While most of the state is recovering from holiday festivities, a new slew of laws will take effect. Some of those laws affect work and school environments, and others regulate how residents recreate. Here are just a few of the new laws that take effect Jan. 1.
SB 491: One new law, SB 491, among other things, makes it unlawful to wear a headset covering, earplugs in, or earphones covering, resting on, or inserted in, both ears, while operating a motor vehicle or a bicycle, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
AB 604: Those new hoverboards many kids got for Christmas will face restrictions come Jan. 1. AB 604 restricts operation of electrically motorized skateboards on public facilities and requires them to be equipped with safety equipment, according to the DMV. It also authorizes cities and counties to regulate their use. Other elements of the law make it illegal to operate them under the influence of drugs or alcohol and limit the board’s operation to those 16 years old and older.
SB 172: High school seniors will have one less test to take beginning Jan. 1. SB 172 eliminates the high school exit exam as a requirement to graduate. The bill also applies retroactively, according to Santa Maria Joint Union High School District spokesman Kenny Klein.
Klein said the law covers students who completed all district graduation requirements but failed the exit exam, allowing them to obtain a diploma. He said that 750 former students would be affected by the retroactive application of SB 172, which will apply to the 2006 to 2014 school years. Alumni should go to their former school site and see the registrar who will confirm identification.
SB 277: Children will be required to be fully vaccinated before enrolling in school, according to the office of Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento). Pan’s SB 277 abolishes the personal belief exemption to legally required vaccines for school attendance in California.
Senate Bill 358: The bill, authored by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), will ensure that women are paid equally for work that is substantially similar to the work of their male colleagues, and that they don’t face retaliation if they discuss or ask how much their male colleagues are paid.
SB 295: This Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara)-authored bill requires annual oil pipeline inspections by the State Fire Marshal.
SB 414: Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) also authored this bill, like SB 295, in response to the oil spill at Refugio State Beach. The bill seeks to make oil-spill response faster and more effective by directing the Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) to report to the Legislature on how to best utilize commercial fishing vessels and crews in response to an oil spill; requiring OSPR to notify the Legislature within three days if dispersants are used in response to an oil spill; and requiring OSPR to study the best achievable technology for oil spill cleanup and use that technology to respond to spills, according to Jackson’s office.
SB 186: Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson’s SB 186 will allow community college districts to extend their jurisdictions beyond their campus borders and use their existing disciplinary process to discipline, expel, or suspend students for off-campus sexual assault and sexual exploitation.
SB 695: This bill aims to prevent sexual assault by requiring public high school health classes to provide students instruction on affirmative consent, sexual harassment, assault, violence, and the importance of developing positive and healthy relationships, according to Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson’s office.
This article appears in Dec 31, 2015 – Jan 7, 2016.
