These are the 10 most debated bills in California in 2025

from Ryan SabalowCalMatters

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Most bills in the California Legislature receive little to no public debate before lawmakers take action. often after secret negotiations with lobbyists.

But a handful of controversial proposals broke through the usual rushed trial, hours of testimony and intense public lobbying by some of the state’s most powerful organizations, who are spending millions of dollars to get their way, according to a CalMatters analysis Digital Democracy Databasewhich tracks every word spoken in the legislature.

That’s compared to the overall average for 2025, which shows lawmakers and advocates spent just 32 minutes speaking publicly on each of the 1,657 bills that were debated in at least one hearing.

These were the 10 most debated bills of the 2025 regular legislative session, according to Digital Democracy.
(Note: The advocacy groups listed below may have changed their positions as the bills have been amended.)

Division on Anti-Semitism Bill

Bill: Assembly Bill 715

Lead author: Deputies of the Democratic Assembly Dawn Addis of San Luis Obispo and Rick Zbar of Los Angeles.

Discussed time: 15 hours

Approximate number of speakers: 486

Why was he talkative: California Jewish legislators did countering antisemitism in schools is a top priority this yearbut opposing the bill was a coalition of education groups, labor unions, civil rights advocates and Muslim community organizations who feared censorship of pro-Palestinian voices and infringement on academic freedom. The groups turned out in droves to testify.

Number of support groups: At least 68, including Jewish Community Action, the Los Angeles County Business Federation and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Number of opposing groups: At least 92, including the California Federation of Teachers, the California Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and the California School Boards Association.

Status: Signed into law.

Local authorities oppose transit-oriented housing

Bill: Senate Bill 79

Lead author: Democratic Senator Scott Wiener from San Francisco

Discussed time: 6 hours, 40 minutes

Approximate number of lecturers: 198

Why was he talkative: The local authorities resisted new state mandate which allows developers to build mid-sized residential buildings within walking distance of many major train stations, light rail, subways, and high-frequency bus rapid transit stops—even if local zoning restrictions would otherwise prohibit such dense development.

Number of support groups: At least 49, including professional housing groups and the California Apartment Association.

Number of opposing groups: At least 76, including at one point the construction unions, the California Association of Realtors and dozens of municipalities.

Status: Signed into law.

Charter schools oppose the new restrictions

Bill: Assembly Bill 84

Lead authors: Deputies of the Democratic Assembly Robert Garcia of Rancho Cucamonga and Al Muratsuchi from Torrance.

Discussed time: 6 hours, 32 minutes

Approximate number of speakers: 491

Why was he talkative: It was the latest legislative effort by California’s powerful teachers unions and their allies to add restrictions and oversight to charter schools. Homeschooling families and charter schools opposed the measure, which was introduced in response to the uproar charter school fraud scandals, saying it would deprive millions dollars of government funding from their programs. The bill adds audit requirements and new fees, as well as a proposed new office of inspector general within the Department of Education.

Number of support groups: At least six, almost all influential unions.

Number of opposing groups: More than 200, many of them charter schools or homeschool groups.

Status: Failed in the Senate.

Noise over sexual solicitation of teenagers

Bill: Assembly Bill 379

Lead author: Member of the Democratic Assembly Stephanie Nguyen from Elk Grove

Discussed time: 5 hours, 28 minutes

Approximate number of speakers: 149

Why was he talkative: This bill, originally drafted by the Democratic Assembly Maggie Krellformer state prosecutor, wanted to increase penalties for soliciting teenage sex. But the legislation has sparked tough discussions between progressives and moderates in the Democratic caucus about how hard to crack down on those accused of soliciting sex from minors, based on whether the victims were younger or older teenagers.

Number of support groups: At least 48, including law enforcement unions and some Native American tribes.

Number of opposing groups: At least 25, including the ACLU and various advocates for progressive criminal justice reforms.

Status: Signed into law.

