SB 137: State government.

Official summary

Legislative Counsel’s Digest (official, as of the latest version). Written by nonpartisan legislative staff; reproduced verbatim.

(1)The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) grants to a consumer various rights with respect to personal information, as defined, that is collected by a business, as defined, including the right to request that a business delete personal information about the consumer that the business has collected from the consumer. The California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, an initiative measure approved by the voters as Proposition 24 at the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, amended, added to, and reenacted the CCPA. The CCPA establishes the California Privacy Protection Agency with full administrative power, authority, and jurisdiction to implement and enforce the CCPA.

The CCPA creates the Consumer Privacy Fund in the State Treasury and makes moneys in the fund available upon appropriation by the Legislature first to offset any costs incurred by the state courts in connection with actions brought to enforce the CCPA, the costs incurred by the Attorney General in carrying out the Attorney General’s duties under the CCPA, and then for the purposes of establishing an investment fund in the State Treasury, with any earnings or interest from the fund to be deposited into the General Fund, and making grants to promote and protect consumer privacy, educate children in the area of online privacy, and fund cooperative programs with international law enforcement organizations to combat fraudulent activities with respect to consumer data breaches, as prescribed.

This bill would revise and restructure the Consumer Privacy Fund by creating the Consumer Privacy Subfund, the Attorney General Consumer Privacy Enforcement Subfund, and the Consumer Privacy Grant Subfund within the fund. The bill would require moneys in the fund and each subfund to be used for prescribed purposes, and make moneys in the fund and each subfund available upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would require 95% of any administrative fine recovered in an action brought by the agency for a violation of the CPPA, and of the proceeds of any settlement of those actions, to be deposited into the Consumer Privacy Subfund to be used exclusively by the agency in carrying out its duties under the CCPA, and 95% of any civil penalty recovered in an action brought by the Attorney General for a violation of the CCPA to be deposited into the Attorney General Consumer Privacy Enforcement Subfund to be used exclusively by the Attorney General in carrying out its duties under the CCPA. The bill would require 5% of any administrative fine recovered in an action brought by the agency for a violation of the CCPA, and of the proceeds of any settlement of those actions, to be deposited into the Consumer Privacy Grant Subfund, and 5% of any civil penalty recovered in an action brought by the Attorney General for a violation of the CCPA to be deposited into that subfund.

The bill would require funds deposited into the Consumer Privacy Grant Subfund to be used exclusively by the agency to administer and distribute grants to promote and protect consumer privacy, educate children in the area of online privacy, and fund cooperative programs with international law enforcement organizations to combat fraudulent activities with respect to consumer data breaches. The bill would require the agency, subject to that provision, to make grants from the subfund by distributing 13 of the amount allocated for grant funding to specified grant recipients, including nonprofit organizations to promote and protect consumer privacy. The bill would require the agency to begin administering the grant program when the amount of funds within the subfund exceeds $300,000.

The bill would require specified percentages of any remaining funds in the Consumer Privacy Fund that were not appropriated as part of the 2025 Budget Act to be transferred on a one-time basis in the 2025–26 fiscal year to each subfund, including that 45% is transferred to the Consumer Privacy Subfund, 45% is transferred to the Attorney General Consumer Privacy Enforcement Subfund, and 10% is transferred to the Consumer Privacy Grant Subfund.

This bill would declare that the above provisions further the purposes and intent of the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020.

Sponsors

“Support” is shown only as formal sponsorship recorded by the legislature. Roll-call votes are available on the official bill page.

Recent official actions

1. June 24, 2025From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on BUDGET.
2. March 24, 2025Referred to Com. on BUDGET.
3. March 20, 2025In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
4. March 20, 2025Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 28. Noes 10. Page 442.) Ordered to the Assembly.
5. March 18, 2025Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
6. March 17, 2025Ordered to second reading.
7. March 17, 2025Withdrawn from committee. (Ayes 27. Noes 10. Page 384.)
8. February 5, 2025Referred to Com. on B. & F. R.
9. January 24, 2025From printer. May be acted upon on or after February 23.
10. January 23, 2025Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.