State Legislatures articles from February 2006

State Legislatures archives from February 2006

The outlook is good.(budgets)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
February 1, 2006... State budget conditions continue to improve, showing strong signs of recovery in nearly every state, according to a new budget update report by NCSL. States are collecting more revenue than they projected for nearly every major tax. In some...

People & politics.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Norma Anderson, Bruce Larkin, Charlene Bottorff, Larry Lutz and Armando Martinez's elections)
February 1, 2006... Senator Norma Anderson, a respected Colorado lawmaker who created the state Department of Transportation and wrote the school finance act, shocked colleagues when she resigned one week before the start of her 20th and final year in the...

The melting pot.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(population)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
February 1, 2006... By about 2050, minorities are expected to outnumber the majority-white population (nonHispanic, single-race white) in the United States. Already four states are majority-minority. Here are the states with the largest nonwhite populations,...

The P.E. advantage.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(physical education)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Do you know that 30 minutes of active physical activity during the school day can help control weight, build healthy bones, muscles and joints, reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, enhance feelings of well-being and may even improve...

Keeping babies safe.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(legislators promote shaken baby syndrome education)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Everyone knows babies cry. And sometimes they cry a lot. And sometimes it gets them injured. Every year, 1,200 to 1,400 babies and small children require medical attention for severe head injuries suffered after being violently shaken,...

From Washington State: National Model for renewable energy.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)
February 1, 2006... Washington suffered a severe energy crisis in 2001. Shortages in California and the lowest water levels in the Columbia River since the 1940s, which placed severe limitations on the hydropower industry, were the causes. The result is a national...

Smoke screens.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(smoking bans)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Second-hand smoke is a combination of smoke from burning cigarettes and exhaled smoke. Studies have shown it to be dangerous. All states and the District of Columbia have some sort of smoking ban--although they range widely in scope. Some laws...

No soggy sedans.(STATELINE)(flood-damaged vehicles' sale)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Louisiana lawmakers want to make it harder to sell flood-damaged vehicles to unwitting consumers through a bill passed in November. It will require the owner or insurer of a water-damaged car that has been declared a "total loss" in a declared...

The sorry salamander.(STATELINE)(endangered species)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... The hellbender salamander's numbers continue to decline in Missouri. And more are showing up with unexplained deformities such as missing or misshapen limbs, wounds that will not heal and skin lesions. The aquatic animals are considered...

Not just U.S. problem.(STATELINE)(juvenile drinking in Europe)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Many Americans believe that young people from Europe have less trouble with alcohol because their cultures teach them to handle alcohol responsibly from an early age. A recent report from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation,...

Toxic torpedoes.(STATELINE)(littering regulations)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... America, we've got al problem. Seems that truckers and other highway users are throwing way too many bottles full of their own urine out the window, littering the countryside. Can you believe it? They just don't have enough time in their busy...

Free to be.(STATELINE)(gender identity or expression regulation)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... New Jersey is looking at joining California, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico and Rhode Island in protecting from discrimination cross-dressers and people who change their sex. The bill would add "gender identity or expression" to the...

Smog busters.(STATELINE)(California Air Resources Board's regualtion on burning refuse )(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... The California Air Resources Board recently adopted rules to implement legislation that bars cruise ships from burning refuse within three miles of shore. One limited state survey found ships burn an average of 1,736 tons of trash a year....

Domain debate.(STATELINE)(Seneca Indian Nation's acquistion to be supported by economic development agency)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... New York's economic development agency is moving forward with eminent domain proceedings to help the Seneca Indian Nation acquire land around its Niagara Falls casino. The development agency determined the Senecas' expansion plans would be good...

Drawl deliverance.(STATELINE)(Appalachian accents)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... A class that teaches young people how to lose their Appalachian accents has set off an age-old feud: To drawl or not to drawl. The class, put on by an eastern Kentucky theater group, is designed for children in middle and high schools who want...

Buffalo shots.(STATELINE)(vaccination for the prevention of brucellosis)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... The Montana Department of Livestock is proposing that some of the bison (calves and yearlings) that wander out of Yellowstone National Park be vaccinated to help reduce the potential spread of brucellosis. Cattle ranchers worry that bison will...

Divers delight.(STATELINE)(Shoreline Adventures' case of shipwreck)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Divers who found a 1929 shipwreck--the SS Aleutian--off Kodiak, Alaska, have settled a lawsuit with the state over the fate of it. The agreement allows the diving company, Shoreline Adventures, to bring up the dishes, furnishings, fixtures and...

Longer school year.(STATELINE)(school calendar changes)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Minnesota school superintendents are pressing lawmakers to add five weeks to the school calendar over the next four years, mostly by slimming down summer break. A 200-day school year is their goal. Minnesota children now spend 170 to 175 days...

Energy debate heats up: the high gas prices of last summer fueled the energy debate that continues today.
February 1, 2006... Wisconsin Senator Robert Cowles drives the 280-mile round trip between the State Capitol in Madison and his home in northern Wisconsin in a hybrid-electric Toyota Prius. "I get between 50 and 60 miles per gallon in the car. I'll never...

The hard truth of writing laws: writing laws demands technical and legal skills that are extremely difficult to learn while juggling all the other demands lawmakers face.
February 1, 2006... When Congress hurriedly passed its first multi-billion dollar relief bill in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, only a handful of legislators were actually present. The measure was written by a few people, almost certainly not members of Congress...

Medicaid extreme makeover: with growing numbers of uninsured people and costs out of control, states are looking at radical changes to Medicaid.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
February 1, 2006... States are scrambling to slow Medicaid growth and reform a troubled system that is devouring their budgets. Medicaid covers about $3 million low-income Americans, including 13 million elderly and disabled people. Costs are increasing by 10...

Tony Beard Jr. sergeant superior: members of the Beard family have helped protect the California Capitol for almost 100 years. Today's sergeant at arms in the Senate is "keeper of the institution.".(ONE OF OUR OWN)
February 1, 2006... Ask California Senator Debra Bowen about Tony Beard Jr.--the Senate's longtime chief sergeant at arms--and she will tell you about tomatoes and cucumbers. That's what was in a bag that Bowen once left outside the entrance to the Capitol's...

Partisan buster: the Michigan Political Leadership Program makes it easier for state lawmakers to have good relationships with others across the aisle.
February 1, 2006... Beer's in the bathtub. Soft drinks are chilling. Homemade brownies, chocolate chip cookies from a bakery, Cheetos and potato chips tumble over the hotel suite's dining table. The sofa's packed with people, knee to knee and nose to nose in...

Keeping in touch: responding to constituents' requests and concerns is time-consuming but key to representative democracy.
February 1, 2006... After 17 years of serving in local government--as county supervisor, mayor and school board president--Joe Simitian looked forward to serving an even broader constituency when he was elected to the California Assembly in November 2000. At the...

Staying safe online: there are steps you can take to cut down on spam, viruses and spyware.(TOOLS OF THE TRADE)
February 1, 2006... If Bill Gates hasn't found a way to get rid of all his junk e-mail yet, chances are you're still receiving unwanted e-mail, too. About 80 percent of all e-mail is estimated to be unsolicited commercial messages called spam. The FTC has...

As they see it.(opinions of different senators)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... "You're kind of damned if you do, and damned if you don't, so to speak." --Mark Cullinan, former head of the Massachusetts Office of Dam Safety in the Concord Monitor. The state is wrestling with what to do about unsafe dams. "There...