State Legislatures articles from December 2005

State Legislatures archives from December 2005

Streamlined sales tax agreement goes into effect.(STATESTATS)
December 1, 2005... Online and other out-of-state retailers will find it substantially easier to collect sales taxes since the voluntary Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement went into effect in October. The agreement provides states with a mechanism to capture...

David Burnell Smith.(vacate his seat on March 25 and pay a financial penalty for overspending)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Arizona Representative David Burnell Smith, who as ordered to vacate his seat on March 25 and pay a financial penalty for overspending his publicly funded campaign by $6,000, is filing suit to stay in office. The Citizens Clean Elections...

Redistricting.(Arizona Minority Coalition vs Independent Redistricting Commission )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The Arizona Court of Appeals has remanded a redistricting case back to the lower court, ordering the judge to apply a different standard. The case centers on a suit brought by the Arizona Minority Coalition alleging that the Independent...

New Mexico House.(investigates Robert Vigil)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The New Mexico House is considering impeachment of State Treasurer Robert Vigil, indicted on 21 counts of extortion in a federal investigation. Vigil, elected to office in 2002, is charged with extorting $265,410 in kickbacks in exchange for...

Kay Wolf.(joins the Kansas House)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Wolf became the newest member of the Kansas House when she was sworn in to replace Dean Newton who resigned to become vice president of sales and marketing for Delta Dental of Kansas. Wolf has served as a Prairie Village councilwoman and is...

Bubber Snow, a 75-year-old former South Carolina legislator who lost his seat to Carl Anderson in 2005, put on his dancing shoes to retire a $5,000 campaign debt.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Bubber Snow, a 75-year-old former South Carolina legislator who lost his seat to Carl Anderson in 2005, put on his dancing shoes to retire a $5,000 campaign debt. And it was classic Snow. In 1984, he sponsored legislation naming the shag as the...

Wisconsin Senate.(approves a constitutional amendment to prevent governors from exercising a powerful partial veto )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The Wisconsin Senate has approved a constitutional amendment to prevent governors from exercising a powerful partial veto that allows them to rewrite bills by crossing out words to create new sentences. Governor Jim Doyle did just that in July...

Seven state legislators are among a group of 24 young elected officials to be selected by the Aspen Institute for a new fellowship program honoring men and women as "the true rising stars" of American politics.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Seven state legislators are among a group of 24 young elected officials to be selected by the Aspen Institute for a new fellowship program honoring men and women as "the true rising stars" of American politics. The institute conducted an...

Rx for cold pills.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Oregon has become the first state to require a doctor's prescription for many over-the-counter cold and allergy relief medicines, with the aim of shutting down methamphetamine labs around the state. The bill was endorsed despite complaints that...

Historic preservation incentives.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)
December 1, 2005... States promote historic preservation by offering tax incentives for the restoration and rehabilitation of historic buildings.

Drug-free schools.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Massachusetts is set to join seven other states that offer drug-free environments for adolescents with addiction problems. At these recovery schools, students can complete their education without being tempted to return to abusing drugs. ...

Slow down, you move too fast.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Former state trooper Lowell Porter, who is now the director of Washington state's Traffic Safety Commission, says that unless trends change, speed will overtake drunk driving as the leading cause of fatal crashes. Speaking to legislators...

Tracking sex offenders.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Global Positioning System technology that helps motorists find their way is now being tapped to track some high-risk sex offenders. many lawmakers see electronic monitoring as a natural next step in laws that already require sex offenders to...

Oh no, no snow.(snowmelt in the Colorado River Basin could decline by as much as 24 percent by 2039)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Snow pack and snowmelt in the Colorado River Basin could decline by as much as 24 percent by 2039, based upon current precipitation and warming trends, warns the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization. That has tremendous implications for a region...

The sky is falling.(three men injuried during New York Capitol's roof restoration work)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Three men were injured (none too seriously) as they scrambled to get away from a 3,600 pound stone that slid off a tower atop the New York Capitol's roof during restoration work. The mishap occurred after the stone masonry company had just...

School can wait.(Michigan schools to start classes after Labor Day and not before)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The tourism industry is happy about a bill passed in Michigan that requires all schools to start classes after Labor Day and not before. Schools still will be required to have 1,098 hours of instruction. Tourism is Michigan's second largest...

Rubber roundup.(Missouri state imposes a 50-cent fee on car batteries and tires)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... It can cost a lot to clean up old, discarded tires. Tires disposed of improperly can pose health and environmental hazards, and water standing in them can breed disease-carrying mosquitoes. Missouri used to require tire dealers to collect a...

