The Thicket at State Legislatures

Oldest Legislative Staffer Dies

It's always dangerous to try to say who the most senior legislative staff person in terms of service is, because as soon as you identify one, there's likely to be another pop up someplace else. But it is hard to imagine that that there is (or has been) an older legislatative staff person than former Nebraska assistant sergeant-at-arms Sally Gordon, who retired last year at 102 and passed away last week. From an AP story in Newsday:

A Nebraska woman once honored for being one of the nation's oldest working Americans died Tuesday, less than a year after she left her job in the Legislature and a career that included politicians, movie stars and profound moments in state history.

Family members said Sally Gordon died shortly after midnight at a Lincoln hospital, where she was staying after she fell in her home a few weeks ago. She was 102.

Gordon left her job last year as assistant sergeant-at-arms at the Nebraska Legislature, where she had worked since 1984, starting at age 75.

Every day that weather allowed, she walked seven blocks to the Capitol from her Lincoln home. She was honored as America's Outstanding Oldest Worker for 2010, given by Experience Works, the nation's largest nonprofit training center for older workers.

"Sally was a great Nebraskan, and we will miss her," said Gov. Dave Heineman.

Her resume included stints as a court reporter, a model, an employee at an engraving company and a secretary to three Nebraska governors. She hobnobbed with Shirley MacLaine and Gene Kelly, and once chatted with Lyndon B. Johnson on the steps of Air Force One. To regulars at the Nebraska State Capitol, she was the warm and welcoming presence who shuttled notes to lawmakers and helped prepare for legislative floor debate each morning.

A rose from The Thicket to Jeff Wice.

NCSL Scores a Win for the States on Emergency Response Capability

Payroll Tax Cut Extension Includes Agreement to Build Nationwide Public Safety Wireless Network

by Alex Fitzsimmons

While news of the payroll tax cut extension captured most of the national headlines last week, the media largely ignored an agreement embedded in the legislation to build a high-speed wireless network that will improve public safety and save lives.

Approved by Congress on Feb. 17, H.R. 3630 allocated the coveted D-Block of wireless spectrum and authorized more than $7 billion to create a nationwide, interoperable emergency communications network. The bill also authorized $115 million for Next Generation 9-1-1, a system that will allow the public to send text messages to emergency operators.

In April 2010, NCSL sent a letter urging Congress to set aside the D-Block for public safety, enabling the creation of a high-speed wireless network for first responders, firefighters, and police officers to share information in real time. As part of the Big Seven coalition of state and local organizations, NCSL said allocating the D-Block directly to public safety was the only way to ensure a modern and reliable emergency communications network.

Disappearing and Bolting Quorums

by Karl Kurtz

Last year, when Wisconsin and Indiana legislators fled their states to prevent their respective legislatures from conducting business, I recounted the story of Abraham Lincoln breaking a quorum in the Illinois House of Representatives by climbing out the window. Now, University of Missouri political science Prof. Peverill Squire, in a remarkable piece of historical research, reveals that the Lincoln episode was far from the earliest case of a "bolting quorum" in an American legislature. In "Quorum Rules in Historical Perspective: Their Use and Abuse," he reports on quorum rules in colonial legislatures:

The first quorum standard in the Americas was established in the 1629 Massachusetts Bay Colony Charter. That document held that 7 of the 18 assistants along with the governor or deputy governor was a sufficient number for the “dispatching of all such buysinesses”. This quorum rule is notable because it was put in place 11 years before the English House of Commons first established one.

Carpenters Hall in Philadelphia, the sometime home of the House of Representatives of the Province of Pennsylvania

Many colonial legislatures had fairly loose quorum requirements--often less than a majority of the members and, in a few cases, no quorum requirement at all--and they often changed them to meet the needs and practices of the times. The strictest quorum standard of two-thirds of the members was established in Pennsylvania in 1683, leading to this story [footnotes deleted from original]:

...[T]he strategic opportunities offered by quorum rules were well understood by politicians of the time. Perhaps the earliest episode of quorum exploitation occurred in Pennsylvania, not long after the two-thirds standard was established. In 1689, at the behest of Penn’s deputy governor, a sufficient number of Assembly members were persuaded to leave the chamber to break the quorum in order to prevent the passage of a list of grievances against the proprietor. In response, the bolters’ remaining colleagues voted to denounce “that abominable Treachery and Practice of the said absent Members, in wilfully neglecting to appear at the Time, when they understood that this House were going about to call the Violators of the Liberties of the Freemen of this Government to Account.” They went on to seek retribution by stating “That the said absent Members ought not to receive any Salary for the Service this Assembly; and are not worthy to be chose again, or be intrusted as Delegates.”

This sounds remarkably like the Indiana House of Representatives in 2012 or any other recent legislative walkout, right down to the effort to deny the absent members their pay.

A View of the 2012 Elections from 9 Months Out

Writing in State Net Capitol Journal, venerable political reporter Lou Cannon has a good preview of the 2012 elections for president, Congress, governorships and state legislatures. Here's his summary of state legislative battlegrounds, much of it derived from a conversation with NCSL's Tim Storey:

In 2010, Republicans won more state legislative seats (and chambers) than at any time since 1928, the heady year before the stock market crash signaled the Great Depression. Going into this year's elections, Republicans control 59 legislative chambers, Democrats 36, with three ties. Unicameral Nebraska, nominally non-partisan, is Republican in practice. Compilations by Tim Storey of the National Conference of State Legislatures show there are currently 3,979 GOP state legislators, compared to 3,317 Democrats. (At the Republican high-water mark in 1928, GOP legislators numbered 4,00l) For the most part, GOP-controlled legislatures in 2011 proceeded cautiously on legislative redistricting, protecting marginal incumbents instead of trying to expand their majorities. But Republicans may have overreached with redistrictings in North Carolina, Florida and especially Texas, where the new congressional and legislative district boundaries have been challenged under the Voting Rights Act.
 

