Missouri lawmakers save biggest issues for last
Missouri’s Republican-led legislature avoided a special session this year by approving two of Republican Gov. Matt Blunt’s top priorities — a tough new immigration statute and property tax relief — on the last day of the session.
The General Assembly also passed a slew of anti-crime laws, cracking down on corrupt home mortgage companies, metal thieves, methamphetamine makers, Internet stalkers, sex offenders, drunken boaters and drivers with multiple drunken driving violations.
Legislators also approved the governor’s "Show-Me Green" tax holiday, eliminating state sales tax on certified energy-efficient home appliances and voted to allow telephone companies to offer video services in competition with cable companies.
In health care, lawmakers failed to reach agreement on the governor’s ambitious proposal to cover many of the state’s 700,000 uninsured, but approved funding for a statewide autism support program and established a network of cardiac emergency centers.
The new immigration law — which takes effect Jan. 1, 2009 — sets punishments for employers who hire illegal immigrants, levies penalties for anyone using fraudulent methods to help an illegal immigrant obtain a driver’s license and calls for citizenship checks prior to incarceration. It also prohibits so-called sanctuary cities that would hinder law enforcement efforts, outlaws transporting an illegal immigrant for work and eliminates welfare benefits for anyone who cannot prove legal citizenship.
Missouri’s property tax relief statute calls on tax jurisdictions to roll back their tax rates to counteract spiraling reassessment values. The law also helps homeowners struggling to pay tax bills by expanding an existing tax credit for senior and the disabled.
Conservative lawmakers failed in their attempts to pass two controversial measures: A package of tough new abortion laws, including one that would require doctors to show ultrasound images to all women considering abortion; and a constitutional amendment that would require proof of citizenship before registering to vote.
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Nebraska enacts "safe-haven" law that it will revise in 2009
Nebraska this year became the last state in the nation to pass a so-called “safe haven” law designed to protect unwanted infants by allowing parents to legally surrender them at a hospital, but state officials have already vowed to switch direction in 2009.
The law, which took effect July 18, was thrust into the national spotlight, because unlike any other state’s, it allowed parents to give up a minor of any age — possibly an unruly teenager — instead of just infants. The result was that parents abandoned 19 children to the state, including teenagers and children from other states.
“This law has had serious, unintended consequences,” Gov. Dave Heineman (R) said in an Oct. 20 statement. The governor and statehouse leaders agreed to amend Nebraska’s safe haven law to apply only to infants up to three days old.
The nation’s only non-partisan unicameral Legislature also marked its 100th session by passing measures to boost transportation funding, trim public school spending and ban smoking in bars and restaurants.
The session, ending April 17, was the last for 15 senators — out of 49 — who are term-limited and cannot seek re-election in November. That includes Ernie Chambers, the Senate’s only African-American lawmaker, who served 38 years.
Lawmakers overrode Gov. Dave Heineman’s (R) veto and raised the state’s gasoline tax by 1.2 cents. On other transportation issues, the Legislature approved using $15 million from the state’s case reserves over three years to qualify for another $75 million in federal transportation earmarks, and people convicted of driving under the influence will have to use ignition interlock devices — in-car breathalyzers that won’t start vehicles if the drivers have been drinking.
Lawmakers changed the public school funding formula, ending a lawsuit from the Omaha public school system. The new formula will give more money to schools with a high percentage of disadvantaged students. The growth of education spending also will slow to 9 percent, from 17.5 percent, in the next fiscal year.
The governor’s proposal to nearly double a property tax credit died as lawmakers had a nearly $60 million budget gap to close.
Lawmakers rejected a proposed ban on all stem cell research in favor of a bill that restricts use of state dollars to destroy a human embryo for cloning and research. However, the University of Nebraska Medical Center can continue to use cell lines in existence before 2001 from other sources for research.
On election issues, people who circulate statewide petitions will have to be paid by the hour, rather than by the signature, and they will have to be at least 18 and live in Nebraska under a new law.
The Nebraska Fair will be held in Grand Island in two years and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will turn State Fair Park into a research-oriented industrial park under a new law.
The Senate also voted to override Heineman’s veto of a bill requiring towns of more than 1,000 to fluoridate their drinking water to prevent tooth decay.
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Nevada special session trims budget
Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons (R) called a one-day special session June 27 to cut $275 million from the two-year budget that took effect July 1, as the Silver State continued to struggle with a revenue shortfall that already has forced more than $1 billion in spending cuts this year alone.
Lawmakers trimmed $48 million from the fund that pays for textbooks and other school supplies and $50 million from the road and highway fund. Legislators also dipped into the state’s rainy-day fund to help cover much of the rest of the deficit. Gibbons has steadfastly refused tax increases, and lawmakers heeded his wish during the special session, focusing on cuts instead.
Gibbons said in October that another special session could be called to make even more cuts.
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New Hampshire OKs borrowing, raising taxes
The Democrat-controlled Legislature gave Gov. John Lynch (D) the green light to borrow from bonds if the state runs into a deficit, but only after lawmakers debated until after midnight behind locked doors so that Republicans couldn’t walk out.
The state ended the fiscal year in the black, but the bonding measure will allow the governor to tap into up to $80 million in bonds if the economic downturn deepens.
It was the first time “in a very long time” that Democrats used such dramatic measures, says Dennis Delay, deputy director at the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies. Democrats won both the governorship and control of the statehouse in the 2006 elections, the first time since just after the Civil War that the party had control of state government.
The state fiscal condition, education and state employees’ pensions dominated the session that adjourned June 4. Lawmakers, however, will likely come back to consider Lynch’s veto of a bill that would have created a commission to study whether to impose new taxes on alternative fuel and electric-powered motor vehicles, with the revenue going toward repairing highways and bridges.
