“A host of new laws ranging from fresh drinking water for students in California to outlawing the use of K2 in Illinois become effective Jan. 1, 2011. Forty-five state legislatures, the District of Columbia, Guam, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico met in regular session in 2010 and enacted 31,005 new laws. In 2011, all 50 states and territories will meet. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) found a host of those state laws—in at least 26 states ranging from controversial to clever—that will become effective on New Year’s Day. In Montana, payday lenders will be limited in the amount of fees and interest rates they can charge to borrowers. In Minnesota, retailers will be banned from selling children’s cups and bottles that contain bisphenol A (BPA). And in Delaware, Kansas and Kentucky, drivers will be prohibited from texting while driving. Not all laws passed by state legislatures become effective on Jan. 1. State constitutions or statutes usually establish when laws go into effect. Sometimes, an effective date is written into the specific piece of legislation. This is not an exhaustive list, but a sampling of some new state laws (organized alphabetically by topic) effective on New Year’s Day.”