New year brings new laws

Minimum wage in upstate New York is set to increase from $13.20 to $14.20. State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Sunday that workers outside New York City, Westchester County and Long Island will see the dollar increase.

“The Assembly majority believes that no one working a full-time job should have to live in poverty,” Heastie said in a statement “Inflation hit New Yorkers hard at the grocery store and the gas tank this year.”

Bianca’s Law makes it a crime to post graphic images online of people in traumatic situations. The law is in response to the death of 17-year-old Bianca Devins in July 2019 in Utica. Her death was exploited online after her attacker posted images of her body on social media.

The new telemarketing call law requires telemarketers to give customers the option to be added to their do-not-call list immediately after the telemarketer gives their name and identifies the company. This law goes into effect March 6.

Effective immediately, the state’s paid family leave law adds siblings to the definition of family members.

The Electric Vehicle Rights Act, which goes into effect Jan. 21, prohibits homeowners associations from preventing homeowners from installing EV charging stations on their property.

The pedestrian and bicyclist safety law goes into effect Jan. 11 and requires new drivers to learn about pedestrian and bicyclist safety awareness as part of their prelicensing course.

Effective immediately, the polling place law allows registered voters to cast their ballots at the wrong polling place as long as they are in the correct county and state Assembly District.

The DEC announced some new laws that will go into effect this year concerning protecting people and the environment from harmful chemicals.

“With the start of the new year, these stringent requirements will build on our nation-leading efforts to prevent exposure to new and emerging contaminants,” according to a DEC statement.

Effective immediately, New York will require a maximum allowable concentration of 2 parts per million of dioxane in household cleaning and personal care products and a 10 ppm limit for cosmetics. Dioxane is a synthetic industrial chemical that has been found in groundwater throughout the country. It is extremely costly to clean up and remove from drinking water supplies.

The DEC will prohibit intentional addition of PFAs to food packaging. PFAs are manmade chemicals that do not easily break down in the environment, especially in water. The DEC will also restrict the sale of children’s products containing asbestos, benzene and tri-phosphates. Both laws go into effect immediately.