On the fiscal front, lawmakers also approved a 25-cent-per-pack increase in the state’s current $1.08 cigarette tax, but the law was written so that the hike would go into effect only if the state got less than $50 million from the cigarette tax by Oct. 1. Revenue fell short of that amount, and the tax went up Oct. 15.
New Hampshire, which has neither a personal income nor state sales tax, now has a tax on Texas Hold 'Em and other poker games run by charities under a new law. A 3 percent tax would apply in tournaments if the playing chips have no monetary value. A 10 percent tax would apply if the chips have a monetary value. New Hampshire does not have casinos or slots at racetracks.
Lynch also issued executive orders to freeze state hiring and state purchasing on all but essential equipment and commodities.
After years of debate and court wrangling over school funding, lawmakers agreed on a formula that decides how much state money local schools will get. The governor allowed the measure to go into law without his signature. Lynch, who is up for re-election this year, had pushed for a constitutional amendment on school funding, but the House defeated that.
To shore up the state employee pension system, lawmakers moved $250 million from an account for cost-of-living increases into the main pension fund. Without the shift, contributions from state and local governments would have increased more than 50 percent in 2010.
The state also stiffened penalties for child pornography, set a 36 percent interest rate cap on all payday loans and approved a 10-year transportation plan.
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New Jersey makes 'painful' adjustments
A nearly $3 billion budget shortfall cast a pall over Trenton in the first six months of 2008, with lawmakers making deep cuts across state government to balance the books before Gov. Jon Corzine (D) signed what he called a “painful” budget on June 30, a day before the new fiscal year began.
The $32.9 billion spending plan cuts the operating budget of every state department by an average of 5 percent, reduces the state workforce by an estimated 3,000 employees, completely eliminates two state agencies, makes deep cuts to hospitals and municipalities and takes away hundreds of millions of dollars in property-tax rebates for some homeowners.
And that was before the financial meltdown hit Wall Street.
In the weeks after the near collapse of the U.S. financial system, Corzine warned that even deeper cuts to state agencies could be coming, as state tax revenue forecasts worsened amid the crisis. But the governor stopped short of ordering any cuts until the full effects of the Wall Street breakdown — such as the layoffs of thousands of financial services workers who live in New Jersey — could be assessed.
Despite the budget mess, Corzine hailed this year’s spending plan as responsible and a “turning point” in New Jersey’s finance, noting that it devotes $650 million to paying down the state debt. But that debt is huge — an estimated $32 billion — and leaves the General Assembly with much work to do. In addition, lawmakers approved borrowing an additional $3.9 billion to fund school construction, primarily in poorer districts.
Lawmakers approved the first phase of a plan to usher in universal health insurance in the state by 2011 by requiring all children to be covered and expanding an existing program, NJ FamilyCare, to include more poor families. An estimated 1.5 million state residents have no health insurance.
Another high-profile health initiative — paid family leave for workers — also won approval despite considerable opposition from business owners. The new law, among the first of its kind in the nation, requires New Jersey employers to give workers up to six weeks a year of paid leave to care for family members.
After initially failing to win support for a dramatic toll hike to fund transportation improvements, Corzine in October agreed to a sharply scaled-back version of the plan that will see fees on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway rise in December and again in 2012.
Among high-profile bills to become law, horseshoe crabs can no longer be harvested to help an endangered shorebird, the red knot, which depends on the crabs’ eggs to survive, and casinos and racetracks can stay open even if state government shuts down during a budget crisis. In 2006, casinos across the state went dark when the General Assembly was late in approving a budget.
—John Gramlich
New Mexico lawmakers reject gov's health care proposal
2008 did not start well for Gov. Bill Richardson (D). He withdrew from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination and returned home to endure what he called the least productive legislative session since he was elected in 2002.
When the session began in January, Richardson said the state’s top priority should be extending health care coverage to all New Mexico residents. "Some may say we cannot afford to take on this task in a 30-day session," Richardson told lawmakers. "I ask — how can we afford not to?
But the short length of the session did not help. Neither did Richardson’s presidential campaign, because he was not in the state much last year to lay the groundwork for such an ambitious plan.
"Some of the legislators thought it was a little too much too fast," said Brian Sanderoff, president of Research and Polling Inc., an independent polling firm in Albuquerque. "I don’t know of any state that could easily pass such legislation without significant debate, discussion and preparatory work."
The House voted to create a panel to study how to cover uninsured residents, but the Senate did not consider it. Lately, Richardson said he would "definitely" call a special session in August or September to take up the health care plan again.
Lawmakers also rejected the governor’s proposals to provide same-sex couples with some of the legal benefits that married couples have, to create a regional transit district for new and existing commuter rail lines, to approve money for embryonic stem cell research and to launch an ethics commission as part of a campaign finance reform initiative.
But there were some successes. Legislators approved a bill calling for tougher sentencing of repeat domestic violence offenders. They also approved a proposal made by Richardson, a former U.S. secretary of energy, to direct the state’s electric and natural gas utilities to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent by 2020.
Unlike many other states coping with budget troubles this year, New Mexico has largely been spared. Although some tax collections are down compared to last year, they have been offset by an increase in revenues from crude oil and natural gas production. The state maintains sizable cash reserves should it run into trouble.
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New York's Paterson makes own mark after Spitzer
New York was rocked first this year by the sudden resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer in a call girl scandal and more recently by the turmoil on Wall Street that is punching a whopping hole in the state budget.
Gov. David Paterson (D), who took office in March, figures the state will lose $1 billion in tax revenue from capital gains and bonuses paid to Wall Street workers. He has called lawmakers back to Albany Nov. 18 to cut an additional $1 billion from the current budget.
with the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers and the federal takeover of giant insurer American International Group, Paterson was already warning voters that the downturn on Wall Street was having a “devastating” impact on state finances.
A booming stock market is good for the state because it translates into higher corporate profits and hefty bonuses for investment bankers, with the state getting a cut. In good times, Wall Street can account for up to 20 percent of New York’s revenue.
