California's New Laws

[Comrade]

Some surprising new laws have gone into effect this year in America's #1 nanny state. Some I find sensible, but others are just damn annoying.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/traffic/wipers.asp

Numerous other laws also went onto California's books on 1 January 2005. A recap of some of them:
Teen-Related:


Retailers must post clear signs explaining the rating system for video games.


Teens under 14 must get parental permission to use tanning salons.


Tighter controls on the operation of motorized scooters include requiring a driver's license or instructional permit. Engine modifications to make more noise are barred.


Those under 18 cannot buy any of several different forms of performance-enhancing dietary supplements.

Gay Rights:


Insurers must offer domestic partners the same health care benefits provided to married couples.

So this is about an employer being forced to pay for everyone's roomates benefits, whether or not you might have sex with them? Is a domestic partner a same sex issue or can my girlfriend get the bennies now? So when does it stop? How about my grandma, the guy who mows my lawn, or my friends who crash over the weekend? And do they have to also have sex with me, in order to force a company to pay for their benefits as well?

Domestic partners will have a broader range of rights and responsibilities, from pensions to inheritance to paying bills, when a partner dies. This measure was passed in 2003, but its implementation was set for 2005.

How about making them subject to divorce proceedings too?

Gun Control:


A long-range weapon, the .50 BMG caliber firearm popular among hunters and at firing ranges, can no longer be sold in California. Current owners have until 30 April 2006 to register their personal rifles of this type.


Gun dealers, regardless of location, must run background checks on employees, expanding an existing law that limited the requirement to large population centers.


Law enforcement must conduct background checks before returning confiscated guns to owners to ensure they are not prohibited from possessing weapons.

Firestorm Aftermath:


Insurers must renew an existing policy at least once if a home's total loss was caused by a natural disaster, and policies cannot be cancelled between renewal periods while a home is being rebuilt.


Insurers must provide clear written warnings that rebuilding costs could exceed the value of their policies.


Firebreaks of at least 100 feet around homes will be mandatory.


Hotels cannot raise their rates more than 10 percent after a natural disaster.

So instead of being a limited commodity valued on need, hotel rooms will be first-come, first-serve, which isn't any better.

Environment:


The rolling 30-year exemption for automobile smog checks is discarded.


Cruise ships are barred from burning garbage, dumping sewage, or disposing of kitchen and shower gray water within three miles of shore.


Ocean trawlers searching for fish cannot drag nets along the sea floor in certain areas.

How does the state regulate what are federally patrolled fishing waters, anyway?

A new Sierra Nevada Conservancy will be formed to protect the pristine mountain range.

Is this The Sierra Club version two?

Local air districts can hike vehicle registration fees by $2 and add 75 cents to the fee on new tires to cover their disposal.

Driving:


Toddlers will no longer be allowed to ride in the front seat if they are under age 6 or weigh less than 60 pounds. They must be secured in a back seat car restraint system unless there is no rear seat or the space is being used by children under the age of 12.


Motorists cannot buy devices, now used by emergency vehicles, to change red lights to green.


Fines will increase for motorists caught driving faster than 100 mph.


Public transit and school bus drivers cannot use cell phones while behind the wheel, unless it is for work-related calls or emergencies.


Headlights must be turned on when weather conditions require continuous use of windshield wipers.

Far too vauge of a standard. How about turning them on when you can't see clearly without them?2

Insurers must post their lowest price policies on the Web or make them available through toll-free telephone numbers.


Penalties will increase for street racing to also include a mandatory 40 hours of community service.


DUI convictions will remain on a driver's record for ten years, rather than seven.

Computers:


Users and Internet Service Providers can collect $1,000 for each unwanted e-mail advertisement sent to them using a false or misleading subject or address.

Get rich quick indeed.

Secretly installing spyware — programs that can collect data from computers without the owner's knowledge — is banned.

I hope there is jailtime involved!

Those who use the Internet to send copies of music and films must disclose their true e-mail addresses to discourage piracy.

Miscellaneous:


Pharmacists can dispense up to 10 clean needles a year to those without a prescription — a move supporters say will help stem the flow of disease while critics call it an endorsement of illegal drug use. However, cities and counties must approve first.


The bedroom is added to a list of locations ordered off-limits to filming without permission in response to an explosion of cell-phone cameras and miniature recorders. Current law already includes dressing rooms and bathrooms.

Otherwise known as the Paris Act, sponsored by Hilton International.

Those convicted of drug possession or use are no longer barred from receiving food stamps. Those convicted of dealing or manufacturing drugs are still banned

If you can buy drugs, you can sure as hell buy food.

The return of the June primary, eliminating statewide elections in March.


Limits on providing vaccines to pregnant women and children under the age of 3.


Wild and exotic cats cannot be declawed.

Save the poor kitties!

The state will pay a $10,000 death benefit to the surviving spouse or beneficiary of any member of the California National Guard, State Military Reserve, or Naval Militia who dies or is killed after 1 March 2003 in the performance of duty.

Retailers must honor gift certificates that carry "redemption" dates. California law has barred "expiration" dates, but some retailers substituted "redemption" to force customers to use the gift within a year or lose the money.

Smoking in prisons by inmates and guards will become illegal on 1 July 2005.

Men now have two years from a child's birth or a paternity declaration to file paternity challenges based on genetic testing. The previous deadline was six months.

Interesting stuff, California...

 

[dilloduck]

Some surprising new laws have gone into effect this year in America's #1 nanny state. Some I find sensible, but others are just damn annoying.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/traffic/wipers.asp




So this is about an employer being forced to pay for everyone's roomates benefits, whether or not you might have sex with them? Is a domestic partner a same sex issue or can my girlfriend get the bennies now? So when does it stop? How about my grandma, the guy who mows my lawn, or my friends who crash over the weekend? And do they have to also have sex with me, in order to force a company to pay for their benefits as well?



How about making them subject to divorce proceedings too?



So instead of being a limited commodity valued on need, hotel rooms will be first-come, first-serve, which isn't any better.



How does the state regulate what are federally patrolled fishing waters, anyway?



Is this The Sierra Club version two?



Far too vauge of a standard. How about turning them on when you can't see clearly without them?2




Get rich quick indeed.



I hope there is jailtime involved!


Otherwise known as the Paris Act, sponsored by Hilton International.



If you can buy drugs, you can sure as hell buy food.



Save the poor kitties!




Retailers must honor gift certificates that carry "redemption" dates. California law has barred "expiration" dates, but some retailers substituted "redemption" to force customers to use the gift within a year or lose the money.






Interesting stuff, California...

oh ya----enforcement outta be a circus too !!!

 

[Johnney]

calis getting to be a zoo i guess. one more reason not to go there