My Man Mitch Signs New Laws

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels has been busy over the past few weeks. Besides passing the $26 billion dollar budget for the state, having his plane make an emergency landing in Gary and visiting to our fair city, he’s also been signing signing some new laws into effect.

The first law is one we told you about last week. People driving in vehicles with truck plates are now required to wear their seat belts just like their car driving brethren. By requiring seat belt use in pickups, the state will be eligible for nearly $16 million in additional federal money for highway safety programs. Police officers are also now prohibited from having those annoying seat belt road blocks.

The governor also signed a bill which increases the cigarette tax to fund a health insurance program for low-income people and to provide childhood immunizations to their kids. If you are a smoker, expect to be paying an extra 44 cents per pack once the increase goes into effect July 1. With the increase, Indiana’s cigarette tax will be 99.5 cents per pack which is the 24th lowest in the nation.