WHO DECIDES LEGISLATORs’ PAY? PAGE 33

July/August 2014

CAPITOL Partisanship, RESTORATIONS

Power and TRUE COST OF Politics LEGISLATION THE FUTURE OF VOTING

CHIEFS OF STAFF Is your state home to oNe oF the largest ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT projects in the country?

Mark Verbeck Nuclear operatioNs traiNiNg maNager, georgia power

I’m one of 5,000 workers building the future of nuclear energy in Georgia.

america’s nuclear energy industry employs energy expertise and components for the 100,000 workers and is growing with $740 billion global market over the next renewed global potential. Five new reactors 10 years. in georgia, south carolina and tennessee have created tens of thousands of well- We are working to keep nuclear energy an paying jobs. When finished, these facilities important part of america’s energy future. will provide affordable electricity and boost the economy for decades.

global projects also are creating thousands of american jobs. Worldwide, 71 nuclear power plants are being built and more than 170 reactors are in the planning stage. Get the facts at nei.org/jobs this means more demand for u.s. nuclear #futureofenergy

Client: NEI (Nuclear Energy Institute) Pub: State Legislatures Magazine Run Date: July/August Size: 7.5” x 9.875” Full Page VeR.: Jobs/Mark - Full Page Ad 4CP: JULY/AUGUST 2014 VOL 40 NO 7 | CONTENTS

STATE LEGISLATURES NCSL’s national magazine of policy and politics

Features DEPARTMENTS

18 PEAK OF PARTISANSHIP 4 POINT OF ORDER By Suzanne Weiss In legislatures across the nation, 5 STATESTAT a growing ideological divide is States rely on a mix of taxes. getting harder to bridge. 6 40 YEARS STRONG 24 CAPITOL GAINS How has the nation changed since By Suzanne Weiss 1975? Capitol renovation projects are bringing our beloved symbols of 8 PEOPLE & POLITICS democracy back to life. What’s happening under the domes. 33 THE POLITICS OF PAY By Morgan Cullen 9 TRENDS & TRANSITIONS Legislator compensation Supreme Court ruling on town commissions help take the politics meeting prayers, mid-level dental out of pay raises. providers, a lifeline for Detroit, solar energy powers up, peer-to- peer vacation rentals and the $10 36 THE ‘NICE’ LEGISLATURE IMAGES GETTY By Alan Rosenthal Minnesota Capitol state minimum wage Here’s a different take on how state legislatures should be 50 THE POWER OF PRIDE compared and ranked. By Lou Jacobson Being a gay or lesbian state 40 NO SURPRISES lawmaker is now so common it’s By Natalie Wood no longer an issue. Job No. 1 for chiefs of staff is being an extra set of eyes and ears 54 WHAT’S ALL THE HYPE ABOUT HEMP? for their presiding officers. By Jack Queen 16 STATELINE Hemp advocates are working hard News from around the nation— 44 MISSION ACCOMPLISHED to cultivate this growing industry. from Alabama’s stricter boating By Lisa Green law to the Texas sriracha delegation Norman Rockwell’s model for 56 COUNT THE COST a boy astronaut—now a state By Erica Michel and Todd legislator—tracks down the Haggerty illustration’s final destination. Understanding the potential costs and consequences of a bill is 46 Staying Power crucial. By Morgan Cullen They began their legislative 59 VOTING: What’s Next? careers in 1975—young, eager and By Katy Owens Hubler committed; their wisdom guides States and counties are leading the 62 AS THEY SEE IT them today. way in the never-ending quest to Quotes and cartoons from around modernize how we vote. the states

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 STATE LEGISLATURES A National Conference of State Legislatures PUBLICATION

Executive Director POINT OF ORDER William T. Pound Director of Communications Karen Hansen

Editor NCSL NEWS Julie Lays Assistant Editor Mary Winter LEGISLATIVE SUMMIT EXPERTISE Web Editors Edward P. Smith States with medical marijuana laws. Mark Wolf “Each state is unique in how it handles its Copy Editor Leann Stelzer program, based on the need.”—Karmen Hanson, NCSL marijuana policy analyst, Contributors 23 Glen Andersen Martha King on how states determine the number of dispensaries to Feray Baytok Karl Kurtz Megan Comlossy Donna Lyons permit, at minnpost.com. Josh Ewing Jeanne Mejeur Doug Farquhar Arturo Pérez Rochelle Finzel Jennifer Saunders USA Today: “If you have a wage that’s so low that all Pam Greenberg Dan Thatcher Lauren Heintz Laura Tobler members of the public can’t run for the state legislature Todd Haggerty Kae Warnock and serve, then I think you have a problem.”—Morgan Scott Hendrick Madeleine Webster Michael Hernandez Nina Williams-Mbengue Cullen, NCSL legislative management analyst. Art Director Bruce Holdeman HuffingtonPost.com: “The country is increasingly Advertising Sales Manager urbanizing, and habitat that used to be open fields is now LeAnn Hoff (303) 364-7700 contiguous to development.”—Douglas Shinkle, NCSL ...... NCSL OFFICERS environment policy analyst, about bills in some states to President protect hunters’ rights. Senator Bruce Starr, Oregon President Elect The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: “The trough of the Senator Debbie Smith, Nevada Great Recession was so deep that the climb out of it has Vice President No. 1 200 been very difficult and gradual.”—Todd Haggerty, former Senator Curt Bramble, Utah NCSL policy analyst, about states still struggling with Staff Chair Minneapolis’ ranking MILLION deficits. Tom Wright, Alaska among U.S. cities in 2013 Staff Vice Chair for cleanliness, fitness, YouTube views of TED talks Pennlive.com: “When a change in the size of a legislature Margaret Piety, Indiana health and parks. It’s the given by Sir Ken Robinson, is considered, debate typically centers around three major Immediate Past President Speaker Terie Norelli, place to be Aug. 19-22 for an international leader in themes: representation, efficiency and cost.”—Brenda New Hampshire the 40th annual Legislative education, creativity and Erickson, NCSL senior research analyst, on a proposal to Immediate Past Staff Chair Summit. innovation who you’ll get shrink Pennsylvania state government. Patsy Spaw, Texas to hear at the Summit in ...... Denver Office Minneapolis. RESEARCH E-VIDEOS 7700 East First Place Denver, Colorado 80230 (303) 364-7700 2 minutes Washington, D.C. Office 10 444 North Capitol Street, N.W. Time it takes to watch Suite 515 Critical steps a legislator must take in building a top-notch Washington, D.C. 20001 95 NCSL’s weekly e-video (202) 624-5400 online profile, among the leadership skills offered at four professional track sessions at the Summit: Managing Your Subject areas—from about what’s new on Website www.ncsl.org/magazine Online Image, Becoming a Transformational Legislative absentee voting to youth Capitol Hill. Recent ...... Leader, Winston Churchill’s Language of Leadership, and voters—that you will find #cap2cap highlights: Status State Legislatures (ISSN 0147- in NCSL’s new Elections of the Highway Trust Fund, 0641), the national magazine of Managing Legislative Staff: Best Practices policy and politics, is published Administration Research Chemicals in Commerce monthly by the National Conference of State Legislatures Database of nearly 2,000 Act, Sports Blackout Rule except July/August and October/ reports. Go to ncsl. and Workforce Investment November, which are combined. Postmaster: Send address org and type “elections Act. changes to: State Legislatures, administration database” in 7700 East First Place, Denver, TWEETS CO 80230. the search window. © 2014, All Rights Reserved. WEBINARS Opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect NCSL policy. 34 2 p.m. ET Go to www.ncsl.org/bookstore/ to States with laws requiring voters to show identification at subscribe. Annual rates: U.S.—$49; foreign—$55; teachers—$25 the polls, as of May. The time on Sept. 25 you can log on to NCSL’s free webinar (promo code SLMTEA). Single Other recent tweets include: for new bill drafters, “What Does That Mean? Crafting and copy: $6.50. • Does your state require carbon monoxide detectors in Using Definitions in Statutes.” Register at www.ncsl.org/ Letters to the editor and requests default.aspx?tabid=28249 for permission to reprint may certain residential buildings? be mailed to Julie Lays in the • Did you know at least 18 states allow in-state tuition rates Denver office or e-mailed to her at: [email protected]. for undocumented students? Send subscriptions and changes • Free #NCSL webinar discusses issue of leaking natural gas of address to the Marketing Department in Denver. pipelines and their impacts. NCSL.ORG Periodically, NCSL rents mailing labels to other organizations. If you prefer your name not be included please send a written request.

State Legislatures is indexed in the PAIS Bulletin and Expanded Academic Index. It is also available in microform and electronically through University Microfilms Inc. (UMI) at (800) 521-0600. STATESTATS | 5 States Rely on a Mix of Taxes tates fund government operations with an assortment of taxes—each state with its own uniquely com- posed tax base. Individual income and general sales taxes account for the lion’s share of states’ tax rev- Tax Sources (National Average) enue—about 72 percent—roughly double the percentage the two taxes contributed in 1960. A few states rely heavily on business taxes; in others, miscellaneous taxes, such as severance taxes,

Martha King play a major role in their overall tax picture. Karl Kurtz Donna Lyons Florida and Washington generate 60 percent of their tax revenue from sales taxes—the highest percent- Jeanne Mejeur Arturo Pérez age in the country—and none from individual income taxes. Conversely, Oregon gets 68 percent of its tax revenue Jennifer Saunders S Dan Thatcher from the individual income tax and has no state sales tax. Vermont raises more than 34 percent of its revenue from Laura Tobler Kae Warnock property taxes, while Alaska raises more than two-thirds from severance taxes on oil and gas producers. Madeleine Webster Nina Williams-Mbengue —Todd Haggerty Individual Income’s Contribution Individual Income Tax as a Portion of All Tax Revenue

Individual income: 36.6 percent ■ General sales and gross receipts: ■ 30.1 percent Selective sales: 16.3 percent ■ Corporate income: 5.3 percent ■ Property: 1.6 percent RI ■ DC Miscellaneous: 10.1 percent PR ■ VI GU At least 50% ■ 30% — 49.5% MP ■ AS 20% — 29.9% ■ Less than 20% ■ No personal income tax ■ NA ■

The Single Life States That Lean Heavily on One Main Tax Source 80- Alaska gets more than 80 percent of its tax revenue 70- Individual income from its severance tax on oil, while Florida relies ■ on sales taxes for 60.1 percent of its revenue, the 60- Sales ■ most of any state. Select sales 50- ■ Corporate ■ Property 40- ■ Miscellaneous 30- ■

20-

10-

0- ALASKA FLORIDA NEW HAMPSHIRE OREGON Vermont Note: Alcohol and tobacco taxes typically dominate “select sales” taxes, and severance taxes (on resources such as oil and coal) fall under “miscellaneous.”

Source: NCSL calculations of U.S. Census Bureau, 2013 Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections Data.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 6 | 40 YEARS Four Decades Strong 1975, WHAT A YEAR!

386.9, and property crime rates show a similar requiring child safety and booster seats are prac- By Julie Lays pattern. Incarceration rates, however, have more tically universal, and adults must buckle up now than quadrupled for adults. But not so for juve- in every state but New Hampshire, the “Live n celebration of NCSL’s 40th year, we’re niles, as the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Free or Die State.” focusing on America in 1975. That’s the Prevention Act, aimed at keeping more minors year three legislative institutions merged out of prison, was launched in 1974 and remains The Economy, Education and to create NCSL. State legislatures around in force. Everything Else the country were growing in strength and In 1975, the federal minimum wage was adding staff members in that post-Vietnam/ OPEC Oil, Epic Waste $2.10 ($9.29 adjusted) an hour, and 40 states IWatergate era when we were redefining what The oil embargo drove up gas prices to a set their own minimum wage. Alaska had the America stood for and what Americans valued. whopping 57 cents a gallon ($2.52 adjusted for highest, at $2.80. About 22 percent of workers The worst recession since World War II inflation), and brought about the Energy Policy were union members, and 39 percent of mothers gripped America, the result of the 1973-74 and Conservation Act of 1975. It was designed with young children worked outside the home. OPEC oil embargo. Gas was rationed, and the to wean Americans off foreign oil and increase Today, the federal minimum wage is $7.25, and national speed limit was lowered to 55 mph. energy efficiency. Four decades later, the aver- 45 states set their own minimum wages. Wash- Total state tax collections were a 10th of what age refrigerator consumes a quarter of the elec- ington state now offers the highest, at $9.32. they are today. The median household income tricity the average model did in 1975. The federal poverty level was $5,050 was $11,800, and the national unemployment Also in 1975, EPA issued the first national ($22,330.76 in adjusted dollars) for a family of rate was 8.5 percent. A letter cost 10 cents to water quality standards. Daily water consump- four; 17 percent of children lived in families that mail, and a year at a public college cost $3,332. tion has dropped from 420 billion gallons to 410 made less than that. The poverty level now is The average car got 13 miles per gallon and cost billion gallons, even with a growing population. $23,850, and 23 percent of children fall under it. $4,250 to buy new. Americans still produce millions of tons of In addition, the portion of low-income students How do the hottest issues of 1975 compare municipal waste a year, but we now recycle participating in the Free and Reduced Lunch with today’s? NCSL policy specialists took a about one-third of it, up from a little more than 7 program in public schools has increased from look back and produced the following snapshots. percent 40 years ago. That’s also when the first about 40 percent to 70 percent today. catalytic converters were built, paving the way In 1975 the first child protective service Crime Rate Was Criminal for unleaded gasoline and laying the ground- agencies were created in response to the 1974 Crime was big in 1975. Newspaper heiress work for significant reductions in air pollution Child Abuse and Prevention Act. The Child Patty Hearst was kidnapped. Mobster Jimmy and high lead levels in children’s blood. Support Program was also enacted in 1975 and Hoffa disappeared. And Ted Bundy, who admit- has since collected and distributed nearly a half ted to killing 50 women, but is believed to have Traffic Safety Was New on the Radar a trillion dollars. murdered at least 100, was arrested and later In 1975, drivers were more concerned with In the world of education, teacher pay, col- executed. style than safety. No state required you to lege tuition and the portion of students going President Gerald Ford sent a special mes- buckle up, and children weren’t required to ride to college have all increased while SAT scores sage to Congress declaring anticrime efforts “far in safety seats, whether they faced back, front or have remained about the same. Americans with from successful.” Time magazine ran a cover upside down. More people died in car crashes, bachelor’s degrees has increased from 21.9 story on the nation’s “pervasive, chronic crime however: 44,525 in 1975 compared to 33,561 in percent in 1975 to 33.5 percent today. The problem.” And TV crime shows reflected this 2012, according to the Fatality Analysis Report- average teacher salary has climbed to $56,383 reality. Remember “CHIPS,” “Kojak,” “Starsky ing System. from $41,045 (adjusted). And a year of public and Hutch,” and “Barney Miller”? The National Highway Traffic Safety Admin- higher education has climbed from $14,733.88 Since then, violent crimes have dropped 21 istration’s edict that 1974 cars be equipped with (adjusted) in 1975 to $19,339 in 2012. percent, from 487.8 per 100,000 residents to a device that would require buckling up in order In 1975, Congress passed the Education for to start the car caused such a public outcry All Handicapped Children Act that required Julie Lays is the editor of State Legislatures magazine. that Congress reversed it in 1975. Today, laws all public schools accepting federal funds to

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 40 YEARS | 7

provide as equal an educational experience as The Future is Here be genetically redesigned so their leaves are possible, along with a free meal a day, to chil- Our computers have been shrinking while exposed to more sunlight and they can live on dren with disabilities. Congress also passed The our waistlines have been expanding. In 1975, much less water.” —Orville Freeman Indian Self-Determination and Education Assis- the microchip was beginning to revolution- • “Information technology will make possible tance Act of 1975 granting federally recognized ize personal computing. The Altair 8800 was indices of everything, e.g., public happiness Indian tribes more authority over how they use featured in Popular Mechanics as the “World’s according to race, sex and age; reports of lev- federal funds. First Minicomputer Kit to Rival Commercial els of public knowledge; statistics on traffic Models.” It was sold as a kit, and Bill Gates delays. Such computerized data systems will Are We Healthier Yet? and Paul Allen, who had just formed Micro- raise the issue of invasion of privacy.” — Ithiel Americans are living about six years longer soft, had licensed the software it used, called De Sola Pool today than four decades ago. But heart disease BASIC. remains America’s No. 1 killer, causing 34 per- The world of email and the Internet was on 1975 Was a Big Year cent of all American deaths. Cancer is in second the horizon. The Advanced Research Projects What else was going on? America’s involve- place, and has gained some ground since 1975. Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense con- ment in the Vietnam War ended. The Apollo Four decades ago there was no national ducted online discussion groups with corporate spacecraft successfully linked up with the Sovi- minimum drinking age and no comprehensive and academic researchers and connected them et’s spacecraft in orbit. The USSR’s Tupolev smoke-free laws for indoor public places. More through email using ARPANET, the precursor Tu-144, the world’s first supersonic transport, Americans smoked—33 percent compared to 18 to the Internet. starting flying mail and freight for Aeroflot. percent today. What will the nation look like in another 40 And Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge took over Teen birth rates were 55 percent higher, but years? We can only imagine, just as these sci- Cambodia, resulting in millions dying in their Cesarean deliveries were lower—10.5 per- entists did in 1975. When asked, “What will the slave labor “killing fields.” cent of all deliveries compared to 32.8 percent world look like around 2015?” here’s what a On a lighter note, “Saturday Night Live” pre- today. And, of course, we were thinner. The few had to say. miered on NBC. The No. 1 song was “Love Will percentage of men and women who were over- • “In the 21st century, miniature television Keep Us Together,” Pittsburgh won the Super weight or obese was only 47.7 percent; today sets the size of cigarette packets will be used as Bowl, Cincinnati won the World Series, Foolish it’s 68.5 percent. everyday videophones.” —Vladimir Aleksan- Pleasure won the Kentucky Derby, and Arthur Meanwhile, health expenditures, as a per- drovich Kotelenikov Ashe won Wimbledon. centage of the national GDP, have increased • “Space satellites 200 or more miles above the Notable births included Angelina Jolie, Tiger from 7.5 percent in 1975 to more than 18 per- surface of the earth will analyze weather, dif- Woods, David Beckham and Bradley Cooper cent today. ferences in soil, crops and forests. Plants will and, of course, NCSL.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 8 | TRENDS & TRANSITIONS

WHEN SOUTH CAROLINA LT. GOVERNOR GLENN MCCONNELL RAMONA KENADY LINE, CHIEF CLERK OF THE ANNOUNCED HE WAS BECOMING PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE OREGON HOUSE FOR 29 YEARS, RESIGNED OF CHARLESTON, the leadership shuffle that ensued led to the resignation IN MAY. Line, whose father served as speaker of the of one leader and the election of two more. Senate President Pro Tem John Oregon House, began her career with the Legislative Courson (R) didn’t want to be elevated to McConnell’s spot, as required by Assembly in 1972 and worked with some 450 members LINE the state constitution, so he resigned. Then the GOP-led chamber elected during her tenure. She is a nationally recognized expert Democrat Yancey McGill Senate president, but only for a on Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure and was staff chair few minutes. Once McConnell resigned, McGill was sworn of NCSL in 2000-2001. As the “holder of enormous institutional in. That hen 83-year-old Republican Finance Chairman knowledge,” her resignation is a huge loss to the House, said Hugh Leatherman (R) was elected Senate president, but Representative Vicki Berger (R), who served as Republican whip. not before a speech by accusing him of masterminding a coup with McConnell to oust Courson. McGill, who is the TONY BEARD, CHIEF SERGEANT-AT-ARMS FOR THE first Democratic lt. governor since 1995, will serve seven CALIFORNIA SENATE FOR 34 YEARS, RESIGNED HIS POST LEATHERMAN months until a replacement is elected and takes office. after it became public that a Capitol peace officer had tested positive for cocaine during an investigation of A RESIGNATION IN THE VIRGINIA SENATE TIPPED PARTY a fatal shooting at his home in 2012. The officer was CONTROL BY ONE VOTE TO THE GOP. Democratic Senator Phillip fired by Senate President Pro Tem Darrel Steinberg Puckett resigned his seat in June, allegedly to take a position with the state (D), and Beard, who thought the information was part BEARD tobacco commission and to clear the way for a judicial appointment for his of a confidential investigation, had kept the information daughter. That gave the GOP a 20-19 edge and the ability to break a budget private. Beard was widely respected inside the Capitol and across the stalemate without on Medicaid, a provision Democrats and the governor nation, having designed new security measures following the 9/11 had wanted. Then Puckett said there had never been a firm offer from the attacks and after an incident in which a driver crashed into the south commission, and withdrew his name from consideration. That prompted an side of the building. “Tony Beard has served California’s Legislature investigation by the U.S. Department of justice seeking documents and with great distinction and honor for more than four decades,” Steinberg testimony from commission staff connected to Puckett’s resignation. In said. “His exemplary service deserves recognition and celebration…” the meantime, Senator Emmett Hanger Jr. (R) said he plans to introduce Beard had worked for the Senate for 47 years, following his father as legislation in special session to give the governor authority to spend federal chief sergeant. Together they served the Senate more than 100 years. funds to expand health care to uninsured Virginians. IDAHO VETERAN STAFFER ERIC MILSTEAD CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT TONI ATKINS WAS ATKINS WAS NAMED DIRECTOR OF THE LEGISLATIVE SWORN IN AS THE 69TH SPEAKER OF THE STATE SERVICES OFFICE IN JUNE. Milstead, who has ASSEMBLY WITH HER WIFE BY HER SIDE, worked for the agency 16 years and was deputy becoming the first open lesbian to lead either chamber. director of the research and legislative division, was Atkins, 51, is a child of Appalachia raised by a coal miner MILSTEAD the unanimous choice of the Legislative Council. father and seamstress mother in a house with no indoor He succeeds Jeff Youtz, who retired after 36 years with the agency. plumbing or running water. She succeeds California’s Milstead will supervise 64 employees who, among other things, first openly gay speaker, John Perez (D), and was provide bill drafting, budget analysis, information technology and sworn in by California Congresswoman Karen Bass, who was the first auditing services. Democratic woman to hold the speakership. JASON HANCOCK IS THE NEW DIRECTOR OF THE SOUTH

NEW HAMPSHIRE SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER SYLVIA LARSEN DAKOTA LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH COUNCIL. Hancock was the LARSEN IS RETIRING from the legislature after 20 years. deputy chief of staff to the Idaho Department of Education when he The former Senate president is the chamber’s longest serving was selected for the $125,000 a year job to replace former director Jim member, first elected in 1994. She was president of the Senate Fry. The press noted that Hancock’s salary is more than the governor’s from 2006-2010, and for two years, her chamber was the salary of $104,000, and, according to Senator Ryan Maher, party only one in the nation with a majority of women—13 female chairman of the legislative executive board, that was the plan. “It’s members in the 24-seat Senate. She became minority leader been the philosophy of the E-Board that we want to have someone who when Republicans took control of the chamber in the 2010 election. is able to compete with the executive branch, and this is the first step to accomplishing this plan.”

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 TRENDS & TRANSITIONS | 9 The Politics of Prayer RJ CAGLECARTOONS.COM MATSON,

he Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the freedom of religion language of the First Amendment. prayers at the opening of town board meetings. The Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, observed decision reaffirmed the Court’s 1983 Marsh v. Cham- government is rife with religious references and that even the bers ruling that opening prayers at the Nebraska Leg- Supreme Court begins its sessions with “God save the United islature’s sessions did not violate the First Amend- States and this honorable Court.” In his view, the references are ment prohibition against establishment of religion. intended to impress the participants with the dignity and impor- TThe Town of Greece ruling, a contentious 5-4 vote along tance of the work to be performed, but they also recognize the conservative-liberal lines, also established that prayers can be importance of religion in our culture. primarily sectarian—associated with one particular religion— So where does this latest decision leave legislatures? Are rather than nonsectarian, or unaffiliated with a single religion. changes needed? The answer is basically, no. Uncertainties Board meetings for the Town of Greece, N.Y., always began about the extent to which sectarian prayers were permitted have with a prayer, most commonly led by a Christian minister using been lifted—terms such as “Christ our Lord” in legislative Christian imagery. Two individuals who often had business prayer are fine. before the board were offended by the “sectarian” nature of the To the extent that legislative bodies have rules governing opening prayers. They claimed all citizens should have the right opening prayers, many urge the visiting chaplains to confine to participate in local government without having to take part their remarks to two minutes or less and to bear in mind that in sectarian prayers. They sued the town, arguing that the domi- their audience represents many faiths and beliefs and to craft nance of Christian prayers had a coercive effect on nonbelievers their prayers accordingly. The test for prayer at the legislative and made them feel pressured to appear as if they were praying as well as the local level continues to be what was enunciated in for fear that their board requests would be denied if they didn’t. Marsh v. Chambers, that prayers should not exploit or advance They also argued that their case was different and more any one belief nor disparage any other faith. invasive than the 1993 Nebraska case, Marsh v. Chambers, That is reasonable advice. Also, some effort should be made because the ministers offering the prayers at the town meetings to reach out to a diverse group of potential guest chaplains. addressed them directly to the audience rather than to the legis- A prayer given on April 18, 1947, by the Reverend Peter lators, as was the practice in Nebraska. Marshall, chaplain of the U.S. Senate, might serve as a model A majority of the Supreme Court disagreed. They pointed to for brevity: “Give to us clear vision that we may know where the strong historical link between legislative prayers and the First to stand and what to stand for—because unless we stand for Amendment. Almost simultaneously, the First Congress appro- something, we shall fall for everything.” priated money to pay House and Senate chaplains and approved —Lanny Proffer, former NCSL counsel

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 Truth in Advertising?

Oranges 99¢ each

Health care services can be mislabeled too. Advertising apples as oranges? Such type of mislead- “physical therapy” they deserve to know their care ing advertising occurs with health care services, too. is in the hands of a licensed physical therapist. Other In some states the term “physical therapy” is misrep- health care providers might share some of the same resented or inappropriately advertised to the public treatment techniques or rehabilitative procedures by individuals who are not licensed as physical thera- used by physical therapists, but the care should only pists. This characterization is misleading to the public, be described or advertised as “physical therapy” or illegal in some states, and an issue of public protection “physiotherapy” when provided by or under the for patients who think they are under the care of a direction of a licensed physical therapist. licensed physical therapist, but in reality are not. While two health care professions may share “Physical therapy” is not a generic term—it describes common elements, labeling them the same thing is the care provided by or under the direction of not right—it’s like comparing apples to oranges. licensed physical therapists. When people seek

www.apta.org To obtain information about what you can do to ensure your constituents have term protection for “physical therapy” in your state please contact the American Physical Therapy Association State Government Affairs Department at 800/999-2782 ext. 3161.

NCSL_Ad2_gill sans_FinalREV.indd 1 6/15/12 3:06 PM BY THE NUMBERS TRENDS & TRANSITIONS | 11 What’s Up Down on the Farm? Filling the Need for Dentists Sales of farm goods hit a record high—$394.6 billion—in 2012. Also up were farms operated by women and aine recently joined Alaska and Minnesota as the first states to license or certify mid- minorities, direct sales to consumers at level dental providers, similar to physician assistants and nurse practitioners in the farmers’ markets and other local venues, medical field. and farm-produced renewable energy, Maine’s measure establishes a licensed profession—dental hygiene therapist—to according to the U.S. Department of perform preventive care, routine fillings, simple tooth extractions, administration of Agriculture. local anesthesia, crown placements and other services under a dentist’s supervision. MAreas in 15 of Maine’s 16 counties have dentist shortages, and more than 62 percent of low- 2.1 million income children went without dental care in 2011, according to a Pew Charitable Trusts report. Farms in 2012, about 20,000 fewer All Medicaid-enrolled children have dental coverage, but in 2011, 52 percent of them did not than in 2002 receive any dental care, including preventive visits. A shortage of dentists, too few dentists willing to treat Medicaid patients, parents’ lack of transportation and flexible work schedules, and a lack 87% of knowledge about the importance of oral health all contribute to the lack of dental care for many Portion of farms operated by Medicaid-enrolled children. families or individuals Lack of dental care can lead to serious—and costly—complications. A problem as minor as a cavity left untreated often means a costly trip to the emergency room. In Florida, for example, dental-related emergency room visit charges exceeded $88 million in 2010, according to Pew. 434 acres States bear a portion of the expenses through Medicaid and other public programs. Average size of farms in 2012, Mid-level providers may help reduce these barriers to care. In Minnesota, more than 32 licensed seven fewer acres than in 2002, but dental therapists are working in community clinics, hospitals and private practices. In February, 16 more than in 2007 the state health department reported that wait times for dental treatment in rural areas had decreased, and may reduce unnecessary trips to the ER for dental work. 21% In 2007, Alaska launched a program to train dental health aide therapists, another form of Increase in Hispanic-owned farms mid-level provider. The first graduates have completed from 2007 to 2012 training and have expanded oral health care to Alaska Native populations. 66% States offer a range of other policies to improve Portion of farm goods produced by access to dental care in underserved populations. 4 percent of farms, all with annual According to the American Dental Association and sales topping $1 million the American Dental Hygienists Association: • In New Mexico, community dental health $42.6 billion coordinators perform basic preventive services, such Value of 2012 California farm as applying fluoride under the general supervision of products, highest in the nation, a dentist. followed by Iowa with $30.8 billion • The District of Columbia and 33 states have publicly or privately funded dental loan repayment programs for 288,264 graduates who work in underserved areas. Women running farms, about 14 • Thirty-six states allow dental hygienists to perform percent of all farm operators, up some services without the specific authorization of a 50,000 since 2002 dentist, such as applying fluoride and sealants. • Sixteen states allow Medicaid reimbursement directly 57,299 to dental hygienists for certain services. Farms that produced renewable • Some states have increased Medicaid reimbursement energy in 2012, more than twice rates and reduced administrative burdens to encourage the number in 2007 more dentists to serve Medicaid enrollees. —Bryan Kelley Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2012 Census of Agriculture, released May 2014.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 Your Decisions Affect Theirs

Government decisions affect more than 300 million Americans a year. With Esri® Technology, you can connect with your entire constituency. Esri helps you demonstrate accountability, foster collaboration, and make the effective decisions that keep your constituents happy.

Learn more at esri.com/government

Copyright © 2014 Esri. All rights reserved.

G64288_Esri-StateLeg-Mag_0514.indd 1 5.15.14 12.33 p TRENDS & TRANSITIONS | 13 Saving the Motor City

ichigan lawmakers appropriated $194.8 million in June to help rebuild the engine of the state’s largest city and former world auto capital. The move was hailed as an 11th-hour save for Detroit, which filed for bankruptcy last year amid plant closures, high unemployment and huge pension liabilities. The money is expected to help prevent steep cuts in pensioners’ payments and save Detroit’s world-class art collection, valued at up Mto $4.6 billion. Some had suggested the city sell off the collection, which includes works by Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Matisse, to help cover Detroit’s estimated $18 billion debt. The state funds along with promised donations from several foundations and the Detroit Institute of Arts are expected to total $816 million. The Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Chrysler committed a combined $26 million to help save the art collection. Tens of thousands of retirees and city workers approved the deal, although a court must still sign off on it. The plan, dubbed The Grand Bargain, calls for a 4.5 percent pension cut and no cost-of-living increases; the city said cuts would be as high as 26 percent without the deal. As part of the plan, workers agreed not to sue the state for their full pensions. The Associated Press reported the up-front payment of $194.8 million will come from the state’s savings account and will be repaid with annual $17.5 million withdrawals from Michigan’s tobacco settlement fund over 20 years. Lawmakers believe the bailout will help the city avoid a drawn-out bankruptcy and the potential for city retirees to fall into poverty, which could cost the state an estimated $270 million in social safety net costs over 20 years, according to AP. —Mary Winter Bright Days for Solar Energy

olar-clad rooftops, like hybrid cars, are rapidly becoming mainstream. The U.S. solar market saw its best first quarter ever in 2014, with a whopping 1,330 megawatts of solar capacity added by homeowners, businesses and utilities, a near 80 percent jump over the same quarter last year. Even more remarkable is that solar made up nearly 75 percent of new power capacity added to the nation’s grid, beating natural gas and wind. Since 2010, installed solar capacity has increased 418 percent, fueled by China’s mass production of low-priced solar panels and federal and state incentives. For utilities in some regions, falling prices have made solar competitive with traditional energy sources. Austin Energy in Texas, for Sinstance, recently signed a 25-year contract for electricity at 5 cents per kilowatt hour from Recurrent Energy solar power plants, well under the utility’s estimated prices for Electricity From the Sun natural gas at 7 cents, coal at 10 cents and nuclear at 13 cents. The utility initially sought Solar panels capable of generating a record 50 megawatts of solar but tripled the target due to the low price. Without the federal tax 4,753 megawatts of electricity were installed credit, the solar price would be about 7 cents per kilowatt hour, however. in 2013 in the United States. Installations were Utilities are also looking to solar to help them meet federal air regulations and state off to an even better start the first four months renewable energy requirements. Although massive utility-scale solar farms are behind of this year, when capacity grew by another 1,330 megawatts. The nation has enough solar- much of solar’s growth, the home and commercial rooftop solar market is booming generated electricity to power 3 million homes. as well, making up around half of the nation’s installed solar capacity. Third-party financing companies such as SunEdison, SolarCity and Sunrun have helped to put Source: Solar Energy Industries Association. solar systems within financial reach of typical homeowners. These companies install and maintain the systems, then lease them to home and business owners, often with Solar Energy Increase no money up front. Another possible option is for the company to install and maintain the panels and then pay the customer for the power the panels generate. Under both scenarios, consumers often save money by installing the panels rather than buying all their electricity from the utility. Third-party financing has been a major driver of the residential market in many states, accounting for more than 80 percent of installations in Arizona and Colorado, for example. The vast majority of households with solar-paneled rooftops have annual incomes of between $40,000 and $90,000 a year, according to the Center for American Progress. —Glen Andersen

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 every driver deserves their own team.

Introducing the Auto Care Association, the voice of the auto care industry. We represent a network of 500,000 independent manufacturers, distributors, parts stores and repair shops dedicated to one mission: giving every driver a choice of professionals across the country to care for their vehicle — whatever brand they drive. TRENDS & TRANSITIONS | 15 High Season for Spare Bedrooms

odging has been a golden goose for average homeowners—people who could use the so-called sharing economy, the much-needed cash from letting a room—so in system in which people rent items New York, lawmakers this year introduced bills rather than buy them, often directly to allow rentals in those circumstances. from the owners instead of com- Short-term rentals are especially popular panies. In cities around the world, in San Francisco, where affordable housing is Ltravelers are bypassing commercial hotels and scarce. The city sued two apartment owners it booking private digs—from spare bedrooms in claims evicted tenants in favor of more lucrative Atlanta to villas in Tuscany—through websites short-term rental deals and has threatened stiff such as Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO. The fines against others. biggest, Airbnb, has more than 600,000 list- Airbnb officials say they’ve taken steps to ings in 34,000 cities in 192 countries, accord- start collecting a 14.7 percent tax in New York ing to its website. state and a 14 percent tax in San Francisco. Renters love the rates—often half those Less populated areas are also wrestling with of hotels, or less—and property owners (“hosts”) love the extra income. regulations. In Teton County, Wyo., commissioners recently told vacation Local economies gain from the boost in tourism, advocates argue. rental managers their properties must meet commercial building codes For the most part, short-term rentals have been unregulated and with room sprinklers and other safety devices. untaxed, but that’s changing. States see substantial tax revenue to be Tourism-dependent Florida passed a law in 2011 prohibiting local tapped, and neighborhood groups increasingly want more regulation of governments from regulating or banning vacation rentals. But after the rentals, which they complain bring noise and traffic and lower prop- widespread complaints about rentals turning neighborhoods into “motel erty values. Other critics say short-term rentals displace lower-income alleys,” legislators dialed back the law so that localities have some power families, and that owners of short-term rentals often violate zoning, fire to regulate noise and other issues. and occupancy codes but are rarely punished for it. The debate is likely to move to more statehouses. According to a study In 2010, New York made it illegal to sublet apartments for less than by PhoCusWright, the share of online sales in vacation rentals doubled a month, but State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says the law is from 12 percent in 2007 to 24 percent in 2012, and is expected to increase routinely flouted by owners of multiple properties. to 30 percent this year. —Mary Winter Critics of the blanket ban on short-term rentals, however, say it hurts Minimum Wages Hit $10

awmakers in 38 states have considered minimum wage bills so far this year, with Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and the District of Columbia enacting increases. The hikes take effect over several years and, for the first time, establish state minimum wages above $10. California will be the first state to reach the $10 mark when its increase takes effect Jan. 1, 2016. Connecticut, Hawaii and Maryland each adopted a minimum wage of $10.10. Con- Lnecticut’s increase takes effect in 2017, while Hawaii’s and Maryland’s start in 2018. The District of Columbia Council adopted a two-step increase that takes the minimum wage to $10.50 in July 2015, then to $11.50 in July 2016. Legislation introduced in 29 states and the District of Columbia included indexing provisions that automatically increase rates annually based on the cost of living. The bills passed in the District of Columbia and Minnesota and will take effect in 2017 and 2018, respectively. They join 11 states that tie annual increases to the cost of living. Other trends include raises for workers who receive tips and prohibitions on local units of government establishing minimum wage and employee benefit requirements. Oklahoma, for example, passed a law that prohibits local governments from setting a minimum wage. The Sooner State becomes the 14th state with such a ban. —Jeanne Mejeur

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 16 | STATELINE

SHOW1 ME 50 REPS That old P.E. class staple —the jumping jack—is now the official exercise of Missouri, thanks in large part to Pershing Elementary School students. The school’s namesake, World War I Gen. John J. Pershing of Missouri, COLORADO CLEANS UP invented the jumping jack as a drill for West 2Colorado lawmakers passed two laws to help clean up the environment. One Point cadets. Since 2008, students have been will shut down Colorado’s tire landfills—the largest in the nation—in 10 lobbying lawmakers to enshrine the exercise in years, and the other will collect fees to recycle household paint. The paint statute. Maryland is the only other state with a law, effective July 2015, requires paint retailers to collect roughly 75 cents sanctioned exercise—walking. Jacks are good per gallon they sell to subsidize the recycling or disposal of for the heart and burn five to 10 calories leftover paint. Seven other states have similar programs. a minute. During session, lawmakers Old tires are a bigger problem. There are 100 million could hit the floor with 50 reps en scrap tires in the nation, and Colorado is home to 60 masse after the morning gavel. But million. Under the new law, landfills won’t be able to that would be a leap. accept tires as of 2018 and will have to close and clean up by 2024. In the meantime, landfills can take in only one tire for every two removed for recycling.

