The Thicket at State Legislatures

Student documentary 'Rubber and Glass Diplomacy' recounts the birth of Nebraska’s Unicameral legislature

By Katie Ziegler

Nebraska students Justin Myers and William Scheopner produced a lively 10-minute documentary about U. S. Senator George Norris’s efforts to create the nation’s only unicameral legislature.

Norris campaigned back and forth across the state to rally support for the 1934 ballot measure that abolished one chamber of the legislature and made the body nonpartisan. He felt that the two-house system was inefficient, expensive, and unresponsive to voters. Norris wrote, “there is no logical argument in favor of a two-house legislature. Through the conference committee, the politicians have the checks, and special interests have the balances.” Though he served in the Congress for 40 years, Norris’s goal in Nebraska was “to put the politicians out of business.”

from Capitol.org

It was an uphill battle. Only a small minority of the current state senators and representatives favored adopting the unicameral system, and just two of the state’s more than 400 newspapers editorialized in favor of the change. But Norris and his campaign partner, political science professor John Senning, emerged victorious at the polls.

Though Norris and Senning advised other states on their own pushes for unicameral legislatures, Nebraska remains unique among the 50 states today.

Kudos to Myers and Scheopner for their interest in state legislative history and for their excellent work on this documentary!

 

Longtime Florida House Sergeant at Arms Earnie Sumner Receives Emotional Farewell Upon His Retirement

By Morgan Cullen

 

Earnie Sumner, right, with Deputy House Sergeant at Arms Marty McDonald in the House chamber on Earnie’s last day of session.

Longtime Florida House Sergeant at Arms and NCSL Officer, Earnest “Earnie” Sumner will be retiring next month after 42 years of legislative service.  Earnie began his distinguished career with the Florida Legislature in 1971 as an OPS (part time) employee and was named House Sergeant at Arms by Speaker Daniel Webster in 1998.  Over the course of his career, Earnie served the Florida House of Representatives for 138 legislative sessions in a variety of capacities.

Maintaining chamber security and decorum, keeping up capitol properties and facilities, coordinating office moves and travel logistics, overseeing emergency planning and meeting the daily needs of the chamber’s 120 members are just some of the responsibilities that Earnie consistently managed on a daily basis.  Last week, the House honored Earnie’s career with an official House resolution and no fewer than four standing ovations from the members he has served for so many years.  Speaker Will Weatherford also announced that a House Meeting Room would be named “Sumner Hall” in Earnie’s honor.    

In addition to his storied career in the Florida House, Earnie was also very active at NCSL for many years.  In 1978, Earnie became a member of the National Legislative Services and Security Association (NLSSA), one of NCSL’s 10 staff sections committed to the professional development of security and services personnel throughout the country.  Over his 34 years with NLSSA, Earnie served on the organization’s executive board in a number of capacities, including two terms as NLSSA president (2006-2008).    

As a member of NLSSA, Earnie maintained a strong commitment to the legislative institution and was dedicated to the professional development of new staff members both in Florida and around the country.  Earnie understood the importance of developing new talent and viewed NCSL as an opportunity to pass on the professional expertise he had acquired over his career.  It was through this commitment that Earnie was awarded all three of the organization’s service awards, the Legislative Staff Achievement Award (2002), The John Everhardt “Trooper” Award (2003) and the Tony Beard Memorial Award (2008). 

 

Earnie Sumner

Earnie also served NCSL on the Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee (LSCC) and the Executive Committee where he made the continued development of legislative staff a top priority.  NCSL Executive Director, Bill Pound was sad to hear that NCSL would be losing such a valued asset.  “Earnie Sumner’s well deserved retirement is a loss not only to the Florida House, but to NLSSA and NCSL. Earnie has been a leader of NLSSA for many years and represented the staff section and Florida well on the NCSL Executive Committee. It is gratifying to see the recognition accorded him by the Florida House on his retirement.”

 

Oklahoma Senators Look Great in Pink

All the members of the Oklahoma Senate wore pink last Tuesday in honor of breast cancer awareness day, as shown in this great photo.

A rose from The Thicket to Caroline Dennis.

Slicing and Dicing Long Voter Lines

By Wendy Underhill

Election day voter lines in Prince Georges County, Va. Photo credit: DaleCityPatch

We've read a lot about long lines for voting since November's presidential election. (In fact, we've written a lot about them: see The Canvass, NCSL's elections-related newsletter, and State Legislatures, NCSL's flagship publication.)

Recently, we came across an analysis of voter lines that is more about seeing than reading. It is a humongous set of slides that slice and dice polling place data from Prince William County, Va., slides that "show" more than they "tell."

Some voters in Prince William County waited until after 10 pm to vote last November. Not surprisingly, a post mortem was ordered, and the job was handed to a bipartisan team, with poll worker Kim Brace as one of the team. (Brace is better known as the president of Election Data Services, Inc., a political consulting firm specializing in data relating to redistricting and election administration, but here he was acting in his civic role.)

The slides are worth reviewing for two key reasons. First, his data and maps show what factors correlated with long lines in Prince William county:

• More registered voters per precinct
• A greater proportion of new voters
• More voters who needed attention from a chief election judge (to confirm addresses, vote a provisional ballot or to deal with other special circumstances).

Brace makes no claim that we can extrapolate from Prince William's experience to other regions or jurisdictions. Each viewer can decide if these factors are worth considering on our own turf.

Second, the presentation gives us an idea of what data can do to help election administrators plan ahead. Brace's stuff is a Cadillac production that would be hard for most people to match, but others can at least roll out a Chevy version of election data analysis. It begins with gathering data, much of which is probably already on hand. What time do voters arrive? How much experience do the poll workers have? Which precincts have the highest number of newly registered voters? Then those data can be presented in various ways to see what conclusions jump out. Tables and bar charts are standard; to move up to mapping, administrators may need to tap GIS specialists, whether they work for other departments or are volunteers like Brace.

Lawmakers can help in at least two ways. They can permit jurisdictions to use electronic poll books, which are essentially laptops that speed voter check-in and automatically gather data; and they can set reporting requirements or standards for data collection.

From Campaigning to Legislating: Tips from the Trenches

By Wendy Underhill

Legislative careers start with campaigns—but the skills and attitudes that help during election season don't necessarily translate to actually legislating. At least, that was the perspective of participants in "Campaigning to Legislating," a legislative effectiveness session at NCSL's Spring Forum last week.

"Especially the first time, for the first six months you keep thinking you're still on the campaign trail," said Rep. Angel Matos of Puerto Rico.

Speaker Terie Norelli

"When I come into the legislature after a tough campaign, it's hard not to hold a grudge," said Terie Norelli, president of NCSL and speaker of the House in New Hampshire. She noted that campaigns have gotten tougher, more personal and sometimes even ugly in the last decade.

How to cross the divide between campaigning and serving? Building and developing relationships is the only route to success, she says. In her state, where party control shifted in 2006, 2010 and again in 2012, she has operating with a commitment that "we're going to work in a bipartisan manner." Her specific efforts include:

• A weekly meeting with caucus leaders from both parties.
• Occasional gatherings of small groups from her 400-member chamber, such as fifteen people from the 160-member freshman class, or a dinner with all female leaders.
• Providing committee chair training from NCSL, and including ranking members as well.

Speaker Pro Tem Eric Turner

The Indiana House has changed partisan control more often than any other chamber in the country over the last thirty years, and "that means every race counts and campaigns can be expensive and mean," said Representative Eric Turner, speaker pro tem of the House.

And yet once in the statehouse, "you can always find something to agree on," he says. One approach he has used to get beyond partisanship is to offer to work on bills that members of the opposite party are sponsoring—even if 80 percent of issues would have him on the opposite side from the other lawmaker. He has even offered to be the lead sponsor when a bill would have a better success when it comes from his caucus.

Like Norelli, Turner sees relationships as vital: "It's okay to speak from the floor and disagree, and then have dinner together that night."

Fiscal Forecast: Some Good News, Some Bad News and Lots of Uncertainty

By Ed Smith

One puzzling aspect of the federal budget cuts known as sequestration is that for all the arguing in Washington, D.C., about how they will affect the economy, most Americans have seen little change in their day-to-day lives.

A session at NCSL's Spring Forum on Friday afternoon, however, made clear state lawmakers know the effects are significant and mounting.

During a briefing on how sequestration is affecting states from NCSL's Michael Bird, legislator after legislator brought up concerns they are hearing from their constituents. The list runs the gamut, from Head Start to military spending, from food programs for the elderly to general aviation, from loss of federal jobs to the cancellation of military flyovers at summer festivals.

"The only thing that can stop this is if the Republicans and Democrats, and the White House and Congress, come to some sort of agreement," Bird said, to laughter from the audience. "And you have a huge stake in this."

The downbeat news on how the sequester will affect states followed relatively positive reports on the overall state of the economy and specifically on the state of state budgets.

Alison Felix, an economist with the Denver branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, noted the housing market is rebounding across the country, the labor market is expanding and consumer spending is continuing to hold up,

"We did see growth as we first emerged from the recession from the federal government," she said. "As government generally has pulled back, private industry has filled some of the gap."

But, she warned, that private growth is "facing headwinds from the cutback in federal spending."

At the state level, the outlook has the same blend of positive signs, uncertainty over the strength of the recovery and concern about how federal action will affect states.

Corina Eckl, NCSL's director of State Services, pointed to NCSL's latest "State Budget Update," which found "states continue to move along the same path of slow and steady growth that has gradually brought them out of the economic nadir. The general outlook of state officials is one of stability, with a dose of uncertainty."

Even with revenue projections meeting or exceeding expectations in most states, Eckl said, there was plenty of concern about the future.

Lawmakers in the room pointed to several areas of worry aside from the possible effects of the sequester. They included revenues from oil and gas production, which cut both ways depending on your state. In Oklahoma, severance taxes helped the state exceed its revenue projections, while Alaska reported its revenues dropping along with production. Others said that while personal income taxes collections were up in FY 2013, it could be a sign of trouble ahead since many people decided to take capital gains before the end of 2012 because of uncertainty over tax policy.

Another issue "is the 13 states that are failing to meet their sales tax forecast," Eckl said, pointing to that as one of the key concerns in the "State Budget Update."

Lawmakers do have some ways of pushing back against the federal cutbacks, Bird said, mainly by urging their their congressional delegations to back some key measures, such as the Marketplace Fairness Act, which the Senate will vote on Monday. That legislation would offer states some help by collecting up to $23 billion a year in collected revenue on online and other remote sales.

It won't solve all the fiscal woes states face, Bird said, but it's a start.

Fracking at the Spring Forum: Panelists drill down for answers

By Mark Wolf

Hydraulic fracturing, the practice of extracting natural gas by using pressurized liquid to fracture rocks and commonly known as “fracking,”  presents great opportunities if done well­—and significant problems if not. Such was the framework the participants sketched during “The Natural Gas Bonanza,” a general session at NCSL’s Spring Forum.

“The controversy goes back to the advent of hydraulic fracturing,” said former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, now director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University.

"We’ve had modernization of the rules but they haven’t kept up with the technology,” said Ritter, who acknowledged his administration “made some mistakes” in dealing with the issue.

Ritter said his message to states, the industry and environmentalists was that “We’re not going to see a cessation of this activity in America. It is important from an environmental and economic perspective,” and that questions have to be answered about whether it can be done in an environmentally friendly way.

Scott Moore, vice president of marketing for Anadarko Petroleum Company, said fracturing, “is a highly-engineered, safe and proven technology that takes place miles underground.”

Dan Grossman, regional director for the Environmental Defense Fund's Rocky Mountain Regional Office in Boulder, Colo., who served 10 years in the Colrado General Assembly, said natural gas has the potential for creating less air pollution than coal but was fraught with risk, including ground- and surface-water contamination if not done correctly.

He said the industry must be held to zero tolerance standards regarding the emission of methane.

Tisha Conoly Schuller, president and chief executive officer of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, advised legislators “to educate yourself, which is yeoman’s work. Be cognizant of the noisiness. What’s the experience of places that have had this activity?”

