State Legislatures articles from September 2004

State Legislatures archives from September 2004

Fighting obesity in Texas.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... Editor: I read with great interest the article "Exercising Choices," by Jane Carroll Andrade in your July/August issue. I applaud the extensive level of research and writing on the topic of healthy lifestyles and junk food in schools. ...

Is taxpayer protection pledge a gimmick?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... Editor: I am a long time reader of State Legislatures and a fan of both the magazine and its publisher. I was surprised to see the full page ad for the Taxpayer Protection Pledge in the June 2004 issue. The Americans for Tax Reform have...

Taxing beer.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... Editor: "Taxing Behavior" from the June edition missed the point when it comes to beer taxes. Although the three states mentioned in the article did consider raising beer taxes, they did so in the context of larger budget issues, not...

Legislatures cost a bit more.(Correction)(Correction Notice)
September 1, 2004... The cost of running all state legislatures in 2002 was actually $9.81 per capita or 23 percent of budget, not the figures reported on page 7 of the July/August issue of the magazine. The numbers for the full-time, hybrid and part-time...

Reducing disparities in health care one community at a time.(Statestats)
September 1, 2004... The nation's 1,000 community health centers are outperforming the rest of the health care system by reaching and improving the health of a more diverse group of people. Of the nearly 12.4 million health center patients annually, about...

People & politics.(Trends And Transitions)
September 1, 2004... The North Carolina House, evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, had a "successful and historical" session, according to GOP Co-Speaker Richard Morgan. Democratic Co-Speaker Jim Black said, "Everyone predicted chaos and just that it...

Where do we come from?(Trends And Transitions)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... America has been labeled the world's melting pot--but where do we come from? The U.S. Census Bureau has some fascinating facts in its "Ancestry 2000" report. 500 The total number of ancestries reported by U.S. citizens in the "other"...

Oklahoma: death to meth.(Trends And Transitions)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... You won't be able to buy cold pills at the local convenience store in Oklahoma any time soon. The state has enacted the toughest law yet in an attempt to stem the methamphetamine epidemic. The law, signed by the governor in April, requires...

Arkansas law puts teeth in new oral health standards in schools.(Trends And Transitions)
September 1, 2004... If you live in Arkansas and are 65 or older, there is close to a one in three chance that you have lost all your natural teeth. Thirty percent of Arkansans in this age group have no teeth, according to a Centers for Disease Control and...

Putting the brakes on older drivers.(Trends And Transitions)
September 1, 2004... People over 65--the fastest growing segment of the population--are more likely to buckle up and less likely to drink and drive. Unfortunately, they also are more likely to die in a motor vehicle crash than a middle-aged person, according to...

Faxes get the ax.(Trends And Transitions)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Companies can't send unsolicited advertisements to a fax machine. It's outlawed under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 and Federal Communication Commission (FCC) rules. First, they must obtain express written consent. But...

Iowa legislature Ko's governor in court.(Trends And Transitions)
September 1, 2004... The Iowa General Assembly won a key victory in June when the state Supreme Court struck down the governor's attempt to expand his use of the item veto. Calling the governor's attempt a grave threat to the separation of powers, the court...

TGIF.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Cash-strapped rural school districts in at least 12 states are turning to four-day school weeks to save money and are finding results they hadn't predicted. Although closing the building one day a week can save on transportation, some hourly...

Quiet please.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Lawmakers in Delaware believe the public has had enough of so-called "boom cars" whose drivers blast loud music from their stereo systems, usually emphasizing the thumping bass sounds. They have approved a bill that would fine such motorists up...

E-government grows.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... More and more Americans are going online for state, local or federal information than ever before. But the old-fashioned telephone and face-to-face visits rank on top for many people seeking information from the government, according to a...

Resting in Iowa.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Drivers on Iowa's highways are among the first in the nation to be able to check their e-mail and surf the 'Net for free when they pull into a few select rest areas along Iowa interstates. Hoping to increase tourism and local spending, the new...

Hog hell.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Let's hear it for the hogs. They get beat up by dogs to the cheers of the crowds, and some in Louisiana don't think that's right. The House has passed a bill that would penalize participants in these rodeo-type spectator events where a dog...

Dog's delight.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Dogs are being used differently in a program in Ohio that matches homeless, often abused dogs with prison inmates. The Ohio Department of Corrections operates the Tender Loving Care Program in 30 of the state's 33 prisons and officials claim it...

