Free condoms, cannabis cafes among slew of bills vetoed by Newsom

The fate of hundreds of bills passed by the California Legislature was decided over the weekend.

Gov. Gavin Newsom went into the weekend with about 700 bills on his desk, and an Oct. 14 deadline to either sign those bills or veto them. He ultimately made decisions on more than half in a historic two-day stretch; CalMatters reported that the governor blew through about 150 on Saturday, and then tackled about 320 on Sunday. 

However, amid rumblings about Newsom’s future plans for higher office, an abnormal number of bills got the ax. CalMatters said the governor sent 143 bills back to lawmakers, which translates to a veto rate of about 30% for the weekend. The outlet reported that Newsom vetoed just 169 bills total last year, signing 997 into law. 

Below are some of the more recognizable measures that Newsom declined to sign this weekend.  

Senate Bill 541 would have made condoms available to all of the state’s high school students for free. It would have also prohibited retailers from refusing to sell condoms. In a typical refrain, Newsom cited costs as a reason for his veto. “With our state facing continuing economic risk and revenue uncertainty, it is important to remain disciplined when considering bills with significant fiscal implications, such as this measure,” he wrote in his veto message. 

Senate Bill 403 — authored by state Sen. Aisha Wahab, a Democrat from Hayward — would have made California the first state in the nation to ban caste discrimination. Wahab’s bill sought to add caste as a subset to existing state law that bans discrimination based on ancestry. In his veto message to lawmakers, Newsom said existing anti-discrimination laws made the bill redundant. Equality Labs, an Oakland-based group pushing to end caste discrimination, said this moment still represents a victory. “This is the first state bill caste-oppressed people organized and built amazing power and awareness on this issue,” the group wrote in a statement.

Pot smokers won’t be able to buy coffee or other foods from California’s cannabis lounges after Newsom vetoed a proposed “cannabis cafe” law, which would have allowed pot lounges to sell food and coffee as well as host ticketed events in the consumption spaces. The bill passed with overwhelming support in both the Assembly and Senate, and supporters said it would provide a financial lifeline to California’s struggling pot shops. In his veto, Newsom said he was “concerned this bill could undermine California’s long-standing smoke-free workplace protections.”

Senate Bill 90 would have capped the out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $35 for a 30-day supply. That cap would have included deductibles and co-pays. The bill’s author, state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, called Newsom’s veto a “missed opportunity to ensure people can afford their medicine.” Newsom said he vetoed the bill because of the state’s plan to produce its own insulin, which he said will negate the higher insurance premiums that companies will inevitably charge because of a co-pay cap. Earlier this year, the state signed a 10-year, $50 million contract with the nonprofit pharmaceutical company Civica Rx. The cost of the state brand of insulin, a part of California’s CalRx initiative, will reportedly be capped at $30 per 10-milliliter vial, and at $55 for a box of five pre-filled pen cartridges. The state is expected to make the insulin available next year. 

Assembly Bill 309 would have established a state agency aiming to build and manage affordable housing on land owned or leased by the state. People from all socioeconomic backgrounds could apply to rent or own the properties, and Assemblymember Alex Lee — a Democrat from San Jose — said the goal was to cap rent or mortgage payments to no more than 30% of a person’s monthly income. In his veto message to lawmakers, Newsom said the bill would be too expensive to implement, and could potentially cost the state “several hundred million dollars in capital expenditures.” When he ran for governor, Newsom claimed he would lead an effort for 3.5 million new housing units by 2025. As CalMatters noted earlier this year, he is nowhere near hitting that goal.

California’s legal cannabis businesses breathed a sigh of relief Sunday after Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 1207, which would have made it illegal to use any images of humans, animals, cartoons, or most fruits and vegetables on cannabis packaging or advertising materials. Pot business owners said the law would be devastating to the legal industry. The bill’s sponsors said it was necessary to protect minors from consuming cannabis, although Newsom said the proposed law’s definition of “attractive to children” was too broad and not likely to protect children “beyond what is required under existing law.”

Senate Bill 635 would have required health plans to cover the cost of hearing aids, up to $3,000 per individual hearing aid, for those under 21. The bill, authored by state Sens. Caroline Menjivar of Los Angeles and Anthony Portantino of Burbank, is a revamped version of an older bill (also vetoed). Newsom said he vetoed the bill again because the costs incurred by the new law might set a troubling precedent. “A pattern of new coverage mandate bills like this could open the state to millions to billions of dollars in new costs to cover services relating to other health conditions,” he wrote in his veto message. 

Magic mushrooms will remain illegal in California after Newsom’s Saturday veto of Senate Bill 58, a bill that would have decriminalized the use and possession of psychedelic drugs like psilocybin mushrooms and mescaline. The bill’s supporters said the government should not be criminalizing drugs that have shown significant potential for treating mental health conditions; Newsom said he did not want to sign the bill because it did not create “guidelines” around the medical use of the drugs. He added that he has “committed to working with the legislature” to write legislation that would decriminalize and authorize the use of the drugs in the future.