Paterson has brought a sense of urgency to trim spending and a more conciliatory tone to Albany since taking over for the more volatile Spitzer although Paterson did get in hot water for comparing some state legislators to “bloodsuckers” for cutting programs for the needy.
Within a few months of taking office, Paterson saw the state deficit climb by $1.4 billion to $6.4 billion. The governor called lawmakers back to Albany to cut a $1 billion in spending during an Aug. 19 special session. The August deal included cuts in state funding to hospitals, local assistance programs and the City University of New York.
Spitzer’s resignation came just two weeks before the new state budget was due April 1.
To balance its books, New York hiked the state tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1.25 to $2.75 a pack, making it the highest in the country. The state also became the first to require online retailers like Amazon that do not have a physical presence in New York to collect sales taxes on purchases New Yorkers make and remit them to the state. The state figures to collect $50 million from the new requirement.
As part of the budget, lawmakers pushed through a Spitzer proposal to use state money to cover nearly 400,000 additional children through the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program after the Bush administration last year said they were ineligible because their families earned too much. However, that plan could be pared back as lawmakers struggle to balance the books.
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Republican who battled with Spitzer, announced at the end of June that he would not seek another term. The state Senate elected Republican Dean Skelos for that Senate post.
Paterson shocked Albany with his disclosures of marital infidelity and illegal drug use in college, but he appears to be riding out those storms. Voters there approve 64 percent to 14 percent of the job Paterson is doing, his highest mark so far, and believe 54 percent to 22 percent that he has the leadership ability to solve the state's budget problems, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released in August
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North Carolina debates few controversial issues
In this year’s 10-week long “short session” — which takes place in even years — the General Assembly cracked down on sex offenders and gangs, gave the governor more power to deal with the state’s drought and allocated money to mental health reform.
The General Assembly’s most significant action was passing a $21.4 billion budget that didn’t include any new taxes and had a small spending increase. The budget included money for some of outgoing Democratic Gov. Mike Easley’s education initiatives, such as the More at Four pre-kindergarten program, another program to stem high school dropouts, and Learn and Earn, in which students attend high school for five years and receive both a diploma and college-level associate’s degree upon graduation.
The General Assembly also passed a $20 million package for mental health initiatives in response to an investigative series by The (Raleigh) News & Observer that highlighted flaws in the mental health system. The money will go to crisis clinics, mobile crisis teams to help communities and increase beds at local hospitals.
Lawmakers cracked down on sex offenders with two bills: one requires a minimum 25-year jail sentence for people who commit certain sex crimes against children, and the other bars sex offenders from Internet social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. They also passed tougher penalties against those involved in gang activity.
The governor received more power to respond to the drought that has plagued the state since last year; for example, he can now require counties to come up with a drought plan. Historically, local jurisdictions could oversee water management as they saw fit. “It’s the first time the governor has had any significant authority to deal with water policy other than what he did this year: go on TV and make public service announcements about conserving water,” said Ran Coble, the director of the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research.
The session also included the state’s first override of a gubernatorial veto. North Carolina governors only gained the right to veto in 1997. Easley’s previous seven vetoes stood, but his veto this session of a bill to allow wider boats to be towed on the state’s highways failed.
Lawmakers couldn’t agree on more controversial bills, however, including how to shore up state employees’ health insurance; Senate Democrats wanted to raise employees’ co-payments, while House Democrats wanted to tap an emergency fund. Republicans wanted Easley to cut spending by 1 percent.
Another bill that got nowhere would have allowed death penalty defendants to challenge their sentences by using statistics that show race is a factor in how the death penalty is applied.
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Ohio wrestles with budget cuts, forces out AG
Budget cuts and a scandal that led to the resignation of Attorney General Marc Dann (D) loomed large over the work of Ohio state lawmakers this year, but the legislators did agree to a $1.57 billion package to stimulate the state’s flagging economy.
First-term Gov. Ted Strickland (D) enacted two rounds of cuts for the state’s two-year budget, curbing state spending by $1.27 billion. Strickland imposed 4.75 percent across-the-board cuts to most state agencies, shuttered two state mental health facilities and reduced the state’s workforce by 2,000.
Strickland also spearheaded an effort to force Dann from office, in the wake of a scandal that started with sexual harassment accusations against top aides in his office and later revealed Dann had an extramarital affair.
The governor and other Democratic statewide officials, who swept into power in 2006 following scandals that tarnished Republicans’ image in Ohio, held a press conference urging Dann to step down. Later 42 of 45 House Democrats supported articles of impeachment against Dann. He resigned on May 14.
The GOP-controlled General Assembly supported one of Strickland’s top priorities for the session, a stimulus package designed to promote growth in Ohio’s hard-hit economy. The package directs state money toward building and fixing roads and bridges, advancing renewable energy, promoting internships and training. One part of the package, $400 million of bonds to preserve open spaces, still needs approval by voters in November.
Earlier in the year, the General Assembly approved a bill requiring 25 percent of the state’s energy supply to come from renewable sources or power plants using emissions-reducing “clean coal” technology. The same package allowed electric companies to choose whether they want to set their rates using traditional utility rules or market rates.
Strickland’s administration also took action on its own to offer in-state tuition to veterans and their families from anywhere in the country, essentially giving them a free ride when the offer is combined with expanded benefits in the new GI Bill. The administration also is testing a new program that allows high school seniors to take classes at community colleges and public universities, while earning both high school and college credit.
Ohio signed off on the eight-state Great Lakes Compact, designed to strengthen protections against communities outside of the watershed from using Great Lakes water. It took effect this summer, after President Bush and Congress approved it.
The Buckeye State also enacted a “castle doctrine” gun law, which protects homeowners from legal liability if they shoot an intruder.
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Oklahoma lawmakers tackle child obesity
Oklahoma’s Legislature took care of the tidy business of government — paying bills, selling bonds and boosting spending on prisons. But lawmakers also showed a bit of imagination this year by looking after the state’s overweight children.
When school starts in Oklahoma this fall, the time that elementary school students are required to spend in physical education will double to 120 minutes a week. The idea is to encourage physical activity and healthy lifestyles in a state that is trying to reduce its rate of childhood and teen obesity.
"The (physical education) teachers told us 30 minutes a day every other day isn’t cutting it and that we really needed to push the envelope," said Anne Roberts, executive director of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, a nonprofit group in Oklahoma City that played a key role in the effort to expand physical activity.
Sen. Mary Easley, a Democrat from Tulsa who was one of the bill’s authors, said the legislation was needed in part because of the increase in state tests administered to students. "With all of the testing we do, it puts a lot of pressure on our students," she said. "I felt they needed to learn how to have stress relievers."
It helped that Gov. Brad Henry (D) also backed the plan and emphasized it in his state of the state address. Oklahoma isn’t alone among the states battling the child obesity epidemic, but the problem there is so serious that policymakers are trying to create a shift in thinking among educators and parents. "It’s really quite dire," Roberts said. "Our rates are off the charts."
Henry also vetoed a bill approved by the Legislature making ultrasound imaging mandatory at least one hour before abortions. Lawmakers overrode the veto and the law is set to go into effect Aug. 1, the first such measure in the nation. The intent is to show the woman the sonogram of the child before the procedure so she can see how the fetus has formed.
This year, Oklahoma legislators handily overrode Democratic Gov. Brad Henry’s veto to pass a first-in-the-nation law making the procedure mandatory at least one hour prior to all abortions
Lawmakers also approved a $475 million bond package that will be spread among road and bridge repairs, endowed chairs at universities, flood control projects, the American Indian Cultural Center in Oklahoma City and dam and bridge improvements along the Arkansas River in Tulsa.
Some lawmakers grumbled about the state taking on additional debt at a time of financial uncertainty, although Oklahoma has not been hit as hard as other states because of the strength of its oil and gas industry.
The legislature’s work may not be over this year. Four days before lawmakers adjourned, two inmates were killed and more than a dozen were injured after a disturbance at a state prison in Granite. Earlier this year, an audit concluded that Oklahoma’s prison system was outdated and under-funded. The legislature fully funded the corrections department for the first time in years, but some lawmakers said the disturbance at Granite pointed up the need for additional action, perhaps in a special session.
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Oregon considers annual legislative sessions
Oregon lawmakers, who usually meet every two years, held a special off-year session in February as a “test drive” to determine whether it is worthwhile for the Legislature to meet on an annual basis, as 44 other states do.
During the three-week session, which ended Feb. 22, lawmakers approved a plan that bans illegal immigrants from getting driver’s licenses. Legislators also qualified for the November ballot a pair of competing initiatives— one backed by Republicans, the other by Democrats — that will ask voters to approve tougher mandatory minimum sentences for some criminals.
The Legislature also approved $200 million in bonds for a new basketball arena at the University of Oregon and fine-tuned the state budget, providing more money for hospital improvements and state police staffing.
It remains to be seen whether Oregon will hold yearly legislative sessions. Some lawmakers complained the session was too short to accomplish anything significant, and a permanent change likely would require a constitutional amendment.
—John Gramlich
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Pennsylvania gov handed setbacks on infrastructure
Within weeks of returning to Harrisburg for the state’s annual fall legislative session, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) was dealt a double blow on his signature issue: securing cash for much-needed infrastructure work throughout the Keystone State.
On Sept. 11, the federal government rejected a state proposal to place tolls on a section of Interstate 80. Less than a month later, an investment group willing to pay $12.8 billion to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike for 75 years backed out of a tentative deal with Rendell, citing a lack of support in the state Legislature, which must approve any such agreement.
The twin decisions left uncertain where the state will find sufficient financing for infrastructure, and all but ensured that any decisions will be put off until 2009.
Transportation funding wasn’t the only point of concern for Rendell and state lawmakers. Fearing a downturn in state revenue amid the national economic crisis, the governor in September ordered a hiring freeze, a ban on out-of-state travel and other cuts to save $200 million from the new fiscal 2009 budget.
The governor’s decision drew finger-pointing from Republicans, who complained when Rendell signed the spending plan in July that it was far too costly. At the time, the governor downplayed GOP concerns about dipping tax revenue.
Headlining the $28.3 billion budget — which boosted overall spending by 4 percent, or roughly $1 billion, over last year — is a 6.6-percent increase in funding for social services, such as nursing homes and help for the mentally disabled. Education also saw sizable gains, with public school districts receiving an unprecedented 5.5-percent increase over last year and charter schools also receiving more state funding.
Lawmakers pushed through the spending increases without raising taxes and fees, though they relied on several one-time solutions, such as skipping a yearly contribution to the state’s reserve fund and using it for general appropriations instead. In addition, lawmakers authorized up to $2.9 billion in borrowing over the coming years to pay for bridge repairs and water projects such as dams and sewers, as well as alternative energy programs, including an expansion of solar power.
Outside of the budget, lawmakers approved a long-awaited statewide smoking ban and signed off on the first overhaul to the state’s mine safety laws since the 1960s. Rendell and the legislature agreed to make all cigarettes sold in Pennsylvania “fire-safe,” a popular trend in states recently. Lawmakers also approved a bill requiring insurance companies to pay for up to $36,000 a year for treatment of autistic people 21 or younger,and agreed to a package of criminal justice measures designed to reduce overcrowding in jails and prisons.
—John Gramlich
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Rhode Island passes leaner budget
The General Assembly dealt with a huge shortfall in the state budget with deep cuts to social services, including welfare and Medicaid.
The $422 million shortfall — the largest in more than a decade — amounted to almost 12 percent of expected state spending. Lawmakers managed to pass a $6.89 billion budget without raising sales or income taxes.
