New laws in effect

The Baltimore Sun has a roundup of the major changes in laws that took effect Sunday. 191 new laws took effect July 1. The major ones include: ex-felons can now vote upon completion of their sentences (excluding felons convicted of election fraud),  several protections to prevent seizures of homes by ground rent owners, the state pension system can divest itself from funds doing business in Darfur, energy laws that include the encouragement of the use of solar power and that make it easier to build wind farms and protections for snapping turtles and diamondback terrapins.

Other laws that took effect included a tuition freeze at state colleges, moving the 2008 Presidential Primary  to February 12 and a pilot program for the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases in Baltimore City that would let doctors give antibiotics to partners of infected patients.