Legislation passed and signed this year protects Californians from COVID-19, advances racial equity, helps Californians and small businesses hurt by the pandemic and bolsters state’s wildfire preparedness efforts and climate leadership
SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom this evening took action on a number of legislative priorities, bringing the 2019-20 legislative session to close. Through hundreds of bills, Governor Newsom and the Legislature made meaningful progress toward greater health and financial security for all Californians, enacting protections that are even more critical in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis. Together, they also took action to address generational injustices in California in part through criminal justice and policing reforms, advancing the cause of equality for all.
Amid extraordinary challenges for the State of California and the world, Governor Newsom and the Legislature worked in partnership to enact legislation as unprecedented as the times we live in. At the moment, the State of California is contending with a once-in-a-century pandemic, wildfires worsened by climate change and a pandemic-induced economic crisis.
Even in spite of these challenging circumstances, the Governor and the Legislature advanced hundreds of bills to address both the immediate needs of these concurrent emergencies and the long-term issues that have affected generations of Californians. The economic recovery package provided small business tax relief and protected California’s workforce on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic with expanded paid sick leave and family leave, greater access to workers’ compensation and new outbreak reporting requirements. Newly enacted eviction and foreclosure protection legislation will protect millions of tenants and small property owners from losing their homes due to the economic impacts of the pandemic. The Governor and Legislature also enacted bills to bolster the state’s wildfire preparedness and response efforts and protect high-risk communities.
California this year inked a number of “firsts” in the nation, among them banning a number of toxic chemicals in cosmetics. The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation will be the strongest in the nation, and the minimum recycled content standards passed this session are the strongest in the world. Governor Newsom and the Legislature also took important steps towards California’s landmark proposal to establish its own generic drug label, Cal Rx, which aims to bring down prescription drug prices for all.
The Governor and Legislature also took overdue action to tackle systemic racism. Together, they advanced historic criminal justice and policing reforms, among them banning the carotid restraint and requiring the California Attorney General to investigate officer-involved shootings of unarmed individuals that result in death. California will be the first state in the nation to establish a task force to examine reparations for slavery, a reckoning with the past that is critical for a brighter future. Other bills passed this session make changes to the juvenile justice system that help young offenders access rehabilitative services closer to home and disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline.
Additionally, the Legislature passed a number of bills that build on the Governor’s executive actions in response to COVID-19. Some of these bills replace certain executive orders entirely. Legislation has superseded the following executive orders, which have no further force or effect as of that legislation’s effective date:
- Executive Order N-51-20 (paid sick leave) – superseded by AB 1867
- Executive Order N-62-20 (workers’ compensation) – superseded by SB 1159
- Executive Order N-64-20 and Executive Order N-67-20 (elections) – superseded by AB 860 and SB 423
Tonight, Governor Newsom signed:
- AB 323 by Assemblymember Blanca Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) – Newspapers: state agency advertising: worker status: independent contractors.
- AB 841 by Assemblymember Philip Ting (D-San Francisco) – Energy: transportation electrification: energy efficiency programs: School Energy Efficiency Stimulus Program.
- AB 1185 by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) – County board of supervisors: sheriff oversight.
- AB 1512 by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles) – Security officers: rest periods.
- AB 1947 by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) – Employment violation complaints: requirements: time.
- AB 1949 by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath (D-Encinitas) – Fisheries: California Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program.
- AB 2231 by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) – Public works.
- AB 2311 by Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Campbell) – Public contracts: skilled and trained workforce requirement: notice.
- AB 2399 by the Committee on Insurance – Paid family leave: qualifying exigency.
- AB 2479 by Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson) – Rest periods: petroleum facilities: safety-sensitive positions.
- AB 2560 by Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) – Water quality: notification levels and response levels: procedures.
- AB 2588 by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) – Educational programs and training: costs: employees and applicants providing direct patient care.
- AB 2717 by Assemblymember Ed Chau (D-Arcadia) – Motor vehicles: unattended children: liability.
- AB 2741 by Assemblymember Blanca Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) – Children’s advocacy centers.
- AB 2759 by Assemblymember Jay Obernolte (R-Big Bear Lake) – Collateral recovery.
- AB 2765 by Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach) – Public works: prevailing wages.
- AB 2805 by Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) – Juveniles: reunification.
- AB 3075 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) – Wages: enforcement.
- AB 3163 by Assemblymember Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield) – Energy: biomethane: procurement.
- AB 3330 by Assemblymember Ian Calderon (D-Whittier) – Department of Consumer Affairs: boards: licensees: regulatory fees.
- AB 3362 by the Committee on Judiciary – State Bar: open meetings: discipline: attorneys: foreign legal consultants: annual license fees.
- SB 522 by Senator Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) – Business entities: filings.
- SB 918 by the Committee on Governmental Organization – Alcoholic beverages: special nonprofit sales license: wine labels.
- SB 973 by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) – Employers: annual report: pay data.
- SB 1189 by Senator Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) – Contracting business: home improvement: residential property.
- SB 1192 by Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) – Firefighters’, police officers’, or peace officers’ benefit and relief associations.
- SB 1232 by Senator Steven Glazer (D-Orinda) – CalWORKs: postsecondary education.
- SB 1264 by the Committee on Human Services – Human services.
- SB 1301 by Senator Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) – Tijuana River Valley: watershed action plan.
- SB 1349 by Senator Steven Glazer (D-Orinda) – Transactions and use taxes: County of Contra Costa.
- SB 1371 by the Committee on Judiciary – Maintenance of the codes.
- SB 1473 by the Committee on Governance and Finance – Local Government Omnibus Act of 2020.
The Governor also announced that he has vetoed the following bills:
- AB 331 by Assemblymember Jose Medina (D-Riverside) – Pupil instruction: high school graduation requirements: ethnic studies. A veto message can be found here.
- AB 1161 by Assemblymember Ian Calderon (D-Whittier) – Recreational water use: wave basins. A veto message can be found here.
- AB 1299 by Assemblymember Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield) – Peace officers: employment. A veto message can be found here.
- AB 1457 by Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside) – Regional business training center network: pilot project. A veto message can be found here.
- AB 1835 by Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego) – Education finance: local control funding formula: supplemental and concentration grants. A veto message can be found here.
- AB 1906 by Assemblymember Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield) – Pregnant peace officers: duty assignment policy. A veto message can be found here.
- AB 1993 by Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager (D-Los Angeles) – Unemployment and disability insurance: benefits: in-home supportive services and waiver personal care services. A veto message can be found here.
- AB 2054 by Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager (D-Los Angeles) – Emergency services: community response: grant program. A veto message can be found here.
- AB 2342 by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) – Parole. A veto message can be found here.
- AB 3216 by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) – Unemployment: rehiring and retention: state of emergency. A veto message can be found here.
- SB 182 by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) – Local government: planning and zoning: wildfires. A veto message can be found here.
- SB 369 by Senator Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) – Prisoners: California Reentry Commission. A veto message can be found here.
- SB 555 by Senator Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) – Jails and juvenile facilities: communications, information, and commissary services: contracts. A veto message can be found here.
- SB 629 by Senator Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) – Public peace: media access. A veto message can be found here.
- SB 1064 by Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) – Prisons: confidential informants. A veto message can be found here.
- SB 1220 by Senator Thomas Umberg (D-Santa Ana) – Peace and custodial officers. A veto message can be found here.
For full text of the bills, visit: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
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