State Legislatures articles from December 2006

State Legislatures archives from December 2006

Bluer skies for rainy days fund.
December 1, 2006... State lawmakers took advantage of robust revenue growth in the late 1990s to shore up their rainy day funds. And it paid off. When the national economy declined in 2001, rainy day accounts helped states close sizeable budget gaps. After...

People & politics.(elections)
December 1, 2006... On Election Day, there were at least 6,129 legislative seats up for election. Some 10,728 candidates ran for those seats under the banner of 38 different party designations. The Republican party fielded 4,795 candidates and the Democratic party...

The growing obesity epidemic.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... The Growing Obesity Epidemic America is growing larger. In 13 states, at least one in four people is obese. The government equates obesity with a body mass index of at least 30. Obesity increases the risk for diabetes, cardiovascular...

Privacy, please.(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Even though state and federal laws protect medical records generally, patients have been shocked to learn that their names have been sold or used for marketing purposes. Some doctors are also displeased to find that their prescription writing...

Driving gray.(motor vehicle drivers)
December 1, 2006... Older drivers are generally safe drivers. They are more likely to wear safety belts and less likely to drive while impaired. But aging brings physical changes that can hinder driving. With slowing reflexes, reaction time increases significantly...

Lower is even better.
December 1, 2006... Reducing blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in drivers reduces drunk driving fatalities. When states lowered their BAC limits from. 10 to .08, alcohol-related injuries and fatalities dropped by an average of 7 percent to 8 percent, according to...

The business of early childhood.
December 1, 2006... What do Boeing, Bank of America, Clear Channel Radio and Lockheed Martin have in common? These businesses are working with state and local governments and foundations to get young children ready for kindergarten and on their way to a better...

Drug tests galore.(drug screening of middle and high school students)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... El Dorado, Kan., is getting real serious about random drug screening for all middle and high school students participating in--or even just attending--any extracurricular activity. That includes sports, clubs, field trips and school plays....

Fat attack.(New York City Board of Health to prohibit restaurants from serving food containing trans fats)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... The New York City Board of Health recently voted to move forward with plans to prohibit all city restaurants (from McDonald's to fashionable bistros) from serving food that contains more than a tiny amount of artificial trans fats. Doctors and...

State fair aware.(survey)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Why not catch people while they're in a good mood and familiarize them with some of the issues coming before the Legislature? During the 12-day Minnesota State Fair, the nonpartisan House Public Information Services surveyed 6,580 fairgoers and...

Remedial renaissance.(remedial instruction finance)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Community colleges spend $1.4 billion annually in providing remedial education to students who have recently completed high school, according to a report from the Alliance for Excellent Education, a think tank that focuses on secondary...

Schools can wait.(school schedules regulation)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... The kids aren't the only ones happy. Pushing back the first day of school until after Labor Day gave a big boost to Michigan tourism, new data show. About 53 percent of hotels and resorts in the state reported higher occupancy levels between...

Virtual visitation.(new regulations for using communication technology)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... New technology is making it easier for parents to stay in contact with their children in custody cases. Typical visitation for noncustodial parents is often every other weekend, plus two weeks during the summer and additional time for...

It's the real thing.(Coca-Cola Co. launches fitness program)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Kentucky recently launched a statewide fitness program that Coca-Cola developed to get students moving and choosing healthful foods. The program, called "Live It," will be geared toward students in grades four through eight. Schools will be...

Unequal generosity.(charitable donations)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Charitable giving would rise nearly 15 percent if affluent income tax filers in the majority of states donated as high a proportion of their asset wealth to charity as do well-off filers in the most generous five states, concludes a six-year...

Oyster aid.(government finance to oystering)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... The federal government has provided $15 million to help rehabilitate Mississippi's oyster habitats and the industry that relies on them. "I'm not sure if $15 million will be enough, but we will have to make do with it," said Scott Gordon with...

Can't ban freebies.(smoking bans)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... A federal judge recently struck down Washington's ban on cigarette giveaways. In effect since June, the state law stopped tobacco companies from giving out free samples to adults. "We know these samples are getting into the hands of young...

Bringing health home.(household toxins)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... A state government program to make homes safer in Delaware is flooding the radio, billboards and sides of buses with messages on how to reduce the amount of cancer-causing chemicals in homes. The Delaware Healthy Homes campaign encourages...

A fish fight.(water-quality monitoring system)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... San Francisco is using fish in the war on terror. A new water-quality monitoring system automatically analyzes the behavior of eight to 12 bluegills in a tank at a Public Utilities Commission's water-treatment plant. If the computers sense the...

Democrats deliver a power punch: for the first time since 1994, the Democrats took control of the majority of the nation's state legislatures.(Cover story)
December 1, 2006... A powerful left hook took down hundreds of Republican state legislators across the country this election. For the first time in more than a decade, Democrats control more legislative chambers and more state governments than the GOP. In...

Election day lawmaking: facing 204 ballot measures, voters turned down more than they passed.
December 1, 2006... Americans approved a mix of conservative and liberal measures on Election Day and sent some surprising signals on tax relief, same-sex marriage, abortion restrictions and tobacco taxes. Voters took firm stands on taxes, minimum wage,...

Pet parity: governments need to have an emergency rescue plan in place for pets as well as people.
December 1, 2006... In the months following Katrina, images rotated regularly on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 and MSNBC's Scarborough Country. Desperate dogs paddling their way through toxic waters. Filthy felines scavenging inside scorching hot houses. Grisly...

States shift gears: state lawmakers are exploring new ways to finance our nation's surface transportation system.
December 1, 2006... Everyone wants transportation that is safe, reliable, efficient and predictable. But by almost every standard, the demands on our roads, bridges, railroad tracks and waterways, and the costs for maintaining and improving them, are accelerating...

Tools for navigating ethical dilemmas: being ethical requires more than just following laws.
December 1, 2006... Alaska's introduction to its Standards of Conduct section goes on to state "no code of conduct, however comprehensive, can anticipate all situations in which violations may occur nor can it prescribe behaviors that are appropriate to every...

Special ed squeeze: the feds are cutting the Medicaid funds many states rely on to provide health services for disabled students.
December 1, 2006... It seemed like a good idea," says Senator Ed Olson of South Dakota. Use Medicaid funds to provide health services mandated under federal special education legislation to disabled students. So that's what South Dakota and other states did:...

All in the family: helping grandparent caregivers remains a legislative priority.
December 1, 2006... You have to play the hand that's dealt to you," Lovana Jones matter-of-factly stated as she described caring for eight children during her 19-year tenure as an Illinois state legislator. "My daughter died 12 years ago from cancer. She left...

Schools can taste good: a chef leads the way in making good nutrition a required part of the school day.(Alice Waters)
December 1, 2006... If you build it, they will come.... But if you plant squash and Swiss chard, will kids eat it? Some people think so. Alice Waters, a well-known California chef at Chez Panisse launched her "Edible Schoolyard" 10 years ago. Now her pilot program...

What kids need: lawmakers are recognizing that children do not grow up in programs, but in families and communities.
December 1, 2006... Almost everyone knows stories of kids who succeeded "against the odds." They grew up in poor neighborhoods, with only one parent, or maybe a grandparent. They were poor. They attended lousy schools. Yet, in spite of the barriers they faced,...

As they see it.
December 1, 2006... "I don't know if either party is ready to fall on the sword. Meanwhile, the ranch burns while we're sitting there fighting each other instead of fighting the fire." --North Carolina Representative Nelson Cole, co-chair of the...