Newsom signs an apology to California Indians, then vetoes three bills they fought for

On California Native American Day, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was sorry. Within a week, he vetoed three of the bills tribes had worked hardest to pass.

On Sept. 25 the governor’s office announced that Newsom had signed ten bills “advancing tribal priorities.” Two days later he vetoed a bill creating a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons justice program. On Sept. 30 he vetoed two more, one protecting tribal religious practice and sacred sites on state land and one giving tribes a voice in state water decisions.

What Newsom signed

AB 2115 (Ramos), the Rowena Mae Ramos Act. The Legislature and the state courts formally apologize to California Native Americans. According to the governor’s office, the bill has the state “recognize and accept responsibility for all of the harms and atrocities committed by its public officials.” It builds on Newsom’s 2019 executive apology. The California Native Vote Project notes that it also calls for a commemorative plaque at the Capitol.

AB 1841 (Ramos), Native American Day. The bill establishes California Native American Day as an official state holiday. The governor’s announcement described it as a paid holiday. Author James C. Ramos, the Legislature’s only Native American member, called it “the foundation for a paid state holiday.” The Native Vote Project reports that paid time off for state workers depends on a future legislative appropriation.

AB 2507 (Nguyen), Office of Tribal Affairs. The Governor’s Office of Tribal Affairs, created by Newsom in 2022, becomes permanent under a Secretary of Tribal Affairs. The law sets up a Tribal Advisory Committee, requires state agencies whose work affects tribes to name tribal liaisons, and directs the office to support consultation policies, according to the legislative digest. It was chaptered Sept. 25 as Chapter 449, Statutes of 2026.

The governor also signed bills on tribal police (AB 31), the California Indian Heritage Center (AB 1592), tribal colleges (AB 1641 and AB 1769), Indian children in guardianship and conservatorship cases (AB 1824), and federal tribal contracting authority (AB 2187), plus SB 594, a short-term rental bill. That makes ten.

What Newsom vetoed

SB 891 (Cervantes), vetoed Sept. 27. The bill would have created a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Justice Program at the state Department of Justice to coordinate between families, tribal governments and law enforcement. It also required annual public data reports. In his veto message, Newsom pointed to the Feather Alert system and an MMIP grant program that now has $15 million a year in permanent funding. He called SB 891 “a new, unfunded program that is duplicative of the work already underway.”

AB 1881 (Ramos), the California Indian Freedom Act, vetoed Sept. 30. Starting in 2028, state agencies could not have “substantially burden[ed]” a California Indian’s or tribe’s religious practice on state land, including access to sacred sites, unless they showed a compelling interest and used the least restrictive means, according to the digest. Agencies would also have needed a tribe’s free, prior and informed consent before physically altering a known sacred site. Newsom wrote that he was “sympathetic to the goals” but warned of “far-reaching impacts” on state operations, CalMatters reported. The California Chamber of Commerce applauded the veto.

AB 2218 (Kalra), tribal water policy, vetoed Sept. 30. The bill would have made it state policy to address inequities “inflicted upon all California Native American tribes” over water. It would have required water agencies to consult tribes, offer financial assistance, and send disputes to mediation through the Office of Tribal Affairs before court. Newsom wrote that it was “not sufficiently clear about how its new policy will be implemented.” Malissa Tayaba, vice chair of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, a co-sponsor, called the veto a “backhanded betrayal of California tribes and a direct contradiction of his apology.”

What about tribes without federal recognition?

This question matters most to our readers. CalMatters counts 62 California tribes without federal recognition, the Muwekma Ohlone among them. Federal sacred-site and consultation protections largely pass those tribes by.

The two vetoed bills on sacred sites and water were written around the state-law term “California Native American tribe.” In the state’s environmental review law, that term is defined as any tribe on the contact list kept by the Native American Heritage Commission, a list that includes tribes the federal government does not recognize. AB 2218’s digest refers to “all California Native American tribes.” The Legislature’s bill-text site could not be reached for this story, so we could not confirm the final definitions section of either bill. On their face, though, both bills spoke to tribes like ours. Those are the protections that were vetoed.

Among the bills that became law, AB 2507’s digest speaks of “tribal governments” without saying whether non-federally recognized tribes will sit on the new Tribal Advisory Committee or be assigned agency liaisons. How the office answers that question will show whether “permanent” consultation includes the Bay Area’s original people.

What comes next

Newsom cannot run for re-election, and Californians choose his successor on Nov. 3. Every tribe and advocacy group behind the vetoed bills now has to start over with a new governor and a new Legislature. Tayaba and other tribal leaders have said they will keep pushing for consultation and co-stewardship. The governor’s office has also promised a report from the California Truth and Healing Council “this fall.” It had not been released as of this writing.

An apology is a statement. A sacred site protected by law is a commitment. On the way out, Newsom delivered the first and refused the second.