California state lawmakers completed their two-year legislative session Wednesday night, capping months of debate over bills to address housing, labor, reproductive rights, climate, energy and more.
Those measures are now in the hands of Governor Gavin Newsom to sign or veto.
While the final night of the session lacked the, lawmakers considered a number of bills after their usual midnight deadline 鈥� the state constitution allows for later votes on certain bills, including those that require a two-thirds vote to pass.
Lawmakers gaveled down at 1:31 a.m.
The Legislature will look markedly different next year. Roughly two dozen lawmakers are term-limited, retiring or seeking other offices this year. Several have already resigned.
Here鈥檚 a look at some of the consequential measures passed in the final days of the session:
CARE Court
The Legislature overwhelmingly approved Newsom鈥檚 proposal to to evaluate and require treatment for thousands of Californians suffering from addiction and severe mental illness.
Known as Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court 鈥� 鈥� the program would allow first responders and family members to petition a county judge to order treatment for people suffering from addiction or severe mental illness.
The state Senate . But civil and disability rights groups, along with some advocates for unhoused residents, have argued CARE Court would violate civil rights and criminalize homelessness.
Speaking on Tuesday, Assembly member Al Muratsuchi (D 鈥� Torrance) said he reluctantly supported the bill.
鈥淚鈥檓 not celebrating. I don鈥檛 think this is a great bill,鈥� Muratsuchi said. 鈥淏ut it seems to be the best idea that we have at this point to try to improve a God awful situation.鈥�
Supporters of the bill, including the governor, that cycles people through jail, hospital stays and back onto the streets. Newsom鈥檚 administration estimates CARE Court would serve 7,000 to 12,000 people per year.
Labor Rights
On Monday, lawmakers approved , which would give stronger across the state. The bill would set up a fast food council made up of workers, franchise owners and franchising companies like McDonald鈥檚. The council would negotiate employee wages, working conditions and hours at fast food and other fast-casual eateries.
The bill was amended to sunset in 2029, and also caps a new minimum wage for fast food workers at $22 an hour beginning in 2023. Labor groups backed the measure, which was opposed by restaurant and business interests.
A bill to allow state lawmakers鈥� staff to unionize, , was voted down Wednesday afternoon. Legislative staffers are the only public employees in California who are barred from unionizing. The bill was the latest failed attempt in recent years to give them that right.
Some lawmakers in the Assembly Public Employment and Retirement Committee argued it would not solve certain issues with how staffers are paid, which would require constitutional amendments.
Assembly member Jim Cooper (D 鈥� Elk Grove) was one of the 鈥榥o鈥� votes. He said he had a problem with the bill being pushed through after spring deadlines.
鈥淎ssembly members are afraid to speak up because they don鈥檛 want to be seen as going against the unions or anti-union," Cooper said. "Nobody鈥檚 anti-union. People are just pro-process. You have to have a complete process with this.鈥�
Cooper is leaving the legislature at the end of the year to become sheriff of Sacramento County.
would allow farmworkers to vote to unionize by mail rather than just in person. The United Farm Workers union organized a in support of the bill, which was passed by the Legislature Monday. Newsom has said he does not support the bill, and likely would not sign it, citing concerns over the mail-in voting process.
Housing
Newsom will consider a pair of bills that would allow developers to circumvent certain permitting processes in order to build affordable and market-rate housing on underutilized commercial space.
Democratic lawmakers and housing advocates hailed and companion bill as 鈥渕onumental鈥� steps to address California鈥檚 housing shortage. Assembly member Buffy Wicks (D 鈥� Oakland) estimates her bill could eventually lead to roughly 2 million new housing units.
Lawmakers also approved by Assembly member Kevin McCarty (D 鈥� Sacramento) that would require the state鈥檚 Department of General Services to make a plan to turn underutilized state office buildings into affordable housing. According to the bill analysis, DGS has already identified 92 properties that could be suitable to transition into housing.
Lawmakers voted to place a constitutional amendment on the 2024 ballot that would that publicly funded affordable housing projects receive voter approval.
Climate
Lawmakers sent Newsom all but one of the emergency climate-related bills he had asked for in the final weeks of the session, though several of the proposals scraped by with just little more than a majority of votes.
Taken together, the bills codify and tweak the state鈥檚 greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals, aiming to by by 2045. The package includes a requirement for the state to and .
A measure that would have from 40% to 55% failed in the Assembly just 20 minutes before the midnight deadline.
Lawmakers sent Newsom that would ban the drilling of new oil wells within 3,200 feet 鈥� about 0.6 miles 鈥� from homes, schools, and hospitals, community centers and other protected spaces.
