Free Republic

California Gov. Gavin Newsom allowed local refineries to produce their “winter blend” of gasoline a month early in a bid to reduce gas prices, which have soared back to near-record levels even as prices in the rest of the country have slowly fallen from their peak. The move repeats a similar effort by Gov. Jerry Brown ten years ago, and is an admission that the state’s environmental regulations are partially to blame for the fact that California has higher prices than the rest of the country — more than $2.50 higher, as of today.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill into law Thursday making the state a refuge for transgender kids and their families who travel there to receive the gender-affirming care they’re banned from accessing in their home states. The new law, which will go into effect on Jan. 1 next year, takes direct aim at Alabama and Texas for those two states’ efforts to criminalize parents who allow their transgender children to receive hormone therapy and other types of gender-affirming treatments.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill to restrict prosecutors from using rap lyrics as evidence against criminal defendants in California.