California Assembly Bill AB318

California 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/24/25
• Refer: 2/10/25
• Report Pass: 3/27/25
• Refer: 3/28/25
• Failed: 2/2/26

Caption

An act to amend Section 1596.803 of, and to add Section 1596.801 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to child daycare.

Summary

AB 318 would update the licensing application and fee-payment process for child daycare facilities regulated under the California Child Day Care Facilities Act. The bill authorizes child daycare facilities to pay the initial application fee with a bona fide business or personal check, and it requires the Department of Social Services to accept credit card payments for initial application fees and annual license fees beginning no later than January 1, 2028. It also requires the department to accept initial licensure applications electronically by that same deadline, while still allowing applicants to submit hard-copy applications. The bill does not change the underlying licensing standards for daycare facilities or the fee amounts themselves. Instead, it modernizes how applications and fees are submitted and paid, while preserving existing fee schedules, late fees, probation monitoring fees, and other administrative charges. It also continues to tie nonpayment of fees and civil penalties to denial or forfeiture of a license.

Impact

AB 318 would amend Health and Safety Code Sections 1596.801 and 1596.803 to create an electronic application option for daycare licensure and to expand acceptable payment methods for initial application and annual license fees. The bill would require the Department of Social Services to update its licensing systems and payment processing to accept online submissions and credit card payments, while maintaining the current fee structure and enforcement provisions. It would affect child daycare applicants and licensees statewide, but it does not impose a local program or create a new appropriation.

Sentiment

The available legislative record suggests generally neutral-to-supportive sentiment, with the bill advancing through Assembly Human Services and receiving a majority key vote designation. Because there are no committee transcript excerpts or recorded floor vote details provided, there is no evidence of organized opposition in the materials supplied. The bill appears to be framed as an administrative modernization measure rather than a controversial policy change.

Contention

The main practical issue raised by the bill text is implementation: the Department of Social Services would need to build or adapt electronic application and credit-card payment systems by 2028. Any concerns would likely center on administrative cost, technology readiness, and transaction-processing fees, since the bill expressly allows the department to recover certain payment-processing costs. Another possible point of concern for providers is that the bill preserves existing penalties for late payment and nonpayment, even as it makes payment methods more flexible.