With the arrival of the new year also comes a long list of new laws coming into force in California, ranging from housing development to food waste recycling, minimum wage increases, police and criminal justice system reforms. .
The following are just a few of the many laws that come into effect in California as of January 1, 2022.
Senate Bill 3, which was approved by Governor Jerry Brown in 2016, will raise the California minimum wage to $ 15 an hour for employers with 26 or more employees and $ 14 an hour for those with 25 employees. employees or less.
There are a few new laws aimed at reducing waste and methane emissions, including Senate Bill 1383 which requires residents and businesses to recycle green waste and food waste.
Residents of Santa Barbara County who are served by the Tajiguas landfill and who live in the “rejected” ReSource center do not have to change the way they deal with waste, and that includes Buellton, Goleta, Santa Barbara, Solvang and the unincorporated areas of the Cuyama Valley. , the Santa Ynez Valley and the south coast.
A MarBorg truck collects waste from the material recovery facility from the landfill after separating it from recyclables and organic waste. (File photo by Giana Magnoli / Noozhawk)
The landfill material recovery facility, also known as the ReSource center, processes and separates organic waste from waste to be turned into compost and energy.
The county public works department is asking residents of these areas not to mix leftover food with yard waste (green containers) as it interferes with the mulching process.
In an effort to reduce plastic waste, House Bill 1276 prohibits restaurants from providing single-use tableware or standard condiments unless consumers request them. Correctional facilities, health care facilities, residential care facilities, and public and private school cafeterias are exempt.
For housing development, Senate Bill 9 allows landlords to divide lots and build additional residential units in areas zoned for single-family dwellings.
Santa Barbara City Council voted to have certain areas of the city’s foothills at high fire risk exempt from state housing laws, allowing landlords to divide their lots and build additional units in the city. single-family zoning. (File photo by Joshua Molina / Noozhawk)
Many jurisdictions, such as Santa Barbara and Goleta, have approved orders to impose local conditions on SB 9 or to exempt high fire risk areas.
Senate Bill 10 allows local governments to demarcate up to 10 residential units per plot in urban areas or “transit rich” areas.
Several police reform bills will enter into force on January 1, including Assembly Bill 48, which restricts and sets standards for the use of rubber bullets or tear gas for police control. crowds, and Bill 26, which requires officers to immediately report any potential excessive force. and demands that agents who do not intervene be sanctioned up to and including in the same way as the offending agent.
Assembly Bill 490 prohibits law enforcement officers from using restraint or transportation methods that carry a significant risk of positional asphyxiation or suffocation.
Assembly Bill 89 raises the minimum age for peace officers from 18 to 21, and Senate Bill 2 creates a process for revoking the certification of peace officers by the Commission on the Standards and Training of Peace Officers for Serious Misconduct. SB 2 also eliminates several statutory immunity provisions for officers.
Senate Bill 73 will end mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenses and allow eligibility for probation in these cases.
New labor and employment laws include Senate Bill 62, which bans piece-rate pay for garment workers, and Assembly Bill 701, which would require warehouse employers to disclose quotas upon hiring and provides that employees are not required to meet quotas that interfere with periods of rest or mandatory meals and restroom breaks.
Assembly Bill 397 requires the Department of Employment Development to give advance notice before rejecting an unemployment claim in order to allow an individual to correct any errors.
Some legislative texts extend the practices of the COVID-19 era.
Assembly Bill 37 requires that postal ballots be sent to every registered voter for every election.
Under Senate Bill 389, eligible businesses can sell take-out alcoholic beverages with meals until December 30, 2026, extending a practice permitted under COVID-19 restrictions.
– Noozhawk editor Serena Guentz can be reached at . (JavaScript must be enabled to display this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
The city of Santa Barbara recently held a postal election for city council. A new state law will require polling stations to send ballots to every voter registered for future elections, not just voters who requested it. (File photo by Giana Magnoli / Noozhawk)