New California laws in effect beginning July 1

Monday, July 1, 2019
New California laws in effect beginning July 1
The California legal landscape changes Monday with a few significant new laws taking effect.

Gas tax increase (SB 1)

California already has the most expensive gas in the country, and as of Monday, it'll also have the highest gas tax.

"Come July 1, California's taxes increase another 5.6 cents per gallon," said Patrick DeHaan with GasBuddy.

You'll be paying more than 61 cents a gallon in taxes, passing Pennsylvania for America's highest gas tax.

Ammo background checks (Prop. 63)

The state also institutes a new law for people wanting to buy ammunition.

Proposition 63 means gun owners will need to undergo a background check to cross-reference your personal information with what's on file in the Department of Justice's Automated Firearms System, which is inputted when you buy and register a gun.

If everything matches, the process is supposed to take a couple of minutes and costs a dollar.

If the information doesn't match or you're not in the system at all, it'll take up to 10 days to process and clear.

Police body camera transparency (AB 748)

Police officers will be under a little more scrutiny as well.

"I'm not sure Sacramento is necessarily concerned with the protection of officers, they're concerned about providing complete transparency, and sometimes those two things contradict one another," said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer.

The new transparency comes in the form of a required release of body camera video and audio from police shootings.

AB 748 forces law enforcement to release them within 45 days of the incident.

Medical misconduct warnings (SB 1448)

You might get a warning about your doctor too.

Medical providers will now have to let people know before treating them if the state medical board placed the doctor on probation for misconduct involving harm to patients.

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