The Thicket at State Legislatures

Domes, Domes, Domes

jgoehring — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:51:46 -0600

by Kae Warnock When we think of capitols, many of us immediately conjure up an image of a dome similar to the federal-style domed building, where the U.S. Congress meets. But state capitols, just like the states themselves, are unique...

Cap City Trivia for Your Holiday Edification

TimStorey — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:00:57 -0600

by Tim Storey Quick--what state capital has the most people? Hint--it's not Atlanta, Boston or Denver--all big cities and the largest cities in their respective states. Time's up; it's the sprawling southwestern capital of Phoenix, Arizona. According to new city...

Arizona Budget Update

jgoehring — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:50:58 -0600

by Jan Goehring Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed parts of the budget package that the Legislature sent to her earlier this morning. In a statement, she called the budget "fatally flawed" and called for a special session to begin on...

Eight States Late on Budgets

jgoehring — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:14:30 -0600

By Todd Haggerty Forty-six states begin the new fiscal year today, but for some, it comes without a new budget. The Arizona Legislature passed a budget early this morning and it is now in the Governor's hands. California, Connecticut, Illinois,...

New State House for Alabama?

jgoehring — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:24:38 -0600

By Doug Farquhar Alabama was thinking about a new building for the legislature, now they may be forced to build one. The Alabama State House, where the legislature meets, sits across the street from the State Capitol. The State House...

AWOL in South Carolina and Elsewhere

Karl Kurtz — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:07:33 -0600

In "Sanford's Bigger Sin: Going AWOL," Lou Jacobson of National Journal goes beyond the personal to explore the problem of absentee governors. It includes similar (though not as extreme) cases and lots of quotes from other states and an NCSL...

Praising Institutionalists

Karl Kurtz — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:41:32 -0600

Former Indiana Congressman Lee Hamilton, current president of the Woodrow Wilson Center and the Center on Congress at Indiana University, has an excellent commentary on the role of institutionalists in Congress, which, as with most of his commentaries, can be...

AZ Court Decides Budget Question

jgoehring — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:08:11 -0600

By Jan Goehring The Arizona Supreme Court denied Republican Governor Jan Brewer's request that the Legislature immediately send her the budget bills, passed June 4, 2009. The Republican-controlled Legislature had held the bills while continuing negotiations with the Governor. A...

Same-Sex Marriage. Where do states stand?

Meagan Dorsch — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:06:36 -0600

by Meagan Dorsch This has been a big year for the topic of same-sex marriage in state legislatures across the country. Six states have legalized same-sex marriages, but in at least one state, the law could be challenged. In this...

Arizona Budget Goes to Court

jgoehring — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:07:46 -0600

By Jan Goehring Arizona Governor Jan Brewer filed a lawsuit against the Legislature yesterday claiming the state constitution requires they send her the budget bill passed June 4, according to azcentral.com. The bill faced a likely veto. The presiding officers,...

New York Senate Update

Karl Kurtz — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:23:06 -0600

by Karl Kurtz Yesterday a New York judge dismissed a case filed by Senate Democrats to overturn the Republican-led coalition's takeover of the state Senate. The judge said that it would be an "improvident intrusion" for the courts to intervene...

The World is Listening

Meagan Dorsch — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:25:58 -0600

by Meagan Dorsch "Tiananmen + Twitter = Tehran." This was a comment a blogger made about the weekend elections in Iran and picked up by the Christian Science Monitor in a recent article. The media has been apparently cautioned about...

New Episode in New York Senate

Karl Kurtz — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:51:18 -0600

by Karl Kurtz In an ongoing saga, the New York Senate is now tied, 31-31, as one of the two dissident Democrats who last week went over to the Republican side and change control of the Senate has returned to...

A Pretty Good Bang for the Buck, Indeed

Karl Kurtz — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:22:18 -0600

by Karl Kurtz An article by R. G. Ratcliffe in yesterday's Houston Chronicle begins: When Texas lawmakers met in 1963, former state legislator Carl Parker of Beaumont had no office of his own and kept files under his desk on...

World Congress on Civic Education

jgoehring — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:34:27 -0600

By Jan Goehring Representatives from 66 countries, 28 states and the District of Columbia gathered in Cape Town, South Africa the end of May for the World Congress on Civic Education, a Civitas International Program. Directed by the Center for...

