New Year, New Laws

[Marnie]

Washington Times

The new year will bring raises for hundreds of thousands of minimum-wage workers across the country. Musicians worried about copycats get some protection in Illinois. And California takes steps to reduce the power-plant pollution that is thought to contribute to global warming.

Jan. 1 brings new laws in many states, offering both a glimpse of what is on voters' minds and a preview of some of the issues Washington might take up. Many states take action long before Congress does.

Seven states -- Arizona, California, Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania -- are raising their minimum wage. The federal minimum is $5.15 an hour. The new state minimum wages go as high as $7.50 an hour.

"We've made Massachusetts the best state to live in for struggling working families," said Carl Nilsson, an activist for the poor, citing the higher minimum wage and an earlier state law that requires health care insurance for all.

In Illinois, copycat musical groups that misrepresent themselves as the original artists will face fines of up to $50,000. The new law requires live acts to make it clear in their advertising that they are a salute or a tribute to the real thing.

"From now on, when the public goes to a rock 'n' roll show in the area, they can be sure the artist is the original, and not some rip-off band," said Mary Wilson of the Supremes.

Frustrated by what some see as inaction in Washington, California passed a law that seeks to force coal-burning plants in the Western United States to install cleaner technology if they want to sell power in the nation's most populous state.

States also dealt with immigration (nurses from other countries must have English-language proficiency to practice in South Carolina), eminent domain (Illinois requires local governments to pay more and meet a higher legal threshold before seizing private property) and campaign finance (North Carolina and Pennsylvania set stricter rules).

Alaska will provide school systems with training to help prevent bullying, while South Carolina will require districts to adopt policies barring harassment, intimidation or bullying.

"We were getting too many complaints from parents that their children were being bullied and intimidated," state Rep. Robert Walker said. They were "fearing to go to school."

Crime and punishment, as always, were high on the agenda. Wisconsin took steps to guard against wrongful convictions by requiring law-enforcement agencies to record all interrogations of felony suspects, with either video or audio.

Alabama and West Virginia cut taxes on the poorest, and North Carolina lowered taxes on the highest earners. New York and Oklahoma dropped the so-called marriage penalty that imposed higher taxes on married couples than on single people. South Dakota and Texas raised taxes on cigarettes.

Georgia increased from 13 to 29 the number of screening tests performed on newborns to detect life-threatening metabolic and genetic disorders. Massachusetts' new health care law hits a new milestone, allowing those earning up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level to buy into subsidized plans. (Those at or below the poverty level are already being signed up for virtually free health care.)

In Indiana, a new license plate featuring the American flag and the words "In God We Trust" will be available at no extra charge. State Rep. Woody Burton, the sponsor, predicted they will "sell like crazy."

I feel better already...

[child_of_iam]

Go Indiana!

Watch and see if the ACLU sue's our state in the days to come!

[Guest LadyC]

wow marnie, they left nevada out of the list of states that raised the minimum wage! we should write the editors!

[RGR]

I feel better already...

[buckthesystem]

OK, not trying to meddle in another country's affairs, really I'm not (yeah, right) but:

"eminent domain (Illinois requires local governments to pay more and meet a higher legal threshold before seizing private property"

So despite the large amount of criticism of "eminent domain" that I've heard, they do not intend to scrap the idea altogether, and even admit to "seizing private property". I realise, of course, that "seizing private property" has been around for a long time, and it certainly isn't limited to parts of America, but that in no way makes it acceptable. (I can just see somebody coming out with "eminent domain is nothing new, whine, whine, they have been doing it all over, for ages now, whine, whine").

Is this all the publicity that was available on this? Or do they say what the "legal threshold" will be?

Another one (here's a good excuse - I'm not so much criticising as drawing peoples' attention to issues)

This one is really important "Georgia increased from 13 to 29 the number of screening tests performed on newborns to detect life-threatening metabolic and genetic disorders"

In NZ in recent years there has been a lot of fuss and publicity about government sneakily "storing indefinitely" the blood taken from newborn babies for "genetic testing" and not fulfilling their legal requirements to gain the parents' INFORMED consent and let them know that they may legally refuse retention of the blood sample (maybe that is just useless information to you, but maybe it will help you realise how important this is).

Is there free written information that tells you what all these 29 "screening tests" are for? Are there any consent issues and is everybody informed about them? And is it made clear anywhere exactly what these procedures are?

(Just my "public service" or "bit or stirring" - which ever you prefer, for the evening).