State Legislatures articles from March 2002

State Legislatures archives from March 2002

Waste is a Terrible Thing to Mind: Risk, Radiation and Distrust of Government. (Books).
March 1, 2002... John Weingart, the Center for Analysis of Public Issues, Princeton, N.J., 2001. 427 pages, softcover, $19.95. The former executive director of the New Jersey Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility Siting Board tells an excellent...

Corrections.(January issue)(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2002... Gambling in Tennessee The book review titled "Governing Gambling" in the January issue stated that all but two states--Hawaii and Utah--have become host to at least one form of gambling over the past several decades. To clarify, Tennessee...

Where ticket scalpers are criminals. (Statstats).
March 1, 2002... During the 2001 World Series, Arizona citizens felt the joy of co-hosting their first championship series. Ecstatic Diamondback fans quickly snapped up tickets to see their barely christened major league baseball team battle the historic New...

Institute releases competitiveness report. (On First Reading).(Beacon Hill Institute report on competitiveness of states)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Why is California better off than Mississippi? Why is Massachusetts better off than almost every other state? Why do some states fail to improve the lives of their citizens? A new study from the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University...

Supreme Court narrows sweep of Americans with Disabilites Act. (On First Reading).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... In a decision that could affect millions of Americans, the U.S. Supreme Court in January further narrowed the scope of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ruling, penned by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and supported unanimously by the...

Idaho and Oregon turn legislator term limits Topsy-Turvy. (On First Reading).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Three hundred and thirty state lawmakers in 11 states lose their jobs to term limits this year, but Idaho's lawmakers won't be among them nor will Oregon legislators... yet. Idaho became the first Legislature in the country to overturn...

Missile silo sites put to new use. (On First Reading).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... With the Cold War over, Illinois is finding innovative new uses for old Nike surface-to-air missile sites as parks, golf courses, highway maintenance yards, business parks and even a career center. Students at the Beck Area Career Center in...

Goodbye old dams, farewell. (On First Reading).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Since the 1800s, 75,000 dams have been constructed along rivers and streams in the United States to harness water for hydroelectricity, irrigation, drinking water, sawmills, recreational areas and flood control. Many now are past their...

No talking back to this test grader. (Stateline).(artificial intelligence, Pennsylvania)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Bias by test graders? Maybe not--if it's a computer. In a Pennsylvania pilot project, essay tests (being taken by more than 35,000 fifth, eighth and 11th graders) are being graded by a computer that uses artificial intelligence. The computers...

Making union dues a choice. (Stateline).(Oklahoma)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Oklahoma voters last fall approved a measure that makes the state the 22nd to ban labor contracts requiring workers to pay union dues. Oklahoma is the first new right-to-work state since Idaho approved a voter referendum in 1986. Supporters...

Three strikes off base. (Stateline).(three-strikes law, California)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... California's three-strikes law is under attack by public defenders who argue that in many nonviolent cases the punishment is often too extreme. They cite cases such as the man who got life imprisonment for shoplifting a screwdriver, an electric...

The crossroads of America. (Stateline).(population center)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... In the midst of Amish country--northern Daviess County, Ind.--lies the center of America's population, at 38 degrees, 45 minutes north latitude and 86 degrees, 56 minutes west longitude, where all you can see in any direction may be about a...

Looking for teachers. (Stateline).(Georgia)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A new fast-track teacher training program in Georgia hopes to attract recently laid-off, college-educated professionals looking to change careers. Georgia has thousands of teaching jobs open each year. The program, Georgia Responds, offers...

Becoming an informed Citizen-Easily. (Stateline).(Michigan)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Wondering how your state representative or senator voted on an issue? Michigan citizens now have an easy way to find out. MichiganVotes.org is a new Web site that gives citizens easy access to their elected representatives' entire legislative...

Sensing animal danger. (Stateline).(sensors to detect wildlife on highways)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Infrared sensors, microwave radar, ground-vibration sensors and electric beams are among the tools being considered to detect wildlife on highways under a $500,000 federal grant aimed at preventing collisions between animals and autos....

Representatives to the rescue. (Stateline).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... While on their way to the Capitol in December, Missouri Representative Patrick Naeger and Assistant House Minority Leader Rod Jetton stopped to help a motorist trapped in her car after it overturned dangerously close to a set of railroad...

Too important to die for. (Stateline).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Obesity may soon overtake tobacco as the chief cause of preventable deaths, Surgeon General David Satcher recently warned. He called for schools, communities and industry to take major steps in fighting obesity. He recommends that schools...

Fighting paper terrorism. (Stateline).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A "paper terrorism" trial comes to an end in Michigan. Twelve defendants were convicted in December of fraud and conspiracy for, among other things, trying to instigate audits of 18 judges by filing bogus reports with the Internal Revenue...

The war on drug--prices: States are taking up the fight to reduce prescription drug costs.
March 1, 2002... A new kind of drug war is being wages in legislative chambers and federal courts as citizens and lawmakers fight to lower the costs of prescription drugs. The states are facing a Medicaid drug bill of some $25 billion this year. With a...

The consensus candidate: with democrats split, the new assembly speaker in New Jersey was an unlikely candidate. And the new governor picked him.
March 1, 2002... Even in his wildest imagination, Albio Sires never thought he would become speaker of the New Jersey Assembly. "I did not get a chance to even dream about this," he says. "No, never. I mean this happened too quickly." A freshman...

Plan needed to fight terrorism: Public health officials are urging state lawmakers to strengthen a public health system that has been in serious need of financial and political support for years.
March 1, 2002... Texas Representative Dianne White Delisi doesn't have psychic powers, but four years ago she did call for a study to see how prepared the Lone Star State was for a bioterrorism attack. How did her colleagues react? "I was met with chuckles...

Regulating without a net: States must walk a tightrope of regulatory reform and consumer protections or risk losing their oversight of the nearly $1 trillion insurance industry.(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... When Kentucky Representative Steve Riggs discusses the value of state insurance regulation, he likes to tell the story of the Lakedreamland Volunteer Fire Department of Jefferson County. The small local company took out a group life insurance...