But legislators cut heavily from many programs that help the poor, elderly and disabled. Welfare payments, currently capped at five years, will now stop after four years. Medicaid increases will be limited. About 1,000 people will be removed from the state health insurance program, 200 children will be cut from an early childhood learning program, and a two-year-old program that gives discounted electricity and heating oil to the poor will be dismantled.
The state cut more than $17 million from its three public universities. Cities and towns will get $24 million less in state-aid next year.
The budget also depends on saving $97 million through personnel cuts. The state enacted a law requiring employees to pay more for health insurance after Sept. 30; at least 1,250 people retired to avoid the high fees.
Gov. Don Carcieri (R) also announced plans to save money on Medicaid by applying for a “global waiver” from federal authorities, which he did in late July. The application requests a lump-sum payment of $12.4 billion from the federal government over the next five years.
In return, the state would cap spending on Medicaid to about 23 percent of its general budget, but receive unprecedented flexibility to change programs that are usually heavily overseen by the federal government. Carcieri says the waiver could save the state $67 million in the current fiscal year; he warned if nothing is done, the state could end up spending about 30 percent of its budget on Medicaid by 2011. Critics, however, say he hasn’t provided enough details of the plan.
The federal government is still considering the waiver request, but if it is offered, the General Assembly has 30 days to block it.
The biggest non-budget issue was illegal immigration. Carcieri issued an executive order requiring state employers and vendors who work with the state to use E-Verify to check that employees are in the country legally. The order also directed the state police to work harder to find and deport illegal immigrants.
The General Assembly attempted to pass an E-Verify requirement for private businesses, but although the bill passed by a wide margin in the House, Senate leaders derailed it over concerns about the bill’s constitutionality.
“We have a tradition in this state of a very generous pattern of support for social services in general and toward legal and illegal immigrants, much more generous than at the federal level,” said Maureen Moakley, a University of Rhode Island political scientist. But due to the large budget deficit, she said, “the governor was able to push back.”
Carcieri also vetoed a “national popular vote” bill that would have had Rhode Island’s electoral votes awarded to the winner of the popular vote in future presidential elections, if enough states join the compact.
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South Carolina Legislature overturns numerous vetoes
The South Carolina Legislature enacted a law that punishes employers for hiring illegal workers, tightened drunk driving laws and dumped the public schools’ longstanding standardized test.
The new illegal immigration measure will be one of the country’s toughest, requiring businesses to use the E-Verify program to check if their workers are legal. Those employers who fail to comply can be fined $1,000 for each illegal worker, and legal workers who lose their jobs to ineligible employees can sue their former bosses.
Undocumented adults cannot receive state aid and cannot attend public colleges or receive state scholarships or grants from the state.
Gov. Mark Sanford (R) got one of his priorities from the Republican-controlled Legislature: a crackdown on drunk driving. Under a new law, drunk drivers will face a new scale of penalties based on blood alcohol levels and previous convictions.
The state will also drop its Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests (PACT), which was used to rate schools under the federal No Child Left Behind Act and also for the state’s own accountability system. Students will now take new end-of-the-year tests designed to give teachers better information on where students need to improve.
The Legislature also paved the way for license plates that will show a cross and the words “I Believe.”
Under Sanford’s frugal governorship, the budget has become a perennial exercise of his issuing vetoes and lawmakers overriding them; this year was no exception. Legislators passed a $7 billion budget and overrode 57 of Sanford’s 69 vetoes, including one of a law to expand SCHIP, the federal-state health insurance program for poor children. In a one-day special session three weeks after the regular session, lawmakers overrode an additional 15 of his 20 vetoes, including those for laws that set up a sales tax-free month to buy energy-saving applicants and a tax-free weekend for firearms purchases.
Another law that Sanford unsuccessfully attempted to veto will give tax credits to homeowners and business owners who install fire sprinklers.
In the regular session, however, lawmakers couldn’t override a veto of the state’s first cigarette tax increase in 31 years. The tax — which would have gone from a lowest-in-the-nation at 7 cents a pack to 57 cents a pack — was earmarked for health care programs. Sanford claimed that with lower tax revenues, the budget was not balanced. Lawmakers disagreed, saying they did not spend more than recommended by state economists.
Sanford’s prediction bore out, however, as a worsening economy and decreased revenues stripped more than $554 million from the $6.7 billion budget the state passed this year. In August, the state Budget and Control Board cut spending at all state agencies by 3 percent. Lawmakers began meeting Oct. 20 to decide how to balance the budget.
—Pauline Vu
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South Dakota leaves abortion up to voters, again
For the first time in three years, the politically explosive issue of abortion did not dominate South Dakota’s legislative session, primarily because voters will once again get to decide the issue this fall.
Instead, Gov. Mike Rounds (R) clashed with the Republican-controlled Legislature over ethanol tax policy and laptops for schools as the governor went forward both times with plans that the Legislature had rejected.
Voters in South Dakota in 2006 overrode a state law that would have banned abortion in that state. Lawmakers discussed, but failed in 2007 to reach agreement on a new ban. This year’s ballot measure would ban almost all abortions, but includes some exceptions in the case of rape or incest or to protect the life or health of the woman.
While most other states are struggling to balance their books with shrinking tax revenue, South Dakota’s agricultural products are keeping the state in the black.
Education funding was a big issue during the session that ended March 15. The governor announced in May he would use money found elsewhere in the budget to extend a controversial plan to put laptop computers in schools, after the Legislature decided earlier this year not to pay for the program.
In a similar dispute, Rounds in April issued a memo requiring that certain blends of ethanol be taxed at the same rate as 10 percent ethanol. Lawmakers had earlier rebuffed the governor’s request to change the tax structure for ethanol blends. Lawmakers from both parties complained that the governor had overstepped his authority.
Lawmakers also created a 2-cent-per-gallon tax break for fuel blended with biodiesel.
