State News articles from February 2006

State News archives from February 2006

Florida education cashes in on slot machines.(toolbox)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Gov. Jeb Bush recently signed into law a slot-machine bill that expands Florida's gambling laws to allow the machines in four venues. The law, which broadens Florida's Lottery, introduces a new form of revenue for state education. Proceeds...

Southern states offer incentives for teachers.(toolbox)
February 1, 2006... Several states in the South are offering incentives for teachers, including bonuses and housing, according to the Southern Regional Education Board. A new Georgia law makes teachers who receive certification through the National Board of...

States address needs of uninsured.(state sources)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Thirty percent of 18- to 24-year-olds lacked health insurance coverage in 2003, and that age group is the nation's fastest-growing uninsured population, according to December's Health, United States 2005 report by the National Center for Health...

Youth substance abuse survey.(state sources)
February 1, 2006... Use of illicit drugs among eighth, 10th and 12th graders has declined by 19 percent since 2001, but high rates of abuse of prescription medications alarm experts. Since 1975, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has measured drug, alcohol...

New TANF requirements place burden on states.(state sources)(Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... According to a recent report from the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), states will absorb the high costs of new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) regulations. The 2006 federal budget conference agreement, which passed...

Persons without Health Insurance Coverage by state: United States, annual average 1995-97, 1998-2000, and 2001-03.(state snapshot)
February 1, 2006... state snapshots Persons Without Health Insurance Coverage by State: United States, Annual Average 1995-97, 1998-2000, and 2001-03 (Data are based on household interviews of a sample of the civilian noninstitutionalized population)...

Regional solutions to homeland security: regional approaches to public safety help safety providers share responsibilities and resources, improve operations and meet future demands.
February 1, 2006... One year after responding to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the Pentagon, local and state law enforcement and public safety officials from the National Capital Region found themselves involved in another unprecedented emergency...

States push taxpayers to file online: the books are barely closed on 2005, but state revenue officials are already trying to entice more taxpayers to file '05 state income tax returns electronically.(http://www)
February 1, 2006... In Illinois, where recent increases in electronic state personal income tax filings mimic a national trend, slightly less than half of returns were filed by computer last year. But officials are optimistic that a majority will be filed via the...

States crosswise with crossing rules: states and provinces concerned about economic impact of proposed passport requirements for crossing U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico.
February 1, 2006... Northeastern state and Canadian Provincial officials are concerned: a rule requiring anyone entering or re-entering the United States to present a passport could wreak havoc at the U.S.-Canada border. Elected officials on both sides of the...

Passport plan poses threat beyond border states: the Canadian Tourism Commission estimates the proposed passport requirement would result in a $667 million loss to the U.S. tourism industry.(Cover story)
February 1, 2006... Many Americans may be wondering what all the fuss is about in border communities from Maine to Alaska regarding Washington's proposal to require passports for travel between the U.S. and Canada. Those of us who live and work along the Canadian...

Balancing border security and economic viability: state and provincial governments want border security that does not impede trade and tourism.
February 1, 2006... The Canada-United States border relationship is a special one. Each day, more than 300,000 business-people, tourists and commuters travel between the two countries. The value of goods crossing the border is more than $1 billion a day. ...

Mexico border: legislators suggest alternatives.
February 1, 2006... For the past year, stakeholders along the U.S.-Mexico border have grappled with the possible impacts the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) will have on cross border commerce and tourism. The U.S. Departments of State and of...

EMAC responds while demands grow: the Emergency Management Assistance Compact met greater demands in 2005 while improving response levels.
February 1, 2006... In early January 2005,Arizona was hit by a brutal winter storm that dumped record-breaking amounts of precipitation on communities across the state's northern and central regions. The city of Flagstaff alone received 35 inches of snow over...

APPA training programs honored.(csg spotlight; American Probation and Parole Association )(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... The American Probation and Parole Association (APPA), an affiliate member of the Council of State Governments, has been named to the 2006 Associations Advance America Honor Roll, a national awards competition sponsored by the American Society...

Colorado Sen. Ron Teck elected chair of CSG-WEST.(csg spotlight)
February 1, 2006... Colorado Sen. Ron Teck has assumed the top leadership position of The Council of State Governments-WEST. Teck was elected by the CSG-WEST Executive Committee on Sept. 14, 2005, and took office on Nov. 18. The CSG-WEST Executive Committee...

