(Subscription required) Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a 2026-2027 state budget that includes a massive funding infusion for courthouse construction, extends the use of remote proceedings through 2031 and creates 13 new judgeships.

As the Sacramento Superior Court settles into the new Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye Sacramento County Courthouse at 500 G Street, the former Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse has entered a very different phase of public life. The six-story downtown building, roughly 470,000 square feet, is now for sale at $13.6 million.

With the start of the new fiscal year in California on Wednesday, dozens of laws take effect, including a zoning overhaul to boost denser housing development near transit, requirements for an all-gender bathroom in every school and streamlined rules for food labeling.

The court’s 6-3 decision allows – but doesn’t require – states to bar transgender student athletes from playing on girls’ and women’s sports teams, upholding state laws in Idaho and West Virginia. Including California, 23 states let transgender students play on teams that align with their gender identity. That means California and 22 other states that let transgender students play on teams that align with their gender identity can continue to do so.