Businesses were ordered to close. Schools were shuttered. People were told to stay home. Many believed that in a week or two life for the most part would return to normal and that COVID would be a bad memory.

Now, four months later, California has not just halted reopening but is reversing course. As people and businesses strained under the stress of emotional and economic turmoil, the state – without missing a beat – began to pile on new regulations. Unfortunately, people and innovation will pay the price.

The California Consumer Privacy Act, a massive consumer privacy regulation, was forced through the state legislature in 2018. The law was so problematic and ill-written that an enforcement date had to be set two years in the future so that whole paragraphs of ambiguous language could be addressed. The mechanisms for expanded policing and enforcement on the internet had to be determined. Unaffordable compliance costs for every website that can be viewed in California had to be considered as well.