As California heads into a new year, the state is prepared to enforce a series of new laws that will take effect starting Jan. 1. Legislation focuses on a range of issues from wages, salary transparency, jaywalking, pricing discrimination, loitering, the fur trade and a new state-recognized holiday. While some set new rules in place, others abolish or decriminalize discriminatory laws.
Long Beach will begin implementing Measure E on Jan. 1, which voters passed in Nov., which will change the way that residents file complaints about the Long Beach Police Department. Citizen complaints will be filed with the department’s Internal Affairs Division while the City establishes the new Office of Police Oversight and the Police Oversight Commission.
Salary Transparency
This law will require workplaces with 15 or more employees to include a salary range in all external and internal job postings. In addition, employers with 100 or more workers must submit specific data to the state, including employee and contractor salaries broken down by gender, race and ethnicity.
Soon there will be no need to sit through multiple rounds of interviews just to find out the job is minimum wage.
Speaking of minimum wage…
$15.50 State-wide Minimum Wage
In 2022 California met its goal of reaching a $15 minimum wage that was started in 2016 by Governor Jerry Brown. On Jan. 1 of 2023, it will increase once again by 50 cents, which should be reflected in job postings due to the previous entry.
Starting each new year, the state minimum wage increases will be based on the inflation rate or 3.5%, whichever is lower, and then rounded to the nearest 10 cents, although there is legislation in the pipeline to change the increase to a dollar per year until $18 due to high inflation.
The Freedom to Walk Act
In September 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law that would effectively decriminalize jaywalking—the act of crossing a street outside of a designated crosswalk. While not technically legalized, the law will stop police officers from ticketing pedestrians that cross the road when there is no “immediate danger of a collision” with a driver.
Another law will also add more protections to bicyclists by requiring drivers to move to a new lane in order to pass a cyclist whenever feasible. The previous law required drivers to give people on bikes at least three feet of distance.
Ban on the ‘Pink Tax’
Assembly Bill 1287 seeks to end pricing discrimination on products aimed at women. The so-called “Pink Tax” refers to the markup on products and services marketed towards women, which are often priced higher than similar or the same products for men.
The law will “prohibit any person, firm, partnership, company, corporation, or business from charging a different price for any two goods that are substantially similar, as defined, if those goods are priced differently based on the gender of the individuals for whom the goods are marketed and intended.”
Lunar New Year State Holiday
Starting early next year, many state workers will be getting more paid time off for the newest state-recognized holiday, Lunar New Year.
In 2023 the holiday will land on Jan. 22, but it is not a set date—as the name would imply, Lunar New Year changes based on the movements of the moon, and will be celebrated on either the second or third new moon following the winter solstice.
Safer Streets for All Act
The bill, signed by Newsom in July, decriminalizes “loitering for the intent of sex work.” The aim of the bill is to protect people from arrests based on a police officer’s perception of a person looking to engage in sex for money based on how the person is dressed or acting.
While the law itself does not decriminalize sex work, it will set a higher bar for law enforcement officers attempting to arrest people for sex work.
No More New Fur Products
Assembly Bill 44 passed this year and will ban the manufacture and sale of new fur products. Many cities in the state have already passed laws to ban the fur trade in their jurisdictions, but this law would make California the first state in the union to end the sale.
However used products can still be bought and sold, so thrift stores and second-hand sellers might soon be the only place to find mink coats in the state.
