Abortion to wages, new laws vary in each state

Taxes will fall and minimum wages rise for residents in numerous states as a variety of new laws take effect today that could impact people’s finances and, in some cases, their personal liberties.

Some new laws could affect access to abortion. Others will ease restrictions on marijuana and concealed guns, or eliminate the need to pay to get out of jail.

Here’s a look at some of the laws taking effect in the new year.

Abortion

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling in June, abortion access became a state issue. Laws in place in 13 states, most controlled by Republicans, ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with varying exceptions. Meanwhile, more liberal states have been extending abortion protections.

Laws taking effect in January are intended to make abortion more accessible in California and New York.

California will allow trained nurse practitioners, midwives and physician assistants to provide abortions without supervision from a physician. In New York, a law dealing with multiple facets of health care requires private insurers that cover births to also cover abortion services, without requiring co-payments or co-insurance.

Taxes

Thanks to large budget surpluses, about two-thirds of the states approved permanent tax cuts or one-time rebates last year. Several of those will take effect in January.

Income tax cuts mean less money will be withheld from workers’ paychecks in Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina and South Carolina. An Arizona income tax rate reduction to a flat 2.5 percent also will take effect in January, a year before originally scheduled because of strong state revenues.

Iowa will revamp its income tax brackets as a first step toward an eventual flat tax, and it will stop taxing retirement income.

But not all taxes will be going down. A voter-approved “millionaire tax” will take effect in Massachusetts, imposing a 4 percent surcharge on income of more than $1 million.

Wages

Minimum wage workers will get a pay raise in 23 states. The increases range from an extra 23 cents in Michigan to an additional $1.50 in Nebraska, where a ballot measure approved in November will raise the minimum wage from $8 to $9.50 an hour.

The gap continues to grow between the 20 states following the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and the 30 others requiring more. The highest state minimum wage now will be $15.74 an hour in Washington — more than double the federal rate.

Criminal justice

A new law in Illinois is supposed to eliminate cash bail for people accused of crimes, but a judge put that on hold in late December after 64 counties challenged it as unconstitutional. Requiring bonds to be posted has long been a way to ensure people who are arrested show up for their trials, but critics say the system penalizes the poor.

In November, voters made Maryland the 21st state to legalize recreational use of marijuana by adults. That begins on July 1, 2023.

Alabama will become the 25th state where it will be legal to carry a concealed handgun without a permit.