"The Architecture of Representative Government"

by Karl Kurtz

I love the subtitle of the book, Fifty State Capitols: The Architecture of Representative Government, published last year by a former Oregon legislative staffer, Jim Stembridge. In an interview in USA Today about the book, Stembridge says:

...[S]tatehouses are bona-fide tourist attractions — working museums of regional art and history. "They don't have water slides or video games, but they are great...."

In the interview, Stembridge includes the capitols of Utah, Maryland, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Virginia and Oregon among his favorites, with capsule descriptions as to why he likes each of them.

Those are certainly some great state capitols. But, as an NCSL staff person who has been to all 51 U.S. capitols, I long ago learned that the best answer to "Which is your favorite capitol?" is the one you are standing in when asked the question. Everyone loves their own capitol and thinks it's the best.

Stembridge's book joins a fairly long list of celebrations of the history and architecture of America's state capitols. Here are the ones we have copies of in our office (in order of publication date):

Henry-Russell Hitchcock and William Seale, Temples of Democracy: The State Capitols of the U.S.A, 1976

Eric Oxendorf and William Seale, Domes of America, 1994 (see also "More on Statehouse Domes")

Charles T. Goodsell, The American Statehouse: Interpreting Democracy's Temples, 2000

Francis Pio Ruggiero, State Capitols: Temples of Sovereignty, 2002

Susan W. Thrane and Tom Patterson, State Houses: America's 50 State Capitol Buildings, 2005.

A rose from The Thicket to Bruce Feustel

 

Cameras in the Courtroom Go Viral

Cameras are already allowed in many state courtrooms, now an effort is underway in the U.S. Senate to broadcast Supreme Court hearings

By Alex Fitzsimmons

The U.S. Supreme Court enforces a strict policy on camera use during oral arguments: They’re not allowed, period.

States, on the other hand, have adopted more nuanced approaches. High courts in every state allow some form of camera use during court proceedings, and states are steadily moving in a pro-camera direction. Several states, including Connecticut, Minnesota, and South Dakota, have made changes within the last year.

Superior Court judges in Connecticut approved significant changes to the coverage of criminal cases. Approved electronic media outlets are now permitted to record any criminal proceeding that are open to the public and on the record. Exceptions include jury selection and proceedings for sexual assault. These changes took effect Jan. 1, 2012.

In Minnesota, the state Supreme Court created a two-year pilot program authorizing cameras in the courtroom for civil cases. Only the judge can allow or prohibit the cameras. The pilot program, which took effect July 1, 2011, excludes criminal cases.

New Alaska iPhone App

by Morgan Cullen

On my recent visit to Juneau, Curtis Clothier, Alaska's legislative information services manager, showed me a new iPhone app designed to help members and staff of the Alaska Legislature and the public stay connected to the legislative process.

I downloaded the app onto my phone and am amazed at how convenient and user friendly it is. The app provides information on committee schedules, bill status, the house and senate calendars, and contact information of every legislator in both chambers. It also allows the user to stream committee hearings directly from your phone and watch the proceedings in real time.

The new app was released at the beginning of session in January 2012 and has already received over 1,000 downloads from users around the globe. When I asked Curtis how he was able to roll this product out so quickly, he credited his staff for the success. "Staffers Heidi Gosho, Shay Wilson and Eric Reiter volunteered for the project even though they had no Mac programming experience and worked tirelessly over a 4 month period."

He was also quick to point out that this was just the beginning of many new improvements to come. "Another significant update for the App will be coming out in the next few weeks. This update will provide the first true 'iPad App' on the Apple App Store and will include the capability to download and modify PDF documents, and a new 'documents today' feature to allow easy access to current committee documents." They are also hoping to release a version of the Alaska Legislature app for Android devices before the end of the 2012 legislative session in April.

Besides the obvious convenience that the new app provides, it also helps the Legislature reduce the amount of paper required in the legislative process, thereby saving the environment and reducing costs.

Alaska modeled its legislative app on one developed by the New York Senate. According to Pam Greenberg, NCSL's expert on information technology, Alaska is one of at least four states that have developed mobile applications for iPhones, iPads or Android devices. More information is available at NCSL's "State Legislatures Mobile Websites."

Staffers Heidi Gosho, Shay Wilson and Eric Reiter show off their iPhone app.

State Legislative Photo of the Day

From the Spokesman Review's Eye on Boise:

The story:

At a joint hearing of the [Idaho] House and Senate Resources committees this afternoon on state-federal oversight and the sage grouse, there was lots of concern that efforts to improve habitat for the unique fowl in order to avoid endangered species listing might be as onerous for ranchers and others as listing itself. As the various presenters spoke, a member of the audience dressed as a big, fuzzy bear nodded thoughtfully.

A rose from The Thicket to Gary Moncrief.

