5 New CA Laws That Will Affect Your Wallet In 2026

In 2026, California employees, consumers and renters will see a handful of new laws take effect that are meant to pad their pockets.

“California is hard at work to help make your life more affordable," Gov. Gavin Newsom said after signing a slew of new bills in October. "While the Trump administration’s policies increase prices and make it more difficult to get by, California is passing laws to help eliminate unnecessary fees and add-ons cost time and money."

From new wage hikes to justice for a DoorDash order gone wrong — here are five laws that will affect your finances next year.

Refunds On Food Delivery Orders

Sponsored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda), AB 578 will ensure that customers get their money back when a food-delivery platform fails to deliver an order. It simplifies refund access and aims to cut down on the “junk fees” and refund runarounds that have frustrated consumers since the rise of app-based delivery services.

The law will also require food delivery services to provide service features that allow customers to speak to a "natural" person.

"This legislation ensures full refunds for failed deliveries," Bauer-Kahan wrote in a summery of the bill. "Simply providing credits is neither sufficient nor fair, as customers are rightfully entitled to recover their money rather than accepting a substitute."

Strengthening Pay Transparency

Senate Bill 642 will introduce a major update to the state’s pay transparency and equal pay laws when it takes effect Jan. 1. The law revises what employers must disclose in job postings by defining “pay scale” as a good-faith estimate of the wage or salary range the employer reasonably expects to pay at the time of hire,” tightening transparency requirements.

It also strengthens the state’s equal pay protections by clarifying that employers may not pay employees of “another sex” lower wages for substantially similar work—a change that broadens protections beyond the old “opposite sex” language.

SB 642 also extends the deadline to file civil actions for wage violations to three years and allows workers to recover pay for up to six years of discriminatory compensation practices. The law also sets clearer rules on when a pay discrimination claim accrues and expands definitions of wages and wage rates for enforcement purposes.

Cracking Down on Price Collusion

Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) introduced AB 325 to strengthen California’s antitrust laws in the digital era.

Beginning Jan. 1, pricing algorithms will be subject to state antitrust oversight, preventing companies from using software to coordinate prices or create artificial scarcity that drives up costs. It will target hidden forms of collusion in online marketplaces and e-commerce.

"Whether you’re sitting in person or using technology, price fixing is cheating. It hurts honest business, California families struggling to make ends meet; frankly it hurts everyone except the cheaters,” Winters said.

The law is expected to close a loophole in California’s Cartwright Act that let corporations use algorithmic pricing to coordinate prices, which raise costs for things like rent, groceries, and housing.

Minimum Wage Increases

California’s statewide minimum wage will increase to $16.90 per hour on Jan. 1, up from $16.50 in 2025.

The increase applies to most workers, and employers must ensure that exempt salaried employees earn at least twice the state minimum wage — at least $70,304 annually for full-time workers — to maintain exemption status.

Employers are also reminded to post updated wage orders where employees can see them, the state said.

Landlords Must Provide Appliances

Beginning Jan. 1, California landlords must include a working stove and refrigerator as part of the minimum habitability standards for most rental units. The new requirement, part of Assembly Bill 628, adds these kitchen appliances to the list of features that make a home legally “tenantable.”

Landlords must also repair or replace appliances subject to recall within 30 days of notification.

Tenants and landlords may agree in writing that the tenant will provide a refrigerator, but landlords cannot make tenancy contingent on that arrangement. Certain housing types, including permanent supportive housing, are exempt.
The bill was authored by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood).

“A working stove and a working refrigerator are not luxuries — they are a necessary part of modern life,” said McKinnor previously. “By making these necessary appliances standard in rental homes, California can provide all of its residents with a safer, more affordable and more dignified place to call home.”