– Creative Commons Governor of California, Gavin Newsom and his administration have now made history in the battle against book bans. They are now the second state legislature to pass legislation standing against unnecessary and ill-meaning censorship after Illinois.

On Monday, September 25, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill No. 1078 – “Instructional materials and curriculum: diversity” into law. This marks California the second state after Illinois to propose and pass a law made to combat the issue of book bans, under the coined term “banning book bans”.

This landmark piece of legislation from the Newsom administration in California builds off the previously established, “Safe Place to Learn Act” from 2019, which established that the State Department of Education is supposed to monitor any “local educational agency” in order to enforce “a policy that prohibits discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying based on specified protected characteristics.”

This law protects materials from being restricted or banned on school grounds based on unfounded or discriminatory grounds, specifically on the grounds of racial and LGBQ diversity.

This most current law now is specifically on the topic of instructional materials and curriculums with the California government being able to fine educational agencies they find in contempt. After it was signed into law, the law went into effect immediately and now is working to keep diversity a priority in California public schools.