Dec 13, 2023 - News

Here are the new California laws taking effect in 2024

New year, new laws. A flurry of bills, both this year's and past, will take effect in 2024 — some on Jan. 1 and others later in the year.

Why it matters: Keeping track of policy changes is critical for ensuring that you know your rights — as well as what not to do.

Employment

SB 616: Increases an employee's entitled paid sick leave from three days or 24 hours to five days or 40 hours.
SB 848: Allows eligible employees to take up to five days of unpaid leave after experiencing a "reproductive loss event," which includes failed adoption, failed surrogacy, miscarriage and stillbirth.
AB 2188: Bans employers from discriminating against or penalizing an employee over their cannabis use outside of work.
AB 1228 and SB 525: Raise health care workers' minimum wage to $23 per hour by June and fast food workers' to $20 per hour starting in April.

SB 2: Prevents concealed carry of firearms in certain public spaces, including sidewalks and school parking areas.
AB 701: Increases prison time for people convicted of dealing high amounts of fentanyl.
SB 14: Classifies child sex trafficking as a serious felony and imposes harsher penalties on people convicted of the crime.
AB 645: Authorizes a pilot program to use speed enforcement cameras in San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and three other cities.
SB 673: Creates the emergency Ebony Alert system to help locate missing Black women and youth, who make up a disproportionate share of all missing people.

AB 12: Limits security deposits for a new apartment to just one month of rent starting in July.

SB 407: Directs the California Department of Social Services to ensure LGBTQ youth are placed with supportive and gender-affirming foster parents.

SB 345: Expands legal protections for California-based health care workers who provide abortion pills or gender-affirming treatment to patients in other states.
AB 360: Bars coroners, medical examiners and physicians from using "excited delirium," a controversial term that civil rights advocates say enables law enforcement to justify the death of a person in police custody, as a cause of death.
AB 663: Allows mobile pharmacies to provide treatment for opioid use.

AB 618: Imposes fees, including the cost of the first night's stay, on campsite reservation holders who cancel within two to six days before the start date.
AB 1084: Requires department stores with at least 500 employees in California to maintain a gender-neutral section of children's toys.

AB 261: Establishes the California golden chanterelle as the official state mushroom.