With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today.
Which of these 2025 bills will Gavin Newsom sign?
The fate of hundreds of bills recently approved by the Legislature now rests with Gov. Gavin Newsom. He has one month to sign or veto any measures passed in the final days before the session ended Sept. 13.
As his attention turns ever more toward national politics, how might Newsom’s approach change this year? What bill signings will he highlight to the public or bury in a late-night news dump? Could he veto more proposals as he tries to distance himself from contentious liberal policies and chart a more moderate image?
Last year, Newsom vetoed about 18% of nearly 1,000 bills passed in the final days (and nearly 16% of all 1,200 bills passed by the Legislature in 2024). That was already higher than his historical average.
Typically, the governor gives a few reasons for vetoing bills: He deems them bad policy or redundant or calculates that their potential cost threatens to worsen the state’s budget situation. But he also blocks bills because they’re controversial or opposed by powerful special interests.
While the Legislature can override vetoes, it takes a two-thirds vote in both the Assembly and Senate, which rarely happens. Governors can also allow bills to become law without their signature, but that doesn’t occur very often, either.
Here are some noteworthy bills CalMatters reporters are tracking. Bookmark this page for updates.
Immigration
Housing
Education
Law enforcement
Climate and environment
Technology
Reparations
Cannabis
-
12,000 people will be approved this time around. The waitlist opened at 8 a.m. on Sept. 18.
-
Hundreds of veterans who have severe disabilities from their service can’t get housing because their disability compensation puts them just over the income threshold for housing aid.
-
They were all but extinct. Now there are so many that scientists need your help tracking and studying them as they spread upriver.
-
According to the City of Los Angeles, the car company can break ground on the project.
-
Councilmember Traci Park, who introduced the motion, said if the council failed to act on Friday, the home could be lost as early as the afternoon.
-
Caused by a type of plankton, the blue bioluminescent waves aren’t toxic to humans, but have a profound impact on marine life.