New laws are taking effect in January that affect how people live, work and play. Among them:
AB 12: Reduces the amount landlords can require for security deposits to one month. It also expands tenant rights by adding protections for tenants whose landlords use their apartments as drug- or alcohol-testing sites.
The “California Delete Act” gives consumers more control over their personal data by requiring that information brokers register with the state and provide a mechanism for consumers to direct data brokers to delete their information.
SB 43: Expands the eligibility for involuntary mental health holds to include people who are unable to care for themselves or their families and are not capable of providing food, clothing or shelter. It also prohibits bounty hunters from appointing doctors or other health care practitioners to stand trial in another state for providing abortion pills or gender-affirming treatment to patients in California.
The “Ebony Alert” law creates an emergency alert system to help find missing Black women and youth. And it increases prison sentences for sex traffickers and sets stricter minimum age requirements to sell children into prostitution.