For California laws, the buck does really stop at Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.
While the Legislature approved hundreds of bills before ending its regular session on Aug. 31, Newsom decides whether they become law.
Already he’s signed a contentious package of bills to address retail theft and he agreed to a deal — not written into legislation — to help fund local newsrooms and AI research.
Now the governor has until Sept. 30 to decide on bills passed in the final days, a total of 991; he sometimes waits until right before the deadline to weigh in on contentious ones. And because he controls the fate of legislators’ bills, that could give him leverage during the special session he called on gas prices.
The governor gives a few typical reasons for vetoing bills: He deems them redundant, or calculates that their potential cost threatens to worsen the state’s budget situation. But he also blocks bills because they’re controversial, or opposed by powerful special interests.
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