A THOUSAND CUTS IS IT HOT IN HERE? 3For 80 years, the Nebraska Capitol 4Two Texas lawmakers visited Huy Fong Foods in Irwindale, Calif., has withstood tornadoes, hail, dust and maker of sriracha, a popular Vietnamese hot sauce, hoping to snowstorms. But today, it’s under attack by persuade the owner to expand to the Lone Star State. Representative a most unlikely foe—bling. Visitors wearing Jason Villalba (R) and Senator Carlos Uresti (D) came at the pants with rhinestones, metal studs or similar invitation of owner David Tran. Tran had been upset by hardware on the back pockets are scratching the residents’ complaints that plant emissions burn their eyes historic walnut benches and leather seats. The and throats, prompting local officials to declare the plant Capitol staff asks bling-wearers not to sit, or to a public nuisance. Tran said he would consider coming lay a jacket down first, but it’s an uphill battle. to Texas if the soil there can grow chilis that pack “We take preservation and care of our Capitol very enough heat. The two lawmakers promised Texas seriously. If folks were causing this damage with a agriculture officials will get Tran an answer knife it would be vandalism,” tour guide Roxanne soon. Irwindale, in the meantime, dropped its Smith wrote in a note to NCSL. She’d like to know nuisance declaration. if other Capitol staffs are seeing the same and what they’re doing about it. (Write us at [email protected]). One would hate to see a bling ban … Or would one? 5NEW YORK BATTLES HEROIN New York lawmakers have rallied behind two dozen bills to address the state’s heroin epidemic, among the worst in the nation. Officials blame the spike in overdoses in part on the state’s success in curbing access to prescription drugs by abusers, some of whom have turned to heroin as an alternative. The mea- sures call for converting vacant prisons into treatment centers and expanding insurance coverage for addiction treatment. Other bills attempt to address the problem in schools, where laws would give administrators greater latitude in administering overdose treatments and more prevention resources. At least 18 states have passed measures to combat the drug this year.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 STATELINE | 17 IF A TREE FALLS 7Connecticut lawmakers tackled that age-old question, “If your neighbor’s tree falls on your 6 property, can you make a noise HOT MARKET FOR COLD CASH about it?” They said yes. By This year, 64 percent of Florida home wide margins, both chambers purchases were cash deals. Florida is not agreed a tree owner must alone. Nationwide, nearly 43 percent of home sales in the first quarter of 2014 were pay to remove a tree or all-cash, up from 19 percent in the first quarter of 2013, according to RealtyTrac, a branches if they fall on California-based firm. The average sales price in the first quarter was $207,668. The a neighbor’s property if biggest cash buyers are investors and retiring baby boomers who are buying second the neighbor previously homes or downsizing and using the cash to buy smaller homes. After Florida, states notified the owner that the with the highest percentage of all-cash sales are New York (59 percent), Alabama tree was diseased or likely (56), Georgia (52), South Carolina (52), Nevada (50) and Michigan (50). to fall, or the owner failed to remove or prune the tree within 30 days after being notified of it. Governor Dannel Malloy, however, vetoed the bill: “It gives ’BAMA BOATING LAW no avenue for a tree owner to contest a For many Americans, boating and8 beer go together like bait and tackle. But in neighbor’s assertion that their tree or branch is Alabama, anyone who combines the two should designate a driver. Under the ‘likely to fall’.” Also, he said, under present law, a person new law, boaters who kill or injure someone while under the influence will can remove limbs hanging over his or her property. face roughly the same penalties as drunken drivers do. Previously, “homicide Lawmakers could try an override, but would it bear fruit? by vessel” carried a sentence of up to five years; now, it’s up to 10 years. Alcohol was the leading known contributing factor in U.S. fatal boating accidents last year, responsible for 75 deaths, according to federal statistics.

Most Boating Deaths, 2013 SMART MONEY Florida: 10 If you’re looking for good money managers, forget Wall Street. Missouri and New York: 6 9 Head to New Hampshire. Residents there came out No. 1 in a recent Texas and Washington: 5 financial literacy analysis by WalletHub, a social media company that Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina: 4 reviews financial products. WalletHub compared financial education Source: 2013 Recreational Boating Statistics, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department programs and consumer habits in 50 states, including grades received of Homeland Security. in high school financial literacy classes, dropout rates, percentage of residents with rainy day funds and percentage who spend more money than they make.

Most Financially Literate 1 New Hampshire 2 Utah 3 Virginia 4 New Jersey 5 Minnesota 6 South Dakota

7 North Dakota A CHOCOLATE MESS 8 Maryland The Hershey Company has sued Maryland Senator Stephen Hershey Jr., alleg- 10 9 Idaho ing his re-election signs look too much like its logo. The Pennsylvania chocolate 10 Massachusetts maker asked a court to bar the senator from using its “famous trade dress,” claim- ing the senator’s signs, featuring white block letters over a brown background, may mislead voters into thinking the company endorses the candidate. But the senator isn’t melting under the pressure. The allegations “raise serious questions about infringing on my constitutional rights of freedom of speech, freedom of association and participation as a candidate in the political process,” Hershey said, adding he’s confident he’ll win in court.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 18 | PARTISANSHIP A Peak of Partisanship In legislatures across the nation, a growing ideological divide is getting harder to bridge.

BY SUZANNE WEISS

awmaking has always been a messy business. The debate, compromise, deal-making and bargain- ing necessary when working through differing view- points, values and beliefs to get a bill passed can be downright ugly. But it works. Tough bargaining by Michigan lawmakers this year, Lfor example, resulted in a $194.8 million lifeline for bankrupt Detroit. “This is what bipartisanship is all about,” said Governor Rick Snyder. “This was about great teamwork.” In New Hampshire, lawmakers hammered out an agreement after much give and take to expand Medicaid. Governor Maggie Hassan praised the lawmakers’ “steadfast commitment to reach- ing a compromise.” The effort, said Senate President Chuck Morse (R) “shows what can happen when we work together to achievement “just wouldn’t be possible,” Rest says. focus on the issues critical to the well-being of our state.” Is the art of legislative compromise—a cornerstone of repre- Yet, in today’s supercharged partisan political environment, sentative democracy—crumbling away? lawmakers seem less willing to get their hands dirty. Rest, president pro tem of the Senate, is quick to point out that “there’s no absolute pattern” to the increased polarization Back in the Day in Minnesota’s Legislature, adding that on some issues, “there’s Senator Ann Rest (DFL), a 28-year veteran of almost as much dissension among Democrats as there is between the Minnesota Legislature, remembers the chal- the two parties.” lenge of passing a state-subsidized health insur- She notes, however, that the parties still manage to work ance program for working families back in 1992. together productively, as they did last spring in deciding how to It wasn’t pretty, but lawmakers took on the chal- Senator spend a projected $1.2 billion budget surplus. But overall, she lenge and were willing to work across the aisle to Ann Rest (DFL) says, “there’s not much of a middle. More and more people are come up with a workable solution. Minnesota bunched up at either end of the spectrum.” “Back then, a bipartisan group of legisla- tors—they were called the Gang of Seven—shaped the health A National Trend insurance plan, which involved a lot of give-and-take, and Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder (R), guided it to final passage,” Rest says. “And they did it in the another legislative veteran, says he has observed face of major controversy over how the program would work and the same phenomenon. “I think that 20 or 30 how to pay for it.” years ago, there were more moderates in both In today’s hyper-partisan political environment, such an houses of our Legislature,” he says. “Today, the Senator divisions between us are more significant.” Bill Suzanne Weiss is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to State Legislatures In the Ohio House, Batchelder says that Batchelder (R) magazine. Republicans “are much more cohesive than in Ohio

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 PARTISANSHIP | 19

California, Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico and Washington. At the same time, some states—Delaware, Louisiana and Rhode Island, for instance—have relatively less polarized legis- latures. In Louisiana, both parties are fairly conservative, and in Delaware and Rhode Island, they are both fairly liberal.

More Overlap in the Past In the past, party was not the only indicator of where legisla- tors fell on the ideological spectrum, Shor said in an interview. Rural Democrats and urban Republicans agreed on some issues, while urban Democrats and rural Republicans agreed on others, for example. Partisanship: Those areas of agreement are increasingly difficult to find, the firm— Shor says. “Today, if a lawmaker supports affirmative action, especially biased, odds are he or she also supports abortion rights and a progres- emotional or sive tax structure. If you tell me one element of your beliefs, I blind—adherence can predict all the other elements of your beliefs.” One reason to a political party for the shift, Shor believes, is the efforts of advocacy groups to or cause. nationalize state issues—from voter ID and stand-your-ground laws to tax increases—by promoting “model legislation,” formal Polarization: pledges and the like. the widening of Shor’s and McCarty’s research shows that what is happening an ideological in legislatures is, once again, similar in many respects to what’s division, within occurring in Congress, but not entirely. a population In legislatures—unlike in Congress—the senates have typi- or group, into cally been more polarized than the houses. But currently, Shor opposing points out, the lower chambers are polarizing faster in more extremes. ADAM ZYGLIS, THE BUFFALO NEWS states than the upper chambers. And he’s not sure why. Nor is it entirely clear why these changes vary by party from the past, which is a good thing, from my point of view.” But he state to state. For example, Republicans have steadily moved more dislikes the idea of controlling how the members of his caucus to the right in some states but not in others; likewise, Democrats vote. “I have always run our caucus with the idea that people have moved more to the left in some states but not in others. And ought to be able to vote differently if they want to—as long as in other states, positions in both parties have changed very little. we’ve got the votes we need, of course. It’s important to remem- Morris P. Fiorina, political science professor at Stanford ber that Ohio is a state with real diversity, so the legislative pro- University and author of “Culture War? The Myth of a Polar- cess has to reflect that.” ized America,” cautions against calling what is happening in the Polarization dominates most statehouses and is steadily inten- country polarization. In The Washington Post’s political blog, sifying, according to a longitudinal research project called Amer- he argued that the parties are not getting more extreme, they are ican Legislatures. “sorting” where people and policies belong, with the net result Led by political scientists Boris Shor of the University of being “parties that are much more internally homogeneous and Chicago and Nolan McCarty of Princeton University, the project distinct from each other than was the case a generation ago.” measured the ideology of individual legislators and legislatures In the past, politicians and policies didn’t fit so tidily into one since the early 1990s, using roll call votes and survey results. or the other party. There were several prominent liberal Republi- The researchers found that roughly half the nation’s legisla- cans and a slew of Democratic conservatives. tures are as sharply divided as Congress, if not more so, with less “In 1960, the greatest support for Civil Rights AND the great- cross-over voting. The Democrats vote more consistently one est opposition to Civil Rights were both located in the Demo- way and the Republicans consistently vote the other way, with cratic Party, and in 1970, one would have been hard-pressed to both sides voting more often for issues on the extreme ends of say which party was more pro-choice,” he says in the blog. each party’s ideology. “Today, partisanship, ideology and issue preferences go States with the most polarized legislatures, the researchers together in a way they did not in the mid-20th century. While found, are all over the map geographically, ideologically and issues and ideology used to cross-cut the partisan distribution, politically, Among those with the biggest divides are Arizona, today they reinforce it.”

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 2014

Professional Development

Sharpen your professional skills while connecting with legislative colleagues from around the country

American Society of Legislative National Association of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries (ASLCS) Information Technology (NALIT) October 5 – 9, Baton Rouge, La. October 14 – 17, Santa Fe, N.M.

National Legislative Program September 14 – 17, New Orleans, La. Evaluation Society (NLPES) October 5 – 8, Raleigh, N.C.

October 6 – 8, Richmond, Va. National Legislative Services and Security Association (NLSSA) Legislative Information and October 6 – 8, Raleigh, N.C.

September 14 – 17, New Orleans, La. Research and Communications

Legislative Research Librarians (LRL) October 6 – 8, Richmond, Va. October 1 – 3, Baton Rouge, La.

National Association of Legislative

October 20 – 22, Seattle, Wash. PARTISANSHIP | 21

More Predictably Consistent

Compared with 20 years ago, Republicans and Democrats today are more divided along ideological lines, and partisan acrimony is considerably deeper and more extensive, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center. The Pew survey included 10 questions on issues such as regulation of busi- ness, use of the military, environmental laws and regulations, immigration, and gay rights to assess ideological leanings. Across nine of the 10 issues tested, the views of Democrats and Republicans have grown significantly further apart since 1994. Here are five key findings from the Pew survey: • Americans are more consistent in their ideology. The share who express consistently conservative or consistently liberal opinions has doubled over the past two decades, from 10 percent to 21 percent. The “median,” or typical, Republican is now more conservative than 94 percent of Democrats, compared with 70 percent 20 years ago. And the median Democrat is more liberal than 92 percent of Republicans, up from 64 percent. • Partisan antipathy has risen. The share of Democrats with “very unfavor- able” opinions of the Republican Party has jumped from 16 percent to 38 per- cent in the last 20 years. Similarly, the share of Republicans who have very negative views of the Democratic Party has jumped from 17 percent to 43 per- cent. Among those with ideologically consistent views, 36 percent of Republi- cans and 27 percent of Democrats say the opposing party’s policies “represent a threat to the nation’s well-being.” • The center has shrunk. Thirty-nine percent of Americans currently take a roughly equal number of liberal and conservative positions, down from nearly 50 percent in 1994. • The most ideologically oriented Americans are more involved in every stage of the political process. These consistently conservative or consistently liberal purists are more politically engaged than the public as a whole. One-third of those who regularly vote in primaries have all-or-nothing ideological views, as do 41 percent who say they have donated money to a campaign. Why Now? • “Ideological silos” are now more common. Two-thirds of consistent conser- Whether it’s a rise in political polarization or a shifting and vatives and half of consistent liberals say that most of their close friends share sorting of policies and preferences, Fiorina argues it is a “fun- their political views—compared with just 35 percent among the public as a damental cause of the gridlock, stalemate, incivility and other whole. Three in 10 on each side of the divide say it’s important to them to live in negative features of contemporary politics.” a place where most people share their political views. So, why is it happening now? Various causes—closed pri- mary systems, redistricting practices, party realignment, media coverage and an increasingly divided electorate—have been sug- recent post on Mischiefs of Faction, a political science blog, that gested. such activists are “the base that legislators are increasingly play- When political science experts gathered in Washington, D.C., ing to because they are the ones who provide campaign resources earlier this year, several panelists noted a striking lack of evi- and who threaten primary challenges.” dence that open primaries and other proposed reforms would Shor says the value of his project’s data is that “nailing down have much effect on reducing the extreme partisanship we have the numbers” helps to inform analysis of the extent to which today. polarization contributes to political gridlock and dysfunctional “Reducing polarization involves much more than tinkering policymaking. with institutional and electoral rules,” said Antoine Yoshinaka of “This gives us a barometer to find out whether reforms like American University. “In fact, some of these reforms may even opening up primaries, taking redistricting away from politicians, exacerbate polarization in some instances.” term limits and so forth can do anything about this yawning gap Hans Noel, an associate professor of government at George- between the parties,” he says. “And since there are 50 state leg- town, attributes polarization to “policy demanders”—ideological islatures, we might find answers to these questions more quickly activists who “have taken over the parties and compel elected and definitively than we can with Congress, of which we have officials to move further to the extremes.” Noel argues in a only one.”

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 THANKTHANK YOUYOU FOUNDATION FOUNDATION PlatinumPlatinum Sponsors Sponsors $25,000 $25,000 America’sAmerica’s Natural Natural Gas AllianceGas Alliance Esri Esri SatelliteSatellite Broadcasting Broadcasting & Communications & Communications AmgenAmgen GileadGilead Sciences Sciences Association Association ApolloApollo Education Education Group, Group, Inc. Inc. InstituteInstitute of Scrap of Scrap Recycling Recycling Industries, Industries, Inc. Inc. StateState Farm Farm Insurance Insurance Companies Companies AstellasAstellas Pharma Pharma US, Inc.US, Inc. IntuitIntuit TakedaTakeda Pharmaceuticals Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., U.S.A., Inc. Inc. AT&TAT&T MylanMylan TIAA-CREFTIAA-CREF BP AmericaBP America NationalNational Education Education Association Association TimeTime Warner Warner Cable Cable ComcastComcast Cable Cable Communications Communications NikeNike Visa Visa CVSCVS Caremark Caremark Corporation Corporation NuclearNuclear Energy Energy Institute Institute WalmartWalmart EntertainmentEntertainment Software Software Association Association ReynoldsReynolds American American GoldGold Sponsors Sponsors $12,500 $12,500 21st 21stCentury Century Fox Fox Cox CoxCommunications, Communications, Inc. Inc. NationalNational Athletic Athletic Trainers’ Trainers’ Association Association AARPAARP CrownCrown Cork Cork & Seal & SealCompany, Company, Inc. Inc. NationalNational Beer Beer Wholesalers Wholesalers Association Association ADMADM CTIA-TheCTIA-The Wireless Wireless Association Association NationalNational Cable Cable & Telecommunications & Telecommunications AflacAflac DaiichiDaiichi Sankyo, Sankyo, Inc. Inc. Association Association AircraftAircraft Owners Owners and Pilotsand Pilots Association Association DardenDarden Restaurants, Restaurants, Inc. Inc. NationalNational Restaurant Restaurant Association Association AllianceAlliance of Automobile of Automobile Manufacturers Manufacturers Dell DellInc. Inc. NationalNational Retail Retail Federation Federation AmazonAmazon DeloitteDeloitte LLP LLP NationalNational Rural Rural Electric Electric Cooperative Cooperative Association Association AmericanAmerican Association Association for Justice for Justice eBayeBay Inc. Inc. NovartisNovartis AmericanAmerican Bankers Bankers Association Association EdisonEdison Electric Electric Institute Institute NovoNovo Nordisk Nordisk AmericanAmerican Beverage Beverage Association Association EnergyEnergy Future Future Holdings Holdings PersonalPersonal Care Care Products Products Council Council AmericanAmerican College College of Cardiology of Cardiology ExxonMobilExxonMobil PharmaceuticalPharmaceutical Research Research & Manufacturers & Manufacturers of of AmericanAmerican Council Council of Life of InsurersLife Insurers The TheFriedman Friedman Foundation Foundation for Educational for Educational Choice Choice America America AmericanAmerican Federation Federation of State, of State, County County & Municipal & Municipal GenericGeneric Pharmaceutical Pharmaceutical Association Association PhilipsPhilips Employees Employees GM GM Red RedBull BullNorth North America America AmericanAmerican Federation Federation of Teachers of Teachers GoogleGoogle ReedReed Elsevier Elsevier AmericanAmerican Forest Forest & Paper & Paper Association Association GTECHGTECH Salt RiverSalt River Project Project AmericanAmerican Gas AssociationGas Association Hewlett-PackardHewlett-Packard SAS SASInstitute Institute Inc. Inc. AmericanAmerican Institute Institute of Certified of Certified Public Public Accountants Accountants HIMSSHIMSS SiemensSiemens AmericanAmerican Optometric Optometric Association Association HoneywellHoneywell International International Inc. Inc. SocietySociety for Human for Human Resource Resource Management Management AmericanAmerican Society Society of Civil of Civil Engineers Engineers IBMIBM SprintSprint America’sAmerica’s Credit Credit Unions Unions InternationalInternational Council Council of Shopping of Shopping Centers Centers StateState & Federal & Federal Communications, Communications, Inc. Inc. Anheuser-BuschAnheuser-Busch Companies Companies InternationalInternational Paper Paper StatesideStateside Associates Associates AstraZenecaAstraZeneca KraftKraft Foods Foods Group, Group, Inc. Inc. TargetTarget BankBank of America of America LexisNexisLexisNexis State State Net Net Teva TevaPharmaceuticals Pharmaceuticals USA USA BayerBayer HealthCare HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Pharmaceuticals Macy’s,Macy’s, Inc. Inc. T-MobileT-Mobile Best BestBuy Buy MallinckrodtMallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals Pharmaceuticals ToyotaToyota Motor Motor North North America America BlackBerryBlackBerry MasterCardMasterCard Worldwide Worldwide UnileverUnilever United United States, States, Inc. Inc. BoehringerBoehringer Ingelheim Ingelheim MAXIMUSMAXIMUS UPSUPS CapitalCapital One One McKessonMcKesson Specialty Specialty Health Health VerizonVerizon Communications Communications CargillCargill MeadMead Johnson Johnson Nutrition Nutrition WalgreensWalgreens ChevronChevron MerckMerck WellPointWellPoint The TheCoca-Cola Coca-Cola Company Company MicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation Corporation WellsWells Fargo Fargo CouncilCouncil On StateOn State Taxation Taxation MotionMotion Picture Picture Association Association of America of America West,West, A Thomson A Thomson Reuters Reuters Business Business CovantaCovanta Energy Energy NationalNational Association Association of Convenience of Convenience Stores Stores SilverSilver Sponsors Sponsors $7,500 $7,500 1-8001-800 CONTACTS, CONTACTS, Inc. Inc. Bristol-MyersBristol-Myers Squibb Squibb JohnsonJohnson & Johnson & Johnson AAAAAA CAMICBCAMICB and Communityand Community Associations Associations Institute Institute JP MorganJP Morgan Chase Chase AgriumAgrium The TheCarpet Carpet & Rug & RugInstitute Institute LeadsOnlineLeadsOnline Air-Conditioning,Air-Conditioning, Heating, Heating, and Refrigerationand Refrigeration CitigroupCitigroup Mattel,Mattel, Inc. Inc. Institute Institute ConsumerConsumer Healthcare Healthcare Products Products Association Association McLaneMcLane Company, Company, Inc. Inc. AmericanAmerican Academy Academy of Pediatrics of Pediatrics CovidienCovidien MultiStateMultiState Associates Associates AmericanAmerican Chemistry Chemistry Council Council CropLifeCropLife America America NationalNational Association Association of Chain of Chain Drug Drug Stores Stores AmericanAmerican Coalition Coalition for Clean for Clean Coal Coal Electricity Electricity Design-BuildDesign-Build Institute Institute of America of America NationalNational Association Association of Home of Home Builders Builders AmericanAmerican Coatings Coatings Association Association DiageoDiageo North North America, America, Inc. Inc. NationalNational Association Association of Realtors of Realtors AmericanAmerican Financial Financial Services Services Association Association DieselDiesel Technology Technology Forum Forum NationalNational Electrical Electrical Manufacturers Manufacturers Association Association AmericanAmerican Petroleum Petroleum Institute Institute DominionDominion NationalNational Federation Federation of Independent of Independent Business Business America’sAmerica’s Health Health Insurance Insurance Plans Plans EducationalEducational Testing Testing Service Service NJOYNJOY AmerisourceBergenAmerisourceBergen EncoreEncore Capital Capital Group Group PropertyProperty Casualty Casualty Insurers Insurers Association Association of America of America Ash GroveAsh Grove Cement Cement Company Company FoodFood Marketing Marketing Institute Institute PurduePurdue Pharmaceuticals Pharmaceuticals L.P. L.P. AssociationAssociation of American of American Railroads Railroads GeneralGeneral Mills Mills RetailRetail Industry Industry Leaders Leaders Association Association AssociationAssociation of Global of Global Automakers Automakers HallmarkHallmark Cards Cards SecuritiesSecurities Industry Industry and Financialand Financial Markets Markets Blue BlueCross Cross and Blueand BlueShield Shield Association Association H&RH&R Block Block Association Association BostonBoston Scientific Scientific HyundaiHyundai Motor Motor Company Company ServiceService Employees Employees International International Union Union BridgepointBridgepoint Education Education InternationalInternational Bottled Bottled Water Water Association Association SodexoSodexo

PARTISANSHIP | 23

The Gap Grows Wider A Guide to the Divide The level of polarization illustrated in this graphic was One way to evaluate the nation’s level of partisanship is derived by measuring the average ideological distance reflected in how members of each party view the job performance (based on voting records and surveys) between the medians of the president. Since the late 1970s, approval ratings for presi- of both parties in state legislative chambers between 1996 dents have divided along party lines by a consistently widening and 2008. The larger the number, the bigger the divide. The margin. For example, 57 percent of the Democrats polled and 30 red vertical line is the level of congressional polarization, percent of the Republicans approved of Carter, a gap of only 27 for comparison. points. Today, 83 percent of Democrats, but only 14 percent of Average Legislative Divide Republicans like the job Obama is doing—a 69-point gap.

President Dem. Approval GOP Approval Approval Gap Obama 83% 14% 69 G.W. Bush 23% 84% 61 Clinton 82% 27% 55 Reagan 31% 83% 52 Nixon 34% 75% 41 Eisenhower 49% 88% 39 G.H.W. Bush 44% 82% 38 Kennedy 84% 49% 35 Ford 36% 67% 31 L.B. Johnson 70% 40% 30 Carter 57% 30% 27

Source: Survey by Political Pollster Neil Newhouse, Public Opin- ion Strategies, April 15, 2014.

Caution Advised Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri whose area of expertise is legislatures, has mixed feelings about the practical value of Shor’s and McCarty’s findings. On the one hand, Squire says, “It’s a major advance to have leg- islatures on one standard of measurement.” And he praises Shor and McCarty for being the first to undertake the laborious task of aggregat- ing roll call votes and other data over a 20-year span. But, on the other hand, their findings are somewhat skewed by the fact that legislatures “operate under different rules and have different 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 sets of norms,” Squire says. “For example, in many states, the major- Distance between party medians ity will only bring forward things that are likely to pass. That changes what the batting average looks like.” Source: American Legislatures Project, 2014. In the end, Squire says, “I’m not sure that you can connect polariza- tion with better or worse outcomes. … You could argue that polar- policy; just as important, they got to know, respect and like each ization isn’t necessarily detrimental, and that fewer divided chambers other. offers greater coherence to policymaking. That’s one way to look at it.” “You can’t create enough opportunities for legislative col- Squire points out that political passions and partisan strife are not leagues to learn together,” Hillegonds says. Years later, when he new. They are, in fact, an inescapable part of American legislatures and shared power as co-speaker of the Michigan House, instead of have had to be balanced by agreed-upon rules of conduct, an adherence gridlock, members from both parties found a way to compromise to formal procedures and, perhaps most important, a commitment by and work together, he says. members to forge trusting relationships, he says. “It’s worth taking a risk. Anything we can do as legislators to Former Michigan House Speaker Paul Hillegonds recounts how his open up our agendas to different ideas, I think, realizes the best of outlook was forever changed for the better by taking part in a series of the legislative process.” bipartisan seminars on tax policy as a freshman lawmaker. Through Because after all, Hillegonds says, “Not all the best ideas rest those seminars, he says, participants not only better understood public with only one party.”

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 24 | STATE CAPITOLS Capitol Gains

Capitol renovation projects are bringing these beloved symbols of democracy back to life.

By Suzanne Weiss

orroded pipes, leaky roofs, antiquated electrical sys- tems, moldy basements, crumbling masonry, rotting woodwork, peeling paint, drafty windows, cracked plaster walls. From subterranean chambers all the way up to the top of gold-leaf domes, signs of dilapi- dation abound at the nation’s 50 statehouses, which Care among the oldest, grandest and most beloved buildings in America. Today, 33 state capitols are at least 100 years old—and, of those, 10 are well into their second century. The other 17 state- vacating all or part of the capitol for some period of time—are houses were built between World War I and 1977. In any given nothing new. The capitols of South Dakota, Wisconsin and year, capitol restoration and renovation projects are under way Texas, for example, all underwent extensive modernization and in at least four or five states—but they vary widely in terms of preservation in the 1970s and 1980s. Michigan took three years scope, purpose and cost. to renovate its 1879 capitol, reopening it in 1992 and joining 15 Colorado recently completed a major rehabilitation of its other states whose capitols have been designated as National statehouse dome—including covering it with a fresh layer of Historic Landmarks. (Another 24 are listed on the National Reg- 24-karat gold leaf—at a cost of $17 million. The dome had been ister of Historic Places.) The New York capitol restoration proj- closed since 2006, when a chunk of cast iron crashed on the ect, started in 2000, was slated to take 14 years, but Governor observation deck where school children, families and tourists Cuomo accelerated the project, completing it 18 months early flock for a spectacular view of Denver and the Rocky Mountains. and at least $2 million under budget. And last year, the renovated west wing of the Illinois Capitol reopened, with features ranging from new heating, air condition- Capital for Capitols ing, plumbing and electrical systems, to freshly decorated cor- The expense and logistics of such projects have always been, ridors and stairwells, to newly exposed and repaired brick arches and continue to be, a major challenge for states—which is why in the building’s catacomb-like basement. The project cost $51 they typically are undertaken only after years of discussion, million. debate and delay, says architect David Hart, who oversaw the Oklahoma spent $5 million last year to renovate the House four-year makeover of the Utah Capitol and will serve as pro- and Senate chambers in the Capitol. Other noteworthy under- gram manager of the Minnesota renovation. takings in the past several years are the full-scale renovations “There’s a tendency on the part of state officials to work of state capitols in Virginia, ($105 million, completed in 2007), around the restoration issue as long as they can,” says Hart. “But Utah ($220 million, completed in 2008) and Kansas ($332 mil- these buildings are just tired and worn-out after 100 years, and lion, completed in 2013). Similar projects have just begun in the maintenance people can’t stay ahead of the deterioration Minnesota ($241 million), Wyoming ($225 million) and Oregon curve.” ($295 million). In Minnesota, the need for a comprehensive capitol preserva- Costly basement-to-dome renovations—which often involve tion effort was identified in the early 1980s, and over the years various plans were drafted, discussed and ultimately shelved, Suzanne Weiss is a frequent freelance contributor to State Legislatures magazine. says Senator Ann Rest (DFL). Rest, who has served in the Min-

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 STATE CAPITOLS | 25

“The hardest thing was to get a commitment to do what we needed to do all at once, rather than keep applying Band-Aids.” Senator —MIINNESOTA SENATOR ANN REST (DFL) Ann Rest (DFL) Minnesota

The granite walls (opposite) of the Rest says. “I think finally it was clear that we had reached a tip- Utah Capitol were cleaned, repaired ping point. “ and resealed as part of the building’s Although some states opt to fund full or partial renovations on restoration, completed in 2008. a pay-as-you-go basis, other states, like Minnesota, have decided to pay for the projects by issuing general obligation bonds. These are newly restored Gold Room Over the next three years, the 104-year-old Capitol in St. (left) of the Utah Capitol, which state Paul—designed by renowned architect Cass Gilbert—will officials asked original architect undergo a total facelift, inside and out. The weathered granite Richard Kletting to design as a grand exterior will be repaired, cleaned and resealed. New plumb- reception area for visiting dignitaries. ing, electrical, mechanical and fire-suppression systems will be The interior facelift of the Utah Capi- installed. Furniture, frescoes, murals, lighting fixtures, elevators tol (above) included restoration of the and rest rooms will be refurbished, and the Capitol grounds will atriums and grand staircases of the be re-landscaped. The project also will include the addition of a building’s east and west wings. visitors’ center, expanded underground parking and construction of a new, $70 million Capitol office building to serve as “swing nesota Legislature for 28 years and is currently president pro space” or temporary offices for legislators and other occupants tem of the Senate, was among a group of legislative leaders who of the Capitol once it is vacated in spring 2015. joined forces with then-newly elected Governor Mark Dayton in Exactly who will move back into the Minnesota Capitol in 2011 to secure funding for repairs and remodeling. early 2017 and who will remain in the new building was a major “The hardest thing was to get a commitment to do what we point of contention that threatened to derail the entire project, needed to do all at once, rather than keep applying Band-Aids,” Rest says. Legislators, various state officials and their staffs have

The elegant three-story Capitol annex shown here is one of two constructed as part of the Utah statehouse makeover. They complete the Capitol quadrangle envisioned by the original architect, Richard Kletting.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 Thank you To the following sponsors for their continuous support of the NCSL Foundation for State Legislatures Distinguished Sponsor - 30 Years AT&T Sustaining Sponsors - 20 Years American Academy of Pediatrics National Federation of American Beverage Association Independent Business American Council of Life Insurers National Rural Electric American Federation of State, County Cooperative Association & Municipal Employees Novartis American Federation of Teachers Nuclear Energy Institute AstraZeneca Pharmaceutical Research Bristol-Myers Squibb & Manufacturers of America The Coca-Cola Company State Farm Insurance Companies Hallmark Cards Stateside Associates National Association of Realtors Unilever National Education Association Verizon Communications 10 Years 1-800 CONTACTS, Inc. Comcast Cable Communications Microsoft Corporation AAA Council on State Taxation National Association of Chain Drug Stores AARP Dell Inc. National Association of Home Builders Aflac Diesel Technology Forum Novo Nordisk Agrium eBay Inc. Personal Care Products Council Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Educational Testing Service Purdue Pharmaceuticals Refrigeration Institute Edison Electric Institute Salt River Project Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association ExxonMobil Service Employees International Union American Bankers Association Food Marketing Institute Society for Human Resource Management America’s Credit Unions Hewlett-Packard Sprint Amgen IBM Takeda Pharmaceuticals Anheuser-Busch Companies International Council of Shopping Centers T-Mobile Association of American Railroads Intuit UPS Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Johnson & Johnson Visa Best Buy MAXIMUS Walmart BP America Merck Wells Fargo STATE CAPITOLS | 27 The Copper Conundrum long fought over allocation of space in the Capitol, which will actually decrease in net usable square footage as a result of the renovation. “The internal politics really held us back, but we eventually worked it out,” Rest says. “Now we are moving ahead with a project that will add another 100 years to the life of our beautiful Capitol and also give us the room we need.” Similarly, Utah’s statehouse renovation project, completed in 2008, involved construction of a pair of three-story office build- ings that architect Hart says not only provided cost-efficient swing space, but also made the Capitol complex more beautiful and functional. “We didn’t want anything to detract from the Capitol, so these two buildings have a very similar look and feel,” says Hart. “And the way they are situated actually completes the quadrangle that the original architect, Richard Kletting, envi- sioned back in 1916.” The entire Utah Capitol’s renovation took just four years and came in about $5 million under budget.

Wing by Wing Kansas took a different approach to its bottom-to-top reha- bilitation of the statehouse. The project took more than 13 years because the work was sequenced, wing by wing, so only a por- tion of the building’s occupants had to be relocated at any one time—and not to swing space, but to other wings. Disruption of legislative business was minimized by curtailing work crews’ activities during session. The Kansas project was fraught with difficulties and addi- tional delays, however. For a variety of reasons, what was origi- nally envisioned in 1999 as a $120 million modernization bal- looned into a full-scale, $332 million makeover. Repairs to the limestone exterior were estimated at $10 million, but jumped to $33 million when it was discovered that some of the stones crumble easily. And, rather than require various relatively minor repairs, the project managers decided the building’s copper The Kansas State House is one of nine state capitols with a copper dome. But continued on page 30 when years of hail damage caused it to leak, it became part of the state’s ambi- tious renovation project. What does a state do with so much green, cast-off metal, oxidized after decades atop the more than 100-year-old dome? Some of it was donated to the Kansas Historical Society, which had a group of local artists make jewelry from it to sell in the capitol gift shop. Betty Marable says she makes around 200 pieces of jewelry a month but struggles to keep up with demand. “The popularity has just been more than I ever expected,” Artist Kristen Haug told a local news channel. “It’s really cool to be able to repurpose some- thing that otherwise might be scrapped. And I thought it was a great idea to have a piece of history that people could purchase to help remind them of their experience at the capitol.” Maine, also renovating its dome, has floated similar ideas, but has yet to decide the fate of its copper. Most of it will be auctioned off to help pay for the project, bringing in around $15,000. Lawmakers will let the facilities committee decide what to do with the rest of it, however. Committee members may very well decide that wearing a little of The historic Supreme Court chamber of the Kansas Capitol was fully the state capitol makes sense in Maine, too. — Jack Queen restored as part of the building’s makeover, completed in 2013.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 Pantone 1807 / RGB 155 17 30 Pantone 301 / RGB 20 80 126

NCSL Full Page Ad Large - The Forum.indd 4 7/17/14 1:29 PM STATE CAPITOLS | 29

It Takes a Team

Restoration of the Utah Capitol’s dome included replacing deteriorated stucco and plaster with terra cotta.

