(The Center Square) \u2013 California\u2019s progressive lawmakers in the state Democratic Party announced their 2026 legislative priorities on Tuesday, discussing bills ranging from artificial intelligence regulations to child care support and health care.<\/p>\n
The Progressive Caucus announced its bills during a press conference at the Capitol. The caucus includes 37 Democratic members of the state Senate and Assembly.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs California faces difficult budget years, many of us are working on progressive revenue solutions that make sure the cost of programs that people rely on are not shifted onto working people and taxpayers,\u201d Assemblymember Sade Elhawary, D-Los Angeles, told reporters in Sacramento.<\/p>\n
At least two of the proposals forwarded by the 20 or so bills discussed on Tuesday either create new methods of funding, such as the elimination of the Waters Edge corporate tax break<\/a>, would be paid for by new revenue generation or would go through the normal appropriations process, Assemblymember Alex Lee, D-Milpitas, said, answering a question from The Center Square.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the totality of things, we\u2019re envisioning new programs and new investments, but we\u2019re also talking about who isn\u2019t paying their fair share,\u201d Lee said. \u201cIn California, the bottom 20% pay only 0.3% point more than the top 1% of all Californians.\u201d<\/p>\n The elimination of the Waters Edge tax break, in particular, was introduced in recent weeks by Assemblymember Damon Connolly, D-San Rafael, and aims to make corporations in California pay more taxes to help backfill important social services programs that often rely on federal money. Those programs, like Medi-Cal, saw reductions in federal budget dollars after the summer 2025 passage of the federal budget – House Resolution 1, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.<\/p>\n