The California Chamber of Commerce is rolling out its 2026 Affordability Agenda, spotlighting a growing list of bills it says will either ease or worsen the cost pressures facing businesses and consumers.
Framing affordability as a top concern for voters and employers alike, CalChamber focused on housing, energy, workforce and regulatory policy, with an initial set of “cost cutter” and “cost driver” bills already identified.
So far, the group has tagged as cost cutters measures on evaluating energy costs on ratepayers and on scrutinizing regulations that could driving up the cost of living. The business advocates argue the bills would help reduce compliance burdens and improve economic conditions.
At the same time, CalChamber flagged several proposals it contends would increase costs. The measures would expand state authority and liability around climate and air pollution, restructure how utilities can be taken over or replaced by public power providers, and impose new health care reforms.
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The list remains a work in progress, with CalChamber noting that lawmakers introduced more than 600 bills last month that have just placeholder language, to be amended and filled out as the session progresses.
“No bill in the California Legislature should come up for a vote this year without taking stock of its impact on our state’s affordability crisis,” said CalChamber President and CEO Jennifer Barrera. “The Affordability Agenda reflects the best and worst of the proposals we’ve seen so far. Hard-working Californians deserve to know whether their elected representatives are prioritizing prosperity.”
CalChamber noted the affordability push builds on its earlier “job killer” list of bills, marking the second year of the Affordability Agenda, which also weighs broader factors like regulatory burdens and incentives for economic growth. The group said the approach gained traction in 2025, when all but one of the bills it tagged as cost drivers failed to advance in the Legislature, signaling growing awareness among lawmakers of cost impacts tied to new policies.
