The Thicket at State Legislatures

Polling Nuggets from California

by Tim Storey

The nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California released an extensive statewide poll of Californians yesterday that is chock full of eye-opening findings.  One conclusion should probably come as no surprise.  A proposal to modify legislative term limits in California may be a tough sell.    According to the poll, 68% of likely voters think term limits have been a good thing, and 64% oppose a preliminary proposal to change the provisions of California legislative term limits.  However, the poll question did not make it clear to respondents that the proposal would actually shorten the overall amount of time one person could serve in the legislature.  A joint study by NCSL, the Council of State Governments and the State Legislative Leaders Foundation titled Coping With Term Limits and released last August found that term limits have generally had negative effects on the institution of the legislature.   (The report is not available online but you can read about its findings in an earlier Thicket Post here and order a hard copy here).   Apparently, studies akin to NCSL's have not had much influence on average Californians who still believe term limits are good public policy. 

The poll also reports that 41% of California adults approve of the job of the Legislature while only 42% disapprove.  Believe it or not, those are good numbers compared to previous polls on legislative job ratings.  Redistricting reform does not appear to be a burning issue for  folks on the left coast.  Only 37% of those polled think the redistricting process needs "major changes" with 27% saying minor changes would suffice.  In contrast, 71% of respondents say the California health care system needs "major changes" with 16% calling for "minor changes."

Where do Legislators Stay in the Capital?

by Karl Kurtz

Last Sunday's The Oklahoman has a story, "Lawmakers share apartment during session," which begins with, "Some of the most powerful men at the Capitol go to their temporary homes during the legislative session to sleep on air mattresses and eat bologna sandwiches."  The story goes on to talk about legislators who sleep on air mattresses in shared, minimalist apartments and others who live in mobile homes in the capital in order to save money from their per diem payments.

The story is fairly typical of legislators' living experiences in most states, although it doesn't mention any Oklahoma legislators who sleep on couches or cots in their capitol offices--a practice that is frowned upon in most states but sometimes still goes on.  The states to which this story does not apply would include Delaware, New Jersey and Rhode Island--the three states with "commuter legislatures" in which the great majority of legislators live within an hour or so of the capitol--and the full-time legislatures where legislators usually have more permanent living arrangements in the capital.

[Photo by lindn, courtesy of Flickr.]

The Buzz: Children's Health Up for Renewal

by Bill Wyatt

The State Children's Health Insurance Program, a state-federal partnership, is in jeopardy of running out of money in many states.  Congress is currently debating the future of the program which has provided health coverage for over six million children.

Since its enactment ten years ago, all 50 states have created their own children's health insurance programs to meet the needs of children who are not eligible for Medicaid but do not otherwise have health insurance.  Recently, many states have revisited their programs in an attempt to reach more children.

In this latest episode of The Buzz, Texas Senator Leticia Van de Putte discusses the key component of SCHIP that has lead to the program's success - state flexibility.

Civics Gets Attention

by Jan Goehring

Two states recently passed legislation designed to strengthen democracy education, although their approaches are very different.

In West Virginia, the house passed a resolution to encourage the creation of a Civics Literacy Council. The council will assess the status of civic education in West Virginia, come up with an inventory of civic education and service learning opportunities for students, promote a network of civic education professionals and make recommendations to improve civic education. The resolution lists myriad organizations that may be included in the council. Co-chairs will be the State Superintendent of Schools and the Secretary of Education and Arts. Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont and Virginia also have created civics commissions.

New Mexico will now appropriate $30,000 from the general fund for statewide social studies and civics professional development. The funds are to be expended through the state department of education.

Both of these bills were introduced by legislators who had attended a Congressional Conference on Civic Education. The conference brings together high-level policymakers from each state to learn about civic education and share ideas on how to restore the civic mission of schools.

New Podcast: States Look at Early Learning

by Nicole Moore

It's a big year for early learning initiatives, says NCSL's resident expert Steffanie Clothier in the latest Buzz at State Legislatures podcast (10:32).

Economics and neuroscience converge when it comes to early learning, Clothier says. Economic studies have shown that programs targeting kids from birth to 5 years old are a good investment. And science says fundamental skills like motivation and persistence develop before kids even start school.

According to Clothier's recent legislative update, 40 states are considering early learning bills this year. Six of the ten states without early learning programs are looking into setting them up.

New Mexico Legislature Adjourns--For Now

by Karl Kurtz

After calling the New Mexico Legislature's 2007 regular session, which adjourned on Saturday, "the most productive legislative session in New Mexico's history," Gov. Bill Richardson promptly announced that he would call lawmakers back into special session this week.  According to an AP story in The New Mexican,

On Richardson's agenda: a $200 million financing plan for local and tribal road projects, limits on campaign contributions and a domestic partnership measure to give unmarried couples, including homosexuals, the same rights as married couples.

Each of those proposals failed to clear the Senate during the 60-day session. And that's where Richardson will have to do some serious lobbying to gain the victories he wants--and needs--during the special session.

On his blog, New Mexican reporter Steve Terrell cleverly called the end of one session and the start of another one, "sine not so die."  (See our previous post, "Sine Die and other Vulgarities.")

In a news article, Terrell predicts that the accomplishments of the legislature during the regular session that Gov. Richardson will be talking about on the presidential campaign trail include a renewable energy program, tax cuts and an increase in the minimum wage.

