California Senate Bill SB134

California 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/23/25
• Refer: 2/5/25
• Engrossed: 3/20/25
• Refer: 3/24/25
• Refer: 6/24/25

Caption

An act relating to the Budget Act of 2025. An act to amend Section 12838.6 of the Government Code, to amend Sections 2053.1, 5007.3, 5068.5, 6006, 6027, 6126, and 6126.3 of, to add and repeal Sections 830.83 and 832.55 of, to add and repeal Article 2.45 (commencing with Section 11073) of Chapter 1 of Title 1 of Part 4 of, to repeal Sections 1233.9, 1233.10, 6008, 6044, 6140, and 6141 of, and to repeal and add Sections 6006.5 and 6007 of, the Penal Code, and to amend Sections 209 and 4361 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to public safety, and making an appropriation therefor, to take effect immediately, bill related to the budget.

Summary

SB 134 is a Budget Act trailer bill focused on public safety and corrections. It makes a wide set of changes to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Board of State and Community Corrections, the Office of the Inspector General, the Department of Justice, and the State Department of State Hospitals. Among other things, it repeals the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board, eliminates several older recidivism and behavioral-health advisory structures, revises prison education and mental-health staffing rules, and updates tuberculosis screening requirements for correctional employees. The bill also creates a three-year Tribal Police Pilot Program, under which up to three federally recognized tribes could designate certain tribal police officers as California peace officers if they meet state training, certification, reporting, liability, and transparency requirements. It appropriates $5 million from the General Fund for administration of that pilot program and creates a Tribal Police Pilot Fund for related technology and reporting costs, but the pilot provisions only take effect if the Legislature appropriates funds. The bill likewise expands eligibility for prison college programs to certain accredited public or nonprofit institutions outside California and broadens the kinds of licensed mental health professionals who may work in the state correctional system under waiver provisions. In the corrections and reentry area, SB 134 preserves and modifies the CARE Grant program for rehabilitative services, but removes the Office of the Inspector General seat from its steering committee. It also revises juvenile facility oversight by allowing the Board of State and Community Corrections to delegate approval of corrective action plans and to bring civil actions to enforce juvenile facility standards or closure. The bill further updates the State Department of State Hospitals’ mental health diversion authority by continuing county diversion funding programs and requiring data reporting, while removing consultation with the now-repealed Council on Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health. The bill’s impact on state law is broad but largely structural: it repeals several existing statutory bodies and reporting requirements, rewrites sections governing prison health and education, and adds new temporary authority for tribal policing. It also changes employee tuberculosis screening rules by replacing older skin-test-based provisions with baseline and annual TB screening requirements for correctional staff whose primary duties are inside institutions. Because it is a budget-related measure, the bill takes effect immediately and includes multiple provisions that are contingent on appropriations. The overall sentiment reflected in the available vote history appears mixed but generally favorable enough to advance the bill: SB 134 passed the Senate 3rd Reading on a 28-10 vote and was later moved from committee with author’s amendments. The main points of contention are likely the repeal of oversight bodies and reporting requirements, the reduction or restructuring of existing correctional oversight mechanisms, and the tribal peace officer pilot’s liability, sovereign-immunity, and public-records conditions. Support appears to center on funding, modernization, tribal public safety, and correctional program updates, while opposition likely focuses on oversight rollback and the scope of authority granted to tribal officers.

Impact

SB 134 would amend multiple provisions of the Penal Code, Government Code, and Welfare and Institutions Code to restructure correctional oversight, prison programming, juvenile facility enforcement, mental health diversion, and tribal law enforcement authority. It repeals the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board, the Council on Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health, the Recidivism Reduction Fund provisions, and several older tuberculosis reporting and correctional oversight statutes, while adding new temporary provisions for a Tribal Police Pilot Program and updated correctional health and education rules. It also expands the Board of State and Community Corrections’ enforcement tools for juvenile facilities and revises Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation staffing and screening requirements.

Sentiment

The available legislative history suggests the bill moved with meaningful support but not unanimity. It passed Senate 3rd Reading 28-10 and later advanced from committee with author’s amendments, indicating a majority coalition in favor of the budget-related package. The bill’s framing as a Budget Act measure and its immediate-effect appropriation language likely contributed to support, while the breadth of the changes suggests some members had reservations about the policy rollbacks and new pilot authorities.

Contention

The most notable contention points are the repeal of oversight and advisory bodies, especially the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board and the Council on Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health, which may be viewed as reducing independent review of corrections and diversion programs. Another likely point of dispute is the Tribal Police Pilot Program, because it conditions peace officer authority on a limited waiver of tribal sovereign immunity, public-records and claims-act analogs, insurance requirements, and state oversight. The bill also changes juvenile facility enforcement and prison education/health rules, which may draw concern from stakeholders focused on correctional accountability, labor impacts, and implementation costs.