PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As the calendar flipped from ’23 to ’24, new laws took effect in nearly every state. A higher minimum wage in Delaware and New Jersey and criminal justice reform in Pennsylvania are among the new laws now taking effect.
Nearly 10 million American minimum wage workers stand to benefit in 22 states that are adopting laws to pump up paychecks. Raises range from a 35-cents-an-hour hop in some states to big leaps of more than a $1 dollar for workers in Maryland, Hawaii and Nebraska.
The minimum wage in New Jersey increased by $1 when the clock struck midnight, taking it to $15.13 per hour. Delaware raised its minimum wage to $13.25, with another planned increase that will put it at $15 per hour next year.
Pennsylvania’s minimum wage remains at $7.25. That’s the federal minimum wage — which hasn't budged since 2009, despite a 40% jump in inflation since then. In all, 20 states remain at that baseline minimum wage.
The Keystone State did, however, pass a flurry of new laws aimed at criminal justice reform before the legislative session ended, last month.
Incarcerated people in Pennsylvania will now have an easier road to returning home. Under two new laws taking effect, criminal records for non-violent drug convictions can now be sealed, so people leaving jail can return to the community more easily, and offenders will stay on probation for shorter periods of time.
Incarcerated women in Pennsylvania now have more protections. Male guards can no longer do full body searches on them and pregnant inmates can’t be put in solitary confinement.
The state is also cracking down on people who steal packages left outside homes. A third offense will now be a felony.
The Pennsylvania attorney general’s power to prosecute local offenses has expanded, especially in Philadelphia, where a new law puts the AG in charge in the case of crimes on or near SEPTA property. District Attorney Larry Krasner has denounced the new law as taking away his prosecutorial discretion.
And Pennsylvania dog owners, be aware: All dogs must now be licensed by the time they’re 3 months old.
Pennsylvania and Delaware now join New Jersey in allowing automatic voter registration when drivers receive or renew their licenses.
In Delaware, guns are banned at polling places, schools and recreation zones. And the First State gave tenants the right to legal representation during eviction proceedings and legalized marijuana, allowing heavily regulated sales of the drug.
New Jersey eased access to birth control (women can now get self-administered birth control without a doctor’s prescription), mandated menstrual products in schools and expanded protection-from-abuse orders to include victims who have no dating or familial relationship with an abuser.
And telemarketers calling New Jerseyans now have 30 seconds to identify themselves and the reason for their call.