These new California laws test whether we still set the national agenda

When the California Legislature ends its session each fall, as it did this week, the state’s boosters like to think its new laws provide a good road map for where the rest of the country might be in a few years.

It’s a bit of California exceptionalism. Some years it’s true (the state has a long lead in pollution controls) and some years it’s not (California’s disastrous foray into energy deregulation gave Enron some great ideas).

This legislative session offers some new tests of the theory that California legislation could spread to other parts of the country. Here’s a summary from The Times reporters who covered it:

Data centers

Gov. Gavin Newsom surprised some by signing several bills aimed at protecting consumers from growing electricity costs and tracking data centers’ immense energy and water consumption. Data centers have become a huge grassroots political issue across the country that, in some places, has united Democrats and Republicans. Will California lead the way on regulating them?

Online safety

Tech is a home industry in California, and regulation can sometimes be tricky. This year, Newsom signed more than 10 bills aimed at keeping young people safe from the potential harms of social media sites, artificial intelligence, addictive autoplay and more.

Immigration enforcement

California has long battled the Trump administration over immigration. This year, more than 20 bills aimed at curbing immigration enforcement became law, including bans on electric shock gloves and law enforcement face coverings. The laws make it easier to sue federal officials and attempt to put limits on immigration detention facilities.

Wildfires

California created first-in-the-nation standards to test and remediate homes damaged by wildfire smoke and to require insurance companies to pay for associated costs. It comes two years after the L.A. firestorms and marks the latest effort to deal with the heightening threat of wildfires. There was also some insurance reform.

AI and workers

AI was also a target in this year’s Legislature. New laws would bar employers from “solely” using automated decision-making systems to discipline or fire employees and require employers to provide a 60-day advance notice to workers and local and state governments before AI-related layoffs.

Local news

In what is being called the largest journalism relief plan in the U.S. to date, California is going to create refundable tax credits for local news organizations based on the number of journalists they employ. It comes at a time of steep declines in local news outlets.

California has been a trailblazer for more than a century. But as any historian of the state will tell you, even the most monumental achievements come with challenges their designers could never imagine.

California defied nature by moving water. It fueled spectacular wealth and growth, but also created an insatiable appetite that in drought years make the state feel perilous.

In her new definitive history of the University of California, “California Dreams,” Miriam Pawel chronicles one of our best ideas — creating a world-class system of higher education. But her book shows that building the campuses was the easy part.

So is California still the world’s laboratory? Get back to us in 10 years.

The week’s biggest stories

(Los Angeles Times)

California 2026 election

• Gas prices, AI data centers and Trump’s long shadow: Here are the top takeaways from the governor’s race debate.
• Here’s who won the Hilton-Becerra debate.
• Voter ID proponents accuse California Democrats of lying about Trump’s support for Prop. 39.
• Learn more about California’s general election, which takes place Nov. 3, with this voter guide.

SoCal’s intense weather

• A dangerous heat wave has reached Los Angeles. Here’s how long it will last.
• California’s plan to save coastal homes from El Niño could end up killing beaches.
• El Niño threatens the beloved Pacific Surfliner. Can the iconic train survive the winter?
• A “super” El Niño could overwhelm L.A.’s aging Hyperion sewage treatment plant.

Crime, courts and policing

• An investigation is underway after a student died in a fall from a balcony at a Highland Park high school.
• The Justice Department accused UCLA’s law school of illegally using race in admissions.
• A trial began Thursday for a “Scrubs” executive producer, who is facing more than 20 sex assault charges.
• A nurse was convicted of murder in a high-speed South L.A. car wreck that killed six.

More news

• California condo fees are soaring. Some owners fear they can’t survive.
• The California colleges where popular majors deliver top pay.
• California’s economic growth is expected to continue, but slowly and with few jobs gains.
• These 36 Starbucks locations in Southern California appear headed for closure.

Editor’s pick

Climate & Environment

Botched Altadena evacuations, dysfunction in Pacific Palisades: Long-awaited fire investigation identifies missteps

The report provides the most frank and in-depth review of the Eaton and Palisades fires, and points out multiple shortcomings in governmental planning and response.

Oct. 2, 2026

More picks

• An AI radio DJ has shot to stardom in L.A. Human hosts aren’t happy about it.
• He aggressively raised Disneyland prices. Bob Chapek has no regrets.
• ‘I’d rather die here than in Africa’: Migrants describe a violent deportation flight.

Things to do

Burlesque performer Haylee Holiday performs at Uncle Ollie’s Penthouse in downtown Los Angeles.

(Roger Kisby / For The Times)

• 🎃14 spooky bars and restaurants in L.A. to visit to get in the Halloween spirit.
• 🥳L.A.’s Shakespeare Bridge is turning 100. Mark the milestone on Oct. 10 with a procession and party.
• 🪴Here are five native plants you can plant this month that will benefit from a wet fall and winter.

Today’s recipe

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Make no mistake: Queso fundido is not “queso,” the creamy dip, often based on Velveeta, eaten with chips. Queso fundido, which translates to “melted cheese,” is just that: It’s melted cheese to which you can add sautéed mushrooms, poblano peppers or chorizo.

It must be eaten the moment it’s done, when the cheese is warm and stretchy. Here’s how to make it.

Photo of the day

Pasadena neighbors are outraged after Sugar, an albino peacock, was attacked Tuesday afternoon by a mailman in the neighborhood.

(Arwen Clemans / Los Angeles Times)

Games

Here’s today’s mini crossword, plus our other free, daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Jack Dolan, investigative reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.