California Assembly Bill AB2085

California 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/18/26
• Refer: 3/16/26
• Report Pass: 3/16/26
• Refer: 3/17/26
• Report Pass: 4/8/26
• Refer: 4/8/26
• Report Pass: 4/22/26
• Engrossed: 5/4/26
• Refer: 5/5/26
• Refer: 5/13/26
• Report Pass: 6/1/26
• Refer: 6/1/26

Caption

An act to amend Section 12510 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to weights and measures.

Summary

AB 2085 makes targeted changes to California’s weights-and-measures laws. The bill revises Business and Professions Code Section 12510 to broaden and modernize the prohibition on positioning weighing or measuring devices so their readings cannot be accurately seen, changing the language from devices used in retail trade to devices used for commercial purposes and requiring that the indications be readable by both the customer and operator under ordinary circumstances. It also makes conforming, mostly nonsubstantive edits to the state’s point-of-sale disclosure requirements in Section 13300. The bill continues to treat violations of the weights-and-measures provisions as misdemeanors and includes a finding that no state reimbursement is required for local agencies because any costs arise from changes to criminal law. In practical terms, the measure affects businesses that use scales, meters, or other measuring devices in commercial settings, as well as retail establishments that rely on point-of-sale systems to display prices, discounts, surcharges, and totals to consumers.

Impact

AB 2085 amends the Business and Professions Code to update enforcement language for commercial weighing and measuring devices and to clarify display requirements for point-of-sale systems. It expands the scope of the readability requirement from retail trade to commercial purposes and changes who must be able to read the device indications, which may affect merchants, service providers, and other businesses using measuring equipment. Because the bill touches conduct already punishable as a misdemeanor, it preserves criminal enforcement under weights-and-measures law while stating that no reimbursement is owed to local governments for any resulting costs.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have had broadly favorable, low-conflict support. It moved through committee and floor votes unanimously, including a 15-0 committee vote, a 13-0 vote, and a 73-0 Assembly consent-calendar vote. The absence of recorded opposition or committee transcript controversy suggests the measure was viewed as a technical or clarifying update rather than a controversial policy change.

Contention

There is little evidence of substantive contention in the available record. The main legal issue is that the bill slightly broadens the wording of an existing misdemeanor provision by shifting from “retail trade” to “commercial purposes” and by requiring readability by both the customer and operator, which could affect a wider range of businesses. Any concern would likely come from regulated businesses or local enforcement agencies over the expanded scope and misdemeanor implications, but no recorded opposition or debate is provided.