Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed 770 bills into law this year, many of them impacting people’s daily lives will take effect as soon as Jan. 1, 2022.
Here are a few of the more noteworthy ones:
- Animal welfare: Proposition 12, approved by voters in 2018, makes the use of metal enclosures that restrict pigs from turning around and cages that prevent hens from opening their wings illegal.
- Minimum wage: SB 3 requires the minimum wage for all industries employing 26 or more employees to rise to $15, or $14 for those employing 25 or fewer workers.
- Cocktails to go: SB 389 extends permission for getting cocktails and wine to go with dinner orders at restaurants until Dec. 31, 2026. The delivery of cocktails alone, however, ends Friday.
- Traffic safety: AB 43 authorizes local authorities to reduce speed limits to protect the safety of vulnerable groups such as pedestrians and cyclists.
- Non-conformity: A new law not taking full effect until 2024 mandates that department stores with more than 500 employees provide a gender-neutral section displaying “a reasonable selection” of items regardless of whether they’ve been traditionally marketed for either girls or boys. The law does not include clothing. LGBTQ advocates maintain use of pink and blue pressures children to conform to gender stereotypes.
- Food delivery apps: In an effort to support delivery workers and increase billing transparency, AB 286 makes it illegal for food delivery apps to retain any portion of a tip or gratuity. If the order is for delivery, tips must go to the individual worker. If the order is for pickup, the gratuity must go to the restaurant.
- Police reform: AB 1475 protects the rights of people arrested, but not yet prosecuted, forbidding law enforcement from posting mug shots of those arrested on suspicion of nonviolent crimes.
- Rape: Alters California’s penal code to make rape within marriage the same as any other instance of rape.
- Police decertification: Allows police officers who have committed misconduct to be de-certified. Previously, problematic officers could sometimes find employment in other areas without repercussions. Now, they could have their license revoked and not be able to simply switch departments after being fired.
– City News Service