California Budget 2025-2026 Budget

• By: admin
• On: 07/14/2025 11:23:21
• In: Government Affairs
• Comments: 0

CEQA Updates:
With the passage of AB 130 and SB 131, developers now have access to powerful tools to streamline housing and mixed-use development on housing rich development sites.   Key reforms include CEQA exemptions for qualifying projects, elimination of costly rezoning on commercially zoned land, and a 30-day deadline for local governments to act—cutting red tape and injecting new certainty into the entitlement process. To qualify, projects must be located on urban zone development sites, meet local planning standards, and avoid sensitive areas. New labor requirements ensure prevailing wage and skilled workforce use on larger projects.

Building Codes:
The 2025–26 State Budget includes another major policy win for commercial real estate: a much-needed pause on constant building code updates. Due to the efforts of BOMA California and its partners, housing projects will now benefit from a six-year freeze on residential code changes, while commercial projects return to a predictable three-year update cycle. 
This stability will reduce compliance costs—by an estimated 5–8% for mixed-use projects and 3–6% for commercial work—while also minimizing delays and redesigns caused by last-minute code shifts. The new rules also limit interim code updates to true emergencies, fire safety in Wildland-Urban Interface zones, or federally mandated accessibility changes. In short, this reform brings cost control, predictability, and efficiency to project planning, approvals, and leasing—delivering real value across California's development landscape.