A State Legislative Internship "Don't"

In follow-up to our posting last week about the political activities of state legislative interns, note this story from 9News:

The college student who threw glitter at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Denver on Tuesday night was fired from an internship at the Colorado legislature Thursday.

Twenty-year-old Peter Lucas Smith talked with 9NEWS about the glitter-bombing, which he says was intended to show solidarity with gay rights advocates.

Smith is a University of Colorado Denver student and had an unpaid internship working in the press office of the state Senate Democrats.

The Colorado Pols blog posting about this event, which includes video of the glitter incident, is entitled, "Things to Not Do While Interning for the Senate Majority."

Chutzpah Defined

by Karl Kurtz

An information request the other day about policies regarding state legislative interns running for office while they are working for the legislature uncovered an old story that I had not read before. In Minnesota in 2002 a legislative intern attempted to run for the legislature--against the legislator for whom he worked.

The story, as told by Jack Penchoff in State Government News (go to p. 7), is that an old friend of ours, Rep. Phyllis Kahn, took her intern, University of Minnesota student Jason Samuels, to lunch to thank him for his service to her during the legislative session. After she told him that she would be glad to write a recommendation for him, he handed her a press release announcing that he was running against her!

After Rep. Kahn challenged him on his ethics and made it clear that she was planning to run again, he initially backed down from running and apologized for the timing of his announcement--without admitting to any ethical transgressions. He later reneged, though, and filed to run against her on the Green party ticket, only to have his name eventually bounced from the ballot by the state Supreme Court because he did not live in the district. From State Government News:

Echoes from North of the Border

by Karl Kurtz

Rob Walsh, the retiring nonpartisan chief legal counsel to  the Canadian Parliament, laments the condition of Canada's representative democracy in an article in the Ottawa Citizen:

Walsh retired last week with worries about the fate of a Parliament where many of the players have lost all respect for the traditions, conventions and rules of the game that made Canada’s democracy work. They’ve been flouted, battered and worn down by partisan gamesmanship that all parties have put ahead of the public interest.

“The political game has become so driven by the desire for partisan gain and victories that the institution is forgotten. The traditions of an institution that emerged over the centuries . . . are just by the bye and now, it’s whatever works, and that disturbs me,” said Walsh in an interview. “We don’t have parliamentarians who value the House as an institution and will accept limitations on what they would otherwise do for the sake of the institution.”

In the cut and thrust of partisan politics, Walsh had the unenviable job of walking the neutral line of dispensing legal advice without alienating any side or stumbling into the political debate....

“The House of Commons comes with a panoply of rules and traditions that are supposed to govern how the parties and members conduct themselves . . . and too often in recent times these values have been, if not forgotten, subordinated to short- and midterm political objectives and that’s regrettable and yes, it concerns me.”

He worries how democracy can work when time limits are imposed on legislative debates, more and more committee business is done behind closed doors, free debate is squelched by scripts and prepared texts, omnibus bills are crammed with massive legislative changes, and rude and raucous question periods are dominated by “sham questions and sham answers.”

Walsh's concerns about Parliament echo the complaints of many diehard institutionalists about the condition of Congress and some state legislatures. The story also provides intriguing details about the dilemmas that legislative attorneys sometimes face in balancing their nonpartisan role with their obligation to protect parliamentary rights and privileges.

A rose from The Thicket to Kevin Deveaux.

Photo credit: Ottawa Citizen

 

Prohibition Era Laws Falling by the Wayside

by Alex Fitzsimmons

Although state alcohol laws vary widely, lawmakers are steadily coalescing around the notion that selling alcohol on Sundays might not be such a bad idea.

Thirteen states restrict Sunday sales, but only Connecticut and Indiana ban selling all alcohol, including beer and wine, on Sundays. But if lawmakers in Connecticut have their way, the so-called blue law policy, a relic of the Prohibition era, could soon be no more.

Lawmakers from the Nutmeg State hope repealing the ban on Sunday sales will help kick start their state’s economy. Governor Dan Malloy claims that Connecticut wine and liquor retailers could be losing $570 million in sales each year to neighboring states.

But some small liquor retailers oppose the bill as a threat to their very existence. They claim that labor and electricity costs associated with opening on Sundays would outweigh potential sales. Small retailers also see HB 6264 as a slippery slope to allowing supermarket sales, which they argue would compromise customer service.

Since 2002, fifteen states have repealed bans on Sunday sales: Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington. Georgia is the most recent state to loosen its alcohol laws, passing local control just last year.

Time will tell if Connecticut follows suit.

Alex Fitzsimmons is an intern for the public affairs division in NCSL's Washington, D.C. office.

The photo of Enoch "Nucky" Thompson from HBO's Boardwalk Empire, set at the dawn of prohibition, is courtsey of What Culture

 

California Legislators Turn in Keys to their Cars

by Karl Kurtz

For as long as I can remember, the California Legislature was the only legislature in the nation that provided cars to all of its members. In recent years the policy has been to cover leasing costs of up to $285 per month plus the cost of insurance, gas and maintenance.

But last year, the California Citizens Compensation Commission, which now determines salaries for elected officials in the state, eliminated the car perquisite. Instead, they substituted a provision that legislators could be paid $300 per month to cover the cost of driving to and from Sacramento and around their districts. The commission calculated that this would halve the costs to the public of compensating members of the Legislature.

