Sacramento, CA – On Tuesday, April 14, the California Senate Judiciary Committee passed The Private Equity Sunshine Act (SB 1319) with bipartisan support. SB 1319 will improve transparency in alternative investments by requiring public pension funds to disclose the performance of such investments.
“Private equity firms must not be allowed to hide behind complicated performance metrics and shell companies,” said Senator Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles). “With SB 1319, California pension funds will lead the way by providing clear data illuminating how the industry stacks up to public markets, and which businesses and workers are under its control.”
The American Investment Council estimated in 2022 that the State of California was home to 2,601 private equity-backed companies employing 1.5 million workers. In California, 80 public investment funds collectively manage over $1.4 trillion in retirement assets. The State’s two largest pension funds, CalPERS and CalSTRS, collectively have over $318 billion invested with private equity and other alternative investment firms.
“California’s public pension funds pay billions in fees to private equity firms every year,” said Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose). “My constituents and all Californians deserve to know what they are getting in return. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and SB 1319 will shine a light on bad actors who now operate in the shadows.”
However, public sector workers who are in public pension plans lack clear information about how these companies are performing versus public market investments, and private sector workers don’t know their employers’ true owners.
“Hundreds of inflight catering workers at Phoenix Sky Harbor were left out on the street when private equity firms Sterling Group and Capitol Meridian Partners failed to rehire them,” said Susan Minato, Co-President, UNITE HERE Local 11. “SB 1319 ensures that Californians have access to basic information about private equity firms that charge high fees to our public pension plans and often abuse private sector workers.”
The Private Equity Sunshine Act (SB 1319) would require all public investment funds in California to disclose the performance of each private equity, real asset, private debt and hedge fund versus the performance the public investment fund would have experienced from investing in a public market index, and that public investment funds disclose the identity and geographic locations of each asset owned by an alternative investment vehicle and the number and classifications of employees at each location.
“When private equity companies take money from employee pension funds and invest it in companies that violate workers’ rights, like Apollo is doing at Cardenas Markets, we think transparency can help public and private sector workers alike,” said Mark Ramos, President, UFCW Western States Council and UFCW Local 1428. “SB1319 is a good step.”
Private equity firms invest outside of the publicly traded stock market and are not subject to the detailed federal reporting requirements and other regulations that protect investors in publicly traded securities.
An analysis by Ludovic Phalippou of the University of Oxford’s Said Business School reported in 2020 that, since 2006, private equity funds had generated about the same level of returns as the stock market.
Private equity firms Apollo Management, Atlantic Street Capital, Sterling Group and Capitol Meridian Partners, which all receive investment from California pension funds, exemplify the high cost of alternative investment for investors and workers. Apollo-owned Cardenas Markets faces allegations of sexual harassment and anti-union activity. Similarly, hundreds of workers at Phoenix Sky Harbor were fired when GAT/SkyCafe took over inflight catering for American Airlines, and GAT/SkyCafe failed to rehire many of the workers and now faces wage theft allegations from six workers. Public sector workers’ pensions are at risk as a consequence.
In 2016, California passed Assembly Bill 2833 (AB 2833) that required public investment funds to disclose fees, expenses, and carried interest for each alternative investment vehicle in which they are invested.
The Private Equity Sunshine Act expands on AB 2833 to further improve transparency and require disclosure of performance versus similar public market investments.
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The United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council is the regional coordinating body of 11 UFCW local unions representing over 200,000 workers in California, Arizona and Nevada. The Council is a part of the 1.2 million-member strong UFCW International Union. UFCW members are standing together to improve the lives of workers, families, and communities.
UNITE HERE Local 11 is more than 32,000 hospitality workers in Southern California and Arizona who work in hotels, restaurants, universities, convention centers, and airports
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2026
PRESS CONTACT:
Mario B. Lopez, Office of CA Senator Dave Cortese (District 15), [email protected], 408-545-8205
Jonathan Loc, Office of CA Senator Maria Elena Durazo (District 26), [email protected], 213.483.9300
Jenna Thompson, UFCW Western States Council, [email protected], 949.246.1620
Rachel Sulkes, UNITE HERE Local 11, [email protected], 602.327.4084