'The Silver Tsunami' offers challenges, opportunities

James Johnson Jr. discusses the "Silver Tsunami" during the opening general session of NCSL's Spring Forum

 

 

By Mark Wolf

Everyone knows America is getting older: hip one day, hip replacement the next. Baby boomers are becoming seniors at a dizzying rate and birth rates are down. We may not be far from centenarians standing on their front porches and yelling at octogenarians, “You kids get off my grass.”

James Johnson Jr. captivated the opening general session of NCSL’s Spring Forum with a mix of statistics (the 65-plus demographic grew 12.8 percent in the 2010 census while the 25-44 group lost 2.2 percent), anecdotes (“CVS dropped the height of their shelves to accommodate the aging population”) and projections for the impact on society that spanned from dire to optimistic.

Eschewing the podium and wading into the crowd of attendees as if he was engaging an eager classroom, the professor at the Kenan Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina, touched on a wide variety of social and economic impacts of “The Silver Tsunami.”

“We are in the midst of a profound demographic transition,” said Johnson, adding that every region and every state is part of the process.

Calling the South the “cat’s meow” of demographic revival, Johnson noted that it had recorded slightly more than half (51.4 percent) of the nation’s growth from 2000 to 2009. ‘And somebody loses in that equation,” he said.

A rapid increase in “marrying out” (couples marrying across racial and ethnic lines) is contributing to what he called “the browning of America” and will lead to a dramatic transformation in families.

“Children (of these families) who walk in school doors will be radically different,” he said.

Healthier living habits and the promise of regenerative medicine are expected to make the aging population even older, which, combined with a lower birth rate producing fewer young workers,  presents tremendous challenges including the sustainability of Social Security.

“We need every young person we can get and we need to educate them to the best of our abilities,” he said.

Eldercare, he said, is going to require dramatic transformations in society. “Childcare is routineized. You drop them off at 8, pick them up at 5. Eldercare is 24/7 365 days.  Today, work organizes our lives. In the future, life will organize work. We are going to have to be agile and flexible organizations to accommodate.”

Still, Johnson stressed, the “silver tsunami” can offer huge opportunities for innovation and job creation, especially in fields designed to help seniors stay in their homes and to prevent falls: “The longer we can keep people in their homes, the better off they’re going to be and we’re going to be.”

Trying to transform mental health treatment

By Ed Smith

"I'm here representing the largest mental health institutions in the United States--local jails and state prisons."

That was how Sheriff Grayson Robinson, of Arapahoe County in Colorado, opened his remarks Thursday at NCSL's Spring Forum session "Revisiting Mental Health Needs and Services."

"There's one sadder comment," Robinson added. "We are ill-prepared to do that service that is expected of us."

The remarks were poignant in a state that has experienced its share of tragedies, from the Columbine High School attack in 1999 to last summer's mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, that later were shown to have links to mental illness. The session also came as the Colorado legislature is considering a package of mental health bills in the wake of the movie theater shooting.

Robinson said he was hopeful that the legislation now under consideration--the $19 million package includes an expansion of crisis response, community treatment and treatment in jails--would reduce recidivism.

"If you look at the recidivism rate, it has to do with addiction and mental health. That should be a signal to all of us that we're not doing something right," Robinson said. "If we gave them more treatment in the jail, when they leave maybe there will be less chance of them coming back."

Lisa Clements, director of Colorado's Office of Behavioral Health, said Governor John Hickenlooper's commitment will make a difference.

 "Now we're looking at how to get crisis response out to every Coloradan" regardless of where that person lives, their income or other circumstances.

Don Mares, CEO and president of Mental Health America of Colorado, said he believed those backing the mental health legislation in the state were committed to long term pursuit of the issue. And appropriately so, he added, since mental health issues affect one-quarter of people in the country.

"I think that it impacts us all," said Mares, a former state legislator. "It's part of being a human being. It's part of who we are."

Despite the challenge today in passing legislation addressing behavioral health issues, Mares said it's a transformation from 20 years ago when he was promoting a mental health-related legislation.

Two decades ago, for many people such legislation was "a complete waste of money." Now, he added,  we're at point where "people think it's real."

Safe, confidential ways of reporting threatening behavior are crucial

Senator John W. Ford of Oklahoma moderated the panel, which included Susan Payne of Safe2tell

 

By Mark Wolf

 If society wants people to “see something and say something” when they observe a potentially dangerous or threatening situation, they must be provided with safe and confidential ways to do it.

 That was the message Susan Payne delivered to the “Can Violence Be Prevented?” session on the first day of NCSL’s Spring Forum.

 Payne is a veteran law enforcement officer and founding executive director of Safe2tell, a Colorado hotline that allows people to report  any threatening behaviors or activities endangering themselves or someone they know. By state law, all safe2tell reporters are unknown (83 percent of the reports are transmitted electronically).

 Payne, director of Safe Schools for the Colorado attorney general, said 93 percent of perpetrators of targeted school violence exhibited concerning behavior before the attack and that in 81% of those incidents, someone knew it was going to happen but failed to report it.

 “Bystanders are the key. They are the witnesses,” said Payne. “We have to encourage them and educate them with a way to speak up when someone’s life is in danger.”

 Schools and communities need to do a survey on the climate of the school to determine if they are safe, said William Woodward, director of training and technical assistance at the University of Colorado’s Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence.

  “If your schools aren’t doing climate surveys, it would be like you going to the doctor and him saying, ‘You look kind of peaked today, take four aspirin. Before you can go into a school and say this program will fix it or that program will fix it you have to have a survey,” said Woodward, who also shared research on risk factors for adolescent problem behaviors.

 

Safe, confidential ways of reporting threatening behavior are crucial

Senator John W. Ford of Oklahoma moderated the panel, which included Susan Payne of Safe2tell

 

By Mark Wolf

 If society wants people to “see something and say something” when they observe a potentially dangerous or threatening situation, they must be provided with safe and confidential ways to do it.

 That was the message Susan Payne delivered to the “Can Violence Be Prevented?” session on the first day of NCSL’s Spring Forum.

 Payne is a veteran law enforcement officer and founding executive director of Safe2tell, a Colorado hotline that allows people to report  any threatening behaviors or activities endangering themselves or someone they know. By state law, all safe2tell reporters are unknown (83 percent of the reports are transmitted electronically).

