Starting on July 1, new laws will go into effect, impacting Californians in various ways, including higher minimum wages and how food and beverage goods are labeled for consumers.

Minimum wage

Local jurisdictions, such as Los Angeles County, will update their minimum wage ordinance, with their hourly pay rates exceeding that of the state’s requirement. Currently, Californian’s minimum wage is $16.90 per hour for most economic sectors.

Hotel and hospitality workers as well as those in the health care industry in some cities will see their hourly pay rates go up, starting on July 1.

Here’s are the new minimum hourly rates for general workers:

Hotel and hospitality minimum wage per hour:

City of LA, Santa Monica, Glendale: $25.00 

Long Beach: $26.50

West Hollywood: $20.87

New minimum hourly rate for health care workers:

Large hospitals, facilities with over 10,000 full-time employees: $25

General: $23.00

Clinics (ex. Urgent care): $22.00

Independent rural hospitals: $19.28

Food and consumers

Food, beverage labeling: AB 660 seeks to standardize how goods are labeled with more specific phrasing of when the products are expected to expire. The new law will also promote grocery donations while reducing food waste, according to the bill’s authors. 

Best if used by or best if frozen by: the labeling is supposed to clearly indicate the window of peak product quality, taste or freshness.

Use by or free by: the phrasing notes the hard deadline for high-risk food items.

Sell-by dates will largely be banned.

Wine: bottlers can note packaging dates.

Deli/prepared foods: grocery stores are permitted to use a “packed on” label. 

Exemptions: infant formula, eggs, beer

Allergen disclosures: With AB 68, California becomes the first state in the nation to mandate large restaurant chains to disclose the most common food allergens to customers and diners — milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soybeans, fish, shellfish, sesame. The new law applies to chains with 20 or more locations nationwide, not mom-and-pop shops and small businesses. 

School and students

Cellphone ban: Every school in the state should have a policy in place to limit or prohibit the use of smartphones by students on school campuses. AB 3216, also known as the Phone-Free Schools Act, aims to reduce classroom distractions and protect students’ mental health.

All-gender bathrooms: SB 760 requires all public and charter schools to establish at least one, non-gendered restroom for students. The bathrooms must come with clear signage, notifying they are open to all students with all gender identities.

Crisis hotline: Under AB 727, all middle, high schools as well as colleges and universities must note the Trevor Project’s 24/7 crisis and suicide prevention hotline on their student ID cards (1-866-488-7386). If a school has unissued ID cards that were printed prior to the enactment without the hotline number, it can use up the remaining supply before newly printed badges are used.

Technology

Streaming ads: SB 576 mandates streaming platforms, such as YouTube and Peacock, to regulate the audio volume of commercials and prohibit them from streaming ads at a volume louder than the actual show, movie or video content. The new law prevents sudden jarring volume spikes for viewers to reflect the CALM Act from 2010 in the digital age. 

Driverless cars: as more automotive vehicles and robotaxis operate in the state, AB 1777 allows law enforcement to ticket fleets that do not comply with traffic laws. The vehicles also must have a 24/7, free emergency response hotline for first responders, mandating autonomous car companies to have a human, remote operator in place.

Others

Housing: This major zoning law will begin to override local regulations to allow multi-family residential developments near public transit hubs. For example, neighborhoods that are at least half a mile from frequently used Metro lines will effectively lose single-family zones. Despite opposition from Los Angeles officials, the new law targets high-density areas, including LA and San Francisco counties. 

Fertility treatment: SB 729 requires large-scale employers (100 workers or more) to expand health insurance to cover the infertility diagnosis and treatments, including IVF. The coverage should include three completed egg (oocyte) retrievals and an unlimited number of embryo transfers.