State Legislatures articles from May 2005

State Legislatures archives from May 2005

Pat Wunnicke: one of a kind editor and friend.(TRIBUTE)(Obituary)
May 1, 2005... Pat Wunnicke never would have allowed a cliche like "one of a kind" on the pages of the magazine she edited for two decades. But Pat, an assistant editor of State Legislatures magazine, was exactly that. A banker's daughter from Kansas who...

Zoning in on distressed communities.(STATESTATS)
May 1, 2005... Enterprise zones, one of the most popular programs designed to improve the economies of distressed communities, came to America from the United Kingdom in 1981. Businesses locating or expanding in poor areas are offered a variety of incentives...

The first woman elected to the Nebraska Legislature has died at the age of 78.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
May 1, 2005... The first woman elected to the Nebraska Legislature has died at the age of 78. Kathleen "Pat" Foote, ran for the Legislature in 1954 when she was a 27-year-old farm wife with a degree in political science from Stanford University. She spent $81...

The Virginia House of Delegates bid farewell to three of its respected members three days before adjourning in February.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The Virginia House of Delegates bid farewell to three of its respected members three days before adjourning in February. Seventy-one-year-old James H. Dillard, a former teacher who has served 32 years in the House, announced he will not seek...

Mississippi representative Charlie Capps Jr., whose legislative career spanned four decades, is leaving the Legislature June 30.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Mississippi Representative Charlie Capps Jr., whose legislative career spanned four decades, is leaving the Legislature June 30. Capps, 80, was elected in 1971 and served as chair of the House Appropriations Committee for 16 years. A former...

A bill requiring Georgia voters to show a photo identification before casting a ballot stirred up controversy and threats of censure in the state House.(People and Politics)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... A bill requiring Georgia voters to show a photo identification before casting a ballot stirred up controversy and threats of censure in the state House. Speaker Glenn Richardson tried to gavel Representative Alisha Thomas Morgan into silence...

Indiana House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer underwent colon surgery in March and has returned to the Legislature.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Indiana House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer underwent colon surgery in March and has returned to the Legislature. "During the time I have been away, I have been in constant communication with the House Democratic leadership team in order to...

Senator Barbara Allen of Kansas has been diagnosed with breast cancer.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Senator Barbara Allen of Kansas has been diagnosed with breast cancer. "My prognosis is excellent and I look forward to a full recovery," she said. Allen, in her second term in the Senate, is chair of the Assessment and Taxation Committee. She...

Arizona Representative David Burnell Smith has been ordered to leave office for overspending public campaign limits by more that $6,000 by the state's Citizens Clean Elections Commission.(People & Politics)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Arizona Representative David Burnell Smith has been ordered to leave office for overspending public campaign limits by more that $6,000 by the state's Citizens Clean Elections Commission. The unanimous vote reportedly marks the first time a...

Wyoming representatives get "Ambushed".(TRENDS & TRANSITIONS)(Brief Article)(Poem)
May 1, 2005... Wyoming House Doorman Keith Rounds is also a cowboy poet. The maneuvering of lobbyists outside the House doors were too much for him to ignore. His poem about the situation now hangs on the lobby wall. AMBUSH ALLEY The lobby has to...

Michigan targets online tobacco taxes.(TRENDS & TRANSITIONS)
May 1, 2005... The Michigan Department of Treasury is demanding that 500 Michigan residents who have purchased untaxed cigarettes from Internet-based companies pay up. Under Michigan's Tobacco Product Tax Act, it is illegal to purchase cigarettes over the...

Getting rid of plastic.(TRENDS & TRANSITIONS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Americans discarded some 1.4 million tons of plastic products containing polyvinyl chloride in 2001. More than two-thirds of it was plastic bottles and wrap that disintegrate quickly. Environmentalists are worried that PVC plastic thrown in...

A foreign concern.(TRENDS & TRANSITIONS)(legislating pension funds)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... New Jersey Assemblyman William D. Payne has sponsored legislation that would require the state's Treasury Department to divest state-administered pension fund investments from companies doing business in and with oil-rich Sudan. His...

Junk fax farewell.(TRENDS & TRANSITIONS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Junk mail, fax-style, can get you in trouble. The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (47 U.S.C. [section] 227) gives citizens the right to sue to stop future faxes, to recover monetary damages up to $500 for each unwanted fax, or...

Rural population exodus.(TRENDS & TRANSITIONS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... America is a country on the move--mostly out of the countryside. The majority of rural counties have been losing population, according to the Census Bureau. Only a few saw gains and these are areas with natural amenities, like mountains, or...

No pet picnics.(STATELINE)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Killing, selling or buying any dog or cat for food would be a felony under a bill being considered by the Hawai'i House Judiciary committee. Some believe that the use of dog meat is a thriving business in the state. They fought to have all dogs...

Combating cyber rape.(STATELINE)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... New Jersey now prohibits "cyber rape," an electronic attempt to lure or entice a person with the intent to commit a crime, sexual or not. The law came about as a result of an incident in which a woman discovered that one of her in-laws had used...

Cell phone contraband.(STATELINE)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Prison officials in Arkansas see the spread of cell phones in prisons as a growing threat to security, especially aiding in escape plans. So lawmakers there have made furnishing a cell phone to a prisoner a Class B felony. State law already...