Trouble is, the state comptroller, relying on an opinion from the state attorney general, has told the Legislature that the compensation commission had no authority to create a new type of compensation. But legislators are entitled to claim $.55 per mile for travel on government business, just as any other state employee is. According to the Sacramento Bee, the result could be this irony:

Driving as few as 540 miles a month for meetings, constituent events and trips to and from the Capitol could result in a legislator pocketing more than the $300 proposed allowance in mileage reimbursement.

"My educated guess, since that's what it would be at this point, is that it would probably cost the Assembly more than the current program we have. But we will do what we can to keep that down," Assembly administrator Jon Waldie said.

The Assembly and Senate are now in the process of disposing of the members' cars. It's no surprise to anyone who has ever driven a new car off of a lot and seen its value drop precipitously that the Legislature is selling them at a loss. Here's the Sacramento Bee's graphic on the sell-off.

Past NCSL President Fred Anderson

by Karl Kurtz

Fred Anderson, 83, a member of the Colorado Senate from 1966 to 1982 and president of the National Conference of State Legislatures in 1977-78, passed away just before Christmas. He served as president of the Colorado Senate for eight years.

He was well known in Loveland and in Colorado for his activism, for his even-handed representation in the Senate and for his impact on state water law.

"He was really passionate about the work he did," said his wife, Anne. "He cared very much about his family and Colorado. It's a wonderful legacy in growth."

Fred, often "Freddy," was the fourth president of NCSL. The first three presidents had been leaders of each of the three organizations that were merged to form NCSL and were slotted into office as part of the merger agreement. Fred was the first to be elected on his own.

He first became active in NCSL immediately after the merger in 1974 when the organization was making a decision as to where to locate its headquarters. Fred was a strong and effective advocate on behalf of Denver, leading the group of legislators and staff that made the pitch to the NCSL executive committee for the city that became NCSL's home. He also led the host committee for NCSL's fourth annual meeting in Denver in 1978 during his presidency.

Fred was a friendly and talkative fellow, often sporting a western bolo tie and cowboy boots. Morgan Smith, a member of the Colorado House of Representatives while Fred was in the Senate, tells an amusing story in a remembrance:

I was so terrified I couldn’t speak. My throat was literally frozen shut. Freddy Anderson, however, was just chatting away as if nothing were wrong.

We were deep underground in the Idarado Mine, somewhere between Ouray where we had started and Telluride where we would end up. This was the summer of 1976, we were members of the Interim Committee on Mineral Taxation and our job was to learn about the mining industry and draft a severance tax bill....

A mine tour...was always part of these meetings and that is what Freddy and I were doing deep underground. We had been shown one level of the mine and were to descend to a lower level. The only way to do this was to stuff ourselves in this tube called a “stope” as I remember it and pressed tight together, descend in the pitch darkness. I was embarrassed at how paralyzed with fear I was and astonished at Freddy’s bravery.

Several weeks later we had our next Denver meeting. Just as we were about to get started, Freddy interrupted and said that he wanted to make a statement. “That Morgan Smith” he said, pointing to me. “He’s the bravest man I know. We were going down in this stope thing and I was so scared I couldn’t stop talking. But he just stood there perfectly calm and quiet.”

I have many fond memories of Fred Anderson and his leadership of NCSL. Condolences and best wishes to his wife, Anne (another great friend of NCSL), and his family.

Photo credit: denverpost.com

Legendary Florida Reporter Profiled

NPR's Noah Adams yesterday filed an interesting story on Tampa Bay Times reporter Lucy Morgan, who is covering her 46th session of the Florida Legislature. Morgan, a Pulitzer Prize winner for coverage of local government before she became a statehouse reporter, has covered NCSL meetings and spoken about legislator/media relations a number of times. Here are a few tidbits.

On how her colleagues honored her on her semi-retirement:

ADAMS: ...Morgan is an investigative reporter. She's semi-retired, working half time. Her newspaper, the Tampa Bay Times, was until recently called the St. Petersburg Times. For 20 years, she was the capitol bureau chief - she was the boss. And when she left that job they had a party and gave her a quilted wall hanging - looks like newsprint – with words sewn in. And this is how her colleagues described Lucy Morgan. Now every day she can look up from her desk and usually laugh.

MORGAN: Well, let's see: muckraker, ball-buster, force of nature, cat lover, red-wine-please, bitch. Unfortunately most of it's true.

On how she became a reporter while living in a small town in Florida raising three children:

ADAMS: And like any good life story, this one has a knock on the door. April 1965, an editor with the Ocala Star-Banner was standing there. She'd come to ask Lucy if she wanted to be a local correspondent.

MORGAN: And I said, well, I've never written anything. Why would you come to me? And she said, well, the local librarian had told her that I read more books than anybody else in town and, since I read so much, maybe I could write.

On the Florida Society of News Editors web site, Morgan shares her tips on statehouse reporting.

Photo credit: Tampa Bay Times

Homeland Security Secretary Touches on Immigration and State/Federal Partnerships

by Jon Kuhl

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano visited the National Press Club on Monday to give her second annual address on the state of America's homeland security. Throughout the speech, the secretary touched on a number of issues critical to state and local governments.

"Homeland security begins with hometown security," she said. "And as part of our commitment to hometown security, we have worked to get resources out of Washington and into the hands of state and local officials and first responders."

As part of this effort, Napolitano mentioned the 72 domestic fusion centers throughout the country. Fusion centers are intelligence epicenters, where state, local, and federal officials, along with private sector partners, work together to collect, share and analyze information.

