Bill Commons

CA AB 2281

enrolled

Office of Elections Cybersecurity.

California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · lower

Quick answers

Did CA AB 2281 pass?

Not yet law. CA AB 2281 has passed both chambers and is enrolled, awaiting executive action (signature or veto) as of 2026-08-30. Latest recorded action (2026-09-10): Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.

What is CA AB 2281 about?

Existing law establishes the Office of Elections Cybersecurity within the Secretary of State's office to coordinate efforts between the Secretary of State and local elections officials to reduce the likelihood and severity of cyber incidents and to monitor and counteract false or misleading information regarding the electoral process. Existing law requires the Office of Elections Cybersecurity, among other things, to develop best practices for protecting against threats to election cybersecurity in consultation with federal, state, and local agencies and private organizations. This bill would also authorize the office to consult with academic researchers for that purpose. The bill would require the office to assess whether additional state resources are needed to replace election cybersecurity resources previously provided by the federal government.

Who sponsors CA AB 2281?

Berman is the primary sponsor of CA AB 2281.

Description

Existing law establishes the Office of Elections Cybersecurity within the Secretary of State's office to coordinate efforts between the Secretary of State and local elections officials to reduce the likelihood and severity of cyber incidents and to monitor and counteract false or misleading information regarding the electoral process. Existing law requires the Office of Elections Cybersecurity, among other things, to develop best practices for protecting against threats to election cybersecurity in consultation with federal, state, and local agencies and private organizations. This bill would also authorize the office to consult with academic researchers for that purpose. The bill would require the office to assess whether additional state resources are needed to replace election cybersecurity resources previously provided by the federal government.

Introduced
2026-06-30
Latest action
2026-09-10 — Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Subjects

Sponsors

  • Bermanauthor

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

  1. 2026-02-19

    Read first time. To print.

    reading-1

  2. 2026-02-20

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 22.

  3. 2026-03-09

    Referred to Com. on ELECTIONS.

    referral-committee

  4. 2026-04-15

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (April 15). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee

  5. 2026-04-29

    From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 10. Noes 1.) (April 29).

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  6. 2026-04-30

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1,reading-2,reading-3

  7. 2026-05-11

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 55. Noes 9. Page 4991.)

    passage,reading-1,reading-3

  8. 2026-05-12

    In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

    reading-1,referral-committee

  9. 2026-05-20

    Referred to Com. on E. & C.A.

    referral-committee

  10. 2026-06-30

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (June 30).

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,referral-committee

  11. 2026-07-01

    Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

    amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee

  12. 2026-08-03

    From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8.

    committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2

  13. 2026-08-04

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1,reading-2,reading-3

  14. 2026-08-30

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 30. Noes 10.).

    passage,reading-1,reading-3

  15. 2026-08-30

    Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling.

    amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  16. 2026-08-30

    In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

  17. 2026-09-10

    Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.

    executive-receipt

  18. 2026-08-30

    Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 60. Noes 11.).

    amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

Versions

Documents

Votes

  • Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]

    2026-04-15 · pass · 6-1

    Member-level votes (8)
    • Pellerin: yes
    • Stefani: yes
    • Elhawary: yes
    • Bennett: yes
    • Berman: yes
    • Solache: yes
    • Gallagher: no
    • Johnson: other

  • Do pass.

    2026-04-29 · pass · 10-1

    Member-level votes (15)
    • Solache: yes
    • Fong: yes
    • Pacheco: yes
    • Krell: yes
    • Arambula: yes
    • Caloza: yes
    • Mark González: yes
    • Pellerin: yes
    • Wicks: yes
    • Calderon: yes
    • Tangipa: no
    • Muratsuchi: other
    • Ta: other
    • Hoover: other
    • Dixon: other

  • AB 2281 Berman Assembly Third Reading

    2026-05-11 · pass · 55-9

    Member-level votes (80)
    • Jackson: yes
    • Lee: yes
    • Boerner: yes
    • Haney: yes
    • McKinnor: yes
    • Berman: yes
    • Carrillo: yes
    • Davies: yes
    • Mark González: yes
    • Muratsuchi: yes
    • Garcia: yes
    • Rogers: yes
    • Nguyen: yes
    • Hart: yes
    • Patel: yes
    • Pacheco: yes
    • Ortega: yes
    • Fong: yes
    • Wicks: yes
    • Ransom: yes
    • Gabriel: yes
    • Blanca Rubio: yes
    • Schiavo: yes
    • Elhawary: yes
    • Connolly: yes
    • Papan: yes
    • Bonta: yes
    • Bains: yes
    • Ávila Farías: yes
    • Gipson: yes
    • Alvarez: yes
    • Addis: yes
    • Caloza: yes
    • Stefani: yes
    • Aguiar-Curry: yes
    • Zbur: yes
    • Alanis: yes
    • Pellerin: yes
    • Ahrens: yes
    • Calderon: yes
    • Krell: yes
    • Sharp-Collins: yes
    • Bauer-Kahan: yes
    • Bryan: yes
    • Schultz: yes
    • Rivas: yes
    • Valencia: yes
    • Ward: yes
    • Ramos: yes
    • Bennett: yes
    • Irwin: yes
    • Wilson: yes
    • Harabedian: yes
    • Petrie-Norris: yes
    • Kalra: yes
    • Tangipa: no
    • DeMaio: no
    • Gallagher: no
    • Patterson: no
    • Hadwick: no
    • Sanchez: no
    • Dixon: no
    • Macedo: no
    • Jeff Gonzalez: no
    • Solache: other
    • Hoover: other
    • Lowenthal: other
    • Chen: other
    • Lackey: other
    • Flora: other
    • Wallis: other
    • Ellis: other
    • Michelle Rodriguez: other
    • Soria: other
    • Celeste Rodriguez: other
    • Ta: other
    • Castillo: other
    • Johnson: other
    • Quirk-Silva: other
    • Arambula: other

  • Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations]

    2026-06-30 · pass · 4-1

    Member-level votes (5)
    • Allen: yes
    • Wiener: yes
    • Cervantes: yes
    • Umberg: yes
    • Choi: no

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2281

Attribution

Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-09-12T06:16:12.428990Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Source and document changesStatus and relationship changes

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