A California first: woman signs bill into state law

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — For the first time in California's 171-year history, a woman has signed a bill into state law.

Gov. Gavin Newsom normally signs the laws in California, but he left the state on Wednesday night for a family vacation in Central and South America. State law requires Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis to act as governor until he returns.

The Legislature on Thursday morning passed a bill to extend a law preventing some renters from being evicted until the end of June. The bill had to be signed into law on Thursday because the old law was set to expire and tens of thousands of renters could have been evicted starting Friday.

It ended up being an historic moment for the nation's most populous state, which has a reputation as a progressive powerhouse but has never elected a woman governor.

“It was very humbling. And I did feel that sense of history,” said Kounalakis, who also signed a separate bill relating to elections on Thursday. “For many years women have been writing legislation ... but no woman has ever signed a bill into law. And it felt like a moment in history that we should recognize as important.”

California has elected plenty of women to other statewide offices.

In 1992 voters sent two Democratic women to the U.S. Senate. Dianne Feinstein still is serving while Barbara Boxer retired in 2017 and was replaced by Kamala Harris, who previously was state attorney general and now is vice president.

California's female power was on display during President Joe Biden's recent State of the Union address, when Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sat behind him. Pelosi has represented San Francisco in Congress since 1987.

Kounalakis, a former president of a real estate development company who served as ambassador to Hungary under President Barack Obama,...