State Legislatures articles from January 2002

State Legislatures archives from January 2002

Letters.
January 1, 2002... LET'S LAY BISMARCK'S BROMIDE TO REST Editor: I agree with Alan Rosenthal in your September 2001 issue that Bismarck's statement about sausage and legislation ought to be laid to rest, but for a different reason. It's not that it is a...

Handling Gambling. (Books).(Governing Gambling )
January 1, 2002... Governing Gambling by John Lyman Mason and Michael Nelson, The Century Foundation Press, New York, 2001. 125 pages, softcover, $13.95. Over the past several decades, all but two states--Hawaii and Utah--have become host to at least one form...

The Rising Cost of Health Care. (Statestats).(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Rising health care costs and a slowing economy have cost control back on legislative and corporate agendas. Health care spending per privately insured person has increased for the third straight year. The 7.2 percent rise in 2000 was the...

California Gives Bonuses to Educators for Results. (On First Reading).(teachers receive bonuses)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... More than 12,000 teachers in California were a little more excited about pay-day this fall as bonus checks from the state gradually made their way to those in schools that showed the greatest improvement in student performance. Nineteen...

Are State Sales Tax Holidays on Vacation? (On First Reading).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... New York was the first state to have a sales tax holiday when the Legislature instituted a tax-free week on all clothing and footwear priced under $500 in 1997. The idea was to provide tax relief at a time when children were preparing to...

Making Drug Prescription Coverage Fairer for Women.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... "Insurance companies pay for Viagra, but not for birth control. It's not fair. There's nothing right about it," says Missouri Speaker Jim Kreider, who successfully passed legislation last session mandating insurance coverage for contraceptives....

The Holiday Thing. (Stateline).(Veteran's Day becomes paid holiday for employees in Wisconsin)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Wisconsin, the remaining state to not observe Veterans' Day as an official paid holiday for state employees, will consider changing that this session. If enacted, Veterans' Day would be elevated to that of New Year's Day, the Fourth of July,...

Too Much High Tide. (Stateline).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The Gulf of Mexico will continue to rise by more than 3 feet during the next century, according to several scientists in their report, "Confronting Climate Change in the Gulf Coast Region." This will drown the remaining wetlands, lead to more...

Let's all go Downtown. (Stateline).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Downtown areas will be preferred sites for state office buildings across California under a new executive smart growth policy. The governor hopes that consolidating far-flung leases into downtown office locations will cut costs. People should...

Marriage 101. (Stateline).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Maryland has become the fourth state to offer couples a break on marriage license fees if they take a marriage education course. "The purpose is to strengthen marriages and provide a nurturing environment for children," said bill sponsor...

The Trouble with Test Scores. (Stateline).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... New research has found that test scores, particularly year-to-year score gains, are too erratic to be used fairly to hold schools accountable, according to the National Center for Fair & Open Testing. Average school scores and short-term gains...

Happy and Healthy in the Heartland. (Stateline).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Even though Minnesota has one of the highest proportions of overweight and obese adults in the country, it was still voted the healthiest state in the nation by the United-Health Foundation, based out of Minnesota. The report ranks each state...

Grandfamilies Get Help. (Stateline).(guardians receive financial aid)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... New Jersey is now offering compensation to thousands of grandparents and other relatives who serve as guardians to children whose parents are gone or unfit to raise them. There are an estimated 85,000 children in the state who live with...

No Nastiness now. (Stateline).(work environment policies)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Story County, Iowa, wants to make sure everyone who works for the county acts in a professional, civil and courteous way. The new anti-hostile work environment policy, passed last summer, states that employees are expected to treat each other...

Judges' Turn to test. (Stateline).(re-certification testing)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The testing fever continues. In South Carolina, judges who are up for recertification now must take a 200-question exam that retests their knowledge of criminal and civil court procedures. Three failing scores, and the judge would be removed...

A History Lesson Learned. (Stateline).(witches pardoned)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... More than three centuries after they were accused, tried and hanged as unrepentant witches in Salem, Mass., five women have been officially cleared by the state. The act, approved by the legislature, cleared the names of Bridget Bishop,...

A Fog of Uncertainty: War and the economy cloud the 2002 state legislative sessions.
January 1, 2002... "Can anybody remember when the times were not hard and money not scarce?" RALPH WALDO EMERSON Clouds of uncertainty have descended on America's state capitols, presenting the nation's legislatures with perhaps their most challenging...

Recommendations for reform: with numerous studies and reports, there is no dearth of advice on how to overhaul the country's election system.(election reform)
January 1, 2002... For the past 12 months, experts and public officials have trained a giant microscope on every aspect of how elections are conducted in the United States. The 2000 U.S. presidential election forced the world's oldest constitutional democracy to...

Out of the Frying Pan: The energy crisis that dominated the California Legislature's 2001 session subsided as the year came to a close, but it left behind a debilitating financial hangover that could hamper the state's economy for years to come.
January 1, 2002... The blackouts that were predicted for the summer never materialized. California's second largest utility did not, as many lawmakers feared, slip into bankruptcy. And prices on the volatile electricity spot market not only leveled off, they...

Medicaid Woes Returning: After lying dormant for several years, Medicaid is again giving lawmakers headaches as they tackle budget problems.
January 1, 2002... As if lagging revenues aren't enough, many states are now feeling pinched by rising costs in Medicaid, a program that makes up more than 13 percent of general fund budgets. So when Medicaid costs are out of whack so is the rest of the state...

Fighting Crime with Information: Improved safety comes with integrating criminal justice information systems, but the process isn't easy. And it takes money.
January 1, 2002... Minnesota Representative Richard Stanek, a veteran of the Minneapolis police force, was the watch commander on the night of Sept. 29, 1997, when a women was fatally shot by her ex-husband. At first this tragedy seemed to be another inevitable,...

Playing God with Potatoes: Consumers want to know when they're eating genetically altered food--but the subject of labeling is controversial.
January 1, 2002... The Vermont House Agriculture committee just wanted to pass a labeling law. It wanted dairy manufacturers to label products containing milk from cows that had been given a genetic growth hormone. But a federal judge saw it differently and...