By Charly SHELTON

New Year means new laws. These laws were voted on and passed in 2016 and 2017, and went into effect on Monday with the beginning of 2018. Here’s a sampling of the changes in California:

Minimum Wage Increase
The long-awaited and much-debated minimum wage increase kicked in this year. For businesses with 26 employees or more, the minimum wage is now $11/hour. This was passed in 2016 and instituted this year, with a $1/hour increase per year planned until 2022, when it reaches $15/hour. Businesses with 25 or fewer employees will increase to $10.50/hour this year and will reach the $15/hour mark in 2023. Though for some this seems like an insignificant increase, but it will even the scales for the millions of Californians who work full-time jobs at the current minimum wage but still can’t make rent. At $10/hour after taxes, someone would have to work 63 hours a week to afford rent on an average one-bedroom apartment in LA. And that’s just the rent payment. At the goal wage of $15/hour after taxes, it’s down to 41 hours a week to make rent. It is hoped that this increase will help those on the lower end of the pay scale.

Salary History
It is now illegal for California employers to ask a job applicant for their salary history, compensation or benefits. Usually job hopefuls would have to disclose their rate of pay at a current or former job so the employer knows what level of salary to offer. This could be disadvantageous because applicants who state an amount too high won’t be paid what they’re worth; if they state an amount too low, the salary offer might be reduced. Now, the employer has to say what the pay range is for the open position and can’t ask about salary history. It might completely turn the tables.

Background Checks
In another new work-related law, California becomes the 10th state to “ban the box.” Employers in both public and private sectors must wait to conduct background checks or ask about conviction records until a conditional job offer has been made.

Parental Leave
The U.S. is the only first-world country that doesn’t require businesses to provide paid parental leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 requires companies with 50 or more employees to allow up to 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave, with job and benefit security throughout. Now, 2018’s new law lowers that threshold from companies of 50 or more to companies of 20 or more.

Sanctuary State/Immigration
California has become a sanctuary state. This means that police are no longer able to ask about immigration status, participate in federal immigration enforcement actions, detain victims or witnesses based on suspected or actual immigration status, or turn them over to immigration officials without obtaining a warrant. Jail officials can only transfer inmates to federal immigration officers under certain circumstances and landlords are prohibited from disclosing their tenants’ citizenship. Universities cannot cooperate with immigration investigations, and immigration officials will now need a warrant to access workplaces or employee records. These actions are perceived as giving sanctuary to undocumented California residents who would be prosecuted in other states. Hence the name.

Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation
One cannot be denied admission into a long-term care facility based on gender identity or sexual orientation. It is also illegal to repeatedly fail to use a the preferred name or pronoun of a resident in a care facility.

Bullet Ban
In an effort to crack down on unregistered gun usage, ammunition purchased out of a catalog or online can’t be brought into California except through a licensed ammunition dealer thanks to Prop 63 that passed in 2016. The proposition also sets new deadlines and procedures for gun owners who have been convicted of felonies or certain misdemeanors to surrender their guns.

Light Bulbs
Incandescent light bulbs will be slowly faded out nationwide by 2020, with California reaching that goal this year. A 2007 energy efficiency law makes these old bulbs outmoded and unable to comply with new standards. Energy efficient LED bulbs and compact fluorescent lights will be the new standard.

New Laws for Schools
Schools get quite a bit of legislation this year. Public schools in low-income areas with students in grades six through 12 are required to provide free tampons in half of the school’s restrooms. Schools will now be prohibited from publicly denying a child lunch in the cafeteria because their parents haven’t paid the meal fees. This “lunch shaming” has been in the news over the last few years and has now been resolved. Students in grades seven to 12 will now be taught about sexual abuse and human trafficking prevention. And finally, the first year of community college will be free for in-state students who take a full 12-unit load. The $46 per unit fee will be waived for any first-time college student for one year. This returns California to the free tuition status it had at community colleges prior to 1984.

“One of the most significant new laws is the California College Promise,” said California State Assemblymember – 43rd District Laura Friedman. “A college degree can open the door to a lifetime of opportunity, but only if it’s attainable. For the over 2 million community college students in California, affording the tuition, books, fees, transportation, and housing costs is a constant struggle. For many California families, the financial barriers are insurmountable. Starting this year, the California College Promise enacted with the passage of AB 19 (Santiago) will waive the first year of fees for first-time students attending one of our 114 community colleges. With this program, we’re investing in our students today and building an educated and skilled workforce for tomorrow.”

Legal Marijuana
Then there is the giggling, red-eyed elephant in the room. Marijuana has been legalized for recreational use. The legal market for weed in California is estimated to be around $5 billion, giving the state nearly $1 billion in tax revenue and creating 1,200 jobs; however, many people are still apprehensive.

“The chief concerns are the total impact that legalization will have on the county and on the state. In the administration of regulatory procedures, the water usage for [outdoor cultivation], the power usage [for indoor cultivation] – because it takes a lot of power to run these [farms] – [will have] an impact on the population that will be something we’ll have to wait and see,” said Tony Bell, assistant chief deputy at LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s office. “The supervisor was opposed to the measure initially, she is not a supporter of legal marijuana usage, but we are encouraged by the state’s emphasis on curbing impaired driving, mainly because of Assemblyman [Tom] Lackey’s legislation that empowers the California Highway Patrol with tools to determine who is impaired and who’s not impaired. That’s very important.”

However, many are speaking out in praise of the beginning of the new legal marijuana market.

“The first of January marks the beginning of a challenging but worthwhile process of implementing responsible, adult-use marijuana regulations in our state,” said Lt. Commander Diane Goldstein (Ret.), executive board member for the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, in a statement released Dec. 31. “It’s only a matter of time before we begin to benefit from more effective law enforcement and additional tax revenue to strengthen the communities that need it most.”

State officials are projecting that legal recreational marijuana will soon make up 61.5% of the overall weed market, with about one-third of all users still buying it illegally and 9% as medical marijuana. The legal sale is conducted through licensed shops, which opened their doors on Monday to long lines and much celebration with the stroke of midnight. Also included in the law is the right to grow marijuana plants for personal use, so long as the plants are properly protected so that no unauthorized individual can take from the plant.

The regulations on marijuana are similar to other laws – geographic restrictions similar to smoking cigarettes with usage restrictions similar to alcohol. Marijuana can be smoked anywhere a cigarette can be smoked except within 1,000 feet of a school, daycare or youth center while children are present, or while driving or in the car as a passenger. Adults 21 and over can patronize legally licensed shops between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

“[This is] something that’s certainly struck a chord this year,” Bell said. “There’s a lot of regulations and a lot of laws, but I think this one is very impactful. We’ll see. Hopefully it works out well.”

  Charly Shelton