In other action, the Legislature put on the November ballot whether to keep the state’s term limits for lawmakers. Currently, state lawmakers are limited to eight consecutive years in the House or Senate.
Rounds vetoed a bill that would have required the state budget office to create a Web site providing taxpayers more information about state spending and contracts, calling the measure "unworkable and too costly."
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Tennessee deals with smaller budget
A slowdown in state revenue forced the politically split Tennessee General Assembly to pass a lower-than-expected budget, and led Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) to discard some of his priorities, such as expanding pre-kindergarten programs. Avoiding tax increases, the lawmakers cut $460 million from their original spending plan of $28 billion.
But a $106 million shortfall after the session ended May 23 forced more cuts. In early October, the University of Tennessee system and the Board of Regents system — which together serve 222,000 students — was told to draw up a plan that saves $43.7 million. TennCare, the state’s Medicaid program, will have to cut $44 million.
Much of the regular session focused on students and senior citizens. Democrats successfully pushed to lower the minimum grade-point average needed to qualify for the state’s HOPE scholarships to 2.75 from 3.0, while Republicans got their wish to make the scholarship eligible for more nontraditional students, such as soldiers or others who have been out of high school for a while before starting college. The new standards are expected to aid 12,000 new students.
However, the budget also cut about $56 million from higher education, and the governor and legislature warned schools not to make up the difference with extreme tuition increases.
Lawmakers made it easier for the elderly and recipients of TennCare, the state’s insurance program, to get at-home care instead of going to a nursing home. Tennessee spends more than 95 percent of its long-term-care Medicaid dollars on nursing home care.
The state also tried to save money by offering generous buyouts to persuade employees to retire. About 1,600 employees accepted — less than expected — and layoffs are a possibility next year. The remaining workers will see cuts in health care and no raises.
Environmentalists lost out when the General Assembly did not pass a bill to regulate mountaintop mining. Lawmakers also made cuts in a fund for conservation.
But proponents of open government received a boost from passage of a bill that sets a time limit for local governments to respond to requests for information and creates a group to advise the public about getting access to records.
AT&T also successfully lobbied for a bill to allow it and similar companies to receive statewide cable television licenses, after being rebuffed last year.
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Utah budget shortfall forces special session
An unexpected revenue shortfall of more than $350 million — brought on by the struggling national economy — forced Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. (R) to call a two-day emergency legislative session in late September.
Lawmakers responded by cutting by 4 percent every state department budget and some Medicaid services for tens of thousands of Utahns. Fearing more revenue shortfalls when they reconvene in January, lawmakers left alone the state’s $414 million Rainy Day Fund and a separate $100 million reserve fund for schools.
The budget emergency came as a jolt to lawmakers who earlier in the spring passed an $11.6 billion spending plan that featured $200 million in new funding for public schools, including a $1,700 raise for every teacher and cash to hire more math and science teachers. During the regular legislative session, which ended March 5, lawmakers also gave their OK to a $2.6 billion project to improve Interstate 15 in Utah County.
Disagreement over how to address illegal immigration dominated much of the regular session, and lawmakers and Huntsman eventually agreed to postpone to next year a plan to bar some companies from hiring undocumented workers. They chose instead to create a task force to study the new law before it takes effect next July.
Legislators similarly agreed to create a task force to study health care. Huntsman has called the lack of affordable care — and the 300,000 Utahns without health insurance — a problem that is "crying out for a fix," though he has acknowledged a solution could be years away.
Among the political lowlights, the session will be remembered for a controversial remark made by state Sen. Chris Buttars (R), who signaled his opposition to a bill by saying of the legislation, "This baby is black. …It’s a dark, ugly thing." The remark prompted an apology by Buttars and calls for his resignation by the NAACP, though he refused.
Republicans continued to dominate both houses of the Legislature. An analysis by the Deseret Morning News found that the GOP held a 9-to-1 advantage over Democrats in bills passed during the session.
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Vermont General Assembly adjourns early to save money
The Vermont legislative session was the shortest since 1995, as lawmakers worked together to end the session May 3, two weeks ahead of schedule, saving the cash-strapped state up to $500,000 a week.
Still, that didn’t dent a shortfall of about $32 million in the government’s operating budget. Almost four months after the session ended, the Legislature’s Joint Fiscal Committee worked with Republican Gov. Jim Douglas’ administration to approve a package that included cuts and a handful of possible layoffs.
During the session, the General Assembly focused its efforts on corrections, the economy and energy efficiency. Lawmakers increased substance abuse treatment efforts to reduce recidivism, and cut spending by consolidating some women’s prisons and sending more male inmates out of state and to a new work camp.
About two weeks before the session’s end, Douglas surprised the Democratic-controlled General Assembly with an economic stimulus package that included bonds for transportation repairs and a sales-tax holiday to draw shoppers from Canada and other states. Although Democrats were angry at the sudden nature of the package — including a tax holiday they say could cost the state up to $2 million — they incorporated several key elements, including the tax holiday and the transportation bonds, into existing legislation.
Douglas later praised the General Assembly for passing a $4.2 billion budget that doesn’t raise taxes at a time of declining revenues. The governor and General Assembly had been forced to cut $25 million from the budget late in the session.
Both the governor and General Assembly agreed on a comprehensive energy bill that includes tax incentives to spur investments in alternative energy.
One area of disagreement, however, was whether Vermont should join a coalition of states called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would, in future presidential elections, award all of Vermont’s electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote, if enough states join the compact. Douglas vetoed the measure.
The session turned political at the end as House Speaker Gaye Symington (D) announced she would not run for re-election — setting up her later announcement that she will run for governor against Douglas in the fall — and the General Assembly unexpectedly chose not to return for a veto session in June. Critics accused Symington of wanting to end the session early so she could begin raising money for her campaign; if there had been a veto session, the fundraising would have had to wait until after it.
