California's New Laws: Bills Passed In California

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed 890 bills into law in 2023, out of more than 2,600 introduced. Here are some of the new laws that will take effect in 2024:

- Increase pay for healthcare workers: The minimum wage for California's lowest-paid healthcare workers will be raised to $25 an hour.

- Clear the way for more housing: SB 423 and SB 4 aim to address California's housing shortage by making it easier to build.

- Make involuntary treatment easier: SB 43 expands the legal definition of gravely disabled to make it easier to place someone into involuntary treatment.

- Strengthen renters' rights: Landlords can now only require a security deposit of one month's rent, instead of two.

- Reduce retaliation against workers: SB 497 mandates that the California Labor Commissioner's office and state courts assume employers are illegally retaliating if they take certain disciplinary actions against a worker who has recently made a wage claim or complained about unequal pay.

- Ban toxic chemicals in food: AB 418 prohibits the use of several chemicals that are common in food, including brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, and red dye 3.

- Boost clean energy: AB 1373 gives the state Department of Water Resources the authority to procure clean power.

- Add paid sick days: SB 616 increases the number of paid sick days that employers must provide to workers from three to five.

- Strengthen abortion access: SB 385 allows trained physician assistants to conduct surgical abortions without direct supervision by a physician.

- Tax guns and ammo: AB 28 imposes an 11% excise tax on retailers and manufacturers for sales of guns or ammunition.

- Support LGBTQ students: AB 5 requires teachers to undergo online training on how to support LGBTQ students, and SB 760 requires schools to have at least one gender-neutral bathroom.

Stop legacy admissions at private colleges

Overview

The bill AB-1780, proposed by Assemblymember Philip Ting, a Democrat from San Francisco, aims to bar private nonprofit colleges from making admissions decisions based on whether a student has ties to a donor or alumnus. The bill was passed by the California State Legislature and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 30, 2024.

Problem Addressed

About half a dozen colleges in California, including Stanford and the University of Southern California, currently factor legacy or donor ties into their admissions decisions. This practice has raised concerns that wealthy individuals are much more likely to gain admission to highly selective colleges. The issue is particularly salient in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in 2023 to outlaw race-based affirmative action, which may have a chilling effect on the applications of students of color.

Provisions of the Bill

Commencing September 1, 2025, the bill prohibits independent institutions of higher education from providing legacy or donor preference in admissions. It requires these institutions to report annually to the Legislature and the Department of Justice on their compliance with this provision. The bill also mandates that institutions that violate the prohibition report specified information about newly enrolled students, including their legacy status, donor status, race, county of residence, income brackets, and athletic status. The Department of Justice is required to post the names of non-compliant institutions on its website.

Support and Opposition

The bill garnered support from a coalition of social justice and education groups, as well as wide support from Democrats. Backers of the bill argue that it could influence other states to ban legacy and donor ties in admissions decisions and send a welcoming signal to students, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds.

The major opponent of the bill is the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, which represents the state's 80-plus private nonprofit colleges and universities. The group has expressed strong reservations about legislative scrutiny of the admissions and academic practices of private colleges, which they believe should be limited to public colleges and universities that receive direct state support.

By passing this bill, California, as the most populous state with the highest number of college students, sets a precedent for the national conversation around wealth, race, and access to higher education. The bill is intended to be a corrective measure to the U.S. Supreme Court's ban on race-based affirmative action, ensuring that the California Dream is accessible to all based on merit, skill, and hard work, rather than proximity to wealth and power.

Ban book bans in public libraries

In California, there has been a growing movement to ban books, with the state recording 52 challenges to 98 book titles in public libraries and school libraries in 2023, compared to 32 attempts to ban 91 titles in 2022. In response, California passed a law making it harder to ban books in all public libraries.

Assembly Bill 1825, authored by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, prohibits banning books because of the race, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, or political affiliation of a book's subject, author, or intended audience. It also requires libraries to develop and make public a policy governing how library staff select, acquire, and manage library materials, including a process for the public to challenge said materials.

The new law will also protect library staff from being fired or disciplined if they are following the policy when they make programming decisions or refuse to remove a book.

The California Freedom to Read Act aims to address attempts to ban books by requiring public libraries to maintain a publicly accessible collection development policy that guides the selection of materials and establishes a process for community members to share their concerns. It would also allow the public to request that materials be reconsidered for inclusion in the library's collection.

The bill prohibits library materials from being excluded or limited solely based on subject matter, author, or sources, among other things. It was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 29, 2024.

Ban local voter ID requirements

In September 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that bars local governments from requiring residents to show a valid form of identification in order to vote. The bill, SB 1174, was authored by state Senator Dave Min (D-Irvine) and passed in response to a ballot initiative approved by voters in Huntington Beach, California.

In March 2024, 53% of Huntington Beach residents voted to adopt a measure requiring residents to show a valid ID in order to cast a ballot in municipal elections. This measure was opposed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who filed a lawsuit against the city to block officials from enforcing it.

The new law is intended to prevent local governments from imposing voter identification requirements in municipal elections. It is also meant to address the issue of voter ID requirements, which have emerged as a significant topic during the election season. Proponents of the law argue that imposing unnecessary obstacles to voter participation disproportionately affects low-income voters, voters of color, young or elderly voters, and people with disabilities.

The passage of SB 1174 in California sets a precedent for other states to follow, as it is the first state to pass a law explicitly prohibiting localities from imposing voter ID requirements.

Require state prisons to provide menstrual products

In California, Bill AB 1810, which would no longer require women to request access to period products and would instead make them readily available, was passed from the legislature to the governor’s desk with no opposition votes. The bill was approved by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 29, 2024.

Background

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, the author of AB 1810, acknowledged that the previous need to request these products led to "dehumanizing and unsafe conditions" where incarcerated people fashioned their own period products and wore bloodstained clothes between laundry days. Bryan also listed reports of correctional officers leveraging access to period products to sexually assault, mistreat, harass, or humiliate those in need.

What the Bill Does

The bill requires state prisons, local jails, and juvenile facilities to provide incarcerated people with free and ready access to menstrual products without inmates having to request them. It emphasizes the need for women requesting these supplies to have access to them conveniently and without embarrassment or obstacles.

Support for the Bill

A coalition of human and prisoner rights advocates supported the bill, including the ACLU California Action, the San Francisco Public Defender, the Western Center on Law & Poverty, and the Legal Services for Prisoners with Children organizations. Bryan stated that "access to menstrual products is not a luxury or a privilege, it is a necessity."

Alissa Moore, the re-entry coordinator for Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, testified at a hearing on the bill that she was sexually assaulted several times during her 25 years in prison: "I often felt humiliated, and ashamed and embarrassed when I would have to, on occasion, ask the same staff that had victimized me for sanitary supplies."

Opposition to the Bill

The California Family Council voiced opposition to the bill, arguing that the legislation does not clearly identify a person who menstruates as a woman. Some correctional officers have said that male inmates sometimes ask for pads to make cushions for seats or for their sandals.

Compliance and Shortfalls

A 2023 report by the attorney general's office found that half of the facilities surveyed were not complying with the requirement to provide sanitary pads and tampons products, including 25 county jails that were not providing free period products.

While lawmakers nationwide have made efforts in the last 10 years to improve legislative protections around menstrual equity for incarcerated people, there are still shortfalls in the system. For example, the federal prison system declared it would provide menstrual products free of charge; however, this only applies to those in federal jails and prisons, which make up a small percentage of the roughly 190,000 women incarcerated in various facilities across the US.

Ban more plastic bags

California's new law, SB 1053, bans all plastic shopping bags in the state. The bill was authored by state senators Ben Allen and Catherine Blakespear, and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on 22 September 2024. The ban will come into effect on 1 January 2026, after which customers at most grocery stores, convenience stores, and other retailers will have to either pay at least 10 cents for a paper bag, use a reusable bag, or hand-carry their purchase.

The new law replaces SB 270, California's original plastic bag ban, which was passed in 2014 and came into effect in 2016. The previous ban was blamed for worsening the state's plastic bag problem, as it allowed grocers to sell thicker plastic bags for a small fee. These bags were supposed to be reusable, but in practice, they became a more substantial form of waste.

The new law aims to prevent plastic waste, which releases toxic chemicals into the air, water, and soil. More than 70 environmental organizations supported the legislation, including the Center for Environmental Health, Climate Action California, and California Environmental Voters.

According to the state's recycling agency, CalRecycle, California dumped 231,072 tons of plastic grocery and merchandise bags in landfills in 2021. This was a sharp increase from the year the original ban took effect and nearly 100,0000 more tons than in 2018.

The state has also filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil, accusing the company of misleading consumers by promoting recycling while knowing it was technically and economically challenging and ineffective in reducing plastic waste.

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