CA SB 656
deadSmall business: small business liaison.
California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · upper
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Quick answers
Did CA SB 656 pass?
No. CA SB 656 did not pass — it was defeated or died in the legislative process. Latest recorded action (2026-02-02): Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
What is CA SB 656 about?
Existing law establishes the Office of Small Business Advocate within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to advocate for causes of small businesses and to provide small businesses with the information they need to survive in the marketplace and requires the Governor to appoint a Small Business Advocate. Executive Order No. S-02-06 establishes a 25% small business participation goal for the state's procurement and contracting processes. Existing law requires a state agency that significantly regulates small business or that significantly impacts small business to designate at least one person to serve as a small business liaison. Existing law requires the small business liaison to be responsible for specified duties relating to interactions between the state agency and small businesses, including assisting the agency secretary, department director, or executive officer of the state agency in ensuring that the procurement and contracting processes of the state agency are administered in order to meet or exceed the 25% small business participation goal, and developing and sharing innovative procurement and contracting practices from the public and private sectors to increase opportunities for small businesses. This bill would require all state agencies to designate at least one person to serve as a small business liaison. The bill would also require a small business liaison to annually submit certain information to the advocate, including a list of all current contracts between the state agency and a small business, all contracts of the state agency that include a subcontract with a small business, and the total dollar amount paid to a small business under those contracts or subcontracts. The bill would require the advocate to post the information on its internet website.
Who sponsors CA SB 656?
Richardson is the primary sponsor of CA SB 656.
Description
Existing law establishes the Office of Small Business Advocate within the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to advocate for causes of small businesses and to provide small businesses with the information they need to survive in the marketplace and requires the Governor to appoint a Small Business Advocate. Executive Order No. S-02-06 establishes a 25% small business participation goal for the state's procurement and contracting processes. Existing law requires a state agency that significantly regulates small business or that significantly impacts small business to designate at least one person to serve as a small business liaison. Existing law requires the small business liaison to be responsible for specified duties relating to interactions between the state agency and small businesses, including assisting the agency secretary, department director, or executive officer of the state agency in ensuring that the procurement and contracting processes of the state agency are administered in order to meet or exceed the 25% small business participation goal, and developing and sharing innovative procurement and contracting practices from the public and private sectors to increase opportunities for small businesses. This bill would require all state agencies to designate at least one person to serve as a small business liaison. The bill would also require a small business liaison to annually submit certain information to the advocate, including a list of all current contracts between the state agency and a small business, all contracts of the state agency that include a subcontract with a small business, and the total dollar amount paid to a small business under those contracts or subcontracts. The bill would require the advocate to post the information on its internet website.
- Introduced
- 2025-02-20
- Latest action
- 2026-02-02 — Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
- Bill type
- bill
- Last updated
- —
Subjects
Sponsors
- Richardsonauthor
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
Newest first
2026-02-02
Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56.
failure
2025-05-23
May 23 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.
2025-05-16
Set for hearing May 23.
2025-05-12
May 12 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
2025-05-02
Set for hearing May 12.
2025-04-28
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 11. Noes 0. Page 917.) (April 28). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee
2025-04-24
Set for hearing April 28.
2025-04-22
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on B. P. & E.D. (Ayes 12. Noes 0. Page 830.) (April 22). Re-referred to Com. on B. P. & E.D.
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee
2025-04-21
From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on G.O.
amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2025-04-11
Set for hearing April 22.
2025-04-02
Re-referred to Coms. on G.O. and B. P. & E.D.
referral-committee
2025-03-25
From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.
amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2025-03-05
Referred to Com. on RLS.
referral-committee
2025-02-21
From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 23.
2025-02-20
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
- text/html
- application/pdf(no extracted text yet)
- application/pdf(no extracted text yet)
- application/pdf(no extracted text yet)
Votes
Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Business, Professions and Economic Development]
2025-04-22 · pass · 12-0
Member-level votes (15)
- Weber Pierson: yes
- Blakespear: yes
- Richardson: yes
- Ochoa Bogh: yes
- Wahab: yes
- Smallwood-Cuevas: yes
- Rubio: yes
- Cervantes: yes
- Ashby: yes
- Padilla: yes
- Archuleta: yes
- Valladares: yes
- Hurtado: other
- Jones: other
- Dahle: other
Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]
2025-04-28 · pass · 11-0
Member-level votes (11)
- Grayson: yes
- Smallwood-Cuevas: yes
- Umberg: yes
- Arreguín: yes
- Weber Pierson: yes
- Ashby: yes
- Strickland: yes
- Choi: yes
- Archuleta: yes
- Niello: yes
- Menjivar: yes
Placed on suspense file
2025-05-12 · pass · 7-0
Member-level votes (7)
- Wahab: yes
- Seyarto: yes
- Grayson: yes
- Richardson: yes
- Cabaldon: yes
- Dahle: yes
- Caballero: yes
Related bills
No related bills recorded for this bill.
Official source
Attribution
Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T01:34:27.960412Z
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