The new CA laws you need to know (2024)

Monday marked the day many new California laws went into effect, including the state’s new concealed firearm restrictions that, until Saturday, had been blocked by a federal judge.

The law bans Californians from carrying firearms in various public places such as parks, stadiums and places of worship. It was passed in response to a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that reduced limitations on who can receive concealed carry permits.

Describing it as “repugnant to the Second Amendment,” federal Judge Cormac Carney temporarily blocked the law in late December. But on Saturday, a federal appeals court panel put a temporary hold on Carney’s ruling as the case makes its way through the courts.

In response, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement that “Californians overwhelmingly support efforts to ensure that places… remain safe and free from guns.” He also reiterated his proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution with gun control measures including raising the minimum age to own a gun and mandating universal background checks, posting Monday on X (formerly Twitter) that the amendment would “save lives across the country.”

To learn more about other notable laws that took effect Monday, check out our compilation of summaries written by the CalMatters staff:

Consumer protection

• Requires insurance companies to negotiate and settle payments with ambulance companies for out-of-network charges, and limits ambulance bills for uninsured people to the Medi-Cal or Medicare rate.
• Establishes a state restitution fund for consumers who fall victim to false advertising.

Criminal justice

• Establishes a pilot program in six cities for speeding cameras.
• Lifts a statewide ban on cruising and undoes a ban on modifying vehicles to a certain low height.
• Adds three years to the sentence for dealing more than one kilogram of fentanyl.
• Increases penalties for human sex trafficking of a minor by classifying it as a “serious felony.”
• Establishes “Ebony Alerts” for missing Black youth and women ages 12 to 25.

Education

• Streamlines the process for undocumented college students to apply for state financial aid.

Health care

• Expands Medi-Cal to eligible undocumented immigrants of all ages.
• Requires private health insurance plans to cover birth control products for women without prescriptions or co-pays at in-network pharmacies, and bans out-of-pocket costs for vasectomies for men with private insurance.
• Requires nursing homes to offer residents copies of any information that explains reasons for their eviction.

Housing

• Makes it easier for religious institutions and non-profit colleges to develop affordable housing.
• Gives developers permission to build denser, taller buildings if they set aside additional units for middle-income earners.
• Makes it easier for courts to slap down “frivolous” environmental lawsuits.

Workplace

• Increases guaranteed paid sick leave from three days a year to five.
• Bans employers from using hair or urine test results for marijuana in their decisions to fire or penalize workers, and bars employers from asking job applicants about prior cannabis use (workers in the construction industry and positions that require federal background checks are not included).

It went down to the wire to decide the final list of candidates for the March 5 primary in California.

Assemblymember Vince Fong can run to replace fellow Bakersfield Republican Kevin McCarthy in Congress, a Sacramento County judge ruled on Dec. 28. The judge overturned a decision by the Secretary of State’s office, and the ruling landed right before the office’s deadline to publish the official candidates list.

CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu watched the two sides argue in the courtroom, and she writes that they clashed over the power of the Secretary of State to determine a candidate’s eligibility and whether California law prohibits candidates from running for multiple offices at the same time, specifically for a legislative seat and for U.S. House.

Judge Shelleyanne Chang sided with Fong, but also said she is concerned that her ruling “may result in voter confusion and the disenfranchisem*nt of voters if Fong is ultimately elected for both offices but does not retain one.” She also wrote that while “it somewhat defies common sense to find the law permits a candidate to run for two offices during the same election,” she “is compelled to interpret the law as it is written by the Legislature.”

• Fong, in a statement: “I am grateful that Judge Chang upheld the integrity of our elections and sided with Central Valley voters against an overreaching Sacramento politician.”

Weber said she will appeal the ruling “to ensure that voters in future elections will not become disenfranchised.”

• Weber, in a statement: “I strongly disagree with the outcome of this case, and I am gravely concerned about the consequences of today’s ruling.”

Read more on the case in Stella’s story.

Also on the certified list of candidates: Former President Donald Trump. And based on recent polling and state GOP rule changes, he is expected to win all 169 delegates up for grabs.

Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis became the highest-ranking Democrat to urge that he be disqualified over his involvement in the attempted insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.

But Gov. Newsom wasn’t a fan of that idea, saying that while Trump “is a threat to our liberties and even to our democracy,” in California, “we defeat candidates at the polls.”

And Weber hinted at her decision not to remove Trump, telling Kounalakis that there are “complex legal issues.” The Colorado Supreme Court and Maine’s secretary of state have barred Trump from their state’s ballots, but the issue is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Amid a sea of stagnant math and English test scores among K-12 California students, one small district in the East Bay offers a sliver of hope.

