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State lawsuits likely over health care bill

By Stateline.org Staff — 03/18/2010

TODAY’S TAKE: If and when President Obama signs legislation revamping the nation’s health care system, several Republican-led states appear likely to fight a key provision of the new law in court. Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter on Wednesday (March 17) became the first governor to sign a bill setting up a legal showdown, while Virginia’s attorney general vowed to do the same.

Not your grandma's bingo

By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org Staff Writer — 03/18/2010

It has the drama and suspense of a John Grisham novel: pre-dawn gambling raids by state troopers, rumors of political payoffs, rowdy demonstrations at the State Capitol and a fly-over at this year’s Rose Bowl in California with a banner that read, “Impeach Corrupt Alabama Gov. Bob Riley.” All this fuss over bingo? While many other cash-strapped states are trying to expand gaming as a way to get more revenue, Alabama's outgoing governor is on a mission to stamp out illegal gambling in the Heart of Dixie.

Mixed response to appliance rebates

By Stateline.org Staff — 03/17/2010

TODAY’S TAKE: A federal stimulus program that offers rebates to consumers who buy energy-efficient appliances is getting a mixed response, suggesting that it depends heavily on how states manage it. Iowa and Minnesota have seen such strong demand that state Web sites crashed. Georgia and Michigan are among the states that still have plenty of rebates on hand.

Smaller prison count breaks 38-year trend

By John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writer — 03/17/2010

State prisons have been a dynamic growth industry over the past four decades, with the number of inmates exploding by more than 700 percent. No longer. A survey released Wednesday (March 17) by the Pew Center on the States, the parent organization of Stateline.org, finds that the total number of prisoners in state custody declined last year for the first time since 1972.

Academics and state wealth

By David Shaffer and David Wright, Special to Stateline.org — 03/17/2010

This commentary is provided by David Shaffer and David Wright of The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute

States that once could dangle their low costs of doing business to lure industry from other states have suddenly faced competition from even lower-cost places such as China and Southeast Asia. Many have been scrambling to catch up with ever-growing packages of tax incentives and grants. But while states scramble, the ground has shifted beneath them. The economic development contest is changing.

In a Stateline.org commentary, The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government's David Schaffer and David Wright argue that the key asset states must now deploy in the "knowledge economy" is, actually, knowledge.

What Medicaid cuts look like

By Stateline.org Staff — 03/16/2010

TODAY’S TAKE: The recession is forcing more Americans to turn to Medicaid, the vast state-federal health insurance program for the poor. But as states struggle to meet the rising demand, doctors and other health care providers are being paid less and patients’ choices are being restricted — if they are covered at all anymore.

States relieved by school plan

By Jake Grovum, Special to Stateline.org — 03/16/2010

One state at a time, the push for common school graduation standards has been gaining traction. In just five years, the number of states with such standards for college and career-readiness has increased from three to 31. But behind the progress there has consistently been a looming concern: Would the federal government move in and supersede the gains that states have been making?

That concern grew into genuine alarm a few weeks ago when the Obama administration announced that a new set of federal graduation requirements would be forthcoming. State education officials worried out loud that this might mean an attempt to hand down standards from Washington to every school in the country.

States weigh national ed standards

By Stateline.org Staff — 03/15/2010

TODAY’S TAKE: Officials from 48 states last week unveiled a set of proposed education standards for K-12 schools nationwide, taking a key step to guarantee that students in one part of the country build the same skills as those in another. Now comes the hard part, as states must decide whether they want to adopt those standards. Alaska and Texas have already said no.

New script for Sudafed?

By John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writer — 03/15/2010

Anyone in Oregon who wants to buy tablets of Sudafed or Claritin D must have a doctor’s prescription to do so. Those who live in Oklahoma must submit to an instant online screening before they can walk out of a pharmacy with those products.

The two states are taking aggressive but different approaches to a common and long-standing problem: the production of crystal meth, a highly addictive drug made with a decongestant found in several leading cold and allergy medicines, including Sudafed.

Oregon’s approach has alarmed the pharmaceuticals industry, which is lobbying hard in other states in favor of Oklahoma’s approach — even offering to pay for it. Either way, the purchase of cold medicines by meth makers is likely to become much trickier.

Tempest in a tea party

By Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org Staff Writer — 03/12/2010

Both political parties are taking tea party activists seriously and are wary of offending them – if they are not already actively wooing them for state races this fall. Just look at the governor’s election in Ohio. Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich openly touts his tea party credentials in his bid to defeat incumbent Democrat Ted Strickland. “I think I was in the tea party before there was a tea party,” Kasich famously told a Columbus crowd earlier this year. “This is a real movement with a real message about people’s frustrations by broken promises that leaders on both sides of the aisle would be foolish to ignore,” he went on to write in a blog posting.

Unemployment: A lost decade for 12 states

By Stateline.org Staff — 03/11/2010

TODAY’S TAKE: California has fewer people in its workforce today than it did in 1999. For Alabama and Indiana, 1993 is the last time the employment ranks were so thin. And for Michigan — unquestionably the nation’s hardest-hit state in terms of unemployment — 4.1 million people have jobs today. That’s the smallest total since August of 1987, when Ronald Reagan was president.

Summary of the Florida state of the state address

03/02/2010

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s final state of the state address March 2 was as much a campaign stump speech for his bid for the U.S. Senate as a plan for this year’s spring legislative session.

Fresh air in Wyoming

By Stephen C. Fehr, Stateline.org Staff Writer — 03/05/2010

Outgoing Governor Dave Freudenthal and the Wyoming Legislature have agreed on a bipartisan plan to enact the nation’s first tax on wind-energy production. So why don’t other wind-state governors agree?

Summary of the Tennessee state of the state address

02/01/2010

Term-limited Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) unveiled a new budget plan that would cut state spending and use up about $200 million in rainy day funds during his final state of the state address Feb. 1.

Spinning the stimulus

By Stephen C. Fehr, Stateline.org Staff Writer — 02/26/2010

Economists credit the federal stimulus package for helping bring an end to the recession. Most governors say the money prevented more drastic spending cuts and tax increases in their states. But a few Republican governors who took the money contend the stimulus was a mistake.

Politically Uncorrected: The 99 percent rule

By G. Terry Madonna and Michael L. Young, syndicated columnists — 02/24/2010

Call it the 99 percent rule. 99 percent of criminal trials only matter to a small cadre of participants. Defendants, victims, judges, defense lawyers, and prosecutors all play their respective roles. And, of course, society has an abstract stake in it all. But win, lose or draw it is this finite group for whom the personal stakes are the highest and the outcome truly matters.

Summary of the Pennsylvania executive budget address

02/09/2010

In his last executive budget address, term-limited Democratic Gov. Edward G. Rendell Feb. 9 proposed a controversial tax plan that would trim the sales tax rate, but apply it to more goods and services. His $26.3 billion budget proposal includes $2.7 billion in federal stimulus money and assumes continued federal help with health care expenses.

An era of federal opportunity for cities and regions?

By Neal Peirce, syndicated columnist — 02/14/2010

WASHINGTON — For America’s cities and regions, this seems the worst of times. But take a look at their partnership with the federal government. It’s a rapid turn for the better.

Summary of the Nevada state of the state address

02/08/2010

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons (R) started off his state of the state address Feb. 8 by rattling off a series of statistics that he said reflects the recession’s “crippling hold on Nevada,” including: a 13 percent unemployment rate, a 24.5 percent drop in home values over the third quarter of 2009, a 17 percent fall in state revenues last year and a $1 billion hole in a $6 billion budget.

Summary of the Minnesota state of the state address

02/11/2010

Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty sounded familiar themes in his final state of the state address, calling for cuts in business taxes and a cap on state spending.

Summary of the Wyoming state of the state address

02/08/2010

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, called on the Republican-led legislature to use a “conservative” approach while drafting this year’s budget.

Summary of the Connecticut state of the state address

02/03/2010

Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell, a Republican, focused on ways to create jobs and cut the deficit in a sobering state of the state address Feb. 3. She called out the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature for partisan bickering at a time when a devastating economic recession has thrown 94,000 residents out of work and caused a deep fiscal crisis.

Summary of the Michigan state of the state address

By — 02/03/2010

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) urged state lawmakers in her state of the state address Feb. 3 to fix a budget process that has twice in the last three years shut down Michigan government.