Napolitano also touched on immigration. Highlighting areas of achievement, she pointed to a 53 percent drop in illegal immigration attempts along the Southwest border, along with an increase in seizures of drugs, currency and weapons. The number of Border Patrol agents has also increased, climbing to more than 21,000, which is more than double the number of agents in 2004.

And on the northern border, Napolitano mentioned the approximately $400 million in Recovery Act funds that have been used to modernize older facilities.

During the question and answer period, the secretary was asked about the nation's federal immigration laws. Summing up her assessment, she categorized the laws as "sorely outdated and in need of revision." The secretary also expressed support for the DREAM Act, saying, "If you have to take just one element out of the whole universe of immigration that needs to be fixed, should be fixed, and came very close to being fixed by the Congress … it would be that."

Napolitano was also asked about expected cuts to the department's budget. While prefacing her answer by saying that DHS could always use more money, the secretary acknowledged the department has the money it needs to do its job.

The Mother of all Institutions

by Karl Kurtz

For more years than I wish to count, I have often concluded my speeches with an inspirational message about the role of legislatures in a democracy by showing this photo:

I first saw (and inexpertly photographed) this sign, which reads "Povo sem parlamento é povo escravo" in Portuguese, in front of the Rio Grande do Sul [state] Legislative Assembly building in Porto Alegre, Brazil nearly 20 years ago. Literally translated, it means "People without parliament are people in chains." For me it captures one of the key missions of legislatures all over the world: To protect the rights and freedoms of the people.

Now, courtesy of the unlikely source of a party leader in Pakistan, I have a new tag line to add to my repertoire: "Parliament is mother of all institutions." The president of Awami National Party (ANP), Asfandyar Wali Khan, recently made this statement to explain why his party would not take part in any efforts to remove the Pakistani government. He went on to say, "...[A]ll the state institutions derived strength from the parliament" and "...we all have to accept this reality that parliament was the base of state institutions."

I love the image of legislatures as the mother of all governmental institutions. It's a bit like saying that Congress is (or state legislatures are) the first branch of government because the legislative article is first in the U.S. Constitution and most state constitutions--but it's a more colorful and evocative phrase.

Find the quotes at agora-parl community (gated) or Pakistan Observer.

Legislative Scholar is State's Top Politico

by Karl Kurtz

Quick. Name an academic political scientist who has spent a career studying state legislatures but has also recently been named the most powerful person in his state's politics during the last year.

Does that seem like an unlikely combination? Try Rutgers University Prof. Alan Rosenthal who, in addition to writing numerous influential books on state legislatures, has served on two different occasions as the 11th, nonpartisan, tie-breaking member of New Jersey's state legislative redistricting commission. For his decision last year to back a plan favored by Democrats, in the face of fierce pressure from Gov. Chris Christie, Politicker NJ ranked Rosenthal #1 among New Jersey's 100 most powerful politicos, excluding elected officials, in 2011.

PolitickerNJ's citation said of Rosenthal: "This academic succeeded this year where every Democratic politico in the state failed; he checked the power of Gov. Chris Christie." Rosenthal's rationale was that he chose the plan that was more likely to allow either side to win control of the legislature and was "less disruptive" to incumbents.

When asked about the award, Rosenthal laughed and said, "It's pretty amazing because there were a bunch of people on the list below me who are genuinely powerful."

Photo credit: PolitickerNJ

President Addresses High School Graduation Rates

by Jon Kuhl

President Obama offered a proposal during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night concerning the age at which high school students are allowed to drop out. But in doing so, he left an important question unanswered:  How do we pay for it?

“We also know that when students aren’t allowed to walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma. So tonight, I call on every state to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn eighteen.” – President Obama

The president may find partners in the states as he works to pursue this goal. Sharing information, providing technical assistance, and opening up further dialogue are all measures states would welcome.  Indeed, NCSL’s Task Force on School Dropout Prevention and Recovery found evidence suggesting that raising the maximum compulsory school age above 16 curtails dropout rates and produces other positive results.

Background:

• Compulsory school age requirements continue to be a hot topic for state lawmakers. In 2011, at least six states—Alaska, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana and Rhode Island—considered legislation to raise the “dropout” age to 18, although only Rhode Island did so. To date, 21 states and the District of Columbia require students to stay in school until the age of 18. Almost all include exceptions for mental illness and physical disability, or with parent permission.
• According to data from a May 2011 National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) report, the high school graduation rate for the 2008-09 school year was 75.5 percent.
• State and local governments pay for the vast majority of K-12 education, while the federal government contributes around 10 percent.

                     

 

 

Study Finds Gender Gap in Political Ambition

by Katie Ziegler

A new report from the Women and Politics Institute at American University examines a question that may be familiar to observers of state legislatures. Why aren’t there more women in public office? At the state legislative level, the ratio of female to male lawmakers has grown by fewer than five percentage points in the past two decades. Women were 20 percent of all legislators following the 1992 elections; today, several states have approximately one-third female legislators, but the national ratio is just 23.6 percent. This “slow growth” isn’t due to bias at the ballot box, as female candidates have been shown to be just as likely as male candidates to win their races. In Men Rule: The Continued Under-Representation of Women in U.S. Politics, Jennifer Lawless and Richard Fox examine the important first step before any candidate can think about election day: the decision to run for office in the first place.

