“You consider the economy that we’re living in, consider what we’ve been through this last three years. I think workers and employees have really felt like they need more support and more help,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, a Democrat from San Diego. “I think that resonated.”
All of these bills now head to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, who has a month to decide whether to sign them into law — something that’s not guaranteed in all cases despite strong support from lawmakers in his own party. He’s already pledged to sign the bill giving fast food workers a raise, a deal he helped negotiate and what a spokesperson from his office called a “win-win for workers and businesses.”
But Newsom has raised concerns about the bill giving unemployment benefits to striking workers, in part because the fund the state uses to pay those benefits is insolvent. His administration has opposed the bill requiring people to be present to oversee self-driving trucks, warning it would stifle innovation.
Beyond wage and labor proposals, lawmakers sent Newsom hundreds of bills this year that do everything from raise taxes on gun and ammunition sales, and to give in-state tuition rates to some low-income Mexican residents who live near the California-Mexico border and attend community colleges.
A dramatic summer leadership fight in the state Assembly that caused some tension ultimately didn’t stop Democrats from holding together to advance their agenda. Republicans got a rare win when a bill by state Sen. Shannon Grove to increase penalties leveraged against child traffickers passed the Legislature. Democrats in the Assembly has initially blocked the bill, but they reversed course after Newsom and Democratic leaders intervened.
The session proved the power of Newsom’s influence, as the second-term governor got nearly everything he wanted. In the spring, lawmakers agreed to Newsom’s request to authorize state regulators to punish oil companies for price gouging. On Thursday, lawmakers agreed to place two of Newsom’s initiatives before voters in March: One to change how the state pays mental health services, and the other to borrow more than $6 billion to increase the number of treatment beds available for people with mental illness.
And earlier this week, California became the first state to answer Newsom’s call to ask Congress for a Constitutional convention to add more restrictions on gun sales nationwide — an action that dozens of other states would have to follow before anything would happen.