Summary of the Oklahoma state of the state address

02/01/2010

Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, urged members of Oklahoma’s Republican-controlled legislature to avoid painful cuts in state services by tapping into the state’s reserves to balance its budget.

Summary of the Maryland state of the state address

02/02/2010

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) used his 2010 state of the state address Feb. 2 to push for job-creating policies, measures to help people stay in their homes and a general fund budget that spends less than the state did just four years ago.

Voters guide

02/11/2010

Key races to decide control and redistricting power

02/11/2010

Roads and health care costs worry states

02/11/2010

Revenue drops, budget gaps and expensive promises

02/11/2010

Summary of the Wisconsin state of the state address

01/26/2010

It’s been a difficult year for Wisconsin, but Gov. Jim Doyle (D) struck an upbeat tone during his Jan. 26 state of the state address. Despite budget cuts, furloughs and pay and hiring freezes, Doyle warned that more cuts were on the horizon, although he vowed to continue “protecting education, health care and public safety and protecting the middle class against tax increases.”

Politically Uncorrected: The mandate myth

By G. Terry Madonna and Michael L. Young, syndicated columnists — 01/29/2010

“Voters,” political scientist V.O. Key famously remarked, “are not fools.” By and large that’s true. The specious corollary drawn by many politicians, however, is not so true. Since voters are not fools, politicians reason, they must have clear, thoughtful, and decisive expectations for a new president coming into office. By and large that’s false.

States' fiscal agony: No end in sight?

By Neal Peirce, syndicated columnist — 01/24/2010

“This may be the most calamitous fiscal year states have known in decades,” reports Rob Gurwitt in Governing magazine, the 23-year old bible on coverage of state and local governance across the continent.

Summary of the Rhode Island state of the state address

01/28/2010

Gov. Donald Carcieri said Jan. 26 he would use his final year in office to revive Rhode Island’s economy through tax credits instead of tax increases and by continuing to cut government spending.

Summary of the Utah state of the state address

01/27/2010

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) used his first state of the state address to call on lawmakers Jan. 26 to exercise fiscal restraint and not raise taxes, but to also protect education from budget cuts.

Summary of the Ohio state of the state address

01/27/2010

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D) vowed during his Jan. 26 state of the state address to increase the state’s green energy production and to beef up job-creation programs.

2010 Elections: New faces, daunting problems

By Pamela M. Prah — 02/11/2010

Barack Obama won the presidency running on a platform of change in 2008, and change also will be the watchword in 2010 at the state level.

Bruising budget battles could put voters in a testy mood and usher in a wave of new faces to lead state government, where Democrats now hold the majority of governorships and statehouses.

Summary of the Hawaii state of the state address

01/27/2010

Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle (R) on Jan. 25 laid out an ambitious agenda for her final year in office, proposing tax credits to stimulate clean energy jobs, strengthening the education department by putting it in the governor’s Cabinet and creating a budget stabilization fund to help protect the state’s finances.

Summary of the South Carolina state of the state address

01/25/2010

South Carolina Gov. Sanford, once considered a strong GOP presidential contender, used his final state of the state address to again apologize for the “storm” his extramarital affair wrought and laid out three goals he hopes to accomplish in his final year in office, including a cap on spending.

Summary of the Massachusetts state of the commonwealth address

01/25/2010

Although the recession opened up a $9 billion budget gap over the past two fiscal years, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) has promised not to cut funding to education and to use the state’s high bond rating to invest in construction projects.

Summary of the South Dakota state of the state address

01/25/2010

In his final state of the state address, South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds (R) called for lawmakers to help carry on the state’s progress in education and the economy, saying South Dakota’s low 5 percent unemployment rate shows the state is heading in the right direction.

Summary of the Maine state of the state speech

01/25/2010

In his last state of the state address, Gov. John Baldacci (D) called on the Democratic-led Legislature to help him close a $438 million budget gap by consolidating natural resource agencies, streamlining government administration, eliminating redundancies between state and local government and cutting social services.

Summary of the Missouri state of the state speech

01/25/2010

Picking up where he left off a year ago, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) declared Jan. 20 that creating private-sector jobs would be his top priority in the coming year through tax credits, recruitment of high-technology companies and increased job training.

