Assembly Appropriations Committee advances 435 bills from suspense file, holds and two‑years others

Good morning. Welcome to the 05/23/2025 assembly appropriation suspense hearing on assembly bills.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee met May 23, 2025, for its annual suspense‑file hearing and advanced 435 measures to the Assembly floor as "do pass" or "do pass, as amended," while holding some bills in committee and placing others in two‑year status, Committee Chair said. The committee acted against the backdrop of the May Revision and what the chair described as an uncertain fiscal environment that constrained new spending.

The suspense file hearing is a key fiscal gatekeeper: bills with potential state costs are evaluated and either released to the floor, held for further work, or set as two‑year bills. Committee leadership told members and the public the agenda was organized alphabetically and that the committee would post the full results on the Assembly Appropriations Committee website and the California Legislative Information website after the hearing.

Committee process and context

Committee leadership opened by thanking staff and noting the state—s budget pressures. "We were doing that with a keen awareness of the state's difficult budget situation," the chair said, adding that many good but expensive bills would not move this year. Vice Chair Miss Dixon, serving in a temporary capacity, briefly thanked colleagues for their work.

A single procedural substitution was used early in the hearing: "Without objection, we will substitute the motion second for all due pass or due pass with amendments on the rest of the suspense file," the chair said, allowing a single motion/second to apply to multiple items where members had already moved and seconded dispositions.

Examples of individual bill dispositions (representative, not exhaustive)

- AB 405 (Assemblymember Addis): designated a two‑year bill. - AB 510 (Addis) — Health care peer‑to‑peer review: held in committee. - AB 650 (Addis) — Special day class ratio: reported out on a roll call. - AB 1076 (Addis) — CalABLE program: do pass as amended; the chair said the bill was reported out with amendments and with Republicans not voting in some instances.

Committee outcome and next steps

Committee staff reported that, by the end of the hearing, "the committee moved 435 bills to the Assembly floor, either as due passed or due passed with amendments." The chair reminded members that amendment language for many of those bills would be posted on the California Legislative Information website.

The chair also explicitly noted that because of the budget environment, the committee had amended many bills to reduce costs, converted some measures into two‑year bills to allow more work, and in other cases held bills in committee.

Votes at a glance

- Total bills on suspense file announced at start: 666 (as announced by the chair). - Bills moved to the floor (do pass / do pass as amended): 435 (committee announcement). - Selected dispositions mentioned on the record include: AB 405 (two‑year); AB 510 (hold in committee); AB 650 (reported out on roll call); AB 1076 (do pass as amended, Republicans not voting). The committee chair said the committee would post the full, itemized results online after the hearing.

The hearing concluded with the chair noting that amendment language will be available through the California Legislative Information website and adjourning the meeting.