New Laws of 2012

About 40,000 state laws taking effect at the start of the new year will change rules about  getting abortions in New Hampshire, learning about gays and lesbians in California, getting jobs in Alabama and even driving golf carts in Georgia.Social Security increase amounting to $450 a year for the average recipients and stiff fines up to $2,700 per offense for truckers and bus drivers caught using hand-held cellphones while driving.

Many laws reflect the nation's concerns over immigration, the cost of government and the best way to protect and benefit young people, including regulations on sports concussions. Eight states will raise the minimum wage. They include Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Colorado, Ohio, Vermont and Florida. San Francisco will become the first city to raise its minimum wage above $10 per hour. The new $10.24 minimum is nearly $3 above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, set in 2009. Supporters said they wanted to deter illegal immigrants from coming to Georgia by making it tougher for them to work. Critics said that changes to immigration law should come at the federal level and that portions of the law already in effect are already hurting Georgia. "It is destroying Georgia's economy and it is destroying the fabric of our social network in South Georgia," Paul Bridges, mayor of the onion-farming town of Uvalda, said in November. He is part of a lawsuit challenging the new law.

I think some of the laws such as the raising of minimum wage is great for people in Georgia, but this is seriously seriously affecting the business owners and the economy is starting to fallout and I am completely in agreement wit Paul Bridges and I hope he can get that changed. Otherwise all the laws that I have read are a bit ridiculous, over the top, and unnecessary.