Lawless and Fox conclude that there is a substantial gender gap in political ambition: men were 16 percentage points more likely than women to have considered running for office, and this gap persists across demographic factors including political party, age, race, income, profession, and region of the country. Their data is drawn from the survey responses of nearly 4,000 men and women with the professional backgrounds that tend to yield candidates for public office: law, business, education, and political activism. The men and women had equivalent knowledge and experience, and yet, across all sectors, women were less likely to express interest in running for office. The authors conducted a similar survey in 2001, and there has been virtually no change in the political ambition gender gap in the intervening ten years.

Lawless and Fox identify seven factors that contribute to this gender gap:

1. Women are substantially more likely than men to perceive the electoral environment as highly competitive and biased against female candidates.
2. Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin’s candidacies aggravated women’s perceptions of gender bias in electoral politics.
3. Women are less likely than men to think they are qualified to run for office.
4. Female potential candidates are less competitive, less confident, and more risk averse than male potential candidates.
5. Women react more negatively than men to the necessities of campaigns.
6. Women are less likely than men to receive the suggestion to run for office–from anyone.
7. Women are still responsible for the majority of childcare and household tasks.

The report concludes, “many barriers to women’s interest in running for office can be overcome only with major cultural and political changes. But in the meantime, our results suggest that recruiting female candidates and disseminating information about the electoral environment and women’s successes can help narrow the gender gap and increase women’s numeric representation.” Several groups around the country are working to close the ambition gap by doing just that: actively recruiting female candidates and holding campaign trainings and mentoring forums. NCSL will be watching to see whether this increased attention to female candidates will result in an increase in women elected in November.

Online Gambling a Moneymaker for States?

By Alex Fitzsimmons

Some states are considering doubling down or cashing in on a new Justice Department opinion regarding online gambling.

According to the opinion, in-state Internet gambling does not violate federal law as long as it doesn't involve sports betting.

Issued just before Christmas, the opinion paves the way for states to move forward with stalled plans to introduce a variety of online gambling ventures. According to Politico, Washington, D.C., intends to offer online poker and blackjack by April, while Illinois plans to sell lottery tickets and New Jersey hopes to become the “epicenter” of online gambling.

It also protects the rights of states that oppose the expansion of online gambling, such as Florida, whose attorney general issued an opinion last week advising against the approval of new slot machines in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

The only problem: Congress is considering federal legislation, claiming that states lack the resources to enforce Internet gambling laws. States counter that a federal law would impinge on their rights. NCSL believes Congress must preserve state authority to allow or prohibit Internet gambling. Any federal action should respect the rights of states that choose to prohibit Internet gambling.

In 2006, Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which prohibits financial transactions in support of illegal online gambling. But Congress never defined “illegal online gambling,” except to exclude Internet gambling conducted solely within the boundaries of a state or tribe. This exclusion serves as the legal basis for state sovereignty over online gambling.

According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), online gambling revenues from U.S. bettors exceeded $4 billion in 2010, but most of those revenues went to offshore operators. In a white paper issued last year, the AGA outlined measures to legalize and regulate online gambling in the United States. These measures would secure the jobs and tax revenue Internet gambling generates while controlling potential social risks with tight regulation.

Whether states choose to fold 'em or hold 'em when it comes to online gambling remains to be seen.

Alex Fitzsimmons is an intern in the public affairs division in NCSL's Washington D.C. office.

Legislative Leaders Attend Agriculture Summit

By Marcus Peterson & Tamra Spielvogel

It came as no surprise to attendees of the Legislative Agriculture Chairs Summit that agriculture is one of the few sectors in the country running a positive trade balance. The annual summit is the only national meeting dedicated to state and provincial committee, caucus or chamber leaders with an interest in agriculture and rural policy. Legislative leaders from 47 states and seven Canadian provinces attended.

Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman opened the summit focusing on the importance agriculture has played in keeping his state’s unemployment rate at a low 4.1 percent. Legislators were also briefed by U.S. House and Senate Agriculture and Energy Committee staffers on the upcoming legislative landscape and reauthorization of the “2008 Farm Bill.” They met with U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack, as well as other key USDA and White House staff, to discuss critical agriculture challenges facing rural communities. Other sessions discussed rural energy, animal welfare, invasive species, food safety, and farmland taxation.

The meeting provided state and provincial lawmakers with new tools to help cultivate thriving rural communities and keep agriculture profitable. The summit was co-hosted by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and the Council of State Governments (CSG), and was held in Washington, D.C., January 6 – 8th.

New Leaders Take the Reins to Reign in 2012

by Tim Storey

By the end of this week, 38 legislatures will be officially in session including several  operating with new leaders. The most notable leadership changes are in the Mississippi House and the Virginia Senate where 2011 elections led to Republican takeovers and Republicans in the top roles.

(For a complete list of current legislative leaders click here.)

The Mississippi House elected its first Republican Speaker in 135 years on January 3 when Clinton, Mississippi attorney Philip Gunn was chosen unanimously by House members to be the new speaker following the November 2011 election in which Republicans won a 64-58 majority in the chamber. Speaker Gunn was first elected to the House in 2003. In addition to his legislative and legal work, he serves on the Board of Trustees for The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Representative Greg Snowden was chosen by the House to be the speaker pro tem.

In the Mississippi Senate, Republicans expanded their majority in the chamber to 31-21 last November, and voters chose Tate Reeves to be the lieutenant governor and head of the Senate. On opening day, Senator Terry Brown was selected by his peers to be the new President Pro Tem.

