The Thicket at State Legislatures

It’s the Message that Matters Most

Telling your state legislator how you feel about a bill might be more effective than filling out a form. 

by Meagan Dorsch

Growing up, my mother used to say, “Just tell me how you feel.” This usually allowed us to explain why we were frustrated, angry, concerned or excited. She might have been onto something.

A recent story in the Florida Current shows that lawmakers and staff respond more to personal stories about how a law will affect constituents, rather than form letters or blanket emails.

Kevin Cate, a governmental public relations and campaign adviser in Florida, surveyed 52 House and Senate aides at the Florida Legislature and asked what “influences their bosses the most.” Cate noted face-to-face visits were cited by more than 99 percent of the staffers, followed by personal letters and personalized emails. It is also interesting to note that phone calls and visits by interest groups both ranked higher in Cate’s study than “visits by lobbyists.”

Four out of five staffers indicated that a personal story about how a bill would affect constituents was the most effective, followed by stories regarding the effect of legislation on a legislator's district.

NCSL has found more than 575 state legislators on Twitter, and Cate noted the power of social and new media. About two-thirds of the legislative staff surveyed in Florida noted that “comments on social media sites” were important, and that lawmakers used Facebook to gauge the public’s opinion online. They also use these sites to gather information. More than half of Florida's legislative staff rated Facebook and Twitter as either "effective" or "very effective."

Cate makes an important note in his study: The message you send is more important than the medium. But does this apply only to Florida's Legislature? The poll below contains some of the top advocacy strategies from Cate's study. Let us know what works best in your state.

What is the best way to communicate with state legislators?

In person

Individual Letter

Comment on Social Media

Email

or View Results

Create your own poll at Flisti.com

If Energy Inefficiency is the Problem, States Have the Solution

By Alex Fitzsimmons

As the peak energy season approaches, people bring up words like “energy efficiency” and “renewable energy” as partial solutions for rising energy prices. But in many statehouses, energy efficiency isn’t just a buzzword – it’s public policy.

Ever the laboratories of innovation, 27 states enacted more than 55 bills last year related to energy efficiency. According to NCSL, much of the legislation focused on financing energy efficiency upgrades.

A number of states – including California, Oklahoma and Texas – enacted bills related to revolving loan programs. As loans and interest are paid back, the revolving fund is replenished, creating the opportunity to issue more loans for new projects. Initial funding for these programs often comes from a combination of federal stimulus funds and state tax revenue.

Other states passed bills concerning grant programs. In Colorado, for example, homebuyers can now receive a grant to upgrade their existing home, as long as the new home they purchase is energy efficient. Virginia offers financial incentives to businesses that produce equipment used for energy conservation.

These are just a small sample of bills passed over the last year related to energy efficiency. NCSL’s “State Energy Efficiency Action Update” provides a comprehensive analysis of energy efficiency legislation.

Good News About Civic Education in Tennessee

Peter Levine, director of CIRCLE, a professor at Tufts University and a passionate advocate for civic learning, posted news from the Tennessee Legislature on his blog:

On April 27, the Tennessee legislature passed a bill that will require school districts to assess their students’ knowledge of civics by giving them assignments that are “student-influenced” and that involve an “inquiry process structured around complex, authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks.” These assignments will be used (once in grades 4-8 and a second time in grades 9-12) in lieu of written tests to find out whether Tennessee’s students can “demonstrate understanding and relevance of public policy, the structure of federal, state and local governments and both the Tennessee and the Untied States constitutions.”...

Testing and accountability generally pose a dilemma for civic education. If we don’t test civic knowledge and skills, they become afterthoughts in education, especially in schools where lots of kids are at risk of failing the subjects that are tested. But if we impose a new test, then (1) it becomes yet another way for students to fail, and (2) it encourages teachers to focus on the basic facts of government that are likely to be tested, even though there’s little evidence that learning these facts is motivating or that kids retain them later.

Project-based assessments are much more promising. Kids will have to do something with their civic knowledge, something that seems important to them. At a minimum, Tennessee’s bill is a very worthy experiment. The questions will be: What do kids learn? What kinds of instruction become common? And how reliable is the assessment?...

Credit apparently belongs to the indefatigable Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who met with two leading state legislators (Sen. Mark Norris and Rep. Kevin Brooks) earlier this year to encourage them to do something for civics. With the help of Janis Keyser, Executive Director of the Tennessee Center for Civic Learning & Engagement, the legislators wrote a really foresighted bill that passed in less than three months.

