Stephanie Yao Long

Oregon lawmakers passed nearly 750 bills during their session this year. Many will take effect on New Year's Day, from new taxes to controversial policy changes to laws designed to keep Oregonians safer. Here’s a sampling of some of the most important new laws taking effect January 1:

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Jamie Francis

TRANSPORTATION TAXES

Oregon drivers will begin paying a slew of tax increases come January 1 as part of the Legislature's $5.3 billion transportation funding plan. The statewide gas tax will increase 4 cents, to 34 cents. Car registration fees will increase $13 to $43 and title fees go up $16 to $93 for a regular title. There's also higher fees for registration of trailers, motorcycles, mopeds and heavy trucks. The tax and fee revenue will fund highway and infrastructure upgrades statewide for at least a decade, lawmakers say.

Read more: Big win for legislative leaders as $5.3 billion transportation plan clears final hurdle

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Gene J. Puskar

TOBACCO AGE

Oregon will join a handful of states that have increased the tobacco age to 21. The law requires anyone buying tobacco or vape products to be 21-years-old or older and creates stiff penalties for convenience store clerks who sell to the underage. Smoking is among the leading causes of death in Oregon and advocates say increasing the tobacco age will keep some people from nicotine addiction. New figures released by the state Friday show that only 7 percent of high school juniors report smoking tobacco products in the past 30 days and 49 percent of them said they would find it hard to obtain e-cigarettes or vaping products.

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Ed Andrieski

GUN CONFISCATION

Senate Bill 719 will allow Oregon judges to issue so-called "extreme risk protection orders" to take firearms away from people determined to pose an immediate threat to themselves or family members. A judge would make the call whether to issue the order. The person would then have to turn in their guns to police or a qualified third party. The person can get the guns back when the order expires. Supporters at the Legislature said extreme risk protection orders may help prevent suicides or shooting sprees. Two Republican lawmakers spearheaded a petition drive to repeal the law, but failed to gather enough signatures.

Read more: Fact check: Did Kate Brown really sign a gun confiscation bill?

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Faith Cathcart

EXPANDED BOTTLE BILL

Oregon's famous bottle bill, which allows people to turn in empty bottles to redeem a 10 cent deposit, will expand to apply to beverages beyond beer, water and soft drinks. Beginning in 2018, nearly all beverage bottles will require a deposit. That means bottles that contained coffee, tea, hard cider, fruit juice, coconut water, kombucha and other drinks can be redeemed for the deposit. Not included in the expansion are wine and distilled spirits, milk (dairy or plant based), infant formula and meal replacements.

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Gordon R. Friedman | The Oregonian/OregonLive

LOWER SPEED LIMITS IN PORTLAND

Portland gains the authority to lower speed limits on thousands of miles of residential streets. The current residential speed limit of 25 miles per hour will be reduced to 20 miles per hour. New signs demarking the slower speed limit are already popping up around the city.

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Esteban Felix

ABORTION FOR THE UNDOCUMENTED

A provision of House Bill 3391, known as the Reproductive Health Equity Act, will allow Oregon residents living in the country illegally to obtain a no-cost abortion at taxpayer expense. The bill also provides women access to other reproductive health care services with no out-of-pocket costs and will eventually require health insurance plans sold in Oregon to cover abortion. The Legislature passed the Reproductive Health Equity Act without a single Republican vote in favor.

Read more: Free taxpayer-funded abortions? What Oregon's new reproductive health law does (and doesn't) do

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Mike Zacchino

PUBLIC RECORDS

Senate Bill 481 aims to increase government transparency. The bill, introduced at the request of Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum (pictured), sets deadlines by which public officials must evaluate and respond to the public's requests for government documents. Many other states have such timelines, which are intended in part to prevent government officials from stonewalling information requests.

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Mike Zacchino

REDUCED FARE EVASION PENALTIES

With Senate Bill 357, the Legislature reduced the punishment for people caught riding public transportation without paying a fare. The new law ratchets down fare evasion from a Class A to a Class C misdemeanor, but penalties are higher for anyone caught evading fares three times or more. Supporters say the new law is intended to keep the poor out of jail when the only offense is fare evasion.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

GFriedman@Oregonian.com

503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman