The Thicket at State Legislatures

Civic Health Index for Ohio and Minnesota

by Jan Goehring

The National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) recently released civic health index reports for Minnesota and Ohio. Both reports indicate the economy has had an impact on civic involvement, but to different degrees.

The Minnesota Civic Health Index: Integrating Civic Engagement Into Community Life report indicates that the state is active in developing a civic culture and showed resilience in a year where civic effort declined across the nation because of the economy. Minnesota was first in voter turnout with 77.8 percent of those eligible casting ballots; 14.2 percent higher than the national average. The state ranked third nationally in charitable contributions with 60.2 percent donating at least $25 and fourth in statewide volunteering, with 60.5 percent donating their time and energy. Volunteering did decline, but not as much as the national average. Minnesotans also support programs that encourage civic involvement.

The economy is reshaping civic participation according to the Ohio Civic Health Index Report: Civic Engagement in Hard Economic Times. For example, 80 percent of Ohioans cut back on time spent volunteering, participating in groups and other civic activities. Younger generations are volunteering more than older generations. The report also indicated that trust in public, and some private sector, institutions is low. The good news is that support for civic renewal through programs that encourage civic engagement, such as workplace incentives for involvement and service learning in the schools, is high.

The NCoC released a Florida Civic Health Index last month and will publish indexes for California, Illinois and New Hampshire in the next few weeks. The organization measures, tracks and promotes civic participation across the United States.

Rethinking Opening Session Speeches

by Gene Rose

The opening day of a legislative session is a big production. With many legislatures beginning their 2009 sessions in January, thousands of legislative staff are working hard this month to get ready for the big day.

It's also one of those rare days that captures the media's attention. Not only is there visual pomp and ceremony, but in many legislatures it's an opportunity for leaders to convey -- through an opening session speech -- their vision for their chamber's work in the months ahead. Having worked on a few of those speeches back in the day, I understand the difficulty of trying to convey a lot of information, passion and motivation in less than 30 minutes.

For his annual State of the City speech, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and his press secretary Nathan Ballard decided they needed 7 1/2 hours, according to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Rather than forcing attendees to sit through such a long event, the Mayor has posted a series of 45-minute presentations on YouTube. Being a self-proclaimed policy wonk, the Mayor wanted to talk in depth on the issues he cared about and those, he rightly assessed that he could cover topics that would not fit into a typical speech.

The article says this model follows one laid out by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. By putting the video on YouTube, they say, it helps create a dialogue with citizens by allowing them to post video responses.

Will any state legislative senate presidents or house speakers follow this lead and try something beyond the typical opening session speech to communicate their message? We'll be "watching."