Equity Takes Work: What California’s 2026 Legislative Session Made Clear
Equity is a long game, played against short deadlines.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us. In legislative work, that promise calls us to act: to organize, build relationships, and keep pressing for change when a deadline closes one path forward.
During California’s 2026 legislative session, that persistence helped pass Assemblymember Bonta’s landmark financial protection bill, AB 801. It also carried us through setbacks on public banking, racial equity, and community investment tied to bills Greenlining either sponsored or supported. This year gave us reasons to celebrate and new insights into ways to strengthen advocacy around the issues that move us toward a Greenlined future.
Fair lending needs follow-through
The recently signed AB 801 strengthens California’s oversight of mortgage lending through recurring nondiscrimination examinations of covered banks, credit unions, and residential mortgage lenders, with requirements to address violations. These new protections are especially critical as the federal government weakens fair lending enforcement, leaving states like California with a greater responsibility to protect borrowers from discrimination.
We are grateful to Assemblymember Bonta and the partners who helped secure this landmark victory. Now, we must ensure the law is effectively implemented so its protections translate into fairer treatment for families seeking mortgages and greater opportunities for housing stability and generational wealth.
Climate investments are community investments
This year’s budget negotiations centered on a few key questions:
- When resources tighten, which commitments hold?
- Which communities are asked to wait?
The Legislature approved $450 million in climate investments for transportation, wildfire resilience, clean water, and air quality, alongside separate climate-bond funding that included $137 million for Transformative Climate Communities and $55 million for Community Resilience Centers, two programs Greenlining has long championed alongside partners. These hard-fought investments followed extensive negotiations with the Administration, and significant industry pressure over the costs of doing business in California. Throughout these debates, Greenlining has remained steadfast in our belief that California can meet its climate goals and grow its economy while honoring its commitments to frontline communities.
But reliable funding remains a challenge. Communities cannot build lasting resilience around uncertain budgets, and California must ensure that its climate transition advances affordability and community priorities and does not come at an outsized cost to communities of color.
That commitment must include workers and small businesses being asked to adopt cleaner technologies. Assemblymember Rodriguez’s AB 2635, which the Governor did not sign, would have provided vouchers to help landscapers and small businesses purchase zero-emission landscaping and other small off-road equipment. Helping workers afford cleaner equipment is part of a just transition that doesn’t force communities of color to shoulder the costs. We are grateful to the bill’s co-sponsors, the California Immigrant Policy Center, Inclusive Action for the City, and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and the advocates who advanced this effort. Greenlining will continue advocating for the funding and protections needed to make this transition affordable for workers and small businesses.
Public banking: building on unfinished work
Greenlining and the California Public Banking Alliance co-sponsored AB 2243, which proposed establishing a State Bank Commission to develop a plan for a state-owned bank. The proposal sought to explore how California could keep more of the billions of dollars it spends annually on debt service circulating within the state, reduce the cost of financing critical investments in affordable housing, climate resilience, and clean energy, and partner with local financial institutions to meet community needs underserved by private capital markets. Despite significant interest and growing momentum around public banking, the proposal faced strong opposition from large banks and ultimately stalled in Assembly Appropriations. A subsequent effort with our partners to secure funding for the commission through the state budget was also unsuccessful.
We are grateful to the California Public Banking Alliance and the California Federation of Teachers for their leadership and tireless organizing to advance this campaign.
Though we did not secure the commission this year, we built a broader coalition and advanced an important conversation about how California finances housing, climate resilience, and other community needs. Alongside our Greenlined Banking Standards, this work will continue to inform our efforts to build a financial system that is more responsive to communities of color.
Different issues, connected mission
Protecting consumers and small businesses from unfair practices was another priority this legislative session, particularly as concentrated market power and emerging technologies create new challenges for accountability.
We supported Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry’s AB 1776, the Compete Act, which was signed by the Governor and strengthens California’s ability to address monopolization and abuses of market power.
We also joined partners in raising concerns about SB 1106, which addressed agentic AI systems that can act on users’ behalf and was held in Assembly Appropriations.
