By CalMatters Staff
Originally published Dec. 30, 2025
Most of the hundreds of new California laws that are set to take effect on the first day of the new year won’t change your life. They’re adjustments to existing laws and directions to state agencies to follow up on past priorities.
But some of them might have a profound effect on you or a loved one.
Know someone who’s struggling to conceive? One new law requires more insurers to cover in vitro fertilization.
How about someone who’s thinking about what to do after high school? Another new law compels more California State University campuses to offer automatic admission to seniors who meet their requirements.
Some new California laws are meant to confront some of the major questions of the moment, including how to regulate artificial intelligence and whether the state’s Democratic leaders can contest the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement.
In all, lawmakers passed 917 bills in 2025 and Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed 123 of them. Most of the ones he signed take effect on Jan. 1.
CalMatters reporters describe some of the noteworthy new laws in the stories listed below. We’ll update this list as we publish more stories over the next few days:
- Millions of Californians gain access to in vitro fertilization under new law
- A new California law requires tortillas to include an extra ingredient. Here’s why
- Gavin Newsom signs law in ‘overhaul’ of mental health system. It changes decades of practice
- Even more Cal State campuses will automatically admit eligible students under a new state law
- New California laws rewrite car-buying rules with return policy and pricing reforms
- Cities can’t punish outreach workers for helping homeless Californians under new law
- California homeowners could qualify for grants for new roofs and fire safety
- A new California law gives the state more power over workplaces. Trump is suing to block it
- Scared of artificial intelligence? New law forces makers to disclose disaster plans
- California schools will have to do more to prevent sex abuse under new law
- Big Tech blocks California data center rules, leaving only a study requirement
- Newsom unveils $11 state insulin for Californians: ‘We took matters into our own hands’
- California is banning masks for federal agents. Here’s why it could lose in court
- New California law expands Newsom’s mental health court
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.