New laws in Minnesota on Jan. 1 include "blackout" license plates, paid sick days

Zoom in: Here's a look at some of the laws taking effect Jan. 1.

😷 More Minnesota workers will get paid sick days to care for themselves or their family.

• The law, which requires most employers to allow staff to accrue time off, also covers days off due to severe weather closures. Businesses have expressed concerns about the implementation like "costs and procedural hurdles," as MPR News reports.

💰 Prospective employers can no longer ask about an applicant's salary history.

⚖️ A "red flag law" allows loved ones and law enforcement to ask the courts to temporarily take guns from a person who's deemed to be at risk of hurting others or themselves.

🍔 Food containers and packaging can't contain "forever chemicals," known as PFAS, under a wide-reaching ban.

🐱 A package of renter-related law changes includes a provision prohibiting landlords from requiring tenants to declaw or "devocalize" their pets.

• Other new protections for renters cover winter heat and emergency repairs.

🚽 Schools must now provide free menstrual products in bathrooms used by students in fourth grade or higher.

🚗 Drivers can deck out their cars with popular "blackout" license plates. Other new designs celebrate professional sports teams and honor missing and murdered indigenous relatives.

🗳️ The tax refund for Minnesotans who donate to state political campaigns increases from $50 to $75 for individuals and $100 to $150 for married couples.