Thousands of local people celebrated the new year last week, that is of course unless they were smokers.

As of Jan. 1, California law prohibited smoking in any vehicle if children under 18 are inside. The prohibition applies regardless of whether the vehicle is in traffic or parked. Police will not be able to stop a car just to check for smoking, but can cite the driver if they pull them over for another reason. Drivers could face a fines of up to $100.

And if you live in Exeter, you aren't allowed to smoke at public parks either.

As of Nov. 8, 2007, it is illegal to smoke tobacco or tobacco related products at Exeter parks.

The ordinance was adopted by the Exeter City Council at its Oct. 9 meeting. The ordinance applies to any outdoor area owned or operated by the city and open to general public for recreational purposes including, but not limited to: parklands, picnic areas, playgrounds, sportsfields, walking paths, gardens, hiking and nature trails, bike paths horseback riding trails, athletic fields, skateboard parks and amusement parks as well as parking lots.

Under existing state law, it was already illegal for a person to smoke a cigarette, cigar, or other tobacco-related product within 25 feet of a playground or tot lot sandbox area. According to the 2006 Surgeon General's Report, there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. A team of environmental scientists from Stanford University also published a recent study showing that peak levels of secondhand smoke from smoking in a car can be up to 10 times greater than the level which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers hazardous.

Evidence shows that children are especially vulnerable to the health effects caused by secondhand smoke. According to the EPA, secondhand smoke causes 31,000 asthma attacks in children each year. Secondhand smoke is also a known cause of bronchitis, pneumonia and ear infections in children.

Tobacco kills more Americans than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, murders, suicide, drugs and fires combined!

The following are state laws that took effect on Jan. 1:

€ California's lowest-wage workers got a pay raise as the state's minimum wage increased from $7.50 per hour to $8 per hour. The California increase is part of a two-step adjustment approved by lawmakers in 2006. The wage jumped from $6.75 to $7.50 last Jan. 1. Nearly 1.5 million Californians will benefit from this wage increase. According to the California Budget Project, a single adult working full-time would need to earn more than $13 an hour just to cover basic expenses such as housing, food, transportation and health care.

€ Bicycle riders must have some sort of light while riding on a highway, street or sidewalk at night and that the operator of the bicycle have reflectors on each pedal on his or her shoes or ankles. Failure to have to have illumination devices could result in a ticket that requires the rider to attend a bicycle safety class.

€ Consumers are allowed to redeem gifts cards with balances of less than $10 for cash. This prevents companies from pocketing un-used money that has already been purchased by the consumer. Previously, gift cards could not be cashed out at all, only available for use as store credit.

€ High schools must notify parents whether their children's studies satisfied the requirements for admittance into California State University or University of California, and provide information on career technical education.

€ Automakers must provide, at any time, the key codes necessary for a licensed and registered locksmith to make a replacement key for vehicles sold or leased in California on or after January 1, 2008. Exceptions include automakers that sell fewer than 2,500 vehicles annually, and manufacturers that make their own keys-i.e. BMW and Mercedes-Benz- who have until 2013 to comply with the law provided that, in the interim, they send a replacement key by overnight mail.

€ It is now illegal to sell or use a product that obstructs or impairs the recognition of a license plate by an electronic device operated by police or toll authority. The fine for using a product is approximately $146, and the fine for selling one is approximately $900.

€ Local government can now adopt an ordinance establishing a speed limit of 15 miles per hour in a school zone. The 15-mph speed limit must be posted and applies up to 500 feet from the school when children are present or arriving at or leaving the school, either during school hours or during the noon recess. The 15-mph limit will also apply when the school grounds are being used by children and are not separated from the street by a fence, gate, or other physical barrier. A 25-mph limit will apply at a distance of 500-1,000 feet from the school.

€ In a further crackdown on illegal street races, SB 67 reauthorizes a law that lapsed in 2006 that allows police to impound a vehicle for 30 days when a person is arrested for street racing, exhibition of speed, or reckless driving. Registered owners of vehicles impounded under this law can claim their vehicles if the owners were neither the driver nor passenger at the time of the violation and were unaware that the vehicle was being used to violate one of the prohibitions.

€ A driver who commits a two-point violation is not allowed to attend traffic school. Two-point violations include drunk driving, hit-and-run, speed contests, evading an officer, and vehicular manslaughter. In 2004, there were 773 instances in which two-point violators had their driving records expunged by attending traffic school, allowing them to maintain their “good driver” insurance discount and elude DMV negligent-driver oversight.

