The Thicket at State Legislatures

Civic Health Index for Ohio and Minnesota

jgoehring — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:27:06 -0700

by Jan Goehring The National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) recently released civic health index reports for Minnesota and Ohio. Both reports indicate the economy has had an impact on civic involvement, but to different degrees. The Minnesota Civic Health Index:...

Bipartisan Beltway Committee Seeks to “Modernize” U.S. Election System

Karl Kurtz — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:59:32 -0700

by Tom Intorcio Voter registration can sometimes be a highly charged and partisan issue, so it is worth noting that advisers from recent Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns have recently aligned themselves to propose a new system. Trevor Potter, former...

Civic Education and 21st Century Skills

jgoehring — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:04:37 -0700

by Jan Goehring A new report shows that effective civic learning builds 21st century skills that are key to students' success in college, career and citizenship. The study, Paths to 21st Century Competencies Through Civic Education Classrooms, was sponsored by...

Republicans See Signs of a Comeback in Limited 2009 Elections

TimStorey — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:33:39 -0700

by Tim Storey The number of legislative seats up in 2009 legislative elections was the lowest of the decade with only two chambers up for grabs in the off-year part of the cycle. And even though no chambers changed hands...

Run Government Like a Business: Who has the Time?

bweberg — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:11:03 -0700

by Brian Weberg We don't seem to hear it as much as we used to, but the claim that government would be better if "run like a business" still lurks in political campaigns and in criticisms of government inefficiencies (we...

Rain in Death Valley, Party Voting in California, Congress and Tiddlywinks

Karl Kurtz — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:00:19 -0700

by Karl Kurtz It's more likely to rain in Death Valley on any given day than it is for a California legislator to vote in opposition to the majority of his or her party on any given bill.... That's the...

Book Review: Fair, Balanced...and Dead

Karl Kurtz — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:50:56 -0600

by Tim Hodson There is a new addition to that small genre of mystery novels set in state capitols and involving legislatures. Fair, Balanced …and Dead is the first novel by Steve Swatt, a long-time political reporter, now retired, for...

Fire Alarms and Police Patrols: Two Approaches to Legislative Oversight

Karl Kurtz — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:46:54 -0600

by Karl Kurtz American legislatures don't devote enough time or attention to legislative oversight. That's a nearly universal complaint about both Congress and state legislatures. Legislative surveillance and control of the executive branch is hard work, not very rewarding and...

Top Ten for Back to School Program

jgoehring — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:11:54 -0600

by Jan Goehring Each summer, NCSL's Trust for Representative Democracy collects information about how many legislators participated in the America's Legislators Back to School Program the previous school year. The program encourages legislators to visit classrooms and bring civics to...

Town Hall Meetings: Building Trust Online

PamGreenberg — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:21:30 -0600

by Pam Greenberg Participants in a series of online town hall meetings with members of Congress reported significantly improved trust, agreement, and satisfaction with government. These online meetings, according to a new report by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) and...

"My bills were my babies. I loved them all"

Karl Kurtz — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:50:32 -0600

by Karl Kurtz In the middle of a day-long joint hearing by California's recently appointed Assembly and Senate select committees on improving state government, Bob Naylor, a former Assembly minority (Republican) leader, said, "This is the best prolonged discussion of...

New Surveys Provide Snapshot of Legislators' Use of Social Media

PamGreenberg — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:12:50 -0600

by Pam Greenberg Tracking the number of legislators using social media tools seems a daunting task. NCSL's chart lists legislative caucuses and agencies using these sites, and Karl Kurtz has previously blogged about legislators who tweet. Several recent surveys, however,...

The Fiscal Outlook for Higher Education

Karl Kurtz — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0600

by Brenda Bautsch 2009 was a tough year for states in terms of funding higher education, and 2010 does not look any better. The recession has made fiscal conditions worse in the states, and while the federal stimulus funds have...

Of Rituals, Swords and Cod: More Symbols of Authority

Karl Kurtz — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:37:50 -0600

by Kae Warnock We human beings carry out a significant portion of our lives on the basis of little rituals. Birthdays are celebrated with candles on the cake, toasts are offered at wedding receptions, and commencement ceremonies are held for...

Florida Civic Health

jgoehring — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:57:48 -0600

by Jan Goehring The National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) recently released a report about the civic health of Florida and there is room for improvement. Florida ranks 46th in the nation for overall civic life. The study, prepared by the...

