CA SB 61
enactedPrivate works of improvement: retention payments.
California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · upper
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Quick answers
Did CA SB 61 pass?
Yes. CA SB 61 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2025-07-14): Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 49, Statutes of 2025.
What is CA SB 61 about?
Existing law generally governs retention payments withheld with respect to a contract for a private work of improvement, including by requiring an owner that withholds a retention from a direct contractor to, within 45 days after completion of the work of improvement, pay the retention to the contractor. With respect to a contract for a private work of improvement, this bill would limit the amount of a retention payment by, among other things, prohibiting a retention payment withheld from a payment by an owner from the direct contractor, by the direct contractor from any subcontractor, and by a subcontractor from any subcontractor thereunder, from exceeding 5% of the payment, subject to certain exceptions. The bill would require a court to award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party in any action to enforce these provisions.
Who sponsors CA SB 61?
Cortese is the primary sponsor of CA SB 61.
Description
Existing law generally governs retention payments withheld with respect to a contract for a private work of improvement, including by requiring an owner that withholds a retention from a direct contractor to, within 45 days after completion of the work of improvement, pay the retention to the contractor. With respect to a contract for a private work of improvement, this bill would limit the amount of a retention payment by, among other things, prohibiting a retention payment withheld from a payment by an owner from the direct contractor, by the direct contractor from any subcontractor, and by a subcontractor from any subcontractor thereunder, from exceeding 5% of the payment, subject to certain exceptions. The bill would require a court to award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party in any action to enforce these provisions.
- Introduced
- 2025-01-09
- Latest action
- 2025-07-14 — Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 49, Statutes of 2025.
- Bill type
- bill
- Last updated
- —
Subjects
Sponsors
- Corteseauthor
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
Newest first
2025-07-14
Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 49, Statutes of 2025.
became-law
2025-07-14
Approved by the Governor.
executive-signature
2025-07-03
Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 11:15 a.m.
executive-receipt
2025-06-23
In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
committee-passage
2025-06-23
Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 71. Noes 0. Page 2247.) Ordered to the Senate.
passage,reading-1,reading-3
2025-06-18
Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar.
reading-1,reading-2
2025-06-17
From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (June 17).
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable
2025-05-12
Referred to Com. on JUD.
referral-committee
2025-04-24
In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
reading-1
2025-04-24
Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 887.) Ordered to the Assembly.
passage,reading-1,reading-3
2025-04-10
Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar.
reading-1,reading-2
2025-04-09
From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 13. Noes 0. Page 705.) (April 8).
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable
2025-03-26
From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD.
amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2025-03-26
Set for hearing April 8.
2025-01-29
Referred to Com. on JUD.
referral-committee
2025-01-10
From printer. May be acted upon on or after February 9.
2025-01-09
Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.
introduction,reading-1,referral-committee
Versions
Documents
- application/pdf
- application/pdf
- application/pdf
- application/pdf
- text/html
- application/pdf(no extracted text yet)
- application/pdf(no extracted text yet)
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Votes
Do pass and be ordered to the Consent Calendar
2025-04-08 · pass · 13-0
Member-level votes (13)
- Weber Pierson: yes
- Ashby: yes
- Durazo: yes
- Wahab: yes
- Wiener: yes
- Arreguín: yes
- Laird: yes
- Umberg: yes
- Valladares: yes
- Allen: yes
- Stern: yes
- Niello: yes
- Caballero: yes
Consent Calendar 2nd
2025-04-24 · pass · 37-0
Member-level votes (40)
- Weber Pierson: yes
- Cervantes: yes
- Richardson: yes
- Menjivar: yes
- Seyarto: yes
- Limón: yes
- Durazo: yes
- Niello: yes
- McGuire: yes
- Blakespear: yes
- Laird: yes
- Cortese: yes
- Ashby: yes
- Grayson: yes
- Strickland: yes
- Cabaldon: yes
- Grove: yes
- Umberg: yes
- Wiener: yes
- Allen: yes
- Wahab: yes
- McNerney: yes
- Hurtado: yes
- Jones: yes
- Padilla: yes
- Choi: yes
- Stern: yes
- Gonzalez: yes
- Dahle: yes
- Arreguín: yes
- Alvarado-Gil: yes
- Becker: yes
- Caballero: yes
- Valladares: yes
- Pérez: yes
- Ochoa Bogh: yes
- Smallwood-Cuevas: yes
- Reyes: other
- Archuleta: other
- Rubio: other
Do pass. To Consent Calendar.
2025-06-17 · pass · 11-0
Member-level votes (12)
- Pacheco: yes
- Connolly: yes
- Dixon: yes
- Zbur: yes
- Bauer-Kahan: yes
- Stefani: yes
- Bryan: yes
- Kalra: yes
- Sanchez: yes
- Harabedian: yes
- Papan: yes
- Macedo: other
SB 61 Cortese Consent Calendar Second Day
2025-06-23 · pass · 71-0
Member-level votes (79)
- Ávila Farías: yes
- Petrie-Norris: yes
- Kalra: yes
- Hart: yes
- Wallis: yes
- Quirk-Silva: yes
- Gipson: yes
- Schiavo: yes
- Boerner: yes
- Berman: yes
- Carrillo: yes
- Garcia: yes
- Patel: yes
- Flora: yes
- Calderon: yes
- Krell: yes
- Ramos: yes
- Rogers: yes
- DeMaio: yes
- Elhawary: yes
- Papan: yes
- Lowenthal: yes
- Wicks: yes
- Fong: yes
- Bryan: yes
- Pacheco: yes
- Schultz: yes
- Stefani: yes
- Alanis: yes
- Tangipa: yes
- Haney: yes
- Wilson: yes
- Bonta: yes
- Sanchez: yes
- Mark González: yes
- Pellerin: yes
- Lee: yes
- Muratsuchi: yes
- Michelle Rodriguez: yes
- Patterson: yes
- Lackey: yes
- Davies: yes
- Rivas: yes
- Bennett: yes
- Blanca Rubio: yes
- Connolly: yes
- Irwin: yes
- Ransom: yes
- Soria: yes
- Chen: yes
- Dixon: yes
- Aguiar-Curry: yes
- Jeff Gonzalez: yes
- Sharp-Collins: yes
- Hoover: yes
- Ta: yes
- Caloza: yes
- Harabedian: yes
- Macedo: yes
- Nguyen: yes
- Ortega: yes
- Solache: yes
- Gallagher: yes
- Celeste Rodriguez: yes
- Castillo: yes
- Gabriel: yes
- Hadwick: yes
- Alvarez: yes
- Valencia: yes
- Jackson: yes
- Zbur: yes
- McKinnor: other
- Arambula: other
- Ellis: other
- Ahrens: other
- Ward: other
- Addis: other
- Bains: other
- Bauer-Kahan: other
Related bills
No related bills recorded for this bill.
Official source
Attribution
Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-10-29T20:16:48.488708Z
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