California AB 2253 Parked on the Senate Suspense File; August 13 Is the Real Decision

On August 3, 2026 the California Senate Appropriations Committee voted 7-0 to refer AB 2253 to its suspense file. That is not a vote against the bill and it does not mean the bill was suspended. The suspense file is simply where California parks any bill with a fiscal impact. The committee later runs the whole parked list at a single sitting and announces which bills move to the floor and which die, without debate on any of them. That sitting is set for August 13, 2026, and it is the real decision point. What this means for you: AB 2253 would bar credit-based mass balance accounting for recycled content claims in California and require a claim to reflect what is physically in the package. If it clears August 13 and is eventually signed, a PCR percentage stated on a California pack would need documentation at the resin and lot level rather than a certificate bought against a shared pool. If it dies on August 13, nothing changes and today’s documentation rules stand. Either way, no action is required of you before that date. Source: California Senate Appropriations Committee hearing results (August 3, 2026).