July 1st may not mean much to most Tennesseans, but it’s New Years Day in the world of Tennessee state government. The state’s fiscal year begins anew and the $31.5 billion state budget takes effect. It also means that dozens of bills passed during the most recent session of the Tennessee General Assembly officially become the law of the land.
This year, Tennessee’s busybody lawmakers passed a mind-numbing 176 laws that go into effect today.
A few of the new laws have merit. Most are simply opportunities for lawmakers to tell their constituents they did something, when doing nothing would have served just as well.
For example, scam artists who defraud Tennesseans in Bernie Madoff-type Ponzi schemes now face more jail time. Of course, Madoff-type Ponzi schemes rarely strike Tennessee.
Tougher penalties are now in place for anyone intentionally interfering with a service dog while it is performing its duties. Not that someone heartless enough to try to lead a blind person in the wrong direction by misdirecting his service dog would care what the penalties were, anyway.