State Legislatures articles from June 2003

State Legislatures archives from June 2003

Letters.
June 1, 2003... Lawmakers Need to Look Ahead on Cloning Issue Editor: I read with interest Alissa Johnson's article on human cloning in the April issue of State Legislatures. Our legislative attorneys have questioned whether Roe vs. Wade permits...

New laws for young drives. (Statestats).
June 1, 2003... Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among U.S. teenagers. More than 3,600 young drivers were killed in 2001, and an additional 337,000 were injured. Teenage drivers are more likely to drink, use drugs, speed and swerve,...

States brace for outbreak as mysterious disease attacks people worldwide. (On First Reading).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The frenzied preparations states made after the 2001 anthrax outbreaks may be a boon in battling a contagious and mysterious infectious disease, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), that has been killing people around the world. SARS...

Lawmakers eliminate potential conflicts of interest.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Far more hearings are held every day in front of agency judges than there are court trials. And, consequently, there are more chances of conflicts of interest. Administrative hearings deal with a variety of subjects, such as citizen claims...

In self defense. (Stateline).(Washington Senate security guards)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Senate security guards are packing their own guns in Olympia, Wash. after Senate leadership OK'd it in February. The ongoing threat of international terrorists and the arrest of a man planning to assassinate the governor apparently led to the...

Mercury danger. (Stateline).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Five large California grocery retailers have begun displaying signs cautioning consumers about the dangers of mercury in fish. The warnings were prompted by a lawsuit filed last month by the California attorney general. He argued that the...

No brain lapses allowed. (Stateline).(child safety)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Summer is coming, and the weather is heating up. Now is the time to remind yourself NOT to leave your children in a locked car. Obvious for most of us, but apparently not for all. Iowa Representative Ro Foege has introduced a bill that makes...

Fewer places to puff. (Stateline).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... New York has joined Delaware and California in banning smoking in nearly every restaurant, bar and workplace. "It is now a known fact," said Senator Charles Fuschillo, bill sponsor, "that secondhand smoke, consisting of 4,000 chemicals, takes...

Parents: missing in action. (Stateline).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... How many of you parents out there have missed an important school event because you just couldn't get away from work? Leaving work to attend parent-teacher conferences and other school functions may get easier in Illinois if a proposal by the...

When coral meet cables. (Stateline).(undersea telecommunications cables)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Florida's Department of Environmental Protection is trying to toughen restrictions on undersea telecommunications cables amid mounting evidence that they can damage coral reefs and their fragile ecosystem by swaying back and forth and knocking...

Crystal ball for science. (Stateline).(ecological modelling)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The EPA has developed a computer tool for planners to use to evaluate the effects of today's environmental decisions 20 years from now. The tool, ReVA (Regional Vulnerability Assessment), maps current conditions of forest productivity, air,...

He/she difficulty. (Stateline).(state constitutions)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Michigan's governor may be a woman, but the state constitution refers to her as "he." Representative Lisa Wojno wants to change the constitution to gender-neutral language, following the lead of Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, New York,...

Girl scouts break in. (Stateline).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... It's pretty hard to participate in mother-daughter activities when your mom is in jail. So 11 years ago the National Institute of Justice paired up with Girl Scouts USA to help girls who desperately needed positive role models and a sense of...

Painted Potties. (Stateline).(water conservation)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Notwithstanding some mighty spring blizzards, the West has been suffering a terrible drought. And getting people to save water is not always easy. But Santa Fe has come up with a flushing good idea to get peoples' attention: toilet art. This...

No drug testing allowed. (Stateline).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Michigan's law that required drug testing for parents who apply for welfare benefits was recently struck down by a federal appeals court. All applicants were subject to testing and 20 percent of recipients were to be randomly tested every six...

Tough times to be tough on crime: an edited transcript of a recent discussion on corrections and sentencing policy among key state legislators.
June 1, 2003... Zero tolerance for drug offenses, mandatory-minimum sentences for many crimes and "truth" laws that require serious offenders to serve 85 percent of their sentences have been the prevailing state policies of the past two decades. ...

Debunking the myths of special education: as special education continues to be an important issue for state legislatures, it is time to set the record straight.
June 1, 2003... All American children, regardless of ability, are entitled to a free public education. But some are a lot more expensive to teach than others. Total costs for students with disabilities (ranging from mild to severe) has increased to more than...

Drug assistance from drug makers.
June 1, 2003... Although money problems are limiting the development of new, large scale, state pharmaceutical assistance programs, some legislators are finding out what can be done at little or no state expense. Prescription drug costs run into the...

The paperless office is here.
June 1, 2003... Thirty years ago, they said these dandy new machines called computers were going to dispense with paperwork altogether. Well, not quite, but this Missouri lawmaker is coming close. Stepping into Representative Rob Schaaf's small, out-of-the...

Constituent communication in cyberland: using the internet to communicate with constituents can be very effective.
June 1, 2003... It's a cyberworid out there and becoming more so every day as the World Wide Web and e-mail become ever more entrenched in society. In fact, 143 million Americans--more than half of the nation--are online, and 2 million more are logging on...

When violence hits home: responding to domestic violence in families with kids requires a coordinated effort to help the victim and protect the children.
June 1, 2003... Carol Johnson (not her real name) credits her son, in part, with giving her the strength to leave a violent relationship. She suffered severe physical and emotional abuse daily for more than four years and she believed her abuser when he told...