With July 1 marking the midway point of the year, a number of new laws are slated to go into effect in California and Los Angeles, including an increased minimum wage and the expansion of the plastic bag ban.
Under AB10, which was authored by state Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, the minimum wage will go up to $9 an hour — an increase of a dollar — on Tuesday.
It will rise again on July 1, 2016 to $10 an hour.
Gov. Jerry Brown approved the wage increases on Sept. 25, 2013.
Also on Tuesday, a plastic bag ban in L.A. that went into effect at the beginning of this year would be expanded to include smaller grocery stores that sell perishable food items, including liquor stores and gas stations.
Customers will have to take their reusable bags to carry their groceries and goods or purchase paper ones for 10 cents apiece.
Stores that will do not comply with the law will be penalized with fines, which start at $100 for the first violation and increase to $500 dollars for the the third. Additional penalties will subsequently be imposed for every additional day the business does not comply.
The plastic bag ban in the city went into effect for large grocery stores on Jan. 1.
