When the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve, many state laws across the country quietly became effective. This batch of legislation covers a wide variety of issues, from the quirky to the serious, that will affect citizens in varying ways.
For example, the minimum wage rose in New York City and Westchester, while it remained unchanged in the rest of the State. The New York State Senate has a list of the latest bills and law changes on its website, and the New York State Assembly’s bill list is here.
The State of New York’s laws include the Constitution, statutes passed by the legislature and codified in the Consolidated Laws, and decisions by courts that interpret those laws. The New York State Bar Association has a guide to the state’s laws, which is available here.
New York City also has a comprehensive online resource for the City’s laws, which can be found here. The City’s website also has an index of the most recent laws that have been enacted or amended, as well as links to law blogs.
Another aspect of the law that is changing in the new year is “law new.” This term describes a number of business models, companies and startups that augment traditional legal services with technology or provide alternative forms of help. The specifics of this form of practice vary, but it is usually characterized by a different focus and different fee structures.
It can be hard to define, but it’s important for lawyers to be aware of. For some, law new is a way to expand their practices, while for others, it’s a means of finding efficiency and ways to deliver services that can benefit their clients.
Congress is the lawmaking branch of the federal government. Its process for creating a law starts with the introduction of a bill by a sponsor in one chamber of Congress. That bill then goes through a series of research, discussion and change sessions before being brought to the floor for voting. It can then be passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president to become a federal law. The Senate and House of Representatives each have their own processes for introducing, researching, discussing and changing laws, which are outlined here. The final version of the law is published by GPO and assigned public law (PL) numbers, which link to slip law texts. New laws are added to this collection as they are enacted, and the PLs are then published in the Statutes at Large. They are subsequently consolidated into the Consolidated Laws. The statutes at large are updated twice a year. New laws take effect in January and July of each year.