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This story was first published Jan. 2, 2019.

The new year ushers in new laws in New Jersey.

If you're a smoker, a beachgoer, an expectant mother, a new mother, an active or retired first responder, a parent, a concertgoer, a professional hair braider or a transgender person, these laws going into effect in 2019 could have an impact on your life here in New Jersey.

They'll change how you apply for temporary disability or family leave benefits, prohibit you from smoking on public beaches, revamp your pension management, allow you to amend your birth certificate and more.

Here are the laws that will take effect this year that could have an impact on you.

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(Patrick Sison | Associated Press)

Health insurance mandate

Gov. Phil Murphy in May signed this law creating a statewide individual mandate and requiring all New Jerseyans who don't have health coverage through a government program like Medicare or their jobs to buy a policy, or pay a fee at tax time.

The law was designed to protect the Affordable Care Act after President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans repealed the federal mandate as part of their tax overhaul. That federal mandate was meant to ensure younger and healthier people purchased insurance to broaden the pool.

Experts predict ending the mandate would destabilize the health exchange, which would become dominated by sick or older policy holders whose costs would drive up premiums.

The new New Jersey law gives the state the authority to impose the individual mandate and collect a fee from people who do not buy insurance.

Without this law, premiums in the individual market would have risen 12.6 percent, according to the Murphy administration. But because of the statewide mandate, insurers requested instead a 5.8 percent average increase over last year. However, with help from a federal waiver, average premiums will fall 9.3 percent.

This took effect on New Year's Day.

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(Tony Kurdzuk | The Star-Ledger)

Insurance coverage for breast milk

Just before leaving office, former Gov. Chris Christie signed into law this requirement that health insurers cover breast milk for babies under six months old.

Insurance companies will now have to cover breast milk from a human milk bank that meets Department of Health guidelines as long as breast milk has been prescribed by a physician.

“Requiring health benefits coverage will help us to better ensure that mothers, who not produce it themselves, have access to breast milk that meets the standards of quality their infants deserve," Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt, D-Camden, who sponsored the bill, said in a statement.

The law took effect on New Year's Day.

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(Joe Songer | Alabama Media Group)

Hair braiding licenses

Hair braiders in New Jersey are now required to hold a limited license and receive 40 to 50 hours of training, depending on their experience, including instruction in sanitation, decontamination and infection control.

The New Jersey Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling will oversee licensing for natural hair braiders.

Previously, the New Jersey State Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling required that all hairstylists and barbers be licensed, which meant enrolling in beauty school. Hair braiders said costly beauty school was a mismatch for their work.

Murphy signed this into law in October. It took effect on New Year's Day.

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Beach smoking ban

Beginning Jan. 16, smoking is no longer permitted on Jersey's public beaches and in state-owned parks.

Smoking is already forbidden on state beaches and state-owned park under a law signed by former Gov. Chris Christie. And while some communities have adopted their own smoking bans in local public spaces, this latest law, signed by Murphy in July, creates a uniform ban.

Violators will be fined $250 for the first offense, $500 for the second offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense.

The law gives towns discretion on enforcement of the ban. There are also exceptions for adjacent parking lots and portions of public lands designated by local municipalities as smoking areas.

Clean Ocean Action, which collects litter along the Atlantic coast, reported finding 29,000 cigarette butts in 2017, 1,155 lighters and 1,870 cigarette packages in 2017.

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Courtesy of Prudential Center

Overhauling event ticket sales

This law overhauling rules for ticket sales was pushed by entertainment venues in New Jersey but panned by consumer advocates.

The law kills a longstanding rule that says artists, venues and others with access to tickets before they hit the open market could hold back no more than 5 percent of tickets. They're now unrestricted, and advocates say this could make it harder for consumers to buy tickets.

In signing the bill (A4259) into law, Murphy said this cap put the state at a competitive disadvantage with other states in recruiting acts.

It eliminates a requirement that prices be printed on tickets and that advertisements for events include ticket prices.

Importantly, it requires that ticket sellers and resellers refund tickets if the event is canceled and bars resellers from selling more than one ticket for the same seat

It also attempts to crack down on any devices or technologies that scoop up large numbers of tickets.

It goes into effect Feb. 1.

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(EJA)

New birth certificates for transgender people

Effective Feb. 1, people who have undergone a change in gender can receive an amended birth certificate.

Previously, state law only allowed people to change the gender on their birth certificates if they proved they have had sex reassignment surgery.

