10 new California laws you should know about going into 2026

Starting on Jan. 1, hundreds of new state laws will go into effect, some with the potential to shape the everyday lives of Californians. They’re meant to tackle the state’s housing affordability crisis, establish guardrails on the use of artificial intelligence and protect the sharing of personal information for those who could face federal immigration enforcement.

Most new laws won’t all bring change overnight. But some could stoke continued controversy and legal challenges. For example, if you live near public transit, one new state law will give developers the freedom to build taller, denser housing, overriding local zoning rules and potentially transforming some single-family neighborhoods. Some cities and counties remain vehemently opposed and are considering legal action.

If you’re a renter, your landlord starting Jan. 1 will be required to provide a working stove and refrigerator and keep them in working order, a nod to efforts to ease the state’s severe affordability challenges. And if you work in law enforcement or the health care field, new state laws will regulate what you can and can’t do with AI on the job.

Here’s a small sample of the many new California laws that will go into effect Jan. 1:

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More housing near transit

California lawmakers approved a significant and controversial new housing law this year, Senate Bill 79. It allows for building denser, taller housing near major transit stations even in areas where local rules ban that level of development. The law will pave the way for apartment buildings as tall as 75 feet close to metro, light rail, and some bus stations. Democratic lawmakers were divided over the measure. Some argued it was necessary to speed housing development and alleviate the state’s housing shortage while others warned it would change neighborhoods of single-family homes and impact property values. Developers will officially get the green light to break ground on projects that fall under the new law starting in 2026.

— Laura Fitzgerald

Requiring stoves and fridges in rentals

While it’s quite common for rental units to include a stove and a fridge, it hasn’t been the law. Beginning Jan. 1, Assembly Bill 628 adds refrigerators and stoves to the state’s definition of a “habitable” home. This means landlords must provide them, keep them in working order and handle repairs or replacement. The rule applies to new or renewed leases. Tenants may voluntarily bring their own fridge, but they aren’t required to. The law makes exceptions for supportive housing and shared living buildings with communal kitchens. Supporters say the change is designed to improve affordability for low-income renters.

Arturo Rodriguez of the California Democratic Renters Council says this protects many renters in larger cities, where stoves and refrigerators are not included in a unit, which is more common.

“When landlords offload basic costs onto renters, it’s really destabilizing families,” said Rodriguez.

Several landlord and real-estate groups, such as the California Apartment Association and the California Association of Realtors, opposed the bill. They say new costs and installation could complicate expenses for property owners.

— Tony Rodriguez

Rideshare drivers can unionize and will have lower insurance requirements

In this Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, file photo, a driver displaying Lyft and Uber stickers on his front windshield drops off a customer in downtown Los Angeles.

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California’s 800,000 rideshare drivers will get the right to unionize in 2026. In turn, rideshare companies will also have drastically lower insurance costs. That’s under two new laws Governor Gavin Newsom signed after brokering a deal between labor and major rideshare companies, including Uber and Lyft. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which sponsored Assembly Bill 1340 to expand collective bargaining rights to gig drivers, has already reached out to drivers ahead of the law’s implementation. Senate Bill 371 will slash insurance requirements for rideshare companies for underinsured drivers from $1 million to $300,000 per incident.

— Laura Fitzgerald

Getting election results faster

Staffers at Los Angeles County Recorder/County Clerk's headquarters sort ballots in this file photo from 2008, for the California presidential primary.

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Californians could see faster election results in 2026. That’s under a new law that will require election officials to count the vast majority of ballots by 13 days after election day, with exceptions for some ballots that require additional verification. There are no current requirements for counting benchmarks, just a deadline for officials to send final election results to the Secretary of State within 31 days after election day. That rule will still apply.

The new law comes as the state has seen a rise in close contests where results can take weeks. Proponents, including some election experts, say speeding up ballot counting will bolster trust in the state’s election process. “We're at the point where people are losing faith in the political process and the elections process because they hear these claims from some political leaders casting doubt on the reliability of our results, and that's a real problem,” said Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation.

— Laura Fitzgerald

Ban on AI Chatbots misrepresenting themselves as medical professionals

Starting Jan. 1, Assembly Bill 489 will make it illegal for AI Chatbots to misrepresent themselves as doctors, therapists or other licensed clinicians when people go to them for advice. This has been an emerging problem with the artificial intelligence technology available online.

The California Medical Association helped sponsor the bill. Lobbyist Stuart Thomspon told CapRadio that oftentimes vulnerable people seeking mental health advice are not aware the chatbot they are speaking to is not being monitored by a real person.

