Dozens of new laws go into effect Tuesday

INDIANAPOLIS -- Take note uninsured motorists and spam scammers out there. Indiana's tolerance level for your transgressions will officially drop at 12:01 Tuesday morning.\nThat is when more than 200 state laws enacted during the past session of the General Assembly take effect. Many are aimed at cracking down on crime and consumer fraud, but lawmakers didn't frown on everything.\nThe first step in a three-year increase in weekly unemployment insurance benefits kicks in July 1, rising from $336 to $349. It goes to $369 next July, then to $390 on July 1, 2005.\nBy state law, women will be allowed to breast-feed their children in any public place they have a right to be.\nOne law effective Tuesday mandates that, as of July 1 a year from now -- 2004 -- children who enter kindergarten or first-grade be immunized against chicken pox.\nTuesday also marks the first day of the new state fiscal year, when the two-year, $22.7 billion state budget enacted by lawmakers hits the books. It includes several provisions designed to spur economic development, but also spends hundreds of millions dollars more than Indiana is expected to take in.\nThe public's judgment on that bill will probably take months to play out, but Rep. Terry Goodin, D. Crothersville, said he believes most Hoosiers will appreciate passage of House Bill 1171.\nUnder that new law, a second offense for driving without insurance will be a misdemeanor carrying a possible 60-day jail term and $500 fine. Judges might be reluctant to send anyone to jail for that, but if there are two offenses within five years, they must suspend the person's driving privileges for one year.\nGoodin said he's had numerous constituent complaints about uninsured motorists and their role in driving up car-insurance premiums. There should be no excuses for a second offense, Goodin said.\n"They know they are doing it and they are blatantly slapping the law enforcement community and everyone else who drives under the law in the face," Goodin said.\nOn Tuesday, Indiana will join more than 30 states with laws against "spam."\nThe Indiana law prohibits sending unsolicited commercial e-mail messages that misinterpret or obscure the point of origin of the e-mail. It also requires some commercial e-mail to include a code in the subject line that identifies it as an ad (ADV) or an adult-oriented ad (ADV:DLT).\nSen. David Ford, R-Hartford City, acknowledges that somebody must sue under the act to collect damages, and that most Hoosiers won't spend the money or time to do that. But he backs the state law being on the books.\n"What I do think will happen is that occasionally, perhaps a corporate entity that is so inundated with these may want to go after them," Ford said.\nMicrosoft Corp., citing a Washington state law, recently filed 15 lawsuits against people and companies it claims have flooded its system and customers with deceptive, unsolicited e-mail messages.\nNew state laws also:\n• Make it a Class D felony for convicted sex offenders to change residences and not inform police of their new address so it can be posted on the statewide sex offender registry.\n• Expand the definition of identity theft to include using someone's address, place of employment or maiden name. Allows judges to send written orders to creditors on behalf of people victimized by identity theft.\n• Require merchants who sell cigarettes to someone in Indiana through direct mail or the Internet to ensure the customer is at least 18 or older. They must also pay the state cigarette tax or provide notice to the state Department of Revenue who is responsible for the unpaid tax.