(Part 2 of 2)
Immigrants
POLL workers: Permanent legal residents who are not citizens may serve as poll workers in California elections.
Employer threats: Employers are prohibited from inducing fear by threatening workers to report their immigration status if they complain about working conditions.
Lawyers: Illegal residents who pass the state bar exam may be licensed as attorneys.
Government
Food stamps: Income limit is changed to allow more people to participate in the program.
State marketing: Creates a “Made in California” label program to market goods manufactured in the state.
Guns, Law Enforcement
Ammunition clips: Kits enabling ammo magazines to be altered to hold more than 10 rounds are prohibited.
Firearm access: Guns must be locked up in homes where felons and the mentally ill reside.
Law enforcement: Police agencies must disclose in a state database when guns are sold to firearms dealers.
Rifle safety: Those who use rifles are required to undergo safety training.
Jail crowding: County sheriffs are allowed to reduce time behind bars for nonviolent felons assigned to jails.
Health
Breast feeding: Hospitals with perinatal units must adopt programs to promote breast-feeding.
Abortion access: Abortions in the first trimester may be performed by nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives and physician assistants.
Infertility treatment: Insurance companies are required to cover infertility treatment for same-sex couples.
Technology
Ticket Scalping: Scalpers cannot use ticket-buying software to rapidly purchase and scoop up hundreds of the best seats to concerts and sporting events seconds after they go on sale online.
Transit tracking: Transit agencies issuing electronic fare cards to bus and train riders are barred from selling personal information, including travel data that they collect each time a card is swiped.
Earthquake warnings: The state authorizes the expansion of a network of sensors that detect seismic waves seconds before earthquakes and the development of ways to relay that information to the public.
Pets, Bobcats, Mountain Lions
Pet protection: State limits the size of “body-crushing traps” to 6 inches by 6 inches to keep pets from being killed in traps designed to catch small wild animals.
Bobcats: Commercial trapping of bobcats is prohibited in areas adjacent to national and state parks, national monuments, or wildlife refuges where trappings are prohibited.
Mountain lion sightings: The State Department of Fish and Wildlife must use nonlethal methods such as capturing and tranquilizing to remove a mountain lion if it does not pose an imminent threat to the public.
Paparazzi, Media
Paparazzi: Paparazzi face misdemeanor charges if they attempt to photograph or videotape the child of a celebrity in a harassing manner.
911 Calls: Financial penalties are increased for those who make anonymous 911 calls by falsely claiming that a violent crime has occurred at a celebrity’s address to get occupants out or bring armed police response.
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Victor Santos Sy, CPA, MBA, provides professional services in accounting and tax controversy including IRS audit defense and offers in compromise. He also advises clients on choices of entity including corporations for small businesses and LLCs for rentals. Vic worked with SyCip, Gorres, Velayo (SGV – Andersen Consulting) and Ernst & Young before establishing Sy Accountancy Corporation at 704 Mira Monte Place, Pasadena, CA 91101. The firm celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. You may email tax questions to Vic at [email protected]. You are welcome to visit our website for more than 300 tax tips at www.victorsycpa.com.