As CalMatters’ K-12 education reporter Carolyn Jones explains, located between Berkeley and Oakland sits Emery Unified, a school district where 45% of students are Black — one of the highest rates in the state. Compared to 2022, the proportion of Black students meeting or exceeding state standards for math increased 6 percentage points (from 9% to 15%) and those reaching language arts standards jumped 13 percentage points (from 24% to 37%).

Though the district’s scores are still below the state average, they’re notable given that test scores statewide have remained flat or slipped backwards since the pandemic. For Black students in particular, the percentages hitting or surpassing state standards decreased for most grade levels last year.

The reason why Black students historically trail other groups in school is multi-faceted, according to UCLA education professor Tyrone Howard. Black students tend to go to schools with less experienced teachers and fewer resources; they are more likely to be homeless, in foster care or living in poverty; and they’re often met with racially prejudiced, low expectations.

So what does Emery Unified do that’s different from other districts? For one thing, more than 30% of the district’s teachers are Black, compared to 3.9% statewide; research shows that Black students who have Black teachers are more likely to graduate high school and go to college.

At Emery High School, the school shifted to a grading system that focused more on assessing students’ knowledge, which kept students motivated. It also expanded its mental health resources and, perhaps most notably, paid teachers extra to tutor students after school.

• Jessica Goode, Emery High principal: “I saw those scores and I was elated. All the work we’ve done has paid off. It’s been a challenge — there’s no road map because almost no one’s ever done this successfully.”

For more on what other Emery Unified schools are doing, read Carolyn’s story.

As we kick off the new year, one CalMatters story you might have missed during the holiday break dives into efforts by the University of California and California State University to return Native ancestral remains and cultural artifacts back to their rightful tribes. As Amelia Wu and Helena San Roque of CalMatters’ College Journalism Network report, two state audits of both university systems have found that neither, for the most part, is complying with decades-old state and federal policies to repatriate Native cultural artifacts.

Due to a lack of policies, urgency and staffing, UC campuses collectively returned around 35% of 17,000 human remains to tribes as of October 2023 (though an additional 30% is in the process of being returned). Cal State campuses returned only 6% of the 698,000 Native remains and artifacts.

Two campuses, however, buck this trend. UCLA and Cal State Long Beach have returned most items to Native tribes — 96% and 70%, respectively — because of strong Native American advocacy among campus leadership and academic departments.

To learn more about this issue, read Amelia and Helena’s story.

Cal State and sexual assault: The College Journalism Network is also writing about how Cal State campuses treat students who file allegations of sexual assault and harassment, and is now inviting students and others to share their experiences. Fill out this survey, which is also in Spanish.

And catch up on our other stories from the holiday week:

• Alejandra Reyes-Velarde of CalMatters’ California Divide team reports about a Los Angeles family that has been evicted from their one-bedroom apartment of 30 years not because of unpaid rent, but because the landlord wanted to move into their unit.

• In response to insurers companies failing to offer and sell auto insurance to good drivers in California, the state’s insurance commissioner issued a notice threatening enforcement action against companies that use “passive aggressive tactics” to delay coverage, explains CalMatters’ economy reporter Levi Sumagaysay.

• After opening an investigation to determine whether Kern County violated the free speech rights of a local group, the state Justice Department has reached an agreement with the county, writes Nicole Foy of CalMatters’ California Divide team.

CalMatters Commentary

CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: Could Gov. Newsom actually mount a successful campaign for the White House?

California regulators are considering a costly fiber-only strategy to close the state’s digital divide, but they should consider every technology, writes Carl Guardino, vice president of government affairs and public policy at Tarana Wireless.

After discovering an encampment in a fire-prone canyon, a San Diego group developed a skills training program to reduce fire risk and connect homeless people with jobs, writes Keith Wilson, director of strategic development for San Diego Canyonlands.

California can establish long-term success for offshore wind by embracing “ocean justice” principles, writes Daniela Schulman, a power sector policy consultant at Evergreen Action and a Bay Area fellow at the Clean Energy Leadership Institute.

Fatal shooting of Oakland police officer raises concerns on cannabis robberies // The Mercury News

New law has those with criminal records hopeful they’ll find housing // Los Angeles Times

Outgoing Rep. Anna Eshoo says big tech needs immigration reform // Politico

US Senate leaves without confirming Julie Su as labor secretary // The Sacramento Bee

Public has right to see some police drone videos, CA court rules // San Francisco Chronicle

Why Silicon Valley is partly to blame for CA’s budget woes // Politico

Worried about AI? How CA lawmakers plan to tackle its risks in 2024 // Los Angeles Times

Major insurer to increase homeowner policy cost in CA // The Sacramento Bee

Tulare Lake farm barons defy calls to cut groundwater pumping // Los Angeles Times

Three of CA’s biggest climate polluters are in the Bay Area // San Francisco Chronicle