Life and death.(Stateline)(in vitro children and inheritance law)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Can children produced by using frozen sperm or embryos after a parent has died claim an inheritance, life insurance or Social Security? That's a question some lawmakers are looking at as more sophisticated reproductive technology opens up a...

Protecting our elders.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Comprehensive sprinkler legislation was a high priority for the Tennessee General Assembly this year. After looking at more than a dozen bills, lawmakers passed three key ones that require all nursing homes to have full firesprinkler systems,...

Cold medicine high.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Kids are getting high legally these days. They're using cough and cold medicines with dextromethorphan (DXM) in it--legal products they can buy at the local drugstore. Kids are overdosing, and that can be very dangerous, even fatal. Legislation...

Billions of bottles.(Stateline)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... New research from California reports that more than 1.6 billion bottles a year--about half from bars and restaurants--are going to landfills, which means Californians are throwing away $70 million in redemption value annually. The redemption...

Sharing the harvest.(Stateline)(elderly to receive local produce coupons in Alabama)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Alabamans older than 60 who meet income requirements now can receive $20 in coupons redeemable for fresh, unprocessed Alabama grown vegetables, fruits and herbs, thanks to the Alabama Farmers' Market Authority. All 67 of the state's counties...

Litigation in education: for 50 years, courts have been deciding whether states are meeting their constitutional obligations to provide a free and adequate education.
September 1, 2004... An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic. Self-government is not possible unless the citizens are educated sufficiently to enable them to exercise oversight. It is therefore imperative that the nation...

Out of classroom experiences: teaching kids about our democracy is essential. Teachers and legislators are teaming up with great success.
September 1, 2004... High school teacher Tuck Gionet wants more than a tour of the state capitol for his government class. He wants seniors at Snohomish High School, Washington, to really know and experience what goes on inside the building. That's why he started...

Court report: states lose a few in this term's U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
September 1, 2004... Lawmakers in many states may soon need to take a close look at how criminals are sentenced in their state courts, thanks to a recent Supreme Court ruling that has upset the traditional rules for crime and punishment. Until this year, the...

California voters to get a swing at "three strikes": three strikes statute, Penal Code Section 667 (1994); Proposition 183, three strikes and you're out.(On Reconsideration)
September 1, 2004... THE ACT'S GOALS The intent of the Legislature and the voters, both of which passed "three strikes" sentencing law in 1994, was to close the revolving door that sends repeat offenders back onto the streets to commit more crimes. With...

The real race is in the states: the two parties are neck and neck in the states, with near parity in legislative seats. But control could change in as many as 19 chambers.
September 1, 2004... With so much media attention focused on the dead-even race for the White House, many Americans might overlook the intriguing and unpredictable war for political dominance in state capitals, and that's too bad. Democrats and Republicans...

2004 ballot measures: everything but the kitchen sink: there's a host of initiatives and referenda on the ballot this year, but nothing like the highs of the mid-'90s.
September 1, 2004... The list of measures to go before voters this fall won't finally shape up until later this month, but so far at least 41 citizen-initiated measures and 57 legislative referenda have qualified for the ballot. At least 18 additional initiative...

Power in the wrong hands: devices for changing a red light to green are great for officials responding to an emergency. But now the technology is available to anyone with $1,500.
September 1, 2004... To any motorist who has ever been stuck at a red light, it may seem like the perfect dream. You pull up to the intersection, you hit a magic button, the light turns green, and you go on your way. No traffic backups, no long frustrating waits,...

How to talk to kids: there's nothing like a classroom visit from a lawmaker to bring the legislative process to life. Here are five ideas for activities that work.(Tools Of The Trade)
September 1, 2004... With schools back in session, it's time to think about reaching out to your young constituents. Meeting personally with students, answering their questions, sharing ideas and listening to concerns can impart a greater understanding of the...

Forests: better green than black: protecting our forests from wildfires has become a national priority.
September 1, 2004... Hayman... Cerro Grande... Rodeo-Chediski... as these fires raged across the intermountain West the last couple of years, the issue of forest management catapulted into the national spotlight. As thousands of firefighters battled blazes in...

As they see it.
September 1, 2004... "It's like saying it's going to be cold this winter in Alaska." --Representative Ed Mahern in the Indianapolis Star after an NCSL report released during the Annual Meeting named the Indiana House as one of the top 10 legislative...