Family friendly session.(STATELINE)(Georgia legislature welcome families)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... To welcome Georgian families to the Legislature, lawmakers held the first ever "family-friendly" legislative session on a Saturday in March. "Most Georgians work during the week and don't get an opportunity to see their legislators at work,"...

A question of marriage.(STATELINE)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Ohio's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage may have some unintended consequences. Several public defenders have used the law to argue that clients accused of domestic violence against unwed partners cannot be prosecuted because...

Teen donors.(STATELINE)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Maryland is looking at lowering the age requirement of possible bone marrow donors thanks to a group of persistent students from Oakland Mills High School. They were inspired by an article in Reader's Digest about a teen in Washington state...

Daylight delight.(STATELINE)
May 1, 2005... Indiana is once again considering joining most of the country in observing Daylight Savings Time throughout the entire state. At least 24 attempts over the past three decades to change state law have failed. Currently, 77 of the state's 92...

Tribal help with drug costs.(STATELINE)
May 1, 2005... Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, in what he calls a "last-case option," is looking at seeking the help of Indian tribes in importing low-cost medicine from Canada if a federal ban is imposed on mail-order pharmaceuticals. The same legal...

Whoooo? Voles?(STATELINE)
May 1, 2005... It's an invasion of historic proportions. It's unprecedented. An irruption. And it's all because of the voles--or lack thereof. Owls--great gray, hawk, boreal--are invading Minnesota, Wisconsin and upper Michigan by the thousands looking for...

Back and forth in Kansas.(STATELINE)(pendulum in state legislature building)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Did you know that the Kansas Capitol was once home to the world's tallest pendulum? In 1945, Dr. George W. Davis hung a lead weight from the inner dome of the Capitol. At 9 a.m. each morning, Custodian L.D. Robinson would start the pendulum...

Goodbye games.(STATELINE)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Sometimes it fills a moment of boredom. Other times it might give inspiration. Yet again it might just be a nice break from a tense assignment. Doesn't matter. If a bill in the legislature passes, state employees in North Carolina will no...

Deficit doldrums.(STATELINE)
May 1, 2005... As Congress and the administration try to reign in a growing federal deficit, states are increasingly being forced to cover the costs of federally mandated programs. NCSL has identified at least $30 billion in federal unfunded mandates and cost...

The meth menace: battling the fast-paced spread of methamphetamine may mean attacking it from several fronts.
May 1, 2005... For Jim Atkins, addiction to methamphetamine was not an overnight thing. "It really snuck up on me," he says. Working as a bouncer in a rock 'n' roll bar in San Antonio, Atkins needed something that would give him an extra lift for the...

States wrangle with corrections budgets: criminal justice budgets challenge states as costs and inmate populations increase.
May 1, 2005... Prisons are overcrowded, understaffed and aging. Add to that the rising costs of health care for prisoners, and it's no wonder that states are spending more and more on corrections. California's 15.8 percent increase is way above average...

Adversaries always: legislators and reporters see their own as ethical. But neither profession thinks too highly of the morals of the other.
May 1, 2005... Why didn't the legislature pass the budget on time?" 1. Because democracy is a messy process. We all hold our values dearly and want what's best for our constituents." 2. Because we spent too much time bickering and being stubborn...

Revolution in evolution? The evolution vs. creationism controversy continues to influence public school curriculum.
May 1, 2005... Forty-five percent of Americans believe that God created human beings, close to their present day form, approximately 10,000 years ago. A third of Americans believe that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is a well-supported scientific...

Assisted living: a regulation dilemma: improving assisted living is no easy job, lawmakers have to look at quality, economy and affordability.
May 1, 2005... Part care, part housing, assisted living can range from a modest boarding house to an elegant residential hotel. And in an effort to relieve hard strapped budgets, states are looking to the care component, trying to shift Medicaid money from...

Getting a grip on VoIP: Internet phone service technology is so new and changing so fast, no one knows how to regulate it--or even if they should.(Voice over Internet Protocol)
May 1, 2005... Some states worry they will be cut off from regulating or taxing the next generation of phone calls as more people turn to the Internet for their local and long-distance conversations. Using the Internet to make phone calls may sound...

Pass the peas please: buying locally grown produce for use in state park restaurants makes just about everyone happy.(Greenbo Lake State Resort, Kentucky)
May 1, 2005... Visitors at the Greenbo Lake State Resort in Kentucky get more than pizza, hotdogs and nachos when they visit the dining room in the Jesse Stuart Lodge. Instead, they find just-picked tomatoes on the salad bar and pies made fresh with homegrown...

How to syndicate your Web site: new technology makes it really simple to let interested constituents know when you have something new on your Web site. And it only takes five minutes to get started.(TOOLS OF THE TRADE)(Really Simple Syndication)
May 1, 2005... A new technology that has incredible potential for legislators is taking the World Wide Web by storm. RSS technology-or Really Simple Syndication--allows you to "push" the latest information about legislative activity, campaign events or...

As they see it.
May 1, 2005... "The White House should accept the olive branch extended by the National Conference of State Legislatures and work with states to make the No Child Left Behind Act more flexible." --An editorial in the Miami Herald after NCSL's No ChiLd...