2025 Legislative Recap: A Year of Ups and Downs

Two of Transform’s three legislative priorities went our way in a year where affordability and abundance were the talk of the legislature. On the plus side, we won a major victory with Cap-and-Trade reauthorization and moved closer to stable funding for Bay Area transit. At the same time, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill allowing Caltrans to ignore endangered species protections, which clears the way for a highway expansion that would be ill-advised even if it didn’t run through sensitive habitat.

Here are the final results for the bills we supported and opposed.

Two big victories

Two of our highest-priority campaigns took significant steps forward during this legislative session.

Extending Cap-and-Invest to 2045

The reauthorization of the Cap-and-Trade Program took several unexpected turns. Crucial housing and transportation programs that we thought were safe were put on the chopping block with the Governor’s May Revise, which borrowed Cap and Trade dollars to backfill the state’s general fund.

Transform and our allies ramped up the pressure, and it worked. The final legislation, SB 840 and AB 1207, maintains $800 million in annual funding for the Affordable Housing Sustainable Communities Program and $600 million annually for the Transit Intercity Rail Capital and Low Carbon Transit Operations Programs. It also funds $200 million a year for clean air investments in frontline communities. Extending Cap-and-Invest and protecting vital investments is a big win for climate and community.

Finally, authorization for a Bay Area transit funding measure

As the Bay Area’s transit providers faced a fiscal cliff after the pandemic, it became clear we needed to develop a secure funding mechanism to shore up operations and improve the rider experience. Transform, as part of the Voices for Public Transportation Coalition, has been working with Bay Area legislators and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) to address this issue. It has been a challenging process, involving many stakeholders with diverse needs.

The final version of the funding bill, SB 63, doesn’t include everything we wanted. The funding mechanism is a sales tax, which wasn’t our preferred funding method. But San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara are all participating in the measure, and there isn’t a single dollar for highway expansion. Importantly, along with a local ballot measure in San Francisco, this measure will solve the Bay Area’s transit fiscal cliff.

This isn’t the last stop for transit funding. The legislation passed by the legislature authorizes a ballot measure for the November 2026 ballot. We still have a big campaign and a lot of work ahead of us. We hope you will step up to support this lifeline for transit.

Big highway steamrolls the environment

If you think spending $500 million to widen a highway that will be underwater due to climate change within a couple of decades is a waste of money, we agree. Unfortunately, the legislature and the governor do not. AB 697 removes one more obstacle to a Caltrans plan to waste taxpayer dollars on this boondoggle project. The bill circumvents endangered species protections, allowing Caltrans to ignore killing endangered birds, fish, mammals, and amphibians in the wetlands surrounding State Route 37.

This isn’t the final word on the SR 37 project. Caltrans still needs to source additional funds to complete the new lanes, and the project may not be eligible for federal funding because those funds require a longer useful lifespan than this doomed highway has. Transform will continue to pull all the levers at our disposal to oppose this and other highway expansion projects through our Beyond Highways campaign.

Housing bond fizzles and road usage charge study stalls

Two bills laying the groundwork for a statewide vote on an affordable housing bond, AB 736 and SB 417, didn’t make it through the legislature. California’s housing crisis is also a housing affordability crisis. We hope the housing bond returns next year, giving voters a chance to support it on the November 2026 ballot.

The Road Usage Charge Study Bill, AB 1421, would extend California’s study of road pricing options. With gas tax revenues declining as more drivers move to EVs, the state needs to find a new source of revenue to pay for road maintenance. Transform remains engaged in transitioning away from a gas tax toward an equitable, sustainable road user charge.

Upzoning near transit gets contentious, but largely gets it right

SB 79, which was signed into law, streamlines zoning near transit stations and high-frequency bus stops, supporting new housing that will increase transit ridership while reducing the traffic, pollution, and emissions that new residential development can cause. While Transform strongly supports affordable infill housing near transit, we initially had this bill on our legislative watch list due to concerns about the lack of anti-displacement and community engagement provisions for disadvantaged communities. As the bill went through the legislative process, equity provisions were added, giving us more confidence in the final bill. The signed version of SB 79 includes minimum affordability standards and cannot require the demolition of rent-stabilized housing with three units or more or multifamily housing that has had tenants in the last seven years. There are also provisions that ensure stronger community engagement and planning in lower-resource areas, so we’re pleased with the end result and excited for the positive impact on infill housing.