The final measure of the session was a proposal to nuclear plant, which was scheduled to shutter in 2025. But Newsom, citing a during heat waves like the one forecasted to until next week, offered a proposal to loan $1.4 billion to PG&E to keep the San Luis Obispo plant open until 2035. The bill passed both the Assembly and Senate after 1 a.m. with more than the required two-thirds vote.
Earlier Wednesday, Newsom made a final push for his climate package and extension of the nuclear plant as temperatures began to rise.
鈥淭his is critical in the context of making sure we have energy reliability moving forward,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat energy does not produce greenhouse gasses.鈥�
Lawmakers also rejected that would have required large corporations to disclose their emissions.
Reproductive Rights
Lawmakers approved more than a dozen bills and millions of dollars to expand access to abortion, which became a priority for Democrats as the U.S. Supreme Court considered and , instead returning the issue to the states.
Legislative leaders and Newsom have and 鈥渟anctuary鈥� for patients to come and receive care.
Lawmakers earlier this year, which would enshrine the right to an abortion in the California Constitution.
Newsom has already signed , which shields doctors and patients who receive or provide an abortion in California from lawsuits in other states, as well as a bill to payments for abortion services.
In the waning days of the session, the legislature sent Newsom bills that would without a doctor鈥檚 supervision, for patients against third parties and states with abortion restrictions, and from investigating or charging a person who ended a pregnancy or experienced a stillbirth or miscarriage.
Lawmakers also approved tens of millions in late budget allocations for community abortion clinics, funding to recruit and train additional providers and grants for low-income patients seeking care.
Care for Trans Children
State lawmakers also approved , a bill designed to protect out-of-state transgender children and their families from civil and criminal penalties when seeking gender-affirming care.
Other U.S. states have recently passed bills criminalizing puberty-blockers and hormonal therapy. But the bill鈥檚 author, Senator Scott Wiener (D 鈥� San Francisco), said in a press release his legislation will create a refuge in California for kids and parents who flee from Texas, Idaho or any other state that criminalizes gender-affirming care.
鈥淚f these parents and their kids come to California, the legislation will help protect them from having their kids taken away from them or from being criminally prosecuted for supporting their trans kids鈥� access to healthcare,鈥� Wiener said in the release on Wednesday.
Gun Reforms
Lawmakers passed and Newsom signed earlier this year, speeding up the proposals in the wake of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which left 19 children and two teachers dead. They include a measure modeled after the 鈥渂ounty hunter鈥� provision of Texas鈥� abortion ban, which would allow people to , sellers and distributors of illegal assault weapons.
Newsom also signed bills that open the gun industry to liability lawsuits if their weapons are used in crimes, to crack down on ghost guns and ban marketing of firearms to minors.
Lawmakers sent additional gun reforms to Newsom鈥檚 desk in the waning days of the session, including . The measure would strengthen the state鈥檚 gun violence restraining order law 鈥� also known as a 鈥渞ed flag鈥� law 鈥� by adding roommates, dating partners and co-parents to the list of people who can petition law enforcement to confiscate weapons from someone they believe to be a danger to themselves or others.
COVID-19 and vaccines
A group of lawmakers earlier this year introduced several bills to require COVID-19 vaccinations in workplaces and schools, but one by one those bills were shelved as pandemic restrictions dropped and hospitalizations stayed beneath surge levels.
One of the last remaining bills from the COVID-19 vaccine workgroup was also shelved on the final day of the session: Sen. Scott Wiener鈥檚 (D 鈥� San Francisco) , which would have empowered some teens to get vaccinated without parental consent, was pulled Wednesday morning because he said he wouldn鈥檛 have had enough votes.
The bill would have allowed people 15 and older to receive FDA-approved vaccines without the consent or knowledge of a parent or guardian. An earlier version of the bill would have applied to kids as young as 12.
Wiener also blamed harassment and misinformation from 鈥渁 small but highly vocal and organized minority of anti-vaxxers鈥� for withdrawing the bill.
He pulled the bill hours before a rally in front of the Capitol led by a coalition of vaccine skeptics and a group called the Freedom Angels that have been linked to far-right extremist groups. The group celebrated the bill鈥檚 demise, saying the 鈥渢ide has officially turned in California.鈥�
that did pass would allow the California Medical Board to discipline doctors for pushing misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccine by classifying it as unprofessional conduct.
Lawmakers also approved an , which is set to expire on September 30, until the end of the year. Workers can use the sick leave if they are infected with COVID-19, to care for a sick family member or to receive a vaccination. The bill would also allocate an additional $70 million 鈥� on top of $250 million approved earlier this year 鈥� to aid small businesses in paying for the sick leave.
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