Summary of the Delaware state of the state address

01/25/2010

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell (D) highlighted during his state of the state speech Jan. 20 his administration’s efforts to curb state spending and promote jobs, and he promised to do more of the same.

Summary of the New Hampshire state of the state address

01/25/2010

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) has asked lawmakers to change the state’s unemployment benefits so they could pay for on-the-job training for new workers, give unemployment benefits to employees whose hours are reduced and help job applicants evaluate their skills.

Is it time for a new fiscal balance between states and the feds?

By Christine Vestal — 02/11/2010

In his 1982 State of the Union address, President Ronald Reagan called for sweeping changes in the partnership between Washington and the states. His proposal for a grand swap of state and federal responsibilities would have relieved states of one of the fastest-growing burdens on their budgets today.
Congress never acted on Reagan’s proposal, and his idea to fundamentally rethink the financial ties between states and the federal government went dormant. Perhaps until now.

Politically Uncorrected: Restoring confidence

By G. Terry Madonna and Michael L. Young, syndicated columnists — 01/23/2010

It’s pretty grim. The successive crises of the last several years have produced the greatest erosion of public confidence in the Pennsylvania legislature in modern history. The low confidence levels have been repeatedly demonstrated in recent polls. Last month’s Quinnipiac University Poll reported only one in four voters approve of the job the state legislature is doing.

Recession could reshape state governments in lasting ways

By Stephen C. Fehr — 02/11/2010

For a preview of the future of state government, consider Arizona’s plan to raise desperately needed cash by selling and leasing back the office tower that houses most of its government. Or Hawaii, where more than 500 people chipped in their own money to keep open a public library that the state had planned to close because of budget cuts. Or Maine’s attempt to simplify and lower its income tax rate while broadening its sales tax base to cover services such as ski-lift tickets and dry cleaning.

2010 speeches are bleak for most governors

By John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writer — 01/22/2010

With nearly three-quarters of their seats up for election this year, the nation’s governors are setting the stage for 2010 by warning that the economic downturn is far from over in the states, where tax collections are weak, unemployment is surging and the likeliest outcomes will be unpopular tax hikes and sharp budget cuts.

Summary of the Alaska state of the state speech

01/21/2010

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell used his first state of the state address to call for new merit scholarships to Alaska universities, a two-year suspension of the state’s gas tax and stepped-up measures to stop an “epidemic” of domestic violence and rape.

Summary of the Virginia state of the commonwealth speech (Gov. Robert McDonnell)

01/21/2010

Inheriting a $4 billion budget shortfall, first-year Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell (R) said on Jan. 18 he would rely on spending cuts instead of tax increases to get Virginia through its worst financial crisis since the 1930s.

Summary of the Indiana state of the state address

01/21/2010

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) boasted during his state of the state address Jan. 19 that Indiana had weathered the recession better than almost every other state, although he still called on lawmakers to make cuts in spending without raising taxes.

Summary of the New Mexico state of the state address

01/20/2010

Announcing budget cuts, ethics reforms, public and highway safety initiatives and clean energy incentives, Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson asked lawmakers to support a laundry list of new proposals in his Jan. 19 state of the state address.

Summary of Illinois state of the state address

01/19/2010

In a wide-ranging, hour-long address that covered topics from the importance of education to bringing prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to his state, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) said he plans to cut the general fund budget by $2 billion and called for increased, yet fairer, taxes in his Jan. 13 state of the state speech.

Summary of the Mississippi state of the state address

01/19/2010

Republican Gov. Haley Barbour used his Jan. 18 state of the state address to urge the Democratic-led Legislature to approve a bill that would allow him to cut individual agency budgets up to 10 percent. He also called job creation and workforce training his No. 1 priorities and touted Mississippi’s leadership in alternative energy production.

Summary of the Virginia state of the commonwealth speech (Gov. Tim Kaine)

01/15/2010

Outgoing Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) offered a mixed assessment of his four years, saying the state has largely endured the recession but still faces huge challenges in transportation and higher education.