Obesity sticks.(Childhood obesity increases, survey)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Even with all the attention, childhood obesity is not shrinking, according to the second annual findings of a body mass index survey of Arkansas public school students. The assessments showed that 38 percent of Arkansas's kids (39 percent of...

Carp crap.(STATELINE)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Asian big head carp are making officials in Wisconsin and Illinois a bit uneasy. The invasive species hurts habitat and competes for plankton with native fish, such as northern pike, panfish, blue gills and bass. They can weigh up to 100 pounds...

New life for life sciences.(Washington Legislature approves Life Sciences Discovery Fund)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Washington state's new Life Sciences Discovery Fund, approved by the Legislature earlier this year, will spend $350 million to support life sciences research. Beginning in 2008, the state will distribute $35 million every year for 10 years. The...

Roasting corn.(STATELINE)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Sales of corn-burning stoves are heating up as Iowans look for ways to escape soaring fuel costs this winter. In that state, corn-burning stoves and furnaces are so hot they may be hard to find. The price of corn, meanwhile, has dropped because...

Wiretap with love.(STATELINE)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Parents should have the right to monitor the communications and conversations of their minor children, believe supporters of a bill in Washington. That includes intercepting or recording any phone conversation. The law is being proposed in the...

Rethinking jury duty.(STATELINE)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Arizona passed a law two years ago to make juries more representative of their communities. Now, in response to many complaints from senior citizens, lawmakers there are rethinking the provision that made it harder to be excused. Before the...

Stay at home, save gas.(Department of Agriculture employees have the option of working four days a week )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Some state employees in West Virginia will soon have the option of working four days a week as the state Department of Agriculture tries to cut down on gas consumption. Employees who don't need to be in the office five days a week to serve the...

Hope after the hurricanes: after hurricanes hit the South, state lawmakers rolled up their sleeves.
December 1, 2005... Representative Jim Simpson, Jr., committed a major faux pas when he took to the House floor during a special session of the Mississippi Legislature in late September. Representative Simpson was in clear violation of the House's coat and tie...

Communication lifeline in Louisiana: a newly formed clearinghouse helped legislators respond after the hurricanes--and is a model for the future.
December 1, 2005... Without communication there is confusion and consternation. That wasn't a fortune cookie saying for Louisiana legislators in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. That was reality. National television was showing images of people sitting on their...

Way too drunk to drive: about 48 people a day are killed by drunk drivers. Some of those drivers are extremely drunk.
December 1, 2005... All are sad stories; some are heartbreaking. Kris Mansfield survived his tour of duty in Iraq, only to be killed by a drunk driver less than four months after coming home to Colorado. The drunk driver's blood alcohol content (BAC) was an...

RFID: promise or peril? It may be easier than ever to track information, but it is causing concerns over privacy and civil liberties.(radio frequency identification)
December 1, 2005... When Sutter, Calif., came up with a new way to keep track of its students, no one predicted the heated debate it would bring, pitting the forces of high technology against those of privacy and civil liberties. The Brittan Elementary School...

Spam slam: Virginia's anti-spam law 2003 H.B. 2290/S.B. 1139, chapter 987.(ON RECONSIDERATION)
December 1, 2005... THE LAW'S GOALS * Provide prosecutors with the tools to bring legal action against and convict those who send unwanted, fraudulent or deceptive unsolicited bulk e-mail (spam). * Undermine the profitability of spamming through...

Relief from the ID thief: lawmakers continue to battle the growing crime of identity theft.
December 1, 2005... The number of consumers whose personal information, including Social Security numbers, driver's licenses and credit card numbers, has been exposed to potential identity theft is staggering. Hackers gained information on 1.4 million consumers...

Tiny technology moves into the big time: no longer just a concept, nanoscience could drive the next industrial revolution.
December 1, 2005... The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson describes a 21st century "nanotech" society in which nations no longer exist and microscopic computers are used to do everything--from birth control to muscle building to surveillance. How far fetched is this...

What's for lunch? When's recess? The fight against obesity makes its way into schools.
December 1, 2005... American kids are growing fatter. Since 1980, the number of overweight children has doubled. Three times as many adolescents are heavy. In fact, 16 percent of children and adolescents age 6 to 19 are overweight. Compared to those of normal...

Managing legislative time.(TOOLS OF THE TRADE)
December 1, 2005... Time is one of the most precious commodities for legislatures, especially for part-time legislatures. "Perhaps the most trying aspect of a legislator's life is the frustration born of inadequate time to cope with the flood of issues and...

As they see it.
December 1, 2005... "I find myself in the odd position of being in the same bathtub with the governor and it's a tight fit." --Mississippi Representative Bobby Moak, chairman of the House Gaming Committee, quoted in the Sun Herald about the debate over casino...