New California laws going into effect in 2026 ban plastic bags, affect your streaming services and give more control over chatbots

SAN FRANCISCO — Hundreds of new laws are taking effect in California in the new year. Here is a partial list.

CONSUMERS

(SB 1053) Plastic Bag Ban

Plastic bags are on the way out in California. The state is expanding its ban on single-use plastic bags to include all plastic bags. The original law allowed the use of thicker plastic bags which were meant to be reusable, but since most consumers used them only once, those thicker bags are now being outlawed as well. Starting January 1, consumers will have to buy a bag made of recycled paper or use their own reusable bags.

(AB 578) Food Delivery Platforms

Did your food order not get delivered? This new law requires food delivery platforms like Uber Eats, DoorDash and Postmates provide a full refund to a customer if an order is not delivered or if the wrong order was delivered. Food delivery platforms must provide customer service by humans if their automated systems do not resolve the customer’s concern.

The law also requires food delivery platforms to disclose an itemized breakdown of pay, tips and bonuses for delivery drivers.

(SB 1075) Overdraft Fees

Prohibits credit unions from charging an overdraft fee or a nonsufficient funds fee above $14 or the amount set by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if it is lower. A similar bill affecting banks took effect in 2025.

(SB 576) Streaming Services

Beginning in July, streaming services would not be allowed to play ads with a louder volume than the show or movie being watched. Current FCC laws already prohibit this on television broadcasts, but that law was enacted before streaming services became popular.

(SB 766) Vehicle Sales

Starting in October, this new law allows a customer to return a used vehicle within three days of purchase, although they may be charged a restocking fee. It also requires auto dealers to disclose the full price of a vehicle and bans unwanted junk products and services that increase the price of the vehicle.

(AB 1327) Home Improvement

Allows a property owner to cancel a contract by email or a phone call for home improvement work or home solicitation of goods and services.

(AB 1374) Rental Vehicles

Requires that vehicle rental companies provide a total charges estimate to the consumer, including taxes and fees. Also mandates that the rental company disclose if the vehicle is gas powered or electric.

(AB 1299) Parking Tickets

Reduces or waives parking fines if the owner of the vehicle provides evidence they are unable to pay for the ticket in full due to homelessness or financial hardship. The vehicle owner can request a payment plan.

(SB 709) Self-Storage Fees

Requires that rental agreements for self-storage facilities disclose if the rental fee is discounted or promotional, whether the fee is likely to change and what the maximum rental fee could be during the first 12 months. The law applies to agreements signed on or after January 1, 2026.

FOOD

(AB 1053) Tortillas Folic Acid

A new ingredient is being added to your store-bought corn tortillas. This law requires manufacturers to add folic acid to corn tortillas and corn masa products to prevent birth defects, especially among Latinas. Smaller businesses that make their own masa products are exempt. Folic acid is already added to flour tortillas, bread and cereals.

(SB 68) Food Allergens

Beginning in July, restaurants will have to list major food allergens as ingredients on each item on their menu. The food allergens include milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans and sesame.

(AB 660) Food Safety Labels

Requires food manufacturers to use standard terminology in food date labeling. “Sell by” dates will be prohibited. They will be replaced with terms like “Best if Used by” for peak freshness or “Use or freeze by” for items that may spoil after a certain date. The law takes effect in July.

HEALTH

(SB 40) Insulin Cost

Caps the out-of-pocket cost of insulin to $35 for a 30-day supply for health plans regulated by the state of California. The law applies to large insurers while smaller health care providers must comply with the cost limit by 2027.

(SB 236) Chemical Hair Relaxers

The Curl Act bans toxic chemicals in hair relaxers that have been linked to cancer or cause reproductive harm.

(SB 27) CARE Act

Updates the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Act (CARE) to include people who experience psychotic episodes due to bipolar disorder. Also streamlines the court-supervised treatment program.