“ A lot of these chatbots will imply, or not even imply, directly state, that the patient who's interacting with them is actually interacting with a licensed mental health professional,” Thompson said. “When in fact all the content generated is purely AI.”

Assemblymember Mia Bonta is the law’s author. She said it provides safeguards for young people and elders who may have trouble discerning who they are speaking with.

 ”The world is our oyster when it comes to AI and the advancements that are being made with agentic AI,” she said, referring to artificial intelligence systems that act with autonomy. “It's very important that we are providing enough of the human in the loop to be able to ensure that those experiences end up being positive and ensure that consumers are protected.”

A spokesperson for Bonta said developers of these AI systems may be held to the same consequences as humans who impersonate medical professionals – up to a $10,000 fine and/or up to a year in prison.

— Riley Palmer

Renewed Cap-and-Trade

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California lawmakers passed legislation to renew the state’s cap-and-trade program — now officially calling it “cap-and-invest” — through 2045, with some amendments. The California Air Resources Board will begin rulemaking in the new year to figure out how to integrate the changes.

One change to the program allows CARB the chance to limit the distribution of free allowances. These allowances are meant to help address leakage risk, which refers to the risk that a company may decide to take its operations outside of California to avoid certain state restrictions. But critics have long said the leakage risk associated with the program is overblown, and these allowances allow companies to continue polluting.

CARB will soon announce the results of a revised assessment of the program’s leakage risk, which could guide their decisions to possibly limit free allowances after 2031.

— Manola Secaira

Protecting street vendors' personal data

Senate Bill 635 aims to protect street vendors in California from having their sensitive personal data shared with the federal government as the Trump administration continues to crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

Beginning Jan. 1, state and local governments will be prohibited from voluntarily providing street vendors’ identifying information to federal immigration authorities. The law also bars local agencies from collecting information on immigration status or criminal history, or from requiring fingerprints or LiveScan background checks as part of the street vendor permitting process.

Under the new law, local authorities that collected this prohibited information prior to the law’s effective date must destroy those records by March 1.

“Street vendors are a cornerstone of our communities and contribute significantly to California’s vibrant culture and economy,” said Democratic Senator María Elena Durazo, the bill’s author. “SB 635 ensures that these hardworking entrepreneurs can operate their businesses without fear that their personal information will be turned over to immigration authorities.”

Opposition to the bill was limited during the legislative process, with critics primarily raising questions about language surrounding food safety enforcement and administrative costs rather than immigration policy.

— Chris Felts

Disclosing AI use in police reports

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A new law going into effect Jan. 1 will require California law enforcement officers to disclose when they use AI to help write official reports.

Under the new law, agencies will need to provide a statement when the technology is used in a report as well as a signature from the officer involved in it.

Democratic State Senator Jesse Arreguín of Berkeley is the law’s author. Arreguín told a Senate committee earlier this year that its purpose is to promote transparency and safeguards for the new technology.

“Prosecutors, defense attorneys and courts rely heavily on police reports to determine criminal outcomes,” he said. “It's critically important that additional uses to generate a report is accurate to prevent someone’s livelihood from being wrongly impacted.”

The bill’s supporters included many criminal justice groups. Meanwhile, a few law enforcement agencies in Southern California opposed it.

Sgt. Amar Ghandi is a spokesperson for the Sacramento Sheriff's office. He said the agency does not use AI yet for helping with reports, but it isn’t out of the question in the future.

“The technology is evolving daily, at exponential, light speed,” Gandhi said. “It could come to us, but as of right now we don’t use it because again it is imperfect. There are still some things that need to be worked on and issues we have with it.”

— Riley Palmer

Establishing a framework for reparations

Senate Bill 518 is a new California law that would establish the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery.

The law was created by a 2023 task force that issued an 1,100-page document with recommendations for reparations for the descendants of enslaved people.

The law requires the bureau to create a Genealogy Division and to verify an individual's status as a descendant of slaves.

Democratic Assemblymember Corey Jackson co-authored the bill and said in July that it’s the first step in a long effort to implement reparations.

“We are not only creating a place to certify eligibility and provide education, but also laying the groundwork for future programs that can deliver remedies and opportunities for descendants.”

— Keyshawn Davis

Legal counsel for immigrant youth

Starting Jan. 1, immigrant youth going through immigration court in California will have access to legal counsel when facing deportation. That’s because of a new law, Assembly Bill 1261, requiring the state to pay for youth legal counsel if the federal government fails to do so. The law could cost taxpayers as much as $77 million.

— Gerardo Zavala