SOPHIE AUSTIN

FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during an interview in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. Newsom has signed a bill to ban school boards from rejecting textbooks based on their teachings about the contributions of people from different racial backgrounds, sexual orientations and gender identities. On Monday, Sept. 25, Newsom said the measure is “long overdue.” (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

California governor signs law barring schoolbook bans based on racial, gender teachings

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill to ban school boards from rejecting textbooks based on their teachings about the contributions of people from different racial backgrounds, sexual orientations and gender identities.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at the Presidio Tunnel Tops before the signing of a new climate agreement in San Francisco on Oct. 6, 2022. California, a state known for its ambitious climate policies, could soon adopt new laws reducing emissions from buildings, easing the burden on taxpayers to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells, and requiring the most sweeping emissions reporting mandates for large companies in the nation. They are among the hundreds of bills lawmakers sent to Newsom's desk this year. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

After climate summit, California Gov. Gavin Newsom faces key decisions to reduce emissions back home

The California Legislature sent a wide range of bills to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk this year to help the state mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Teamsters union members hold signs urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign Assembly Bill 316, which would require in-person human supervision of self-driving vehicles weighing over 10,000 pounds, at the state Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. California lawmakers, union leaders and truck drivers are trying to steer Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom toward signing into law a proposal that could save jobs as self-driving trucks are tested for their safety on the roads. (Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee via AP)

California truck drivers ask Gov. Newsom to sign job-saving bill as self-driving big rigs are tested

California lawmakers and union leaders are asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill that would save jobs as large self-driving trucks are tested on public roads.

Big wins for organized labor and progressive causes as California lawmakers wrap for the year

California lawmakers have finished their work for 2023. The Legislature sent hundreds of bills to Democratic Gov.

California lawmakers vote to let legislative employees join a labor union

Legislative workers at the California Capitol are close to forming their first labor union. State lawmakers on Wednesday approved a bill that allows state workers in the Legislature to organize.

State Sen. Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, works at his desk during the Senate session at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. Lawmakers are voting on hundreds of bills before the legislative session concludes for the year on Thursday. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

California lawmakers OK bills banning certain chemicals in foods and drinks

California lawmakers are working through hundreds of bills before the legislative session ends on Thursday.

FILE - State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, speaks at a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., on Jan. 21, 2020. California lawmakers approved legislation Monday, Sept. 11, 2023, requiring major companies to disclose a sweeping range of greenhouse gas emissions. The bill, introduced by Wiener, would make companies making more than $1 billion annually report their direct and indirect emissions. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

California lawmakers approve the nation’s most sweeping emissions disclosure rules for big business

California lawmakers have approved legislation requiring major companies to disclose a sweeping range of greenhouse gas emissions.

FILE - California Sen. Scott Wiener speaks about student housing during a news conference at San Francisco State University in San Francisco, Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022. On Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023, the state Assembly voted to fast-track low-income housing on surplus land owned by nonprofit colleges and religious institutions. If the bill becomes law, it will rezone land owned by nonprofit colleges and religious institutions to allow for affordable housing and help the projects bypass local permitting and environmental review process. (AP Photo/Janie Har, File)

California lawmakers vote to fast-track low-income housing on churches’ lands

California lawmakers have voted to fast-track low-income housing on surplus land owned by nonprofit colleges and religious institutions.

FILE - Assemblywoman Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City, receives applause as she is introduced during an Assembly session in Sacramento, Calif., on April 7, 2022. Lawmakers on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. debated legislation that would require courts to consider whether a parent affirms their child's gender identity in custody introduced by Assemblywoman Wilson and other cases. It was one of dozens of bills that got a vote in the Legislature as lawmakers speed toward a Sept. 14 deadline. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

California courts may weigh affirmation of child’s gender identity in custody cases

California lawmakers have passed legislation requiring judges to consider whether a parent affirms their child’s gender identity in custody and visitation proceedings.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, right, fields questions during a press conference Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Los Angeles. California's attorney general sued a Southern California school district Monday over its recently adopted policy that requires schools to notify parents if their children change their gender identification or pronouns. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

California sues district that requires parents be notified if their kids change gender ID

California’s attorney general has sued a Southern California school district over its new policy that requires schools to notify parents if their children change their gender identification or pronouns.