Full-scale state capitol makeovers are enormously com- Work crews dug beneath the Utah Capitol to install 260 rub- plex undertakings that require collective skills of architects, ber cushions that will improve the building’s capacity to with- engineers, construction managers and craftsmen ranging from stand earthquake damage. stonemasons to plasterers to wood finishers. Consider, for example, the four-year Utah Capitol project, done throughout the grounds of the Capitol, which include a the most challenging element of which was a “seismic retro- central plaza and fountain; a circular walkway rimmed with fit” designed to improve the building’s capacity to withstand 433 Yoshino cherry trees; and a collection of monuments, earthquake damage. It involved “essentially disconnecting the plaques and statues. building from the ground by digging beneath it, and install- It should come as no surprise then, that, in Utah as in other ing 260 rubber cushions, or isolators, that allow the build- states that have undertaken extensive capitol renovations, sev- ing to move as the ground moves, dampening the force of a eral challenges arose involving labor and materials. quake,” says Project Manager David Hart. Then, the Capitol’s “We found that we needed a lot of specialized trades peo- 310,000-square-foot interior was gutted, a new steel skeleton ple—decorative painters, wood finishers, locksmiths,” Hart was installed, and the stage was set for “putting the building recalls. “All of the walls in the building had to be finished in back together,” as Utah Senator John Valentine puts it. plaster, so we ended up flying in more than three dozen plas- A number of rooms that had been divided into smaller terers from California and other states to add to the 35 local rooms over the years were restored to their original size and people we hired.” others, like the Senate chamber, were enlarged. More than One particularly vexing problem involved the need for 500 aluminum-trimmed windows, installed in the early 1960s, more onyx—a specific, honey-colored onyx. “We were creat- were replaced with mahogany-framed, energy-efficient win- ing a new entryway that had to match,” Hart says. The original dows. Throughout the building, walls were replastered and onyx came from the desert in western Utah, but that source no repainted in their original colors. New carpets, closely match- longer was available, forcing the restorers to look elsewhere. ing the 1916 originals, were laid. Furniture, lighting fixtures, Their search ended in Afghanistan, where they found the woodwork and other ornamentation underwent extensive res- honey-colored onyx still is being mined. Hart and team had toration. New heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical and fire- the stone shipped to Verona, Italy, where it was cut and shaped suppression systems were installed. to order, all under the watchful eye of Hart, who was on hand In addition, the building’s exterior granite walls were to make sure the job was done correctly. cleaned and repaired, and the dome’s badly deteriorated George Skarmeas, an architect who has worked on capitol stucco and plaster were replaced with terra cotta. A pair of renovation projects in several states, says that kind of attention three-story annexes were built and connected to the Capitol by to detail and respect for a building’s history is a hallmark of an underground tunnel, along with a new central plant and two high-quality historic preservation. “We like to think of our- underground parking structures. Finally, extensive work was selves as the voice of the building.”

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 30 | STATE CAPITOLS dome and roof would be the top priority because both were in “First, try to keep the politics out of need of total replacement. The costs rose even further when the original renovation plan was amended to include a 550-space it as much as possible and, second, underground parking garage, a new visitors’ center and dining make sure the legislature controls room, better landscaping and more extensive interior restoration. Remodels in the 1960s and 1970s typically chopped up large the funding.” spaces to make more work spaces. This results in restorations today typically producing less usable square footage. Not so in —ARCHITECT DAVID HART Kansas, however. Its Capitol renovation project produced quite a bit more useful space, from 365,000 square feet to nearly 500,000. the expansion of underground parking. “These were social activ- Barry Greis, who, as statehouse architect, was involved in the ist groups who objected to the state spending money, as they put project from start to finish, says the new space was gained primar- it, so rich people could enjoy the Capitol, rather than spending ily by putting mechanical and electrical systems in underground that money on the needy,” Valentine says. vaults, which made the building’s basement available for other To overcome the opposition, legislators uses. “There were varying degrees of difficulty throughout the decided to remove the state sales tax on food as project,” he says, “but legislators found a way to continue. Leg- part of a tax-reform package that also replaced islative leaders deserve all the credit for keeping things moving.” the three-tier income tax with a flat 5 percent tax Strong and steady bipartisan support is an essential ingredient rate. The income tax change made up for the loss of successful renovation/restoration efforts, Hart says. “These of the sales tax on food, which generated about Senator are very large, very complicated and politically messy projects— $280 million a year in revenues, according to John and they cross over every aspect of government,” he says. “It Valentine. Valentine (R) can quickly become daunting, and you’re constantly running into Utah something you weren’t prepared for.” Whose House is it? Two major takeaways from his experience on the Utah proj- The political will to carry out modernization and preservation ect, Hart says, are “first, to try to keep the politics out of it as projects is often undermined when “legislators worry that they much as possible and, second, to make sure that the legislature are going to be seen as improving their digs—something that’s controls the funding sequence, so they feel confident—and there just for their own benefit,” Hart says. “But they should keep in are no hiccups.” mind that the public cares tremendously about these buildings. They have pride in them as symbols of their state’s history, their Building Confidence government and their democracy.” “To promote a greater level of collaboration,” Hart recom- Minnesota’s Senator Rest agrees, pointing out that “state capi- mends creating a board or commission to oversee such projects. tols play a very different role in the lives of the public today” Senator John Valentine (R), a 25-year veteran of the Utah Legis- than in the past. “Every year, we have thousands and thousands lature who was a driving force behind the statehouse rehabilita- of people who come to the Capitol—school kids, tourists, people tion, says he and other legislative leaders built “robust support” with disabilities, citizens who want to attend and testify at hear- for the project by meeting, early on, with editorial boards and ings. So our goals were not only to restore the grandeur of the business leaders and sponsoring a coordinated public informa- building, but also to make the building much more accessible to tion effort. the public and much more functional,” she says. The only major bump in the road, says Valentine, was orga- “The Capitol is not a museum. It is where government does nized opposition to several components of the project, primarily its work.”

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014

STATE CAPITOLS | 31

Capitol Trivia Several of the oldest state capitols, dating to the late 1700s, have been converted into museums, but three of them—in Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts—have been in continuous use since they were built. At the other end of the spectrum are a handful of statehouses built in the 1930s (Delaware, Louisiana, North Dakota, Oregon, West Virginia), the 1960s (Hawaii, New Mexico) and the 1970s (Florida). The large majority of capitols, however, were constructed between 1850 and World War I, when the most popular architectural styles were Italian, French and Gothic Revival, with a smattering of Georgian, Greek Revival, Romanesque and Beaux Arts. What most state capitols have in common, says George Skarmeas, an architect who specializes in historic preservation, is that they are “monumental, elegant, with a grand entrance to a rotunda several sto- ries high, and capped by a dome.” Skarmeas and his team at Philadelphia-based Preservation Design Partnership have worked on restoration projects ranging from the U.S. Supreme Court building, Independence Hall and the Lincoln Presidential Cottage, to statehouses in Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. In terms of architectural style, state capitols built during the Great Depression and post-World War II reflect a strong break from tradi- tion. Four of them are skyscrapers: the Florida Capitol , a 22-story, flat-roofed tower in the International Style; the Louisiana Capitol, a 34-story, Art Deco-style tower topped with a multi-tiered cupola; the Nebraska Capitol , a 15-story Art Deco-style tower rising from a three-story base and crowned by a gold-tiled dome; and North Dakota , a flat-topped 20-story tower adjoining a three-story legislative wing, that combines Art Deco and International Style influences. Other distinctive capitols include Oregon’s , an Art Deco-style structure built in 1938, which has a tall, central focal point over the main entrance. It has no round columns and no portico, but contains a variety of angles and geometric shapes and is crowned by a ribbed, flat-topped drum tower that conceals an interior dome. The build- ing has been described as “a combination of Egyptian simplicity and Greek refinement.” The New Mexico Capitol was designed along the lines of a kiva, a round ceremonial chamber of the Pueblo people. The Round- house, as it’s called, has no dome or cupola and is only 52 feet tall. Viewed from above, the structure is shaped like the sun symbol of the Zia, another indigenous tribe. The building was completed in 1966. The Hawaii Capitol , built in 1969, is a flat-topped, Interna- tional Style pavilion surrounded by a reflecting pool, like an island in the ocean. The columns around the circumference of the building take the shape of coconut palm trees. Like many Hawaiian buildings, there are no real doorways from the outside—just breezeways lead- ing to a central courtyard that is open to the sky. One thing all capitols have in common, however, is that, in building their capitols, “leaders were trying to make a statement,” Skarmeas says. “These buildings were meant to celebrate the distinctive heritage of the state.”

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 Fair Policies Mean A Bright Future For Everyone

Solar energy is an important part of our nation’s energy mix. And there’s growing customer inter- est in using rooftop solar panels to generate electricity. That’s a good thing. But the sun doesn’t shine all the time, and solar panels can’t operate 24/7—so most rooftop solar customers still use the electric grid around the clock. Everyone who uses the grid should share equally in the costs of maintaining it and keeping it operating reliably. However, outdated net metering policies in some states shift grid costs from solar customers to non-solar customers. And that’s not fair. Let’s update these policies—and pave the way for solar to continue to shine.

© 2014 by the Edison Electric Institute. All rights reserved. LEGISLATURES | 33 The Politics of Pay It’s clear that legislator compensation commissions help take the politics out of pay raises.

Legislators are all too aware of the political consequences of giving themselves a raise, even if it is fair and long overdue.

Fair Policies Mean A year tie them to various indexes for automatic adjustments. By Morgan Cullen Hawaii’s lawmakers received the largest increase when Bright Future For Everyone $11,579 was added to their previous $46,273 salary—a 25 hat’s up? Annual wages, export orders, business percent increase. California legislators—the country’s highest actitivy, state revenues, growth in GDP—all across paid—came in second, with a $4,765—or 5 percent—increase, Solar energy is an important part of our nation’s energy mix. And there’s growing customer inter- the country.What’s not up? Lawmakers’ pay. giving members a total salary of $95,291 a year. est in using rooftop solar panels to generate electricity. That’s a good thing. But the sun doesn’t Legislative salaries have not kept pace with inflation for the past 25 years, and some states More Is Still Less shine all the time, and solar panels can’t operate 24/7—so most rooftop solar customers still use haven’t had an increase in decades. Louisiana’s Californians may assume their legislators are screaming the electric grid around the clock. Wlegislators make $16,800 a year—the same salary since 1980. “Eureka!” with the raise. They may well be, but there’s more Lawmakers in Arizona receive $24,000 a year. They haven’t had to the story. Before the Great Recession, California legislators Everyone who uses the grid should share equally in the costs of maintaining it and keeping it a raise since 1999, and the same is true for legislators in Colo- earned $116,208 a year. But in 2009, with the state’s economy in operating reliably. However, outdated net metering policies in some states shift grid costs from rado, Minnesota, New York and South Dakota. a tailspin and annual state budget gaps exceeding 20 percent of solar customers to non-solar customers. And that’s not fair. Let’s update these policies—and pave Only nine states have increased salaries over the past 12 the general fund, the state’s compensation commission cut sala- months, and in all of them, the primary responsibility for deter- ries by $21,000—to $95,291 a year. the way for solar to continue to shine. mining lawmakers’ salaries did not reside with the legislature. “California legislators were reducing staff salaries and issuing The two states with the largest increases were California and mandatory furloughs in an effort to reduce costs,” says Charles Hawaii, which both have compensation commissions that deter- Murray, a member of the commission. “They didn’t have the mine legislator pay. In North Dakota, a nonpartisan staff agency authority to lower their own salaries, but we realized it needed to sets salaries. The remaining six states that raised salaries this be done.” The trend continued last year, when salaries were cut further to $90,526 a year. California’s current compensation is Morgan Cullen is a senior policy specialist with NCSL. still 18 percent less than what it was before the recession.

© 2014 by the Edison Electric Institute. All rights reserved. STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 Make sure your state is covered. Save lives. Accept the federal funds.

26 states and Washington, D.C. have made the decision to accept the funds and increase access to health coverage under Medicaid. In states that do not increase access to care, 7.6 million low-income adults who could have gained Medicaid will remain ineligible for the program.1 Accepting the federal funds means you’ll save lives and money.

Accept the federal funds for a healthier state.

Check the facts: 1. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Paid for by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.SM LEGISLATURES | 35 Who Decides?

More Time = More Staff + More Pay

TYPE OF AVERAGE TIME AVERAGE TOTAL AVERAGE PAY LEGISLATURE ON JOB STAFF (UPDATE)

RI Full-time 82% 1,340 $80,465 DC Hybrid 70% 479 $43,258 PR Part-time 54% 169 $19,140 VI

Notes: The time spent on legislative work is the estimated portion compared to a full-time Who decides lawmakers’ pay? job and includes time in session, constituent Legislature or constitution service, interim committee work, and election

■ Commission campaigns (2002). The average pay includes ■ Commission makes recommendations, but legislature decides salaries, per diem and other expense pay- ■ Commission decides unless vetoed ments (2014). Total legislative staff includes ■ No one, salaries are tied to an index ■ all full-time, central legislative staff as well Source: NCSL, 2014 as partisan staff (2009).

Automatically Unarguable significant reason is the inevitable political benefits, provide an opportunity for public com- Other increases were marginal. For example, fallout: Voters often feel that, since they can’t ment and issue formal recommendations. Indiana’s legislative salaries are set at 18 per- raise their own salaries, neither should their The governor and legislative leaders usually cent of judges’ salaries, so when judges received representatives at the state house be able to do nominate those who serve on the commission, a raise this year, so did legislators—$1,523.70 so. The public’s low opinion of lawmakers’ job but many states require that members come to be exact. In Pennsylvania, where legislative performance doesn’t help either. Legislators are from different backgrounds and political parties salaries are tied to the Consumer Price Index, all too aware of the political consequences of to ensure a certain level of diversity. automatic adjustments upped lawmakers’ pay by giving themselves a raise, even if it is fair and Commissions’ authority and level of influ- $211. Other states with increases this year were long overdue. ence vary. Commissions in a few states have Oregon ($336 a year), Rhode Island ($307.44 a carte blanche to raise or lower salaries, but most year), Tennessee ($1,194 a year) and Vermont Commission Fruition don’t have that kind of power. Some serve in ($12.88 per session week). To help take the politics out of the issue, 24 only an advisory role and make proposals the The data raise questions about why none states have created compensation commissions legislature can modify. of the state legislatures with the authority to to provide independent and impartial recom- In other states, commission recommendations increase salaries did so, especially since a raise mendations. Most commissions convene every are binding unless the entire body of lawmak- is so overdue in many states. Perhaps the most couple of years, review comparable salaries and ers or the governor vetoes them. And in Arizona and Nebraska, commission recommendations must be approved by voters before they can go Where State Legislatures Fall Along the Full-Time/Part-Time Continuum into effect. Full-time legislatures require the most time from legislators, usually more than 80 percent of a typical full-time job. Lawmakers are paid enough in these 10 states to make a living without requiring other sources of income. On the other end are the 16 part-time states, where lawmaking requires about the same amount of time as a half-time Why Bother? job. The compensation these legislators receive is quite low. The 24 remaining states fall somewhere in between. Should lawmaking be a volunteer activity? If not, what would be a fair and decent wage? FULL-TIME HYBRID PART-TIME Should the wage be a factor in deciding whether California Alaska Alabama Missouri Georgia Montana to run? Why does it matter at all? Washington D.C. Illinois Arkansas Nebraska Idaho New Hampshire Maintaining adequate compensation levels New York Florida Colorado New Jersey Kansas North Dakota Pennsylvania Ohio Connecticut North Carolina Maine South Dakota may encourage more citizens to run and may help U.S Virgin Is. Massachusetts Delaware Oklahoma Mississippi Utah promote diversity among elected officials so the Michigan Hawaii Oregon Nevada Wyoming entire population is adequately represented. Puerto Rico Indiana South Carolina New Mexico Wisconsin Iowa Tennessee Rhode Island Commissions offer legislatures an opportu- Kentucky Texas Vermont nity for independent and impartial recommenda- Louisiana Virginia West Virginia tions on what would be fair compensation, and Maryland Washington Minnesota could even lead to raises that have eluded some state legislatures for decades.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 36 | LEGISLATURES The NICE Legislature Here’s a different take on how state legislatures should be compared, rated and ranked.

How FAIR Fared By Alan Rosenthal Therefore, what state legislatures require today are not bigger budgets, higher salaries, more staff or large committee rooms. Editor’s Note: Americans love rating and ranking just about What they need is to have their measure taken. The earlier effort everything, and states and legislatures are not immune from the provides precedent. Funded by a $1 million grant from the Ford comparisons. In the early 1970s, one of the first rankings of all Foundation, the CCSL evaluation of the 50 states employed hun- 50 legislatures caused quite a stir when it was published show- dreds of items of information and assigned thousands of points. ing California on top and Alabama last. Alan Rosenthal—a pro- The result was the measurement of legislatures according to the fessor of political science at Rutgers University and the nation’s degree to which they were functional, accountable, informed, foremost expert on and champion of state legislatures—was independent and representative (FAIR). Each state legislature especially mindful of the negative reaction the ranking of very was ranked along each dimension, and when everything was different legislative bodies received. After much thought (more lumped together California, New York and Illinois came out one, than 20 years, in fact) he wrote this parody in 1991 in response. two and three, and Delaware, Wyoming and Alabama came out He died last year. We thought it was about time to publish it. 48, 49 and 50. Legislatures have changed dramatically since 1971. We can wenty years ago, the Citizens Conference on State no longer be confident that those that used to be on top aren’t Legislatures, which no longer exists, published a now at the bottom, those that used to be at the bottom aren’t at ranking of the 50 state legislatures, which are still the top and those that once were in the middle aren’t now in a very much in business. Although that ranking had muddle. Moreover, the fact is that the earlier study was method- considerable impact at the time, few legislators recall ologically flawed. It assumed that the functional, accountable, it today. Yet, the questions it addressed are still being informed, independent and representative legislature—that is, posed,T as is evidenced by the fact that we are asked repeatedly: the FAIR Legislature was the model. But since life isn’t fair, “How does the {fill in the blank} legislature compare to legisla- why should the legislature be? tures in other states? How does it rank?” A new model is long overdue, and the one offered here strikes People want to know where they stand. Legislative leaders right at the periphery of the issue. It is based on the assumption want confirmation that their legislature is at the top. State house that what we want is a NICE Legislature—one that we would reporters want confirmation that their legislature is at the bottom. like to visit, be with and even take to our bosoms. This legis- Political scientists want interval data that can be regressed on lature is Nourished, Inspired, Convenient and Enlightened. The other variables in an eternal quest to discover principal determi- task we set for ourselves was to rank state legislatures from one nants of legislative performance. to 50 according to each of the four NICE dimensions and then Measurement is the sine quo non of today. At the heart average the four to provide an overall ranking. All of this may of President Bush’s strategy for America 2000, for example, not be accurate, but it is scientific. are national standards, national examinations and state-level national assessments of educational progress. All of that on top N is for Nourished of student and teacher proficiency exams, SATs, GREs, LSATs The Nourished Legislature, pedants might argue, is one that and the like. Unless something can be measured, it might as is stuffed with timely policy and political information. Not at well not exist. all. It is simply one that is well-fed. A legislator cannot always lean on his or her staff. Lobbyists are also around, and along with Alan Rosenthal, a political scientist and former director of the Eagleton Institute them is the type of gastronomical sustenance available when one of Politics at Rutgers University, studied all 50 state legislatures, wrote 19 books about them and was influential in strengthening at least 35. He was a frequent dines out in the state capital. The more and the better capital city contributor to State Legislatures magazine before he died in 2013. restaurants are, the more likely legislatures can march on their

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 LEGISLATURES | 37 How NICE is Your Legislature? How States Ranked on NICE-ness, 1991 1. Connecticut 2. Georgia 3. Arkansas 4. Colorado 5 Rhode Island 6. Iowa 7. New Hampshire 8. Virginia 9. Arizona 10. New Mexico 11. North Carolina stomachs—as indeed they must. The football and basketball rankings 12. Massachusetts In order to eliminate subjectivity in our ranking of Nourish- were averaged to produce the overall Inspi- 13. Indiana ment, we relied on the 1991 MobileTravel Guide in rating restau- ration standings. You would anticipate 14. Minnesota 15. Oklahoma rants in capital cities. The Mobile Guide awards one, two, three, that states whose schools favor athletics 16. Tennessee four or five stars—or no stars at all. The formula we employed to over academic pursuits would place high. 17. Ohio arrive at a ranking is simple but elegant, nonetheless. Indeed, they did, with Nevada, North Caro- 18. Utah Let N = nourishment score lina and Arkansas at the top. Down below 19. Mississippi X = number of restaurants are Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota 20. Kansas 21. New York Y = number of stars and Vermont, where mind overshadows 22. Nevada Then N = (X+Y) (Y/X) = (XY+Y2)/(X) muscle. 23. Hawaii* Even such a discriminating measure goes only so far—to the 24. Louisiana West Coast, as a matter of fact, because the Mobile Guide only C is for Convenient 25. South Carolina covers the 48 contiguous states, leaving Alaska and Hawaii in The Convenient Legislature, accord- 26. Pennsylvania 27. Wyoming limbo. (We intend to make a field trip to Juneau and Honolulu ing to the canons of reform, has the most 28. West Virginia and sample restaurants for ourselves, but for now Alaska and efficient procedures, the latest in data-pro- 29. Alaska* Hawaii are NA—information “not available.”) cessing equipment and the best-appointed 30. Nebraska States range in Nourishment from the top-ranked Geor- restrooms—a legislature with all the mod- 31. Texas gia—thanks to Atlanta’s 62 listed restaurants with a total of ern conveniences. But that is not what we 32. Montana 33. Alabama 145 stars—followed by Massachusetts, New Mexico, Arizona have in mind. In the NICE scheme, the 34. Idaho and Colorado to the bottom-ranked Jefferson City, Mo., and Convenient Legislature is easy to get to 35. North Dakota Pierre, S.D., which appear to have no restaurants whatsoever. and not remote; it is near at hand, though 36. Florida not underfoot. The key indicator for pres- 37. Maine I is for Inspired ent purposes is the travel time from New- 38. Maryland 39. Kentucky The Inspired Legislature, political scientists claim, is one that ark International Airport to the state capi- 40. Michigan is not only well-fed but also well-led. Let’s not jump to conclu- tal. Why from Newark? It is not only that 41. Vermont sions. Speakers of the house and presidents of the senate pre- I myself travel from Newark (if required 42. California side, appoint and refer. But do they inspire? What really provides to leave New Jersey), but it is an interest- 43. Wisconsin inspiration (spiritual nourishment, if you will)—as indicated by ing—albeit little-known fact that more 44. Illinois 45. Delaware the Friday schedule of committee meetings before Saturday people who fly to state capitals come from 46. South Dakota afternoon football games during the months of a legislature’s Newark than from anywhere else. Recip- 47. Oregon interim periods—is the state university’s football team. And also rocally, Newark is the preferred destina- 48. Washington the state’s basketball team. Nothing matches the lure these sports tion of most people traveling from capital 49. Missouri have for legislators, with the possible exception of the legisla- cities to some other place in the United 50. New Jersey tor’s own reelection campaign. States. *Overall ranking of Alaska and Hawaii based only on ICE. Ranking legislatures on Inspiration, we rated the Division The Convenience ranking is based on I state university football teams on the basis of their won-lost the travel time from Newark International records during the 1989 season. (A particularly good year.) Airport to the airport serving the state capital, as reported in the States without Division I teams were simply out of luck. We also Official Airline Guide (North American Edition). We do not rated the state’s basketball teams, from private and public col- consider the number of flights daily, whether a connection has to leges, on the basis of their record in the NCAA tournament in be made at O’Hare or Hartsfield, or the nature of surface trans- 1990. (Another particularly good year.) portation from airport to state house. Such considerations would

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 only muddy the waters, which are none too clear to begin with. Since Newark and Trenton are only about 50 miles apart, one might predict that New Jersey would rank first on Convenience. No way! That is, there’s no way to get directly from here to there. It takes three hours to fly from Newark to Trenton, because it is necessary to stop over in Philadelphia. Getting back is even longer—five hours, because one has to fly first to Washington and then to Philadelphia to get to Newark from Trenton. Despite all of its other attributes, New Jersey ranks only 18th on the Convenience scale. As removed as Harrisburg, Penn., is from everyday life, it is the quickest place to get to and even quicker to get away from. It is at the top. Albany, N.Y., Hartford, Conn., Concord, N.H., and Raleigh, N.C., take only a little while more. Good for them! At the bottom of the scale are Delaware, Maryland, Vermont and Washington, the capitals cities of which have no local airport. Why should anyone have to fly into Philadel- phia, Baltimore, Burlington or Seattle if that is not where they are going! Although this is not the place to make recommendations, it is our belief that public policy would be better served if these states constructed airports at their capitals. Hawaii and Alaska also rank low among the states, even though they have capital airports, because inten- tionally or inadvertently they located their legisla- tures as far from Newark as possible.

E is for Enlightened The Enlightened Legislature, many would claim, is the legislature with the most light, the largest amount of sunshine. “Rain, rain go away, come again on a nonsession day” is an axiom of legislative life. Sunshine must matter, since all the states have “Sunshine Laws” mandating it. Nevertheless, and to the contrary notwithstand- ing, this is not what we mean by enlightenment. For us, the Enlightened Legislature is one in which the burdens of members are made lighter More Americans turn to doctors of optometry than any other eye care professional. by dint of the critical information and sage With a four-year, doctoral-level clinical degree following college and advice supplied to them. extensive training, optometrists are licensed to correct vision, but they also diagnose There is no source of information and advice and treat eye diseases. And as the need for new advancements in eye care that is more trustworthy than the National continue, count on optometrists to offer the most comprehensive eye care. Conference of State Legislatures, which com- municates to all 50 states through its monthly Learn more at AmericasEyeDoctors.org magazine, State Legislatures. It is amazing to observe legislators and legislative staff, as well as citizens throughout the state, checking the postal boxes at the time of the month when the magazine is due to arrive. I have seen legisla- tors—confident veterans holding top leadership

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014

color palette 1 LEGISLATURES | 39 positions—frantic because of a slight delay in delivery. are tied for fourth. I am naturally disappointed that my home state, New Our measure of enlightenment, therefore, is as direct as anything can be. Jersey, ranks last. But I am confident that, if the Legislature increases the It is the circulation of State Legislatures magazine in each state. Curiously, appropriation for Rutgers—The State University—New Jersey will soar the greatest number of magazines goes to Washington, D.C., which isn’t a in the next ranking. state at all. That undoubtedly explains why Congress is so enlightened. The Members of the legislatures that rank high will take pride in their most populous states, such as California and New York, can be expected accomplishment—“We’re No. 1”—while those that are low down will to receive more copies than the least populous states, such as Alaska and express chagrin—“We can’t be 50th, we’re at least 48th.” Wyoming, and they do. They don’t deserve any advantage. Thus, in con- But the proud ought not rest on their laurels and the distressed not structing our index, we have controlled for population, ranking states on despair. A new Armenian restaurant may open in the capital city, a college the per capita circulation of the magazine. quarterback may lose eligibility, an airline may go belly up and the word It should hardly come as a surprise that New Hampshire, with its large about State Legislatures magazine may spread like wildfire through a state. house and small population, ranks first. Alaska and Vermont are highly Rankings are not like incumbents. Rankings change. But until they do, enlightened too. But California, the nation’s big winner in the congressio- this one should serve nicely. nal reapportionment sweepstakes, needs to buy more copies of NCSL’s Making legislatures NICE has been partly heuristic and partly practi- magazine if it hopes to climb out of last place on enlightenment. cal. The scheme is intended as a contribution to methodological knowl- edge in the social sciences. We are confident that, decades from now, our So Where Does All This Lead? colleagues will still be citing this work in their own research. We trust, If we average Nourishment, Inspiration, Convenience and Enlighten- moreover, that our ranking will buttress those whose intuition and preju- ment, we arrive at a combined ranking, shown in the table. Some of you dice need authoritative backing and ceteris paribus, will assist in the never- may argue that the table doesn’t have a leg to stand on, but it does. It defini- ending struggle for legislative improvement. tively shows which legislatures are NICE, which are NICE-er and which For the nonce, we hope that this work proves helpful to all those who are NICE-est. have to deal with state legislatures—representatives of Common Cause, The highest ranking states are precisely those that our theory of legis- hard- and software salesmen, certified consultants, stray missionaries, lative systems would have predicted. The Connecticut Legislature ranks uprooted staff and the many legislators who—involuntarily because of NICE-est overall, possibly because it has never enacted an income tax. term limits or voluntarily because of simple wanderlust—want to try legis- Georgia comes in second, Arkansas third and Colorado and Rhode Island lative life in some other state.

Pantone 1807 / RGB 155 17 30 Pantone 301 / RGB 20 80 126

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 40 | LEGISLATIVE STAFF No Surprises

For chiefs of staff, job No. 1 is keeping their bosses plugged in and perpetually prepared.

Tim Mapes, right, is chief of staff to Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan.

What Does a Chief Do? By Natalie O’Donnell Wood “I was hired to be the eyes and ears of the speaker,” says Leah Marvin-Riley, chief of staff to Vermont Speaker Shap Smith (D). hat do a fishing boat captain, a former FBI agent, “I have a lot of conversations with people who need to be heard. an aspiring doula and a capitol restoration buff I do a lot of listening. But my big responsibility is to determine have in common? In this case, they all have eyes what the speaker needs to be aware of.” in the back of their heads, keen communication “There are different fires every day,” says Jesse Ancira, skills and an uncanny way of knowing just what chief of staff for Texas Speaker of the House Joe Strauss (R). to say to the press. These four—Jesse Ancira from “But the common denominator is watching your boss’s back, WTexas, Alaska’s Tom Wright, Vermont’s Leah Marvin-Riley and being his eyes and ears, and assessing what the mood is, what Tim Mapes from Illinois—belong to an elite group of legislative the temperament is.” employees. They are the chiefs of staff to presiding officers. They listen, they watch and they speak. Tom Wright, Alaska’s A chief’s job is multifaceted. Chiefs gather intelligence on chief of staff to Speaker Mike Chenault (R) and NCSL’s cur- issues and strategize responses. They act as sounding boards for rent staff chair, says his main role, especially in meetings with legislators and convey their boss’s positions on everything from legislators and staff is “to communicate, to get across what we bills to chairmanships. They speak to the press. They create talk- want done, what we see happening, what the timeline looks like, ing points. They listen and respond to constituents. They work especially at the end of session.” with lobbyists. They track legislation. They deal with personnel There’s also the occasional dispute to deal with. That’s problems, manage staff and sometimes offer advice on behav- when chiefs’ problem-solving skills come in handy. Tim ior. They may structure the day-to-day agenda during session or Mapes, chief of staff for Illinois House Speaker Michael work on capitol projects. Madigan (D), agrees that clear, frequent communication is But most important, they make sure there are no surprises. essential to the job. “I regulate disputes occasionally—most All chiefs must excel at dealing with people, solving prob- often because members believe something they’ve heard, often lems and navigating the legislative process for getting things a conversation out of context,” he says. “If you take the time done. To accomplish that, they have to know how to commu- to sit down and have a conversation, most of the time they will nicate effectively. leave with a better understanding of the issue, of where the caucus is, and of the speaker’s position. It just needs a good, Natalie O’Donnell Wood serves as liaison to the Leadership Staff Section and tracks legislative staffing, ethics and lobbying issues for NCSL. thorough discussion.”

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 LEGISLATIVE STAFF | 41

People Person, Process Lover None of the skills mentioned above will be effective if the chief can’t Do You Have What It Takes? work well with people. “Never forget that this is all about people and rela- How do you prepare for the job? The ability to manage your time well, tionships,” says Ancira. communicate clearly, multitask and prioritize, along with being flex- A chief of staff relies on his or her people skills to diffuse conflict, deal ible, trustworthy and honest, will serve a chief of staff well. Learning with difficult egos, manage different personalities or build trust among the the how things get done in the legislature is important, “but never various legislative players. Chiefs of staff are often the point of contact for forget this is all about people and relationships,” says Ancira. legislators from both parties, other legislative staff, lobbyists, the governor, Is it crucial to have a political science background? It can help, but gain- the governor’s staff, other statewide elected officials, U.S. representatives ing experience is better. “Quite frankly, you need to throw the book and senators, the press and constituents. away,” says Wright. “There are some skills you can learn in school, The list can appear endless—just like the wait is to get in Tom Wright’s but others you just have to learn on the fly,” says Mapes. door. “I usually have three or four people lined up outside my office at Where can you gain experience? From the most unlikely sources. Mar- all times during session,” he says. “I love working with all the different vin-Riley is learning how to project calm and patience by studying to personalities.” be a doula, a childbirth partner. Ancira, a former FBI agent, credits And finally, chiefs need to know the legislative process—inside and out. his Quantico training with teaching him how to plan, strategize and In Illinois, Mapes is also the chief clerk of the House, for which his chief remain focused. It has also helped with diffusing tension—but those of staff experience prepared him well. As chief, Mapes juggled “committee days are waning. “We had a near fist fight in one of the committee schedules around and worked with members to answer their questions about rooms once when two people got into a shouting match,” he recalls. bills and amendments,” he says. “When I started, members had to track down “As they moved closer to each other, my first thought was to jump that information for themselves. ... But today, our members have become over the table and get between them. But then I realized that was back accustomed to having that dialogue with staff.” in the day. To help, I was going to have to run around the table.” With so much access to the inner workings of the legislature—the good, Is the campaign trail a good place to learn? Mapes, who has extensive but also the bad and the ugly—how do chiefs of staff not become cynical? campaign experience, enjoys the balance between the legislative and An in-depth knowledge of the process helps. political worlds it provides. Staff benefit from having that particu- “Coming into this job right out of school has been interesting,” says lar type of exposure to the members. “You get to know their charac- Marvin-Riley. “You spend all those years learning all the positive things ter. And it also helps you learn what their districts are like,” he says. about government, but from a distance. Now that I’m here, even though Working a campaign allows legislators to get to know staff as well. there are inefficiencies, the fact that legislation is passed at all is amazing But the best experience, Wright says is still “within the legislature and encouraging.” when session gets going.” Ancira agrees. Campaign experience does “I can see the substance through the sound bites,” says Ancira. “That not necessarily translate into solid legislative staffing skills. “The first helps me keep a perspective on what’s important and how to solve the thing we tell newly elected lawmakers is that they have to separate the problems of the day.” politics from the policy. You’re now here to look at what’s best for Wright’s love and respect for the legislative institution are evident when Texas and for your district.” The same is true for staff. he talks about his work. “I wish I could convey that feeling to everyone. … It makes the process smoother if they have an innate respect for the institution. Most have it. But some don’t until they have the chance to work in it,” he says. These four staffers most definitely have it. Their favorite aspects of their A Group for Leadership Staff jobs all revolve around the legislative process, from integrating technology to streamline the work, to playing the “chess game” of session with all the NCSL’s Leadership Staff Section, founded in 1975, is the pro- strategy that entails. fessional organization for legislative staff like these four chiefs of staff who work for leaders. The group connects staff from all over Still, a Few Thorns the country through its seminars and trainings, communications and Frustrations on the job often are caused by too much to do in too little discussion groups to share experiences, learn from each other, and time, resulting in legislation that fails, members who are unhappy, and chiefs increase their effectiveness. It also provides a unique way for these who don’t have time to study issues in-depth. Solutions to the lack-of-time incredibly hard-working staff to be recognized for their outstanding conundrum baffle most of us, but these chiefs could easily agree on what NOT achievements. to do: Get into the habit of sleeping at the capitol. “Each state is unique in personality and style. Each accomplishes The bustle of the job has at least one silver lining, according to Ancira. the same goals but differs in getting there,” says Tom Wright, Alas- Although it can be challenging to deal with all the forces out of control ka’s chief of staff and NCSL’s current staff chair. “I wish I’d had this on any given day, it makes time fly. “It seems as if there is never a dull kind of opportunity to get to know my peers in other states earlier in moment—and when there is, it doesn’t last long,” he says. my career. Sharing our knowledge and being able to walk in each A great chief respects the boss and receives the same back. Chiefs other’s shoes is a huge advantage.” speak of the importance of having frequent meetings with their leaders, of The group will hold its 39th professional development seminar being entrusted to perform important functions for them, and of develop- September 14 – 17 in New Orleans, La. ing relationships with leaders that grow deeper over time. This holds true for both the long- and the short-hauls.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 42 | LEGISLATIVE STAFF

Mapes, who has served as chief since 1992 to the longest- serving speaker currently holding office, says of himself and Leah Marvin-Riley Speaker Madigan, “we have developed a pretty good working relationship … but it takes a long time to fine-tune it.” In Alaska, “we meet just about constantly,” says Wright. “We discuss things on an every hour basis if he’s not on the floor.” And what if the speaker needs to be reached on the floor? “We have a ‘Bat Phone’,” says Wright, laughing. It didn’t take Marvin-Riley, who has been chief for just a year, long to figure out that “so much of this job depends upon how the speaker and I get along and how well we communicate so I know how to respond to what he needs.” Building up that respect, according to these chiefs, involves developing the kind of relationship where honesty and imme- diate communication are the order of the day. Ancira’s puts it simply. “I have to be direct, state the facts, let him know what happened, tell him why, and be straight about what’s next.” When that happens, there are few surprises. Tom Wright

Marvin-Riley began as an intern in the speaker’s office in 2012. She was hired as chief of staff right after graduat- ing from the University of Vermont in 2013. Wright has served as chief of staff for three speakers, starting 1998. Currently, he is the NCSL staff chair, but he What’s it like being the only full-time staffer for all House will hand that baton over to Peggy Piety, legislative staff members? I don’t just work for my boss—any legislator can attorney in Indiana, during this the Legislative Summit in come to me with a question or problem and I’ll try to solve Minneapolis. it. I do everything from pick up pizzas to help craft the policy agenda. I try to use interns to track bills and do scheduling. Have you ever considered running for office? I ran once, I use our chairs and members for committee proceedings. and now I’m glad I didn’t win. I haven’t always felt that Lobbyists are really helpful. But it would be nice to have the way, though. I went back to my job at the legislature after capacity to have more informed conversations. losing the primary. It was humbling. But life goes on. Have you ever considered running for office? I’ve thought How do you protect against burnout? Outside the legisla- about running. But I wanted to learn more about the pro- ture, in social settings, I sometimes shut down all politi- cess first. Now, after working for the Legislature, I realize cal talk. If they have to talk politics, I tell them to ‘come I don’t want to run. I like what I can be involved in as a visit me in the office.’ I think that’s protected me. Or, staffer. you can find me fishing. I commercial salmon fish in How do you prevent burnout? Enjoying my job is a huge Cook Inlet. When I’m fishing, my cell phone may be help in warding against burnout. We all reach a point in on, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to answer it. People the middle of the session where we think we’re crazy for mostly respect that. wanting to be there. But most of the time it’s like you’re What would you being doing if you weren’t chief of staff? part of a huge family. You feel good about being able to I’ve considered teaching political science—on a reality make a difference in the lives of Vermonters. I feel very basis. I’ve looked into lobbying. It’d be difficult for me lucky to be able to interact with so many interesting peo- because I would have a hard time not lending advice. I ple on a day-to-day basis. love the process. But fishing is my first choice … it’s just hard to live off that income year-round.”

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 LEGISLATIVE STAFF | 43

Tim Mapes

Mapes started with the Illinois General Assembly in 1977, became chief of staff in the speaker’s office in 1992 then chief clerk of the Illinois House of Representatives in 2011. He’s also served as executive director of the Democratic Party of Illinois since 1998. His interest in state capitol restoration projects fills his free time.

How do you explain what you do to people you meet? I explain that I work for the House and I work with members. As I get into describing that, people start to glaze over and don’t pay much attention. But if they have a bill they are interested in and we start talking about how you get it moving, then they develop an interest. Have you ever considered running for office? (Laughs) No. A lot of people have that interest when young, but as soon as you realize you’re into policy, running seems difficult. There are a lot more challenges to running a campaign then there used to be. What would you be doing if you didn’t do this? Most of my directors have left for the third house, to be lobbyists, but that has never been on my list. I have a good relationship with the speaker, and I’ve chosen to stay on this path. Washington, D.C., would have been a fun place to start my career—you learn a whole different skill set. But I’m too old to start there. You need lots of energy.

Jesse Ancira

Ancira has served in all three branches of government: the Office of the Texas Auditor, Office of State Comptroller, Commission on Judicial Conduct, Texas Senate and House, and the speaker’s office since 2009. He’s also mayor of Taylor, Texas, and a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He became chief of staff in 2012.

How do you explain to your kids what you do for a living? My kids are fascinated by the work that goes on in the capitol. They take an interest in some of the players, the leadership, and they are intrigued that their dad is working in and around the speaker, the lieutenant governor and the governor. But at the end of the day, they really just care about school and that I’m their dad. What’s it like toward the end of session? My days start at 7 or 7:30 a.m. For a few weeks, I operate on two to three hours of sleep—if I’m lucky. Some days I get only an hour of sleep, or I go home just to shower and shave and come back. It’s not unusual to work 20-hour days when the clock is ticking, when there are deadlines for bills to pass or fail. At the end of every legislative day, I meet, along with our policy director, with the speaker to rehash the day, the week, and to look ahead. It doesn’t matter if it’s 12, 1 or 2 a.m.; we have to be ready for the next move. What would you be doing if you weren’t doing this? I’d probably be a criminal profiler. I have an interest in that, I enjoy reading those books and the mov- ies intrigue me. I’m an amateur in trying to read people. I enjoy that.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 44 | LAWMAKERS

Mission Accomplished

Norman Rockwell’s model for a boy astronaut—now a state legislator— tracks down the illustration’s final destination.

By Lisa Green

mitty Pignatelli was a 9-year-old boy who loved baseball and outer space when Norman Rockwell, the great American illustrator, chose him to be the model for a boy astronaut. For his efforts, Smitty was paid $40 and got to keep the spacesuit costume. But he was left with Squestions about the illustration. Smitty never saw the finished piece. He’s wondered what it looked like, what’s happened to it, and if the original artwork still exists. most 9-year-old boys in the ’60s, wanted to be an astronaut. Nor- Through the years, the answers to these questions revealed man Rockwell gave him that opportunity then and, in a way, themselves little by little. But last year, the Norman Rockwell- forever. In the charcoal on paper illustration, a boy in an astro- inspired story finally came to a satisfying conclusion for Massa- naut costume reclines in liftoff position and watches the TV as chusetts Representative William “Smitty” Pignatelli (D). the Saturn V rocket blasts off; it was the mission on which Neil It’s not like Smitty was on a quest to get the answers as soon Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first set foot on the moon. as he walked out of Rockwell’s studio. After all, he was only 9, hardly aware that his likeness would be part of history—art his- A Standout Smile tory, no less. Neither was he especially impressed to be modeling In 1969, Field Enterprises Educational Corporation, an ency- for Norman Rockwell. clopedia publisher, commissioned Rockwell to create a drawing “We knew Norman Rockwell,” Smitty says. “He was just a entitled “When I Am an Astronaut.” guy in Stockbridge, a friend of my father’s. My father did electri- The publisher gave Rockwell a description of the child he cal work for him. I didn’t think anything of it.” envisioned—a boy around 5 or 6. It just so happened that Smit- ty’s baseball team had just won the Lenox Little League cham- Mystery Solved pionship, and the team photo appeared in the Berkshire Eagle. As an adult, though, realizing the part he played in a Rockwell Smitty’s smile stood out to Rockwell, who liked his looks so illustration, Smitty grew more curious about the work. But getting much he picked him as the model for the illustration. answers to his questions wasn’t easy, even in the era of Google. When Smitty and his mother arrived at Rockwell’s Stock- The story of the boy astronaut is one that connects America’s bridge studio, the artist placed Smitty in a reclining chair (“the greatest illustrator with a company no longer in business and a chair in my own television room,” Rockwell related in corre- private collector whose identity is confidential. spondence to Field Enterprises). For nearly two and a half hours, The entire story finally began to fall into place in June 2013. Smitty posed with his feet in the air and head turned to a simu- That’s when Smitty received an email from an appraisal service lated TV screen. He was supposed to keep his head raised off the in Chicago asking if he was the Smitty Pignatelli who posed as chair, and it wasn’t easy. the boy astronaut for Norman Rockwell. “Norman Rockwell was getting frustrated and kept saying ‘hold Yes, confirmed Smitty. He was the kid from Lenox who, like your head up,’ but he was very patient with me,” Smitty recalls. All the while, Rockwell’s photographer, Louie Lamone (who,

Lisa Green is a freelance writer and editor at ruralintelligence.com. She was incidentally, also took the Lenox Little League team photo) was commissioned by the Berkshire Visitors Bureau to write this story. photographing the session. As was his practice, Rockwell used

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 LAWMAKERS | 45 Alex, What is, “When I am an Astronaut?”

The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, in the Berkshires of western Massa- chusetts, houses the world’s largest and most significant collection of Rockwell’s work and was showcased on the TV game show “Jeopardy!” this year. As part of the museum’s 45th anniversary celebration, the art housed in the museum—including 998 original paint- ings—were the answers (always in the form of a question) under the category “The Art of Norman Rockwell Museum.” Stockbridge was the former home of the popular artist and illustrator, famous for his 323 illustrations that graced the covers of the Saturday Evening Post for almost 50 years between 1916 and 1963.

What’s your favorite Rockwell painting? Christmas Homecoming? The Art Critic? or maybe The Girl Reading the Post? To see if it made it onto Jeopardy, go to www.ncsl.org/magazine.

In the Midwest, though, the story was starting to rumble, ready for another lift off. In the 1970s, Field Enterprises had given the illustration to an employee upon his retirement. Fast-forward some 40 years. Although the retiree had died, his widow, now well into her 90s, still had the artwork hanging over her sofa. Her son thought it would be prudent to have it appraised, and brought it to MIR Massachusetts Representative William Smitty Pignatelli, from Appraisal Service in Chicago. Appraisal value: $150,000. Lenox, Mass., has served in the House since 2002. When he The Norman Rockwell electronic archives listed Smitty as the was 9 he was the model for Rockwell’s piece, “When I Am an model for the work—that’s how MIR tracked him down. Smitty Astronaut.” He got to keep the outfit, shown here at the Norman quickly seized the opportunity he’d been waiting for. Having Rockwell Museum. planned a trip to Chicago anyway, he asked MIR if he could come see the piece. When Smitty stepped into MIR’s offices, these photos as reference for the illustration. With the check for word that “the boy astronaut” was in the building brought the $40 in his hands, Smitty recalls, “I thought I was the richest kid entire staff out to greet him like a prodigal son. The appraisal in Lenox at that time. I wish I still had that check.” service graciously allowed him to deliver the drawing back to Smitty got to keep the costume and wore it for Halloween that the owner’s son in a scene suitable for a Rockwell illustration year. Several years ago, he donated it to the Rockwell archives. of its own: “I never knew what happened [to the illustration] after that,” Smitty: “I’m here to return the drawing.” Smitty says. The story seemed to end there. Owner’s son: “Who are you?” Except that it didn’t. Smitty: “I’m the subject.” The man was surprised, of course. But he was also gratified. The Search Continues After all, the illustration had been part of the family’s life for Smitty’s mother later saw a ledger of Rockwell’s on display so long. at the Norman Rockwell Museum that indicated the illustration “When I told him my story he was pleased and felt it helped was in the possession of a private citizen. The Norman Rockwell close the gap in his family’s story, too,” Smitty says. archives can’t reveal the name of a private collector, and Smitty Now that Smitty has uncovered the entire history of the work, was always curious where the original ended up. He remem- from inception to its present-day owner, is he satisfied? bered it was designed to be in Volume One of the 1970 Child- Well, yes and no. craft Encyclopedia, and about six years ago, in a bizarre twist of Smitty’s grandfather, John Pignatelli Sr., was the model for luck, an old friend who was back home visiting in the Berkshires Rockwell’s Space Age Santa, which appeared on the cover of found the volume in her parents’ house. Family Circle magazine in December 1967. It’s another Rock- At last, Smitty got to see the finished piece. But it wasn’t the well piece in the hands of a private collector. same as seeing the original, knowing if it was safe and preserved “I would love to see the original Space Age Santa,” Smitty and appreciated. It seemed like that truly was the end of the road says. for the boy astronaut. Don’t put it past him.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 46 | LAWMAKERS Staying Power They began their legislative careers in 1975—young, eager and committed; and their wisdom continues to guide them today.

By Morgan Cullen CALVIN SMYRE

ight lawmakers from the “freshman class” of 1975—the same year NCSL was founded—are still serving in their state legislatures today. What does it take to have that E kind of staying power? Here are three of their stories. “It is pretty difficult to play ball if you don’t know the rules of the game.”

­—GEORGIA REPRESENTATIVE CALVIN SMYRE

For Representative Calvin Smyre, public service has always been about community. He cut his teeth in politics at Fort Val- ley University, where he and some friends in student govern- As Georgia’s longest-serving state legislator, Smyre is often ment created a public service organization called the Leaders of referred to as the “Dean of the House,” and many of his younger Today and Tomorrow. The group worked with the local police, colleagues often come to him for guidance. Smyre tells them fire departments and businesses to organize some community- first to learn the parliamentary rules of the Legislature. “It is based projects. pretty difficult to play ball if you don’t know the rules of the Smyre’s participation in this grassroots organization first game” he says. inspired him to run for the state legislature. “When word got out “When I was first elected to the Georgia House, there were 155 that our state legislator had decided not to seek reelection, com- Democrats and 25 Republicans. Today, only 60 Democrats are munity leaders who had recognized my volunteer work began serving in the House. It is always a challenge when you are in the encouraging me to run,” he says. “After considering it, I thought, minority, no matter what party you belong to,” he says. what the heck.” So at age 26, Calvin Smyre became the youngest “You have to find ways to pass legislation that your constitu- member of the Georgia House of Representatives ents care about, which means building coalitions across party After earning a B.S. in business administration, his career lines to get things done. Being divisive and ideological will get path has taken him from being director of a “War on Poverty” you nowhere.” program in Columbus, Ga., to executive vice president of corpo- He serves on the Appropriations, Higher Ed, and the Rules rate external affairs at Synovus, a diversified financial services committees and is chairman of the House minority caucus. He’s holding company voted into “The 100 Best Companies to Work proud of his work on making Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth- for” in America by Fortune magazine. day a state holiday, developing the Georgia Dome for the Atlanta Falcons football team and creating a new Georgia State Flag. Morgan Cullen is a senior policy specialist in NCSL’s Legislative Management In 1980, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution selected him one of Department. the “Ten Best Legislators” in the state, and in 1986 he became the

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 LAWMAKERS | 47

first African-American administrative floor leader in the country. for being fair and willing to work with both parties—traits he put His hometown of Columbus, where he first learned what commu- to good use when serving as Senate president from 2003 to 2011. nity was all about, has honored him twice as “Citizen of the Year.” “I tried to be fair and inclusive and serve the entire Senate When reminiscing about the “good old days,” what he misses on both sides of the aisle. I would often let my Republican col- most, he says, is a respectful tone and sense of civility within the leagues participate and even appointed them to chair commit- General Assembly. These days, he says, those attributes appear tees,” he says. lacking in both parties. Like Smyre, Metzen can grow wistful when reflecting on his long career and the institution he has spent a lifetime serving. JAMES P. METZEN “The partisanship has gotten really bad over the past 10 years, and it has made the job more challenging.” When asked why it’s worse today, he suggests that “some of the ethics rules that were created to prevent conflicts of interest have gone too far and left little opportunity for our members to get to know each other.” “We used to be able to attend sponsored social events after we adjourned for the day that offered us a chance to talk, learn from each other and compromise. We are not allowed to do that anymore.” Still, Metzen has no regrets. Looking back over the last 40 years, he says, “I would do it again in a heartbeat. Having the opportunity to serve the citizens of St. Paul and Minnesota has been one of the best experiences of my life.” JOHN W. MATTHEWS JR.

“I tried to be fair and inclusive and serve the entire Senate on both sides of the aisle.”

—MINNESOTA SENATOR JAMES P. METZEN

Senator James Metzen’s list of legislative accomplishments is as long as his tenure in office. While growing up in Dakota “When I was first elected, race County, his dad served on the city council and was a county was the single biggest issue facing commissioner, so politics was in his blood. After graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in business South Carolina. But that is no administration, he had a brief stint as a semi-pro hockey goalie longer the case. Today, the main before beginning a career in banking. He was vice-president of community affairs at Key Community Bank before he retired. issue is poverty.” His introduction to politics came in 1967 when he was elected —SOUTH CAROLINA SENATOR JOHN W. MATTHEWS JR. to the South St. Paul City Council, where his father had served. From there, he ran for the Minnesota House of Representatives Both within and outside of the South Carolina Capitol, Sena- in 1974 at age 30, and moved 12 years later to the Senate, where tor John Matthew’s passion has always been education. Before he has served for the past 28 years. he served in the legislature, he was a public school teacher and During his Senate career, Metzen has garnered a reputation administrator. It was the experience, as a young teacher, he says,

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 LAWMAKERS | 49

New York Assemblyman Herman Farrell Jr. was elected to the state Assembly in 1974 from a district that encompasses West Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood.

Indiana Senator Lindel Hume served eight years in the House that shaped his perspective on what is needed to lift people (1974-1982) before being out of poverty: a good education and a little money. elected to the Senate in 1990. Access to high-quality education and economic oppor- tunities—particularly for minorities—were the issues Mat- thews first ran on, and they have continued to be the focus of his legislative career. He was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1975 to 1984 and has been a state senator since 1985. Currently, he serves on seven legislative committees. Representative Alvin Holmes “When I was first elected, race was the single biggest has served 10 consecutive issue facing South Carolina. But that is no longer the case. four-year terms in the Alabama Today, the main issue is poverty,” Matthews says. House, representing the state’s “Over the decades I have spent in office, many doors 78th district. that were once closed to African-Americans have now been opened. But in order to walk through them ... access to education, vocational skills and economic opportunities must be available,” he says. Matthews is a firm believer in taking personal respon- sibility for one’s own life, but he also has seen how peo- ple can come together and hammer out solutions to com- mon concerns. Championing the need to better the education and eco- nomic welfare of every citizen in the state has been the Delegates Wade Kach and hallmark of Matthews’ 40-year career. “I believe the Joseph Vallario Jr. were both results speak for themselves,” he says. elected to the Maryland House “When I was first elected, my district was underdevel- of Delegates in 1974. They oped; today, it is moderately developed. Both per capita continue to serve together income and educational attainment have risen substantially today. over the past four decades. Looking back, I’d like to think I was a part of that, a part of helping move South Carolina forward.” Former West Virginia Senator Many apparently agree, since he has been recognized Earl Ray Tomblin was also with numerous awards, including the Distinguished a member of the class of ‘75, Alumni Award from South Carolina State University; but left the West Virginia Democrat of the Year from Orangeburg County; Minority Legislature for the Governor’s Business Advocate of the Year from the U.S. Small Busi- Mansion in 2011. ness Administration; induction into the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame; and two honorary doctorate degrees.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 LAWMAKERS | 47

first African-American administrative floor leader in the country. for being fair and willing to work with both parties—traits he put His hometown of Columbus, where he first learned what commu- to good use when serving as Senate president from 2003 to 2011. nity was all about, has honored him twice as “Citizen of the Year.” “I tried to be fair and inclusive and serve the entire Senate When reminiscing about the “good old days,” what he misses on both sides of the aisle. I would often let my Republican col- most, he says, is a respectful tone and sense of civility within the leagues participate and even appointed them to chair commit- General Assembly. These days, he says, those attributes appear tees,” he says. lacking in both parties. Like Smyre, Metzen can grow wistful when reflecting on his long career and the institution he has spent a lifetime serving. JAMES P. METZEN “The partisanship has gotten really bad over the past 10 years, and it has made the job more challenging.” When asked why it’s worse today, he suggests that “some of the ethics rules that were created to prevent conflicts of interest have gone too far and left little opportunity for our members to get to know each other.” “We used to be able to attend sponsored social events after we adjourned for the day that offered us a chance to talk, learn from each other and compromise. We are not allowed to do that anymore.” Still, Metzen has no regrets. Looking back over the last 40 years, he says, “I would do it again in a heartbeat. Having the opportunity to serve the citizens of St. Paul and Minnesota has been one of the best experiences of my life.” JOHN W. MATTHEWS JR.

“I tried to be fair and inclusive and serve the entire Senate on both sides of the aisle.”

