State Legislatures articles from June 2005

State Legislatures archives from June 2005

Ohio looks at breastfeeding, too.(LETTERS)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Editor: I was pleased to see the article about breastfeeding legislation across the country in your April edition of State Legislatures. But I was disappointed that you omitted the breastfeeding legislation currently being debated in Ohio....

Michigan has youngest speaker.(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2005... Editor: In "A View from the States" in your March magazine, Iowa Speaker of the House Christopher Rants was described as the youngest speaker in the country at age 37. Sorry, Iowa, but that honor goes to Michigan. Our speaker, Craig...

Thanks for Wunnicke tribute.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2005... Editor: I just received the May State Legislatures magazine and read the wonderful tribute to Pat Wunnicke. I had never paid any attention to her presence on your staff (that is, I had never heard of her), but when I finished reading...

Minimum wage wars.(STATESTATS)
June 1, 2005... Congress hasn't raised the minimum wage since 1997 and increasingly, this contentious issue has become a state issue. Currently 15 states and the District of Columbia have state minimum wages that are higher than the federal minimum wage and 36...

The Arkansas Senate broke with tradition in electing Democrat Jack Critcher leader for the 2007 session.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... The Arkansas Senate broke with tradition in electing Democrat Jack Critcher leader for the 2007 session. Usually the post goes to the senator with the most seniority. In this case, that would have been Dave Bisbee, who, if elected, would have...

For only the third time in 30 years, the Florida Senate voted to discipline one of its members for violating the state's ethics laws.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... For only the third time in 30 years, the Florida Senate voted to discipline one of its members for violating the state's ethics laws. Senator Mandy Dawson was reprimanded and removed from the Ethics and Elections Committee for "unlawful"...

Legendary King of Blues B.B. King will have a monument in his honor in Twist, Ark., thanks to a $5,000 appropriation by the Legislature.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Legendary King of Blues B.B. King will have a monument in his honor in Twist, Ark., thanks to a $5,000 appropriation by the Legislature. King was playing in Twist when a fight broke out between two men who kicked over a heater and set the place...

Jon Wyss was sworn in as a Washington senator ... for three days.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Jon Wyss was sworn in as a Washington senator... for three days. He was a temporary fill-in for Republican Senator Brad Benson, a major in the Air National Guard who left for guard duty in Spokane. Benson didn't want his district to go...

Louisiana Senator John Hainkel, who served as both speaker of the House and Senate president and as a Democrat and a Republican, died in his sleep after cooking a steak dinner for some close Senate colleagues in April.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Louisiana Senator John Hainkel, who served as both speaker of the House and Senate president and as a Democrat and a Republican, died in his sleep after cooking a steak dinner for some close Senate colleagues in April. First elected to the...

Ten-year South Carolina House veteran Walter P. Lloyd, 73, died in April after an extended illness.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Ten-year South Carolina House veteran Walter P. Lloyd, 73, died in April after an extended illness. Lloyd, a retired consultant for the state Education Department, fought for school funding and accountability during his legislative career.

Former Georgia lawmaker Cathy Cox is trying for another first.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Former Georgia lawmaker Cathy Cox is trying for another first. The first female legislator elected from her rural district and the first female secretary of state, she has announced her candidacy to become Georgia's first woman governor. But...

President George Bush turned to the South Carolina Legislature to find a new ambassador to Canada.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... President George Bush turned to the South Carolina Legislature to find a new ambassador to Canada. Speaker David Wilkins, a long-time Bush family friend and top Republican fundraiser who ran both the president's South Carolina campaigns, is the...

What you don't know can hurt you.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)
June 1, 2005... Four out of five computer users have spyware or adware programs on their computer but don't know it. These programs might cause pop-up ads to appear, sometimes relentlessly; others might change a computer user's home page, add links to his...

Stem-cell ethics.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)
June 1, 2005... Virginia lawmakers have voted to fund stem cell research in the name of Christopher Reeve, but to limit the study to sources other than embryos such as bone marrow or umbilical cord blood. Financial support for the Christopher Reeve Stem...

Treating the severely mentally ill.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)
June 1, 2005... Under Kendra's law in New York, people with severe psychiatric disorders can get assisted outpatient treatment. Forty-one other states have adopted similar laws. After five years, results from the New York law look promising. For those in...

Helping those helping us.(life insurance for military personnel)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Serving in the nation's military can be dangerous duty--more than 1,500 U.S. military personnel have died in Iraq in the last two years and nearly four times as many have been seriously wounded. And while $250,000 in life insurance coverage...

Dangerous country roads.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)
June 1, 2005... The fatality rate per vehicle mile on rural roads is more than twice the urban fatality rate. 1 Crashes on rural roads account for over 60 percent of the annual traffic deaths nationwide. 2 Rural crashes account for 63 percent of all...

Got your goat.(STATELINE)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... The poor, second class goat. In Washington, a goat isn't even considered livestock, just property, lf someone tries to steal one, they'd face only misdemeanor charges. (Theft of official livestock--like horses, mules, pigs or sheep--is a...

Hearing is believing.(STATELINE)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... There's nothing to hide in Utah. New this year, the legislature's Web site has audio files of floor debates on all pieces of legislation linked directly with the bill's status. Every time a bill is brought up on the floor--even for a motion to...

