State Legislatures articles from January 2009

State Legislatures archives from January 2009

The new president.(STATE LEGISLATURES ONLINE)
January 1, 2009... See an interactive presentation of President-elect Obama's position on key issues crucial to states. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Expert advice.(STATE LEGISLATURES ONLINE)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Richard Rothstein of the Economic Policy Institute offers his thoughts on education, and Harley Duncan of KPMG discusses the streamlined sales tax in some additional advice for the new president.

Initiative reform.(STATE LEGISLATURES ONLINE)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Look through NCSL's extensive database on ballot measures, including initiatives.

More on lobbying.(STATE LEGISLATURES ONLINE)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Read Peggy Kern's report on the increasing number of lobbyists and the American League of Lobbyists Code of Ethics.

More on trends.(STATE LEGISLATURES ONLINE)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Read the full study on eminent domain--Direct Democracy and Land Use: Eminent Domain and Big Box Development at the Local Ballot Box--and check out NCSL's resources on the topic.

GrassCatcher: daily news.(STATE LEGISLATURES ONLINE)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] See what major news outlets are writing about state policy at State Legislatures' Grass-Catcher. It's updated daily.

The reflecting pool.(STATE LEGISLATURES ONLINE)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NCSL Deputy Executive Director Carl Tubbesing is State Legislatures' eye on the state-federal relationship. Read what he has to say this month!

Blog: the thicket.(STATE LEGISLATURES ONLINE)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A bipartisan blog about the legislative institution and federalism written by and for legislative junkies. Updated often.

Kevin Harrington was NCSL's first president.(National Conference of State Legislatures)(Obituary)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Kevin Harrington, raised during the Great Depression, was a college government and history teacher, a basketball coach, a mayor, a judge, the president of the Massachusetts Senate and the first president of the National Conference of State...

Legislators at-a-glance.(STATESTATS)
January 1, 2009... Of the 7,382 lawmakers serving in state legislatures, 4,085 are Democrats and 3,220 are Republicans. Several seats are still undecided or vacant, and Nebraska has only nonpartisan legislators. There are also 10 legislators representing third...

For the first time in Colorado history, two African-American men hold the most powerful leadership positions in the state legislature.(People & Politics)(Terrance Carroll and Peter Groff)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... For the first time in Colorado history, two African-American men hold the most powerful leadership positions in the state legislature. House Democrats elected Representative Terrance Carroll as speaker, and Peter Groff was re-elected Senate...

The Arkansas Senate made a series of noteworthy leadership selections, many of them occasioned by term limits.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... The Arkansas Senate made a series of noteworthy leadership selections, many of them occasioned by term limits. Bob Johnson, a former speaker of the House, was elected president pro tem of the Senate. Newly elected Senator Joyce Elliott was...

Democrat Representative Hannah Pingree is the new speaker in Maine.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Democrat Representative Hannah Pingree is the new speaker in Maine. To date, she is the youngest speaker in the country at age 32. Pingree's mother, Chellie Pingree, was elected Senate majority leader at age 37, and following a stint as...

Representative Armond Budish has been chosen as speaker by Democrats who took control of the Ohio House in November.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Representative Armond Budish has been chosen as speaker by Democrats who took control of the Ohio House in November. Republicans elected Representative Bill Batchelder as minority leader. Senator Bill Harris has been re-elected Senate president...

In the Florida Senate, a "team of rivals" scenario has played out.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... In the Florida Senate, a "team of rivals" scenario has played out. Incoming Senate President Jeff Atwater three years ago wrested the leadership position from Senate president designee Alex Villalobos. Florida has a system of electing future...

Nevada Senator Steven Horsford was elected majority leader by his Democratic colleagues who have won control of the Senate.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Nevada Senator Steven Horsford was elected majority leader by his Democratic colleagues who have won control of the Senate. He is the first African American elected to leadership in that state. Representative Barbara Buckley will return as...

Representative Bob Bergren is the new speaker of the evenly divided Montana House of Representatives.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Representative Bob Bergren is the new speaker of the evenly divided Montana House of Representatives. Former Speaker Scott Sales became the House Republican leader. The House is tied with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans. Under state law,...

Health cafeteria plans.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In an effort to make insurance coverage available and more affordable--and to increase the number of people who use commercial health insurance--several states have expanded the use of health premium cafeteria plans....

New economy report card.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A new report ranks which states are leading the transformation into a "global, entrepreneurial and knowledge- and innovation-based new economy." Using 29 measures, "The 2008 State New Economy Index," by the Ewing...

