State Legislatures articles from March 2001

State Legislatures archives from March 2001

BOOKS.(Review)
March 1, 2001... THOMAS W. BONNETT Ron Snell, NCSL Competing in the New Economy: Governance Strategies for the Digital Age by Thomas W. Bonnett, Xlibris.com, Philadelphia, Pa. 2000. 192 pages, softcover, $16. Order from bookstore at...

LETTER.(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2001... Healthy Beaches in Wisconsin Editor: Per the article in the January 2001 State Legislatures, Healthy Beaches Are Good for the Economy," I wanted to share what Wisconsin is doing to keep our beaches clean. Last fall, we formed the...

CORRECTIONS.(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2001... The map on page 41 of the February 2001 issue of State Legislatures should have included Minnesota as a state with a cyberstalking or electronic harassment law. It was passed there in the 2000 session. And South Dakota Senator Ron Volesky...

Who's In Power.(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Now that most state legislatures are back at work, it is time to take a fresh look at the partisan landscape that emerged from the historic 2000 election. Nailing down the exact partisan affiliation of all 7,424 state legislators...

Agricultural Contracting Debate May Heat Up in State Legislatures.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Farming can be a risky business. With crops depending on the whims of Mother Nature and a demand that can be capricious, the prices a farmer gets can bounce like pingpong balls. A move to level out crops, prices and risk may portend some...

Supreme Court Ruling Adds Strings to Nude Dancing.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year in City of Erie vs. Pap's A.M. may have far-reaching implications for cities and states that want to outlaw nude dancing. In Erie, the Court upheld a Pennsylvania ordinance that requires exotic...

Pulling the Plug on Nuisance Calls.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Many Americans have experienced it--a telephone call at dinnertime from a telemarketer trying to sell them something. Lots of people hate them, but the legitimate business practices of most telemarketers are protected under certain...

On Your Feet, Kids.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Remember walking five miles to school each day, in 10 feet of snow, up hill...both ways. An exaggeration? Maybe, but do you remember when school children walked and rode bicycles to school, friends' houses, the park and the store? ...

Center Publishes In-depth Report on Higher Education.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Scrutinizing the key trends in higher education, the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research says state legislatures are beginning a second wave of changes in how public universities and community colleges are governed, as well as...

THE CASE OF THE MISSING PAINTINGS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The Internet can make a sleuth out of anybody. Take the case of two missing oil portraits from the Vermont Statehouse--one of Governor Samuel Crafts and the other of Colonel Albert Clark. No one had seen them since the mid-1930s, when the...

MAINE: A PLACE APART.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... They're asking for only a modest increase in state aid. But Maine's public broadcasting corporation may not get it. Seems they slashed opera in favor of news/talk shows, and loyal listeners are riled up about it. Senator Mary Cathcart said the...

NEW MEXICO SENATE CHANGES LEADERS.(Manny Aragon)(Richard Romero)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Longtime New Mexico President Pro Tem Manny Aragon was ousted early this session when three Democrats joined Senate Republicans to elect Democrat Richard Romero to the top leadership position. Aragon argued that the Senate was not "duly...

THE PESTICIDE PROBLEM.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... To spray or not to spray? That's what policymakers are trying to figure out. Thirty-one states have laws addressing the use of weed and insect killers around schools, but the debate continues. Growing concern about the potential dangers of...

STATES WITH HIGH-TECH FUTURES.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Can just any state make it as a high-tech oasis? Not really, says the Milken Institute of Santa Monica, Calif. The institute recently ranked states based on 12 factors, including research and development, number of patents issued, educational...

IT'S YOUR TURN, PRINCIPALS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Competency testing of students and teachers has gone on for years across the country. Now state officials in Connecticut say it is time for a closer look at school principals. According to The Hartford Courant, the state Department of Education...

SOME SWITCHING GOING ON IN SOUTH CAROLINA.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Republicans took control of the South Carolina Senate in January for the first time in 124 years after Senator Verne Smith switched parties. "After much thought and prayer," he said, "I have decided to change my party affiliation to the...

TARGETING TALKING TEENS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Tennessee Senator Steve Cohen plans to introduce legislation making it illegal for any driver younger than 18 to operate a motor vehicle while using either a hand-held or hands-free cellular phone. He says the legislation is just another...

THE CHARITABLE CHAMPIONS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The message that it's better to give than receive is falling on deaf ears in some parts of the country. The latest "Generosity Index" by the Urban Institute, as reported in The Christian Science Monitor, shows that giving by individuals is...

BYPASSES FOR BAMBI.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... It's hard to teach animals to "look both ways before they cross." Unfortunately, thousands are killed each year in wildlife-auto collisions, along with 200 motorists. For species pushed to the brink of survival, it's a serious issue. As a...

THE ELECTRICITY MARKET MESS.
March 1, 2001... ... California's well-intentioned attempt to introduce competition into the electricity business fell afoul of the law of unintended consequences, with disastrous results. What can other states learn from its dilemma?... A failed...

There's Hope in Hybrids.
March 1, 2001... New cars that use both gasoline and electricity just may be the answer to lowering gas consumption and pollution. Representative Elizabeth Watson of Maine often receives honks of appreciation, thumbs up from pedestrians and smiles at...

Legislators: You've Got Mail.
March 1, 2001... It's getting more like mind-reading all the time. Now there are software programs that can compose automatic intelligible answers to e-mails. But legislators have to decide how, when and where to use this and other new technology. Until...

Whatever Happened to Affirmative Action?
March 1, 2001... The debate over affirmative action resurfaces as states grapple with how to maintain diversity in higher education. A Michigan native, Jennifer Gratz worked hard in high school in hopes of attending the University of Michigan. She earned a...

Building Consensus One by One by One.
March 1, 2001... The legislative arena provides some significant challenges to consensus building, but in the long run, it's worth it. I have conflict, day in, day out, with my colleagues and the public," says Senator David Landis of Nebraska. Sounds...