T
he start of the new year brings a lot of changes for everyone. For many people, the new year is the perfect time to for self-improvement through New Year’s Resolutions. However, this isn’t the change that we are talking about.
Every year, lawmakers discuss and debate new laws. When they agree on a law, it is assigned a date when the law will go into effect. Typically, this date is January 1st of the following year. This is why the new year always brings new laws with it.
Due to the fact that new laws appear each year, it is very important for people to pay attention to the changes or else they could find themselves in trouble for doing something that is no longer legal.
Some New California Laws for 2020
Each year in California, law makers vote on dozens of laws to decide whether or not they should be enacted. Due to the sheer volume of laws being considered, even if a lot of laws are rejected, there are still plenty that get added each year. Here is just a sample of some of the laws going into effect on January 1st, 2020:
- Assembly Bill (AB) 5 – Forces companies to reevaluate all contract workers and consider them employees, with full benefits, unless they can prove that the worker is a contractor based on certain requirements.
- AB 9 – Extends the time period in which employees can make claims of discrimination and harassments against companies from 1 year to 3 years.
- AB 12 – Makes it so law enforcement officers can request firearm restraining orders against an individual. Also makes it so that courts can adjust the length of the restraining order’s time period to be anywhere from 1 to 5 years in length. AB 25 (California Consumer Privacy Act) – Requires businesses that collect digital information about consumers to alert consumers to what information is being collected, allow the consumer to deny the collection and selling of that information, and to allow the consumer to request a company to delete any information it may have collected on the consumer. Also allows consumers whose information got stolen to sue the company that allowed the theft to occur.
- AB 178 – Requires all new homes being built in California after January 1st, 2020 to have solar panels installed on them.
- AB218 – Expands what counts as childhood sexual abuse, reclassifies childhood sexual abuse as childhood sexual assault, and extends the statute of limitations for reporting such incidents from 8 years to 22 years.
- AB 272– Makes it so that governing bodies of schools can decided if and when students can use cell phones while at school and in classes. Also sets specific circumstances when a school cannot prevent a student from using a cell phone.
- AB 317 – Makes it an infraction for a person to sell their appointment with the DMV to someone else.
- AB 377 – Modifies different aspects of microenterprise home kitchens. Notably, prohibits microenterprise home kitchens from producing and selling any and all dairy products, modifies how these operations are inspected, and prohibits microenterprise home kitchens from using the word catering in any advertisements.
- AB 391 – Reduces the amount of time a company has to wait to report a rental or leased vehicle as stolen after a failure to return from 5 days to 72 hours.
- AB 392 – Redefines when it is acceptable for a police officer to use deadly force.
New Laws for the New Year
This is just a small sample of all of the laws that were voted for over the last year. Some of them affect the general populace more than others. Regardless, it is always important for a person to stay up to date on all the new laws coming into effect at the start of each year. Failing to do so is a great way for a person wind up in unexpected trouble.
What do you think of some of these new laws for 2020? Do some take things too far? Are others long overdue? Are there any new laws that you know about that you feel should have been on this list? If so, share them in the comments below and help other people stay in the know.
