State Legislatures articles from March 2006

State Legislatures archives from March 2006

Kindergarten: full time.(STATESTATS)
March 1, 2006... More and more, policymakers are realizing that kindergarten should not be an overlooked school year. Studies show that children in full-day kindergarten programs show significantly stronger academic gains over the course of the year than do...

Arizona Senator Robert Cannell announced he will not seek reelection this year because of health and family reasons.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Arizona Senator Robert Cannell announced he will not seek re election this year because of health and family reasons. A former House member, he was appointed to the Senate when former Senator Herb Guenther left to become director of the Arizona...

Colorado Democrats hold a one-seat margin in the Senate, and they are confident they can hold their majority even following the announcement by Senator Dan Grossman that he will not seek another term.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Colorado Democrats hold a one-seat margin in the Senate, and they are confident they can hold their majority even following the announcement by Senator Dan Grossman that he will not seek another term. First elected to the House in 1996 at age...

Charlie Ringo.(People & Politics)(Legislature's management of tax and land use issues)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... In Oregon, Senator Charlie Ringo says he is frustrated that the Legislature is not dealing with important tax and land use issues, so he has decided not to run again. Democrats took control of the Senate with an 18-12 majority in 2004 after...

The United Health Foundation ranked Mississippi the least healthy state in the nation in 2005.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... The United Health Foundation ranked Mississippi the least healthy state in the nation in 2005. So in January, the chairs of the House and Senate Public Health Committee stepped on digital scales in the rotunda and challenged each other to shape...

South Carolina lawmakers packed the House chamber in January for the unveiling of a portrait of former Speaker David Wilkins.(People & Politics)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... South Carolina lawmakers packed the House chamber in January for the unveiling of a portrait of former Speaker David Wilkins. Members gave Wilkins, the third longest serving speaker in the state's history and the first Republican speaker since...

The homeless among US.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... USA Today contacted 460 cities and counties that report their homeless population counts to the Department of House and Urban Development. Here are the l0 states with the largest number of homeless people, with each state's overall population...

A new twist on math and science education.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Nearly 55 universities around the nation are using a unique graduate degree to help students get interested in science and math professions. The Professional Science Masters (PSM) degree combines a solid grounding in math or science with...

Filling the time after school.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(after school programs in United States)
March 1, 2006... Support appears to outpace supply for after school programs, according to recent polls. There is widespread bipartisan support for organized learning activities during the after-school hours yet, according to one estimate, at least 14 million...

Troubling trends in infant health.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... The number of infants born preterm (less than 37 weeks) has increased more than 30 percent since 1981, according to new data from Research!America, a nonprofit alliance for health research. That means one in eight babies is born prematurely in...

The stem cell race is on.(TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS)(embryonic stem cell research)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... States have officially entered the arena of embryonic stem cell research. New Jersey is well under way in providing state funding for adult and embryonic stem cell research. In December, the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology...

Small but strong.(STATELINE)(liquor law of South Carolina )(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... South Carolina bars and restaurants no longer will be known for serving the nation's strongest drinks. The only state to require that bars and restaurants serve liquor from mini-bottles, it recently ended the practice. The law which ended the...

The universal language.(STATELINE)(driver's license exams only in English regualtion in Alabama)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... A state judge in Alabama soon will rule whether the state must give driver's license exams only in English. Currently, the state offers tests in 12 other languages, including Farsi, Thai and Arabic. According to Pro-English, an organization...

Legislative podcast.(STATELINE)(Washington's public affairs television network)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Washingtonians have enjoyed unedited, unfiltered coverage of their state government for the past 10 years, thanks to the state's public affairs television network. Now they can listen to it all when they want to. Television Washington provides...

A capitol idea.(STATELINE)(renovations on the state Capitol)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Nebraska taxpayers could save about $14 million by speeding up renovations on the state Capitol. Lawmakers will have to decide if they can find the extra money in the next few years to fund the quicker and cheaper plan. The current plan...

Crib control.(STATELINE)(regulations on day care centers' use of unsafe baby cribs)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... New this year in Minnesota is a requirement that day care centers perform safety checks and maintain documentation of the make and model for every crib used by children in their care. The legislation is designed to prevent the injury and...

A chestnut comeback.(STATELINE)(plans to increase commercial production and supp;y)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Researchers at the University of Missouri at Columbia's Center for Agroforestry are trying to bring back the American chestnut. Asian blight destroyed most of the country's millions of chestnut trees a century ago. Although the chestnut remains...

