Under the new laws signed by Gov. Newsom, authorities will get more tools to arrest thieves. Conan Nolan reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed dozens of bills passed by the state legislature as he had until Sept. 30 to either sign or veto the proposals.
Here are some of the new laws that will go into effect in the coming months as early as Jan. 1, 2025.
Crime
- Harsher sentences for flash-mob, smash-and-grab robberies
- People convicted of animal cruelty will be banned from owning a firewarm for 10 years.
- Domestic violence victims can file restraining orders without delay while being able to keep their car data private from their abusers.
- Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu will get at least five speed cameras.
- California will be able to continue to collect and use DNA samples from people arrested for certain crimes
- Local law enforcement agencies will be better informed when sexually violent predators are set to be released in their area.
- The penalty for soliciting and buying sex from minors under 16 will be raised to a felony.
Business
- All plastic shopping bags will be banned starting in 2026.
- Cannabis lounges where customers can buy the drug, then stick around for a meal or a live show will be legalized, starting on Jan. 1, 2025.
- The maximum criminal fines for corporations will increase.
Health
- Insurance companies will be required to cover IVF.
- The sale of tampons and other menstrual products that contain potentially toxic chemicals will be banned in California.
- A new law will require pharmacies to provide accessible prescription labels or supplemental documentation to patients with vision problems.
- California will expand the type of facilities that can treat people with a substance use disorder.
- California families will have better access to donor milk for their babies regardless of what insurance they have.
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Education
- California private non-profit colleges and universities will be banned from offering legacy admissions.
- Six artificial food dyes will be prohibited from school foods.
- Oil and gas operations near schools will be restricted.
- A new law will restrict the use of smartphones on school campuses.
Tech and social media
- It will become illegal to create and distribute sexually explicit images of a real person.
- Social media companies are required to come up with a system through which users can report sexually explicit deepfakes.
- Social media companies will be prohibited from knowingly providing addictive content feeds to minors starting in 2027.
- Parents who profit from social media posts using their children will be required to set aside some of the earnings for them.
- Companies that are testing their AI models will have to publicly disclose safety protocols.
Civil rights
- Native Americans will get better access to social support and tribal housing programs.
- Textbooks for K-12 California schools must include the treatment and perspectives of Native Americans, especially during the Mission and Gold Rush period.
- Missing indigenous people: Law enforcement agencies will be required to collect data on crimes occurring on Indian lands and report the information to the state Department of Justice as an effort to reduce the number of missing and murdered indigenous people in California.
- Farmworker housing: New laws will help create more stable housing for migrant farm workers through the support from the state Department of Housing and Community Development.