PETS

(AB 867) Cat Declawing

Bans the practice of declawing a cat to prevent them from scratching. Removing a cat’s toe bone would only be allowed for medical reasons like an infection, disease or injury.

(AB 506) Puppy Mills

Requires pet sellers to disclose the health history and origin of dogs, cats and rabbits. Prohibits purchase contracts for pets with non-refundable deposits.

Another law (AB 518) prohibits pet brokers from selling or offering dogs, cats or rabbits for adoption that are under one year of age.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

(SB 942) AI Transparency Act

The California AI Transparency Act makes it easier for consumers to detect text, images, video or audio created or manipulated by artificial intelligence. Content platforms must provide watermarks or other tools to detect AI-generated content. Implementation of this new law has been delayed until August 2, 2026.

(SB 243) AI Chatbots

Requires companies that operate chatbots to notify users believed to be minors that they are interacting with artificial intelligence and not a human. Chatbot operators must also prevent talk of suicide or self-harm by AI chatbots. Operators must file an annual report on conversations that included suicidal ideation beginning in July.

(AB 489) Healthcare

Prohibits that medical advice or assessment performed by artificial intelligence be misrepresented as information provided by a human with a health care license.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

(AB 621) Deepfake Pornography

Strengthens existing laws against posting sexually explicit material of an individual without that person’s consent to include deepfake pornography or images created or digitally altered using artificial intelligence or digitization. Penalties against companies that do not take down deepfakes from their sites in a timely manner can go as high as $250,000.

(AB 656) Account Cancellation

Requires that social media platforms provide an easy way for a user to delete an account and all their personal information.

(SB 362) Delete Act

Requires the California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy) to create a simple opt-out platform for consumers that want data brokers to delete their personal information. The Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform (DROP) website will be operational in January and data brokers have until August 1 to begin complying.

SCHOOLS

(SB 760) Gender Neutral Bathrooms

Requires that all K-12 public schools and charters have at least one all-gender restroom at each school site. The law takes effect in July in time for the 2026-2027 school year. Students cannot be forced to use the all-gender bathrooms.

(AB 3216) Phone-Free Schools

California school districts have until July to adopt policies that limit or prohibit the use of smartphones by students while they are on campus or under the supervision of a school district employee.

(AB 727) Identification Cards

Beginning in July, California’s public middle schools, high schools and colleges must offer student identification cards with the telephone number and text line of the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ+ youth.

(SB 640) CSU Direct Admission

The newly created California State University (CSU) Direct Admission Program guarantees admission to 16 of the state’s 22 CSU campuses for any student that completes A-G course work and maintains a qualifying grade point average.

(AB 461) Truancy

Repeals an existing law that fined parents up to $2,000 for chronically truant students.

LIBRARIES

(AB 1825) Book Censorship

The California Freedom to React Act prohibits libraries from banning or restricting access to books and other materials based on their content or the author. The law applies to libraries that receive state funding, including school libraries. Minors cannot be prohibited from checking out books with sexual content that is not obscene in nature.

WORKPLACE

Minimum Wage

The minimum wage in California is going up on January 1, 2026, to $16.90 per hour, an increase of $0.40 per hour. Many cities have higher minimum wage requirements. The minimum wage for fast food workers in California remains at $20 per hour.

(AB 288) Labor Law Enforcement

Empowers the state Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to enforce labor laws and resolve unfair labor practice disputes if the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) fails to act. Workers can also petition PERB to certify a union and order employers to bargain in good faith if the federal government does not take action.

(AB 1340) Gig Workers

Gives Uber and Lyft drivers the right to form or join a union while maintaining their status as independent contractors. Also requires transportation network companies to bargain in good faith.

(AB 692) Training Repayment

Voids any terms of a labor contract that requires an employee to pay back a bonus or imposes a financial penalty if the employee leaves their job before a certain date. Also prohibits employers from requiring workers to repay training costs if they leave the company.

