State Legislatures articles from December 2003

State Legislatures archives from December 2003

Gene Farnum, an NCSL founder, dies.(Obituary)(Obituary)
December 1, 2003... The National Conference of State Legislatures lost a founder and a friend when Eugene Farnum, the first NCSL staff chair, died Oct. 15 in Michigan. Farnum, 66, was an architect of the merger of three legislative organizations that became...

States miles apart on auto insurance.(Statestats)
December 1, 2003... New Jersey drivers paid the highest average auto insurance premiums in 2001 for the seventh time in eight years, according to the latest report from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. On the low end is Iowa where drivers...

DNA databases: the future of medical research in the United States?(On First Reading)
December 1, 2003... Will DNA databases provide researchers with a rich source of genetic information to help advance medical research? Proponents believe so. In simple terms, a DNA database is a collection of genetic information. This information may include...

Washington buckles up best.(On First Reading)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Washington state can claim the highest-safety belt use rate--95 percent--in the country. California with 91 percent and Hawaii and Puerto Rico with rates right around 90 percent are the next highest, but every region in the United States had an...

Don't drive and drowse in New Jersey.(On First Reading)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Twenty-four hours without sleep has about the same effect as driving drunk, according to the AAA auto club. So New Jersey has done something about people falling asleep behind the wheel. A new law that went into effect in August allows...

Providing for polly after you're gone.(On First Reading)
December 1, 2003... For many people, pets are as important as humans. For the elderly, animals may be their closest family members. And those owners want to be sure their animal companions are taken care of after they die. The latest law to help these bereft...

California adopts nation's toughest anti-spam bill.(On First Reading)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... "Spam, spam, spam, spam..." that annoying jingle by the Monty Python comedy team has been used to label an equally irritating use of the Internet--the unsolicited e-mails that cram inboxes every day--advertising everything from diet aids to...

States cap amounts of appeal bonds.(On First Reading)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... What happens when lawsuit damages of millions and even billions of dollars are awarded? Sometimes bankruptcy on the part of the defendant who wants to appeal the case and must post an "appeal bond" before proceeding. That was nearly the...

Democrats do well in legislative elections.(On First Reading)
December 1, 2003... On a day when Democrats lost governors' mansions in Kentucky and Mississippi, the party found a silver lining when it seized control of the New Jersey Legislature and netted seats in the Virginia General Assembly. A total of 434...

Milk wins.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... School kids in California won't be able to grab a soda between classes or for lunch any more. Following the lead of some of the state's largest school districts, the Legislature passed and the governor signed SB 677 in late August. In attempts...

Belt tightening behind bars.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Searching for ways to save money and cut budget deficits, officials in Arizona, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia have reduced the amount or quality of food served to prison inmates. The new plans either reduce the number of...

Taxing Internet tobacco sales.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Congress is looking at legislation to force tax collections on Internet tobacco sales. Wyoming U.S. Senator Charles Scott believes the legislation will strengthen the Jenkins Act, a 64-year-old law requiring cigarette vendors to report their...

Teaching right from wrong.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Here's an idea for promoting democracy. When Missouri Representative Vicky Riback Wilson talks to community groups, she hands out laminated cards that include questions to consider when making ethical decisions. Published by the Missouri Rural...

Paying teachers what they're worth.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Salaries for teachers are best in New Jersey, according to the Census Bureau. The bureau took data from 2001 and found the national average teacher salary was $43,300. New Jersey was the highest at $$3,300; Connecticut was next at $52,700;...

Here comes the judge ... finally.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Budget cuts forced New Hampshire's courts to eliminate jury trials this summer. But cases piled up, and victims became restless after such a long delay. In Oregon, property crimes, like shoplifting and arson, went unpunished for four months due...

Volunteer G.I. Joes.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Volunteer state defense forces, designed to back up the National Guard, have seen a resurgence since the Sept. 11 attacks. There are now nearly 12,000 state defense force members in 19 states and Puerto Rico. Volunteers train at least one...

Swill on.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Michigan wine lovers can't be prevented by the state from ordering wine directly from their favorite out-of-state vintner, according to a recent circuit court of appeals ruling. The law overruled requirements that wine shipments into the state...

Goodbye senior prom.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... A novel way to cut down on crowded classrooms has emerged in Florida--allow seniors to take the year off. The fast-track graduation law was among several measures passed this year following a voter-approved amendment requiring the state to take...

Alternatives are hot.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Maine winters can be mighty cold and energy consuming. So officials will experiment with an alternative fuel blend to help heat state buildings in Augusta, despite the higher costs. The idea is to take a stand on using nontoxic fuel that is...

Adoption bonuses.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Florida child welfare administrators were awarded a $3.5 million bonus by the federal government for dramatically increasing the number of children adopted from foster care. Each year, the feds offer financial incentives for states to increase...

When herbs hurt.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Teenagers and sports stars have died from heart attacks after taking an herbal supplement called ephedra. Illinois became the first state to ban the sale of ephedra products, followed by New York and California, after the supplements were...

There oughta be a law.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... California Assemblyman Joe Simitian seeks input from his constituents during his annual "there oughta be a law" contest. The competition invites ordinary citizens to make suggestions for new laws. This year, two ideas made it through the...

Tongue tied.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Illinoisans who want to look reptilian will now face jail time, or at least will have to use a doctor to split their tongue. A new law in that state restricts this unusual fad that splits the end of one's tongue in half, just like a snake's....

Still driving drunk: strict drunk driving laws don't do much good unless they are vigorously enforced.
December 1, 2003... In the time it takes to read this article, one person will be killed and 15 injured by drunk drivers. Impaired drivers killed more than 17,000 and injured more than 258,000 people in the United States in 2002, and the problem is getting worse....

Round 2--Arnold and the legislature: now that he's won the governorship, Arnold Schwarzenegger has an even harder fight on his hands--getting California back on track and working with the Democrat-controlled legislature.
December 1, 2003... Wrapping up his campaign for governor in the historic California recall election this fall, Arnold Schwarzenegger drew 10,000 people to a raucous rally on the steps of the state Capitol. As remnants of the rock band Twisted Sister blared the...

Out of lock-up: now what? A large number of youthful offenders released from confinement end up back in the system. Helping kids re-enter the community can help them stay out of trouble and save states money.
December 1, 2003... Johnny is a soft-spoken 19-year-old who is finishing a year at Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center in Golden, Colo., a high-security juvenile correctional facility that houses some of the state's toughest kids. He has a long arrest record...

The challenges of NCLB: some requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act are causing more chaos than cures and driving teachers, parents and administrators mad.
December 1, 2003... Montgomery High School in New Jerseyhas a record many schools would envy. Nestled in the shadows of prestigious Princeton University, the suburban school boasts one of the top average SAT scores in the state. It has been recognized by the...

New ways to fund higher ed: in several states, legislators are taking advantage of the changing economy to consider new options for funding higher education.
December 1, 2003... It's almost as predictable as the swallows returning to Capistrano. Every l0 years or so when state fiscal conditions tighten up, legislatures cut higher education to help balance their budgets. Sixteen pared that line item during FY 2003....

Whatever happened to civics? Today's young people are way too disengaged from the political process, according to a survey by the Alliance for Representative Democracy.
December 1, 2003... More young Americans can name the reigning American Idol and the city where the cartoon Simpsons live than know the political party of their state's governor. That's one of the more troubling findings of "Citizenship: A Challenge for All...