 Payne, director of Safe Schools for the Colorado attorney general, said 93 percent of perpetrators of targeted school violence exhibited concerning behavior before the attack and that in 81% of those incidents, someone knew it was going to happen but failed to report it.

 “Bystanders are the key. They are the witnesses,” said Payne. “We have to encourage them and educate them with a way to speak up when someone’s life is in danger.”

 Schools and communities need to do a survey on the climate of the school to determine if they are safe, said William Woodward, director of training and technical assistance at the University of Colorado’s Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence.

  “If your schools aren’t doing climate surveys, it would be like you going to the doctor and him saying, ‘You look kind of peaked today, take four aspirin. Before you can go into a school and say this program will fix it or that program will fix it you have to have a survey,” said Woodward, who also shared research on risk factors for adolescent problem behaviors.

 

Elections—and Rules—Have Consequences

By Karen Shanton

When Republicans flipped the Arkansas General Assembly from blue to red in 2012, they didn't just gain a legislative majority. They also picked up the power to override gubernatorial vetoes. 

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe

With a Democrat, Mike Beebe, in the governor's mansion, this wasn't likely to be an inconsequential shift. And it's already starting to have some consequences. Earlier this year, Governor Beebe vetoed bills banning early-term abortions and requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls. Those vetoes were promptly overridden. Last week's trio of election reform vetoes faces a similar override threat. 

Arkansas is uniquely positioned for veto overrides. It's one of just three states–with Missouri and Rhode Island–to emerge from the 2012 election with both a veto-proof legislature and divided government (government in which the governor's mansion and one or both legislative chambers are held by different parties). And it's the only one of the three with a simple majority override requirement. Rhode Island legislators need three-fifths of the vote to override a gubernatorial veto. Missourians have to muster two-thirds. 

But some of the morals of this case should resonate in other states. The Arkansas example clearly illustrates the old political saw, "elections have consequences." Voter ID and abortion ban proposals like the ones that passed over Governor Beebe's vetoes this year stalled in the pre-election, Democrat-controlled Assembly. And Governor Beebe's veto count jumped from zero last biennium to six so far in the new biennium.

The Arkansas case also illustrates a new twist on the old saw: legislative rules have consequences. Republicans hold a mere simple majority of the Arkansas General Assembly. So, if Arkansas followed Missouri's or even Rhode Island's lead on veto override requirements, its policy landscape might have looked quite different than it currently does.

NCSL President-elect Senator Bruce Starr Tells House Subcommittee How MAP-21 is Faring At State Level

By Ben Husch

NCSL President-elect Senator Bruce Starr (R-Ore.) told a House subcommittee on Thursday how the implementation of Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21^st Century Act (MAP-21) is faring at the state level. MAP-21 was enacted in 2012 and governs the funding and authorization of federal surface and transportation spending.

Testifying before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, Starr discussed how states are being affected by a number of changes within MAP-21, including the development of national performance measures, program consolidation and the expansion of the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA).

He stressed the need for the federal government to establish a cooperative process through which the performance measures can be crafted. Starr urged the U.S. Department of Transportation to recognize and build off the extensive work states have already completed.

Reporting on states’ satisfaction with program consolidation, Starr explained how it’s allowing states to make it easier for users to acquire funding without having to submit multiple grant applications to multiple programs.  Regarding TIFIA, Starr highlighted how his home state of Oregon is working with the state of Washington to develop a proposal that would increase overall funding for the construction of the I-5 Columbia River Crossing.

During a question-and-answer session with subcommittee members following his testimony, Starr highlighted how states are engaged in numerous efforts to increase funding for transportation programs, ranging from increasing gasoline taxes to indexing current tax rates to implementing new sales taxes. He also urged the committee to look at other forms of funding, including the pilot projects Oregon has taken part in that charge users different amounts based on the number of miles they travel.

The future of transportation will be a major area of focus for the Energy, Transportation and Agriculture Committee next week at the NCSL Spring Forum in Denver, Colorado.

Ben Husch is the committee director of the NCSL Energy, Transportation and Agriculture Committee.

 

The Regular Order

By Karl Kurtz

In another excellent column in his "Comments on Congress" series, former Indiana Congressman Lee Hamilton laments the demise of the "regular order" of passing appropriations bills in the Congress. He points out:

The last time Congress passed a regular-order budget, not an omnibus spending bill, was 1997. Though it was far from a tidy process, its abandonment, I believe, is what has produced our current mess.

Few current members have any experience with the regular order:

Talking to a group of younger members recently, I realized they’d had no experience of following regular procedures to craft a budget. They’ve spent their congressional careers watching the leadership put it together in an ad-hoc, crisis-fueled manner. True budget-making skills on Capitol Hill are eroding. It’s in danger of becoming a lost art.

Then he goes on to explain what the regular order is:

The President submits a budget on time (not two months late, as President Obama has just done). Then congressional committees and subcommittees take it up, dividing their work according to the departments of government — agriculture, defense, transportation and the like. They hold hearings, call witnesses, explore what the executive branch has done with its money in the past, and consider its plans for the future. They debate and draft their own proposals, and allow amendments from both parties. Once the full committee acts, its measure goes to the floor for further debate, amendments, and a vote. Eventually, the bills arrived at separately by the House and the Senate get reconciled and go to the President to be signed.

Hmm...sounds like the process that most governors and state legislatures follow, doesn't it? The states vary as to whether they pass their budgets in a single or multiple appropriations bills, but the great majority of them follow the procedure that Hamilton outlines as the regular order. A few state legislatures may occasionally leave it to the top leaders to work out a deal in the governor's office on the thorniest issues while the other members twiddle their thumbs. But even when that  happens, the committees in those legislatures usually follow a meaningful process of public hearings, debate, negotiation and compromise that shapes the bulk of the budget decisions.

Unusually High Levels of Straight Ticket Voting in 2012

By Karl Kurtz

Writing in Sabato's Crystal Ball, Kyle Kondik notes that almost all congressional seats in the country were won by the same party that carried the presidential vote in that district:

One needs little more than just fingers and toes to count the number of House members who represent districts won by the other party’s presidential candidate in 2012. ...[J]ust 25 House members--nine Democrats and 16 Republicans--hold such “crossover” districts. Compare that to 2004, when there were 59 such seats, or 2008, when there were 83.