What Federal Policies and Programs Can Help States Improve College Completion?

Karl Kurtz — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:26:39 -0600

by Brenda Bautsch President Barack Obama recently announced his goal of having the United States become number one in the world in terms of the number of adults with postsecondary degrees. This is a spot the United States once held,...

Making Data (and Words) Fun

Gene Rose — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:49:45 -0600

by Gene Rose Policymakers deal with data on a daily basis. Every now and then, someone applies some creativity to that data and produces a fun and engaging product. A good example of this is a site called Congress Speaks....

How a Bill Really Becomes a Law, Part 2

Karl Kurtz — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:41:28 -0600

by Karl Kurtz Ever dissatisfied by those textbook cartoons that show the formal stages of the legislative process, I'm always on the lookout for new imagery of how the lawmaking process really works (see "How a Bill REALLY Becomes a...

College Completion Rates: Room for Improvement

Karl Kurtz — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:40:32 -0600

by Brenda Bautsch When you compare higher education completion rates in the United States to the rest of the world, we fall behind. But that hasn't always been the case. The National Conference of State Legislatures recently held the 6th...

The Mace as a Symbol of Authority

Karl Kurtz — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:11:18 -0600

by Karl Kurtz On a visit to Virginia's marvelously historic and beautifully restored state capitol last week, I saw a mace on display in a glass case in the old House chamber. Sitting next to it was a stack of...

NCSL loses a Friend

TimStorey — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:43:00 -0600

by Tim Storey It is with deep sorrow that I report the passing of one of NCSL's great friends. Marshall Turner died yesterday in a Maryland hospital only a few short years after retiring from the U.S. Census Bureau. While...

NCSL Staffer Plays Footy on the Front Page of the Washington Post

Michelle Blackston — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:31:00 -0600

NCSL's education policy associate Robert Strange was featured in a photo on the front page of the Washington Post on Thursday playing U.S. Footy or Australian rules football. The team, Baltimore Washington Eagles, have become a powerhouse and will play...

To Shrink or Grow the Size of the Legislature

Karl Kurtz — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:51:00 -0600

by Karl Kurtz In Pennsylvania they say shrink the Legislature. In Canada they say grow the Parliament. I've written before in The Thicket about the dilemma of "What's the Right Size for the Legislature?". Two news items in the last...

Rankings of African Nations

Karl Kurtz — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:44:39 -0600

by Karl Kurtz An article in today's New York Times, "Contention over rankings of African nations", comparing African countries on a variety of measurements of governmental performance, generated a lot of discussion among our NCSL staff who have worked in...

Decline in Statehouse Reporting Places Burden on Nonpartisan Staff

Karl Kurtz — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:40:37 -0600

by Karl Kurtz Joe Turner is retiring after 20 years as the statehouse reporter in Olympia for the Tacoma News Tribune. In "'Joe Turner's Come and Gone,'" (a title deliberately borrowed from an August Wilson play) he writes an engaging...

Voter Retribution for Legislators' Votes

Karl Kurtz — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:20:22 -0600

by Karl Kurtz An academic researcher asked us recently about cases of voter retribution for legislators' votes on issues. We don't track this systematically at NCSL, although we know of anecdotal cases. In his book, Engines of Democracy, Prof. Alan...

The Bigger Picture

bweberg — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:29:43 -0600

by Brian Weberg Every now and then I read something that I want to share with my children. Thomas Friedman's recent op-ed expressing his concerns about the current nature of the American political scene is one such item. It doesn't...

What's Going on with Town Hall Meetings?

Karl Kurtz — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:59:28 -0600

by Bruce Feustel A Google search of "legislative town hall meetings" produces over a million hits, revealing gatherings in Alaska, Florida, Maine, Hawaii and all points in between. With all the negative publicity over disruptive or unruly behavior at these...

News reporting changes, and yet stays the same

Michelle Blackston — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:27:00 -0600

by Michelle Blackston In this edition of NCSL's The Buzz, it's time to highlight another statehouse reporter I caught up with at the 2009 Capitol Beat Reporter conference. Peter Wong is the capitol bureau chief of the Oregon Statesman Journal....

Am I Missing Something?

jgoehring — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:34:34 -0600

by Jan Goehring Am I missing something? That's the question young students pose in a new series of public service announcements produced by NCSL's Trust for Representative Democracy. The teens tackle cynicism and common misconceptions about American democracy. They figure...