Summary of Nebraska state of the state address

01/15/2010

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman (R) proposed growing his state’s economy, making over public education and further streamlining state government in his state of the state address Jan. 14, just two months after he and the Legislature budget-cut their way out of a $335 million deficit.

Summary of the Colorado state of the state address

01/15/2010

In his final state of the state address after announcing he would not seek re-election this fall, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) called for an end to “$10 solutions to billion-dollar problems” and asked the Legislature for its help in balancing the state’s budget, advancing green energy and creating jobs.

Summary of the Washington state of the state address

01/15/2010

“Jobs are the way out of this recession,” Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) told the Democratic-led Legislature in her state of the state address Jan. 12, laying out a series of proposals she said would create as many as 40,000 new jobs this year.

Summary of the West Virginia state of the state address

01/14/2010

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III (D) told the Democrat-controlled Legislature Jan.13 that the state’s new budget will be “slender,” but that West Virginia has weathered the Great Recession better than dozens of other states that suffered deep budget deficits.

Summary of the Georgia state of the state address

01/14/2010

Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue used his last state of the state address to reminisce about his seven years in office, relate the state’s fiscal crisis to other challenges in American history and admonish the Republican-majority legislature to make the tough decisions needed to improve the state’s future.

Summary of the New Jersey state of the state address

01/13/2010

Outgoing New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) told the Democratic-controlled Legislature Jan. 13 that he was disappointed he was not re-elected last November to serve a second term and that he hadn’t done more to reduce property taxes.

Summary of the Alabama state of the state address

01/13/2010

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, a Republican, presented a largely optimistic outlook to legislators in his state of the state speech Jan. 12, proclaiming dire forecasts for the state’s budget situation “a crock.”

Summary of the Arizona state of the state address

01/12/2010

In her Jan. 11 state of the state address that Democrats said sounded more like a campaign speech, first-term Republican Gov. Jan Brewer blamed the state’s dire fiscal woes on Washington and former governor Janet Napolitano (D), now head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Summary of the Iowa condition of the state address

01/12/2010

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver (D) called on lawmakers Jan. 12 to eliminate certain tax breaks and adopt his “government efficiency” proposals that he said could provide enough savings to allow the state to restore recent cuts in education and other key programs and invest in more “green-collar” jobs.

Summary of the Idaho state of the state address

01/12/2010

Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter (R) used his combined state of the state and budget address on Jan. 11 to push a “responsibly conservative” spending plan based on no growth in tax revenue, even though the state’s economist has indicated growth is a possibility in fiscal 2011.

Summary of the Kansas state of the state address

01/12/2010

Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson (D) appealed to lawmakers Jan. 11 to increase cigarette and sales taxes to help close the state’s current $400 million budget gap and prevent deeper cuts to schools and social services.

Summary of the Vermont state of the state address

01/11/2010

Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas (R) used his final state of the state address to urge lawmakers Jan. 7 to roll back tax increases enacted last year to balance the budget, and he called for sweeping changes to the way Vermonters pay for education.

Summary of the Kentucky state of the commonwealth address

01/08/2010

“I refuse to use this recession as an excuse not to move forward,” Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) told lawmakers in the politically divided Legislature Jan. 6, as another session of difficult budget choices got under way. “I refuse to hunker down and hide, to just wait out this storm and to passively accept the economic situation that others have created for us.”

Summary of the California state of the state address

01/09/2010

Term-limited California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) outlined a series of sweeping proposals in his final state of the state speech to the Democratic-controlled Legislature Jan. 6, including overhauls of the state’s tax, budget and pension systems that he said would lift the Golden State out of fiscal calamity.

Bold proposals in first gov speeches

By John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writer — 01/07/2010

The governors of California, Kentucky and New York on Wednesday (Jan. 6) became the first to deliver state of the state speeches to their legislatures this year, using the occasion to push policy proposals aimed at helping their states gain jobs and emerge from fiscal crisis.

Summary of the New York state of the state address

01/07/2010

Gov. David Paterson (D), facing what could be a difficult primary campaign this year, proposed a plan Jan. 6 that he said would fix New York’s shattered finances, rejuvenate its slumping economy and restore trust in government through a series of major ethics reforms.

