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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

94

Introduced by Assembly Member Carrillo

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ávila Farías, Mark González, Haney, Lee, Lowenthal, and Solache)

February 20, 2026

An act to add and repeal of Section 17211 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to business.

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

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law, the Unfair Competition Law (UCL), makes various practices unlawful and provides that a person who engages, has engaged, or proposes to engage in unfair competition is liable for a civil penalty and subject to injunction, as specified. The UCL authorizes actions prosecuted under its provisions to be brought by certain public attorneys, including by the Attorney General, a city attorney of a city having a population in excess of 750,000, or by a county counsel of any county within which a city has a population in excess of 750,000. The UCL prohibits the distribution, as provided, of any handbill, as defined, to any individual guest rooms in any hotel where the innkeeper has expressed objection to handbill distribution, as specified. The UCL provides that these provisions do not prohibit the distribution of a handbill to guest rooms in any hotel where the distribution has been requested or approved in writing by the innkeeper, or to any individual guest room when the occupant thereof has affirmatively requested or approved the distribution of the handbill during the duration of the guest’s occupancy.

This bill would require, under the UCL, the operator of a hotel hotel, as defined, with actual knowledge of a reservation with the United States Customs and Border Protection or United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement to post a prescribed notice in a prominent and accessible place where it can be seen by all workers. workers, as provided. The bill would also require an operator of a hotel with the above-described knowledge to disclose, upon request of a guest with a reservation and at the time of check-in, the potential presence of the United States Customs and Border Protection or United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement on its premises during the guest’s reservation. The bill would prohibit the liability of the operator of a hotel for violations of these provisions from exceeding $5,000. The bill would repeal its own provisions on January 1, 2029.

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

SECTION 1.

Section 17211 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

17211.

(a) (1) An operator of a hotel with actual knowledge of a reservation with the United States Customs and Border Protection or United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement on its premises shall, no later than the time of arrival of an employee of that federal entity, 48 hours before the beginning of the reservation or, if actual knowledge is acquired after that time, within 1 hour of acquiring actual knowledge, post a notice in a prominent and accessible place where it can be seen by all workers that discloses the potential presence of the United States Customs and Border Protection or United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement on its premises.

(2) The operator shall ensure that the notice remains prominently displayed for the duration of the reservation.

(c) An operator who has established a protocol to comply with this section in good faith shall be found in compliance with this section.

(d) The hotel and its operator shall not be liable for loss of life, injuries, violations, penalties, liabilities, or any damages that might occur pursuant to compliance with the requirements of this section.

(e) This section does not impose any duty on an operator of a hotel to seek information.

(f) (1) A violation of this section shall be deemed engaging in unfair competition for purposes of this chapter. chapter and subject to a civil penalty of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each violation.

(g) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Hotel” has the same meaning as Section 17210.

(2) “Operator” means a person who is the owner of the hotel or who, at a minimum, meets both of the following criteria:

(A) The person is employed directly by the hotel owner or an entity charged with overseeing the day-to-day operations of the hotel.

(B) The person is classified as a “manager” by title and works 40 or more hours per week at the hotel.