Monday, December 31, 2007

New Years bring New Laws to CA

By BRIAN JOSEPH
The Orange County Register
SACRAMENTO – It's Jan. 1, a time for hangovers, resolutions and … new state laws.
Unbeknownst to most Californians, hundreds of new laws go into effect every New Year, although many amount to nothing more than minor or technical changes to state programs or statutes.
A few, however, can be felt across the golden state. Here's a look at some that may be of interest to you.

Minimum wage: Fast food workers of the world, rejoice. California's minimum wage rises to $8 an hour today, up from $7.50 an hour in 2007. California, along with Massachusetts, now has the second highest minimum wage in the country, behind Washington state's, which is $8.07 an hour.

Don't smoke in cars with kids: California is now the third state in the nation to ban smoking in the car with minors. The new law imposes a fine of up to $100 for smoking a pipe, cigar or cigarette in a motor vehicle with another person 17 or younger. The infraction is a secondary offense, meaning you can be fined for it only if you're stopped on suspicion of another, more serious offense. And the fine applies regardless of whether the car is moving.

Cash back for gift cards: California stores now have to give you cash back when you have less than $10 remaining on a gift card. Before, retailers could require you to spend the entire amount at their stores, but this resulted in many consumers simply throwing cards away when only a few dollars remained. It's such a common practice that Best Buy booked $43 million in profits from unspent gift cards in 2006. The new law applies to all gift cards, even those purchased before the law went into effect.

Kangaroo products for sale: California retailers can now legally sell kangaroo leather products, the most popular of which is soccer cleats made from the soft skins. Forty-eight other states allowed their sale before California, which banned it to protect endangered animals, although not all kangaroos are endangered and reports indicate the law hadn't been really enforced for years.

HIV testing becomes routine: California patients are no longer required to fill out a consent form before being tested for HIV. Under the new law, doctors still have to tell patients they would like to add HIV to the list of other conditions they are testing for, but the form has been eliminated. The law has been called the biggest change in AIDS policy since the '80s and is expected to result in earlier detection. Patients can still decline if they don't want to be tested.

Citizenship – don't ask, don't tell: California cities and counties are now forbidden from passing any laws that would require landlords to inquire about the citizenship or immigration status of current or potential tenants. This law was prompted largely by the city of Escondido, which adopted an ordinance that barred landlords from renting to undocumented immigrants. The ordinance was immediately challenged in federal court, which issued a temporary restraining order. The city council rescinded the ordinance a short time later.

Notification when you change parties: State law now requires that when county election officials notify voters in writing that their voter registration information has been updated, the letters must note that the change could be to their party affiliation. Before, the notification letters simply listed the new information, including the new party affiliation, but many voters didn't notice it. A 2006 Orange County Register investigation found that more than 100 unsuspecting voters had their party affiliations changed to Republican without their consent by signature gatherers circulating petitions and voter registration cards.

Here are some of the other laws that take effect with the start of the new year:

Lights, water: Legislation by Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, gives the California Energy Commission until the end of 2008 to develop tougher efficiency standards for general purpose lights. Other Huffman bills authorize a $250 million subsidy program to encourage installation of solar water heaters and require the Energy Commission to establish water-efficiency standards for the design of new buildings.

Homeless shelters: A new law written by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, is intended to remove roadblocks for homeless shelters by requiring cities and counties to designate areas where shelters can be located without obtaining a conditional use permit.

Identification devices: Legislation by Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, prohibits an employer or anyone else from requiring a person to have a radio frequency identification device inserted under the skin. The devices, about the size of a rice grain, can be used to track and transmit personal information about the user.

Flood control: Cities and counties could be forced to cover a share of the damage caused by flooding if they approve new development without considering flood risks, under legislation by Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento. A related bill by Sen. Mike Machado, D-Linden, will require cities and counties in the flood-prone Central Valley to follow new flood protection requirements in making land-use decisions.

Gang parenting: Courts could require the parents or guardians of gang members to attend parenting classes under legislation by Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, that attempts to prevent first-time juvenile offenders from committing additional crimes.

Sperm cleansing: Legislation by Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, allows sperm from a man with HIV to be used to artificially inseminate a wife or partner who does not have the disease if the woman consents and the sperm is processed to minimize the possibility of infection.

Iran investments: The state's two giant public pension funds, the California ublic Employees' Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System, will be prohibited from investing in companies that have defense- or nuclear energy-related business with Iran. The bill is by Assemblyman Joel Anderson, R-La Mesa.

Phony music: Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Canada Flintridge, is the author of a law that attempts to ensure that music fans who buy tickets to oldies concerts are not victims of deceptive advertising. The legislation requires performing groups to meet at least one of several standards to be able to legally use the name from the groups' recording days. An example: The group must include at least one member who has the legal right to use the name. Bands also can avoid lawsuits by acknowledging they are a salute or tribute to the original recording group and had a name that did not confuse ticket buyers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.