CBPA entered the session engaged on multiple high-impact issues for the commercial real estate and logistics sectors. This week, Skyler Wonnacott, Vice President of Government Relations, provided primary testimony on SB 677, raising concerns about the unintended interaction between SB 79 and AB 98. His testimony emphasized that housing development on commercial or mixed-use parcels near transit could trigger AB 98 buffer requirements, complicating modernization and redevelopment of logistics facilities. These concerns reflect those outlined in CBPA California’s SB 79 letter of concern submitted to the Governor.

AB 1157 (Kalra) – Residential Rent Control (Oppose)

AB 1157 imposes permanent statewide rent caps on all rental housing, including single-family homes, ADUs, and individually owned condominiums. The measure undermines the AB 1482 compromise and would reduce housing supply while discouraging needed investment.

Hearing: Senate Judiciary – January 13

Click here to read our opposition letter

AB 1439 (R. Garcia) – Pension Investments and Labor Standards (Oppose)

AB 1439 restricts pension fund investments in development projects unless they meet specific labor standards, creating legal conflicts with existing agreements and reducing overall housing investment. The bill increases project costs and further strains statewide affordability.

Hearing: Assembly PERS – January 14

Click here to read our opposition letter

AB 914 (Garcia) – Indirect Source Rule Fee Authority (Oppose)

AB 914 grants CARB broad authority to impose regional fees and duplicative regulations on businesses already subject to stringent air rules, increasing costs and creating regulatory inconsistencies across the state. The bill threatens supply-chain operations and burdens multiple sectors.

Hearing: Expected within the next two weeks

Click here to read our opposition letter

On Monday, January 5, Senator Monique Limón was sworn in as California’s 41st Senate President pro Tempore, becoming the first Latina to serve in this leadership role. Senator Limón represents Senate District 21, which includes portions of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, and she has released her full leadership team and committee assignments for the 2026 session. CBPA congratulates Senator Limón on this historic milestone and looks forward to working with her in the year ahead.

CBPA'S Annual Report offers a comprehensive review of 2025. It highlights our key achievements, the challenges we faced in the Capitol, the events and meetings we hosted and participated in, and the dedicated work undertaken to support our industry and members.

After nearly three years with the CBPA and BOMA California, William Hixson, CAE has concluded his time as Director of Communications and Marketing.

"During his time at CBPA, Will was an integral part of the association’s success, leading a comprehensive transformation of CBPA’s communications, including the website, visual identity, and overall branding," says CBPA CEO Matthew Hargrove. "Will also played a key role in working with CBPA’s members and partners across the state, with a rare ability to distill complex subject matter into clear, concise, and effective messaging. His contributions have left CBPA a stronger and more cohesive organization. CBPA is grateful for Will’s dedication and service, and we wish him continued success in his next chapter."

With the 2025 legislative session now behind us, CBPA is providing key resources on new laws that will affect the commercial real estate industry. From our sponsored measure ensuring timely hearings for commercial unlawful detainer cases, to important updates addressing last year’s warehouse restriction bill AB 98, and much more. These changes will shape the way our industry operates.

Don’t be caught off guard — stay informed on the legislation impacting commercial real estate in 2025 and beyond.

CBPA is proud to announce the promotion of Skyler Wonnacott to Vice President of Government Relations. In just two years with the association, Wonnacott has reshaped CBPA’s approach to advocacy, bringing a modernized, proactive, and pragmatic strategy to its work in the Capitol.

His leadership has strengthened relationships with lawmakers, delivered major legislative wins, and significantly elevated CBPA’s presence and influence in Sacramento.

California’s budget relies heavily on a small group of high-income earners, and new insights from our partners at the California Center for Jobs and the Economy show why this makes state revenues particularly vulnerable. In recent years, the number of million-dollar-plus taxpayers has dropped, and many high earners have left the state, taking substantial income with them.

The departure of just a few high-income households can have an outsized impact on the general fund, highlighting the challenges of relying on a narrow tax base. We encourage policymakers to continue watching these trends as they consider the state’s fiscal future.

With the 2025 legislative session now behind us, CBPA is providing key resources on new laws that will affect the commercial real estate industry. From our sponsored measure ensuring timely hearings for commercial unlawful detainer cases, to important updates addressing last year’s warehouse restriction bill AB 98, and much more. These changes will shape the way our industry operates.

Don’t be caught off guard — stay informed on the legislation impacting commercial real estate in 2025 and beyond.

The Annual Meeting also provided an opportunity to recognize and thank our outgoing Executive Committee members, Past President Doug Wiele and Vice Chair Francisco Uribe. Both have dedicated years of leadership, insight, and unwavering support to CBPA.

We are deeply grateful for their service and the lasting impact they have made on our association and the commercial real estate industry.

At CBPA's Annual Meeting last week, the Board of Directors voted to endorse two initiatives aimed at strengthening taxpayer protections and reforming CEQA.

Local Taxpayer Protection Act – This measure, sponsored by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, would close the “Upland loophole,” require all local special taxes to pass by two-thirds vote, and phase out new or expanded local real-estate transfer taxes.

The Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC) today announced the appointment of Jaime Huff as its next President and Chief Executive Officer, effective December 1, 2025. CBPA is thrilled to see Jaime Huff returning to lead CJAC. Jaime—and CJAC—have long been strong allies for our industry on issues ranging from ADA lawsuit reform to limiting unnecessary private rights of action, including in building code enforcement. CBPA members benefit immensely from this partnership, as CJAC consistently pushes back against liability expansions and costly legal frameworks that could increase operating expenses, litigation exposure, and insurance costs for property owners, managers, and developers.

With the 2025 legislative session now behind us, CBPA is providing key resources on new laws that will affect the commercial real estate industry. From our sponsored measure ensuring timely hearings for commercial unlawful detainer cases, to important updates addressing last year’s warehouse restriction bill AB 98, and much more. These changes will shape the way our industry operates.

Don’t be caught off guard — stay informed on the legislation impacting commercial real estate in 2025 and beyond.

With the 2025 legislative session now behind us, CBPA is providing key resources on new laws that will affect the commercial real estate industry. From our sponsored measure ensuring timely hearings for commercial unlawful detainer cases, to important updates addressing last year’s warehouse restriction bill AB 98, and much more. These changes will shape the way our industry operates.

Don’t be caught off guard — stay informed on the legislation impacting commercial real estate in 2025 and beyond.

The California Chamber of Commerce has launched the Building an Affordable California ballot initiative to modernize the state’s 55-year-old California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The measure would set clear timelines for environmental review, public input, and judicial proceedings for critical housing and infrastructure projects, reducing costly delays that have long slowed development.

CBPA is proud to support this effort to ensure timely decisions on essential projects like housing, water, transportation, energy, and public safety facilities. Modernizing CEQA is a key step toward strengthening California’s economy and delivering the infrastructure and housing our communities need.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty is proposing a 2026 ballot measure to create a new real estate transfer tax projected to raise $8–9 million annually for housing initiatives. While details are still emerging, the plan appears similar to Los Angeles’ Measure ULA, which imposed a transfer tax on high-value property sales. Since its passage, Measure ULA has been tied to sharp drops in commercial real estate activity—NAI Capital reports year-over-year sales declines in Los Angeles of 63% for industrial, 45% for office, 33% for retail, and 15% for multifamily properties—prompting city leaders to pursue legislative fixes.

The deadline for the Governor to sign or veto bills passed last week. 2025 has proven to be an eventful legislative year for our industry, as we played a key role in passing the warehouse bill fix SB 415, passed our sponsored bill on timely hearings in commercial unlawful detainer cases, and helped defeat several bills that would have harmed commercial real estate. 

We are pleased to share our report outlining our efforts and the outcomes of the bills with the greatest impact on our industry. Thank you for your continued membership and support of our industry!

The deadline for the Governor to sign or veto bills passed Monday. Nearly 800 new laws were signed this year. CBPA’s team closely tracked 125 measures and took formal positions on about half, focusing on issues most critical to the commercial real estate industry, including office, industrial, and retail.

2025 has proven to be an eventful legislative year for our industry, as we played a key role in passing the warehouse bill fix SB 415, passed our sponsored bill on timely hearings in commercial unlawful detainer cases, and helped defeat several bills that would have harmed commercial real estate. 

Governor Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 1384, sponsored by CBPA, to ensure courts promptly schedule hearings in commercial unlawful detainer cases. The new law clarifies that “good cause” delay provisions apply only to residential tenancies, preventing unnecessary delays that can leave small property owners and businesses in limbo.

CBPA thanks Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen for her partnership in advancing this important fix. AB 1384 reflects CBPA’s proactive approach, focusing not only on opposing harmful proposals but also on introducing practical solutions that promote fairness, efficiency, and stability in California’s commercial real estate industry.

Governor Newsom has signed Senate Bill 415 (Reyes; D-San Bernardino) into law, providing technical clarifications to AB 98, California’s landmark standards for large-scale warehouse development.

The updates ensure the law is practical to implement while maintaining environmental and community protections, covering areas like buffer zones, internal circulation, and loading-bay orientation.

In this article from CalMatters, the debate over Los Angeles’ “mansion tax,” Measure ULA, is highlighted as the focus of a potential statewide ballot measure.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is gathering signatures for a 2026 initiative that would cap real estate transfer taxes and raise the voter threshold for local special taxes to two-thirds, directly targeting measures like ULA, which funds affordable housing and homelessness programs.

At the close of the 2025 Legislative Session, more than 700 bills were passed by the Legislature and sent to the Governor. Our team closely tracked 125 of those measures and took formal positions on about half, focusing on issues most critical to the commercial real estate industry including office, industrial, and retail.

The Governor has until October 13 to sign or veto the remaining bills. Our report provides a detailed overview of priority measures. We will keep you informed in the coming weeks as bills are signed and vetoed.

