SACRAMENTO, Calif. — This yr, Gov. Gavin Newsom affirmed abortion entry, calling California “a proud reproductive freedom state” and criticizing Republicans throughout the nation for making an attempt to remove households’ rights.
He signed laws mandating that insurance coverage firms cowl in vitro fertilization. He supported proscribing college students’ cellphone use in colleges and signed a nation-leading ban on meals dye in class snacks and drinks. And he endorsed a invoice permitting companies to function Amsterdam-style hashish cafés.
Nonetheless, in a heated election cycle with Vice President Kamala Harris, a Californian, on the presidential ticket, the Democratic governor was noticeably reluctant to impose further trade laws.
Newsom vetoed a number of well being and security payments, often citing value issues. However many of those proposals risked perpetuating California stereotypes trumpeted by presidential nominee Donald Trump and different Republicans. The governor rejected fuel range warning labels, in addition to dashing alerts for brand new vehicles, even drawing tepid reward on social media from GOP Meeting chief James Gallagher, who credited Newsom for vetoing “some fairly dangerous/silly payments.”
Many of the legal guidelines Newsom permitted take impact Jan. 1, 2025, whereas some have longer phase-in instances. Listed here are the governor’s actions on key well being payments:
Well being Care
Group well being care service plans and incapacity insurance coverage should cowl infertility and fertility providers underneath SB 729, together with for LGBTQ+ individuals, typically beginning in mid-2025. The California Affiliation of Well being Plans warns of upper premiums because of this.
Native well being officers can examine personal detention services, together with six immigration detention facilities, underneath SB 1132.
And the governor signed AB 869, permitting small, rural, or “distressed” hospitals to get an extension of as much as three years on a 2030 authorized deadline for earthquake retrofits. However he vetoed SB 1432, which might have allowed all hospitals to use for an extension of the deadline for as much as 5 years.
Newsom additionally vetoed SB 966, which might have regulated the middlemen often called pharmacy profit managers and banned some enterprise practices that critics say improve prices and restrict customers’ selections. He additionally rejected AB 2467, which might have mandated well being care protection for menopause, and AB 3129, which might have required the state lawyer normal’s approval for transactions involving well being care suppliers and personal fairness companies. And he vetoed AB 2104 and SB 895, which might have allowed some neighborhood faculty districts to supply bachelor’s levels in nursing.
Medical Debt
Credit score reporting businesses can be prohibited from together with medical debt in customers’ credit score reviews underneath SB 1061, however last-minute amendments weakened the protections. Earlier this yr, the Biden administration proposed federal guidelines barring unpaid medical payments from affecting sufferers’ credit score scores.
Medi-Cal
Medi-Cal, which offers well being look after about 15 million low-income individuals, will cowl hospital emergency rooms’ remedy of psychiatric emergencies underneath AB 1316.
However Newsom rejected AB 1975, which might have made medically supportive meals and diet a Medi-Cal profit, and AB 2339, which might have expanded Medi-Cal protection of telehealth.
Psychological Well being
Newsom signed greater than a dozen payments aimed toward boosting behavioral well being care, together with by way of California’s new court-ordered remedy program.
However citing prices, Newsom rejected an annual scholarship fund for college kids pursuing a psychological well being occupation in the event that they labored for 3 years in that new remedy program. Critics say SB 26 ought to have broadened the scholarship to all county behavioral well being applications.
Abortion
California will improve penalties for obstructing or impeding entry to reproductive well being care providers, and for posting private data or images of a affected person or supplier. These are at the moment misdemeanors; AB 2099 would make them punishable as misdemeanors or felonies.
Deliberate Parenthood Associates of California additionally backed AB 2085, smoothing approval of recent well being facilities, and SB 1131, supporting California’s Household PACT (Planning, Entry, Care, and Remedy) program for individuals with household incomes under 200% of the federal poverty degree.
Getting old
Newsom permitted a dozen payments associated to growing old, together with measures requiring elevated coaching for regulation enforcement (AB 2541) and well being care professionals (SB 639) in serving to individuals with dementia. AB 1902 requires higher entry to prescription labels for individuals who have bother seeing or who want translated directions. And he signed one other bundle of payments aimed extra broadly at serving to individuals with disabilities.
Violence Prevention
Assault or battery towards a physician, doctor, nurse, or different well being care employee inside an ER might deliver as much as a yr in county jail, a $2,000 positive, or each underneath AB 977. That makes it the identical most punishment as for assaulting a medical employee within the subject. California regulation beforehand set a lesser penalty for assault inside an ER.
The state is taking extra steps to discourage gun violence with two dozen new legal guidelines. Amongst them, SB 53 will increase necessities for safely storing firearms, consistent with a push from the White Home. AB 2621 will improve regulation enforcement coaching and revise insurance policies on utilizing gun violence restraining orders, whereas AB 2917 expands when courts can impose gun violence restraining orders.
And hospitals will finally must display sufferers, relations, and guests for weapons at entrances underneath AB 2975.
Substance Use
AB 1976 would require office first-aid kits to incorporate naloxone or different medicine that may reverse opioid overdoses, whereas defending those that administer the naloxone from civil legal responsibility.
Below AB 1775, native jurisdictions will permit retailers to promote noncannabis meals and drinks and have reside music and different performances in areas the place hashish consumption is allowed. Meeting member Matt Haney, a Democrat from San Francisco, mentioned his intent is to permit Dutch-style hashish coffeehouses. Newsom permitted the measure regardless of vetoing Haney’s comparable invoice final yr, amid critics’ concern that the measure would undermine California’s nation-leading effort outlawing indoor smoking.
And AB 3218 furthers enforcement of California’s ban on flavored tobacco, handed in 2020.
Youth Welfare
California is the primary state to typically bar public colleges from offering meals containing crimson dye 40 or any of 5 different artificial meals dyes utilized in merchandise together with Froot Loops and Flamin’ Sizzling Cheetos. AB 2316 is Democratic Meeting member Jesse Gabriel’s follow-up to his laws final yr that banned a chemical present in Skittles sweet.
A invoice to extend transparency with using restraints and seclusion rooms in state-licensed short-term residential therapeutic applications grew to become regulation with some high-profile assist from movie star Paris Hilton. She backed SB 1043, which may also require the state Division of Social Companies to publish the data on a public dashboard.
And college districts’ intercourse schooling curricula should embrace menstrual well being underneath AB 2229.
However Newsom vetoed AB 2442, which might have sped licensing for suppliers of gender-affirming care, and SB 954, which might have offered free condoms in excessive colleges.
Ladies’s Well being
Promoting menstrual merchandise with deliberately added PFAS, also called “perpetually chemical compounds,” can be banned underneath AB 2515. PFAS, quick for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, have been linked to critical well being issues.
AB 2319 was handed in an effort to enhance enforcement of a 2019 regulation aimed toward decreasing the disproportionate fee of maternal mortality amongst Black girls and different pregnant girls of colour.
AB 2527 is aimed toward bettering remedy of pregnant girls who’re incarcerated. Critics wished the unique model, which banned solitary confinement, and have been upset when it was amended to permit as much as 5 days of confinement if jail officers discover a security or safety risk.
AB 518 is aimed toward rising participation within the CalFresh diet program, a part of a bundle of healthy-food payments.
And underneath SB 1300, the general public will get extra discover when hospitals plan to shut their maternity wards. The measure will improve the discover requirement to 120 days, up from the present 90.
However Newsom rejected AB 1895, which might have required six months’ discover to state businesses of potential maternity ward closures. The businesses would then have been required to conduct a neighborhood affect evaluation.
Social Media
SB 1504 broadens California’s Cyberbullying Safety Act regulating social media platforms to use to minors as an alternative of pupils. Social media platforms that deliberately violate the regulation might face civil penalties of as much as $10,000, together with compensatory and punitive damages. These damages might be sought by a guardian, a authorized guardian, or numerous prosecutors. Below present regulation, damages are capped at $7,500 and could also be pursued solely by the state lawyer normal.
SB 976 restricts “addictive feeds” to minors, together with banning social media notifications to minors throughout faculty hours.
And AB 3216 will restrict using smartphones in colleges.
This text was produced by KFF Well being Information, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially impartial service of the California Well being Care Basis.
