California’s legislators pass hundreds of new laws each year, most of which take effect in January. But a handful kick in on July 1, the start of the state’s fiscal year.
Signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year, the wide-ranging new laws include sweeping protections for California consumers against hidden “junk” fees that add unexpected costs to everything from concert tickets to food delivery. The laws also tackle issues related to housing affordability, the difficulty of fixing your own iPhone and other electronic devices, and screening measures to detect date-rape drugs in alcoholic drinks at bars and nightclubs.
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As in years past, the list mostly reflects the politics and interests of the Democrats who hold a supermajority of seats in the state Assembly and Senate.
Here’s a look at several of the new laws that will take effect Monday.
No more hidden fees
Two new laws will require that businesses including hotels, food delivery apps, airlines and concert venues include all mandatory fees and surcharges in their advertised prices.
The wide-reaching transparency law, Senate Bill 478, will apply to many industries. The charges that must be disclosed upfront to customers include resort fees at hotels, cleaning fees for lodging rental platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo, venue fees for concerts and sporting events, and surcharges for driver benefits and deliveries on apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats.
The bill was sponsored by Sens. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) and Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and backed by Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta.
A second law targets cleaning and resort fees at hotels and short-term rentals. Assembly Bill 537, introduced by Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park), requires that lodgings display the total price before checkout, except any government taxes and fees.
The laws have already led to some national changes, including hotel websites that now display the total price for each stay before taxes, and a “total before taxes” search option on Airbnb.
President Biden last year called out junk fees and backed a bill in Congress that would ban the fees nationally. The Federal Trade Commission has also started drafting regulations that would bar companies from advertising prices without including mandatory fees.
Limits on security deposits
Many California landlords will be barred from charging more than the equivalent of one month’s rent for security deposits. Landlords could previously charge the equivalent of two times the monthly rent for unfurnished units, and three times the monthly rent for furnished units.
Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), who introduced AB 12, said that high security deposits can be a barrier to finding affordable housing, especially in coastal California cities where rents are among the country’s highest.
Mom-and-pop landlords who own up to two rental properties, with no more than four units, are exempt from the law.
Credit card codes for gun retailers
Starting July 1, credit card payment networks must provide a unique identifying code for gun and ammunition retailers. Those four-digit identifiers, known as “merchant category codes,” already appear on credit card statements for most types of businesses, including grocery stores, hotels and gas stations, and help payment networks offer rewards and track spending trends.
Typically, gun and ammunition retailers are categorized as sporting goods stores. Under AB 1587, introduced by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), credit card payment networks must begin offering the merchant category code for gun and ammunition retailers on July 1. Retailers have until May of next year to integrate the code into their systems.
Welcome to the latest increased Communist State of Kalif.
My good friend who lived through Mao and the Cultural Revolution stated today that she did not realize that Kalif. was the latest rendition of Communist China.
Something terrible and sad about what the Democrats have and are doing to what used to be the Golden State and is now tarnished pewter.
When people volunteer to leave their homes to come to Kalif. and the USA, then state it is headed to dictatorship and Communism you know the Democrats and the Left are very, very, very WRONG.