A federal judge sided with the California Chamber of Commerce in a lawsuit challenging SB 399, a pro-union bill signed by Governor Newsom last year. The law restricted “captive audience” meetings, mandatory sessions where employees must hear an employer’s views on topics like labor organizing or religion. The court found the law violates free-speech rights and issued a preliminary injunction halting enforcement.

Jennifer Barrera, president of the Chamber, praised the decision: “SB 399 sought to wrongly limit the speech of employers across California while also exposing companies of all sizes to new legal liabilities if their leaders communicate important political and legal updates that impact the workspace.”



The court recognized the state’s intent to protect employees but ruled the law is a content-based restriction that cannot withstand strict scrutiny.

Congratulations to our partners at Building Owners and Managers Association Greater Los Angeles (BOMA GLA) for being recognized at the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Summit Awards Dinner for their Second Wave Support: Fire Recovery Donation Drive.

This initiative, created in response to the devastating fires in Los Angeles earlier this year, received contributions from several local BOMA associations among many others to support those affected. We are proud to celebrate this meaningful achievement and the positive impact it represents within the BOMA community.

The 2025 legislative session ended last weekend, and CBPA is releasing our report on what it means for the office, retail, and industrial real estate industry.

This year we tracked more than 400 bills, stopped harmful proposals like commercial rent control and a statewide vacancy tax, and secured major wins such as AB 98 fixes and a building code pause that will save members millions.

The Governor now has until October 13 to sign or veto the bills on his desk, and CBPA will remain fully engaged to protect our industry through the final stretch.

Industry partner California Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA) closed the 2025 legislative session with a 100% success rate in stopping all priority “Breaker” bills that would have raised costs, imposed new regulations, or created litigation risks for manufacturers. Key threats included retroactive energy taxes, expanded air district requirements, and costly new audit mandates—all defeated to protect competitiveness and jobs.

CMTA also advanced a critical “Maker” bill, SB 86 (McNerney; D-Stockton), which extends sales and use tax exclusions for advanced manufacturing projects, including fusion energy, keeping California attractive for investment.

With today marking the final deadline for the Legislature to pass bills, we are pleased to report that SB 522 (Wahab; D-Hawyard) was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee’s suspense file this week.

Our industry opposed this measure, which would have eliminated the 15-year exemption for new construction under AB 1482 and applied “just cause” eviction rules to rebuilt housing. For mixed-use projects, the bill would have increased financing risks, slowed post-disaster recovery, and threatened the viability of rebuilding commercial space alongside housing.

SB 423 (Gonzalez, D-Los Angeles) was introduced at the end of session as a proposal to cap transfer taxes in Los Angeles and to address flaws in Measure ULA’s drafting. The bill did not provide statewide relief and contained numerous technical problems, leading our industry to oppose it. The bill has now been held and will not move forward.

CBPA thanks our regional partners BOMA Greater Los Angeles and NAIOP SoCal for their key role in defeating this harmful measure, and we appreciate all those who helped us quickly analyze the proposal and shape a principled response.

Our industry remains committed to pursuing comprehensive statewide reform of excessive transfer taxes, which continue to harm local economies and result in flawed, unworkable policies such as ULA.

On Friday, the Legislature advanced hundreds of bills with new spending attached, but more than one in four of the 686 measures in the appropriations committees’ suspense files were rejected or delayed.

One of those measures, AB 380 (Gonzalez; D-Los Angeles), was a top priority for our industry, and its defeat represents a significant win. AB 380 sought sweeping changes to emergency price gouging laws by extending them to commercial leases. The proposal would have overridden negotiated contracts, capped rent increases during declared emergencies, prohibited evictions even for nonpayment, and prevented property owners from recovering increased costs tied to insurance, taxes, or emergency repairs.

This week, the California Commercial Real Estate Summit brought our industry’s voice front and center at the State Capitol. Leaders from across the state met with dozens of legislators, making sure policymakers know the people and priorities behind commercial real estate.

The summit kicked off with a lively mixer at the California Museum, followed by a packed PAC fundraiser at Sutter Health Park where attendees cheered on the A’s as they defeated the Tigers.

Our partners at The Supply Chain Federation invite you to a special webinar unpacking the findings of the newly released Ramboll Report today at 3 p.m.

Conducted by Ramboll researchers, the study provides an in-depth analysis of the Warehouse Actions and Investments to Reduce Emissions (WAIRE) program under the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s ISR.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear directly from the experts behind the research and gain a clearer understanding of how these results impact the supply chain and warehouse operations. RSVP via email.

The State Legislature returned from summer recess on Monday for the final four weeks of the 2025 session. While lawmakers focus on passing bills, a new effort has taken center stage. In response to a Republican-led redistricting plan in Texas that could give the GOP up to five new congressional seats, Governor Gavin Newsom and California Democrats have introduced legislation to place a constitutional amendment on the November 4 special election ballot.

The measure would temporarily suspend the state’s independent redistricting system and allow the Legislature to redraw California’s congressional map, potentially adding five Democratic-leaning districts. If approved by voters, the new map would be used for the 2026, 2028, and 2030 congressional elections, marking a major shift in California politics.