State Legislatures articles from February 2001

State Legislatures archives from February 2001

New Faces and Fresh Ideas: 2000 Election Turnover.(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2001... The November 2000 state legislative elections resulted in lots of new faces for state legislatures. Almost 80 percent of the 7,424 legislative seats in 44 states were up for election in 2000. Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New...

States Look at Child Safety Needs in Cars.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Children grow quickly, but often not fast enough to effectively use safety equipment like car seat belts designed for adults. In 1996, while visiting family in Yakima, Wash., Autumn Skeen and her 4-year-old son Anton were both buckled up...

States, Towns Behind on Replacing Underground Tanks.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Leaking underground storage tanks have created contention among federal regulators, state policymakers and gasoline station owners for a number of years. Federal regulations now penalize owners who failed to upgrade or replace tanks with...

Kansas Tackles the Challenges of Troubled Kids.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Eleven-year-old Nathaniel Abraham of Michigan, the youngest American convicted of murder as an adult, showed warning signs for years without ever receiving counseling or any other assistance. And it's kids like Nathaniel that Kansas is aiming...

Lawmakers Give Tribes a Voice.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Native American tribes have always been considered sovereign nations within the boundaries of the states. But relations between the tribes and the states have not always been smooth. Now states are looking at ways to improve communication and...

Illinois Proposes New Gender Violence Act.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Each year more women are injured by domestic violence than are killed by automobile and cancer deaths combined, according to the American Bar Association's Commission on Domestic Violence. With passage of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act...

Legal Chemicals Being Used for Date Rape.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Twenty states have passed laws to protect women from the effects of the date rape drug, GHB, but almost as soon as the statutes were signed, criminals found ways to use perfectly legal substitutes. These odorless, tasteless chemicals mix easily...

A LIBRARY IN THE LAND OF LINCOLN.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Consistently voted one of the best presidents ever, Abraham Lincoln is past due for his very own presidential library. After years of lobbying by the Illinois congressional delegation, President Clinton approved $50 million in federal funds for...

NO COUCH POTATOES IN PRISON.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Utah state prison inmates who are too lazy to work in prison jobs or take classes will lose the little privileges of prison: TVs, commissary shopping and out-of-cell time. The plan, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, is being touted by the...

KEEPING HISTORY ALIVE.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The weather can be tough in Nebraska. And then there are the vandals. Many of the state's more than 400 state historical markers are now history--faded, pockmarked, rotted. "Generally speaking, it's like a lot of things, the state established...

A PAYBACK TO SCHOOLS.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Some Pennsylvania residents, encouraged by newspaper editorials that a one-time-only state tax rebate was an election year ploy, are giving their rebate checks to schools. Philadelphia schools have received hundreds of the 2.5 million checks...

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF VIDEO MAKING.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Ohio recently joined California as the only states to specifically ban secretly taking pictures (using hidden cameras) up a woman's skirt or down her shirt, called "upskirting" and "downblousing." The Internet has made the practice more...

SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... For women, the best states in which to earn a living, enjoy full health and well-being, participate in the political process or have their reproductive rights safeguarded are Vermont and Connecticut, according to the Institute for Women's...

NEW LIFE FOR CASKET DEALERS.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... A federal judge opened Mississippi to independent casket dealers who promise cheaper prices, striking down a state law that had allowed sales only by licensed funeral home directors. Mississippi is the third southern state recently to lose a...

PITTING ONE NON-NATIVE AGAINST ANOTHER.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... A tiny Brazilian fly whose even tinier larvae eat the heads off stinging fire ants will be unleashed across the South this spring, according to the Associated Press. The invading ants from South America are a vicious menace to homeowners,...

NO NEED TO REPEAL THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE.
February 1, 2001... Before we wipe out the entire electoral college, there are some changes we can make to improve the entire election system. Until this November, the Electoral college was a vague remembrance from high school civics classes, a subject to...

In Search of a Perfect Election.
February 1, 2001... After the election of 2000, calls for reforming how we vote are ringing throughout state legislatures. Just when you thought you had seen it all, the never-ending 2000 election took place. The vocabulary of average Americans expanded to...

JUDGEMENT CALL: THE SUPREME COURT STEPS IN.
February 1, 2001... The Supreme Court's decision on Dec. 12 leaves states cross-examining how they run their elections. The Supreme Court ended the great presidential election battle of 2000 with a short, unsigned opinion, but it may have opened the door to...

TRIAL BY FIRE: FLORIDA LEGISLATIORS FEEL THE HEAT.
February 1, 2001... Nothing had prepared the Florida Legislature (full of freshman lawmakers) for the role of picking the president. It's not what they expected. Florida legislators were due in Tallahassee for training sessions designed to help 64 freshmen...

Too Close to Call: State/Federal Relations.
February 1, 2001... If Congress finds a way to work together, what will it mean for the states? Call this the year of the anti-mandate. With a nation divided down the middle, bipartisanship has become the mantra of Washington politicians of all stripes. But...

Building a Legislative Legacy for the Future.
February 1, 2001... Strap on your seatbelt and hold on tight. The challenges of 2025 start today and lawmakers have a say in what the coming changes will mean to their institutions. They can start today to build the legislature of tomorrow. you are now in a...

TASK FORCE REPORTS.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Although it's impossible to forecast the future, an NCSL task force of the Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee has made some educated guesses to help point to possible directions. On the following pages you can read some of the ideas...

Imagine This: Legislatures of the Future.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Harassed, circumvented or diminished? No one knows what legislatures will likely be in 25 years, but here are some possibilities. What might this future look like? No one knows for sure, of course. But there are three critical...

It's a Different World for Lawmakers of 2025.(forecasts)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Changes in society are on a fast track--what will they mean for the year 2025? Time to go back to the future. What does society look like in 2025? Flow is it different from today? DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE America is older and more...

Core Values of Good Legislatures.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Legislatures need to take a positive approach to change while protecting the core values of a representative democracy. No question about it: Change is part of the future. Lawmakers need to carefully assess what kind of change the public...

Legislative Actions to Deal with Future Changes.(National Conference of State Legislatures task force)
February 1, 2001... Change is a given, but taking steps to deal with it effectively will increase public approval and support of the institution. There's a lot of public discontent with the legislative process. Part of it can be blamed on the legislatures...

Public Internet/Private Lives.(Internet privacy laws)
February 1, 2001... Everything on the Internet has the potential of being read and misused by others. States must decide how to protect people without stifling e-commerce. The death of 20-year-old Amy Boyer may not be the single reason why advocates for...