October typically marks the end of California’s legislative session, where bills passed by lawmakers head to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk to be vetoed or signed into law (if the governor takes no action in the required time frame, the bill becomes a statute). Flanked by Los Angeles restaurateurs, Newsom signed two bills on Thursday, October 9, 2025, at Downtown Los Angeles’s Joyce Soul & Sea. Assembly Bills 592 and 671 have the potential to lessen the challenges surrounding restaurant operation throughout the Golden State, while two others await approval.

Newsom’s deadline to complete the year’s final signing session is October 12. In previous years, Newsom approved legislation that increased the rights and wages of fast-food workers, offered protections to street food vendors, and bolstered home-operated cooking businesses. In 2025, the new slate of restaurant-related laws was written to minimize the state’s extensive red tape and permitting process, along with aid for struggling small businesses. Below is a rundown of four laws either passed or awaiting Newsom’s approval.

Assembly Bill 592: Adjustments to existing outdoor dining regs and requirements

A lot is covered under Assembly Bill 592, starting with the permanent removal of parking requirements for outdoor dining. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants were given a lifeline in May 2020 after indoor dining was temporarily banned during social distancing requirements. Easing outdoor dining requirements was permitted under a Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s (ABC) COVID-19 Temporary Catering Authorization, which expanded restaurants’ “existing licensed premises to include an area that is adjacent to the licensed premises and under the control of the licensee,” according to the ABC. AB 592 preserves the temporary workaround to utilize parking lots and other designated areas as outdoor dining spaces. The temporary authorization to use these spaces is set to expire in 2026, but has been extended until 2029.

Expanded outdoor seating significantly shifted dining culture throughout the Southland since 2020. AB 592 clears another red tape hurdle for restaurants: Currently, open windows are not permitted at food service facilities, restaurant kitchens, or spaces with open kitchens. AB 592 removes California’s restriction on open windows, folding doors, or non-fixed storefronts. AB 592 also requires California cities to develop their own programs that facilitate the removal of parking to support outdoor dining. The California Conference of Local Health Officers, a nonprofit representing physician health officers, opposes AB 592, citing the need to prioritize food preparation safety in enclosed areas.

Assembly Bill 671: Accelerated restaurant building plan approval

Restaurant plan checks are crucial for new restaurants, where building officials review plans for building code compliance, permitting, zoning, and code inspections. The process can be lengthy and costly for operators, who often delay their openings while the reviews are underway. Assembly Bill 671 has the potential to mitigate this process through self-certification of restaurant plan checks, while still focusing on health and safety protections. Restaurant owners who hope to modify existing spaces can allow licensed architects and engineers to self-certify plans under this law. On average, Los Angeles restaurants can wait up to two years to finalize permits and compliance; if signed by Newsom, AB 671 might help reduce that.

Assembly Bill 828: Alcoholic beverage control: neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses

According to Independent Hospitality Coalition co-founder Eddie Navarette, Assembly Bill 828 is a win for the City of Los Angeles. California’s Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Act regulates the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages, as well as granting licenses to sell alcohol. “The same license you would get the opportunity to win in the priority drawing process, or its street name: the liquor lottery,” says Navarette. “It gives Assemblyman Mark Gonzalez’s district 40 additional licenses through the priority drawing process.”

This bill would authorize ABC to issue no more than 12 new original neighborhood-restricted special on-sale general licenses per year to public eating places located in the County of Los Angeles beginning on January 1, 2026. They’ll continue issuing them until a maximum of 40 new licenses have been issued in Chinatown, Downtown LA, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Koreatown, and others through a localized priority-drawing process that makes liquor licenses more accessible in these areas. California’s standard ABC licenses run $85,000, while special priority-drawing licenses cost $15,000. Though this bill made its way through the California Assembly, Newsom has yet to sign AB 828.

Assembly Bill 265: Small Business Recovery Fund Act

Due to rising operating costs, the Eaton and Palisades fires, Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes, and other factors, Los Angeles restaurants and businesses are struggling deeply in 2025. Assembly Bill 265 authorizes a $100 million recovery fund for small businesses in declared disaster zones. AB 265 is an appropriation bill requiring California’s Office of Small Business Advocate to allocate grant money to the Small Business Recovery Fund. If signed by Newsom, the grants would be designated for rebuilding efforts, faster access to technical advising, capital resources, and recovery tools.