Can a Tax Levy Be in a Non-Tax Bill?

Have you seen a non-tax bill be designated a “tax levy” by the Office of Legislative Counsel? It is rare because in almost all instances a tax levy is for a bill that adds or amends a section to the California Revenue and Taxation Code.

What is a tax levy? It is defined as a statute that changes the base, rate, or burden of a tax (or an assessment). And this last point gives the answer to the question posed above.

For example, in the 2026 Legislative Session, there was a bill that amended a section in the Business and Professions Code that affected a licensed profession. Among the bill’s provisions was an increase in an assessment that is paid by those licensees.

This amendment to the B&P Code increased an assessment, which is likely a tax under Proposition 26 (and Article XIII A that governs state taxes and requires a two-thirds legislative supermajority for state levies and charges). Because that increased assessment is tax, and the rate is being increased, the bill is a tax levy.

In fact, if you read the Legislative Counsel’s Digest for this bill, it says:

This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of ²/₃ of the membership of each house of the Legislature.

This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.

As a result, as can be seen in this particular bill, a tax levy does not only apply only to tax bills and those bills that amend the Revenue and Taxation Code. A non-tax bill could be designated as a tax levy.