Although the historical data are incomplete, the 25 crossover seats are probably the fewest number after a presidential election in nearly a century. The group includes some of the longest-serving members of the House, who have established deep roots that have allowed them to fend off challengers and build strong identities in their districts. In many of these districts, the challenging party simply must play a waiting game, hoping for a retirement that creates an open seat contest.

I don't have the data to compare these congressional results to state legislative races, but I noticed something similar in looking at party control of legislatures at the legislative chamber level. In the 26 states that President Obama won, Democrats control 38 of the 52 legislative chambers. And in the 23 states that Gov. Romney won (excluding Nebraska and its nonpartisan unicameral legislature) an even more remarkable margin of chambers (44-3) went in favor of Republicans.

In all states not listed above, the majority party in the legislature also carried the state's presidential vote.

Like Kondik, I don't know if this is a record, but I suspect that it is at least close to one. In a forthcoming article in State Legislatures magazine, I go more deeply into the causes (and consequences) of this more polarized political landscape. But in the meantime, the always pithy Larry Sabato has a simple explanation, "The electorate itself does what the straight party levers in voting machines used to do."

You can Find any Occupation you Want among America’s Legislators

By Martyanne Donovan

What do a train conductor, an inventor, a jewelry designer, and an Eskimo whaler have in common? They are all part of 2013's new class of freshmen legislators. The group brings a diverse background, a variety of experience, and a good set of skills to their respective statehouses after spending years of service in their communities.

Blanket toss in Barrow from Wikipedia

Alaska Representative Benjamin Nageak (D), an Inupiat (Eskimo) from Barrow, is a whaler. He and his fellow shipmates fish the mammal during the spring in a boat made from whale skins. Once caught, they skin the whale and freeze the meat until June when the Eskimo community celebrates a "Nalukataq" or feast. The entire community is invited to partake in the meal and day-long events, including "blanket tossing" using the whale skin.

Wyoming State Representative, Lee Filer (D), is a conductor for Union Pacific and a transportation technician for the 153^rd Airlift Squadron.

Karin Housley (R), a newly elected Minnesota senator and her husband, Phil, a former NHL player, are part-owners of the Lumberyard Hockey & Sports Training Facility in Stillwater.

Oklahoma Representative Bobby Cleveland (R), has manufactured all kinds of things including refurbished golf balls. Cleveland is also an inventor, holding two patents and more than 10 trademarks.

Before her leadership service, Georgia's Representative, Valencia Stovall helped with the day-to-day operations for the 1996 Olympic Games, events for the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks and the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. Additionally, Stovall helped manage the U2 and Rolling Stones concerts.

Vermont Representative, Cindy Humiston Weed created pinewood toys several years before switching her career to jewelry design. Weed still uses wood products for her pieces; she was featured in 1992's edition of Fine Woodworking's Design Book #6.

Arkansas' Representative Micah Neal (R), is a restaurateur. He worked for years at his family-owned eatery, Neals Café in the famous "pink" building in Springdale. Neals Café was listed in Southern Living in 2004 as one of the best places in the country to eat fried chicken. Their fried pickles also come highly recommended.

Before joining the legislature, Washington's Representative, Gael Tarleton (D), worked for a Fortune 500 company managing two subsidiaries in Russia. She helped lead nuclear waste clean-up in the country and assisted in rebuilding Russia after the fall of communism.

If you know of a legislator with an interesting background or career, please tell us.

States Have Many Ways to Verify Voters

By Karen Shanton and Wendy Underhill

Voter ID laws have been back in the news in recent weeks. Governor Bob McDonnell signed a bill at the end of March that tightened Virginia's ID requirements. Arkansas' GOP General Assembly kicked off April by overriding Democratic Governor Mike Beebe's photo ID veto. And voter ID bills are advancing in Missouri, North Dakota and Oklahoma.

Though voter ID is grabbing headlines, not all states have jumped on board. As of this writing, voters in 20 states can cast a ballot in person on Election Day without showing an ID document. In place of ID documents, these states use "non-documentary" ID requirements, such as affidavits and biographical information, to check voter identity and eligibility. (Click to enlarge the map below.)

NCSL has compiled information about non-documentary ID requirements in a new Voter Verification Without ID Documents webpage. The page provides an overview of statutory requirements for voter verification. This supplements our existing library of voter ID resources, which includes (among others):

• Voter ID: State Requirements: An overview of states' current voter ID requirements, recent and pending ID legislation and updates on ID developments.
• Voter ID: 2013 Legislation: A detailed list of ID bills under consideration in the current legislative session.
• Voter ID: What's Next? A panel discussion on the future of ID laws, from NCSL's 2012 Legislative Summit.
• Costs of Voter ID: A summary of expenses commonly associated with ID laws.
• 2011-2013 Elections Legislation Database: A searchable database of past and pending legislation on a range of elections-related topics, including voter ID.

For more information about documentary or non-documentary voter ID requirements, send us an email.

After 52 Years in the Virginia House of Delegates, Lacey Putney Retires

By Michael Bird

Photo from the Richmond Times-Dispatch

The price of gas was 31 cents per gallon. First-class postage stamps sold for 4 cents. The Dow Jones hit a high of 734. 183 million people made the United States home. The year was 1961.

It was also the first year Lacey Putney, a native of Bedford County, Virginia, served in the Virginia House of Delegates.

On April 3, 2013, Delegate Putney bid adieu to his colleagues in a stirring floor statement. He served 26 consecutive terms in the Virginia House, a number currently unmatched by any of his House colleagues around the country.

The outgoing chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee worked with 14 governors. He started a Democrat, became an Independent in 1968 and caucused with Republicans in his latter terms. And, while he worked with six Speakers of the House, he had a stint as acting Speaker of the Virginia House in 2002 prior to the election of Bill Howell, the current Speaker.

