On September 1, 2020 a California judge ruled that the University of California system may no longer consider SAT or ACT scores when making admissions decisions. https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/01/us/university-of-california-sat-act-trnd/index.html
To be clear, this is different than test optional. The judge stated that the UC system may not consider test scores despite the fact that a student may have taken the test and submitted the test for consideration. The impact of this decision is significant and will likely spread across the country as more universities consider moving away from standardized tests.
What does this mean for applicants? This year, if the university is “test optional,” and you have taken a standardized test, you should submit the test score. Most “optional” universities will still review the score and a high test score can still make a positive impact. Applicants applying next year or after, we simply have to wait and see.