Newsom signs landmark anti-trust law

Did someone forward you this email? Sign up here.

Hello and welcome back to Capitol Confidential! It’s officially spooky season.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed and vetoed hundreds of bills this week, saving some decisions until just hours before the Wednesday midnight deadline. 

In all, the governor signed 1,040 bills and vetoed 120. This week alone, he signed more than 300, and vetoed more than two dozen.

It’s the last bill-signing bonanza for Newsom as governor, and he punctuated that end of an era with a particularly dramatic bill signing atop the Golden Gate Bridge. 

The governor presented Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, a signed copy of his bill, SB895, which places a $7.5 billion science and health research bond aimed at backfilling federal funding cuts on the March 2028 primary ballot.

The cinematic scene was also a celebration for Wiener, whose bond has seen multiple slashes from its original $23 billion amount, and had failed to gather enough leadership support to go on this year’s November ballot. 

Here’s some of the other big-ticket signings and vetoes to know heading into the weekend. 

One of Newsom’s final signatures was the COMPETE Act, which tackles a wonky and somewhat snooze-inducing topic: antitrust law. 

But don’t let that first glance fool you. AB1776 by Assembly Member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, was among the year’s most embattled and contentious pieces of legislation. 

It sparked aggressive opposition lobbying from powerful business groups, launched hours of debates among lawmakers in committee hearings and at one point, drew criticism from the governor’s Department of Finance. 

The bill changes the parameters of antitrust liability in California, marking the first significant expansion of the centuries-old Cartwright Act. 

For decades, existing law required there be two or more businesses engaging in alleged anticompetitive behavior to trigger the antitrust regulations. Now, that threshold has been significantly lowered, giving state law enforcement the ability to go after a single business for running aground of anti-trust regulations. 

In an era when big business and monopolistic behaviors by massive corporations have become a political lightning rod, Newsom’s decision to OK the bill is a significant step. 

The change to the state’s Cartwright Act was recommended by the California Law Revision Commission, an independent state agency, after undertaking a three-year review of the state’s antitrust laws. 

Supporters say single companies are engaging in monopolistic behavior that severely undermines the state’s small businesses, pointing to a range of industries such as food, manufacturing and healthcare. 

Two familiar foes emerged as the primary opponents and supporters, with the California Chamber of Commerce initially declaring killing the bill their No. 1 legislative priority. Labor groups, including the California Federation of Labor Unions, supported it. 

The chamber later backed down from its aggressive stance after a contentious provision that would have allowed individuals to sue companies for anticompetitive behavior was stripped in the elusive appropriations process. 

“I’m proud we got the COMPETE Act across the finish line after years of work,” Aguilar-Curry said in a statement. “We’re giving California’s Attorney General and district attorneys stronger tools to stand up to predatory corporate behavior and protect competition.”

After nearly a decade of legislative wrangling over the rights and vulnerabilities of minors, California has finally closed its child marriage loophole, the Chronicle’s Raheem Hosseini reported. 

Newsom signed AB1267, by Assembly Member Gail Pellerin, D-Santa Cruz, into law on Wednesday. It eliminates the ability of minors to get married or enter domestic partnerships.

While the official marriage age in the state is 18, minors have long still been able to get legally married with the permission of a parent or guardian. Pellerin’s bill strikes out that parental approval provision – seen as a loophole by supporters of the bill that allowed potentially abusive or toxic child marriages to go forward, often in conservative religious communities or cultlike settings.

California has the infamous distinction of being one of only three states in the country without a minimum age limit. Before AB1267, California was also one of 33 with legal exceptions allowing minors to marry, which critics have termed a “statutory rape exception.”

Newsom also signed a related bill, AB2534 by Assembly Member Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, that formalizes the right of children and adults to obtain restraining orders against anyone trying to force them into marriage.

“This is a long overdue measure to protect young Californians and minors. Today, California kids are safer than ever before,” Newsom said in a statement.

The governor signed into law AB2599 this week, by Assembly Member Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles.

It requires any large business operating in the state to properly investigate and disclose if it has participated in slavery. Only those corporations that make more than $100 million annually and have been operating since 1964 fall under the new law. 

It also directs the Civil Rights Department to build a public database to publish the information. The bill was amended down in appropriations to remove an original provision that would have given the attorney general the power to bring injunctions against corporations for not complying. 

In a post on social media on Wednesday, Bryan called it the first bill of its kind in the country. 

AB1881, the California Indian Freedom Act of 2026, was vetoed on Wednesday just hours before the final bill-signing deadline. 

The bill would have given California tribes more power to visit historically sacred sites and required government agencies to first receive tribes’ consent before pursuing projects on state land that might impede tribes’ access.

The bill was authored by the first California tribal member to serve in the Legislature, Assembly Member James Ramos, D-Highland. 

A surge of opposition emerged as the bill headed to its final floor votes in August, as a coalition of businesses and government agencies led by the California Chamber of Commerce warned the bill could undercut critical state projects.

In his veto message on Wednesday, Newsom appeared to agree, writing the bill could have “far-reaching impacts on the basic operations of state government and the management of state property.”

He added this requires “further discussion and review,” and that he encourages Ramos to “continue his work to refine these concepts” – with state agencies part of the conversation. 

Also vetoed, AB2218 by Kalra, which would have required greater coordination between government agencies and Native American tribes during water projects. 

The bill would have established state policy directing the State Water Resources Control Board, the California Natural Resources Agency and other agencies to address inequities affecting California Native American Tribes when developing water policies, regulations, permits and grants.

It also would have required disputes between Native American tribes and state water agencies over the policy be brought to the Governor’s Office of Tribal Affairs before any court action. 

It was co-sponsored by The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Karuk Tribe, and supported by a number of environmental protection non-profits and advocacy groups. It was opposed by local government and business associations, including the California Chamber of Commerce and the California State Association Of Counties.

Russell “Buster” Attebery, chairman of the Karuk Tribe, said in a statement on Thursday the tribe is “deeply disappointed with the governor” over the veto. 

“For generations, decisions about our rivers and water have been made without the meaningful participation of the Tribal people who have depended on and cared for these waters since time immemorial,” he said. “AB 2218 was an important step toward changing that relationship.”

Questions? Thoughts? Interesting tidbits to share? Reach out at [email protected], and follow me on X, @KathrynPlmr.