Last November's elections in Virginia led to a 20 D - 20 R tie in the Old Dominion Senate making for an interesting couple of months leading up the convening of the regular session last Wednesday. Republicans asserted that they would control the chamber because the Republican lieutenant governor would break tie votes in the chamber. Democrats filed suit in state court claiming that the Constitution did not allow the GOP to organize as the majority with the lieutenant governor as a tie-breaker. The court declined to intervene although the case is still pending. When the Virginia Senate convened last week, there was a prolonged, and respectful, debate culminating with Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling casting a decisive tie-breaking vote for the GOP to run the chamber. Republican Senator Thomas Norment will serve as the Majority Leader with Senator Richard Saslaw leading the Democrats.

Primary and Caucus Dates

With two presidential nominating events complete (Iowa’s caucuses and New Hampshire’s primary), people are checking calendars to learn what’s next.  The best place is NCSL’s new 2012 Presidential Primary Calendar, and its companion, a state-ordered table, 2012 State and Presidential Primary and Caucus Dates. We like to think these are the most accurate lists anywhere--and the easiest to understand.

My colleague, Jennie Bowser, created the lists and checked them against a multitude of official sources.  She says, “this year, it was more complicated than ever to assemble this data.”   Here are a few of the complications:  

• State legislatures decide the dates of primaries (except in the states where parties do);
• Political parties decide the dates of caucuses (except in the states where the legislature does);
• The two major parties don’t always use the same dates in a given state;
• More states changed their dates this year than in any of the last three presidential cycles (and Texas’ date could still change); and,
• Some primaries are “beauty contests” only, designed to bring attention to a state but not to choose delegates to the national conventions where presidential nominees are officially selected.

To understand all the vagaries in presidential nominating events, the National Association of Secretaries of State has just released a comprehensive report,  NASS 2012 Presidential Primaries Guide.  It can be downloaded from the NASS homepage.  In it, you’ll learn the state-by-state details on how the date is chosen, how the primary is funded, who can vote in the primary, and where to find official results.

TVW Introduces SCOUT

by Jan Goehring

TVW, the Washington state public affairs network, is offering an innovative service to citizens who want to follow public policy issues and the legislative process. This new tool, called SCOUT, allows the public to easily keep track of issues. SCOUT will track video and bill information and automatically send it to those who open a free account.

According to TVW, SCOUT offers:

• Access to tracking all TVW video and legislative documentation (bills, bill reports, amendments, etc.).
• The ability to save video, legislative documents or highlighted video clips in a personal account library.
• Options to share video, documents or highlighted video clips via e-mail, social media like Facebook and Twitter, or create formal reports.

"To My Great Shame"

by Peggy Kerns

Convicted felon Jack Abramoff stood before the Kentucky legislature and bared his soul, opening up about his years as a Washington lobbyist and his conviction for fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy.  Though he has spoken at Harvard and on hundreds of television and radio programs, this was his first time speaking to a state legislative body.

“I thought of myself as a strategic adviser, not a lobbyist,” he said.  “I believed I was doing what everyone else was doing–only I was doing it better,” Abramoff added. “I always thought−if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.” He attributed this arrogance to thinking he was above the law.  “I lost sight of the line in the sand and of right and wrong,” he said. “To my great shame.”

From his prison cell, Abramoff decided that he had a base of knowledge that he should not waste. To try to rectify his crimes, his new mission is to educate lawmakers and the public about how the system should be reformed. 

Abramoff spoke at the annual ethics training sponsored by the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission. Previous speakers included respected names such as Norman Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute, and Rushworth Kidder, Institute for Global Ethics.  This year, the commission reached beyond “safe” speakers and brought in Abramoff.  His speaking fee of $5,000 is the price the commission normally pays.  In Abramoff’s case, his fee goes toward his $44 million debt in court-ordered restitution to Indian tribes and other clients.  He also is promoting his book, Capitol Punishment: The Hard Truth About Washington Corruption From American’s Most Notorious Lobbyist. 

Initially, the appearance of Abramoff was controversial among many Kentucky legislators. After hearing his speech, some changed their minds.  Legislators from both sides of the aisle thought Abramoff had significant things to say, according to the Courier-Journal.  Speaker Greg Stumbo said the talk will help lawmakers discern what is proper in their relationships with lobbyists.  Rep. Mike Harmon said he had some reservations initially, but believes Abramoff made some good points and was worth the speaking fee.

Award-Winning Calendar Hitting Legislative Mailboxes

by Katie Ziegler

NCSL recently printed the eighth edition of our wall calendar showcasing the architectural beauty and diversity of the nation's state capitol buildings. The 2012 calendar features the Illinois, California and Minnesota capitol domes and is a handy quick reference for the dates of NCSL's major meetings and for the contact information of our two offices. The pictures are by artist Edward Crim, who has photographed most state capitols and whose work is well worth a look. A previous edition of the calendar won the Blue Pencil Award of Excellence from the National Association of Government Communicators.

All state legislators and more than 5,000 legislative staff members, as well as NCSL Foundation sponsors and Legislative Summit exhibitors, should receive a calendar soon. If we missed you, please visit the NCSL Bookstore or email books@ncsl.org to order a copy.

We hope you enjoy the calendar and that it serves as a reminder to call on us all year 'round!

