Laws taking effect this year

SACRAMENTO — Dozens of new state laws take effect today that could make things tougher for gang members, smokers and kangaroos while providing new protections for nursing home residents, shoppers and misbehaving celebrities.

In addition, California workers who earn the minimum wage will get a raise from $7.50 to $8 per hour starting today, tying California with Massachusetts for the highest state minimum wage in the nation. That change, affecting 1.4 million California workers, is the result of a bill signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006.

And annual car fees will rise July 1, partly to help pay for energy and clean-air programs.

In 2007, Schwarzenegger signed 750 bills, but many of the new laws won't kick in for months or even years.

For instance, the governor signed a pioneering measure that requires new semiautomatic pistols to have technology for stamping tiny identifying marks on cartridge casings, starting in 2010.

Another new law prohibits the manufacture, sale and distribution of toys intended for children younger than 3 that contain certain chemicals, but the ban does not begin until Jan. 1, 2009.

A law signed last year that bans minors from using cellphones and text-messaging devices while driving takes effect July 1, as does a companion measure requiring adults to use hands-free devices if they talk on a phone while behind the wheel.

The laws taking effect today include a ban on smoking in cars where minors are present, punishable by a fine of up to $100. Police officers cannot pull motorists over for smoking, however. Officers can cite adult smokers only if that offense is discovered in conjunction with another violation such as speeding.

Don't expect any grace period, said Fran Clader, a spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol. "If any of our officers see it they will enforce the law," Clader said.

A series of anti-gang measures, passed in response to violence in Los Angeles and other big cities, was signed by the governor. One allows prosecutors in Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Diego, Oakland and Sacramento to bring eviction actions against tenants for illegal weapons possession if the landlord is unwilling or afraid to act.

That law is aimed, in part, at preventing gang members from using apartment buildings as unofficial gang headquarters.