Senate Staffer Plays Key Role in New York Senate Conflict

Karl Kurtz — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:46:00 -0600

Secretary of the New York Senate Angelo Aponte turned off the lights in the chamber and cut off the Senate's television feed in the midst of Republican senators' takeover of the chamber on Tuesday. After everyone had left for the...

Reliving California Assembly Coalitions

Karl Kurtz — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:39:26 -0600

by Karl Kurtz The coalition formed in the New York Senate yesterday is so reminiscent of the California Assembly in 1995 that it led me to reconstruct the California history. It's a fascinating story of political reward and punishment, even...

As the World Turns in New York Senate

Karl Kurtz — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:52:20 -0600

by Karl Kurtz In a surprise move this afternoon, two dissident members of the New York Senate Democratic caucus joined with Republicans to form a 32-30 majority and elect new leaders. One of the dissidents, Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr., was...

“Chubbing”: Gone Fishing in the Texas House

Karl Kurtz — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:27:53 -0600

by Karl Kurtz During the last few weeks of Texas' legislative session, minority Democrats in the House of Representatives engaged in a practice known in Austin as "chubbing"—a delay tactic, similar to a filibuster, in which legislators talk at length...

Extension for States on Adam Walsh Act

Karl Kurtz — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:37:50 -0600

by NCSL Staff A victory for states! This week, Eric Holder, the Attorney General of the United States, signed a one year agreement to extend the deadline for states to comply with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA),...

The Buzz: States Hit a 'Home Run'

Michelle Blackston — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:28:28 -0600

by Michelle Blackston NCSL and states scored a major victory when President Barack Obama released guidelines regarding federal agencies and departments establishing new rules and regulations. The president, in his memo to agency executives, said federal agencies must avoid preempting...

Georgia Sen. Jimmy Carter Loses Cemetery Vote

Karl Kurtz — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:00:47 -0600

A poem from Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac for Friday, May 29, 2009: Progress Does Not Always Come Easy by Jimmy Carter As a legislator in my state I drew up my first law to say that citizens could never vote...

In Praise of Hobbes

Karl Kurtz — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:44:58 -0600

An amusing resolution approved by the Oklahoma Senate: STATE OF OKLAHOMA 1st Session of the 52nd Legislature (2009) SENATE RESOLUTION 57 By: Branan AS INTRODUCED A Resolution praising Hobbes; wishing him well in his retirement; and directing distribution. WHEREAS, Hobbes...

NCSL Launches New Website

Meagan Dorsch — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:35:27 -0600

by NCSL Staff If you have The Thicket bookmarked on your computer, chances are you don't go through NCSL's website to access our wonderful blog. But we have a reason to bring you back to our homepage. www.ncsl.org is all...

Twittergate? Really?

Meagan Dorsch — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:36:38 -0600

by Meagan Dorsch A friend sent me this article from the Financial Times. It talks about members of the German parliament who leaked the winner of Germany's presidential reelection via Twitter, about 15 minutes before the winner was officially announced....

Lesson for States? Feds Ask Public to Come Inside and Look Around

Gene Rose — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:06:30 -0600

by Gene Rose Have you ever criticized the efficiency of the federal government? And have you sometimes felt you couldn't do anything about it? Well, now's the chance to put your money where your mouth is. You have until Thursday...

Unusual News Day for Legislative Junkies

Karl Kurtz — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:02:30 -0600

by Karl Kurtz It's unusual when I find more than one or two stories, excluding ones on Congress, in a newspaper in one day that I mentally file in the legislative junkie category--i.e., potential fodder for The Thicket. The New...

Protestant, Unspecified Lead Religious Affiliations of State Legislators

Karl Kurtz — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:02:29 -0600

by Karl Kurtz and Morgan Cullen Our analysis of information about the religious affiliation of state legislators from their publicly available biographies in 2008 shows that those who have no religious affiliation or choose not to report it make up...

Legislative Blood Lines in Minnesota

Karl Kurtz — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:47:43 -0600

by Karl Kurtz If you talk with legislators much, you are always struck by how many of them got into politics because a family member had gone there first. But I'll bet you've never seen the family connections to legislative...

Legislative Downsizing

Karl Kurtz — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:27:19 -0600

by Karl Kurtz Stories about how legislatures are cutting state budgets are so ubiquitous that we haven't covered this topic in The Thicket. There's already a well-worn path to our web page, State Measures to Balance 2010 Budgets. How legislatures...