Revenue and Taxation committee advances tax, housing and entertainment bills; high‑speed rail and tax‑fraud expansion fail

The California State Senate Committee on Revenue and Taxation met to consider more than a dozen bills affecting taxes, housing, transit and economic incentives. Lawmakers advanced several measures to the Appropriations Committee or other committees, adopted a committee consent item and rejected two high‑profile proposals.

Votes at a glance

- SB 17 (Ochoa Bogue) — Allow state tax exclusion/deduction treatment for tips for service and hospitality workers. Motion: do pass as amended to Labor, Public Employment and Retirement. Committee vote: aye 5, no 0. (McNerney; Valladares; Ashby; Grayson; Umberg — aye.)

- SB 630 (Allen / Menjivar) — Major expansion of film & television tax credit (higher base credit, expanded eligible productions, larger indie set‑aside). Motion: do pass as amended to Appropriations. Committee vote: aye 5, no 0.

- SB 328 (Grayson) — Cap on the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) hazardous waste generator fee for housing, nonprofits and parks; permit streamlining timelines. Motion: do pass as amended to Appropriations. Committee vote: aye 5, no 0.

- SB 661 (Hurtado) — Airport Expansion and Regional Optimization Act (redirect aviation fuel tax proceeds for airport infrastructure; FAA revenue‑use compliance). Motion: do pass to Appropriations. Committee vote: aye 5, no 0.

- SB 63 (Wiener / Arreguin) — Authorize a regional sales tax measure on the November 2026 ballot to stabilize Bay Area transit operations, with fiscal efficiency review. Motion: do pass as amended to Appropriations. Committee vote: aye 4, no 1.

- SB 592 (Smallwood Cuevas) — Exclude transfers into community land trusts (CLTs) and limited equity housing cooperatives (LEHCs) from property tax reassessment at conversion. Motion: do pass to Judiciary. Committee vote: aye 3, no 0.

- SB 789 (Menjivar) — Statewide commercial vacancy reporting requirement (five‑year data collection, electronic filing). Motion: do pass as amended to Appropriations. Committee vote: aye 3, no 1.

- SB 799 (Allen) — Extend California False Claims Act to certain egregious tax fraud cases (author threshold/dollar limits). Motion: failed in committee (final tally reported by the clerk: failed).

- SB 94 (Strickland) — Redirect greenhouse gas reduction funds to a temporary motor fuel tax cut and end state high‑speed rail funding. Motion: failed in committee (final tally reported by the clerk: failed).

- SB 591…