“When I first came, I was told that the service here would be a part of my life forever — a very important and rich part of it. I never knew it would be so true,” Putney said. “I never knew it would be so true,” Putney told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Michael Bird works in NCSL’s Washington, D.C. office as senior federal affairs counsel, and is the NCSL's liaison to the Virginia General Assembly.

Anecdotes, Data and Elections

By Wendy Underhill

The most recent issue of The Canvass, NCSL’s election-related newsletter, had a lead article entitled “Measuring Elections: Data, Not Anecdotes.”

Little did I know as I wrote it that the title was close to both a quote and a frequent misquote.  Apparently the correct quote is “the plural of anecdote is data,” and the misquote is “the plural of anecdote is not data.” 

At the very same time we were putting the finishing touches on The Canvass last week, the folks at Electionline Weekly were publishing an article by Steve Weir, recently retired clerk-recorder from Contra Costa County, Calif.  In it, Weir says:

There are two major observations that I have had during my 24 years as County Clerk-Recorder. First, the people who work in elections are extremely dedicated and ethical. Second, we have in our hands access to a wealth of data that we should use to tell our story. However, many of us miss the opportunity to review and to “own” our data.

Weir worked at the local level, but his words apply equally well at the state or national level.  Indeed, similar sentiments underpin the Pew Charitable Trusts’ new  Elections Performance Index. This tool makes data easily accessible to lawmakers and election officials to help them assess which policies are working effectively and where they might want to go in the future.

The Canvass provides lots more details about the Elections Performance Index and other efforts to use data to measure election administration. I’ll just add here, “Try it. You’ll like it.”

Expulsions of State Legislators are Rare

The expulsion of a member from a state legislature is a fairly rare event. Last week's expulsion of Steven Brooks as a member of the Nevada Assembly brought the total number of legislators expelled from state legislatures to 19 during the last 50 years. Here's the list:Going back to 1757, our historical list includes another 19 state or colonial legislators expelled before 1963 or a total of 38 throughout American history.

A rose from The Thicket to Brenda Erickson.

Presidential Election Commission: It's Official

By Wendy Underhill and Karen Shanton

On Thursday, President Obama signed an executive order creating the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. This  isn’t a surprise, given that he mentioned it in February’s State of the Union speech.  It’s good, though, to see the details.  One especially good point:

The commission is “to be informed by, and shall strive to avoid duplicating, the efforts of other governmental agencies.”

In this regard, the work of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the Federal Voting Assistance Program and state election directors and local administrators should all be considered. 

We hope and expect that the extensive work done by organizations that are not, strictly speaking, governmental agencies will be considered as well.  Three that come to mind are the National Association of Secretaries of State, the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Election Initiatives and the CalTech-MIT Voting Technology Project.

As for NCSL, we have deep resources on most of the election administration issues that the commission will consider. We paraphrase those issues here, and provide links to a sample NCSL resource on each topic. For those areas where we don’t have research posted, you can be sure we’re working on it behind the scenes.

Polling place management

Poll worker recruitment and training

Assisting military and overseas voters

Managing voter rolls and poll books

Voting equipment and technology

Ballot design and Voter education

Voting accessibility for people with special needs

Provisional ballots

Absentee ballots

Election Day emergencies

We look forward to whatever the next steps may be for the commission. We imagine that the very next step will be appointing members (the co-chairs are Republican Ben Ginsberg and Democrat Bob Bauer). Because state lawmakers bear primary responsibility for shaping election laws, we hope they will have a voice on the commission.

African Delegates Inspire Stimulating Discussion About Ethics and Freedom

By Jane Andrade

Delegates from 11 African countries visited NCSL to discuss a variety of issues.

Delegates from 11 African countries challenged NCSL staffers with thought-provoking  philosophical questions during a visit to the Denver office March 26. They came to learn about NCSL’s mission, how state legislatures promote ethics and transparency, and trends in social media. The delegates were particularly interested in the ethical implications of using social media, restricting lobbyists and avoiding conflicts of interest in a country that values personal freedom so highly.

Natalie O’Donnell Wood, of the NCSL Center for Ethics in Government, said states have passed a wide variety of laws that attempt to curb improper influence while balancing legislators’ rights and obligations to make decisions in the public interest. When one delegate wanted to understand the pitfalls of such a free society, NCSL Legislative Management Director Brian Weberg said, “There used to be a saying that information is a scarce resource. That is no longer true. Now, attention is a scarce resource.” He said American institutions like NCSL and state legislatures are challenged to communicate authentically and to make sure their voices are heard in an increasingly noisy culture. And in doing so, they must gain—and keep—trust in their interactions with constituents.

The international guests are participating in a whirlwind tour of America as part of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership program. The delegates—representing countries from Benin to Uganda—are studying ethics, transparency and accountability in government and business in seven U.S. cities in addition to Denver.

According to Karl Kurtz, director of NCSL's Trust for Representative Democracy, who arranged the visit, “Members of parliament from other countries find it useful to talk to NCSL about legislative process, procedure and policy for two reasons. One is that we have a 50-state comparative perspective on the many different ways that legislatures have of addressing similar issues and problems. Second is that our state legislatures, compared to Congress, operate on a scale that is much more similar to their own facilities, staffing and other resources. The size and scope of congressional operations are often daunting to elected officials from other countries.”

 

States Enacting Online Voter Registration

By Karen Shanton and Wendy Underhill

Online voter registration was one of the top trends in election legislation last year. Twenty states considered online registration bills in 2012; five passed them into law.

This trend has carried over into 2013. Governor Bob McDonnell signed Virginia's online registration bill (HB 2341) on March 18 and a similar bill (HB 225) is on the governor's desk in New Mexico. On March 20, the West Virginia Senate sent an online registration bill (SB 477) to the state House for consideration. Legislation is also pending in another 11 states.

If you're interested in tracking this trend, NCSL can help. We have a range of online registration resources on hand, including:

• Electronic (or Online) Voter Registration page: An overview of states' current online registration practices and pending online registration legislation.
• Video interviews: Interviews about online registration with David Becker (from the Pew Center on the States), Shane Hamlin (Washington's assistant director of elections) and Tammy Patrick (the federal compliance officer from Maricopa County, Ariz.).
• Online Voter Registration: Coming to a State Near You?: A 2011 article that provides an accessible introduction to the history, workings and pros and cons of online voter registration.
• 2011-2013 Elections Legislation Database: A searchable database of past and pending legislation on a range of elections-related topics. Use "Registration-Electronic" to narrow the search.
• Online Voter Registration Security (coming soon): An interview with University of Michigan computer scientist J. Alex Halderman about securing online registration systems.

