As the preparations to welcome in the new year begin, new laws in the State of California will come into effect with regards to immigration, employers and schools.

AB 450: Immigration worksite enforcement actions

Approved by Governor Jerry Brown on Oct. 5, this law prohibits employers from granting access or providing documents of an employee to immigration agencies during enforcements or “raids” in the workplace.

Under this law, if an employer is found to have allowed access or provided documents without requesting a judicial warrant, they could face monetary penalties.

“The bill would grant the Labor Commissioner or the Attorney General the exclusive authority to enforce these provisions and would require that any penalty recovered be deposited in the Labor Enforcement and Compliance Fund,” the law reads.

Penalties could range from $2,000 to $5,000 for the first violation and $5,000 to $10,000 for any violation after.

SB 54: “Sanctuary State”

On Oct. 5, Governor Brown approved Senate Bill 54, which will prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from using resources to investigate, detain, interrogate detect, or arrest individuals for immigration enforcement purposes.

“The bill would require the Attorney General to publish guidance, audit criteria, and training recommendations regarding state and local law enforcement databases, for purposes of limiting the availability of information for immigration enforcement,” the law reads.

SB 3: Minimum wage increase in California

Although minimum wage in San Diego is $11.50 and will not change in January, according to the City of San Diego, the State of California will increase minimum wage.

For employees of business with 26 or more employees the increase will be to $11 and for employees of business with 25 or fewer employees the raise will be to $10.50.

The bill was introduced by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and was signed into law by Governor Brown on April 4, 2016.

SB 250: Child Hunger Prevention in Schools

Known as the Child Hunger Prevention and Fair Treatment Act of 2017, the law would prevent students from being “shunned” from receiving school meals or meals that differ from other students because of unpaid dues.

Introduced by Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) and approved by Governor Brown on Oct. 17, this law requires local schools that provide meals to students through the National School Lunch Program or the federal School Breakfast Program to serve meals to students despite pending school meal fees.

“It is the intent of the Legislature to prohibit school personnel from using denial or delay of a school meal as a way to punish a child for any reason and to establish transparent rules for resolving school meal fees debt owed by the child’s parent or guardian when the debt has gone unpaid,” the act reads.

SB 65: Marijuana use in vehicles

On Dec. 21, the Department of Motor Vehicles released a list of new 2018 laws that will affect California divers, in that list the DMV highlights that the use of marijuana while driving a car or as a passenger will be prohibited.

“The DMV will assign negligent operator point counts for this violation,” according to the DMV release.

The law bans smoking or ingesting marijuana in the form of edible cannabis while driving or riding as a passenger. It also regulates how marijuana can be stored in a car.