SACRAMENTO – Sen. Catherine S. Blakespear, D-Encinitas, on Friday issued the following statement regarding the Governor’s decision to veto SB 954, legislation she authored to rein in overly broad CEQA exemptions:

Senator Jesse Arreguin celebrates the approval of vital funding after campaigning to convert the former horse racetrack into a regional park

State Sen. Jerry McNerney today applauded Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order, fast-tracking the implementation of McNerney’s SB 813. This landmark law establishes a first-in-the-nation framework for independent, third-party assessments of potential safety risks posed by artificial intelligence systems.

Senator Wiener authored legislation requiring kill switches in 2024 and worked with the Governor to pass SB 53, the nation’s first AI safety law, in 2025.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Governor Newsom issued an executive order to strengthen the state’s response to recent rogue AI attacks, including the Hugging Face attack. The executive order advances, among other things, a proposal to require AI companies to build “kill switches,” or emergency shutdowns, into advanced AI models in case something goes wrong.

SACRAMENTO – Thousands of licensed mental health professionals have signed a letter (attached) urging Governor Gavin Newsom to sign Senate Bill (SB) 903, authored by Senator Steve Padilla. This bill would protect individuals seeking therapy or psychotherapy services by prohibiting the advertisement of AI chatbots as “therapy” and setting common sense guardrails for AI use in mental health treatment. SB 903 passed the Senate unanimously and the Assembly with bipartisan support by a vote of 71 to 4 and now awaits Governor Newsom’s signature into law.

SACRAMENTO, CA — California State Senator Dave Cortese (D-San José) announced that Governor Newsom has signed Senate Bill 1392, also known as “Jay Leno’s Law,” into law. The measure will now protect classic car owners and collector vehicles from unnecessary smog inspections while preserving California’s commitment to clean air. 

“The whistleblower report shows the depths that the federal government is willing to descend into in their efforts to dismantle our democracy piece by piece—now by impersonating members of the public to access voter information, likely in violation of state laws. California will not allow our sacred right to vote to be attacked this way, and to that end, I will introduce legislation when the Legislature reconvenes in December to address this flagrant violation of our democracy.”

SACRAMENTO – Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 867, authored by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego). This first-in-the-nation legislation places a 4-year moratorium on the sale and manufacturing of toys with artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot capabilities for children under 16.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Senate Bill 1276, the End Child Exploitation Act, authored by Senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), legislation to protect children from sexual exploitation by clarifying that it is a crime to knowingly watch a livestream of a sexually exploited minor. SB 1276 closes a loophole that allowed predators to evade accountability for knowingly viewing the sexual exploitation of children through livestreaming platforms.

California sets the gold standard for child safety with the country's strongest AI protections