Parking reform remains protected

SB 381, which repeals a prior law that unbundled parking spaces from rental units, has become a two-year bill. If passed, this measure would raise rents, forcing people who don’t own cars to pay for parking spaces they don’t need, and hide the true cost of parking from tenants. We strongly oppose the measure as written, but hope we can work with the author to amend it.

Offsetting VMT with affordable housing

Under California’s environmental review law, CEQA, construction projects projected to increase vehicle miles traveled (VMT) must take mitigation measures, but one of the best ways to reduce emissions — affordable housing near transit — is often overlooked.

Originally proposed in Assemblymember Buffy Wick’s AB 1244 and eventually passed as SB 508, put forward by Senator Suzette Martinez Valladares, the legislation creates a statewide VMT bank specifically for affordable housing projects. While we would prefer no new developments that increase VMT, we want to make sure the projects that do get built fully mitigate their VMT increases. This legislation provides a way to do that while also addressing California’s affordable housing crisis.

Three wins for safe streets

Three more of the bills that Transform supported passed the legislature and were signed into law.

Slow School Zones (AB 382, Berman): This new law changes how communities can establish slow zones around schools and improves student safety.
Lower Speed Limits on State Roadways (AB 1014, Rogers): AB 43 is giving local jurisdictions greater ability to lower speed limits, but state routes, many of which run through California cities and towns, were still bound by outdated rules. This bill applies greater speed limit latitude to streets controlled by Caltrans, allowing some of the most dangerous local streets to get lower speed limits.
CEQA Exemption for Transit, Bike, and Pedestrian Projects (SB 71, Wiener): This excellent new law creates a permanent exemption from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review for active transportation planning and construction. It’s a welcome recognition that biking and walking infrastructure have a positive environmental impact.

Better luck next year

Some of the bills we supported either died in committee or became 2-year bills. Because the California legislature has two-year sessions, bills can be held back in the first year to return the next, as happened with several bills this year.

Whether these measures became 2-year bills or simply died, some of them will return, perhaps with modifications that make them more likely to pass, or in a year when the conditions are more favorable. Here are the bills Transform supported that didn’t pass in 2025.

Transit Passes for LA Community College Students (AB 861, Solache): The movement to give students free transit passes continues, but measures that involve new spending can be hard to pass in tight budget years like 2025. For now, the measure that would have enabled LA Metro to work with the LA Community College District to give free passes to students and create a student ambassador program on LA transit is a 2-year bill.
Caltrans Quick-Build Pilot (AB 891, Zbur): This bill would introduce a pilot at Caltrans to use quick-build to move active transportation and transit improvements through the agency’s pipeline at an accelerated rate. The bill, however, is moving slowly; it’s a two-year bill, returning in the next session for another chance to pass the legislature.
Bicycle Highways (AB 954, Bennett): The bicycle highways pilot would have cleared the way to create connected, off-road bikeways through two major California regions. It has become a 2-year bill and may get more modifications next year.
Transit Board Members Ride the Bus (AB 1070, Ward): This would have prohibited transit boards from providing compensation to any member who couldn’t prove they used the transit system at least a minimum number of times during the prior month. It died an early death in committee.
Transportation Resilience Assessment (AB 1132, Schiavo): A law requiring California’s Department of Transportation to assess and report on the climate vulnerability of community access to our transportation infrastructure seemed like a good idea to us, but it died early in committee.
The Affordable Insurance and Climate Recovery Act (SB 222, Wiener): A measure to allow individuals injured by climate disasters and extreme weather events to sue oil and gas companies died in committee.
Rent Control Preservation Act (SB 522, Wahab): Changes to California’s rent control law, which prohibits local rent control ordinances from applying to buildings built after 1995, is a third rail in state politics. But, as our housing affordability crisis escalates, putting more units under rent control seems like a good idea. This 2-year bill would extend rent control to the units built to replace rent-controlled units destroyed due to disasters.

Although the legislature made some very positive steps toward addressing climate change, particularly with Cap-and-Trade reauthorization, it also rejected several measures that were specific steps toward addressing the climate crisis. Transform will continue to push our state representatives to do more than pay lip service to climate, equity, and environmental justice.