New laws affecting Silicon Valley in 2025

A new year brings new state laws, with Gov. Gavin Newsom signing hundreds of bills addressing many of California’s pressing issues.

The bills range from cracking down on crime to creating safer spaces in schools for LGBTQ+ students, all of which will affect Silicon Valley.

Here’s a list of some laws that take effect in 2025.

Cannabis and alcohol

Assembly Bill 1775: Cannabis cafes will be allowed to sell food and beverages that aren’t pre-packaged, as well as tickets to performances, such as live music. Purple Lotus opened San Jose’s first downtown retail storefront for cannabis this year.

Senate Bill 969: The bill allows local governments, including city and county, to establish entertainment zones so bars and restaurants can sell alcoholic beverages on public streets and sidewalks. The entertainment zones must be reviewed every two years.

Education

Assembly Bill 1955: Public schools will no longer be able to have or create policies requiring staff to contact a student’s parents about their child’s sexual orientation, gender identity or expression without the student’s consent.

Gabrielle Antolovich, board president of the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Center, said she’s happy Newsom signed the bill. When Antolovich was growing up, she said staff at her school told her parents about her attraction to women which led to shaming.

“The school is a place of education where you learn about who you are, and you get to experiment with what that feels like until you are ready to tell your family,” Antolovich told San José Spotlight.

The bill comes during a local uproar over LGBTQ+ topics in the classroom. In Cupertino, a nonbinary teacher was placed on leave after parents grew upset over material relating to gender identity and expression in their classroom.

Assembly Bill 1825: The Freedom to Read Act prohibits public libraries from banning books on the sole basis of the inclusion of race, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or political affiliation. The law requires all public and school libraries to adopt a collection development policy to guide the “selection and deselection of library materials” and establish a process for the community to share concerns over materials by January 2026.

Assembly Bill 1821: California public schools will be required to teach the impact of the Mission period and Gold Rush on Native Americans.

Assembly Bill 1780: The bill will ban legacy admission, along with prioritized admission for students associated with donors, for colleges that accept state funding beginning in September.

Consumer

Assembly Bill 375: Food delivery services, such as DoorDash and UberEats, will have to provide customers with the first and last name of their delivery driver, along with a photo, effective in March.

Housing

Senate Bill 1211: Tiny homes, also known as accessory dwelling units (ADUs), are an ever-growing trend in Silicon Valley. The bill increases the maximum number of ADUs on a site with multifamily dwellings from two to eight, depending on the number of existing homes. San Jose was the first California city to allow the sale of ADUs as condos to help create more affordable housing.

Senate Bill 450: The bill requires local governments to drop certain zoning requirements, making it easier for homeowners to divide their homes into as many as four separate units. It strengthens Senate Bill 9, passed in 2021, which allows homeowners to subdivide lots for new construction and build up to four homes on each lot.

Senate Bill 1395: Also known as the Interim Housing Act, the bill makes it easier for cities to build temporary tiny homes for homeless residents.

Assembly Bill 2347: New legislation also increased tenant protections. The bill, authored by local District 25 Assemblymember Ash Kalra, gives tenants 10 business days to respond to an eviction notice, rather than five.

The bill could help San Jose residents. A recent audit found San Jose doesn’t have clear guidelines for taking action against property owners who break the law and unjustly evict tenants.

Employment 

Senate Bill 988: The Freelance Worker Protection Act will require independent contractors to be paid on or before their contract date, or no later than 30 days after service completion if there’s no specific date.

Assembly Bill 2123: Employees will be allowed to use paid family leave without having to use vacation hours first.

Crime

Proposition 36, which was passed by 68.4% of voters statewide rather than receiving Newsom’s signature, will impact crime in Santa Clara County. The proposition escalates the punishment for people who have repeatedly committed some drug and theft crimes from a misdemeanor to a felony and lengthens some felony sentences.

The law also allows some people who complete drug or mental health treatment to have their charges dismissed. It took effect Dec. 18.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan was a strong supporter of the proposition.

“I championed Prop. 36 because we need better tools for holding repeat offenders accountable and ensuring that people suffering from severe addiction get treatment,” he told San José Spotlight. “But it will only make a difference if state and county leaders expand in-patient treatment capacity and are willing to use these new tools to compel people to use it.”
Assembly Bill 2475: The bill increases how long an incarcerated individual who has committed a violent crime can be held in a mental health facility from five days to up to 30 days if a judge deems they can be released. The bill aims to give the state more time for a more comprehensive release plan, such as housing.

Senate Bill 1414: The bill raises the classification for soliciting and buying sex from minors under 16 from a misdemeanor to a felony.

Assembly Bill 3209: The bill, authored by local District 23 Assemblymember Marc Berman, allows retail stores to get a restraining order against a person who steals, vandalizes the store or assaults an employee. Restraining order violators can receive a misdemeanor.

“Whether you are shopping at a local store or working there, every Californian deserves to feel safe,” Berman said in a statement.