Filings & Taxes
LA County Launches Expanded Sidewalk Vending Program with New Cooking Carts and Grants
Food vendors who cook from raw ingredients can now apply for free specialized carts and financial aid to secure health permits.
Federal Weekly source-backed Southern California business rule coverage
Wages & Hours
Catalina Island Business Owner Ordered to Pay $1.5 Million in Wage Theft Case
A Catalina Island hotel and restaurant operator delivered $1.5 million to the court for unpaid wages and was ordered to pay $96,000 to California's Employment Development Department.
Filings & Taxes
Los Angeles Cannabis License Renewal Changes Take Effect August 26
Los Angeles raised 2027 cannabis renewal fees and created limited paths for businesses with tax debt, expired licenses, or abandoned applications to seek renewal or reentry. The changes do not erase debt or authorize unlicensed operation.
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Southern California Business Rule Change Tracker
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Accessibility
L.A. County Orders Businesses in Unincorporated Areas to Activate Closed Captioning by 2027
A newly approved ordinance requires places of public accommodation, including restaurants and retail shops, to turn on television captions in public spaces.
Filings & Taxes
California Investment-Adviser Filing Rules Change October 1
DFPI's final rules move covered filings and fees through IARD, set an email route for documents IARD cannot accept, tighten state-registration transitions, and add express conduct prohibitions.
Filings & Taxes
Long Beach Raises Health, Cannabis and Airport Fees for FY 2027
Long Beach adopted an immediately effective citywide fee schedule September 8. Restaurant and mobile-food plan checks, several health permits, cannabis charges, and airport ground-transportation fees are among the increases.
Wages & Hours
California Corrects Southern California Public Works Pay Increases
DIR reduced several September 1 plumbing increases and corrected July 1 apprentice-painter amounts. Contractors using Determination 2026-1 should reconcile the applicable classification, locality, shift, and apprentice period.
Filings & Taxes
Three Los Angeles Business Districts Begin New Assessments in 2027
Final ordinances for Westwood, West Adams, and Venice Beach took effect September 11. Their first-year property assessments total about $4.26 million when district operations begin January 1.
Filings & Taxes
Los Angeles Opens Zoning Exemption Path for 2028 Games Projects
Ordinance 189027 took effect September 9 and creates a temporary review path for qualifying Games facilities, signs, and uses. Applications are due by August 27, 2028, and the exemptions expire in 2029.
Filings & Taxes
California Expands Greenhouse Gas Reporting for Cement and Hydrogen
CARB's final Mandatory Reporting Regulation amendments took effect September 1. Certain industrial entities have a 90-day notice duty, while new cement and hydrogen reporting starts with 2027 data.
Filings & Taxes
Glendora ADU and SB 9 Rules Take Effect October 8
Ordinance 2099 updates Glendora's ADU, junior ADU, and SB 9 standards. The adopted rules expand multifamily ADU capacity and clarify unit caps, owner occupancy, and processing requirements.
Filings & Taxes
Los Angeles Committees Advance $150,000 Shared-Mobility Permit Fee
All three listed committees now support the draft after Budget and Finance concurred September 15. The proposed rates are not adopted and have no effective date.
Filings & Taxes
San Diego County Sets October 5 Cannabis Licensing Start for Equity Applicants
A new commercial cannabis program for unincorporated San Diego County reserves an initial three-year application window for qualifying social-equity applicants. County license fees start at $22,218 for several business types.
Filings & Taxes
South Coast AQMD Opens $73 Million Warehouse Truck Grant Round
Warehouse and fleet operators can seek funding for zero-emission trucks and supporting charging or hydrogen infrastructure. Applications open October 13 and are reviewed first-come, first-served until December 15 or available funds are reserved.
Filings & Taxes
California Sets June 1, 2027 Deadline for Manufacturing Decarbonization Allowances
CARB's final Cap-and-Invest rule creates an optional allowance program for eligible covered industrial facilities. The first applications are due June 1, 2027, and eligible project spending can start September 1, 2026.
Filings & Taxes
Eligible SCE Industrial Facilities Face September 30 Credit Deadline
Southern California Edison is accepting facility-level attestations for the California Industry Assistance Credit through September 30. An eligible non-MRR facility must file this year to receive its April 2027 credit.
Filings & Taxes
Orange County Map-Checking Fees Change September 1
Developers, property owners, surveyors, and engineers using Orange County's map-review services now face a new fee and deposit schedule. The adopted schedule sets a $5,581 tract-map base deposit, a $5,278 parcel-map base deposit, and new rates for related land-record work.