FILE - A man pushes a stroller near the AES power plant in Redondo Beach, Calif., Sept. 7, 2022. The California Energy Commission voted Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, to extend the life of three gas power plants along the state's southern coast through 2026, postponing a shutoff deadline previously set for the end of this year. The vote would keep the decades-old facilities — Ormond Beach Generating Station, AES Alamitos and AES Huntington Beach — open so they can run during emergencies. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Closure of 3 Southern California power plants likely to be postponed, state energy officials decide

California energy officials have voted Wednesday to extend the life of three natural gas power plants along the state’s southern coast.

FILE - A pump jack extracts oil at a drilling site next to homes June 9, 2021, in Signal Hill, Calif. Environmental advocates in California will try to enshrine a law banning new gas and oil wells near homes, schools and hospitals in a move that comes as the oil industry is vying for voters to overturn it. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

California high court says county can’t enforce oil well ban as state debates future of fossil fuels

The California State Supreme Court has ruled that Monterey County cannot enforce a ban on new oil and gas wells.

CORRECTS TO SEVEN YEARS INSTEAD OF SIX - FILE - People walk on the campus of San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif., on May 5, 2009. A flawed policy at California State University, the largest higher education system in the country, contributed to the closure of nearly a dozen sexual harassment cases without thorough explanation, a state audit reviewing dozens of cases over the span of seven years found. The state auditor investigated allegations reported by employees at the California State University chancellor's office, California State University, Fresno, San Jose State University and Sonoma State University. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

California State University campuses mishandled sexual harassment allegations, audit finds

The California state auditor found that California State University colleges mishandled multiple allegations of sexual harassment against employees.

FILE - Al-Farabi Syrlybaev, left, from Moscow, smiles while posing at a photo booth after getting married to Maksim Maslovskii, from St. Petersburg, at City Hall in San Francisco, on Feb. 14, 2023. The California Senate approved a proposal Thursday, July 13, 2023, to enshrine the right to same-sex marriage in the state constitution, sending the issue to voters in 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

California still has an anti-gay marriage law on the books. Voters could remove it next year

The California Senate has approved a proposal to enshrine the right to same-sex marriage in the state constitution.

Ukraine's goalkeeper deflects a shot by a Poland player at the Homeless World Cup, Tuesday, July 11, 2023, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Homeless World Cup makes US debut in California and scores victories beyond the field for players

A tournament for soccer players around the world who have experienced homelessness is making its U.S. debut in California.

From left, State Sen. Steven Bradford, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, task force member Lisa Holder and Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer hold up a final report of the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans during a hearing in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, June 29, 2023. The report heads to lawmakers who will be responsible for turning policy recommendations into legislation. Reparations will not happen until lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom agree. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

California reparations report urges action on housing discrimination and overpolicing

California’s reparations task force released its final report Thursday recommending how to atone for decades of discriminatory policies against African Americans.

California’s historic work on possible Black reparations moves to the Legislature

California’s first-in-the-nation reparations task force met for a final time in a crowded hearing room in Sacramento Thursday.

FILE - The suns peaks over the California Public Employees Retirement System's building in Sacramento, Calif., on Sept. 6, 2022. California officials say the personal information of about 769,000 people has been exposed in a third-party data breach linked to the state's retirement system. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

2.5M Genworth policyholders and 769K retired California workers and beneficiaries affected by hack

California’s public pension fund says the personal data of more than 769,000 retired workers and beneficiaries including Social Security numbers has been stolen in the breach of a popular file-transfer application by a Russian ransomware gang that is extorting victims.