(SB 294) Know Your Rights

Starting in February, employers must provide workers with a written notice of their workplace rights, including workers’ compensation benefits, the right to organize and protections against immigration related practices.

HOUSING

(AB 628) Rental Dwellings

Requires that landlords provide a working stove and refrigerator for any rental dwelling if the contract is signed in 2026 or later. Tenants can provide their own stove or refrigerator if it is mutually agreed upon with the landlord.

(AB 246) Tenant Protection

Prevents eviction if a tenant is unable to pay the rent because Social Security payments were delayed or terminated by the federal government through no fault of the renter.

(SB 79) Housing Development

Allows the construction of higher density housing within half a mile of high frequency bus lines, rail and subway stations. Residential buildings could go as high as nine stories if they are next to transit hubs. The law, which takes effect in July, only applies to eight counties, including Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo, San Diego and Santa Clara. It overrides local zoning laws that restrict high density housing.

FIREARMS

(SB 53) Gun Storage

Toughens gun laws by requiring firearms stored in the home to be locked up in a safe or other secure device when not immediately being handled. Closes a loophole that allowed unsecured storage if the gun owner did not expect children to be present. Not complying could result in a misdemeanor or felony.

(AB 1127) Converter pistols

Prohibits the sale of Glock handguns that come with a trigger bar which makes it easier to convert them into fully automatic weapons using a simple switch. The law, which takes effect in July, does not affect current owners of Glock pistols.

CRIME

(AB 250) Sexual Assault

Temporarily extends the statute of limitations for adult survivors of sexual assault to sue private individuals or institutions for an alleged cover up. Survivors can file claims between January 1, 2026, and December 31, 2027, no matter when the alleged crime occurred.

(SB 258) Spousal Rape

Eliminates the spousal exception to the definition of rape and makes it a crime to sexually assault a spouse who is unable to consent due to force, a disability or unconsciousness.

(SB 464) Victim’s Rights

Requires all law enforcement agencies, medical facilities and public crime laboratories to conduct an audit by July 1, 2026, of all untested sexual assault evidence kits in their possession.

IMMIGRATION

Several of these immigration-related laws took effect as soon as they were signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September and October.

(AB 495) Family Preparedness Act

AB 495 is a direct reaction to increased ICE activity under the Trump administration. It allows a court to appoint a legal guardian for children if their parents are deported. The law broadens the range of relatives that could be appointed as caregivers to include all adults related by blood or adoption, including great-great aunts or uncles, cousins or stepsiblings. The caregiver designation does not give the person custody and can be cancelled by the parents.

The Family Preparedness Act also prohibits child daycare facilities from collecting information about a family’s immigration status or citizenship.

(AB 49) Immigration Enforcement in Schools

Prohibits school officials and employees from allowing federal immigration enforcement agents to enter schools without a warrant or court order. SB 98 requires schools to notify students, faculty and community members if federal immigration enforcement officers go into a campus.

(SB 81) Healthcare Providers

Designates a patient’s immigration status as protected medical data. It also requires healthcare facilities to designate safe zones not open to the public where access by immigration enforcement agents is restricted.

(SB 805) Law Enforcement Badges

Requires law enforcement officers in California who are not wearing a uniform to visibly display identification that includes their agency and either name or badge number. The law also makes it a misdemeanor to impersonate a law enforcement officer.

(SB 627) Law Enforcement Masks

Makes it a crime for a law enforcement officer to wear a mask or facial covering while performing their duties. The law affects local peace officers as well as federal agents. Officers could face civil penalties for false arrest or imprisonment of an individual if they are wearing a face covering. The Trump administration is challenging the law in court.

CLIMATE CHANGE

(SB 261) Carbon Emissions

Requires that companies doing business in California with more than $500 million in annual revenue publicly report their greenhouse gas emissions. This includes emissions generated directly by their business or indirectly from activities like transporting products.

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