CalChamber Notes Success on Affordability Agenda
Lawmakers embraced Cost Cutter bills, rejected almost all Cost Driver bills
The California Chamber of Commerce announced this week a strong showing for its 2025 Affordability Agenda, a checklist used to analyze the economic impact of proposed laws during the first year of the legislative session.
Of the almost 2,400 bills introduced this year by the California Legislature, CalChamber’s advocacy team initially identified more than three dozen proposals with a sizeable impact on the costs associated with living and working in the Golden State.
The list was updated throughout the spring and summer months to reflect modifications to bills introduced earlier in the year and new, mid-session proposals.
Most of the identified proposals were on CalChamber’s Cost Driver list, based on projections that these bills would lead to higher costs for California businesses and consumers.
Legislators took notice: All but one of the bills identified as a Cost Driver failed to move forward in 2025.
“Our elected officials were right to reject proposals that, even when well intentioned, would have saddled Californians with unwarranted and unsustainable costs,” said CalChamber President and CEO Jennifer Barrera. “Legislators would do well to embrace the oath often cited as essential to physicians: ‘First, do no harm.’”
Meanwhile, several pro-economy measures on CalChamber’s Cost Cutter list were approved by the Legislature. These proposals offer ways to help businesses succeed which will benefit workers and, ultimately, consumers.
(Several Cost Cutter proposals — most notably, ones to expedite and streamline housing construction — were eventually folded into the year’s state budget agreement.)
“We applaud lawmakers for embracing proposals that can address affordability, the single most important challenge facing California,” Barrera said. “We look forward to working with the Legislature in 2026 to find more ways of easing the burdens on businesses and the communities they serve.”
A full list of bills and actions can be found on the advocacy section of CalChamber’s website.