Amsterdam-style cannabis cafes. Loosened rules on tiny home construction. Bans on “outing” LGBTQ students and parking near intersections.
These are a few California laws that will go into effect in 2025, with broad influence on the Golden State’s economy, schools, streets, environment and workplaces. Here are a few of the most impactful.
Amsterdam’s famed cannabis “coffeeshops” are coming to California via Assembly Bill 1775, which allows dispensaries to serve non-cannabis food and drinks to customers who can relax and smoke on the premises. These new business will officially be known as “cannabis consumption lounges.” San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney, a Democrat, sponsored the law.
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A counterpart in the state Senate, Scott Wiener, also a Democrat, sponsored Senate Bill 969. The law allows cities to create “entertainment zones” where customers can wander while carrying open alcoholic drinks. Wiener pitched the idea as a tool to revitalize cities by removing “needless restrictions.”
“Getting people out in the streets to enjoy themselves is critical for communities across our state to bounce back from the pandemic,” he said in a September statement.
A majority of voters passed Proposition 36 in November, which toughens penalties for people repeatedly convicted of shoplifting and drug crimes. It aims to use the threat of jail as leverage to divert more people into behavioral health treatment. The popular new law went into effect on Wednesday. It follows a package of bills that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in August to crack down on retail theft and other property crimes.
Assembly Bill 2602 makes it illegal to use an AI-generated likeness of an actor’s image or voice without their permission. Assembly Bill 1836 also allows a deceased artist’s estate to collect damages when their artificial likeness is used without permission. The pair of bills seek to curb the growing use of AI in Hollywood, which was a sticking point for striking writers and performers last year.
With Assembly Bill 1780, the children of wealthy donors or alumni can no longer get special treatment in admissions decisions by colleges and universities in California, in a practice that disproportionately benefitted white and wealthy students. The law was sponsored by three Democrats, including former Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, now the mayor of Sacramento. Most Republican lawmakers opposed it, along with the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities.
Public school employees won’t be able to disclose a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation to their parents — or anyone else — under Assembly Bill 1955.
The law, sponsored by San Diego Democratic Assemblymember Chris Ward, also protects staff who support LGBTQ students and requires the California Department of Education to provide those students with resources. The law passed on a party-line vote, with Democrats in support and Republicans in opposition and several lawmakers abstaining.
History teachers will be required to teach the negative consequences of Spanish colonization and the Gold Rush, and the perspectives of contemporary Native Americans, under Assembly Bill 1821.
Laws introduced by Democrats, who control both chambers of the state Legislature, aim to speed up housing construction and provide more options for unhoused people.
Senate Bill 1395, sponsored by Democratic Menlo Park state Sen. Josh Becker, seeks to ramp up construction of so-called tiny homes by exempting them from the California Environmental Quality Act. The goal? Using tiny homes temporarily to house homeless residents. That’s a strategy embraced by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, though with some controversy. The new law had bipartisan support and faced little opposition from interest groups.
California’s Attorney General will have more power to crack down on local governments that flout state housing mandates with Senate Bill 1037. Sponsored by Wiener, the law allows AG Rob Bonta’s office to fine cities and counties $50,000 per month for violating state housing law. That will make it easier for the state to meet its housing goals when local governments aren’t on board, a spokesperson for Wiener said in March.
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More than 80,000 accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, have been built in California in the last seven years because of laws encouraging them, according to the pro-housing advocacy group California YIMBY. Senate Bill 1211 allows a homeowner to build more detached ADUs on their property than what was previously allowed. The law was sponsored by outgoing Berkeley Sen. Nancy Skinner.
Under Assembly Bill 2123, employers won’t be able to require employees to take two weeks of vacation before accessing California Paid Family Leave benefits.
Starting March 1, 2025, Assembly Bill 375 will require food delivery platforms like DoorDash and GrubHub to provide customers with the first name and photo of delivery drivers.
Assembly Bill 2475 was introduced after a stabbing in San Francisco by a man with a history of psychosis and violence. The law allows state-run hospitals to delay the release of patients for 30 days if they have a history of severe mental illness and violent crime. The additional time will allow police and public health staff to plan for a patient’s release, Haney said in a March statement.
Chula Vista state Sen. Steve Padilla, a Democrat, introduced Senate Bill 1105 to protect farmworkers from wildfire smoke and the intense heatwaves that have wracked California in recent years. Under the law, farmworkers can use paid sick leave to avoid smoke, extreme heat and also flooding conditions. Avoiding these disasters will be considered “preventative care.”
And Assembly Bill 413 aims to protect pedestrians by outlawing parking within 20 feet of a marked or unmarked intersection. The idea, called “daylighting,” is to make pedestrians more visible and prevent collisions. The law, which can fine violators, is a response to California’s concerning uptick in traffic deaths.
