New laws take effect across U.S. on abortion, policing, taxes
Minimum wage increases, animal protections, police accountability, and cutting and increasing taxes are all new laws taking effect across the country Saturday, the first day of 2022.
Some of the laws such as abortion restrictions in New Hampshire or police reform measures passed in Illinois, Oregon and North Carolina address some of the most contentious issues of our time. Others are more narrowly focused.
Here is a rundown of some of the new laws:
Abortion
In New Hampshire, abortion will be prohibited after 24 weeks of gestation, with exceptions for the mother’s life or physical health.
Democrats have already drafted legislation seeking to repeal the restrictions.
Animal welfare
Come Saturday, California will have the nation’s toughest living space standards for breeding pigs.
Industry lawsuits failed to block the measure that is the result of a 2018 ballot initiative, but grocers and restaurateurs are now suing to force a 28-month delay. Critics have called for putting off enforcement until 2024 for fear prices will rise and jobs will be lost.
Maryland will join a number of states with a new law that will prohibit the sale of any new cosmetic product if it contains ingredients that were tested on animals.
In Vermont, a new law outlaws the trade in parts or products from a number of exotic animals, including elephants, giraffes, sea turtles, endangered sharks, whales and certain primates.
Drug laws
Recreational marijuana will become legal in Montana. State voters approved the change in a November 2020 initiative.
A new Mississippi law eliminates the requirement for a prescription to buy decongestants that contain ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. Under the new law, the medicine will be available behind the counter of pharmacies, and pharmacists will be required to
keep track of how much is sold to one person.
Like many other states, Mississippi mandated a prescription years ago because medications with ephedrine or pseudoephedrine were being used as an ingredient in crystal methamphetamine.
Minimum wage
California will become the first state to require a $15-an-hour minimum wage for businesses with more than 25 employees. A number of other locations across the country have already reached the $15 threshold.
More than 20 other states are also increasing their minimum wages to amounts of less than $15.
Discrimination
In both Illinois and Oregon, new laws take effect that ban discrimination based on physical characteristics, such as hairstyle.
In Oregon, the bill will ban discrimination based on “physical characteristics that are historically associated with race,” including hair styles such as braids, dreadlocks and twists.
Police reform
Spurred by the racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd and other Black people killed by police, a number of states passed new criminal justice laws in 2021.
An Illinois law standardizes certification of police officers and allows for decertifying officers for repeated errant or unethical behavior.
In North Carolina, law enforcement recruits now must receive psychological screenings before they can work as an officer or deputy.
In Oregon, a new law requires a police officer who witnesses another officer engaging in misconduct or a violation of the state’s minimum moral fitness standards to report it to a supervisor within 72 hours.
Taxes
In Georgia, a new law increases the amount people can earn before they start paying state taxes. The tax cut will save individual tax filers up to $43 a year and married couples filing jointly up to $63.
In Oklahoma, the top individual income tax rate is dropping from 5 percent to 4.75 percent. Lawmakers also slashed the corporate income tax rate from 6 percent to 4 percent.
In New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the state’s Democrat-led Legislature added a new 2.75 percent surtax on health insurance premiums to underwrite health-exchange insurance offerings for low- and moderate-income individuals along with employees at small businesses, starting in 2023.