State Legislatures articles from December 2008

State Legislatures archives from December 2008

Correction.(Correction notice)
December 1, 2008... The map on children's eligibility for Medicaid/SCHIP by income that ran on page 13 of the July/August 2008 issue was wrong. For a correct version. go to www.ncsl.org/magazine.

Tiny babies, big cost.(STATESTATS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Too many babies are being born too early. The percentage of babies born premature (before 37 complete weeks gestation) has increased nationwide by more than 15 percent between 1995 and 2005, to a high of 12.7 percent. These babies face a...

Cam Ward.(People & Politics)(National Outstanding Advocate Award)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Representative Cam Ward of Alabama has received Easter Seal's highest honor, the 2008 National Outstanding Advocate Award. Ward, whose daughter has autism, sponsored legislation creating the Alabama Autism Task Force to examine the diagnosis...

Representative Jim Watson returned to the Illinois House recently following a tour with the Marines in Iraq.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Representative Jim Watson returned to the Illinois House recently following a tour with the Marines in Iraq. A Marine Corps reservist, Watson also did a stint in Iraq during the Gulf War. As Iraqis struggled to solidify their government, Watson...

The Massachusetts Senate passed a unanimous resolution asking a 15-year veteran, arrested in October on federal corruption charges, to resign.(People & Politics)(Dianne Wilkerson )(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The Massachusetts Senate passed a unanimous resolution asking a 15-year veteran, arrested in October on federal corruption charges, to resign. Senator Dianne Wilkerson is charged with accepting eight payoffs totaling $23,500. The charges stem...

A Missouri senator who switched from Republican to Democrat last year defeated the Republican Senate president pro tem for state attorney general.(People & Politics)(Chris Koster, Michael Gibbons)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... A Missouri senator who switched from Republican to Democrat last year defeated the Republican Senate president pro tem for state attorney general. Senator Chris Koster, a former county prosecutor who once led the state prosecution of a serial...

Long-time Indiana Senate Democratic Leader Richard Young has announced he will not seek re-election to his leadership post.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Long-time Indiana Senate Democratic Leader Richard Young has announced he will not seek re-election to his leadership post. Young has been leader of his caucus since 1996. "As we enter a new era of change in our country and our state, I feel we...

North Carolina elected its first female governor and the nation's 30th in November.(People & Politics)(Beverly Perdue)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... North Carolina elected its first female governor and the nation's 30th in November. Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue, a former eight-term legislator, succeeds former Governor Mike Easley, who was term limited. Perdue was elected to the North...

In memoriam.(People & Politics)(Obituary)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Pennsylvania Senator James Rhoades, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, was "a party to every major education initiative in recent history," according to Senate President Pro Tern Joe Searnati and Senate Majority Leader Dominie Pileggi....

Correction.(People & Politics)(Correction notice)
December 1, 2008... An item in the October/November People and Politics about the Arizona Legislature was incorrect. House Majority Whip John McComish won his primary. Representative Eddie Farnsworth was majority leader from 2003 to 2005.

NCLB directs teachings time.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(No Child Left Behind)(Table)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... The No Child Left Behind law is changing how elementary school teachers spend their time. According to a survey by The Center on Education Policy, school districts have increased time spent on English and math and decreased time in all other...

Driving while really drunk.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Most states have laws that increase penalties for those caught with a very high blood alcohol content (BAC) level while driving. The sanctions, which vary from state to state, may include longer license suspension terms, longer prison...

Mental health care for Veterans.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Men and women returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan often face serious mental health problems. A study by the West Virginia Legislature found about 48 percent of returning veterans suffered post traumatic...

States are winners.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Arizona, Missouri and North Carolina each were winners of this year's Innovations in American Government Awards at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. The awards highlight successful programs with the hope of...

A coming blow for state budgets?(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A new technology, now moving from industry to the home, has the potential to reduce sales tax revenue much more than the personal computer, the internet and e-commerce ever did. With e-commerce, the transactions...

Budget blues.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)
December 1, 2008... The nation's deteriorating economy is clearly taking a to]] on the states, but the full extent of the damage may not be known for months. States are reporting slowing revenue collection from sales taxes, and declining income from capital...

Green jobs in our future.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Rising energy costs, the threat of global warming, the economic slowdown, and the sustained loss of blue collar jobs in manufacturing are encouraging policymakers to take another look at alternative energy sources...

A=$50.(STATELINE)(incentives for high school students)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Chicago public high schools are rewarding students with good grades with cash. Every five-week grading period, freshmen and sophomores can earn $50 for As, $35 for Bs, and $20 for Cs in English, math, science, social...