Eminent domain tensions die down.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... States continue to feel the force of the Supreme Court's 2005 Kelo ruling affirming the constitutional right of governments to "take" private property for transfer to private developers in comprehensively planned projects aimed at eliminating...

Helping with autism.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)
January 1, 2009... At least 10 states specifically require insurers to provide coverage for the treatment of autism (Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas). Of those 10 states, seven states...

You otta know.(STATELINE)(otters)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Wild river otters are once again swimming and frolicking in the Rio Grande and Gila rivers near Taos, N.M. More than 60 years ago, the playful, native creatures disappeared from the region. The energetic animals are...

Health care for children.(STATELINE)
January 1, 2009... Hawaii has dropped its universal child health care program after just seven months, citing budget concerns and abuse of the program. "People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free,"...

Texas teens triumph.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... The number of teens involved in fatal crashes declined in Texas at nearly twice the rate as the rest of the country during the past five years, according to the Texas Transportation Institute. The rate in Texas dropped 27 percent, while the...

Going batty.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Let's hear it for bats. They eat a lot of annoying mosquitoes and flies. But in South Dakota officials are worried about their stagnant numbers. So they are updating the state's bat management plan to boost nesting sites and educate landowners....

Teachers: wanted.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... A growing number of school districts are hiring teachers from countries such as the Philippines, Jamaica and India to fill shortages in math, science and special education, according to USA Today. The American Federation of Teachers estimates...

Capitol sees green.(STATELINE)(Colorado Capitol)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The 113-year-old Colorado Capitol doesn't look green from the outside, but inside it's a different story. It is the first capitol in the nation to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)...

Salt light.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Winter is here, and cold-weather states will need lots of salt to keep the highways safe. But prices are running two and three times higher than last year, according to Stateline.org, forcing some states to make do with less. Many states used...

Tests don't hurt.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Arkansas became the first state in 2003 to require students to undergo body mass index tests. One in five school children is overweight in the state. Legislators and the governor loosened the standards last year,...

Parenting classes OK.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... The Connecticut Supreme Court recently upheld a state law requiring divorcing couples to take parenting courses. The justices ruled the classes do not represent any "intrusion on the parent's decision-making authority" and achieve "a compelling...

Barn dance.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... Vermont is taking a census. Of barns, that is. Old barns. With funding from the Preserve America Program of the National Park Service, the state is making an effort to stop the decline of the historic buildings. No one knows how many barns are...

Bottle booty.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the 11 states that encourage recycling with a refundable deposit on beer, soda and other beverage containers, fraudulent returns are sapping their profits. People are redeeming containers that were bought in other...

Obama a change in direction: lawmakers hope the new president will ride in tandem with the states.(Barack Obama)(Cover story)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Barack Obama takes over the presidency Jan. 20 with a promise to help state governments aching from a recession that analysts say could last into 2010. For states, the test for Obama is twofold: How quickly can...

Some unsolicited advice: what experts think President-elect Obama should know about these issues.(Barack Obama)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There is a grand tradition in the United States of offering the new president lots of suggestions for how to run the country whether he wants them or not. in that spirit, Slate Legislatures asked national experts in...

Battle for the ballot: outdated laws governing the initiative process allow abuse.
January 1, 2009... One of the little-noticed stories of the 2008 election was the escalating tug-of-war between legislatures and activists over the rules governing the citizen initiative process. The struggle has ramped up dramatically since the 2006...

The influence business: lobbyists help shape public policy, but in many states it's becoming tougher for them to play that role.
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Lobbyists are everywhere. The neighbor who tells a lawmaker her view of a bill, a community volunteer who testifies at a legislative committee and the local official who writes to his representative are all...

15 tips for being an effective legislator: practical wisdom on coping with increasingly complex issues.(TOOLS OF THE TRADE)
January 1, 2009... "Listen, think and vote your conscience. Your constituents will not always agree with you, but they will respect you for thinking through the issues and leveling with them." --SENATOR LETICIA VAN DE PUTTE, TEXAS [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Money for your life (insurance): selling a policy for cash is not as unusual as you might think.
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sally, who suffers from breast cancer, decided to sell her life insurance policy to investors to pay for her growing medical expenses. She got $250,000 for it, which she used to buy medicine. The investors will...

An old battle rejoined: states are at the front of a renewed fight against poverty.
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sitting on a stack of boards under a tarpaper roof in Inez, Ky., President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty in April 1964, just months after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. That now famous...

As they see it.(Quotation)
January 1, 2009... 'We are setting a great example for young women: that they can get involved and run for office." --N.H. Senator Sharon Carson on the fact that the New Hampshire Senate has a majority of women, in Women's eNews. "What's going on right...