On September 28, 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill (AB) 3129, which sought to regulate private equity (PE) transactions involving healthcare organizations by requiring certain transactions to be reviewed by, and to receive approval from, the California Attorney General (AG).

In his veto message, Governor Newsom stated that the state’s Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA), established in 2022, has the power to review and evaluate healthcare transactions (including the ones at issue in AB 3129).¹ While OHCA does not have the power to block proposed transactions, as the AG would have had under AB 3129, it can refer transactions to the AG for further examination. Put simply, the governor’s veto seems to stem from concern that taking power away from the newly-created OHCA could muddy the waters in healthcare transaction regulation.

While there is a possibility that the California legislature could override Governor Newsom’s veto, it appears unlikely as of the publication of this Alert.² However, the overall popularity of this bill in the legislature (as evidenced by the fairly wide margins with which it passed) indicates that PE groups looking to transact in the healthcare space – both in California and across the U.S. – should be on high alert, as regulators are increasingly turning their focus on the role of PE in healthcare.

For more information on AB 3129, as well as the status of state and federal regulation of PE, see the September 2024 Health Capital Topics article entitled, “California Passes Bill Regulating Private Equity Deals.”³