This new law allows transgender people to sign a document provided by the state Health Department stating that "under penalty of perjury, the request for a change in gender -- to female, male, or undesignated/non-binary -- is made for the purpose of conforming with that person's gender identity and is not for any fraudulent purpose."

Former Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, twice vetoed the bill during his eight years in office, citing concerns over fraud. Murphy signed it into law in July.

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(Bronte Wittpenn | MLive.com)

New death certificates for transgender people

This new law will require death certificates to record the gender of people as they identified themselves.

The state would rely on the information from the person handling the funeral arrangements, "unless the person completing the death certificate is presented with a document that memorializes the decedent's gender transition," according to the bill, S493.

It is effective July 4.

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(Dave Roback | The Republican)

Breakfast After the Bell

In school districts in New Jersey where 70 percent or more of students are eligible for free or reduced meals, districts must establish a "Breakfast After the Bell" program, under this new law.

The law takes effect May 30.

Districts then have six months to submit plans for establishing a breakfast program and must establish the program in the first full school year that follows.

Current law requires that districts to offer breakfast if at least 20 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced meals. But the law doesn't dictate when breakfast is served.

The Center For Food Action argues that these programs are much more effective and more students participate when breakfast is part of the school day.

"Districts that have switched from offering breakfast before school to serving breakfast after the bell report the same results," the Center For Food Action says. "Participation soars. Students are ready to concentrate and learn. There are fewer trips to the school nurse, fewer classroom disruptions. Attendance improves."

The group estimates the law affects 501 schools where an average 90 percent of the student body is eligible for free or reduced meals.

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(Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)

Police, fire pension spinoff

Murphy in July signed this law divorcing pensions for police and firefighters from other state and local public workers.

Police and firefighter unions for years fought for control and administration of their pensions, which they argued they could better manage than the state.

Unions had feared lawmakers might someday pool their assets with those of other public workers to shore up weaker funds, and they have disagreed with the state's investment strategy, namely its push into high-cost hedge funds. They also watched as insufficient state contributions weakened the pension funds.

"No longer will PFRS members be forced to suffer from the poor decision making and political expediency that marked the state's stewardship of our pensions over the years," Patrick Colligan, president of the Policemen's Benevolent Association, said in a statement after Murphy signed the bill (S5).

The law gives them until July 4 to get their independent management board up and running.

Currently, the fund is managed by the state Division of Pensions and Benefits while the State Investment Council and Division of Investment direct the investments of its billions of dollars in assets.

A 12-member board of active and retired police and firefighters as well as representatives of state and local government will take over those duties.

Under the law, the trustees are authorized to increase or cut retirement benefits and raise or lower employee contributions, but only in consultation with actuaries and with support from eight board members.

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(Charlie Riedel | AP Photo)

Special 'extreme risk' temporary protective orders to seize guns

This law, signed by Murphy in June, creates a new "extreme risk" protective order, which allows family members, household members or police to petition a judge to have a person's weapons seized and prohibit them from buying weapons if that person poses a danger to themselves or others.

The family or household member first petitions for a temporary "extreme risk" protective order, and the court will within 10 days consider whether to issue a final extreme risk protective order, which requires the person to surrender or sell their firearms and ammunition.

This law takes effect Sept. 1.

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(Jamie Grill)

Changes to pregnancy-related temporary disability benefits

This law, effective Oct. 4, streamlines the application process for people applying for pregnancy-related temporary disability benefits from the state and family leave benefits.

New Jersey's expectant mothers are eligible for up to four weeks of temporary disability benefits before they deliver and six weeks of family leave benefits (eight weeks for a c-section) after they deliver.

This law would require the state's Department of Labor to automatically process an application for family leave insurance after the worker applies for temporary disability benefits, allowing the worker to submit only one application.

Murphy said this "provides for a more seamless transition."

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More changes to pregnancy-related temporary disability benefits

This law, also addressing temporary disability and family leave benefits for expectant mothers, is also effective Oct. 4 and should allow workers to collect their benefits sooner.

It allows workers to submit claims for pregnancy-related temporary disability insurance and family leave insurance up to 60 days before the actual claim period if they know when they expect to begin their work leave.

The law also applies to scheduled medical procedures.

Under current law, employers are not required to submit information related to an employee's leave until the worker is already out on leave, which delays the worker from receiving money from the state.

"This adjustment will help expedite the processing of benefit claims and ensure that workers receive more immediate financial backing," Murphy said.

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NJ Advance Media reporter Susan K. Livio contributed to this report.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.