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New California laws target issues ranging from picketing at funerals to restrictions on employers' right to examine the Facebook pages of their workers. Much of the legislation was pushed by Democrats, who dominate both houses of the Legislature. Gov. Jerry Brown signed 876 bills in the past legislative session. -
Crime/Public Safety
Youth offender resentencing
SB 9 allows some people convicted of murder, if they had committed the crime as a minor, to seek resentencing to a prison term of 25 years to life. (Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco) -
Picketing at funerals
SB 661 makes picketing at funerals a misdemeanor crime, taking aim at a group that has waved signs at funerals of homosexuals,+ military members and federal judges.(Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance) -
Metal purchases
AB 1971 quadruples the maximum fine from $250 to $1,000 for junk and second-hand dealers who knowingly buy or receive metals used in telephone, electricity or other public utilitiessuch as transportation facilities(Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo) -
Human trafficking
SB 1133 - Expands asset seizure after convictions for human trafficking of minors for prostitution or other sex-related purposes. (Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco) -
Education
Academic Performance Index
SB 1458 de-emphasizes standardized tests in evaluating public schools, and requires other factors - such as graduation rates, college-going rates, and other measures - to be used in calculating a school's Academic Performance Index. (Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento) -
Digital textbooks
SB 1052 and 1053 set the stage for production of digital textbooks for 50 of the most widely taken lower-division courses at California colleges and universities, when money is available, and creates a digital open source library to house such materials. (Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento) -
Health
Immunization information
AB 2109, starting in 2014, requires parents to receive information from a health-care provider before exempting their child from immunizations because of their beliefs. (Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento) -
Birth control access
AB 2348 expands women's access to birth control by allowing registered nurses to dispense such drugs or devices in primary care and various other clinics. (Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles) -
Health insurance standards
AB 1453 and SB 951 set minimum standards for medical services - such as emergency treatment, maternity and newborn care - that health insurers must meet, starting in 2014. (Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Carmel, and Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina,) -
Mammography insurance
AB 137 requires health insurance policies to cover mammographies, for screening or diagnostic purposes, upon referral by doctors or various other health-care practitioners. (Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada-Flintridge) -
Civil rights / Immigration
Driver's licenses
AB 2189 - Allows an estimated 400,000 undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses - those in the federal Deferred Action program for immigrants who came to the U.S. as youth and have led generally productive lives. (Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles) -
Religious grooming
AB 1964 bans discrimination based on religious dress or grooming, such as turbans worn by Sikhs. (Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis) -
Transportation
Red-light cameras
SB 1303 tightens restrictions on the use of red-light traffic cameras - such as requiring signs to be posted within 200 feet - but bolsters their legal underpinnings by stating that evidence from them is not hearsay. (Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto) -
Motorcycle checkpoints
AB 1047 prohibits local governments from conducting motorcycle-only checkpoints like those that originated in N.Y. (Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore) -
Driverless vehicles
SB 1298 permits testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads - cars that drive themselves - subject to safety certification and the presence of a human who can intervene immediately in an emergency. (Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles) -
Carpool lane exceptions
AB 2405 exempts certain hybrid and other clean-fuel vehicles from paying to use HOT lanes, which are carpool lanes that accept single-occupant vehicles for a toll. (Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield, D-Woodland Hills) -
Consumers
Homeowner mortgage rights
SB 900 and AB 278 are cornerstones of a six-bill package to expand homeowner rights against foreclosure. A key provision bars "dual tracking" by which lenders simultaneously proceed toward foreclosure while discussing possible loan modifications. -
Vehicle financing
AB 1447 sets basic consumer protections for predatory financing of vehicle sales or leases by auto dealers, including a minimum 30-day warranty and restrictions on in-person payment requirements and use of electronic devices to track and disable vehicles. (Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles) -
Online rent payments
SB 1055 bars landlords from requiring online payments. (Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance) -
Internet / Social Media
Social media privacy
SB 1349 bans public and private universities from requiring students to disclose user names or passwords for social media, such as Facebook. (Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco) -
Employer prohibitions
AB 1844 prohibits employers from demanding a worker's or an applicant's user name or password for social media, such as Facebook. (Assemblywoman Nora Campos, D-San Jose) -
Business
Homemade food sales
AB 1616 legalizes and sets standards for selling various products made in home kitchens, such as breads, tortillas, cookies, churros and jams. (Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles) -
Flower shops
AB 1581 - Takes aim at out-of-town telemarketing by barring advertising that misrepresents a florist shop as being local. (Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont) -
Commercial space flight
AB 2243 limits liability of commercial space flight firms if injuries occur that do not involve intentional or grossly negligent actions. (Assemblyman Steve Knight, R-Palmdale) -
Environment / Recreation
Plastic bag recycling
SB 1219 extends until January 2020 an existing program ensuring that plastic bags are accepted for recycling at supermarkets and large stores that include a pharmacy. (Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis) -
Department of Fish and Wildlife
Assembly Bill 2402 and Senate Bill 1148 - Makes major changes to the state Department of Fish and Game, including renaming it the Department of Fish and Wildlife and authorizing various fees to be raised. (Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, D-Agoura Hills) -
Solid waste transfers
AB 845 bans cities or counties from restricting transfer of solid waste to private companies based on where it came from. Intervenes in a Solano County fight over accepting trash from San Francisco. (Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco) -
Labor
Workers compensation insurance
SB 863 increases benefits for workers injured on the job by creating savings through changes to the workers' compensation insurance system designed to reduce lawsuits over treatment and compensation. (Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles) -
Animals
Hunting with dogs
SB 1221 bars use of dogs to hunt bears and bobcats, except for depredation, research or when dogs are guarding crops or livestock. (Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance) -
Poaching fines
AB 1162 quadruples from $10,000 to $40,000 the maximum penalty for poaching trophy deer, elk, antelope or Big Horn sheep. (Assemblyman Wes Chesbro, D-Arcata) -
Cock fighting
SB 1145-Emmerson doubles the maximum fine for cock fighting, to $10,000, and raises the fines for initiating other forms of animal fighting or attending such events. (Sen. Bill Emmerson, R-Hemet) -
Elections
Same-day voter registration
AB 1436 allows qualified residents to register to vote up until and on Election Day, but would not take effect until 2014 at the earliest. (Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles) -
Other
Ronald Reagan statue
AB 2358 authorizes a Ronald Reagan statute at the Capitol, subject to design approval by the Legislature's Joint Rules Committee and solicitation of private funding to pay for the project. (Assemblymen Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills, and Martin Garrick, R-Solana Beach)
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