Bad new laws going into effect on Jan. 1

The new year always brings the beginning of hundreds of new laws passed by the California Legislature and signed by the governor, currently Gavin Newsom. Voters must be pleased as they just re-elected him and kept almost all the non-term-limited senators and assembly members in their positions. Here’s some of what you have to follow on Jan. 1:

Assembly Bill 257 is by Assemblymember Chris Holden, D-Pasadena. Expect that Double-Double to cost double. The bill establishes a new state bureaucracy, the “Fast Food Council,” to impose new regulations on the industry, including boosting the minimum wage potentially to $22. Restaurants have responded with an effort to place a measure on the Nov. 2024 ballot to halt the law, reportedly collecting 1 million signatures as of earlier this month. Consumers should support any effort to spike the deplorable law.

Assembly Bill 2183 is by Assemblymember Mark Stone, D-Monterey. It establishes a “card check” system in which farm workers sign up to be represented by a union, if a majority chooses to do so. It ends the secret-ballot system for workers to vote on unionization, which will make workers vulnerable to intimidation and pressure from the union and their colleagues. Passage of the law was an act of political surrender by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who previously vetoed a version of the law, to the United Farm Workers union and President Joe Biden, who publicly announced support for the law.

Senate Bill 1162 is by Sen. Monique Limon, D-Santa Barbara. It requires employers with 100 or more employees to establish “pay data reports to include the median and mean hourly rate for each combination of race, ethnicity, and sex within each job category,” and submit them to the state. Employers will also have to maintain job title and wage history, “in order for the Labor Commissioner to determine if there is still a pattern of wage discrepancy.” It’s yet another inducement for companies to vacate the overregulated state of California.

Assembly Bill 1287 is by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda. It bans “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.” The bill includes complicated definitions as well as exceptions. The lawyers will love it. Retailers will have to retag items, and could get sued for mistakes.

Senate Bill 3 is by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and actually was enacted in 2016. At the signing ceremony, Gov. Jerry Brown acknowledged, “Economically, minimum wages may not make sense.” It increased the minimum wage every year, from $10.50 an hour in 2017 to $15.50 an hour starting this Jan. 1. That date also means the end of the 50-cent smaller wage for employers with 25 or fewer employees; all now will pay the same rate. Some areas also mandate a higher wage, such as $16.90 for Los Angeles County starting July 1. This won’t have much effect as almost all employers in this tight jobs market already pay that much or more.