Outside NCSL, the Pew Center on the States' 2012 report, Inaccurate, Costly and Inefficient: Evidence that America's Voter Registration System Needs an Upgrade, is another valuable resource.

For more information about online registration, give us a call at 303-364-7700 or drop us a line.

State Legislative Leaders Gather in Washington

By Jon Kuhl

New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) speaks with former Mississippi Governor and RNC Chairman Haley Barbour

State legislative leaders from across the country gathered in Washington last week for NCSL’s annual legislative leaders meeting. The meeting began with briefings on sequestration and immigration reform; hot topics in Washington and state capitols.

During lunch on Thursday, leaders heard from former Mississippi Governor and Chairman of the Republican National Committee Haley Barbour. Following Barbour’s talk, the leaders visited Capitol Hill for briefings from House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Congressman Luke Messer (R-Ind.), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). In the evening on Thursday, legislative leaders heard about deficit reduction efforts in Canada from Tony Clement, President of the Canadian Treasury Board and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario.  

Speaker William Howell (R-Va.) talking with U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood

On Friday, legislative leaders began their day with a briefing from U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Secretary LaHood was followed by former Vermont Governor and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.

Up next was a discussion on technology and the economy with Michael Powell, former FCC Chairman and current President of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. Following Chairman Powell was a question and answer session with David Agnew, White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs.  

Wisconsin House Speaker Robin Vos (R) introduces Congressman Paul Ryan

 

Speaker Andy Tobin (R-Ariz.) chats with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

Vermont House Majority Leader William Jewett (D) speaking with former Vermont Governor and DNC Chairman Howard Dean

Former FCC Chairman Michael Powell greets Senator Shawn-Michael Malone, President of the Senate, U.S. Virgin Islands (D)

Maine House Majority Leader Seth Berry (D) talking with David Agnew, White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs

  

Trends in 2012 Election Legislation: Online Registration and List Maintenance Among Top Issues

By Karen Shanton and Wendy Underhill

Two weeks ago, we highlighted some of the work state and local officials are doing to evaluate and improve elections procedures. State lawmakers also play a crucial role in improving election administration by proposing and passing elections-related legislation.

NCSL produces an annual wrap-up of election legislation enactments and the 2012 edition is now complete. Some of the key trends for 2012 include:

• Continued increase in overall number of election laws: 195 elections-related bills were enacted in 2012, compared to 185 in 2010 and 171 in 2008.

• Heightened interest in some topics: Ballot access for parties and candidates, online voter registration, polling place requirements and voter registration list maintenance all received more attention in 2012 than 2011.

 • Declining enthusiasm for others: Some of the topics that were most prominent in 2011, such as all-mail elections, the National Popular Vote Compact, primaries, pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, Internet voting pilot programs and vote centers, saw little legislative activity in 2012.

 For complete details on 2012’s election legislation enactments, please see our full 2012 wrap-up. Wrap-ups for 2011 and 2010 are also available. To obtain enactment data for previous years, please contact NCSL’s elections team.

New York Capitol Renovation: Early and Under Budget

The roof of the New York State Capitol under renovation in 2012. Bernstein Associates, Courtesy of New York State

By Kae Warnock

 

The New York state capitol had been under renovation for a decade when Governor Andrew M. Cuomo took office on Jan. 1, 2011. Scaffolding had obscured the exterior and cluttered the halls for so long that it seemed it would never end.

 

In his inaugural address, Governor Cuomo said:

"This Capitol has become a physical metaphor for the isolation and alienation of our people. In the name of heightened security, they have erected barriers and barricades all around this Capitol. To get into this Capitol is now like running an obstacle course and it shouldn’t be. People refer to the Capitol as a fort or as a bunker; it is anything but.

This is a beautiful monument to democracy, this building. This is the people’s meeting place and they should be invited in.

And today, my friends, we will reopen the Capitol, literally and figuratively. We will remove the barriers on State Street so the tour buses can return once again. We will be opening up the second floor, the Governor’s floor, so the members of the public will once again have access to their government."

Governor Cuomo’s executive order to remove the barriers and open the second floor was the first of many steps he took to reconnect the people of New York to their government and the majestic capitol in which it works. The capitol restoration project was slated to take 14 years (2000-2014), but Governor Cuomo announced when he took office that the project would be accelerated so that it could be completed 18 months early (fall 2012) and at least $2 million under budget.

A large portion of the restoration project involved replacing the terra cotta portions of the roof and repairs to the slate roof to correct a chronic leak that had started shortly after the building was completed in 1899. Additional exterior work included rebuilding a skylight that had once illuminated the Great Western Staircase.

Interior restoration included: renovation of the Hall of Governors on the second floor; removal of a 1940s renovation that had created additional office space in the Senate and Assembly staircases; complete restoration of those staircases including restoration of the laylights (A laylight is a lightbox between a skylight and the ceiling of a room.) that had originally provided natural light.

In addition to physical restoration, installation of museum-quality exhibits throughout the capitol and a smart phone accessible walking tour help visitors and school groups understand the history of the building.

In his inaugural address and in many interviews since, Governor Cuomo referred to the capitol restoration as a metaphor for public service and state government. He has compared the restoration of the skylight in the Great Western Staircase and the laylights in the Senate and Assembly staircases to the new transparency in New York’s state government; the accelerated completion of the project to state government getting things done faster and smarter; and finishing the capitol restoration $2.3 million under budget to the new efficiency of state government.

In a visual tour of the capitol in this past Sunday’s New York Times, Capitol Redux, readers are treated to the beauty of a historic landmark preserved.

