Every year, California legislators propose new laws in a legislative session ending Aug. 31, and some of them are signed by the governor by year’s end. Following is a look at some of the more impactful measures signed by Gov. Jerry Brown this year that will go into effect in 2016. Employment and labor Senate Bill 588: ‘Wage theft’ bill targeting employers that shortchange workers. Workers across California experience wage theft, the illegal practice of declining pay for all work. This includes violating minimum wage laws, failing to pay overtime, forcing workers to work off the clock, denying meal and rest breaks, illegal deductions and more.
SB 588 allows California’s labor commissioner to place a lien on the property of an employer cited for wage theft. It also helps prevent cited employers from skipping out on paying penalties and back wages by requiring them to post a bond of at least $50,000 to continue doing business. It also prohibits the company from closing and reopening with a different name.
?
Senate Bill 358: Gender wage gap, California Fair Pay Act. This bill is intended to increase wage transparency and make it more difficult for an employer to defend against an equal pay claim. It takes effect Jan. 1. The bill’s intended purpose is to rectify California’s “gender wage inequality” by discouraging secrecy among employees regarding their pay. It will allow open discussion and inquiries by employees regarding their own pay, as well as the pay of their co-workers, to enable employees to discover and challenge any wage differential and rectify this gap.
SB 358 also prohibits employers from discriminating or retaliating against employees who seek to enforce their rights under the amended statute. Employees who can prove they were discharged, discriminated against or retaliated against in violation of the amended statutory scheme are entitled to seek reinstatement, recover lost wages and benefits and obtain equitable relief against their employer. Health Care Senate Bill 4: Extension of California’s health care program for the poor to cover immigrant children from low-income families regardless of their legal status. Gov. Brown and legislative leaders have also approved state funding to cover all children under 19 in Medi-Cal, the state’s health care program for the poor. The initial cost is estimated at $40 million. The law takes effect in May. Senate Bill 792: Vaccinations of California day care workers. This first-in-the-nation adult vaccine mandate goes into effect Sept. 1. The bill requires proof of vaccination for measles and pertussis and optional annual flu vaccine (for the first year of employment) for daycare providers, early childhood teachers, Head Start teachers, parent co-ops wherein money is exchanged, YMCA early childhood and after-school program caregivers, in-home daycare providers and parent volunteers who care for and supervise children. Medical exemptions for all three mandated vaccines include titer testing, pregnancy contraindicated for measles, mumps and Rubella, pre-pregnancy, lactation, infertility and autoimmune diseases. are all considerations for medical exemption for the tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis vaccine and measles, mumps and Rubella vaccine.?Firearms Senate Bill 707: Concealed weapons banned from schools, universities. Existing law prohibits a person from possessing a firearm in a place that the person knows, or reasonably should know, is a school zone, unless with the written permission of certain school district officials. Existing law defines a school zone as an area on the grounds of a school providing instruction in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12 or within a distance of 1,000 feet of that school.
SB 707 recasts the provisions relating to a person holding a valid license to carry a concealed firearm to allow that person to carry a firearm in an area within 1,000 feet of, but not on the grounds of, a public or private school providing instruction in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12. The bill also deletes the exemption that allows a person holding a valid license to carry a concealed firearm to bring or possess a firearm on the campus of a university or college. The bill creates an additional exemption from those prohibitions for certain appointed peace officers authorized to carry a firearm and an exemption for certain retired reserve peace officers who are authorized to carry a concealed or loaded firearm. Voting Assembly Bill 1461: Motor Voter Program. The bill by San Diego Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez aims to boost California’s voter rolls by registering visitors to the Department of Motor Vehicles. It follows Oregon’s move earlier this year to adopt the nation’s first automatic voter registration law.
Lawmakers approved the so-called motor voter law this summer. Some Republican lawmakers say voters shouldn’t be forced to sign up. They warn that automatic registration could lead to voter fraud if people not eligible are accidentally registered. Privacy Senate Bill 178: California Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Taking effect Jan. 1, the landmark California Electronic Communications Privacy Act is the most comprehensive digital privacy law in the nation. It makes sure police go to a judge and get a warrant before they can get access to electronic information about who we are, where we go, who we know and what we do. It requires a probable cause warrant for all digital content, location information, metadata and access to devices such as cell phones. The law’s notice and enforcement provisions make sure there is proper oversight and mechanisms to ensure that the law is followed.?Sports Assembly Bill 30: Public schools can’t call their sport teams or mascots Redskins. Existing law provides that state policy afford all persons in public schools equal rights and opportunities in educational institutions. This bill establishes the California Racial Mascots Act, which prohibits public schools from using the term Redskins as a school or athletic team name, mascot or nickname, beginning Jan. 1, 2017.
?AB 949: Cheerleading becomes a sport. This bill requires the California Interscholastic Federation, in consultation with the State Department of Education, to develo0p guidelines, procedures and safety standards for the purpose of classifying competition cheer (cheerleading) as an interscholastic sport. Medical Marijuana Licensing and Operating Rules Assembly Bills 266 and 243 and Senate Bill 643: The trio of bills establishes the first statewide licensing and operating rules for pot growers, manufacturers of cannabis-infused products and retail weed stores and comes as multiple groups try to qualify voter initiatives for next year that would allow adults to use marijuana recreationally. The thinking behind the bills is that voters are poised to decide on legalizing recreational cannabis in 2016, so it was vitally important that California establish a regulatory framework first. Nation’s Strictest Livestock Antibiotics Bill Senate Bill 27 is the nation’s toughest livestock antibiotics bill. It will limit when and how these medications can be used in meat production. Using antibiotics to speed the growth of poultry, cows and other livestock is common practice in the American meat industry and one that health experts say poses a serious public threat. That’s because feeding these drugs to healthy livestock kills off weaker bacteria, creating the perfect breeding ground for drug-resistant “superbugs” that can infect livestock and people.
The new law bans the use of antibiotics in healthy animals. It also puts veterinarians in charge of antibiotic use in meat production and requires the California Department of Food and Agriculture to develop a program to track antimicrobial use in livestock and the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.