State Legislatures articles from July 2007

State Legislatures archives from July 2007

Leadership winner.(Joe Hackney to receive Excellence in State Legislative Leadership Award)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... SPEAKER JOE HACKNEY NORTH CAROLINA He was elected to step in as speaker and reclaimed integrity for a House embarrassed by scandal. And now North Carolina's Joe Hackney has been chosen to receive the nation's top state legislative...

Smoke-free laws.(STATESTATS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... States and cities are trying to clear the air. They are passing laws to limit environmental tobacco smoke, or second-hand smoke, which is a combination of smoke from burning cigarettes and exhaled smoke. Research shows that exposure to any...

Maintaining his innocence in federal bribery and extortion charges, Alaska Representative Vic Kohring announced he will resign his office in July.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Maintaining his innocence in federal bribery and extortion charges, Alaska Representative Vic Kohring announced he will resign his office in July. Kohring is accused of selling a vote on oil and gas taxes to executives at Veco Corp., an oil...

Colorado's Amendment 41, considered the toughest ethics law in the nation, suffered a serious setback in June when a district court judge issued a temporary injunction halting its enforcement.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Colorado's Amendment 41, considered the toughest ethics law in the nation, suffered a serious setback in June when a district court judge issued a temporary injunction halting its enforcement. Passed by more than 60 percent of the voters in...

When Alabama Republican Senator Charles Bishop punched Democratic Senator Lowell Barron on the chamber floor, it was the blow seen round the nation.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... When Alabama Republican Senator Charles Bishop punched Democratic Senator Lowell Barron on the chamber floor, it was the blow seen round the nation. Captured by Alabama Public Television, it was picked up by the major networks and You Tube....

It's been a tough five months for Texas Speaker Tom Craddick, the first Republican to lead the chamber since Reconstruction and a leader who rules with an iron hand.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... It's been a tough five months for Texas Speaker Tom Craddick, the first Republican to lead the chamber since Reconstruction and a leader who rules with an iron hand. In this rough and tumble session, members who were angered over his...

The Platters, the Drifters, the Supremes, Sha Na Na, the Coasters.(People & Politics)(Truth in Music)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The Platters, the Drifters, the Supremes, Sha Na Na, the Coasters. The line-up for a summer concert? Not exactly. They're members of a group called Truth in Music and they're making appearances in state capitols near you. They're on tour to...

Should the electoral college be changed?(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)
July 1, 2007... The electoral college may be the least understood constitutional pillar of American government. That hasn't stopped activists from proposing a perhaps more complicated "fix" in nearly every state legislature this year. The new plan would...

Don't take my gun.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... One of the many concerns that developed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina were reports that New Orleans police confiscated guns from citizens in order to quell the pandemonium following the disaster. Gun advocates across the country claimed the...

E-learning is everywhere.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... How hot is electronic learning? So hot that Michigan will soon require students to experience online learning before graduating from high school. The requirement is part of a larger education initiative passed in 2006 to ensure students are...

All eyes on Vermont.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(carbon dioxide emission regulation)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in April that vehicle carbon dioxide (C[O.sub.2]) emissions can be regulated like other pollutants. Now, federal courts will decide if the 10 states that adopted California's stricter limits on emission of...

Washington passes paid family leave.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)
July 1, 2007... Family leave laws have been a blessing for families welcoming a new child or dealing with an illness. The downside is that many families aren't in a financial position to allow them to take time off without pay. With the enactment of Senate...

Clean air for bears.(STATELINE)(smoking ban in Oklahoma zoos)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... A new law in Oklahoma prohibits smokers from lighting up at zoos by classifying zoos as outdoor classrooms. "There are literally hundreds of thousands of children who visit the Oklahoma City and Tulsa zoos each and every year," says Senator...

The cost of books--ouch.(STATELINE)(Minnesota policy on textbooks)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The tremendous expense of college textbooks is causing concern around the country. In Minnesota, legislators are considering regulating the textbook publishing industry more closely. "This is the hidden cost to higher education," says...

Maine turns green.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Maine is the only state that gets 100 percent of the electricity it uses in state-owned buildings from renewable sources. These include wind, solar, geothermal power as well as power from municipal waste generators. About a dozen states have...

Be warned.(STATELINE)(mobile homes to have emergency weather radios)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Indiana now requires that all new mobile homes come equipped with emergency weather radios. The new law resulted after a tornado killed 25 people in southwestern Indiana in November 2005. Twenty of the victims were living in a mobile home park...

Ship safety.(STATELINE)(water pollution prevention in Oregon)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Oregon is looking at a bill to require that the dismantling of deteriorating old ships be done in fully contained dry docks so that no pollutants escape into the water. Last year a company tried to find a site in Oregon to dismantle ships from...

Paper, plastic or canvas?(STATELINE)(environmental dangers of plastic shopping bags)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The concern over the environmental dangers of plastic shopping bags recently caused San Francisco to ban them. A hosts of other cities, including Phoenix, Boston, Berkeley, Oakland and Santa Cruz, Calif., and Portland, Ore., are considering...

Button up.(STATELINE)
July 1, 2007... The Oklahoma Legislature has passed a first-in-the-nation bill to permit immediate family members to wear photo buttons of the murder victim during trials. For proponents, it's a matter of equality and a way to show a jury how the victim...

Cell phone contraband.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... New York City's ban on students having cell phones in public schools was upheld by the state Supreme Court recently. The judge ruled that the ban is legal and rational. Last year, the city began random security checks and confiscated hundreds...

Dearth of organ donors.(STATELINE)(compensation for organ donors)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The need for organs is producing some novel ideas around the country. In South Carolina, prison inmates could get up to six months taken off their sentences if they donate a kidney or bone marrow under a bill being considered there. In at least...

Pig pests.(STATELINE)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... We have a feral swine problem. Wild pigs are roaming through at least 39 states, destroying natural habitat and farmers' fields with their rooting and wallowing. Some say they can pass on diseases to humans. States with the greatest number of...

Interlocks for all.(STATELINE)(installation of ignition interlock on drunk driver vehicles)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Under a new state law, all convicted drunk drivers in Arizona will be required to have an ignition interlock installed on any vehicle they drive. Until now, only repeat offenders and extremely intoxicated drivers had to have the devices, which...

Learning by laptop.(STATELINE)(educational technology)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... School districts and states across the country continue to experiment with laptop programs. Although some school districts are giving up the strategy, citing high costs and maintenance problems, others are learning from early mistakes by better...

Following the leader.(United States legislators)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... To really get a flavor for the way legislative leaders do their jobs, State Legislatures magazine sent reporters out to spend an entire day with a cross-section of top legislative leaders: the country's youngest speaker who stepped into the...

Seeing things differently: Nebraska's new young speaker, Mike Flood, thrives on politics and hard work.
July 1, 2007... Nebraska Speaker Mike Flood, at 31, is the country's youngest speaker. With only two years experience, he defeated an 18-year veteran in a bid to guide the one-house body through perhaps its biggest challenge since its 1934 creation. When...

Experience counts: Minnesota's Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher has a mile long political resume that includes time as a legislative staffer.
July 1, 2007... When Minnesota Democrats choose Margaret Anderson Kelliher, 38, as speaker earlier this year, they picked an insider. She had experience as a legislative staffer, served on the DFL Caucus Steering Committee, been an assistant minority leader,...

Master of consensus: it is said that Maryland Speaker Mike Busch inundates his caucus with information and persuades them with intellectual brute force.
July 1, 2007... Michael Erin Busch was chairman of the House Economic Matters Committee in 2002 and looking forward to four more years when it became clear on Election Night that the incumbent speaker, Casper Taylor, would lose his race. Busch and his aides...

Leading by example: Arizona Senate President Timothy S. Bee is hands-down one of the most well-liked leaders in the country.(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Sometimes, nice guys actually finish first in politics. Tim Bee is living proof. Bee, 38, rose to power in the Arizona Senate in 2000. He spent $4,000 on an upset victory over the incumbent, a longtime conservative rancher-lawmaker who spent...

Working together: over cigars, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Speaker Fabian Nunez build an unlikely bond.(Reprint)
July 1, 2007... In late 2003, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger rode into office promising to "blow up" state bureaucracy and go over the heads of California's liberal Legislature. A few months later, Fabian Nunez, an outspoken critic of the new...

Tim Massanelli: man of the House: the long time parliamentarian of the Arkansas House embodies a combination of political power, institutional memory, legendary status and public service.(ONE OF OUR OWN)
July 1, 2007... On any given day, it is almost a sure thing that you will find Tim Massanelli, parliamentarian of the Arkansas House of Representatives, in his small office just off the House chamber. Massanelli might be carrying on an animated conversation...

Searching for words: politicians can use words to inflame or reconcile. How do you use your words?
July 1, 2007... In the spring of 1955, William Faulkner covered the Kentucky Derby for Sports Illustrated. Not surprisingly, he delivered a memorable piece of reporting. Describing Abraham Lincoln's birthplace, Faulkner wrote: "No sound there now unless...

The urge to serve: you can take the legislator out of the state, but as five unusual cases show, you can't take the desire to serve out of the legislator.
July 1, 2007... For a woman who had "no interest in politics whatsoever, "Representative Peggy Wilson of Alaska finds herself in the somewhat extraordinary position of having served in not one, but two state legislatures. It's not uncommon for the average...

Small beginnings remarkable results: here's a look at the 400th anniversary of various things and some really ancient legislatures.(A LOOK BACK)
July 1, 2007... You can't move in Boston without realizing how old the place is. There are whole neighborhoods from the 1800s; a few buildings from the 1700s, for example, Faneuil Hall (no one can pronounce it), the Old State House, and the Old South Church;...

25 great online ideas worth stealing: states are using the Internet in creative, innovative ways from which other states can and should benefit.(Website list)
July 1, 2007... Legislatures often find themselves on the side of fighting crime. But we've decided to turn the tables and encourage a little pilfering across state lines. We're not suggesting felonious activity, just simply stealing good ideas. The...

A new old Capitol: Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Capitol is looking better than ever.
July 1, 2007... When I started covering Virginia politics in 1981, I worked out of the state Capitol press room. It was, to quote Oscar Wilde, an address that inspired confidence. Though its vaulted stucco ceiling was yellow from cigarette smoke and...

Tips for a more powerful presentation: giving a great speech doesn't have to be difficult.(TOOLS OF THE TRADE)
July 1, 2007... Quick question: How many speeches do you give each year'? Likely answer'? "A lot." Now, ask yourself: "Am I using each presentation as an opportunity to connect with my constituency, build my base and communicate my message'?" Here...

As they see it.
July 1, 2007... "The melting pot metaphor captures one of the great strengths of your country and is an inspiration to others around the world as we face the continuing social challenges ahead." --Queen Elizabeth II during a speech to the Virginia General...