Pew: States Remain Popular, Feds Keep Falling

by Alex Fitzsimmons

Conventional wisdom says Americans don’t trust government. But a new survey may have state and local governments telling the feds: Speak for yourself!

While only a third of Americans view the federal government favorably, more than half hold favorable views of their state and local governments, according to the latest survey by the Pew Research Center.

The favorability gap is wider than ever. In 2002, about two-thirds of Americans held favorable views of all three levels of government. In the latest survey, the favorable rating of the federal government plummeted to 33 percent, while states and localities held steady at 52 percent and 61 percent, respectively.

As the Pew survey indicates, favorable ratings of government are sharply divided along partisan lines. While Republicans have an overwhelmingly dim view of the federal government (20 percent), they give their state government high marks (62 percent). On the other hand, slightly more than half of Democrats offer favorable ratings for both federal and state government.

Americans also believe their state government is more honest and less corrupt than the federal government. By a 49 to 37 percent margin, Americans describe their state government as “mostly honest” as opposed to “mostly corrupt.” In contrast, 54 percent of Americans view the federal government as “mostly corrupt,” while only 31 percent say it is “mostly honest.”

All three levels of government took a hit after the 2008 financial crisis, but states and localities have recovered while the federal government continues to decline. Now that states have leveled out, they can work on climbing back up.

Thinking about Economic Development? Mull it over with a Beer.

by Erica Michel

Photo credit: nealhknapp.com

When legislators think about expanding jobs and their economies, most probably don't immediately think of their neighborhood brewpub. However, according to a recent report by the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder and released by the Colorado Brewers Guild, they might want to think again.

The report found that the craft beer industry in Colorado was responsible for $446 million in economic activity in 2011. The industry generates 5,800 jobs in the state and $102 million in income. These jobs are often located in rural areas where other industries have been declining. The local breweries have also boosted Colorado's tourism industry. Colorado collects nearly $9 million from the Colorado beer excise tax, in addition to other business taxes the industry pays.

When speaking about the Colorado craft brewing industry, John Carlson, executive director of the Colorado Brewers Guild told the Denver Post, "Explosive growth [in the craft brewing industry] continues to have a huge economic effect on the state, with no signs of slowing down."

According to a 2009 report by the Connecticut General Assembly's Office of Legislative Research, some states regulate the craft or microbrewing industry separately from larger breweries. These laws determine how and where craft breweries may distribute and sell their beer and the amount they may produce to be considered a microbrewery. Microbreweries are generally defined as breweries that produce fewer than 15,000 barrels per year, although many states have a higher threshold for microbrewery status.

At least five states - Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana and Wisconsin—offer tax exemptions for microbreweries. Wisconsin's exemption was the first in 1973. Interestingly, Colorado does not offer tax exemptions for microbreweries.

So what legislative actions do craft brewers say can help expand their industry? According to the Colorado Brewers Guild report, lower taxes and increased access to financing top the list, with access to distribution channels and brewing equipment also noted as important.

Supreme Court Likely to Uphold Immigration Status Check

by Lisa Soronen

Yesterday the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Arizona v. United States. The Court will be deciding whether federal law preempts four provisions of Arizona’s immigration law. As NCSL’s Ann Morse pointed out to CNN, “[e]very state is dealing with immigration,” making this case relevant to state legislatures nationally. See if your state’s immigration law is similar to Arizona’s here.

Supreme Court reporters and observers seem to agree the Court will uphold the portion of Arizona’s law requiring police to check the immigration status of anyone stopped or arrested when there is “reasonable suspicion” the person is here unlawfully. If the federal government does not want to pursue deporting someone, Justice Roberts pointed out, it doesn’t have to. But several justices seemed concerned about the amount of time it would take to confirm someone’s immigration status.

Tom Goldstein predicts, in a SCOTUS blog posting, a possible unanimous ruling in favor of Arizona’s law, on the above issue as well as on whether immigrants can be arrested without a warrant if there is probable cause to believe they have committed a removable offense.

Because the Court focused so much time on the issue of police checking immigration status, reporters and court watchers seem less certain about the fate of the law’s provisions making it a crime for non-citizens to not carry documents proving they are here lawfully to seek work or hold a job. Both liberal and conservative justices appeared skeptical of these provisions.

Everyone agrees Justice Scalia is Arizona’s most staunch supporter. The Wall Street Journal blog described Kennedy as “not the easiest to read on the bench today.” Justice Kagan recused herself from the case. If the Court votes 4-4 on any issue, the Ninth Circuit’s ruling (against Arizona on all provisions) will stand.

According to NPR, George Washington Law Professor Jonathan Turley calls this Supreme Court term “the most significant term in the history of the court in defining federalism.” Stay tuned ... the Court will rule these cases by the last week of June.

Lisa Soronen is the executive director of the State & Local Legal Center in Washington, D.C.

Homeless, but not Voteless

by Wendy Underhill

As the 2012 election draws closer, voter registration is becoming newsworthy, and with it comes the question of who is eligible to vote. The usual criteria apply: Voters must be U.S. citizens, over the age of 18, and in compliance with state laws on felony status, mental competency and residency.

“Residency” refers to how long a person has been in a state, not the characteristics of the abode. In other words, being homeless does not disqualify a person from voting. In the 1980s, several courts affirmed that the lack of a residential address could not be used to deny a person the right to register to vote.

Since then, at least 11 states have added statutory language that directly addresses these rights for homeless people: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas and West Virginia.  Mainly, these states affirm that a mailing address for the purposes of voting can be a homeless shelter or other nontraditional place. Illinois’ statute goes further, saying, “Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prevent homeless individuals from registering to vote under the provisions of this Act.”

Yet, when one’s “permanent” abode is a park bench or a highway underpass, registering to vote can be tricky—as well as important. Besides a prerequisite for voting in all states except North Dakota, registering to vote provides an important benefit for homeless people.  “You get a paper card with your name on it even if you don’t have another ID,” says Michael Stoop, of the National Coalition for the Homeless.

Is the Transportation Reauthorization Traffic Jam Opening Up?

by Ben Husch

Late last week, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 4348 that extends authorization of the surface transportation program through September 30 and provides a path for the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. Although the bill is not expected to be signed by the president, it opens the way for the House and Senate to form a conference committee to begin direct negotiations over a long-term reauthorization.

The main contention between the two chambers centers on funding, as the current gas tax rate of 18.4 cents per gallon will not provide enough revenue to maintain current spending in the coming years. The two chambers have very different proposals for increasing revenue. The Senate bill would authorize a number of transfers from other funds to the Highway Trust Fund while the House version would rely on royalties from future offshore oil and gas leases.

Many members of Congress see the movement toward a conference committee as a positive step. U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, however, is not as enthused, noting “I wish I could say we’ll get a transportation bill [in the next six months], but I know we won’t … not before the election.”

Unified Message For Congress: Reauthorize ESEA

By Lee Posey

State and local organizations have a unified message for Congress: reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education act!

NCSL has joined with nine other organizations to form a coalition to lobby for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The “State and Local Governance Coalition” is launching an unprecedented coordinated campaign to encourage Congress to push forward on completing work on this important law.

Organizations in the coalition, in addition to NCSL, include: National Governors Association, The Council of State Governments, National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, The U.S. Conference of Mayors, International City/County Management Association, Council of Chief State School Officers, National Association of State Boards of Education and National School Boards Association.

Both the U.S. House and Senate have passed ESEA reauthorization legislation in their respective education committees, but congressional action before the full chambers has stalled. An initial letter to the Hill on February 6 reiterated the need for congressional “leadership and urgency” and urged Congress to remove restrictive and unnecessary federal policies that limit innovation at the state and local level.

The letter enumerated several basic principles the coalition supports:
•    Greater flexibility for state and local leaders in terms of education accountability structures
•    Increased flexibility in using federal education funds
•    Recognition of state and local budget challenges
•    Streamlining of federal red tape and compliance requirements
•    Streamlining of the NCLB waiver process

To build momentum around reauthorization, representatives of the coalition have been meeting with staff of the relevant congressional committees and subcommittees. Following the Hill visits, the coalition will continue a communication strategy designed help members of Congress understand that policymakers at the state, local and school district level need certainty in federal policy at a time when they are struggling with reallocating scarce education resources to fund what works. And they need federal policy that encourages state and local innovation instead of focusing on process and compliance.

In the absence of congressional action on ESEA, many states have turned to the immediate flexibility offered by the U.S. Department of Education through the waiver process. While the waivers have provided temporary relief from specific provisions of the law for some states, the states that haven’t qualified for the waivers are left struggling to meet the unreasonable requirements of NCLB.

Photo courtesy of iStock

Congress Kicks Can on Transportation, Another 3 Month Extension

What it Means for States

By Jon Kuhl

On Thursday, March 29, the House and Senate agreed to kick the can down the road and give themselves a three-month extension before agreeing on a longer-term transportation bill. This latest deal marks the ninth such extension since the previous transportation law expired in 2009.

 

In a short video interview, NCSL Committee Director Ben Husch discusses what this means for states, and how likely a more permanent solution may be in the midst of an election year.