Prayer parameters.(STATELINE)(speaker of the Indiana. General Assembly. House's case of disparage )(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... A U.S. District Court in Indiana late last year issued a permanent injunction against the speaker of the House "barring him from permitting sectarian prayer as part of the official proceedings of the Indiana House of Representatives." The...

Drugs in schools.(STATELINE)(South Carolina's new regulation to allow school children to carry medicines)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... A new law in South Carolina allows school children who suffer from illnesses such as asthma and diabetes to carry and administer their own medicines. Until now, most school districts required that only school personnel, usually nurses, give...

Moon on in Maryland.(STATELINE)(indecent exposure regulation)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge in Maryland recently ruled that mooning, while distasteful, is not illegal. The judge acknowledged that the alleged act was "disgusting" and "demeaning" but did not constitute indecent exposure. The...

Pocket pariahs?(STATELINE)(regulations on pocket motorcycles)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... What's just 18 inches high, weighs about 50 lbs and is capable of traveling up to 70 m.p.h? The newest craze: the pocket bike. The tiny two-wheelers sound like an out-of-control weed whacker, and tens of thousands of them are hitting the...

Smart roads.(STATELINE)(intelligent transportation systems to control traffic congestion)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Commuters around the country are benefiting from the use of "intelligent transportation systems" that keep traffic moving through bottlenecks and advise drivers of less congested routes. Since 1980, the mileage vehicles have traveled on U.S....

Where on earth are sex offenders? States are using satellites to track dangerous sex offenders, many of whom become lost to registration systems.
March 1, 2006... Global Positioning Satellite technology, developed by the military in the 1960s, is now finding its way into everyday life, for convenience and safety. The U.S. Department of Defense calls the orbiting, solar powered satellites NAVSTAR. States...

Capturing DNA's crime fighting potential: DNA databases are expanding and solving many cold cases, but crime labs often lack the cold cash to fulfill their potential.(Cover Story)
March 1, 2006... A bedroom window left open on a warm summer night. A little girl sexually assaulted and beaten to death. It was a "cold case" suited for a TV drama, but unfortunately it was not fiction. The recently solved 1986 murder of an 11-year-old Fort...

Identifying the missing and the dead: as forensic DNA technology improves, new opportunities emerge to solve cases of missing persons and unidentified remains.
March 1, 2006... Just days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks turned the World Trade Center into a smoldering Ground Zero, the National Institute of Justice convened a panel of experts to develop a process for identifying thousands of victims using DNA collected...

Lose some, win some: the new federal spending plan contains bad news for states. But there's good news, too, especially in the Medicaid law.
March 1, 2006... It took Congress until Feb. 1 to finally pass a spending bill. And it is--in some ways-bad news for the states. Now they must figure out how to absorb some $10 billion over the next five years in child support enforcement, child welfare, child...

TANF rules tough on states; new federal changes in welfare rules put restrictions on state flexibility, but states have options to keep programs focused on their goals.(temporary assistance to needy families )
March 1, 2006... The federal government is changing the focus of TANF," says Michigan Senator Bill Hardiman. "They want it to be all about work participation rates of people on welfare rather than our own goals about helping parents leave welfare for work."...

A new role for coal.(J. Davitt McAteer's policies for mining industry)
March 1, 2006... For J. Davitt McAteer, the opening days of 2006 were hardly auspicious as he waited, along with the rest of the nation, to see whether or not a group of trapped miners in West Virginia could be saved. Fielding calls from dozens of...

State's Rx for Medicare gaps: some states have made long-term commitments to help their low-income citizens pay their out-of-pocket costs for Medicare Part D. For some it was a matter of life or death.
March 1, 2006... In January, elderly and disabled Americans, many on medications for numerous diseases, were being overcharged or turned away without their pills while pharmacies struggled to get the information they needed to help them. Some states took...

How to meet the press: knowing how to hold a good press conference can help you get your message out.(TOOLS OF THE TRADE)
March 1, 2006... Participating in or holding a press conference is an important tool for influencing media coverage and connecting to the public. It allows a legislator to present or argue viewpoints, announce important information and develop personal...

As they see it.(legislators' opinion )(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... "At a time when corporate America is considering restricting health care benefits for retirees, it is very appropriate for the legislature to do the same." --Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma to the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette on ending...