The Thicket at State Legislatures

Thanksgiving Trivia

We are talking turkey on this Thanksgiving holiday. Before you sit down at the dinner table, stuff yourself full of some useful trivia to share with family and friends. Here are a few questions to whet your appetite.

Which state produces the most turkeys?

Which state has a town named after the turkey?

Approximately what percentage of homes eat turkey on Thanksgiving?

And in what state is the Wild Turkey Center located?

For the answers to these questions and even more trivia, head to NCSL's website. You can gobble up all of our facts and impress your guests with your extended knowledge of the holiday!  

Budget Battle Games

by Meagan Dorsch

According to GameSpot.com, some of the most popular video games (we looked at the Wii system) are Real Heroes:Fire fighter, Call of Duty and Madden NFL 10.

We noticed one video game that did not make the list: Budget Battle-Star Galactica. OK, that may not be the correct name, but it is one of the toughest games on the market to win right now.

Several states, or newspapers, have have a hand in creating on-line games that allow you to become a legislator and take a crack at trying to balance the state's budget. For an even bigger challenge, try to play these games in a group. Remember, the majority of you have to agree on all of the decisions made.

In Texas, the decisions you make in the game are either supported or disagreed on by your virtual constituents. California budget battle game starts you off with $24 million deficit to close…good luck. Many of these budget games will allow you to submit your solutions directly to the state for consideration. 

Are these games easy? Not at all, which may help some in the general public realize the challenges state legislators are up against.  

According to NCSL's State Budget Update, states will to deal with budget shortfalls in the coming years. We may see more of these budget games popping up in states across the country.

Here is a list of states we know have set up budget battle games (please feel free to let us know about more), thanks to Arturo in NCSL's fiscal department. So go ahead, put your good ideas to work for your state.

California
Colorado
Illinois
Kansas
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Texas
Washington

Answer: Dan Pawson, Massachusetts Legislative Staffer

by Karl Kurtz

If you were playing Jeopardy!, you would push your buzzer and say, "Who is one of the finalists in Jeopardy!'s Tournament of Champions?"  Dan Pawson, who is a legislative aide to Massachusetts Sen. Bruce Tarr, won nine straight games of Jeopardy! in 2008, which made him eligible to enter this year's Tournament of Champions.  Last night, he won in the semifinals of that tournament and will play for the championship and $250,000 on Monday and Tuesday next week.

On the video about him on the Jeopardy! Web site, when he is asked if he is ever recognized because he has been on the show, he responds that pretty much everyone around the Massachusetts Statehouse knows who he is.

There's a story about Dan in the Gloucester Daily Times.

And Dan, at The Thicket we're confident that if you get the answer "Madison, Jefferson and Lincoln," you'll know that the question is, "What three American presidents have state capitals named after them?"  [3/24: Make that four American presidents with capitals named after them.  A smart reader--with a vested interest in Dan Pawson--who knows his state capital trivia caught the error.  Bonus points for readers if you can come up with the other president/capital combination before you read the answer in the comment below.]

A rose from The Thicket to Angela Andrews [and another to Ed Pawson].

We're All in This Together: Engaging Citizens Online

by Pam Greenberg

The Minnesota Senate has created a new web site that seeks citizen input about how to solve the state's projected $4.8 billion budget deficit.  Visitors to the site can comment and provide their ideas for key areas in the budget, such as education; economic development; environment, energy, and natural resources; health and human services; public safety; taxes; and transportation. The site also has links to a wealth of background information.  A few Minnesota citizens have weighed in.

Other states have had similar initiatives, sometimes packaged with an online budget balancing game or simulation tool.  Massachusetts Senator Richard T. Moore created Ma$$ Balance in 2003, when the state faced a $3 billion budget gap (the site is no longer active).  Ma$$ Balance was an interactive budget simulation game where players could try balancing the Massachusetts state budget.  The site had 1.5 million hits with people returning on average 5 times to the site, according to Serious Games Source.

Maine Governor John E. Baldacci's interactive budget balancing tool has been active since 1999.  The budget crisis has led several governors to invite citizen input recently (for example, in Arizona, New Jersey, New York, and Washington), but some of these sites seem to have been short-lived or are "temporarily disabled."  Governing's 2003 article, "Honey, I Shrunk the Budget" gives a great overview of some of the early interactive budget game websites. 

For those who wonder what results from citizen suggestions, there is California Senator Joe Simitian's "There Oughta Be a Law" contest, which has a track record of seven years of legislation resulting from ideas submitted by citizens. 

Additional meaningful legislative web-based civic engagement efforts include WestEd's Web Dialogues in California (Education Master Plan), Washington (Access to Higher Education and Obesity discussions) and Virginia Delegate Kris Amundson's Listening to Democracy's Next Generation-2008 web dialogue. 

Another high-profile online engagement project is President-elect Obama's Citizen's Briefing Book, which invites ideas on issues facing the new administration and allows citizens to rate others' suggestions.

New Exit Poll: Pumpkin Launch

by Meagan Dorsch

Can pumpkins catapulted into the middle of a North Carolina field determine who the next president of the United States will be? The residents of Statesville, North Carolina would say yes!

As part of the Crossroads Pumpkin Fest, pumpkins representing the two presidential and vice presidential candidates are catapulted from a trebuchet. The winner is the one that flies the furthest. It's called the Great Heads of Statesville Exit Poll and organizers say it is 80 percent accurate! 

So who won this year? According to the website, it was John McCain and Sarah Palin:

Senator McCain’s pumpkin spun to the right and bounced 81 yards from the catapult, while Governor Palin’s initially veered to the left, but pulled back to the right before landing 85 yards. On the Democratic side, both pumpkins stayed true to the left. The Senator Barack Obama pumpkin flew 79 yards, while Senator Joe Biden’s gourd sailed 83 yards. The total distance was 166 yards for the Republican ticket and 162 for the Democrat.

If you would like to see the video for yourself, please click here.

This "scientific exit poll" was first put to the test in 2004. My new friend, Joel Leonard, told me the John Edwards pumpkin head misfired and only went 12 feet while the others flew over 100 yards. This exit poll strategy is not just reserved for the presidential contenders. Pumpkins were also launched for the North Carolina U.S. Senate seat and the gubernatorial race.   

The best part is the launch that already took place (the one you can watch on the video) was just a preview for the media. The real Great Heads of Statesville Exit poll will take place at the fair on Nov. 1, just three days before voters "head" to the polls...or the trebuchets.

Photo credit: Trebuchet.com