Amended  IN  Assembly  June 30, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2597

Introduced by Assembly Member Wicks

February 20, 2026

An act relating to the payment of claims against the state, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2597, as amended, Wicks. Claims against the state: appropriation.
Under existing law, if sufficient appropriations are not available for the payment of certain claims, settlements, or judgments, the Attorney General is required to report the claims, settlements, and judgments to the chairperson of either the Senate Committee on Appropriations or the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, who is then required to cause introduction of legislation appropriating the funds necessary for payment.
This bill would appropriate an unspecified amount $7,391,650.83 from the General Fund to the Attorney General to pay the judgment in an unspecified case. for the payment of claims, settlements, or judgments against the state arising from 8 specified actions.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: YES   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 (a) The sum of ____ ($____) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Attorney General to pay for the judgment in the case of ____. seven million three hundred ninety-one thousand six hundred fifty dollars and eighty-three cents ($7,391,650.83) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Attorney General to be allocated in accordance with the following schedule:
(1) The sum of one hundred sixty-five thousand eight hundred fifty dollars ($165,000) for the payment of claims, settlements, or judgments against the state arising from Hoffman, et al. v. Bonta (United States District Court, Southern District of California, Case No. 3:24-cv-00664-CAB-MMP).
(2) The sum of one hundred twenty-eight thousand two hundred six dollars and fifty cents ($128,206.50) for the payment of claims, settlements, or judgments against the state arising from California Rifle and Pistol Association, et al. v. Bonta (United States District Court, Central District of California, Case No. 2:23-cv-10169-SPG-ADS).
(3) The sum of two million seven hundred seventy-five thousand dollars ($2,775,000) for the payment of claims, settlements, or judgments against the state arising from California Chamber of Commerce v. Bonta (United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. 2:19-cv-02019-DJC-JDP).
(4) The sum of five hundred fifty-three thousand one hundred fifty-nine dollars and twenty-three cents ($553,159.23) for the payment of claims, settlements, or judgments against the state arising from California Chaparral Institute, et al. v. Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (San Diego County Superior Court, Case No. 37-2020-00005203-CU-TT-CTL, Fourth District Court of Appeal, Case No. D083484).
(5) The sum of eight hundred eighty-seven thousand six hundred eighty-five dollars and thirty-eight cents ($887,685.38), with five hundred ninety-five thousand nine hundred fifty-four dollars and three cents ($595,954.03) available to the Catholic Medical Mission Board, and two hundred ninety-one thousand seven hundred thirty-one dollars and thirty-five cents ($291,731.35) available to Food for the Poor, Inc., for the payment of claims, settlements, or judgments against the state arising from Catholic Medical Mission Board, Inc. v. The Attorney General of the State of California; Registrar of the Registry of Charitable Trusts (Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. 20STCP01520) and Food for the Poor, Inc. v. The Attorney General of the State of California; Registrar of the Registry of Charitable Trusts (Los Angeles County Superior Court, Case No. 20STCP01626).
(6) The sum of four hundred eighty-one thousand seven hundred forty-nine dollars and seventy-two cents ($481,749.72) for the payment of claims, settlements, or judgments against the state arising from Safari Club International, et al. v. Bonta (United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. 2:22-cv-01395-DAD-JDP).
(7) The sum of nine hundred thousand dollars ($900,000), with three hundred fifty thousand dollars ($350,000) available to the Law Offices of Donald Kilmer, and five hundred fifty thousand dollars ($550,000) available to Michel and Associates, P.C., for the payment of claims, settlements, or judgments against the state arising from Junior Sports Magazines Inc., et al. v. Bonta (United States District Court, Central District of California, Case No. 2:22-cv-04663-CAS-AYP).
(8) The sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) for the payment of claims, settlements, or judgments against the state arising from The Personal Care Products Council v. Bonta (United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. 2:23-cv-01006-TLN-JDP).

Any

(b) Any funds appropriated in excess of the amounts actually required for the payment of this judgment shall revert to the General Fund on June 30 of the fiscal year in which the final payment is made.

SEC. 2.

 This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to pay judgment and settlement claims against the state and end hardship to claimants as quickly as possible, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately.