New Laws Taking Effect this Month

It is said that ignorance of the law is no excuse.
As such, and to avoid getting caught in the maws of the law, herein are few new pieces of legislation taking effect in California this month, or shortly thereafter, of which Pasadenans should be mindful.
Full-service restaurants throughout the state will no longer hand you a plastic straw with your drink unless you ask for one, in line with Assembly Bill 1884, or the Plastic Straw Ban. The bill does not apply to fast-food restaurants and allows the use of straws made of paper, pasta, wood, bamboo or sugar cane.
Restaurants found in violation of AB 1884 face penalties of $25 a day, or a maximum total annual fine of $300.
Felony hit-and-run laws have been expanded to include cyclists on bike paths, as per Assembly Bill 1755, which amends Section 21200 of the Vehicle Code. Signed by Gov. Brown in July, the bill requires cyclists on a Class I bike way involved in a collision resulting in death or injury to another party to stop at the scene, or face a felony charge.
By the end of 2019, California corporations must have at least one woman on the board of directors, as called for by Senate Bill 826 which Gov. Jerry Brown signed in September. Furthermore, by 2021, companies with five directors are required to have at least two female board members, or three if the corporation has six or more directors.
By July, California’s Patients’ Right to Know Act, or Senate Bill 1448, will take effect. The bill mandates that physicians who have been disciplined by their regulatory board for such acts as sexual misconduct with a patient, drug abuse that can harm patients, criminal conviction involving harm to patients, and inappropriate prescription, should inform their patients about these cases..
The law, authored by State Sen. Jerry Hill, applies to surgeons, osteopaths, naturopathic doctors, chiropractors, podiatrists and acupuncturists who are placed on administrative probation by regulators on or after July 1.
Before this law, physicians only had to notify their hospital or clinic – not patients – about their probation status.