Federal Court Rejects Texas Legislature's Claim of Legislative Privilege

by Karl Kurtz

Earlier this week a federal district court judge in Washington, D.C. ordered the Texas Legislature to hand over documents that it had withheld in a dispute over redistricting maps. The Justice Department and plaintiffs sought access to the documents prepared by legislators and legislative staff. The Legislature claimed that the documents were protected by legislative privilege and an attorney-client relationship between the staff of the Texas Legislative Council and the members of the Legislature.

Legislative privilege is the doctrine found in the federal Constitution and 43 state constitutions that provides legal protection to legislators in the conduct of legislative business. The intent is to shield them from threats of judicial or executive intervention in their work.

The court rejected the Texas claim of legislative privilege, saying that the Legislature had failed to cite any statute or case law that would justify the privilege. Moreover, the court said that while it recognizes the confidentiality between staff and legislators provided for in the Texas Government Code, that confidentiality does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Finally, the court ruled that communications between legislative staff and members about the case had to be disclosed because the legislators involved did not claim privilege (the court did not say how it would have ruled if they had claimed privilege).

The Texas Redistricting blog has a more extensive summary of the case and links to the court's decision.

To my inexpert and non-legal eyes, this case seems to hinge mainly on the language of Texas statutes and case law, so it may not have major implications for questions of legislative privilege and attorney-client relationships in other states. However, at the very least it seems to be a case of a federal court joining with state courts in a tendency to side with government openness and transparency against the competing value of the right of legislatures to maintain independent decision-making processes. Ohio State law professor Steven F. Huefner reports in a 2003 law review article, "The Neglected Value of the Legislative Privilege in State Legislatures":

While some of these states' [legislative privilege] provisions have never been applied, recent judicial interpretations in other states have departed from settled federal interpretations of the legislative privilege, failing to apply it broadly to protect the legislative process and instead unduly favoring ideals of open government.

He goes on to conclude:

...To protect representative democracy, the legislative privilege merits a more robust application at the state level than some state courts have been willing to give it.

It now appears that Prof. Huefner can add the federal courts to his plea.

In addition to the Huefner article, my colleague, Kae Warnock has compiled some useful resources on the subject of legislative privilege, legislative attorney-client relationships and confidentiality:

• "Legislative Immunity in Minnesota" by former Senate Counsel Peter Wattson includes extensive citations of federal and state case law (not just Minnesota).
• "Representing Representatives: Ethical Considerations for the Legislature's Attorneys," a 2003 law review article by former Wisconsin staffer Rob Marchant
• Kae's own informal compilation of confidentiality policies and attorney-client privilege statutes and case law.

2012 Legislative Sessions are Off and Running

by Angela Andrews

Happy New Year! Or should I say, Happy New Session? The start of the year means that most state legislators are returning to work and convening their sessions. Legislatures in 46 states and six territories are meeting in 2012. All six territories and 39 states will convene their legislative sessions in January (sixteen of them started this week). The remaining seven states will convene in either February or March.

Almost all state legislatures are in the second year of their biennium. However, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia are starting the first year of their legislative session because they have odd-year elections and start a new biennium in the even-numbered year. Four legislatures will not meet in 2012 (barring special sessions), as they are biennial legislatures and meet every other year: Montana, Nevada, North Dakota and Texas.

Some of you legislative junkies might know that Florida typically convenes in March and adjourns in May; however, you may have noticed on our 2012 session calendar that Florida will convene their session next Tuesday, January 10 and adjourn on March 9, Why? To handle redistricting.

To see a listing of all the legislatures that convene in January, check out our 2012 legislative session calendar by convening date. Also, check back here in early February as we will highlight those legislatures that convene in the second month of the year. We'll also provide some more legislative session facts and tidbits.

Photo credit: stltoday.com

Supreme Court Takes on Federalism Cases: Big Impact on States

By Jon Kuhl

The U.S. Supreme Court will be hearing three major cases that deal with federalism this term, cases that are expected to draw bright lines on where state and federal powers begin and end. Below are brief descriptions of the three cases and an interview with NCSL’s Senior Federal Affairs Counsel Susan Frederick, who explains what the court will be deciding.

Affordable Care Act
Of particular interest for states is whether the federal government can force states to expand their share of Medicaid costs and administration with the risk of losing that money if they refuse. Twenty-six states, led by Florida, brought the case. Oral arguments are expected in late February or early March, with a ruling sometime in June.

Immigration: Arizona’s S.B. 1070 Law
With partisan gridlock in Washington, Arizona, like many states, dealt with the issue of immigration on its own. In petitioning the court to hear the case, Arizona asserts, “It is the gateway for nearly half of the nation’s illegal border crossings. … Arizona has repeatedly asked the federal government for more vigorous enforcement of the federal immigration laws, but to no avail.” The federal government, on the other hand, asserts Arizona’s law is taking on authority it does not have, authority that rests instead with the federal government. A ruling on this case is expected in June.

Texas Redistricting
An expedited hearing will take place to decide the fate of Texas’ redistricting map, which had been called into question by a lower federal court for undermining the voting rights of Latinos and African Americans. At issue for the court is whether to defer to the state legislature in drawing congressional districts. Oral arguments will begin on Jan. 9, and an opinion is expected early this spring.

 
Susan Frederick has worked in NCSL’s Washington, DC State-Federal Relations office for the past 11 years and holds a J.D. from American University.