4 New California Laws for 2018
Learn more about the new California laws for 2018, including the gas tax, minimum wage, and weed laws.
On Jan 1st of every year, U.S. residents woke to hundreds of new laws spanning across a wide range of areas.
2018 was no exception.
While most of these laws have little to no impact on daily life, there are a few that are likely to have a direct impact on the political and legal landscape moving forward.
Today, we’re taking a closer look at some of the new California laws for 2018, including everything from immigration and transportation to employment and recreational marijuana.
Take a look …
New California Laws for 2018
Governor Brown and California State Legislature brought forth a host of new California laws for 2018.
We’re used to seeing new laws go into effect Jan. 1st of every year, but 2018 brought a few laws spanning across several controversial topics. These topics include recreational marijuana, immigration, and minimum wage.
We’re touching on some of those points below as we explore some of the new laws likely to have an impact on your life one way or another.
Immigration Laws: Sanctuary State, Enforcement, and ICE Restrictions
With an estimated population of 2.3 million unauthorized immigrants in 2014, California has by far the largest population of unauthorized immigrants in the country.
Governor Brown signed a bill into law making California a sanctuary state, which prohibits police from asking people about their immigration status or participating in the enforcement of federal immigration activities in most cases.
The law limits state and local law enforcement from communicating with federal immigration authorities. It also prevents jails from holding people without documentation in immigration detention in most cases.
A similar law prevents employers from allowing immigration raids at their work locations without a court order. Landlords cannot report to ICE their tenants’ immigration status. And they cannot use tenants’ immigration status to evict or threaten them in any way.
In the case of ICE inspections, employers may not consent to this without a warrant. And the employer must inform employees of the inspection within 72 hours of receiving the inspection notice.
Marijuana Laws: Recreational Use, Limitations, and DUI
Another controversial law has legalized the sale, possession, transport, and cultivation of recreational marijuana for adults.
Despite passing by 57 percent, the proposition is still controversial in some quarters.
But legally, cannabis will be treated the same as alcohol like vodka or wine.
Although recreational use is now legal, it can’t be smoked in public or within 1,000 feet of a school or daycare center when children are present.
You also can’t smoke and drive or you can be pulled over.
There is a DUI for drugs as there is for alcohol and other substances that impair driving.
To buy marijuana, a person must be at least 21 years old and possess a valid ID.
Retailers can sell and deliver it between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. As a daily limit, a person can buy up to 28.5 grams of non-concentrated cannabis and eight grams of concentrated cannabis, including hash oil and edibles.
There is also a daily limit on immature cannabis plants, where a person can have only six live plants.
Cannabis can be purchased only at a state-licensed recreational dispensary, regulated by the California Bureau of Cannabis Control (CBCC). You can find a current list of licensed dispensaries on their website.
Employment Laws: Minimum Wage, Salary, Parental Leave,
For employers with 26 or more employees, the minimum wage will go up to $11 an hour.
For employers with 25 or fewer employees, the minimum wage increases to $10.50 an hour, now, on its way up to $15 an hour minimum by 2022.
There are also changes in parental leave.
The new law requires employers with 20 or more employees to give up to 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave to eligible employees – those with more than a year and at least 1,250 hours of service. During the leave, employees may use paid sick, vacation, or other accrued time if they choose.
The parental leave has to be taken within one year of the child’s birth, adoption, or placement in foster care. And the employer has to guarantee reinstatement of the employee in the same or a similar position when he or she returns.
There are new salary information laws, too, as stated in the California Labor Code Section 432.
Employers may not ask, either directly or indirectly, about an applicant’s salary history as a factor in deciding job selection or salary to be given. Additionally, the employer must provide a pay scale to the applicant, if requested.
The applicant may, however, disclose salary information voluntarily.
If done this way, the employer may use the information in determining whether to hire and how much to pay the applicant. But the information may not be used to cause disparity in compensation between employees of different sexes, races, or ethnicities.
An employer may not ask applicants, either orally or in writing, about their criminal conviction history until after a conditional offer of employment has been made.
This law applies to employer companies of five or more employees.
Employers are not permitted to consider or disseminate information about an arrest that did not result in conviction (except in some very limited circumstances), or participation in a pretrial or post trial diversion program, or any convictions that were expunged or sealed.
Transportation Laws: Gas Tax and New Annual Vehicle Fee
California’s new transportation plan introduced several new laws designed to help improve roads.
A new gas tax affecting most regular car and commercial truck owners among the 33 million registered vehicle owners in the state.
Drivers will pay the fee along with their vehicle registrations this year. While the regular gas tax affects car owners, there is a diesel tax for commercial trucks as well as operators of ships and trains.
The package will affect owners of the 33 million registered vehicles in California. The gas tax will affect most regular car owners while the diesel fuel tax increases will boost the cost for commercial truck drivers and operators of ships and trains.
The transportation improvement fee doesn’t affect everyone.
Those Californians who don’t own cars, trucks or other vehicles and who use public transit exclusively will not be affected and so, won’t have to pay for the plan. But those who own electric cars will still have to contribute to the plan through a $100 vehicle fee for zero-emission vehicles.
As mentioned above, marijuana is not allowed to be consumed while driving, even when riding as a passenger.
There are a couple of changes at the curbside, too.
The new law keeps local parking authorities from giving you a ticket if you are parked at a broken meter, or if the payment mechanism is broken. Also, if there is no time limit posted on the broken meter, you can park there as long as you like.
What Do You Think?
Do you have any questions about these new California laws for 2018?
We would love to hear your thoughts and questions in the comments below. If you live in California, how do these new laws make you feel about being a resident here?
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