Filings & Taxes
South Coast AQMD Adopts Dust Controls for Transfer Stations
Amended Rule 1157 adds construction and demolition debris transfer stations and tightens dust-control, sign, inspection, and recordkeeping duties for aggregate operations. New transfer-station coverage and registration begin March 4, 2027.
Filings & Taxes
Alhambra's Three-Month Relocation Rule Is Now in Effect
Landlords covered by California's no-fault termination rules now owe three months' rent or a final three-month rent waiver in qualifying Alhambra cases. The city ordinance took effect September 6.
Filings & Taxes
Boyle Heights Zoning Overhaul Is Now in Effect
Six Los Angeles ordinances changed parcel zoning and project review across Boyle Heights on August 20. Businesses, property owners, and applicants should verify the new zone before seeking a building permit, changing a use, signing a lease, or planning construction.
Filings & Taxes
Lake Forest Proposes Licenses for Private-Room Salons and Tighter Massage Rules
A draft package would create annual city licensing for salons and other personal-care businesses that use private rooms, while adding spacing, visibility, operating-hour, and recordkeeping requirements for massage establishments. The proposals have not been adopted.
Accessibility
Why California Businesses Face the Nation's Highest ADA Lawsuit Risk
The federal Americans with Disabilities Act sets the standard, but a state law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, adds automatic money damages. Together they put roughly a third of the nation's accessibility lawsuits in one state. Here is how the system works and what it covers.
Wages & Hours
California's Minimum Wage in 2026: One Floor, Many Ceilings
The statewide minimum is $16.90 an hour this year, but fast food, healthcare, and dozens of city ordinances set higher rates. What an employer actually owes depends on industry and street address.
Privacy
Does the CCPA Apply to Your Business? The Thresholds, Explained
California's privacy law covers businesses that cross one of three thresholds. Covered businesses using automated systems for hiring, lending, housing, education, or healthcare decisions face a January 1, 2027 compliance deadline.
Filings & Taxes
Beneficial Ownership Reporting Is Over for U.S. Companies
Federal beneficial ownership reporting reversed direction repeatedly for two years. In August 2026 a final rule settled it: companies formed in the United States are permanently exempt, and FinCEN is deleting what U.S. persons already filed.
Employment
PAGA After the 2024 Reform: What Changed for Employers
California's Private Attorneys General Act lets employees sue over Labor Code violations on the state's behalf. A 2024 reform deal capped penalties for employers who can show they took reasonable steps to comply. Here is how the new structure works.
Employment
California's Captive Audience Ban Is Blocked, and Has Been Since September
SB 399 made mandatory meetings about an employer's political or religious views unlawful. A federal judge enjoined it statewide in September 2025 on preemption and First Amendment grounds. The Ninth Circuit heard argument in July 2026 and has not ruled.
Workplace Safety
SB 553: The Workplace Violence Prevention Plan Nearly Every California Employer Must Keep
Since July 2024, California has required most employers to maintain a written workplace violence prevention plan, train employees on it every year, and log incidents. Many small businesses still do not know the rule exists.
Approved · Downtown Los Angeles
Fourth & Central would add ten buildings to the edge of Downtown
The $2 billion district proposes more than 1,500 homes, offices, shops, and public space across 7.6 acres between Little Tokyo and Skid Row.
Rendering: TMRW / Studio One Eleven. Rendering reproduced on the City Planning PVP presentation's Renderings page; the original TMRW creator mark remains visible.
Approved · Fairfax
Television City is approved to grow into an all-electric studio campus
The Fairfax production landmark can add soundstages, offices, and public-facing space under a long-range master plan designed by Foster + Partners, RIOS, and Adamson Associates.
Rendering: Foster + Partners / Television City. Rendering published in RIOS's official project portfolio and credited there to Foster + Partners and Television City.
Supplemental review · Chinatown / Elysian Park
The Dodger Stadium gondola is back in planning after a new environmental review
The privately funded aerial line would connect Union Station, Los Angeles State Historic Park, and Dodger Stadium in about seven minutes.
Rendering: LA Aerial Rapid Transit / LA Metro. Project rendering distributed on LA Metro's official project page.
Draft EIR · Miracle Mile
A 46-story apartment tower would rise behind Wilshire's historic storefronts
The Miracle Mile proposal pairs 419 homes, including 47 extremely low-income units, with the retention of four contributing buildings along Wilshire Boulevard.
Rendering: MVE + Partners. Figure 4 from the public Initial Study, credited in the city record to MVE + Partners (2022).
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