Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Legislation 2026 topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission outlines vetting process for 2026 bill proposals; staff received 22 ideas, will vet and may sponsor 1–2
Summary
Deputy Director Kendra Zahler told the committee the commission received 22 bill proposals in a 10-day call and will vet them against its decision-making tool; staff expect capacity to sponsor one or two bills and intend to return with refined proposals in January, while noting political and budgetary headwinds for 2026.
Deputy Director Kendra Zahler briefed the Legislative & External Affairs Advisory Committee on Sept. 18 about the commission’s initial review of 22 bill proposals submitted during a short public call for ideas for the 2026 legislative session.
Zahler said staff categorized submissions into administrative fixes, noncommission-sponsored ideas (existing two-year bills), grant-oriented proposals and items outside commission scope. The proposals fell into recurring themes that align with commission priorities: crisis response, workforce, youth, veterans and equity.
“We received 22 proposals, many of which fall under common themes: crisis response, workforce, youth, veterans, equity,” Zahler said. “We’re still very early in the 2026 vetting process.”
Zahler highlighted several proposals that showed early alignment with Behavioral Health Services Act priorities and the commission’s decision framework: aligning advocacy contracts with BHSA priority populations; a free statewide online suicide-prevention training with centralized data collection; improving psychiatric care access for justice-involved people in rural areas; expanding CYBHI fee-schedule reimbursement for youth served off-site; and making peer-support services a Medi-Cal benefit for non‑specialty mental health.
She cautioned commissioners that the state budget outlook and political environment will figure in decisions about whether the commission sponsors bills that require new funding. Zahler said staff currently anticipate capacity to sponsor one or two bills and plan to return with more refined proposals for decision at the commission’s January meeting; the LEX committee will revisit the list in November.
Public commenters used the agenda item to raise two related points. Kimberly, a first responder and member of the Yolo County Local Behavioral Health Board, urged expansion of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training to firefighters and emergency medical providers, saying current EMT training often contains only “one hour” on mental health. Stacy Hiramoto of the Racial and Ethnic Mental Health Disparities Coalition and partners representing the California Reducing Disparities Project (CRDP) urged the commission to consider sustaining or scaling CRDP and to explicitly weigh equity impacts when vetting proposals.
Zahler said staff will continue outreach to submitters, connect them to other agencies if appropriate, and use the commission’s decision-making rubric to identify where the commission is best positioned to sponsor or support legislative proposals. No formal votes were taken on specific bills during the meeting.