Lucky lotteries.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Many state lotteries around the country are experiencing record sales, according to The New York Times. Of the 42 states with lotteries, at least 29 reported increased sales in the most recent fiscal year. And of those 29, at least 22 set sales...

Gun law shot down.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... A law limiting the number of handguns people can buy--no more than one handgun every 30 days--in Jersey City was recently struck down by a New Jersey appeals court. The judge wrote, "Jersey City... seeks to impose a local standard in a subject...

Toll road troubles.(STATELINE)(Macquarie-Cintra)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Indiana chose to reimburse the private concession company (Macquarie-Cintra, a Spanish and Australian consortium) that operates the state's toll road for the state's decision to temporarily waive fees along the tollway. Flooding in September...

Anonymous rights.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... A federal judge ruled that a Utah law requiring sex offenders to reveal their Internet screen names and passwords to the state Department of Corrections violated the constitutional rights of a man found guilty of carnal knowledge and sodomy of...

Saggy jeans OK.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Riviera Beach, Fla., outlawed saggy jeans that expose underwear, and it landed a teenager in jail. A circuit judge, however, ruled the law unconstitutional based on "the limited facts" of the case. "We're not talking...

Remedial price tag.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... One-third of college students have to enroll in remedial classes, according to the Strong American Schools campaign. This not only costs the students in tuition, but also public colleges and taxpayers about $2.3 billion annually to re-teach...

Wolves return.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Wolf adversaries are howling over a federal judge's decision to return the gray wolf in the Upper Midwest to the Endangered Species list. A 2007 decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed wolves from the...

Calories count.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Under a new law sponsored by Senator Alex Padilla, chain restaurants in California will have to display calorie counts on menus to help customers make more informed, healthy choices about what they eat. The law applies to restaurants with 20 or...

Better not say no.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... Under new legislation in Ohio, suspected drunken drivers with previous DUI convictions no longer will be able to refuse to take a breath test. Anyone with two or more DUI convictions in the last six years, five DUI convictions in the last 20...

Day is done.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Pennsylvania House passed a nonbinding resolution this summer urging students across the state to learn how to play taps. House members were concerned that fewer and fewer students take up musical instruments....

Making history: Democrats pump up their control of state legislatures, but Republicans also make gains.(ELECTION 2008)(Cover story)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The electoral tsunami that swept Senator Barack Obama into the White House and delivered Democrats to Congress also helped the party make historic strides at the state legislative level. Voters reversed a trend...

Obama leads state lawmakers headed to Washington.(Barack Obama)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Half of the nation's presidents have arrived at the White House with biographies that included service in a state or colonial legislature. With his Nov. 4 election victory, U.S. Senator Barack Obama joins this...

The people speak: voters faced important and sometimes complex policy questions on statewide ballots.
December 1, 2008... Cruising under the radar of the most exciting presidential election in memory were 153 measures on statewide ballots around the country. Voters were asked to address taxes, social issues, health care, education, gambling and a wide array of...

Three years later: after the devastation of Katrina, Gulf-state lawmakers are optimistic but sobered by the work that remains.
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] John Alario is an optimist. Surrounded by large swaths of the New Orleans metro area that remain abandoned, garbage-strewn and scarred by boarded up and crumbling houses, the Louisiana senator is convinced life...

Right to know: most states have laws requiring notification when personal data are stolen. How effective the laws have been, though, is an open question.
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A Countrywide mortgage employee working Sunday nights copied customer records from an office computer, then sold the personal information of an estimated 2 million mortgage applicants. A group of hackers...

A different kind of jail: when parents are in prison, kids face their own trials. Now states are stepping in.
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Every night, the 8-year-old would set his mother's makeup and hairbrush by his bed. He'd go to sleep, and in the morning the maternal tableau would make him think, just for a moment, that his mom was waiting in the...

Inside the legislative machine.(Engines of Democracy: Politics and Policymaking in State Legislatures)(Book review)
December 1, 2008... Engines of Democracy: Politics and Policymaking in State Legislatures By Alan Rosenthal CQ Press; $34.95; 442 pages [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Alan Rosenthal has been observing and working with American state legislatures for 40...

As they see it.
December 1, 2008... "We're sorry. We're unable to take your call at the present time due to extremely high call volume." --Tennessee Office of Unemployment phone recording, as reported by Stateline.org. "It's not 'Oh my gosh, I won't be able to send my...