If you’re a pale 17-year-old in Illinois, get your indoor tanning sessions in now. Starting Wednesday, they’re strictly forbidden.
A new state law takes effect Wednesday that bans anyone under 18 from using tanning salons in the Land of Lincoln. Illinois becomes the sixth state to keep teens out of the facilities, part of a growing trend of regulating tanning facilities to help reduce the risk of skin cancer, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a Washington-based group that tracks lawmaking.
The new measure is one of an estimated 40,000 new laws, regulations and resolutions approved by state legislatures in 2013, many of which take effect today. Among them:
Arkansas voters must now show a photo ID at polling places, while Virginia voters for the first time will be able to register online.
California students must be allowed to play school sports and use school bathrooms “consistent with their gender identity,” regardless of their birth identity.
In Oregon, new mothers will now be able to take their placentas home from the hospital — some experts say ingesting it has positive health benefits. Another new state law bans smoking in motor vehicles when children are present.
Minimum-wage increases take effect in four Northeastern states: Connecticut’s rises to $8.70 an hour; New Jersey’s to $8.25; and New York’s and Rhode Island’s to $8. In nine other states, the minimum wage rises automatically because it’s indexed to inflation.
Perhaps most significantly, Colorado adults age 21 or older will be able on Wednesday to buy up to an ounce of marijuana for recreational use from a state-licensed retail store. Marijuana advocates expect many of the new stores to be up and running by then, and observers say the new Colorado regulations are a sign of things to come.
“I think state legislatures will be faced with the marijuana issue” in 2014, says Jane Carroll Andrade, NCSL’s spokeswoman.
In Washington state, regulators are combing through more than 2,000 applications for similar stores after voters approved a similar measure in 2012, says Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. He expects the first Washington stores to open in a few months.
“Other states are watching Colorado and Washington because it will continue to come up,” Andrade says.
Armentano, who likens these developments to the state-led reversal of Prohibition in the 1930s, says a dozen states are due to debate marijuana legalization measures in the coming year or so. “The genie’s out of the bottle, and it’s simply not going back in.”
Many new state laws take effect 90 days after they’re signed, but a few states, like California, Colorado, Illinois and Oregon, get extra attention this time of year because traditionally many laws in these states take effect on Jan. 1.
As a result, life changes a bit more radically for Illinois residents each new year: On Wednesday, in addition to the tanning measure, they’ll find that they can now return a pet or be reimbursed for veterinary costs if an illness was not disclosed by the seller. So-called “lemon pets” laws already exist in 21 states, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
A sample of other state laws taking effect Jan. 1:
Colorado: Drivers will see a new annual $50 fee for plug-in electric cars. Colorado is one of several states looking to capture revenue from alternative fuel, electric and hybrid vehicles.
Connecticut: New gun-control laws in the aftermath of the school shooting in Newtown include mandatory registration of all assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines bought before April 2013, and creation of a statewide registry that will track parolees whose crimes involved weapons.
Maine: Becomes the 48th state to require a check-off for organ donation on driver’s licenses to promote organ donation.
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