Vermont to California, new laws take effect July 1

Vermont to California, new laws take effect July 1
By The Associated Press – 1 day ago

New laws taking effect in several states Wednesday:

Alabama:

_Makes more women diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer eligible for treatment through Medicaid.

California:

_Bars schools from serving food containing transfats.

Florida:

_Relaxes schools' zero-tolerance policies by preventing children from being arrested or expelled for insignificant misbehavior such as bringing plastic butter knives to school, drawing pictures of guns or vandalizing property.

Kansas:

_Allows women seeking abortions to see ultrasound images or hear their fetus' heartbeat at least 30 minutes before the procedure.

Mississippi:

_Requires the state to pay $50,000 a year, up to $500,000, to people wrongfully convicted of crimes. The compensation must be sought within three years after the person is pardoned or the conviction is overturned.

Nevada:

_Reduces the liability of restaurants, hotel-casinos and other businesses that donate perishable foods such as bread, hot or cold dishes and leftover buffet items.

New Mexico:

_Abolishes the death penalty and replaces it with life in prison without parole.

Ohio:

_Allows the state to consider tolls to pay for major new highway construction projects.

Vermont:

_Permits prosecutors to send teenage cell phone "sexting" cases to juvenile courts to eliminate the stigma of child pornography convictions.

Wyoming:

_Specifies that the right to mine or drill for resources has legal precedence over the right to store carbon gas underground. Second law specifies that whoever injects carbon gas underground remains legally responsible for it forever.