Sacramento Update August 2024

The Legislature has been on recess since July 3, so all is quiet in Sacramento until they return on August 5.  Prior to adjourning, a budget deal was reached and climate and education bonds were passed. All policy committee hearings have concluded and the month of August will focus on fiscal committee hearings and floor session to pass bills to the Governor.  The budget deal included SB 167, which eliminates the bad debt deduction for retailers and lenders.  Starting in 2028, qualifying lenders will no longer be ale to write off bad debt amounts of receive refunds of sales tax paid on accounts that have become worthless. The deductions will still be able to be taken until 1/1/28 for accounts written off before 1/1/25.

Bills of interest to CCBN that continue to move include SB 278, which as initially drafted would have specified that a person who assists in taking property for a wrongful use has committed financial abuse, if the person knew or should have known that this conduct is likely to be harmful to the elder or dependent adult.  CCBN worked with other financial services industry stakeholders and the bill was amended to require financial institutions to create emergency financial contact programs by 2026, whereby banks would have to try to contact an emergency contact person when elder financial abuse is suspected.  While this amendment makes SB 278 much more palatable, enforcement language was added to the bill that will expose banks to liability for failure to comply, so CCBN continues to work the bill in opposition.  It will be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee in August.  The Legislature will adjourn for the year on August 31, so things will move quickly when legislators return to the Capitol on August 5.