Senate business, professions and economic development committee advances music‑festival grants, tariff study, film‑credit reporting, EV‑charger fixes and other

The California State Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee on Monday advanced a slate of bills after substantive testimony from authors, industry witnesses and local officials.

The committee advanced SB 370, a music‑festival preservation grant program that would direct Go‑Biz to establish competitive grants aimed at sustaining multi‑day independent festivals that generate significant local economic activity. Supporters told the panel that festivals such as Aftershock, Golden Sky and Outside Lands generate millions in local revenue and create thousands of jobs and that a $20 million pool could protect regionally important events that otherwise could move out of state. Mike Testa, president and CEO of Visit Sacramento, and Dylan Welsh, senior director of legal affairs for Danny Wimmer Presents, testified in support and described recent cancellations and high production costs. Testa said losing Golden Sky and similar events cost Sacramento tens of millions in economic impact; Welsh described $38.7 million in production costs for one festival and said promoters absorb most of the upfront financial risk.

SB 370 (Ashby) was moved out of committee to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The committee also moved SB 263, which directs the California Transportation Agency, in coordination with the Department of Finance and Go‑Biz, to study the statewide economic impacts of tariffs and retaliatory measures. Supporters including the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association and the California Building Industry Association said tariffs are already increasing the cost of construction materials (softwood lumber, drywall, fasteners) and appliances, raising the estimated per‑home cost and risking housing production. Mike Jacob of Pacific Merchant Shipping Association told the committee California lacks a formal, data‑driven model to measure those impacts. Senator Gonzales’s measure was advanced to give state policymakers data to design mitigation strategies.

SB 756, the Film Tax Credit Accountability and Equity Act, drew testimony focused on workforce composition and the tax credit’s public benefit. Author Senator Smallwood Cuevas told the committee the state spends hundreds of millions annually but currently lacks standardized, comparable reporting to show who is hired, where workers live, use of apprenticeships, and whether historically excluded groups are entering and advancing in below‑the‑line jobs. The bill would require recipients of tax credits to submit workforce compliance reports with aggregate demographic and geographic data and direct the California Film Commission to publish anonymized, aggregate analyses. Witnesses included Marco Flores, a Local 80 grip who described apprenticeship and reentry programs, and Veronica Soto, who described data‑tracking examples from other public projects. The committee moved SB 756 to the Appropriations Committee.

SB 314, which seeks to streamline and standardize weights‑and‑measures compliance for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, also moved forward. Senator Padilla said fragmented implementation has left many stations untested and out of compliance; the bill would direct county sealers to clear a backlog of unverified chargers, identify funds and equipment options to increase testing capacity, and permit factory testing to reduce delays. Testimony came from contractors, nonprofits that install chargers in rural regions, and EV industry representatives. The California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association registered opposition unless amended, urging continued consumer‑protection safeguards; author and proponents agreed to continue working on technical fixes before the next hearing. SB 314 was ordered to Appropriations.

Several licensing and sunset bills for regulatory boards were taken up with limited debate and moved as committee bills. Those included sunset‑extension and technical‑cleanup measures for the Department of Real Estate and the Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers (SB 774), the Board of Behavioral Sciences and Board of Psychology (SB 775), and the Board of Optometry (SB 776). SB 788 (clarifying that out‑of‑state CPAs and CPA firms operating under the Board of Accountancy’s mobility rules are not subject to duplicate Tax Preparation Act requirements) was also advanced. The committee left several items on call to accommodate absent members.

Other matters: SB 656 (small‑business liaisons) was taken up at the start of the hearing; Senator Susan T. Richardson described a proposal to require every state agency to designate a small‑business liaison and to annually report contract and subcontract data to the Office of the Small Business Advocate. Evan Johnson, acting deputy controller, testified that Controller Malia Cohen sponsors the bill and that AB 2019 established a 25% small‑business contracting goal; the controller’s office has applied that goal to large procurements. SB 656 was moved out of committee. Senators discussed broader regulatory burdens facing small businesses and signaled willingness to work on complementary reforms.

Votes at a glance - SB 263 (Gonzales/Smallwood Cuevas), study on tariff impacts — Passed from committee to Senate Appropriations Committee (vote recorded in committee: 10–0 current; roll call recorded). Supporters: Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, California Building Industry Association, California Chamber of Commerce, California Trucking Association, California Grocers Association. - SB 314 (Padilla), weights & measures / EV chargers — Passed from committee to Senate Appropriations Committee (vote recorded in committee: 9–0 current). Opposition registered: California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association (opposed unless amended). Multiple industry groups expressed support. - SB 370 (Ashby), Music Festival Preservation Grant Program — Passed from committee to Senate Appropriations Committee. Supporters: Visit Sacramento, Danny Wimmer Presents, National Independent Venues Association, City of Sacramento. - SB 656 (Richardson), small‑business liaison and reporting — Passed from committee (left on call then advanced to Appropriations per committee action). Sponsor: Office of the State Controller (Malia Cohen). - SB 756 (Smallwood Cuevas), Film Tax Credit Accountability and Equity Act — Passed from committee to Senate Appropriations Committee. Supporters included labor and workforce‑training advocates and local airport reporting officials who cited similar data practices. - SB 263/314/370/656/756 and committee bills SB 774 (Real Estate/BREA sunset), SB 775 (Behavioral Sciences sunset), SB 776 (Optometry sunset), SB 788 (CPAs/Tax Preparation Act) were all moved out of the committee either to the Senate Appropriations Committee or to the Senate floor as indicated on the record; several items were left on call for absent members. For bills moved by committee motion the clerk recorded roll calls as shown in the committee record.

Why it matters The bills combine economic development aims — protecting tourism and event spending, tracking the downstream benefits of state tax credits, and preserving small‑business access to state contracting — with regulatory fixes intended to speed infrastructure deployment (EV chargers) and remove duplicative regulation (CPAs and tax‑preparer rules). Several measures would bind state agencies to new reporting or data‑collection duties; proponents argued that better data will allow California to protect existing revenue streams and craft more targeted investments, while opponents in the weights‑and‑measures community urged safeguards to preserve consumer protection.

What’s next Most authored measures were moved to the Senate Appropriations Committee for fiscal review and potential amendment. Authors and stakeholders told the committee they would continue negotiations — particularly on the EV charger and weights‑and‑measures language and on definitions and implementation details for the film reporting and small‑business liaison proposals.

Sources and attributions This account is based on the committee hearing record and on testimony by the bill authors and witnesses, including Senator Susan T. Richardson (SB 656), Senator Ashby (SB 370), Senator Smallwood Cuevas (SB 263 and SB 756), Senator Alex Padilla (SB 314), Mike Testa (Visit Sacramento), Dylan Welsh (Danny Wimmer Presents), Evan Johnson (acting deputy controller), Mike Jacob (Pacific Merchant Shipping Association), Dan Dunmoyer (California Building Industry Association), Marco Flores (Local 80), Veronica Soto (workforce data subject matter), Matt Trout (registered service agent/contractor), Christian Torres (Comitecio del Valle), and representatives of industry groups who registered support or opposition during the hearing. Exact quote attributions and verbatim excerpts are contained in the transcript.