this section:
(1) “Human rights” means the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to an individual by the California Constitution or the laws of this state or by the United States Constitution or the laws of the United States, in whole or in part.
(2) “Transnational repression” means any action taken by a foreign government or an agent of a foreign government involving the transgression of national borders through physical, digital, or analog means in order to intimidate, silence, coerce, harass, or harm members of diaspora and exile communities or organizations that advocate for individuals in diaspora or exile communities in order to prevent the exercise of their human rights, including gathering information about individuals in diaspora and exile communities or organizations that advocate for individuals in diaspora or exile communities on behalf of a foreign government with the intent to use that information to harass, intimidate, or harm individuals in order to prevent their exercise of their human rights.
(d) This section shall not prohibit the exercise of rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Text of SB 509 as enrolled, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions