California lawmakers finished their work for the 2021 legislative session Friday night, just four days before voting concludes in a statewide recall election targeting Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Whatever the outcome of the recall election, Newsom will likely still have the final say on the hundreds of bills the Legislature put on his desk in the past two weeks. Even if Newsom were to lose the election, by the time his successor took office the deadline for signing or vetoing legislation will have passed.
Bills that have passed must be reviewed by the governor before becoming law, unless otherwise noted. Here’s a look at what passed — and what failed — in the California Legislature this year.
Housing
Two bills passed that would make it easier to build small apartment buildings in areas where only single-family homes are allowed. The goal is to address a housing shortage in the nation's most populous state. A group of 241 cities have urged Newsom to veto one bill because it would bypass local zoning laws, with some exceptions.
Two other high-profile housing bills didn't make it. The bills would have made it easier to turn abandoned shopping malls into apartment buildings. Both bills passed the Senate but did not get a vote in the Assembly.
Drugs
A bill passed that could make California the first state to pay people struggling with drug addiction to stay sober. The treatment, known as “contingency management,” pays people as little as $2 for every negative drug test over the course of a few weeks. The federal government has been doing it for years with military veterans, and research shows it is one of the most effective treatments for drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine.