New laws will affect millions

Most of the 910 new laws Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed last year take effect today.

One will make an immediate difference for more than a million Californians, many of them working behind fast-food restaurant counters: The state’s minimum wage rises from $6.75 to $7.50, the first raise since 2002.

And for the first time, registered domestic partners will be allowed to file joint state tax returns. Officials estimate that most of California’s 40,451 such couples will save a combined $8 million this year by doing so. Only couples of the same sex or those in which one partner is at least 62 can register.

But the most sweeping laws enacted in 2006 won’t be felt immediately.

A ban on drivers using hand-held cellphones doesn’t kick in until the middle of next year, and a law that lowers limits on lead content in water pipes, fixtures and fittings doesn’t take effect until 2010.

Another new law allows telephone companies AT&T; and Verizon to compete more easily with cable TV companies. But state authorities have until April 1 to finish writing regulations to implement it. After that, phone companies can apply for a permit to sell video services.

“We are extremely eager to get moving in California,” AT&T; spokesman Gordon Diamond said.

Schwarzenegger and the Legislature’s Democratic leaders struck a deal to provide low-income uninsured Californians with cheaper prescription drugs.

The state has already begun negotiating with drug makers for discounts, according to the Department of Health Services, but people probably won’t be able to enroll for savings until next year.

Drug companies must offer voluntary discounts within three years or lose easy access to California’s giant Medi-Cal market.

One of the hardest-fought laws of 2006 will not take effect today because on Dec. 21 a Superior Court judge struck it down as unconstitutional. The judge, acting on a lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles Unified School District, blocked a law that would have given L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa greater control over the hiring and firing of a district superintendent.

The measure also would have given the mayor direct control over three high schools of his choosing, as well as the elementary and middle schools that feed them.

School board members fought Villaraigosa’s plan, chafed at his depiction of the district as a failure and sued the state in October to block the law from taking effect. Villaraigosa is expected to appeal the ruling.

In another area, Schwarzenegger, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) and former Assemblywoman Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) won accolades worldwide for a new law that caps industrial emissions linked to global warming. But regulations to carry out the restrictions won’t go into effect until at least 2010.

In the meantime, air quality regulators face the tricky task of calculating what greenhouse gas emissions were in 1990; future levels are supposed to match those of 17 years ago.

Among the new laws already in motion is one to replace a statue of Thomas Starr King with one of former President Reagan at the U.S. Capitol, where each state is allowed to place two statues of notable citizens. The image of Starr King, a clergyman who rallied Californians to the Union side during the Civil War, will be moved to the state Capitol.

Also changing immediately: All bags of cat litter sold in the state must include a message asking people not to dispose of the litter in toilets, gutters or storm drains.

The measure was inspired by the son and daughter of Assemblyman Dave Jones (D-Sacramento). They learned on a family trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium that an organism in cat feces kills sea otters.

“They both got very upset,” said Jones, “and said, ‘Hey, Dad, you need to do something about this.’ ”

Several laws that were signed in 2005 take effect today as well.

One requires Caltrans to use a certain percentage of crumb rubber -- obtained from used, shredded tires -- in highway repair and construction projects. Experts say crumb rubber asphalt costs more than conventional asphalt but lasts longer.

Another law requires that all cigarettes sold in California be self-extinguishing to reduce the risk of fire. Similar laws are in place in New York and Vermont and will take effect next year in Massachusetts and Illinois.

Following are some other laws that take effect today.

For more information, go to www.leginfo.ca.gov.

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Amber alert

It is a crime to falsely report a child kidnapping that triggers the Emergency Alert System unless the report was made in good faith (AB 2225).

Armenian genocide

Armenian genocide victims and their families may, until 2016, sue banks to recover lost or stolen assets (SB 1524).

Asian delicacies

The state must study ways to allow sales of ceremonial foods within health standards (AB 2214).

Bad meat

It requires sellers of recalled meat to give state health officials their list of customers (SB 611).

Bribery

A law forbidding “quid pro quo” or retaliatory voting by legislators is extended to county supervisors and local elected officials (SB 1308).