Russian Reflections on a Labor Caucus Lunch

by Dmitry Polyakov

[Ed. note: Guest author Dmitry Polyakov, from St. Petersburg, Russia, is a Legislative Education and Practice Program Fellow who splits time as an intern between the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Colorado Legislature.  He comments occasionally on American politics from a Russian perspective for The Thicket .]

Every other Thursday during the Sixty-Sixth Colorado General Assembly a bi-partisan Labor Caucus serves lunch to discuss current bills affecting labor and to present labor lobbyists' take on them to state lawmakers.

It was one of those busy Thursdays in the beginning of the legislative session when my supervisor, House Majority Policy Director Terry Whitney, sent me to the Labor Caucus lunch to observe what was on the labor lobbyists' agenda on that day.

The lunch started at noon, bringing together lobbyists and a legislative crowd: state representatives, senators and their staffers, along with always-desperate-for-some-free-meals legislative interns—like me.  The overall atmosphere was calm and friendly.  It didn't matter if you were just a legislative intern or a member of the house or committee chair—everyone was treated equally.  Labor representatives spoke on issues of concern to them; legislators, staffers and interns digested information and food.  The lunch took only an hour: in that time everybody was up-to-speed on labor-related legislative issues, fed and (therefore) happy.  That was the Labor Caucus lunch paid for by working class Americans who want to defend their interests using democratic and constitutional methods.  Everyone at the lunch was respected for doing his or her job and not for having a longer title on a business card.

The Labor Caucus lunch was a very interesting experience for me--something we Russians don't have a habit of doing.  The whole concept of having serious labor policy dialogues over a slice of pizza and a glass of soda seemed strange and new to me. But, I figured, some pizza and face-to-face honest conversations are way better than cash kickbacks, champagne and caviar dinners, and paid-for cruises that lobbyist often supply legislators with in my part of the world…  Now such lunches appear to me to be very simple, but transparent and truly democratic instruments, that people in Russia should also consider using their attempts to influence legislative decision making.

Cue the 900 Pound Gorilla

by Tim Storey

California's governor signed Senator Calderon's SB 113 this afternoon moving the 2008 California Presidential primary to February 5th--a mere two weeks after the tentatively scheduled New Hampshire primary.  The AP reports that the governor said, “Now California is important again in presidential nominating politics ... and we will get the respect that California deserves.”  One can only imagine the hand wringing this will cause within the presidential campaigns as they devise a strategy for campaigning in a state that promises either ultimate glory or certain peril.  Some of the second-tier candidates will inevitably opt out of the California sweepstakes because of the high cost of running a viable campaign there.  However, those who can win or place near the top in America's largest and most diverse state will instant front runners, if not presumptive nominees. 

In a previous Thicket entry on this subject, I listed the numerous other states with bills pending to move closer to the beginning of the primary calendar.  At least one of those states is already taking the California move into consideration and is not eager to vie with the largest state in the Union for attention from the candidates.  However, other states may follow the lead of California and try to steal some of the spotlight by moving to the 5th as well.  Keep an eye on other big states such as New York and Florida. 

On the other hand, several Washington State legislators are taking the opposite approach.  A Washington House Committee held public hearings today on legislation to CANCEL their 2008 Presidential Primary.  Washington's primary, currently scheduled for late May 2008, is a "preference primary" sometimes called a "beauty contest," meaning that it is not binding in terms of actually choosing party delegates to the party nominating conventions.  The bill analysis for HB 2379 says that canceling the primary would save the state $9.7 million.  And by late May of 2008, the contest to determine the major party candidates for the November general election may be long since decided.

[Photo courtesy of Flickr by The Rolfer] 

Arkansas's Arkansawyers?

by Karl Kurtz

NPR had an amusing story on February 28, "Arkansans Quibble Over the Possessive 'S'," about a resolution sponsored by House Majority Leader Steve Harrelson specifying that the proper form of the possessive for the state's name is Arkansas's, not Arkansas' as prescribed by the AP's style guide. 

This story goes very nicely with Josh Goodman's recent posting in Governing's blog, 13th Floor, "What's Good for the Michigoose...," a wry treatise on the proper way to refer to the residents of certain states.  Disagreement about whether residents of Arkansas are properly "Arkansans" (pronounced like the residents of Kansas) or "Arkansawyers" comes up in both stories.

Arkansas Rep. Steve Harrelson, who is the subject of the NPR story, is one of the legislator bloggers whom we link to in the right column of The Thicket.  The only posting that I found on his web site about this topic is a short story, "Just a little fair warning," that links to 18 places (including the Manchester Guardian) where the AP story on his resolution appeared.

South Dakota Legislature Adjourns

by Karl Kurtz

Oops, we missed another adjournment last week.  The South Dakota Legislature adjourned on March 6 after being marooned at the capitol in Pierre by a snowstorm over the previous weekend. They will return for a veto session on March 26.  The wrapup story in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader focuses mostly on the budget bill, which included a 5.4 percent increase over spending in the current fiscal year.  The legislature also approved a reduction in property taxes, using an offset from tobacco money to fund it.

I liked this quote from a legislator who serves on the joint appropriations committee, which meets every morning during session and far more than any other committee:

Democrat Sen. Julie Bartling of Burke told other senators that a lobbyist saw her entering the Capitol early one morning for an appropriations meeting and remarked that she was on her way to the Bat cave.

It's like that, being an appropriations member, Bartling mused. “You go to the Bat cave and after 39 days, you come out a hero.''

I'll add the bat cave to my list of metaphors for the legislative process--a topic for a future blog posting.