Session’s new laws up costs

• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Aug 3, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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During the recent regular session, the state Legislature approved a number of bills that will impact consumers’ pocketbooks.

Expect higher costs for college tuition, weekend getaways, car insurance, traffic violations and pets.

Text messaging while driving could cost you $175 in fines. Habitually taking your child to school late could reduce your bank balance by $50.

The Legislature doubled fines, created new ones and very likely increased insurance rates for many.

The new expenses range from the equivalent of a cup of coffee to a week’s worth of groceries. Added together, they are significant and eat into the $359 million income tax break that lawmakers gave some taxpayers.

Automobile coverage is expected to rise at least several dollars a month because of legislation to increase minimum liability.

Beginning in 2010, drivers will have to carry enough insurance to cover at least $25,000 for property damage, $15,000 per person injured or killed and $30,000 for everyone hurt or killed in an accident.

The current minimums are $10,000 for property damage, $10,000 per person injured or killed and $20,000 total for everyone hurt or killed.

State Rep. Erich Ponti, R-Baton Rouge, said Louisiana lagged other states in raising the minimum amount of required coverage.

In the meantime, he said, health-care and vehicle repair costs are rising.

“It is an increased cost to the consumer, but it’s also protection to the consumer,” said Ponti, who sponsored the law.

Legislation that requires health insurance policies to cover the diagnosis and treatment of autism also could affect rates.

State Rep. Franklin Foil, R-Baton Rouge, said the added expense for insurers is expected to be $1 per month for an individual policy and $3 per month for a family policy.

“How much of that will actually be passed on to the employer or the individual will depend on the actual insurer,” he said.

The Legislature gave the state’s public colleges and universities the authority to raise students’ annual tuition for four years in a row. Nearly all quickly did just that — at least for the upcoming year.

Southern University resisted at first, citing concerns about the financial toll on students. A tight budget caused university officials to change their minds.

Southern and LSU increased tuition by 5 percent for the fall.

At LSU, in-state undergraduate tuition will jump from $4,700 to $4,930 per year. Tuition at Southern in Baton Rouge will cost $3,850 a year, up from $3,666.

Lawmakers also authorized tuition hikes at the universities’ law schools.

Students at the Southern University Law Center will pay $500 more per year. Annual tuition at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center is increasing $1,000 for in-state students and $2,000 for out-of-state students.

Staying at a bed-and-breakfast during the Natchitoches Christmas Festival of Lights could cost a little more this year.

State Rep. Rick Nowlin, R-Natchitoches, sponsored legislation to let the city’s residents decide whether to tack a 3.5 percent tax onto the price of a hotel room.

Proceeds from the tax would be split between the Natchitoches Events Center and the Cane River National Heritage Area.

The U.S. Congress established the heritage area — a region of plantations, historic sites and a national park — and provided funding for 10 years.

Soon, the area will be expected to contribute to the expenses of operating the heritage area in order to continue to get federal money, Nowlin said.

Nowlin, who owns a bed-and-breakfast, said the city and the heritage area requested the tax increase. However, he acknowledged that tourists may not welcome it.

“You always have to be concerned anytime you have a tax increase,” he said.

Natchitoches is not alone in considering higher hotel costs. Voters in Acadia Parish will decide whether to double the current 2 percent tax.

The annual pet license fee is increasing from $8 to $10 for spayed or neutered cats and dogs in cities that charge the fee.

State Rep. Harold Ritchie, D-Franklinton, noted that the increase is just $2.

He said the fee typically is charged when dogs and cats get their annual anti-rabies shots.

Ritchie said the state’s larger cities such as Baton Rouge charge an annual fee for pets.

The fee proceeds must be used for the capture, control and housing of stray animals.

Legislators focused heavily this year on lawbreakers, especially traffic violators and neglectful parents.

They ratcheted up fines for some offenses and, in other cases, created new offenses.

Drivers no longer are allowed to text message while they are behind the wheel. A first offense is punishable by a $175 fine.

However, police cannot pull motorists over just for text messaging. The driver has to have done something else wrong as well.

Lawmakers doubled the fine for excessive noise. Blasting a car stereo now will cost $200 for a first offense.

Drivers will get a written warning the first time they pass another car in a school zone during school hours. For a second offense, the driver will have to pay a $100 fine.

A failure to buckle up a child is much more expensive — $100 instead of $50 for the first offense and $500 instead of $100 for the third offense.

The maximum fine for using an age- or size-inappropriate child restraint system was quadrupled from $25 to $100.

Parents who send their children to elementary school late five times in a semester without a legitimate excuse now are subject to a fine.

A first offense is punishable by $50. The fine is the same for five unexcused absences in a school semester.

State Rep. Hollis Downs, R-Ruston, said the fine is designed to be the push some parents need to get their children to school on time.