California Gov Gavin Newsom displays a bill he signed that shields abortion providers and volunteers in California from civil judgements from out-of-state courts during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., June 24, 2022. Newsom is headed to Washington this week, providing him with a national stage to continue his outspoken defense of abortion rights and gun control while lambasting Republican-led states that he sees as a threat to personal freedom and public safety - AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

 

New Year, New California Laws: Here Are a Few that Go into Effect January 1
By Sheyanne N Romero
Visalia Times-Delta

 

Governor Gavin Newsom signed nearly 1,000 bills into law during the 2022 legislative session.

Among the laws that take effect Jan 1, 2023, are harsher penalties for street racing, shrinking the minimum wage gap and resources for missing or endangered indigenous people.

Here are a few California laws that take effect on Sunday.

Minimum wage gap

Senate Bill 3 was signed into law in 2016, by then-Gov Jerry Brown. The law made California the first state to set a goal of a $15 minimum wage.

When Brown signed the bill, California's minimum wage was $10. SB 3 mandated small increases each year until California hit $15 per hour in 2022.

Since the state has hit the benchmark, effective Jan 1, 2023, minimum wage will be $15.50 per hour. However, some California cities and counties already have higher minimum wages than the state’s rate.

Pink Tax

Women and girls will no longer pay extra for pink merchandise beginning Jan. 1, 2023.

Under Assembly Bill 1287 — also known as the "Pink Tax" — it's illegal to charge a different price for any two items that are "substantially similar," if those items are priced differently based on the gender, according to the bill's text.

“The ‘Pink Tax’ is a gender-based penalty that harms women who are already paid less,” Assembly member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan said . “This type of arbitrary gendered pricing has no place in California. It’s long past time to eliminate this type of inequality. I’m grateful Governor [Gavin] Newsom has signed this bill to ensure price equality in California.”

Online marketplace safety

Assembly Bill 1700 requires the Attorney General’s Office to create an online reporting system for users of third-party online marketplaces to report listings of suspected stolen items.

The reported information would be available to local law enforcement and the CHP’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force to assist with investigations.

Retention of rape kits

Senate Bill 1228 prohibits the retention of DNA profiles collected from sexual assault victims by local law enforcement agencies — including rape kits for sexual assault survivors. The law also prohibits victims’ DNA from being used for any purpose other than identifying the perpetrator of the crime.

“It’s already hard enough for sexual assault survivors to make the decision to come forward, report a crime, and undergo an invasive rape kit exam at the hospital,” Senator Scott Wiener said. “The last thing we need is to send a message to survivors that if they come forward, their DNA sample may be used against them in the future.”

Proponents of the law argued that the bill would guarantee the privacy of sexual assault survivors and encourage victims to come forward. Fewer than a quarter of sexual assault survivors come forward to report to police. Of those who do report, only a small percentage undergo sexual assault testing,  according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

Catalytic converters

Catalytic converter theft has spiked dramatically in recent years.

In 2020, catalytic converter theft claims jumped to 14,433, a 325% increase in a single year, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

California accounts for disproportionate amount of claims,  according to the bureau . In 2021, the state reported roughly 37% of catalytic converter theft claims.

State lawmakers are trying to slow the rate at which these costly automotive parts are being swiped and sold.

Senate Bill 1087 prohibits a person from buying a used catalytic converter from anybody other than certain specified sellers. There are already laws that specifically list who can sell catalytic converters to recyclers and require those recyclers to keep documentation such as the year, make, model, and copy of the vehicle title from which the catalytic converter was removed.

Pedestrian stops

The fear of jaywalking could become a thing of the past.

Assembly Bill 2147 prohibits police from stopping pedestrians for certain pedestrian-specific violations, such as crossing the road outside of a crosswalk. However, pedestrians can still be cited if the violation poses a traffic hazard or risk of a car wreck.

California Highway Patrol is required to submit a report to the legislature by Jan. 1, 2028, on how the law impacted pedestrian safety.

Speeding and reckless driving will cost you

Senate Bill 1472: Ryan's Law expands the criteria for “gross negligence” as it relates to vehicular manslaughter.

Drivers involved in street racing, excessive speeding, or speeding over 100 miles per hour which results in a fatality can now be charged with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. Ryan's Law also imposes a state-mandated local program.

The bill is named after Ryan Koeppel, a man struck and killed by a repeat reckless driver.

Street racing and sideshows have caused 264 collisions statewide in the last five years. Of those wrecks, 30 were fatal and 124 resulted in serious injuries, CHP reported.

Visalia officers targeted street racing across the city on Saturday, issuing 38 citations.

Feather Alert

The “Feather Alert” allows law enforcement agencies to request that CHP initiate an alert when an indigenous person has been kidnapped, abducted, or reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances.

Like AMBER, Blue, and Silver alerts, the “Feather Alert” program uses radio, television, and social media to spread the information about the missing indigenous person.

Rates of murder, rape, and violent crime against indigenous people are all higher than the national averages, especially among Native American and Alaska Native women.

There is no reliable count of how many indigenous women go missing or are killed each year.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates that roughly 4,200 missing and murdered cases are unsolved. These cases often remain unsolved due to a lack of investigative resources available to identify new information from witness testimony, re-examine new or retained material evidence, as well as reviewing fresh activities of suspects,  according to the bureau.

Tammy Carpenter, left, and her son, Richie, carry a sign during a prayer walk in Shasta Lake on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021, for their daughter and sister, Angela McConnell, who was murdered Sept. 7, 2018, in Shasta Lake. The homicide case of McConnell and her boyfriend, Michael Bingham Jr., on Black Canyon Road remains unsolved. "The purpose for us is to let people know that she's not forgotten. That's what I feel in my heart that I have to be Angela Lynne McConnell's voice. I'm her mother," Tammy Carpenter said. The march also raised awareness of other Native American men and women who are listed by the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women movement. About 30 people participated in the walk in the rain from the Wintu Cultural Center on Shasta Dam Boulevard to Clair Engle Park.More

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta