Big wins for organized labor and progressive causes as California lawmakers wrap for the year

By ADAM BEAM and SOPHIE AUSTIN
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers have finished their work for 2023. The Legislature sent hundreds of bills to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has the next month to decide which to sign into law. Labor unions have had a string of big victories this year. Lawmakers agreed to give health care workers a $25 minimum wage. Fast food workers got a $20 minimum wage increase. And lawmakers voted to make workers who have been on strike for at least two weeks eligible for unemployment benefits. That could benefit striking actors, writers and hotel workers in Southern California. Lawmakers also passed the nation’s most sweeping emissions disclosure law on big businesses.