That means at least two of Douglas’ vetoes will stand: the one that would have had Vermont join the national popular vote compact, and the other that would have required the owners of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to shore up the plant’s decommissioning fund.
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Virginia divided political control shades legislative session
The tone for Virginia’s legislative session was set in November, when Democrats won control of the state Senate and picked up seats in the House. It was the first time in modern Virginia history that different parties controlled each chamber with no prior agreements on how to share power.
Democrats had more trouble than Republicans adjusting to their new roles. By the time the session ended March 13, Senate and House Democrats were split on several issues, such as whether to raise gasoline taxes to pay for road and transit projects.
Republicans, who for years had been divided between conservative delegates and moderate senators, were united this year in rejecting some of Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s initiatives, such as extending health care coverage to uninsured Virginians.
Kaine did win an important victory. Lawmakers pumped additional money into revamping Virginia’s mental health system, a response to the April 16, 2007 massacre on the Virginia Tech campus in which a student gunman killed 32 students and himself.
But there was little money for anything else. The decline in revenues caused by the slumping national economy contributed to a $2 billion budget shortfall through 2010. Kaine and the General Assembly were forced to make deep cuts to state agencies, local governments and schools.
Still, state leaders put together a $1.5 billion borrowing package to finance dozens of construction projects at colleges, parks and mental health facilities. But Kaine postponed the bond sale in early June because of legal troubles with a transportation plan lawmakers approved last year. The governor called the General Assembly to return to Richmond in June for a special session to consider whether to raise taxes and fees for transportation improvements. No agreement was reached.
House Republicans believe they can take back the governor’s office next year and make gains in statehouse elections by opposing tax increases, so they did not go along with Kaine’s plan. Kaine and the Democrats say voters in the state’s traffic-choked urban areas of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, who have been backing Democrats in recent statewide elections, will hold GOP candidates accountable if nothing is done.
"It is surely a steep uphill climb for the governor," said Robert D. Holsworth, dean of the college of humanities and sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University. "At a minimum, he is trying to affix political responsibility for the difficulties that the state is experiencing in trying to address its transportation problems and, given the decline of the Republican brand in Virginia, I think he believes many citizens will endorse his position."
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Washington prepares for budget shortfall
In Washington, a state hit hard by the slump in the housing market, declining tax revenues led lawmakers to try to keep enough money in reserve to help address an estimated budget shortfall of $3.2 billion next year.
Democrats, who dominate both houses of the Legislature, set aside $836 million to prepare for the shortfall. But worsening tax revenue estimates forced other adjustments as well. Gov. Christine Gregoire (D), for example, froze the state’s paid family-leave program, citing financial concerns.
A constant undercurrent in the 60-day legislative session, which ended March 13, was the state’s gubernatorial election, in which Gregoire faces off against Republican Dino Rossi, who narrowly lost to the governor in 2004. Rossi and other Republicans have lambasted state Democrats for wasteful spending during the session, but Democrats say they were able to hold the line, even as they rolled out important funding increases in key areas.
Education was a priority. Teachers received pay raises, and all-day kindergarten was expanded. Colleges and universities also received help, with lawmakers increasing funding for a program meant to hire top-quality researchers to the state.
Crime remained a major concern after the 2007 murder of a 12-year-old girl by a convicted sex offender. Gregoire signed a bill requiring every registered molester in the state to submit a DNA sample, which can be compared to evidence found at crime scenes.
Washington joined other states and stepped up regulation of toy manufacturing after a series of recalls focused national attention on harmful chemicals used in toy production.
Same-sex couples were handed a victory when the Legislature expanded the state’s domestic-partnership provisions to include many of the same rights afforded to married couples.
Among environmental legislation to win approval, a new law requires the state to dramatically trim greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050, but the details on how to accomplish that were put off. After devastating floods in southwest Washington late last year, lawmakers poured $50 million into repairs in the region, including levee improvements. BACK TO TOP
West Virginia caps gas tax, weathers university scandal
West Virginia’s Democratic-led Legislature, in a special legislative session after its regular session that ended in March, voted to cap the state’s gasoline tax at its current level. The move — which spared West Virginians from an automatic tax escalator based on wholesale gasoline prices — created a hole in the state’s road fund that will be filled with $40 million in surplus revenue.
Lawmakers also called for an inquiry into a scandal over the granting of a master’s degree by West Virginia State University officials to Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin’s daughter, who allegedly did not complete the degree requirements. The allegations led to the resignation of the school’s president, Mike Garrison and at least five other school officials.
In the regular session, lawmakers approved Manchin’s “Bucks for Brains” program, allocating $50 million to two state universities with an eye to attracting innovators to create future jobs.
Lawmakers also passed bond funding slated for the biggest increase in school construction in recent memory and gave teachers a 3 percent pay raise. In higher education, Manchin signed a law cleaving the community college system from the university system to ensure that two-year institutions return to focusing on job training, rather than preparation for four-year universities.
On energy and environmental issues, lawmakers approved the governor’s week-long sales-tax holiday for homeowners who purchase energy efficient appliances, established an electronics recycling program and authorized local governments to pursue energy conservation programs.
Families of deceased soldiers will get help from a new law that waives state university tuition for spouses and children. Senior citizens will benefit from a law that freezes property taxes for those over 65 who make less than $25,000 per year. The law also allows seniors to defer property tax payment until their homes are sold or their estate pays the bill.
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Wisconsin joins Great Lakes pact, scales back spending
Wisconsin lawmakers eventually voted to join an eight-state agreement to protect the Great Lakes. They also trimmed state spending, and failed to stop Gov. Jim Doyle (D) when he made even deeper cuts.
Doyle championed the passage of the Great Lakes Compact, but the measure encountered initial resistance from Milwaukee suburbs worried that it would prevent them from using Lake Michigan.. Legislators soothed those concerns with a new state law easing the way for the suburbs to use Great Lakes water.