Beyond California: Methodology

Beyond California: States to watch

The death penalty since 1972

07/31/2008

Calif. gay marriage ruling sparks new debate

By Christine Vestal, Stateline.org Staff Writer — 05/16/2008

(Updated 5 p.m EDT, June 12, 2008)
The California Supreme Court reignited a political wildfire with its ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in the most populous state in the union, but the issue already has burned out in more than half the states.

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Getting U.S. regions past sleepwalking

Neal Peirce — 07/01/2007

BOSTON – Far too many of America’s metro regions have been sleepwalking into the 21st century, only mistily aware of how severely global economic competition and climate change may hit them. Or if aware, so splintered politically they’re dangerously slow to respond.

Second Term Troubles

G. Terry Madonna and Michael Young — 06/19/2007

There’s good news and bad news these days for the Bush Administration. The bad news is that President Bush’s anemic approval rating is hovering around 30 percent. The good news is that it probably can’t go much lower. But, what may be news to the Bush administration isn’t new in American politics. In fact, Bush’s slow but inexorable erosion of political support is a depressingly old pattern in modern American politics.

'Green' Wal-Mart: An Oxymoron?

By Neal Peirce, special to stateline.org — 06/24/2007

Wal-Mart has been harvesting kudos for its dramatic ``green''
promises. Even Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense
Council have gone on record praising the massive retailer's intentions to
reduce electricity usage in its stores 20 percent by 2013 and to double the
fuel economy of its trucks by 2015.

A Detroit charter school's amazing '90-90' pledge -- and success

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 06/03/2007

In 1999 Doug Ross and his colleagues made an outrageous “90-90" promise. In 2007, they would graduate at least 90 percent of ninth graders going through their brand new University Preparatory Academy, an inner-city charter school. And, 90 percent would go on to post-secondary education.

Politically Uncorrected: The next big one

By G. Terry Madonna & Michael L. Young, Special to Stateline.org — 05/22/2007

Pennsylvania has conducted some big elections lately: big presidential races, big gubernatorial races, and big congressional races. Indeed, big, important, and eventful elections have become a regular feature of the State’s political landscape.

Global warming: A state and local rescue?

By Neal Peirce, Syndicated Columnist to Stateline.org — 05/27/2007

Thirty-one states representing 70 percent of the country's population announced on May 8 that they had signed on to a new Climate Registry to measure, track, verify and publicly report the greenhouse gas emissions by major industries.

Bloomberg's Climate Initiative Points to a Big Capitalist Solution

By Neal Peirce, Syndicated Columnist to Stateline.org — 05/06/2007

Global praise has been rolling in for Mayor Michael Bloomberg's remarkably encompassing ``green'' climate agenda and goals for New York's future, which he unveiled on Earth Day.

Bloomberg's Pathbreaking "PlaNYC": A Model for Urban America?

By Neal Peirce, Syndicated Columnist to Stateline.org — 04/25/2007

NEW YORK -- Mayor Michael Bloomberg's revolutionary proposal for "congestion pricing" -- road fees for private vehicles entering Manhattan's business district during business hours -- has dominated news coverage of the "PlaNYC" for "A Greener, Greater New York" that he unveiled in a major Earth Day address.

Corporate Location Subsidies: Do they feel the sprawl too?

By Neal Peirce, Syndicated Columnist to Stateline.org — 04/22/2007

Are government subsidies to job-promising corporations the waste of taxpayers’ money that critics have long claimed -- a zero-sum city-to-city and state-to-state shell game?

City Bikes: Clean, Healthy, Fun -- And Faster Than Cars?

By Neal Peirce, Syndicated Columnist to Stateline.org — 04/15/2007

Are we ready to go bicycling? Could these times of climate change, gas price inflation and bulging waistlines be prepping us for new waves of weekend biking adventures? Maybe even to leave cars parked and cycle to work daily?

Can 'Gentrifying' Cities Create New Bridges To Wealth?

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 03/25/2007

WASHINGTON - Love, social equity and shelter. With those ideals, the Rev. Jim Dickerson in 1982 founded Manna Inc. to provide housing for people in crime-ravaged, sometimes burned-out neighborhoods of this capital city.

James Webb's Equity Challenge: What If We Got Serious?

Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 02/04/2007

Cheers for Sen. James Webb. His Democratic rejoinder to the State of the Union address provided a blast of fresh politics we hear all too rarely, either in Washington or the state capitals.

Congress' Minimum Wage Vote: Prelude to a Better Politics?

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 01/25/2007

Are we truly on a swing back to centrist and pragmatic politics? Like a first robin of spring, the House’s fast vote to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 in a phased two-year process, up from the $5.15 figure at which the Republican-controlled Congress left it frozen for the past decade, is a good omen.

Could a farm bill serve us all?

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 01/21/2007

No big surprise: As Congress girds to debate a 2007 farm bill, the big commodity interests -- cotton, rice, corn, wheat, soybeans -- are lining up to protect their rights to billions in future subsidies, notwithstanding recent market prices increases that should hearten them all.

Farm bill - candidate for a bipartisan breakthrough?

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 1/14/2007

WASHINGTON -- Could the farm bill give the new Democratic Congress a chance for dramatic reform -- and perhaps even a way to collaborate with President Bush?

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Stateline.org's 2006 interactive elections guide

Follow races for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state as well as statewide ballot measures with Stateline.org’s interactive elections guide

ELECTIONS

Election '06 -- GOP edge at stake

By Pamela M. Prah and Eric Kelderman, Stateline.org Staff
At least a dozen governors' races and 14 of the most competitive statehouses are still up in the air as Democrats aim to overturn the edge Republicans gained at the state level in 1994. What’s at stake in races for 36 governors, 30 attorneys general, 27 secretaries of state, and 6,119 state lawmakers in 46 states? Read More

ELECTIONS

Longer ballots pose many questions

By Daniel C. Vock,
Stateline.org Staff Writer

Voters in 37 states will have 205 ballot measures to consider Nov. 7, including 81 from citizens, a banner year. The questions range from the politically explosive – gay marriage and abortion – to the quirky, such as Arizona’s proposal to enter voters in a $1 million lottery.
Read More

ELECTIONS

Impassioned voters head for polls

By Joshua Brockman, Stateline.org Staff Writer
Voter turnout is projected to be larger than normal for a midterm election. But that still means a minority of the electorate in most states will decide a bevy of close races that will determine control of Congress and state capitols. Read More

Stateline.org has also compiled ongoing coverage of the statewide elections in one place, our 2006 elections page is the place to go to find every Stateline.org election story and reference guide.

State public policy resources

Stateline.org has put together a comprehensive list of state public policy resources. Organized by issue, you will find useful links to essential information from government, academia, and think tanks.

State-oriented blogs

Stateline.org has compiled an extensive list of state issue and state political blogs to make it convenient for you to follow different aspects of state government. These sites are not affiliated in any way with Stateline.org or the Pew Center on the States, and the opinions expressed on them are theirs alone. Neither Stateline.org nor the Pew Center on the States bears any responsibility for the content of these sites - they are listed solely as a public service.

Issue-oriented blogs

Medicaid: Biggest insurer is a budget buster

By Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org Staff Writer — 08/03/2006

Medicaid went largely unnoticed when it first came into being in mid-1965, meriting only passing mention from President Lyndon B. Johnson at a bill-signing ceremony in Independence, Mo., where he trumpeted passage of the Medicare health plan for Americans over age 65. But four decades later, Medicaid’s numbers are eye-popping. It is now the nation’s largest health insurance program, covering 59 million poor people, or one in six Americans, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers. It pays for 37 percent of all births in the United States and helps foot the bills for more than 60 percent of all patients in nursing homes.

2006 interactive elections guide

Keep track of this fall’s elections by using Stateline.org’s interactive map to follow the 36 gubernatorial, 30 attorney general and 27 secretary of state races. Following Nov. 7, results will be added to the guide, so check back often.

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Katrina paradox: Calamity but fresh ideas

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 01/24/2006

Hurricane Katrina was the worst natural disaster in American history; it remains daily pain and misery for hundreds of thousands. But calamity has begun to unleash some inventive ideas.

School choice: Besting the lobbies

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 01/19/2006

Can a single state bring off a reform that sways a nation -- even in an era of extraordinarily tenacious lobbying by entrenched interests?

Managing our borders: Not another 'war,' please!