Children’s teeth

All public-school kindergarten students must show proof of a dental exam performed within the 12 months before enrollment, and schools must notify parents of the requirement (AB 1433).

College journalists

College administrators may not censor college newspapers (AB 2581).

Contact lenses

All contacts require a prescription, including those that change eye color (AB 1382).

Crime victims

Victims of crimes involving injury or death now are eligible for state reimbursement of up to $5,000 in child care costs (AB 2413).

Domestic partners

It costs $23 to register with the secretary of state as domestic partners, with the fee devoted to countering domestic abuse among gays (AB 2051).

Emergency equipment

State public safety departments must ensure that new emergency radio equipment allows communication across city and county lines (AB 2116).

End of life

Electronic versions of a person’s wishes regarding resuscitation and life support are legally valid (AB 2805).

Firearms

People served with restraining orders must immediately relinquish their guns (SB 585).

Foster children

Adopted children younger than 18 may, with their adoptive parents’ consent, petition a court for contact with siblings in the foster care system (AB 2488).

Greenhouse gas

Long-term power sellers to utilities must meet new greenhouse gas emission standards (SB 1368).

Hearing test

All hospitals must test the hearing of newborns (AB 2651).

Highway signs

Caltrans may continue placing signs that say “Please Don’t Drink and Drive” on state highways where drunk drivers have killed people (AB 1781).

Homeless

Hospitals are barred from “dumping” homeless patients in another county without authorization (AB 2745).

Human eggs

Human eggs and embryos may not be sold for medical research (SB 1260).

Alternative cars

The state can issue 10,000 more decals to hybrid vehicle owners so they may use carpool lanes (AB 2600).

Identity theft

Penalties increase for repeat identity thieves and those possessing data on 10 or more people with intent to defraud (AB 2886).

Illegal dumping

City and county workers who enforce illegal dumping laws have the power to arrest people (AB 1688).

Lead-based paint

Landlords who fail to remedy lead hazards face tougher penalties (AB 2861).

Midwives

Midwives must report deliveries in which they have assisted outside hospitals (SB 1638).

Pets

It’s illegal to leave an animal in an unattended vehicle, endangered by cold or heat (SB 1806).

Phone records

It is illegal to buy or sell a person’s telephone records without the person’s permission, or to obtain records by deceit (SB 202).

Plastic surgery

Oral surgeons are authorized to perform such cosmetic operations as face lifts (SB 438).

Pool safety

New or remodeled pools and spas must include at least one of seven anti-drowning features (AB 2977).

Sex offenders

Penalties for sex crimes against children and possession of child pornography are increased (SB 1128). A panel must examine ways to supervise more than 100,000 registered offenders living outside prisons (AB 1015).

Sheriff’s deputies

A requirement that deputies be California residents is repealed. All of Alpine County’s deputies live in Nevada (SB 1241).

Skid row

Drug trafficking penalties are tougher for violations within 1,000 feet of a drug treatment center or homeless shelter (SB 1318).

Teachers

Principals of roughly 3,000 of the state’s lowest-performing schools no longer must give jobs to weak teachers transferring within their districts (SB 1655).

Tenants

Landlords must give 60 days’ notice of eviction to tenants who have been renting from them for at least a year and are not at fault for eviction (AB 1169).

Tethered dogs

It’s illegal to tie a dog to a stationary object for more than three hours a day (SB 1578).

Tobacco

Makers of cigars and of pipe and chewing tobacco must get a license starting in May and report sales to the state (AB 1749).

Toxins

Chemical manufacturers must give the state ways to detect their products so state scientists don’t have to develop such methods (AB 289).

Traffic emergencies

Drivers must slow or change lanes for emergency vehicles stopped along freeways (SB 1610).

Vehicle trunks

It is illegal for a driver to knowingly allow someone to ride in a vehicle’s trunk (AB 1850).

Veterans

California National Guard members returning from active duty get “preference points” for state civil service jobs (AB 2550).

Voter information

Public safety officials may keep their voter registration data confidential (SB 506).

Voting machines

Electronic voting machines in California must use paper of sufficient quality that ballots are readable at least 22 months after an election (SB 1760).

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nancy.vogel@latimes.com