The governor called lawmakers into a special session to deal with an estimated $652 million shortfall in the two-year budget enacted last October. The Democratic-controlled Senate and Republican-held Assembly could agree to only $69 million of cuts, so Doyle vetoed out $270 million of spending. He made several other changes, including refinancing the state’s tobacco bonds, to close the rest of the gap.
As part of the cuts, Doyle moved $103 million of highway funds raised through gas taxes to pay for the state’s day-to-day expenses. The Assembly tried to override Doyle’s raid of road money, but fell short of the required two-thirds majority. The lower chamber’s efforts to protect school money and funds for senior health care also failed.
The veto fight was the first since April 1, when a constitutional amendment scaling back the governor’s veto power, took effect. The amendment restricts the governor’s ability to strike words from budget bills to piece together entirely new language, a practice known as the "Frankenstein veto."
Earlier, Doyle tried unsuccessfully to persuade lawmakers to enact a statewide smoking ban, warning that the Dairy State would become the "ashtray of the Midwest." All of Wisconsin’s neighbors, except Michigan, now ban smoking in most public places.
Lawmakers also decided to require hospitals to tell rape victims about the morning-after pill and to provide it to them upon request. This "compassionate care" measure passed the Senate previously and sailed through the Assembly 61-35 in January.
The Legislature also decided that only self-extinguishing cigarettes should be sold in Wisconsin. It also ended a stand-off over funding for virtual charter schools, which let parents teach their children at home using materials provided by the schools. And the state added another symbol, choosing an official state tartan, a pattern used in Scottish clothing and decorations.
Proposals that failed to make the law books included a rule to require health insurance companies to cover certain treatments for autistic children, tighter curbs on the types of non-profit housing agencies that can be tax-exempt and public financing for judicial elections.
For the last two years, Wisconsin voters have been confronted with expensive races for the state Supreme Court that featured negative ads and allegations of unethical conduct. The victor of last year’s contest was censured by her new colleagues on the high court for not disclosing her financial connections to parties that appeared before her as a trial court judge.
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Wyoming leads the way on carbon storage
Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal and legislators in the Republican-controlled Statehouse teamed up to pass what the governor described as the nation’s most comprehensive plan to rein in carbon dioxide emitted by power plants.
The plan seeks to expand the underground storage of carbon dioxide and other polluting gases, rather than allowing their release into the atmosphere, where they are blamed for causing global warming.
One new law spells out landowners’ right to store carbon dioxide and other gases underground, while another sets the stage for the state to regulate storage projects to ensure they are environmentally safe. Lawmakers also set aside $20 million toward a $100 million joint project between the state and General Electric Co., to study carbon storage in further detail.
Freudenthal and lawmakers found agreement on a two-year, $3.5 billion budget that includes a 4 percent cost-of-living boost for state workers. The budget, usually stitched together in several bills, was consolidated this year, winning praise from lawmakers and the governor alike as a more effective way of completing the budget process.
Unlike most other states, Wyoming is enjoying a boom, with a budget surplus that is estimated at $100 million this year.
Among other developments in the legislative session, which ended March 7, Freudenthal signed into law a pair of bills pushed by pro-gun groups. One forbids authorities from taking firearms from residents during natural disasters or other emergencies; the other codifies the so-called "castle doctrine," giving residents immunity from lawsuits if they use deadly force to protect themselves against intruders in their homes.
Wyoming joined Idaho to make dogfighting a felony; the two states were the last in the nation to do so. Freudenthal had made the bill a priority in his annual pre-session address to the Legislature.
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By Brad MacDougall on Sep 4, 2008 1:22:50 PM
Boston, Mass. â Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), the stateâs largest business advocacy organization with more than 7,000 Bay State businesses and institutions who collectively employ more than 675,000 employees, released the third edition of its biennial Legislative Scorecard. The Scorecard is designed to evaluate the pro-business voting record of each of the members of the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives.
The AIM Legislative Scorecard for 2007-2008 was calculated on votes in each chamber on important measures including health insurance reform, economic development policy, taxation, regulatory reform, energy, and the environment. There are seven House votes and eight Senate votes in the Scorecard.
For this Legislative session, the average Scorecard rating for members of the Senate was 49 percent, compared to 66 percent in 2005-2006. Ten members of the Senate scored above the average with five Republican Senators scoring a high of 67 percent. In the House, the average rating was 47 percent down from 78 percent in 2005-2006. Fifty members of the House scored above the average with 19 Republican members scoring the highest at 88 percent on the 100-point scale.
Brian Gilmore, AIMâs Executive Vice President - Public Affairs noted, âIt is was a challenge to calculate the Scorecard this Session, since there were fewer âclearâ roll call votes taken during the session.â? (A clear roll call is a vote on a specific issue itself, and not a voice vote.) In addition, he said, âThe Scorecard is unable to measure those instances when the Legislature fails to address serious economic climate issues such reforming the stateâs unemployment insurance system or other business and economic climate concerns, and/or declines to consider anti-business measures.â?
Gilmore said, âOur members are disappointed by the ratings this session, and suggest that serious work needs to be done to improve upon the unsatisfactory trend during the 2008-2009 Legislative Session. The recent negative results in the AIM Business Confidence Index illustrate the consequences how ill-conceived public policy measures impact the business climate in Massachusetts.â?
Gilmore further noted, âThe scorecard ratings may not be final for this session, because there is talk of reconvening the Legislature before the end of the year. We may have to prepare an update later, but we felt it was important to get these results out before the primary elections in September and the general election in November.â?
The complete AIM 2007-2008 Legislative Scorecard, with roll call records for each member of the House and the Senate can be found on AIMâs website www.aimnet.org and by entering media@media.com with zip 02116 and then click to view all state officials.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Brian R. Gilmore, Executive Vice President - Public Affairs
Phone: (617) 262-1180
Website: www.aimnet.org
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