Bill Sponsor
California Senate Bill 1159
Session 20252026
Artificial intelligence: transparency and governance.
Became Law
Became Law
Became Law on Sep 30, 2026
First Action
Feb 18, 2026
Latest Action
Sep 30, 2026
Origin Chamber
Senate
Type
Bill
Bill Number
1159
State
California
Session
20252026
Sponsorship by Party
Summary
The California Constitution provides that people have the right of access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business. Various provisions of existing law, including the California Public Records Act, the Legislative Open Records Act, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, and the Ralph M. Brown Act, provide, with some exceptions, for public access to government records and meetings of government bodies. Among those acts, the California Public Records Act defines "person" to include any natural person, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, firm, or association. Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs, among other things, the procedures for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of regulations by state agencies and for the review of those regulatory actions by the Office of Administrative Law. Existing law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) , requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA defines "person" to include any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business, trust, corporation, limited liability company, company, district, county, city and county, city, town, and, among other things, the state. Existing law, the California Coastal Act of 1976, establishes the California Coastal Commission and prescribes procedures for the preparation, approval, and certification of local coastal programs that regulate development in the coastal zone, as defined, in jurisdictions that have a certified local coastal program. This bill would specify that, for purposes of the California Public Records Act, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, the Ralph M. Brown Act, the Legislative Open Records Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, the California Coastal Act of 1976, and CEQA, "person," "interested person," "participant," "member of the public," as applicable, and any other similar terms under each act referring to those who may engage with governmental agencies, do not include artificial intelligence, as defined, systems, autonomous agents, or robots, whether physical or digital. The bill would authorize governmental agencies to use a disclosure verification tool to determine if artificial intelligence is present. The bill would make findings and declarations related to these provisions. The bill would prohibit a person from knowingly using artificial intelligence to falsely represent that a natural person appeared before, submitted information to, or otherwise engaged with a governmental agency. The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
09/30/2026
California State Legislature
Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 863, Statutes of 2026.
09/30/2026
California State Legislature
Approved by the Governor.
08/28/2026
California State Legislature
Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 11 a.m.
08/20/2026
Senate
Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 37. Noes 0.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
08/13/2026
Senate
In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
08/13/2026
Assembly
Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 74. Noes 0. Page 6148.) Ordered to the Senate.
07/02/2026
Assembly
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
07/01/2026
Assembly
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (June 30).
06/25/2026
Assembly
Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD.
06/24/2026
Assembly
From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (June 23).
06/09/2026
Assembly
From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P.
05/18/2026
Assembly
Referred to Coms. on P. & C.P. and JUD.
05/04/2026
Assembly
In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
05/04/2026
Senate
Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 4129.) Ordered to the Assembly.
04/08/2026
Senate
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
04/07/2026
Senate
Ordered to second reading.
04/07/2026
Senate
Withdrawn from committee.
04/07/2026
Senate
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 0. Page 3742.) (April 6). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
03/27/2026
Senate
Set for hearing April 6.
03/25/2026
Senate
Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P.
03/24/2026
Senate
From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P. (Ayes 12. Noes 0. Page 3659.) (March 24).
03/16/2026
Senate
Set for hearing March 24.
03/04/2026
Senate
Referred to Coms. on JUD. and P., D.T., & C.P.
02/19/2026
Senate
From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 21.
02/18/2026
Senate
Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.
Sources
Record Created
Feb 19, 2026 8:52:43 AM
Record Updated
Oct 2, 2026 9:19:11 AM