6 new California laws going into effect Oct. 1, 2025

A number of new laws are set to take effect in California on Oct.1, 2025. The laws cover the use of AI in hiring practices, taxing cannabis and more.

Click through the gallery below to see the state laws you need to know.

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The California Civil Rights Council approved regulations taking effect on Oct. 1, 2025, that clarify that employers cannot use artificial intelligence (AI) and automated-decision systems (ADSs) to make hiring or employment decisions that discriminate against job applicants or employees based on their national origin, sex, pregnancy, marital status, disability or age.

According to the council, these automated-decision systems can exacerbate existing biases and contribute to discriminatory outcomes, including hiring tools that reject women applicants by mimicking the existing features of a company’s male-dominated workforce or a job advertisement delivery system that reinforces gender and racial stereotypes such as directing cashier ads to women and taxi jobs to Black workers.

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Assembly Bill 489 prohibits artificial intelligence systems from impersonating licensed healthcare professionals, either directly though video calls or online chats or by using terms and conversational tones that imply a patient may be interacting with a human provider.

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A law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom Sept. 22 temporarily rolls back the cannabis excise tax to 15% until 2028, suspending an increase to 19% levied earlier this year. The law is meant to help dispensaries that proponents say are operating under slim margins due to being bogged down by years of overregulation.

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Senate Bill 129, which implements several labor‑related rules tied to the 2025–26 budget, allows certain state employees who hold high-level managerial positions, known as Career Executive Assignment, to be eligible for Nonindustrial Disability Insurance for a disability period beginning on or after July 1, 2025.

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Senate Bill 129 also allows for construction contracts for the Golden Gate Bridge Seismic Retrofit Project awarded in 2025 to be exempt from stricter lead regulations that went into effect statewide on Jan. 1. The exemption was granted to prevent project delays, as the seismic retrofit involves removing a large quantity of existing lead-based paint on the bridge.
Senate Bill 129 also requires a $584 million supplemental payment from the state’s General Fund to the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund to help address the state’s unfunded pension liabilities.