New California Laws for 2023

Gun Lawsuits (SB-1327)

Private citizens can sue companies that make and sell firearms if they sell assault weapons or ghost gun products, which are already illegal in the state.  The bill carries a minimum bounty of $10,000 for violators. 

Enhanced Safeguards for Bicycle Riders (AB 1909, Friedman)

Drivers are now required to change into another available lane, when possible, to pass cyclists, building on the current requirement for drivers to give cyclists at least three feet of space when passing. The law also permits Class 3 e-bike riders to use approved bicycle paths and trails, bikeways, and bicycle lanes. In addition, starting on January 1, 2024, the law allows cyclists to cross an intersection when a walk sign is on.

Toll Exemptions for Certain Veterans (AB 2949, Lee)

This law exempts vehicles registered to veterans displaying specialized license plates from paying tolls on roads, bridges, highways, vehicular crossings, or other toll facilities. The exemption applies only to vehicles with license plates that are issued to a disabled veteran, Pearl Harbor survivor, prisoner of war, or to veterans who have received distinctions such as the Purple Heart or the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Employee “Right To Know”

Assembly Bill 685, which becomes law Jan. 1, will require employers to notify employees and the public of a potential workplace COVID-19 exposure within a day of the exposure.

Companies must notify their workers in writing, inform them of their benefits and rights, and provide a comprehensive plan for disinfection.

The company also has 48 hours to notify the local public health agency of a workplace outbreak.
Employers who fail to do so risk major penalties. AB 685 authorizes Cal-OSHA to close workplaces that pose “an imminent hazard to employees” due to the coronavirus.

Hit-and-Run Incidents: Yellow Alert (AB 1732, Patterson)

This law authorizes law enforcement agencies to request the CHP to activate a “Yellow Alert” when a fatal hit-and-run crash has occurred, and specific criteria has been met to permit alert activation. The law also encourages local media outlets to disseminate the information contained in a Yellow Alert.  The new law serves to use the public’s assistance to improve the investigatory ability for law enforcement agencies throughout the state when working to solve fatal hit-and-run crashes. 

CFRA and Paid Sick Leaves Expanded to Cover Employee’s Care for “Designated Person”  (AB 1041) 

: This bill expands on the categories of individuals for whom an employee may take leave to care for under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and California’s Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act (HWHFA). Under the amended CFRA, an employee may take unpaid leave to care for a “designated person,” defined as “any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.” Similarly, an employee may take paid leave to care for a “designated person” under the amended HWHFA, defined as “a person identified by the employee at the time the employee requests paid sick days.” Under both the amended CFRA and HWHFA, an employee may identify a designated person at the time they request leave. An employer, however, may limit an employee to one designated person per 12-month period.

Minority Board Representation

After requiring publicly owned companies based in California to have at least one woman on the board of directors, the state is looking to further diversify corporate boards with Assembly Bill 979. By the end of 2021, publicly held California corporations must have at least one board member from an unrepresented community, self-identifying as Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian or Alaska Native, or gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

California Medical Family Leave Act

Sweeping changes to the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) will go into effect on January 1, 2021, separating CFRA further from its federal counterpart, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Critically, starting January 1, 2021 CFRA will apply to employers with only 5 or more employees, such that even California employees of small employers may be eligible for CFRA leave and related protections. Other critical changes include the ability of employees to take leave to care for grandparents, grandchildren, siblings and domestic partners, in addition to parents, children and spouses, and the availability of leave for qualifying military exigencies.

Hot Car Rules

In California, it’s already against the law to leave a child under 6 in a car unattended. A new law protects people who try and break into the car to rescue the child from civil or criminal liability for property damage or trespassing

Existing law makes it an infraction to leave a child who is 6 years of age or younger inside a motor vehicle without being subject to supervision of a person who is 12 years of age or older if there are conditions that present a significant risk to the child’s health or safety or if the vehicle’s engine is running or the vehicle’s keys are in the ignition, or both, and makes it a crime to willfully cause or permit a child to suffer, or inflict unjustifiable physical pain or mental suffering, or willfully place a child in a situation where their health is endangered.
 
Existing law also makes it a crime to leave or confine an animal in an unattended motor vehicle under conditions that endanger the health or well-being of an animal due to heat, cold, lack of adequate ventilation, or lack of food or water, or other circumstances that could reasonably be expected to cause suffering, disability, or death to the animal.
 
