California conforms background-check rules across licensed occupations and adds refingerprinting requirements
Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2796 on September 18, 2026, as an urgency statute. The act conforms criminal-history background-check requirements across firearms permits, education contractors, massage professionals, professional fiduciaries, tax preparers, humane officers, financial-sector workers, escrow agents, care facilities, and certain Medi-Cal providers. It includes an FBI-authorization fallback and requires subsequent-notification refingerprinting under Penal Code Section 11105.2.