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NEW YORK — Name a hot topic, and chances are good there's a new law about it taking effect in 2025 in one state or another.
Many of the laws launching in January are a result of legislation passed this year. Others stem from ballot measures approved by voters. Some face legal challenges.
Here's a look at some of the most notable state laws taking effect:
Media-related
California, home to Hollywood and some of the largest technology companies, is seeking to rein in the artificial intelligence industry and put some parameters around social media stars. New laws seek to prevent the use of digital replicas of Hollywood actors and performers without permission and allow the estates of dead performers to sue over unauthorized AI use.
Several new California measures aimed at combating political deepfakes are also being challenged, including one requiring large social media platforms to remove deceptive content related to elections and another allowing any individual to sue for damages over the use of AI to create fabricated images or videos in political ads.
Parents who profit from social media posts featuring their children will be required to set aside some earnings for their young influencers. A new law also allows children to sue their parents for failing to do so.
New social media restrictions in several states face court challenges.
A Florida law bans children under 14 from having social media accounts and requires parental consent for ages 14 and 15. But enforcement is being delayed because of a lawsuit filed by two associations for online companies, with a hearing scheduled for late February.
Similarly, a new Tennessee law also requires parental consent for minors to open accounts on social media, though NetChoice, an industry group for online businesses, is challenging the law.
Gender and abortion rights
In a first nationally, California will start enforcing a law prohibiting school districts from adopting policies that require staff to notify parents if their children change their gender identification. The law was a priority for Democratic lawmakers who wanted to halt such policies passed by several districts.
Many states have passed laws limiting or protecting abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a nationwide right to the procedure in 2022. One of the latest is the Democratic-led state of Delaware. A law there will require the state employee health plan and Medicaid plans for lower-income residents to cover abortions with no deductible, copayments or other cost-sharing requirements.
Minimum wage and taxes
Minimum wage workers in more than 20 states are due to receive raises in January. The highest minimum wages will be in Washington, California and Connecticut, all of which will top $16 an hour after modest increases.
The largest increases are scheduled in Delaware, where the minimum wage will rise by $1.75 to $15 an hour, and in Nebraska, where a ballot measure approved by voters in 2022 will add $1.50 to the current minimum of $12 an hour.
Twenty other states still follow the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
Meanwhile, tenants in Arizona will no longer have to pay tax on their monthly rent, thanks to the repeal of a law that had allowed cities and towns to impose such taxes. While a victory for renters, the new law is a financial loss for governments. An analysis by Arizona's nonpartisan Joint Legislative Budget Committee estimated that $230 million would be lost in municipal tax revenue during the first full fiscal year of implementation.
And Alabama will offer tax credits to businesses that help employees with childcare costs, while Kansas is eliminating its 2% sales tax on groceries.
Kansas is also cutting individual income taxes by dropping the top tax rate, increasing credit for childcare expenses and exempting all Social Security income from taxes, among other things. Taxpayers are expected to save about $320 million a year going forward.
Contributing: Trân Nguyễn, Kate Payne, Jonathan Mattise, Randall Chase, Steve Karnowski, Bruce Schreiner, Claire Rush, Summer Ballentine, Gabriel Sandoval, Kim Chandler, John Hanna and Sean Murphy.
