The Thicket at State Legislatures

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

The Thicket — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:20:50 -0600

By Morgan Cullen Earnie Sumner, right, with Deputy House Sergeant at Arms Marty McDonald in the House chamber on Earnie’s last day of session. Longtime Florida House Sergeant at Arms and NCSL Officer, Earnest “Earnie” Sumner will be retiring next...

Oklahoma Senators Look Great in Pink

The Thicket — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:46:18 -0600

All the members of the Oklahoma Senate wore pink last Tuesday in honor of breast cancer awareness day, as shown in this great photo. A rose from The Thicket to Caroline Dennis.

Slicing and Dicing Long Voter Lines

The Thicket — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:47:41 -0600

By Wendy Underhill Election day voter lines in Prince Georges County, Va. Photo credit: DaleCityPatch We've read a lot about long lines for voting since November's presidential election. (In fact, we've written a lot about them: see The Canvass, NCSL's...

From Campaigning to Legislating: Tips from the Trenches

The Thicket — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:59:21 -0600

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

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

The Thicket — Fri, 03 May 2013 17:56:04 -0600

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

Fracking at the Spring Forum: Panelists drill down for answers

The Thicket — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:58:00 -0600

By Mark Wolf Hydraulic fracturing, the practice of extracting natural gas by using pressurized liquid to fracture rocks and commonly known as “fracking,” presents great opportunities if done well—and significant problems if not. Such was the framework the participants sketched...

'The Silver Tsunami' offers challenges, opportunities

The Thicket — Thu, 02 May 2013 19:55:05 -0600

James Johnson Jr. discusses the "Silver Tsunami" during the opening general session of NCSL's Spring Forum By Mark Wolf Everyone knows America is getting older: hip one day, hip replacement the next. Baby boomers are becoming seniors at a dizzying...

Trying to transform mental health treatment

The Thicket — Thu, 02 May 2013 18:42:55 -0600

By Ed Smith "I'm here representing the largest mental health institutions in the United States--local jails and state prisons." That was how Sheriff Grayson Robinson, of Arapahoe County in Colorado, opened his remarks Thursday at NCSL's Spring Forum session "Revisiting...

Safe, confidential ways of reporting threatening behavior are crucial

The Thicket — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:24:12 -0600

Senator John W. Ford of Oklahoma moderated the panel, which included Susan Payne of Safe2tell By Mark Wolf If society wants people to “see something and say something” when they observe a potentially dangerous or threatening situation, they must be...

Safe, confidential ways of reporting threatening behavior are crucial

The Thicket — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:24:10 -0600

Elections—and Rules—Have Consequences

The Thicket — Wed, 01 May 2013 19:43:16 -0600

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

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

The Thicket — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:34:47 -0600

By Ben Husch NCSL President-elect Senator Bruce Starr (R-Ore.) told a House subcommittee on Thursday how the implementation of Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) is faring at the state level. MAP-21 was enacted in 2012...

The Regular Order

The Thicket — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:12:31 -0600

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

Unusually High Levels of Straight Ticket Voting in 2012

The Thicket — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 06:30:08 -0600

By Karl Kurtz Writing in Sabato's Crystal Ball, Kyle Kondik notes that almost all congressional seats in the country were won by the same party that carried the presidential vote in that district: One needs little more than just fingers...

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

The Thicket — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:02:14 -0600

By Martyanne Donovan What do a train conductor, an inventor, a jewelry designer, and an Eskimo whaler have in common? They are all part of 2013's new class of freshmen legislators. The group brings a diverse background, a variety of...

States Have Many Ways to Verify Voters

The Thicket — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:12:16 -0600

By Karen Shanton and Wendy Underhill Voter ID laws have been back in the news in recent weeks. Governor Bob McDonnell signed a bill at the end of March that tightened Virginia's ID requirements. Arkansas' GOP General Assembly kicked off...

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

The Thicket — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:22:25 -0600

By Michael Bird Photo from the Richmond Times-Dispatch The price of gas was 31 cents per gallon. First-class postage stamps sold for 4 cents. The Dow Jones hit a high of 734. 183 million people made the United States home....

Anecdotes, Data and Elections

The Thicket — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:30:52 -0600

By Wendy Underhill The most recent issue of The Canvass, NCSL’s election-related newsletter, had a lead article entitled “Measuring Elections: Data, Not Anecdotes.” Little did I know as I wrote it that the title was close to both a quote...

Expulsions of State Legislators are Rare

The Thicket — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:20:48 -0600

The expulsion of a member from a state legislature is a fairly rare event. Last week's expulsion of Steven Brooks as a member of the Nevada Assembly brought the total number of legislators expelled from state legislatures to 19 during...

Presidential Election Commission: It's Official

The Thicket — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:04:16 -0600

By Wendy Underhill and Karen Shanton On Thursday, President Obama signed an executive order creating the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. This isn’t a surprise, given that he mentioned it in February’s State of the Union speech. It’s good, though,...

African Delegates Inspire Stimulating Discussion About Ethics and Freedom

The Thicket — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 10:08:09 -0600

By Jane Andrade Delegates from 11 African countries visited NCSL to discuss a variety of issues. Delegates from 11 African countries challenged NCSL staffers with thought-provoking philosophical questions during a visit to the Denver office March 26. They came to...

States Enacting Online Voter Registration

The Thicket — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 10:39:25 -0600

By Karen Shanton and Wendy Underhill Online voter registration was one of the top trends in election legislation last year. Twenty states considered online registration bills in 2012; five passed them into law. This trend has carried over into 2013....

State Legislative Leaders Gather in Washington

The Thicket — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:54:50 -0600

By Jon Kuhl New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) speaks with former Mississippi Governor and RNC Chairman Haley Barbour State legislative leaders from across the country gathered in Washington last week for NCSL’s annual legislative leaders meeting. The meeting...

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

The Thicket — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 13:28:23 -0600

By Karen Shanton and Wendy Underhill Two weeks ago, we highlighted some of the work state and local officials are doing to evaluate and improve elections procedures. State lawmakers also play a crucial role in improving election administration by proposing...

New York Capitol Renovation: Early and Under Budget

The Thicket — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:28:33 -0600

The roof of the New York State Capitol under renovation in 2012. Bernstein Associates, Courtesy of New York State By Kae Warnock The New York state capitol had been under renovation for a decade when Governor Andrew M. Cuomo took...

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

The Thicket — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 15:02:58 -0700

By Lee Posey Just over a year ago the State and Local Governance Coalition was formed to push Congress to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Since its last reauthorization in 2002, ESEA has been referred to as...

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

The Thicket — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:50:27 -0700

The first Territorial House of Representatives (1913) met in the Elk's Lodge in downtown Juneau By Morgan Cullen Earlier this week the Alaska Legislature celebrated its 100th anniversary. To commemorate this historic occasion the legislature passed a concurrent resolution creating...

TVW Wins Cronkite Award for Excellence

The Thicket — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:09:56 -0700

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

FAQs on pre-Election Day Voting

The Thicket — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 11:23:21 -0700

By Karen Shanton and Wendy Underhill The elections team at NCSL is continuing to think about the questions the Presidential Commission on Election Administration is likely to address and lining up resources that can provide answers. Today's topic: pre-Election Day...

Jan Goehring, Friend and Colleague

The Thicket — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:24:41 -0700

By Karl Kurtz NCSL and the state legislative and civic education communities mourn the death of Janet Buxton Goehring, NCSL staffer and great advocate for state legislatures through her work with the Trust for Representative Democracy. She died on March...