 

State and Local Organizations Hold Briefing on Capitol Hill, Urge Congress to Reauthorize ESEA

By Lee Posey  

Just over a year ago the State and Local Governance Coalition was formed to push Congress to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Since its last reauthorization in 2002, ESEA has been referred to as the No Child Left Behind Act. Earlier today I had the opportunity to represent NCSL at a coalition briefing on Capitol Hill held for congressional staffers.

During my remarks I stressed the urgent need for the 113^th Congress to make reauthorization a priority: “While all of the organizations here today have their own specific priorities in reauthorization, we can agree on the need for Congress to act.”

Indeed, all of the groups represented at the briefing had come together in support of the following basic principles: the need for greater policy flexibility for state and local leaders, the need for increased flexibility in federal funding, and the need for the federal government to recognize state and local budget challenges and to streamline federal red tape and compliance requirements.

Reauthorization for the ESEA is now more than six years overdue.  As Reginald Felton of the National School Board Association noted at the briefing, a student could have gone through his or her entire elementary and secondary school career under a federal education law widely held to be flawed.   

Members of the State and Local Governance Coalition include NCSL, the National Governors Association, the National School Boards Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Association of State Boards of Education among others. In February, the coalition sent its most recent letter to Congress pressing for reauthorization.

NCSL’s work in the coalition, including today’s presentation to 65 congressional staffers, is part of its push for federal education legislation that moves away from a process and compliance model to one that allows for state innovation.

Lee Posey is Senior Committee Director, NCSL Education Committee

Alaska Legislature Celebrates its Centennial, Creates Commission to Recognize First Territorial Legislature

The first Territorial House of Representatives (1913) met in the Elk's Lodge in downtown Juneau

By Morgan Cullen

Earlier this week the Alaska Legislature celebrated its 100^th anniversary.  To commemorate this historic occasion the legislature passed a concurrent resolution creating a seven-member “legislative centennial commission” earlier this year.  The commission was made up of current lawmakers who are tasked with the role of highlighting the significant and groundbreaking accomplishments of Alaska’s Legislature since 1913. 

Commission Chairman, Senator Gary Stevens said the role of the project “ is in every way intended to be an educational exercise, exploring the richness of our history in Alaska, and of the impact our Legislature has had on the making of that history.”

Senator Gary Stevens, Chair of the Alaska Legislative Centennial Commission

The First Territorial Legislature first met on March 3, 1913.  It consisted of eight senators and 16 representatives elected from across the territory.  They met at the Elks Lodge (now the Rockwell restaurant) in downtown Juneau until the current capitol was completed in 1931. 

While Alaska was one of the last states to be granted statehood (an honor it did not receive until 1959) its legislature was often far ahead of its time.  In fact, the very first act of the territorial legislature in 1913 gave women the right to vote, long before congress enacted the 19^th amendment in 1920.  A year later, the territorial legislature continued to shape policy at the national level by passing the Bone Dry Law, a forerunner to the Volstead Act, which implemented the 18^th Amendment and established prohibition.  And in 1945, it passed the Anti-Discrimination Act, which preceded the Civil Rights Act by nearly 20 years.

TVW Wins Cronkite Award for Excellence

TVW, the public affairs network for the state of Washington, is a 2013 winner of a Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism. in the Local Public Station category.

The network, which carries unedited coverage of the Washington Legislature, Supreme Court and other branches of government, was the only public or PBS television station in its category to win a Cronkite Award.

The announcement by the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.cited TVW for “compelling, fair and very visual treatment of issues affecting the state,” adding, “Washington voters are lucky to have TVW as a news source to turn to.”

The January issue of State Legislatures magazine featured a story on the growth of local public affairs networks.

Washington House Speaker Pro Tem Jim Moeller (D) supports his state’s network, TVW, because it provides transparency, which leads to “a better government, a better democracy.” And even though TVW has had to absorb $2.5 million in state aid cuts since 2008, the network’s subsidy remains a “very bipartisan appropriation. It’s pretty much looked at as a ‘hands-off’ sort of thing,” Moeller says.

The Cronkite Awards, named for the legendary CBS anchorman, are given every two years “to recognize television journalism that helps viewers understand who the candidates are; what the issues and ballot propositions are; how electoral choices will affect their lives; how to assess campaign information, including advertising; and how to register, vote and make their own voices heard,” according to the announcement.

 

 

FAQs on pre-Election Day Voting

By Karen Shanton and Wendy Underhill

The elections team at NCSL is continuing to think about the questions the Presidential Commission on Election Administration is likely to address and lining up resources that can provide answers.

Today's topic: pre-Election Day voting. Allowing voters to cast ballots early is one way to help reduce lines at the polls on Election Day. (Of course, wait times at early voting sites are a different matter.)

There are three main categories of pre-Election Day, sometimes called "convenience," voting:

• Early in-person voting: Voters cast ballots at a county office or other officially designated site before Election Day.
• Absentee voting: Voters request ballots, which they submit by mail or at a designated drop-off point. Some states allow any registered voter to request an absentee ballot (no-excuse absentee voting) while others only permit absentee voting in certain circumstances.
• All-mail elections: Voters are automatically sent ballots, which they submit by mail or at a designated drop-off point.

All of these are alternatives to traditional voting at a neighborhood polling place on Election Day.

NCSL has a range of resources on pre-Election Day voting, including:

• Absentee and Early Voting webpage: An overview of states' current pre-Election Day voting practices.
• Pre-Election Day Voting: Just the FAQ's, Ma'am: An accessible introduction to the basic facts, pros and cons of pre-Election Day voting.
• 2011-2013 Elections Legislation Database: A searchable database of past and pending legislation on a range of elections-related topics, including forms of pre-Election Day voting.
• State-Based Election Reports, 2011-2013: A compilation of best practices, after-action reports and process reviews of election procedures, including forms of pre-Election Day voting.

Outside NCSL, here are a couple of resources worth looking into:

The Early Voting Information Center (EVIC) at Reed College: Directed by elections expert Paul Gronke, the EVIC explores the political and administrative ramifications of increasing early voting options.

Voting: What Has Changed, What Hasn't and What Needs Improvement: This report, from the CalTech/MIT Voting Technology Project, includes a detailed discussion of early and absentee voting.

As with all elections issues, feel free to call us at 303-364-7700 or send us an email if you have questions about pre-Election Day voting.