New State Laws Hit The Books
A flurry of new state laws dealing with health issues — measures to keep costs down, prevent obesity and drug abuse among them — go into effect Friday, the first day of the new fiscal year in many states.
South Dakota hopes to encourage health care consumers to comparison shop by requiring hospitals to post prices of the most common medical procedures. Colorado wants to fight obesity — and save cash in the long run — by broadening its Medicaid program to offer guidance on weight problems. The idea is that if people can shed some pounds now, they'll avoid health problems later.
Private companies are offering obesity counseling because it saves money, said Colorado's House Majority Leader Alice Madden. "Certainly, with what we spend on Medicaid, anything we can do to cut costs is our responsibility," she said.
Elsewhere, reductions in Medicaid coverage were scheduled to take effect in Missouri and Ohio that would knock tens of thousands of parents off the low-income health care program. A federal judge late Thursday rejected an attempt in Missouri to block the first round of cuts in that state from taking effect.
New nursing homes fees are being imposed in Connecticut and Nevada will take steps to license Canadian pharmacies.
As July begins, the work of legislators over the past few months officially hits the books in many states. In others, laws take effect in January, 90 days after passage, or immediately after a governor signs the law.
Some new laws this year target health-related issues, with measures that take on drug abuse and drinking heading the list. They include the ongoing effort to better control sales of over-the-counter drugs needed in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
Among the states tightening up access to pseudoephedrine are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming. In Alabama, Lee County District Attorney Nick Abbett said the state needed its law because surrounding states were taking action and Alabama didn't want to become the supply state.
Teen safety caught the eye of many policy-makers. After a series of fatal car accidents with teens, a new Colorado law means adults who provide teens with alcohol face a barrage of punishments, including losing their license to drive.
If their children get into trouble with the law, Georgia parents can be made to pay restitution for damages.
After high-profile sex offenses against children in Florida, Iowa and elsewhere, lawmakers in several states toughened laws.
Iowa sharply increased prison time for sex offenders and tightened supervision after convicts are released from prison; New Mexico is imposing lifetime registration requirements for some released sex offenders; Nevada is putting detailed information on the Web; Ohio is requiring some offenders to wear a trackable sensor for the rest of their lives.
Taxes always get a new look, with lawmakers in Ohio exempting 550,000 poor state residents from income taxes, while Virginia cut sales tax on food by 1 1/2 cents per dollar, lowering it to 2 1/2 cents.
When he signed the bill, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, said: "Since lower-income people spend a larger percentage of their incomes on food — an obvious necessity — this measure will dramatically reduce the regressive nature of Virginia's sales tax."
Cigarettes are a perennial target, and 2005 was no different. Georgia banned smoking in most public places, including some bars. Ohio raised cigarette taxes by 70 cents a pack. California banned smoking in prisons.
"We're not looking to further punish prisoners," said California Assemblyman Tim Leslie. "We see this as a way of helping them, that if they can survive quitting this habit then maybe they can reform their lives in other ways, too."
Several states also sought to strengthen ethics and open meetings laws. Connecticut, whose former governor resigned and was sent to prison in a corruption scandal, revamped its ethics system and created a new oversight board for government contracts. Wyoming and Iowa added teeth to open meeting laws.
And Georgia noodlers — who dig under logs and in deep holes along river banks for catfish, and risk bites from snakes, turtles and the fish themselves — can now satisfy their passion legally. "It's a real fight with these fish," longtime noodler Howard Ramsey of Paris, Mo., told The Associated Press last year.