California school districts will be required to limit or prohibit the use of smartphones in public schools following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature of a new bill into law Monday. AB 3216, authored by Republican Assemblymember Josh Hoover of Folsom, requires school districts to adopt a policy to limit or ban phones on school campuses by July 1, 2026.

Newsom has faced lobbying from both sides. Yeni Linares, an undocumented immigrant who has cleaned houses in Southern California for nearly two decades, said she lost her car and apartment during the pandemic when she couldn’t work due to lockdown measures. She reminded Newsom that rejecting the proposal could also cost him politically.

"Paper or plastic" will no longer be a choice at grocery store checkout lines in California under a new law signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom that bans all plastic shopping bags. California had already banned thin plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and other stores,