Happy New Laws Year!

July 1 is the start of new laws in Iowa. Bills passed by the legislature generally take effect today. The legislature passed many bills this past session. Some will have a direct effect on many, others are targeted to protect specific groups.

Among the measures being touted by the Democrats are laws designed to protect workers from being exploited. Operators of homes for mentally disabled adults will be required to register with the state and allow inspections by the state.

Penalties for businesses that don't pay promised wages and improperly employ children have risen from $100 per offense to $500. The state can also pursue civil actions against firms that break these laws.

There are changes to residency requirements for sex offenders. The 2,000 feet restriction on places where children gather, such as schools, parks and playgrounds will now apply only to those who have been convicted of the most serious crimes. Most sex offenders will be banned from lingering within 300 feet of schools and other sites without permission.

Good news for beer and wine drinkers. Wineries will now be allowed to sell beer on their premises. Diners who buy a bottle of wine will now be able to take the leftover wine home.

Small, rural cemeteries will be able to be certified as pioneer cemeteries sooner, allowing counties to care for them. Any cemetery with less than 12 burials in the past 50 years will now qualify for the designation.

Citizens will now be able to go to court on consumer fraud issues as individuals. Previously, only the attorney general could pursue such matters, which meant only frauds that involved large numbers of people got prosecuted.

Two other measures of note, both of which beg the question: we needed a law for this?

Veterinarians will now be able to cremate dead animals without being designated as a disposal facility.

The Department of Elder Affairs will have a new name. It will become the Department on Aging, despite complaints that the new acronym will be DOA -- shorthand for dead on arrival.

You literally can't make this stuff up.