From paid leave while caring for family to detailed instructions given out to new pet owners, a myriad of new laws went into effect Jan. 1.
By Laura Tate/Editor
Local government representatives have had their hand in writing several of the 1,000-plus new laws that took effect this year.
State Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) drafted legislation that will give California workers up to six weeks of paid leave to care for sick relatives or new children. Employees will pay an average of $27 per year toward the program, and will receive up to 55 percent of their salary for the paid leave.
Children are the subject of several of the new laws.
One will enable children to carry cell phones on campus if allowed by the local school district. Another bans selling ephedra, an herbal substance that is used for boosting energy and aiding in weight loss, to minors because of the fear that it may cause illness or even death. And a controversial law that further restricts those under the age of 18 while out and about requires children to wear helmets while riding scooters, skateboards or in-line skates. Those who disobey (providing they’re caught) will be subject to a $25 fine.
A new law regarding the selling of pets requires merchants to provide detailed care instructions to customers for newly purchased animals.
Pet Headquarters owner Kevin Madden says he’s always handed out “care guides” to new pet owners.
“Any good pet store” would do the same. The new law doesn’t affect his business one bit, he says.
“The general rule is 90 percent of all fish tanks end up in the garage,” he explains about pet-buying customers. “My goal is that they don’t.”
Focusing on consumer privacy and prevention of identity theft prompted drafting of new legislation.
- Credit agencies must provide victims of identity theft a free monthly credit report for 12 months in order to help the victims clear their records.
- Junk faxes are under assault, as a law was passed making them illegal in California. This cancels a previous state law and allows a federal law, which already prohibits such faxes, to take effect.
- No longer will Californians have to suffer the moral dilemma of whether to be rude and hang up or to listen to the spiel of telemarketers. A do-not-call list will be implemented by Attorney General Bill Lockeyer that will block calls from telemarketers.
- Birth and death records can be sold? Not anymore. The selling of birth and death databases, which include mothers’ maiden names and Social Security numbers, is no longer allowed in California. This law, drafted by Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough), is supplemented by another that limits access to birth certificates and prints them on security grade paper.
Following tabloid coverage of the announcement of the birth of a cloned baby by a group that says Earth was populated by aliens, California has gone against the policy of the Bush administration and will allow embryonic stem cell research. Fertility clinics that perform in-vitro fertilization are required to inform patients they have the option to donate discarded embryos to research.
Always ahead of the trend, California has a new law that establishes new emission standards for vehicles sold in the state, starting in 2009.
A law affecting property owners requires buyers of real estate to withhold 3.33 percent of the sales price and send it to the Franchise Tax Board. The penalty for non-compliance is the greater of $500 or 10 percent of the withholding amount. Exceptions to the law: withholding is not required if the total sales price is $100,000 or less, or for principal residences, sales resulting in a taxable loss, like kind exchanges and some involuntary conversions. Tax-exempt sellers, California corporations or partnerships are also exempted from this law.
And a subject that is always contentious in Malibu, building additions-or building anything at all-is affected by a new law. Property owners do not have to have the approval of their neighbors to add “granny flats” to their homes, whether above-garage units or built in the backyard, so long as local government codes are met.