The governor’s office put out a big batch of nearly , a second one on and a third one late Sunday night of . That means he still has some 260 bills to go.
And he may have run out of ink in his veto pen this weekend: He blocked 143, or 30%. The reasons he cited touched on a few common themes: The bills were unnecessary, or they went too far on policy too fast. Or they could cost the state lots of money — a for bills they don’t like.
In several veto messages, he a $30 billion budget deficit without cutting major programs “relied on by millions of Californians.” He added that the Legislature “sent me bills outside of this budget process” that “would add nearly $19 billion of unaccounted costs.”
Last year, he bills, or about 14%, while signing 997. The Legislature can override vetoes, with two-thirds majorities in both the Assembly and Senate. But that happens rarely, and .
CalMatters is tracking Newsom’s calls on other key bills before his Saturday deadline. .
Some specific vetoes:
- Juror pay: Though he praised the measure’s aim to “create a more equal justice system” in his veto message, Newsom said no to from $15 to $100 for low-income residents.
- Cannabis cafes: Raising concerns about undermining the state’s “” protections for workers, the governor vetoed a measure that would have let cannabis lounges sell food and host live events.
- Caste discrimination: For now, California will not become the first state to . Calling it “,” Newsom said that current state law already prohibits discrimination based on ancestry (which caste is considered a subset of), and that “civil rights protections shall be liberally construed” by the courts.
- Decriminalizing psychedelics: Though Newsom said he supports “new opportunities to address mental health through ,” he vetoed a bill to because of a lack of state guardrails for usage. He urged lawmakers to draft legislation next year that would include such “therapeutic guidelines.”
- Public records ombudsperson: A measure to who investigates whether denials of public records requests comply with state law.
- Social housing, homeless youth housing: Budget concerns came up in vetoes of two housing-related bills: One aimed at developing state-owned social housing projects and another would have required the state to help fund organizations that provide transitional housing for homeless LGBTQ+ youth.
- Hearing aids, insulin pricing and perinatal care: Three health care-related bills got the ax: One to require health plans to and younger; another that would have and a third that would have expanded .
Newsom still signed more bills than he blocked. Among them:
- Water rights: A measure that to investigate water rights claims and allows the California Water Board to take action against unauthorized water users.
- Renter rights: Cities and counties will no longer be able to enact housing programs that encourage or require landlords to .
- Worker rights: The California Labor Commissioner and state courts will assume if they take certain disciplinary actions against a worker who has made a wage claim.
- Junk fees: A measure will prohibit companies, starting July 1, from advertising the prices of goods or services that don’t include (think hotel reservations and concert tickets).
- Legislative union: By 2026, legislative staffers will have the . Democratic Assemblymember of Inglewood who authored the bill called its passing “, Members and California’s democracy,”
- Climate accountability: One measure (which ) will require large companies to , and the other requires companies to biennially from climate change.
- Food chemicals ban: The sale of food items that include four food additives will be . Known as the “” when it was introduced, the measure has since dropped the chemical in that candy from its list. In his signing message, the governor said there had been many “” about the bill and its impacts.
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