MLC panel meets with U.S. and Canadian officials.(csg spotlight; Midwestern Legislative Conference )(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Leaders of the MLC's Midwest-Canada Relations Committee met with Canadian and U.S. officials during a December trip to Ottawa. The visit to Canada's capital city was highlighted by discussions on key bi-national issues, including border...

Doris Kearns Goodwin will speak at MLC meeting.(csg spotlight; Midwestern Legislative Conference)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin will share her insights into the leadership brilliance of Abraham Lincoln at the 61st Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Legislative Conference. Her appearance highlights next year's...

Correction.(csg spotlight)(Correction notice)
February 1, 2006... The legislative maps featured in the January 2006 issue of State News magazine incorrectly represented Washington. The maps below are correct. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

CSG assists Rhode Island policymakers with developing policy options to avert future growth in the prison population.(csg spotlight; Council of State Governments)
February 1, 2006... A bipartisan group of Rhode Island policymakers--including Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Paiva-Weed, and House Finance Chairman Steven M. Costantino--is working together to address the state's rising prison...

conference calendar.(Council of State Governments)(Calendar)
February 1, 2006... This calendar lists meetings as designated by CSG's Annual Meeting Committee. For details of a meeting, call the number listed. "CSG/" denotes affiliate organizations of CSG. Visit www.csg.org for updates and more extensive listings. Other...

Timeline.(Chronology)
February 1, 2006... Although the federal government tends to get more attention, state officials are often on the front lines of cutting-edge trends and issues. On the other hand, sometimes in the community of state governments, the more things change, the more...

The great debate: the high cost of Medicaid puts it in the eye of a storm.(Pew Center on the States Special Report)
February 1, 2006... Medicaid officials celebrated the program's 40th anniversary in July, although the occasion didn't feel much like a birthday party. With the federal government drowning in debt and states just emerging from a service-choking recession, the...

The challenge of change: Medicaid's relentless growth is its weakness--and its strength.(Pew Center on the States Special Report)
February 1, 2006... Medicaid is one of the sick old men of social policy--worrying about how expensive things are getting while complaining about its aches and pains. Forty years of providing health care for the disabled, poor and elderly, and what does it get?...

Medicaid's third rail: long-term care is shockingly expensive and politically hot to handle.(The States at Work--A report on reforms being road-tested in the states)
February 1, 2006... "This is the biggest of the big issues in Medicaid," says James Tallon. The chairman of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured is referring to long-term care and all the issues, both fiscal and medical, that revolve around...

The Rx factor: states have put the brakes on prescription drug costs, but Medicare may be their undoing.(The States at Work--A report on reforms being road-tested in the states)
February 1, 2006... It was nothing to catch a Medicaid director's eye: In 1990, prescription drugs ran up a Medicaid bill of $4.4 billion--5 percent of the program's overall expenditures. Bells were in full alarm by 2003: The tab had climbed to $26.6...

The great eHealth hope: technology could be a painless cost cutter for the future, but who is willing to pay for it today?(The States at Work--A report on reforms being road-tested in the states)
February 1, 2006... An unhappy patient who speaks little English steps into a public health clinic mumbling about dizziness, nausea, diabetes and Medicaid. He shows the intake nurse a handful of different pills and a Medicaid card, then sits for hours in the...

Something of value: will cost sharing make medical patient better health care consumers or sicker ones?(The States at Work: A report on reforms being road-test in the states)
February 1, 2006... Medicaid has long been wary of asking beneficiaries to share the costs of their care. For most recipients, the program has not permitted premiums or anything beyond very minimal co-payments for a limited number of services. But that's likely to...

Tools to live by: improved management is one way to stretch Medicaid dollars and improve quality of care.(The States at Work: A report on reforms being road-test in the states)
February 1, 2006... "The old model for Medicaid programs was we were bill payers, but there has been a renewed call for better management," says Doug Porter, assistant secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services in Washington State. Today, he says,...

Trading places: moving the working poor out of Medicaid and into private health coverage is a slow go.(The States at Work--A report on reforms being road-tested in the states)
February 1, 2006... Few proposed solutions to the Medicaid conundrum seem more intuitively simple than shifting beneficiaries--notably those who hold down jobs--to employer-sponsored insurance. For the mere price of a premium, the responsibility for a whole family...

The radical reformers: moving forward with an untested approach.(The States at Work--A report on reforms being road-tested in the states; Medicaid)
February 1, 2006... Many of the ideas for controlling Medicaid costs are aimed at saving significant sums of money without changing the fundamental nature of the program. One concept is different. It upends the bedrock principle that low-income patients have an...