5 New State Laws Taking Effect in 2026 That Could Affect Your Daily Life

As 2026 kicks off, several states are flipping legal switches that might affect our normal, everyday activities. 

We’ll see changes to how much our trips cost, how subscriptions get canceled, how platforms handle children’s screen time, and even how easy it is to fix our phones.

Of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list of new laws in 2026. It’s just a short set of changes that are already live as of January 1, 2026, or starting right at the beginning of the year.

1. Hawaii’s Green Fee

If you’re traveling to Hawaii in 2026, you may notice a slightly higher bill for hotels, vacation rentals, and cruise stays.

A new fee, referred to as the Hawaii Green Fee, will increase the state’s accommodation taxes by 0.75%, bringing the total rate to 11% for hotels, short-term rentals, and cruise ship cabins. 

The state has positioned it as a stream for climate resiliency and environmental stewardship, and multiple outlets have reported expectations of roughly $100 million annually. 

What this means in practice is simple: Hawaii stays were already pricey, and this adds one more line item to plan for if you’re booking 2026 travel.

2. Virginia’s One-Hour Daily Cap on Social Media

Virginia is taking a direct swing at children’s screen time, and the new rule will target the platforms, not the families.

Starting January 1, 2026, the Virginia social media limit law will require social media companies to cap usage for users under 16 at one hour per day per platform, unless a parent or guardian allows more time. 

Platforms are expected to use “commercially reasonable” age verification methods to monitor kids’ usage. 

The practical takeaway is that teens who bounce between apps may hit time caps inside each platform. 

Parents may also see more prompts and controls show up in settings, especially if popular platforms comply in a standardized way.

3. Tennessee’s Domestic Violence Registry

Tennessee is rolling out something that’s being described as the first statewide registry of its kind.

Under Savanna’s Law, Tennessee’s Bureau of Investigation is required to maintain a public-facing registry of “persistent” domestic violence offenders, using information handed over by the courts and law enforcement. 

The Tennessee legislature’s bill summary states that the registry must be available for public inquiry online.

Local reporting around the January 1st launch date has emphasized that the registry will focus on repeat offenders. 

It’s also been designed to make conviction information easier for the public to access.

4. Maine’s Click-to-Cancel Rule

If you’ve ever tried to cancel a subscription and felt like you were being herded into a customer-service labyrinth, Maine is trying to reduce that friction.

Maine has a new law that will apply to subscriptions that began or were renewed on or after January 1, 2026. The goal is to make cancellation easier. 

The state has publicly framed it as a protection against subscription and gym membership traps, and Maine Public has covered it in the context of broader click-to-cancel debates. 

If you live in Maine, it’s worth paying attention to how cancellation options are presented when you sign up for anything this year. 

And, if you do business nationally, it’s another sign that states are moving faster than the federal government on subscription designs.

5. Colorado’s Right-to-Repair Expansion

Colorado’s 2026 change is a win for anyone who’s stared at a cracked screen and thought, “Why is fixing this almost as expensive as a new phone?”

On January 1, 2026, Colorado expanded its consumer electronics repair rights for certain devices sold or used in the state after the first of the year.

The law is targeting practices like parts-pairing that prevent independent repairs or reduce a phone’s functionality after a repair. 

It’s meant to increase access to parts and repairs beyond manufacturer-only channels.

While this won’t magically make repairs cheap, it may make them more manageable, which is the main point.

Bringing It Back to Real Life

New state laws can feel abstract until you run into them out in “the real world.” 

But, we may end up seeing increases on hotel bills, regulations around social media, and subscriptions that cancel cleanly.

If any of these areas touch your life, the simplest move is to check your state government site for the plain-language summary, then plan around the change. 

Usually, that’s enough to make sense of things and avoid any new surprises.