Cruise to nowhere.(STATELINE)
June 1, 2005... Gambling cruise ships don't owe taxes on commercial activity that happens beyond state territorial water, the Florida Supreme Court recently ruled. Backing a lower court, the justices rejected the state's argument that the gambling trips fall...

A dangerous world.(STATELINE)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Travelers venturing to places such as Zimbabwe, Israel, Kenya, Colombia and 24 other countries that the U.S. State Department currently advises Americans to avoid, could have fewer problems qualifying for life insurance under a bill moving...

Put the cork in it.(STATELINE)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Florida, Michigan and New Mexico are all looking at letting diners take home any unfinished wine from a dinner out, provided it is resealed for transport home. Current laws bar diners from leaving with a partially consumed bottle. Supporters of...

Pom pom problems.(state will reduce funds if a school district knowingly permits a sexually suggestive performance)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Cheerleaders are getting too suggestive, according to Texas Representative Al Edwards, and he wants to put an end to the vulgarity. He's introduced a bill that if a school district knowingly permits a "sexually suggestive" performance, funds...

Get a life little doggy.(bill to ban hog-dog rodeos)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... A bill to ban hog-dog rodeos, where pit bulls or American bulldogs are encouraged to attack hogs or feral pigs, is being considered in Alabama. "I can tell you I have never seen anything in my life as inhumane and disturbing as this practice,"...

Midwest honesty.(Kansas imposes compensating use tax for online purchases)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Kansans had a new line on this year's state income tax form. They were told to pony up for the "compensating use tax" for online purchases from out-of-state companies. The tax has been in place for several years, but most people tend to ignore...

Informed eating.(bill on restaurants to list nutritional information next to food and drink items )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Watch out double bacon cheeseburger. Several states are looking at requiring restaurants to list nutritional information next to food and drink items on their menus and menu boards. The bills vary a bit from state to state, with requirements...

River training.(law passed to better regulate whitewater river guides)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Sometimes tragedy leads to change. In Oregon, a pair of siblings whose father died on the Rogue River are trying to get a law passed to better regulate whitewater river guides. The law would require river guides and outfitters to be equipped...

Legislative podcasting.(Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau provides short audio files on its Web site)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... A new service from the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau provides short audio files on its Web site. These brief interviews address public policy issues, the legislative process and constitutional issues. They are posted to the Web as MP3...

Staying ahead of the feds: EPA proposes cap-and-trade to cut back on mercury emissions, but many states think they have a quicker. better solution.
June 1, 2005... "By making mercury emissions a tradable commodity, the system provides a strong motivation for some utilities to make early emission reductions and for continuous improvements in control technologies." U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,...

Where do all the old models go? State and federal governments, along with industry, are trying to manage the flood of electronic waste.
June 1, 2005... As the digital future becomes more and more a reality it leaves in its wake the old, the obsolete and the orphaned. With each new generation of computers, phones, televisions and other electronic equipment, the question of what to do with...

NCLB: feds crack the door: the U.S. Department of Education has started to respond to state concerns over the No Child Left Behind law.(No Child Left Behind Act of 2001)
June 1, 2005... When it was introduced in 2001, few people complained about the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Who could? The law was met with strong bipartisan support. It brought a new national visibility to education and made education reform a priority....

The preschool promise: going to preschool benefits children their entire lives. Can states afford to provide it to all kids?
June 1, 2005... If you walk into a good preschool classroom, you might see a teacher reading to a group of kids, children immersed in an art project, little ones playing on a computer or getting ready for a field trip to a nearby museum or public library. ...

Outsourcing saves money: sending jobs overseas can increase the productivity, profitability and competitiveness of U.S. companies.
June 1, 2005... Within the first three months of 2005, more than 112 bills to restrict "outsourcing" already had been introduced in at least 40 states, an increase over last year at the same time. Why has this trend to restrict international trade in services...

Outsourcing hurts American workers: the solution to losing U.S. jobs overseas is to change the trade rules.
June 1, 2005... You know a problem is serious when people start making up new words to try to define it. "Offshoring" used to be something you'd do for vacation, now it'll put you on a permanent vacation. Along with its cousin, "outsourcing," they are the two...

Managed care; in it for the long term: using managed care for Medicaid long-term care is once again getting states' attention.
June 1, 2005... Pamela Parker, director of Minnesota's managed long-term care programs, has reason to be proud. Provider-contractors under her program for people with disabilities got 21 percent of the those they serve out of nursing homes. And she notes that...

Smile, you're live! appearing as a guest on a television or radio show can be a breeze--if you prepare.(TOOLS OF THE TRADE)
June 1, 2005... You've been asked to be a guest on a television or radio program. The keys to success in communicating your message lie in your ability to prepare for and deliver it. By following a few simple interview do's and don'ts, you can effectively...

As they see it.(political leaders)
June 1, 2005... "God gave me a nice mole where I needed it."--Abraham Lincoln impersonator Lon Pressnall, in the Chicago Tribune, at the dedication of a new museum honoring the former state legislator and U.S. president. "The learning curve is steep, and...