A lot to say about ICE agent masks

Bill: Senate Bill 627

Lead authors: Democratic Senator Jesse Arreguin of Berkeley and three other senators

Discussed time: 5 hours

Approximate number of speakers: 100

Why was he talkative: Members of California’s Democratic Legislature aren’t shy about speaking out about President Donald Trump and his controversial immigration policies, so it’s no surprise that there was plenty of discussion about California’s first measure in the nation to ban federal immigration officials and local police from wearing masks in California.

Number of support groups: At least 45, including non-police unions, public defenders, the ACLU and immigrant rights groups.

Number of groups against: At least 16, almost all police unions.

Status: Signed into law

Democrats are proposing gerrymandering against Texas

Bill: Assembly Bill 604

Lead author: Member of the Democratic Assembly Cecilia Aguilar-Curry of Davis and Sen. Lena Gonzalez in Long Beach

Discussed time: 4 hours, 58 minutes

Approximate number of speakers: 76

Why was he talkative: There was a lot of heated discussion after the California Democrats came out their own counterfeiting plan after Trump pressured Texas to change its congressional maps to make new Republican districts.

Number of support groups: At least 54, including unions and progressive groups.

Number of groups against: At least 19, including California Common Cause, Govern for California and conservative groups.

Status: Signed law approved by voters

The energy bill has been the subject of lengthy debates

Bill: Senate Bill 254

Lead authors: Democratic Senator Josh Becker of Menlo Park and two other legislators.

Discussed time: 4 hours, 55 minutes

Approximate number of speakers: 119

Why was he talkative: That energy bill created a new system for publicly financing transmission projects and expanded a controversial program that shields utilities from some wildfire liability costs, but critics warned that could ultimately lead to higher bills for consumers. It was part of a package of energy and climate measures the legislature passed this year.

Number of support groups: At least 55, including labor unions, the California Democratic Party, the California Chamber of Commerce, environmental groups and the California Municipal Utilities Association.

Number of opposing groups: At least seven, including the California Farm Bureau Federation, the California Rural Representatives and the California State Association of Counties.

Status: Signed into law.

Fees for veterans’ benefits draw testimony

Bill: Senate Bill 694

Lead author: Democratic Sens. Bob Archuleta of Norwalk and Sabrina Cervantes from Riverside

Discussed time: 4 hours, 39 minutes

Approximate number of speakers: 99

Why was he talkative: for years Veterans advocates wanted a state law preventing companies from charging exorbitant fees to help veterans file federal claims for disability benefits, something they can do for free through the government and certain veterans organizations. But the Legislature has repeatedly balked because the companies say they provide an important service to help veterans get the benefits they need.

Number of support groups: At least 25, including the California State Association of Counties and the American Legion.

Number of groups against: At least nine, including Veterans Guardian, one of the companies filing claims.

Status: The bill failed to pass the Senate, although lawmakers said they had a deal on the legislation and would vote on it in January.

Should AT&T ditch landlines?

Bill: Assembly Bill 470

Lead author: Member of the Democratic Assembly Tina McKinner from Inglewood

Discussed time: 4 hours, 13 minutes

Approximate number of speakers: 209

Why was he talkative: AT&T has spent millions on lobbying as it tried unsuccessfully to waive its legal requirement to provide copper land lines throughout much of the state. Rural communities and others pushed back, leading to some of the longest debates in the Legislature this year.

Number of support groups: At least 145, including AT&T, some tribes and other groups affiliated with the telecommunications company.

Number of groups against: At least 96, including rural counties, some unions and AARP.

Status: It failed in the Senate.

The ban on junk food in schools is causing a stir

Bill: Assembly Bill 1264

Lead author: Member of the Democratic Assembly Jesse Gabriel from Encino

Discussed time: 3 hours, 49 minutes

Approximate number of speakers: 103

Why was he talkative: There were very strong opinions on this bill ban schools from serving harmful ‘ultra-processed foods’ to the students.

Number of support groups: At least 59, including nurses and school unions, the California Medical Association and some school districts.

Number of groups against: At least 46, including agricultural associations, the American Beverage Association and other business groups.

Status: Signed into law.

Digital Democracy’s Foaad Khosmood, Forbes Professor of Computer Engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and Digital Democracy’s Thomas Gerrity contributed to this story.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.