Newsletter

California JPIA Developing Online Training for Senate Bill 827 Compliance

In December 2025, the California JPIA highlighted legislative changes to California’s transparency and ethics laws, including Senate Bill 827 (SB 827). Effective January 1, 2026, this legislation updates the state’s mandatory ethics framework under Assembly Bill 1234. SB 827 expands biennial ethics training to include department heads and introduces a standalone fiscal and financial training mandate for local agency officials.

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Under the law, officials in service prior to January 1, 2026, must complete at least two hours of this fiscal training by January 1, 2028. Officials beginning service on or after January 1, 2026, must complete training within six months of their first day of service. Navigating these regulatory environments can create operational challenges; precisely the type of challenges that the Authority is dedicated to helping its members address.

Following the passage of SB 827, many member agencies contacted the Authority seeking guidance on identifying qualified trainers to satisfy this fiscal education requirement. In response, the California JPIA is developing an online training module   aligned with the SB 827 fiscal requirements. The course will be offered as a self-paced online training module hosted on myJPIA, the Authority’s learning management system, and will be available to all members at no cost.

The Authority remains committed to regularly evaluating member feedback and thoughtfully expanding its training offerings where appropriate and aligned with its mission. While the Authority is supporting development of this resource, agencies may also choose to utilize training opportunities offered by other qualified providers to meet statutory requirements, particularly if training is needed before the Authority’s module becomes available.

The Authority expects the module to be ready for member use by the end of 2026. Once available, this on-demand format will provide councilmembers, legislative body members, and department heads with the flexibility to complete their required training on their own schedules.

While the Authority manages the development of this resource, there are  proactive steps agencies can take now:

• Review rosters to determine which elected officials, board members, and department heads are subject to the fiscal training requirement.
• Confirm website compliance by ensuring the agency’s website is updated by July 1 to include clear instructions and contact information for requesting public records related to ethics and fiscal training.
• Monitor future newsletter editions and myJPIA notifications for course launch details later this year.

“At the Authority, we pride ourselves on adding value for our members,” said Training Manager Ryan Thomas. “One of the best ways to do that is by assisting members to meet their training needs, particularly in areas that help with the prevention of claims or to meet a regulatory training requirement. In this case, several members asked for guidance on finding training providers. This is an area where we felt we could help by developing an online training, at no cost to our members.”

If you have questions, please contact your regional risk manager.

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