AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 18, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

97

Introduced by Assembly Member Pacheco

February 9, 2026

An act to amend Section 16724.4 of, and to add Section 16724.2 to, the Government Code, relating to public finance.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law, the State General Obligation Bond Law, generally sets forth the procedures for the issuance and sale of bonds governed by its provisions and for the disbursal of the proceeds of the sale of those bonds. Existing law specifies various provisions required for inclusion in a bond act. Existing law requires any state bond measure approved on or after January 1, 2004, to be subject to an annual reporting process, with the head of the lead state agency administering the bond proceeds reporting certain information about the projects being funded to the Legislature and the Department of Finance. Existing law permits this information to be provided on the agency’s internet website or the state’s open data portal under certain circumstances. Existing law authorizes the costs of the report to be included in the cost of administering the bond act unless prohibited by the bond act.

Existing law defines various terms for these purposes, including “board.” Existing law defines “board” to mean the state board, department, or agency authorized by a bond act to request the committee to cause bonds to be issued for the purpose of creating a fund that is to be expended by the board for the purposes specified in the bond act.

For any state general obligation bond measure that is approved by voters on and after January 1, 2027, this bill would require a bond act to include specified information about the objectives of the bond expenditure and related data. The bill would also require the board to post on its internet website a notification that contains, among other information, details about the programs and projects authorized to be funded by the bond. The bill would require the board to provide a short, one page, executive summary style written report to the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst, and specified legislative committees that contains certain information regarding the general obligation bond, in accordance with the above-described provision permitting this information to be provided on the board’s internet website or the state’s online data portal. The bill would require the report to include, among other information, whether the project, grant, or other expenditure of bond proceeds has been done in a timely manner. The bill would require a bond act to include a provision requiring the cost of the report to be included in the cost of administering the bond act and would require the cost of compliance with the above-described report requirements be included in the cost of administering the bond act. The bill would exempt from the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act the development and adoption of program guidelines, recommendations, or criteria pursuant to the bill. The bill would also make nonsubstantive and conforming changes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Bond Outcomes and Reporting Act.

SEC. 2.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) Upon approval by California voters, general obligation bonds are used to make important investments in the state’s infrastructure and to meet specific funding needs.

(2) As the fourth largest economy in the world, and with nearly 40,000,000 in population, California needs to make ongoing investments in its infrastructure.

(3) Bond expenditures and related information should be provided to voters to promote greater transparency and trust of the voters who approve bond funding for the purpose of ensuring a vital infrastructure future for California.

(4) The public should be assured that bond funds will be used as the voters intended.

(5) Bond funds should be spent efficiently, effectively, and in the best interests of Californians.

(6) Accountability regarding the expenditure of bond funds begins with establishing criteria for determining whether the intended outcomes are being achieved.

(7) Ongoing updates and auditing completed projects can help determine that the bond expenditures were consistent with the established criteria and all applicable laws.

(8) Accountability consists of ensuring bond expenditures contribute to long-lasting, meaningful improvements to critical infrastructure in this state, as well as providing the public with readily accessible information about how the bonds they approved and are paying for are being spent annually.

(b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to accomplish all of the following:

(1) Ensure general obligation bond dollars are expended after specified objectives are established for the expenditure of those bond dollars. As agencies have capabilities already in place to comply with Executive Order No. S-02-07, the objectives required by this measure are intended to be simple disclosures of existing information that link individual bond-funded activities to quantifiable strategic goals. For example, “Treat 2,000,000 acres to reduce fuel load by 2035.” This is routine best practice for program administration and intends only to increase public transparency of performance metrics that agencies should already have created to effectively manage public funds.

(2) Ensure that the internet website information required by this act provides the public with ready access to information on how bond proceeds are being utilized and are meeting their intended goals and objectives. In addition to including each bond-funded activity’s contribution to quantifiable strategic goals, this measure intends to require a short, one-page, executive summary style report to synthesize this information into an overview of how these activities are meeting long-term quantifiable strategic objectives.

(3) Establish criteria for the expenditure of bond funds to ensure that the state achieves the intended outcomes of those bond expenditures.

(4) When expending bond funds, not only should the public body comply with the authorizing bond act, the State General Obligation Bond Law, and other applicable state and federal laws, those expenditures should meet clear, brief accountability criteria to ensure that bond proceeds are spent efficiently, effectively, and in the best interests of California.

(5) Reimburse additional costs to an agency from bond funding so there is no additional state funding required to implement this measure.

SEC. 3.

Section 16724.2 is added to the Government Code, to read:

16724.2.

(a) For any state bond measure approved by the voters on and after January 1, 2027, the bond act shall include all of the following:

(1) Specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the bond expenditure is intended to achieve.

(2) Detailed performance indicators for the public to have when measuring whether the bond expenditure meets the goals, purposes, and objectives established.

(3) Data collection requirements to enable the public to determine whether the bond expenditure is meeting, failing to meet, or exceeding those specific goals, purposes, and objectives.

(4) Specific data and baseline measurements to be collected and remitted annually while the bond is being expended.

(5) A provision requiring the costs of the report required under subdivision (e) to be included in the cost of administering the bond act.

(b) The criteria established shall evaluate the intended outcomes of the bond both at the issuance of the bond and once the funded projects are completed.

(c) The board shall post on its internet website a notification that contains the items set forth in subdivision (a). This notification shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:

(1) An overview of the various programs and projects authorized to be funded by the bond.

(2) A summary of the status of bond use by major program category.

(3) An explanation of the accountability criteria that will govern the use of the bond funds.

(4) Detailed information about bond use by program or individual infrastructure project.

(5) Objectives of the program or project to be funded by the bond.

(d) Any relevant board shall cooperate in the implementation of this section.

(e) (1) The board shall provide a short, one page, executive summary style written report to the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst, the Assembly Committee on Budget, and the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review that, at a minimum, sets forth the following information regarding the general obligation bond:

(A) Whether the project, grant, or other expenditure of bond proceeds has been done in a timely and efficient manner.

(B) Whether the project, grant, or other expenditure of bond proceeds has or has not achieved its intended purpose.

(C) Whether the project, grant, or other expenditure of bond proceeds was done in compliance with all statutory and regulatory requirements.

(2) The written report required pursuant to paragraph (1) shall also be posted conspicuously on the board’s internet website, in accordance with subdivision (c) of Section 16724.4.

(3) The report required pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795.

(f) The cost of the report required under subdivision (e) shall be included in the cost of administering the bond act.

SEC. 4.

Section 16724.4 of the Government Code is amended to read:

16724.4.

Any state bond measure approved by the voters on or after January 1, 2004, shall be subject to an annual reporting process, as follows:

(a) The board shall report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance no later than January 1, 2005, or the January 1 of the second year following the enactment of the bond measure, whichever is later, and at least once a year thereafter. The annual report shall contain all of the following:

(1) A list of all projects and their geographical location that have been funded or are required or authorized to receive funds.

(2) The amount of funds allocated on each project.

(3) The status of any project required or authorized to be funded.

(b) Costs of the report may be included in the cost of administering the bond measure unless the measure specifically prohibits those expenses.

(c) If the board has developed and continuously maintains an alternative digital method of providing all the information required pursuant to subdivision (a), such as a publicly available data display on the board’s internet website or the state’s open data portal, an annual notification to the Legislature and the Department of Finance that includes specific instructions to locate the information may meet the annual reporting process requirements of this section.