Overview
- A Washington County judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the law that would restrict sales and transfers of specified semi-automatic firearms and magazines holding more than 15 rounds, and the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a separate federal lawsuit contesting the ban.
- Attorney General Jay Jones said the state will continue to defend the firearm restrictions in court and noted that people who already own the covered weapons are not being criminalized under the current orders.
- Most other measures took effect on July 1 and include pay-transparency rules that require employers to post good-faith salary ranges and prohibit asking job applicants about prior pay.
- Housing and consumer rules that began July 1 require landlords to accept checks and money orders and to give tenants 14 days’ notice for nonpayment before eviction proceedings, and the final phase of the long-planned ban on expanded polystyrene food containers now applies to restaurants and other food vendors.
- New public-safety and education changes in force let localities use automated school-zone speed cameras, require first-time drivers aged 18–21 to complete driver education and hold a learner’s permit for at least 90 days, and revise SOL tests to a 100-point scale worth 10 percent of a course grade while ongoing legal disputes leave enforcement and local implementation uncertain.