Existing law exempts a person from civil liability for property damage or trespass to a motor vehicle if the property damage or trespass occurs while the person is rescuing an animal pursuant to these provisions.
Existing law similarly exempts a person from criminal liability for removing an animal from a motor vehicle under circumstances that reasonably could cause suffering, disability, or death to the animal, if certain steps are taken during the removal.
Existing law provides that a person who in good faith, and not for compensation, renders emergency medical or nonmedical care or assistance at the scene of an emergency is not liable for civil damages resulting from any act or omission other than an act or omission constituting gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.
 
This bill would exempt a person from civil liability and criminal liability for property damage or trespass to a motor vehicle if the property damage or trespass occurs while the person is rescuing a child who is 6 years of age or younger from a motor vehicle under circumstances that reasonably could cause suffering, disability, or death to the child, if certain steps are taken during the removal.
 
The bill would establish procedures that apply to a peace officer, firefighter, or emergency responder under those circumstances, including, but not limited to, arranging for the treatment and transport of the child according to existing policies of the local EMS agency.
 

Housing- Foreclosure: Right of first refusal (SB 1079)

This law is aimed at stopping a repeat of the Great Recession when investors snapped up a large amount of foreclosed properties. Early in the pandemic, many lawmakers were concerned the same thing would happen again.

This legislation creates new ways an investor could lose a property even after winning it at auction.

Under the new law, if a buyer purchases a home at auction, and does not plan to live in it, a renter in the property can try to get the property themselves. The tenant could submit to buy the property in the next 15 days after the auction.

If they come up with the money (through a mortgage is fine) in 45 days, then the person who won the auction has lost the home. The amount of money paid by the tenant must match the price the auctioneer paid.

There is also an additional way the investor could lose the home over the next 45 days. If the renter doesn’t want to put in an offer, anyone who would want to live there as a primary residence can bid on the property — as long as their offer is more than what the investor paid. The same thing goes for a nonprofit that would like to use the home as subsidized housing.

This second scenario might be rare because the potential rival buyer or organization could have just gone to the auction.

The bill’s author, state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, described the legislation this way: “SB 1079 sends a clear message to Wall Street: California homes are not yours to gobble up; we won’t tolerate another corporate takeover of housing.”

Homestead Exemption (AB 1885)

Everyone who owns a home in California is eligible for a homestead exemption, which protects against losing your property if you file for bankruptcy or to other creditors. The amount of the exemption, though, has not changed in decades nor has it kept pace with the state’s rising housing prices. But, the law gets a big boost this year.

Starting this year, $300,000 to $600,000 of a home’s equity can’t be touched by judgment creditors. This change is designed to make it more likely for a person to extinguish their debts and keep their homes.

For a lien to be put on a property, the judgment must be high enough to pay median home price, at a maximum of $600,000. Note: In San Diego County, the median home price is more, $645,000 as of December. So, unless the San Diego homeowner owes more than $600,000, there’s a good shot they can keep their home despite a lien.

Before this law, the lien was allowed — which could mean an eventual foreclosure — on a home as long as the judgment was $75,000 for an individual, or $100,000 if more than one person is in the house.

Of course, judgments could always lead to garnished wages or financial stress that mean the homeowner has to sell anyway. But, at least it will probably not lead to a foreclosure, and most likely a traditional sale.

Prop.19

This law allows Californians 55 years old and older to sell their existing house, buy another house and take their property tax with them. Typically, homes after purchase have values reassessed and tax rates go up. This change allows older Californians to have a much lower, blended tax rate if they move.

Under Prop. 19, a person can move three times and still get tax benefits anywhere in California. The law also applies to people with severe disabilities or those who lost their homes in a natural disaster.

People who take advantage of Prop. 19 can buy a more expensive home and blend the taxable value of their house with whatever they had. This will create a lower tax bill than if they bought a new home and had it reassessed at fair market value.

This is how law and legal analysis firm JD Supra described it: If a senior couple sold their home with an assessed value of $250,000 for $2 million and bought a new home for $3 million, the new home’s assessed value would be $1.25 million, which is the $250,000 assessed value, plus the $1 million increase in home value.

Of growing concern to parents, Prop. 19 eliminates or reduces tax benefits for transferring property to children. If a child gets a home and decides to live in it full-time, then the tax rate will stay the same. However, this only applies if the home is not more than $1 million, whereas the previous law of the land had no cap.

If a child does not want to live in the house as a primary residence, they lose all tax benefits. Instead, the home’s tax rate will be based on the assessed fair market value.

*More to come*
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