By Neal Peirce — 01/10/2006

Hundreds of new Border Patrol and immigration agents. Gigantic, double-layer steel fences along the California and Arizona borders. Infrared and daylight cameras. Stadium lighting. A new surveillance drone. Expanded detention facilities.

SOTS order AD

Post-hurricane gleams of light?

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 09/26/2005

A few gleams of light are appearing in the paths of families made homeless and communities devastated by the monster hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast.

Katrina's Opportunity - A New New Federalism

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 09/20/2005

WASHINGTON -- If the nation's heart in responding to the challenges of Hurricane Katrina is even half as large as President Bush now says it is, we face a set of perplexing "how?s."

Post-Katrina super-manager: Great idea, time is wasting

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 09/13/2005

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich's suggestion that President Bush appoint a powerful super-manager to oversee the federal government-wide efforts to recover from Hurricane Katrina's ravages is logical -- if not imperative.

Purging pop from the schools: Wake-up call for the states

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 09/12/2005

It's time for state governments to take tough action to cut down their young citizens' sugar and fat intake. For the kids' sake -- and the state's sake.

Katrina aftermath: Tears of a civic warrior

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 09/02/2005

WASHINGTON - "I got out at the last moment, driving 16 straight hours to Birmingham with Evelyn Cox, my 96-year-old neighbor, and Coco the French cat. We are very fortunate to have made it."

Energy bill strikes out: What can we do?

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 08/28/2005

A fervid wave of criticism has followed Congress' new omnibus energy bill -- and who's to say it's not deserved?

Addictive, expensive, dangerous: "The Great American Jobs Scam"

By Neal Peirce, special to Stateline.org — 08/07/2005

Call it, if you will, the crack cocaine of state and local governments' economic development practices -- their endless flow of tax breaks and outright gifts to private corporations they want to land, or figure they have to pay off to stay put.

Communities by smart design: Mayors' effort spreads to the Governors

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 07/31/2005

"Gee, I wish my colleagues back home could see this," Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. of Charleston, S.C., recalls thinking as he admired the handsome old urban forms and new design initiatives of European cities on a 1984 trip organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Medicaid reform -- A new race to the top

By Raymond C. Scheppach, Special to Stateline.org — 07/12/2005

Last month, the National Governors Association released a set of policy recommendations to reform Medicaid. This latest package of reform proposals differed significantly from previous governors? recommendations since the focus was not only on making the Medicaid program more efficient, but also on slowing the growth rate of Medicaid eligible populations.

Privatized neighborhoods - the future we want?

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 07/10/2005

Don't let the recent Supreme Court decision on the New London, Conn., eminent domain case fool you -- the powers of local governments aren't expanding, they're actually receding.

Britain's focus on its cities: Painful contrast for U.S.

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 06/29/2005

Britain cares about its cities; the United States does not. It was tough for Americans, attending the Urban Land Institute's World Cities Forum here last week, to reach any other conclusion.

A new local food scenario: wave of the future - or chimera?

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 07/03/2005

How you feel about food is how you feel about the world.

Medical marijuana decision: Bad news all around

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 06/13/2005

There are three big reasons to believe the Supreme Court made a big mistake in its June 6 ruling that the laws in California and 10 other states allowing medical use of marijuana are no protection against federal raids and prosecutions.

New federal transportation bill: Bloated, full of earmarks, no national strategy

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 06/06/2005

WASHINGTON - It's a standard Washington story of clashing forces. The president threatens a veto if Congress passes a new multibillion-dollar transportation bill costing more than his budget allows. The House goes along with the $283.9 billion he recommends, but the Senate adds an extra $11 billion. The measure heads for conference. Will Congress dare defy the president? If it does, will the president veto -- or flinch?

A small Conn. hospital leads a health care revolution

Commentary by Neal R. Peirce — 06/02/2005

DERBY, Conn. - From Main Street merchants to U.S. senators, health care and its ballooning costs qualify as the new century's worst fiscal migraine. Now the problem is hitting not just government and employer budgets, but millions of people forced into big co-payments or unable to get coverage at all.

Metro food policy: Is the time right?

By Neal Peirce, Special to Stateline.org — 05/24/2005

Is America ready for a metropolitan agriculture policy?