Looking ahead, Greenlining will continue to advance policies that ensure emerging technologies expand opportunity rather than reinforce existing inequities. As AI increasingly shapes decisions about access to housing, credit, employment, and other essential resources, we must strengthen protections against discrimination and ensure greater accountability.
At the same time, the rapid buildout of data centers and AI infrastructure raises critical questions about energy affordability, environmental impacts, and community benefits. Our focus will be on ensuring communities of color have a meaningful voice in shaping the policies that govern these technologies and share in the benefits of technological progress.
What the setbacks teach us
The proposals that stalled also tell us something about this session.
Greenlining and NextGen Policy sponsored Assemblymember Jackson’s AB 1823 to strengthen accountability for reducing disparities in state agency planning. Though the bill stalled, we remain committed to advancing this goal.
We also worked with Energy Transition Collective on Senator Hurtado’s SB 924 to improve weatherization assistance for low-income households, while opposing amendments that would have ended the Energy Savings Assistance program. We will continue advocating for expanded energy access while protecting existing assistance programs.
Our setbacks reflected a broader pattern this legislative session. In its May 14 coverage of the suspense-file hearings, POLITICO reported on dozens of proposals, including measures addressing climate and affordability, that stalled in fiscal committees. Budget constraints, competing priorities, and decisions by committee chairs and legislative leadership all shaped the broader legislative landscape. While these pressures help explain the challenges facing many proposals, they don’t necessarily tell the full story behind individual decisions.
Having worked in the Legislature myself, I know that advancing meaningful policy requires understanding the political dynamics and relationships that shape the legislative process, just as much as the substance of the proposals themselves.
That means building stronger relationships with legislators and staff, and engaging leadership in both houses well before critical legislative deadlines. Support for equity cannot be taken for granted or depend on a handful of champions. When proposals advancing racial equity, public banking, and energy access stall in the California Assembly, we need to better understand the barriers, strengthen our coalitions, and build the relationships and public support necessary to move them forward. The Assembly is often called the “People’s House,” and we must work to ensure it lives up to that promise by creating pathways for meaningful legislation that advances equity and opportunity for all Californians.
That also means investing in sustained grassroots engagement across legislative districts, ensuring communities have a meaningful role in shaping proposals, influencing decisions, and holding elected officials accountable beyond election cycles. Building that kind of power requires long-term investment in local leadership, relationships, and coalitions that endure beyond any single legislative campaign.
A bill may stall, but our commitment to the communities and people behind it cannot.
Toward a Greenlined California
The November election has created a new political opening and a new test of whether electoral momentum can translate into material progress. Nationally, voters delivered Democrats control of both chambers of Congress. In California, voters elected Xavier Becerra as the state’s first directly elected Latino governor. He will govern alongside Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón, the first Latina to lead the Senate.
This historic representation matters, particularly at a moment when affordability and economic security remain urgent concerns for communities of color. But representation alone does not guarantee equitable outcomes. The opportunity before us is to turn this new governing landscape into durable investments, stronger protections, and greater accountability to the communities that made this moment possible.
I am deeply grateful for the dedication, talent, and leadership of the Greenlining team and the many partners whose organizing, expertise, and persistence continue to advance racial equity across California. At a time of profound challenges, their commitment reminds me of what we can accomplish when we work together toward a shared vision.
Together, we are working to build a Greenlined Economy, where every community has the resources to thrive, the power to shape its own future, and institutions that are accountable to the people they serve. As Dolores Huerta reminds us:
“Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world.”
That spirit will guide our work in the year ahead. We now have an important opportunity to carry the lessons of this session into a new political era.
We look forward to working with Governor-elect Xavier Becerra, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, Senate President pro Tempore Monique Limón and leaders in Washington to keep racial equity, community investment, affordability, and economic opportunity at the center of public policy.
The election has created an opening, but turning this moment into lasting change will require persistence, sustained community engagement, and a commitment to holding our leaders accountable.
