The governor鈥檚 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 鈥� a for bills they don鈥檛 like.
In several veto messages, he a $30 billion budget deficit without cutting major programs 鈥渞elied on by millions of Californians.鈥� He added that the Legislature 鈥渟ent me bills outside of this budget process鈥� that 鈥渨ould add nearly $19 billion of unaccounted costs.鈥�
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鈥檚 calls on other key bills before his Saturday deadline. .
Some specific vetoes:
- Juror pay: Though he praised the measure鈥檚 aim to 鈥渃reate a more equal justice system鈥� in his veto message, Newsom said no to from $15 to $100 for low-income residents.
- Cannabis cafes: Raising concerns about undermining the state鈥檚 鈥溾�� 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 鈥�,鈥� Newsom said that current state law already prohibits discrimination based on ancestry (which caste is considered a subset of), and that 鈥渃ivil rights protections shall be liberally construed鈥� by the courts.
- Decriminalizing psychedelics: Though Newsom said he supports 鈥渘ew opportunities to address mental health through ,鈥� 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 鈥渢herapeutic guidelines.鈥�
- 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鈥檛 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 鈥�, Members and California鈥檚 democracy,鈥�
- 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 鈥溾�� 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 鈥溾�� about the bill and its impacts.
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