€ Concerns about the high cost of gasoline have prompted scrutiny into whether gasoline loses fuel efficiency when it is stored, delivered or dispensed at a higher temperature than 60 degrees. AB 868 requires the state to conduct a study on the effects of temperature on fuel deliveries and to report the study findings. Fuel expands when it is delivered, stored, or dispensed at temperatures higher than the government standard of 60 degrees. This means that motorists might not get the amount and quality of fuel they paid for. When the study is complete, recommendations will be made to address its findings.

€ Cities and counties are required to designate areas where homeless shelters can be constructed without the requirement to obtain a conditional use permit. The law is designed to remove zoning ordinances that block construction of homeless shelters.

€ Cities and counties can't require landlords to verify the citizenship of their tenants. This law was a direct result of an attempt by a city in Southern California to require landlord to screen the citizenship status of potential tenants.

€ Courts can require parents or guardians of gang members to attend parenting classes. The classes are designed to prevent first-time offenders from committing addition crimes.

€ Patients are no longer required to fill out a form to be tested for HIV and AIDS. They only would have to give a doctor verbal consent to add HIV to other conditions for which they are being tested.

€ The state's two giant public pension funds, the California Public Employees' Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System, are prohibited from investing in companies that have defense- or nuclear energy-related business with Iran.

€ Concert bands are required to have at least one member of the original band to legally use the band's name. The law is an attempt to ensure that music fans who buy tickets to oldies concerts are not victims of deceptive advertising.

€ Employers are prohibited from requiring an employee to have a radio frequency identification device inserted under their skin. The devices, about the size of a rice grain, can be used to track and transmit personal information about the user.

The following are laws that will take effect July 1, 2008:

€ The “smog abatement fee” for newer vehicles increases from $12 to $20 and the vehicle registration fee paid by all motorists will increase from $31 to $34. The higher fees will be used to fund research for alternative fuels, alternative fuel infrastructure projects, and air quality improvement. The Auto Club opposed the law because the fee increases also will fund a variety of programs that have nothing to do with automobile use, ownership or operation. This measure will require car owners to contribute well over $150 million per year until 2016, when the law expires.

€ Drivers will be prohibited from using cell phones without a hands-free device while driving. A separate will law prohibits all drivers under the age of 18 from using a cell phone even with a hands free device. Both laws have exceptions for emergencies. Fines for both laws are $20 for the first offense plus administrative fees and $50 for the second or subsequent offenses plus administrative fees.

The following are new laws that will take effect this year that were authored by local representatives.

€ AB 1541, authored by Assemblyman Bill Maze (R-Visalia), goes into effect on July 1. The law requires that only a juvenile court judicial officers be allowed to authorize psychotropic medications for foster children. Existing law already requires this for dependent children living with their biological parents. Psychotropic medication or psychotropic drugs are used to treat psychiatric disorders or illnesses, such as depression, Parkinson's and dementia.

- Assemblyman Bill Maze represents the 34th District encompassing portions of Tulare, Kern, Inyo and San Bernardino counties.

€ SB 70, authored by Dean Florez (D-Shafter), allows a school district to use a biodiesel fuel blend to operate all of the diesel-powered schoolbuses, even if it is contracting with a private company that does so, as of Jan. 1. Biodiesel is any fuel derived from vegetable oils or animal fats. Biodiesel is biodegradable and non-toxic, and typically produces about 60% less net-lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions.

- Senator Dean Florez represents the 16th Senate District encompassing portions of Fresno, Kern and Tulare counties, including the cities of Lindsay and Woodlake and the communities of Ivanhoe and Strathmore.

€ Signed into law in 2006, SB 1759, authored by Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield), requires that state-funded daycare providers have a background check by Feb. 1. Parents moving from welfare to work are eligible to place their children in subsidized child care so they can work or go to school and train for an employable job. They may choose licensed child care or “license-exempt” providers who are subject to criminal background checks. However, regulations of the Department of Social Services previously required payment to begin immediately, while awaiting the criminal background check, which may take weeks or months, leaving children vulnerable to supervision by convicted criminals.

- Senator Ashburn represents the 18th Senate District encompassing portions of Tulare, Kern, Inyo and San Bernardino counties and including the cities of Farmersville and Exeter and the communities of Three Rivers and Strathmore.

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