DES MOINES - Consumers, farmers, sex offenders, septic tank owners and wine drinkers are among the Iowans who will be impacted by a passel of new state laws slated to take effect Wednesday.

For starters, Iowans will join other U.S. consumers who have a private right to bring a civil lawsuit when they believe a fraudulent act has been committed against them by individuals or businesses.

"It will help older Iowans, and all consumers who might be cheated when they buy used cars, contract for home repairs or get a home mortgage, for example," Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said of the private cause of action.

The new statute includes exemptions for many regulated and trained professionals, but targets problem areas such as new and used car sales, car repair and home improvement businesses, telemarketers and sweepstakes. An estimated 3,500 to 5,000 Iowans are victims of fraud each year and were left without any ability to recover their losses before lawmakers took action during the 2009 session, according to Miller's office.

Iowa wine consumers also will see a new change.

Following the lead of 32 states, Iowa lawmakers voted to allow diners to have their wine bottles resealed before they leave a restaurant so they can take the remaining product home with them. Wine bottles will be re-corked and placed inside clear plastic bags with adhesive seals. The wine could be transported in the back seat or trunk of vehicles.

Also next week, the state takes another step to expand health insurance programs for low-income children by setting aside $5.7 million for Medicaid and HAWK-I health insurance programs to expand eligibility to children in families with incomes under 300 percent of the federal poverty level.

State officials expect that money will help provide coverage to more than 12,000 additional children, with 90 percent of eligible children covered by 2011. Lawmakers have estimated that 30,000 Iowa children are without insurance.

On a separate matter, Gov. Chet Culver signed significant revisions to Iowa's sex offender law that prohibit those convicted of sex offenses against minors from working or visiting places where children are likely to gather. The new provisions call for better tracking of the most-dangerous sex offenders; new exclusion zones for child sex offenders to keep them away from schools, day cares, and parks; and new work and volunteer restrictions for child sex offenders at places with children.

The bipartisan legislation scales back the state's law banning some sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day care - a rule that left large areas of cities off-limits to sex offenders looking for housing.

The most-serious offenders will still be subject to the so-called 2,000-foot rule. But a new category of exclusionary zones is established where registered sex offenders would be prohibited from working or visiting without permission.

"It's a tremendous tool for law enforcement to see that registered sex offenders do not loiter around places that kids gather," said Rep. Clel Baudler, R-Greenfield, one of the law's architects. "I think it's a huge step in the right direction to fix something that just was not working."

Another public safety change amends the state's human trafficking law to extend the definition of "commercial sexual activity" to include any sexually explicit performance for which anything of value is given, promised or received beyond the current law's provisions for prostitution, participation in the production of pornography and performances in strip clubs.

"Our prosecution work has taught us that human trafficking is much more prevalent than most of us ever thought," Miller said. "The new law will especially enable us to go after a common form of human trafficking - exploiting minors in the nude dancing industry in Iowa."

Also this week, the state will implement a new a statewide electronic database to track sales of pseudoephedrine. The high-tech effort is designed to combat illegal meth labs by replacing the current written log system with a centralized electronic logbook at Iowa pharmacies that any person who buys cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine would have to sign.

The new law closes a loophole that allows people to violate sales limits on pseudoephedrine by visiting multiple stores to purchase enough of the medication to make meth.

Another new law is aimed at improving the quality of life for vulnerable adults living in group settings by identifying homes that aren't providing adequate services or that might be providing social services without the proper licenses.

The measure requires boarding homes to register, allowing state officials to keep data on these homes and monitor the types of services provided. Some facilities will be subject to state inspections and licensing requirements.

The change stems from an incident in which 21 dependent adult men were found living in a so-called bunkhouse in Atalissa with boarded-up windows and no central heating.

Also, state labor officials and county attorneys will have more tools to prosecute employers who fail to pay employees or violate child labor law.

A separate law to protect Iowa's environment takes effect this week but probably won't come into play until this winter. The measure bans farm applications of liquid manure on snow-covered fields and restricts the practice on frozen ground, except for emergency situations.

Also with very few exceptions, homes and buildings using septic systems must pass an inspection prior to finalizing a sale.

"Over time, these inspections will help eliminate the more than 100,000 substandard septic tanks that are piped directly to a ditch or tile line," said Daniel Olson, who manages the state Department of Natural Resource's septic system program manager. "This will help protect people, particularly children, from coming into contact with raw sewage."

The law will ensure that septic systems have both a septic tank, and a functioning leach field, sand filter or other treatment device, Olson said.

Before adjourning in April, state lawmakers voted to impose a quality assurance fee on all for-profit and nonprofit nursing facilities of 3 percent for each patient day to help leverage up to $60 million in much-needed federal matching money. The fee, which would not apply to state nursing facilities, was projected to generate $33 million to be deposited in a state-run Quality Assurance Trust Fund.

Also, beginning Wednesday, casual sales - such as items sold at a garage sale - of all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, off-road motorcycles and off-road utility vehicles will be subject to state sales tax. Lawmakers agreed to repeal the tax exemption on sales made by someone occasionally and not as part of a regular business or activity.

And, finally, the amount of a prize that can be won when playing an electrical and mechanical amusement device in taverns and other business locations will increase from $5 to $50.