California’s Updated AB 2321 Awaits Vote in State Senate

The bill was introduced in February 2026 by Assembly Member Liz Ortega (D–District 20), chair of the California State Assembly’s Committee on Labor and Employment, with Assembly Members Ash Kalra (D–District 25) and Alex Lee (D–District 24) signing on as coauthors. As introduced, the bill would have applied statewide, expanding the role of local district attorneys in investigating serious workplace injuries and fatalities across California.

Since then, the bill has moved steadily through both houses with revisions along the way. Now, AB 2321 joins the queue for floor votes during the legislature’s final push, which runs from August 17 through August 31. Because the bill has been amended in the Senate, a Senate floor passage would send it back to the Assembly for concurrence in those amendments before it reaches the governor’s desk.

Quick Hits

• AB 2321 calls for the creation of a five-year pilot program in Alameda and Santa Clara Counties. For workplace incidents resulting in death, the Alameda County or Santa Clara County District Attorney (depending on where an incident occurred) would take responsibility for investigating and preparing the case for prosecution, in place of the BOI. This provision would sunset on January 1, 2032, and would take effect only after the legislature appropriates funding for it.
• If enacted, AB 2321 would require immediate cross-notification to Alameda and Santa Clara County district attorneys. Cal/OSHA would have to immediately notify the relevant district attorney’s (DA) office of a qualifying incident and turn over initial incident reports, inspection reports, and any other records helpful to the DA’s investigation.
• The bill aims to tighten BOI case-handling procedures statewide. Outside the two-county pilot program, the bill would require the BOI to adopt written policies for deciding whether to investigate or refer a case for prosecution—including documenting its rationale whenever it declines to investigate or refer a case—and would require Cal/OSHA to set up a routine or automated process for flagging nonfatal-injury incidents for the BOI to review.
• The bill would increase the BOI’s annual reporting obligations. The BOI’s existing annual activity report would now have to go to the legislature (not just to the Division) and include information on job classifications and staffing vacancies within the bureau.
• Importantly, the bill would loosen the trade-secret confidentiality rule. Information Cal/OSHA collects during inspections that touches upon trade secrets is currently kept confidential except in limited circumstances. The bill would add a new exception allowing disclosure to law enforcement officers or prosecutors conducting an investigation or prosecution.
• A final legislative revision has added first responders to the notification chain. Fire and police agencies responding to a workplace death or serious injury would now have to notify the local district attorney’s office directly, in addition to the existing requirement to notify Cal/OSHA.

With the suspense file behind it, AB 2321 now heads to a floor vote in the Senate before the California Legislature’s August 31, 2026, adjournment deadline. If it passes the Senate as amended, it will return to the Assembly for concurrence before heading to Governor Newsom for enactment or veto. California employers should watch for the following:

• the outcome of the Senate floor vote and any further amendments;
• Assembly concurrence action, if the bill passes the Senate; and
• whether the governor signs, vetoes, or allows the bill to become law without signature, given the state’s typical late-September bill-signing deadline.

Ogletree Deakins’ California offices and Workplace Safety and Health Practice Group will continue to monitor AB 2321 as it moves through the final weeks of the 2025–26 California legislative session and will provide updates on the California and Workplace Safety and Health blogs regarding further amendments, floor votes, or gubernatorial action.

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