—MINNESOTA SENATOR JAMES P. METZEN

Senator James Metzen’s list of legislative accomplishments is as long as his tenure in office. While growing up in Dakota “When I was first elected, race County, his dad served on the city council and was a county was the single biggest issue facing commissioner, so politics was in his blood. After graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in business South Carolina. But that is no administration, he had a brief stint as a semi-pro hockey goalie longer the case. Today, the main before beginning a career in banking. He was vice-president of community affairs at Key Community Bank before he retired. issue is poverty.” His introduction to politics came in 1967 when he was elected —SOUTH CAROLINA SENATOR JOHN W. MATTHEWS JR. to the South St. Paul City Council, where his father had served. From there, he ran for the Minnesota House of Representatives Both within and outside of the South Carolina Capitol, Sena- in 1974 at age 30, and moved 12 years later to the Senate, where tor John Matthew’s passion has always been education. Before he has served for the past 28 years. he served in the legislature, he was a public school teacher and During his Senate career, Metzen has garnered a reputation administrator. It was the experience, as a young teacher, he says,

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 Knowledgeable and Skilled Community Managers Making a World of Difference

trained and professional community association manager has the skills – A financial, administrative and interpersonal – to guide a community association responsibly and effectively. From California to Connecticut states have recognized the need for professional community association management. The Community Association Managers International Certification Board (CAMICB) awards the Certified Manager of Community As- sociations (CMCA®) credential to managers who pass a rigorous examination and are committed to upholding the CMCA Standards of Professional Conduct. CMCAs solve problems before untrained managers know they exist. The Community Associations Institute (CAI) provides information and education to community associations, homeowners, managers and the professionals who support them. CAI’s designation program recognizes specialization and continued professional growth in community association management. CAI’s mission is to inspire professionalism, effective leadership and responsible citizenship.

Visit us in Booth #812 at the August NCSL Legislative Summit in Minneapolis.

Learn more at camicb.org and caionline.org

CMCA. The Essential Credential. Building Better Communities. LAWMAKERS | 49

New York Assemblyman Herman Farrell Jr. was elected to the state Assembly in 1974 from a district that encompasses West Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood.

Indiana Senator Lindel Hume served eight years in the House that shaped his perspective on what is needed to lift people (1974-1982) before being out of poverty: a good education and a little money. elected to the Senate in 1990. Access to high-quality education and economic oppor- tunities—particularly for minorities—were the issues Mat- thews first ran on, and they have continued to be the focus of his legislative career. He was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1975 to 1984 and has been a state senator since 1985. Currently, he serves on seven legislative committees. Representative Alvin Holmes “When I was first elected, race was the single biggest has served 10 consecutive issue facing South Carolina. But that is no longer the case. four-year terms in the Alabama Today, the main issue is poverty,” Matthews says. House, representing the state’s “Over the decades I have spent in office, many doors 78th district. that were once closed to African-Americans have now been opened. But in order to walk through them ... access to education, vocational skills and economic opportunities must be available,” he says. Matthews is a firm believer in taking personal respon- sibility for one’s own life, but he also has seen how peo- ple can come together and hammer out solutions to com- mon concerns. Championing the need to better the education and eco- nomic welfare of every citizen in the state has been the Delegates Wade Kach and hallmark of Matthews’ 40-year career. “I believe the Joseph Vallario Jr. were both results speak for themselves,” he says. elected to the Maryland House “When I was first elected, my district was underdevel- of Delegates in 1974. They oped; today, it is moderately developed. Both per capita continue to serve together income and educational attainment have risen substantially today. over the past four decades. Looking back, I’d like to think I was a part of that, a part of helping move South Carolina forward.” Former West Virginia Senator Many apparently agree, since he has been recognized Earl Ray Tomblin was also with numerous awards, including the Distinguished Alumni a member of the class of ‘75, Award from South Carolina State University; Democrat but left the West Virginia of the Year from Orangeburg County; Minority Business Legislature for the Governor’s Advocate of the Year from the U.S. Small Business Admin- Mansion in 2011. istration; induction into the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame; and two honorary doctorate degrees.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 50 | LAWMAKERS The Power of Pride Being a gay or lesbian state lawmaker is now so common it’s no longer an issue.

friends and colleagues.” By Louis JacobsOn In fact, last year, when McCormick ran successfully for the city council of Augusta, Maine, her sexual orientation “didn’t ublic acceptance of gays and lesbians has increased so even come up.” rapidly over the past few years that it’s sometimes In recent years, several gay and lesbian lawmakers have easy to forget how controversial being a gay become House speakers, including Tina Kotek (D) in politician was just a few years ago. Oregon, John Perez (D) in California, Mark Fer- But Tim W. Brown remembers. He’s randino (D) in Colorado and Gordon Fox (D) currently a Republican representa- in Rhode Island. Others have become Senate Ptive in Ohio, but in 2007 Brown was a county majority leaders, including Stan Rosenberg (D) commissioner who was considered a possible in Massachusetts and Ed Murray (D) in Wash- contender for an open seat in Congress—until ington. an anonymous blogger accused him of being gay, “It just keeps getting better” for gay and les- that is. bian politicians, says Senator Pat Steadman, a “This is how I was born,” he said after the allega- Colorado Democrat. “Slow and steady progress. The tion began circulating. Then he quickly took his name out longer I serve, the more people get to know me, the less it of consideration. A local newspaper editorialized, “While the matters. “ allegation has at least temporarily put a cloud over Brown’s once bright political future, it also has allowed Brown to show voters what he’s made of—honesty with the public.” “ It just keeps getting better.” Brown, however, was in it for the long haul—and public opin- —COLORADO SENATOR PAT STEADMAN (D) ion eventually caught up. After his withdrawal from the congres- sional race, he ran successfully for reelection as a commissioner. In Unexpected Places Then, in 2012, Brown won a seat in the Ohio State House, mak- One of the most striking developments has been the geo- ing him one of the few openly gay Republican state lawmakers graphical diversity. It’s not surprising that a Washington state in the country. politician like Laurie Jinkins (D) could be elected to the state “I was first elected to public office in 1997, and I would insist House from a district that includes heavily Democratic sections the difference between the climate then and now is like night and of Tacoma. Even though a majority of gay and lesbian candi- day,” Brown said in a recent interview. “As people have come to dates are Democrats, increasingly they have been winning in terms with the fact that they know and care about those who have unexpected states. a different sexual orientation than their own, it has helped move In Oklahoma, Senator Al McAffrey (D) won elections, first our society toward acceptance.” for the state House in 2006 and then for the state Senate in 2012. Asked whether he senses any antagonism among his colleagues A New Era for being gay, he says, “In the Oklahoma City metro area, there Though openly gay and lesbian legislators have served periodi- is no issue. My colleagues make it no issue.” cally since the 1970s, the roughly 20 gay and lesbian state legisla- In Montana in 2004, when Representative Bryce Bennett tors interviewed for this story say that legislatures have entered a (D) was just getting involved in politics, an anti-gay-marriage new era in which acceptance is wider and deeper than ever before. amendment was circulating. Back then, “supporting LGBT peo- Former Senator Dale McCormick (D) was one of the pio- ple was such a liability in Montana that candidates on both sides neers. She was elected to the Maine Legislature in 1990—the of the aisle clamored behind this bigoted referendum,” Bennett only gay or lesbian legislator in Maine at the time. “I was weird recalls. to them—different, scary,” McCormick says. Today, by contrast, By 2010, though, Bennett was able to win a seat in the state “constituents understand the issues more and prize their LGBT House. “Today, Montana Democrats are proud supporters of marriage equality,” he says, and “a few thoughtful Republicans Louis Jacobson is deputy editor of PolitiFact and a state politics columnist for have helped us make progress toward equal rights.” Governing magazine. In Wyoming, Cathy Connolly (D) was elected to the state

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 LAWMAKERS | 51 Acceptance Grows Public opinion surveys confirm the changing American attitudes toward gays and lesbians. An ABC News/Washington Post poll at the end of May found 56 House in 2008. “In general, my sexuality is simply part of who I percent of Americans in support of allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally, but am,” she says. “People in my community and the state know me that varied greatly by age. Although more than three-quarters of adults under age in my roles as a legislator who stands up for what she believes, 30 supported same-sex marriages, only a third of seniors over age 65 did. Over- as a professor who has now taught over 2,000 students, as a mom all, 50 percent of Americans believe same-sex marriage is a constitutional right, who could bake cookies and cook spaghetti dinners with the best according to the poll. In 2003, only 32 percent of Americans supported same-sex of them, and as a community member who has served on the marriage, and only one state allowed it. boards of our anti-domestic violence program and our alternative Another survey, conducted in February by the Public Religion Research Insti- high school.” tute, found that 52 percent of Americans believe legalizing same-sex marriage should be left up to the states, not decided by the federal government. Open and Out It also discovered that 72 percent of Americans favor laws protecting gay and Most of these lawmakers were open about their sexual orien- lesbian people from job discrimination. When it comes to parenting, 68 percent tation—at least to a certain extent—before they ran for office. believe gay and lesbian couples can be just as good parents as heterosexual cou- The best advice former Representative Jeanette Mott Oxford (D) ples, and 58 percent favor allowing gays and lesbians to adopt children. received, she says, was that “it was best to run ‘out’,” to be open and honest about who she was. She says voters would think a Favor Allowing Gay and Lesbian People to Adopt Children politician had lied if they hear about a candidate’s sexual orienta- Democrats 66% tion from someone other than the candidate. Independents 61% That advice worked for Oxford. She was elected to the Mis- Republicans 42% souri House in 2004 and re-elected three times before term limits prevented her from running again in 2012. Favor Laws Protecting Gays and Lesbians from Job Discrimination Former Senator Jarrett Barrios (D) has been openly gay since Democrats 79% high school and was the director of a gay and lesbian student Independents 75% group in college. He was first elected to the Massachusetts House Republicans 61% in 1998 from a liberal district based in Cambridge. When Barrios ran for the state Senate in 2002 in a district with a more blue-collar Favor Requiring the Federal Government to Recognize Same-Sex Marriages constituency, he won by going door-to-door intensively, wooing in States Where it Is Legal voters who were more wary of supporting a gay candidate. Democrats 65% “My strategy was to embrace my person, believing people can Independents 50% detect inauthenticity at all levels of electoral politics,” he says. Republicans 32% “I tried to inoculate myself against the inevitable attacks and slurs—and they did come.” He won easily and was re-elected Source: Public Religion Research Institute, Feb. 2014. twice. In Vermont, Suzi Wizowaty (D) says being open about her sexual orientation from the start “most likely was a nonfactor” in she won a seat in the Ohio House for the first time, she became her election to the House in 2008, but in a liberal state like Ver- the first openly gay member. mont, it may have even “played a small positive role.” “My partner and I have two children, and we have been It’s all about accepting who you are and hiding nothing, says open and set an example of authenticity to our children and Nickie Antonio (D), who has run as openly gay since she first community,” Antonio says. “There were no factors to hide. I sought a city council seat in suburban Cleveland. In 2012, when am who I am.”

Representative Former Senator Senator Representative Representative Former Former Representative Representative Tim Brown (R) Senator Pat Al McAffrey (D) Bryce Cathy Representative Senator Suzi Nickie Ohio Dale Steadman (D) Oklahoma Bennett (D) Connolly (D) Jeanette Mott Jarrett Wizowaty (D) Antonio (D) McCormick (D) Colorado Montana Wyoming Oxford (D) Barrios (D) Vermont Ohio Maine Missouri Massachusetts

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 SERVING OUR COMMUNITIES FEEDING A STRONGER ECONOMY

AMERICA’S 990,000 RESTAURANTS

America’s restaurants contribute more than $1.7 trillion to the economy Employ 13.5 million people Provide opportunity for nearly 10% of the nation’s workforce

® AMERICA WORKS HERE See how at AmericaWorksHere.Org

© 2014 National Restaurant Association. All rights reserved. America Works Here is a registered service mark and the National Restaurant Association logo is a trademark of the National Restaurant Association. LAWMAKERS | 53

Policy Preference? Sooner or later, most gay and lesbian legislators have faced the question of how much to focus on “gay” issues—marriage, adoption, nondiscrimination in employment—as opposed to other policy topics. Gay marriage and civil unions have certainly drawn in gay and lesbian lawmakers. For former Hawaii Representative Blake Oshiro (D), the debate over a civil unions bill was what led him to make public his sexual orientation. He had served in the House for 10 years before he took a major role in backing his state’s civil union bill. Listening to the debate convinced him that “it was the right time to run as an openly gay candidate.” “I decided that it was time to be proud of who and what I am.” —DELAWARE SENATOR KAREN PETERSON (D)

Likewise, the debate over same-sex marriage in Delaware prompted Senator Karen Peterson (D) to be open about being a lesbian. Elected to the state Senate in 2002, Peterson was not initially public about her sexual orientation. “Although all of my colleagues and many of my constituents knew that I was gay, I did not decide to come out publicly until Delaware’s same-sex “No state legislature has ever passed marriage equality without marriage law was debated on the floor of the Senate last year,” an openly LGBT member of its body.” Peterson says. “I decided that it was time to be proud of who and For instance, New Hampshire Senator David Pierce (D), what I am.” elected in 2012, says a Republican colleague told him that his That said, gay lawmakers have also staked out more expansive mere presence in the Senate “helped make [being gay] less for- issue portfolios. Colorado Senate President Pro Tem Lucia Guz- eign and more acceptable.” man (D), for example, says that even though she’s sponsored a Personal connections were no problem for Kathy Webb (D) civil unions bill as well as other measures of interest to the LGBT from Arkansas. Having grown up in her district, she was so well community, “business, agriculture, natural resources and energy, known that she faced little resistance from voters. Many in her the judiciary, First Amendment rights, and human and civil rights district knew her personally through her involvement in com- are also all part of my agenda,” she says. munity service projects, and even though “some thought that my sexual orientation would hamper my effectiveness, my record of The Friend Factor service and business accomplishments negated that,” Webb says. Acceptance of gays and lesbians is growing, most of these Once she became the first openly gay member of the Arkan- lawmakers believe, because so many people have forged posi- sas Legislature in 2006, Webb says she saw “a big change” in tive, personal relationships with gay neighbors, constituents and how people viewed her. family members. “Initially, I think many of my colleagues were a little skepti- “Knowing an LGBT person is what it takes to change hearts cal about me,” she says. “I rolled up my sleeves and worked hard and minds on LGBT issues,” says Steven R. Thai, press secre- on many issues, just like they did. I think when they got to know tary for the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a campaign group. me, and saw that I was far from a one-issue legislator, their per- ceptions began to change.” Antonio, the Ohio lawmaker, recalls an “elevator conversa- tion” she had in her first month in the legislature, when she was asked what the proper term was for her partner; they had been together for 18 years and had two children. “Later that day,” she says, “someone let me know that the other legislator was over- heard saying to a colleague, ‘I talked with Nickie about her fam- Senator Former Senator Representative ily, and she’s so normal!’” Karen Representative Lucia Kathy Webb (D) Jinkins, the Washington representative, said she’s “not a Peterson (D) Blake Oshiro (D) Guzman (D) Arkansas drinker or a smoker. I lead one of the most boring lives. So what’s Delaware Hawaii Colorado funny is that people think there’s nothing more ‘out there’ than a lesbian, and it’s quite shocking to them when I’m ‘regular.’”

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 54 | AGRICULTURE

What’s all the Hype About Hemp?

Hemp advocates are working hard to cultivate this growing industry.

yet reclassified the plant in the Uniform Controlled Substances Act (Drug Code), which the Drug Enforcement Agency is obli- By jack queen gated to enforce.

arred from farmers’ fields once “reefer madness” took Legal Ambiguity hold of U.S. drug policy in the 1930s, hemp has long This legal disconnect recently led to a standoff between fed- struggled to escape the shadow of its hallucinogenic eral agents and Kentucky agriculture officials when the DEA cousin. seized a shipment of seeds destined for the state’s industrial Hemp advocates argue the crop offers tremendous hemp pilot program. The DEA said the state had failed to obtain opportunity for struggling rural economies; it has a federal drug permits for them. Bwide variety of applications in plastics, fuel, textiles, food and After much high-profile legal wrangling, the Kentucky soil rehabilitation, and worldwide demand for Department of Agriculture ended up with the 300 it is growing. But, because hemp contains trace Top Hemp pounds of seeds, which it distributed to a dozen amounts of THC, the same hallucinogen found in farmers approved to grow industrial hemp under marijuana, the federal government classifies it as Products state supervision. Kentucky’s attorney general an illegal drug, even though it is nonintoxicating. Clothing issued a supporting opinion, holding that com- Skeptics of loosening controls argue industrial Food and beverages mercial production is consistent with the Farm crops could accidentally cross-pollinate with mar- Auto parts Bill’s broad language regarding pilot programs ijuana via wind or insects, and that law enforce- Paper that study industrial hemp marketing. ment officials would have difficulty differentiat- Building supplies Kentucky is unique in taking such an active ing marijuana from its benign cousin, hemp. Body care (lotions, etc.) role in industrial hemp production, but other Animal feed states appear to be adopting a similar interpreta- First Steps? tion of the Farm Bill’s pilot program language. In the Farm Bill passed in February, Congress Source: Industrial Hemp Bills almost identical to Kentucky’s are circulat- included a provision allowing universities and Profile, 2012, Agricultural ing in Michigan and Delaware. And in Hawaii, agriculture departments to plant crops for research Marketing Research Representative Cynthia Thielen (R) told Big- in states that permit it. Industrial hemp supporters Center. IslandNow.com she and her colleagues closely believe this is an important first step in establish- followed the drama in Kentucky, as they hope to ing a commercial industry. expand their industrial hemp program, which currently is limited Laws in 14 states—California, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, to research. Kentucky, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, Colorado appears to be making no distinction between indus- Tennessee, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia—have laws per- trial hemp and nonmedical marijuana, which it legalized in 2012. mitting industrial hemp cultivation under restricted conditions; The state agriculture department has issued 42 industrial hemp- eight of them specifically permit its commercial cultivation. growing permits since the law took full effect on Jan. 1. Another 20 states have considered industrial hemp bills this year. Tennessee recently passed what has been called the stron- Regulators are faced with the difficult task of navigating these gest pro-hemp bill in the country, with language that compels opposing state and federal laws. In addition, while Congress has officials to actively develop permitting systems. The agriculture sanctioned industrial hemp research in opaque terms, it has not department is drafting guidelines and hopes to begin issuing per- mits by next February, according to regulators. Jack Queen, a former NCSL intern, is a student at Colorado College studying Oregon is on the same timeline, but is coming from a differ- international political economy. ent angle. Having observed the federal government’s tolerance

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 AGRICULTURE | 55

A Little History

• Hemp was cultivated as early as 12,000 years ago by the Chinese to make shoes, clothes, rope and paper. • Around 1000 BC, people on the European continent grew hemp in abundance for use in sailing rope and canvas; a large gunship during the late colonial period required as much as 120,000 pounds of hemp fiber for its rigging. • Hemp was an important cash crop for colonial America, feeding the British fleet’s enormous appetite for naval rope. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison wrote of growing commercial hemp on their estates. • During World War II, “Manila hemp” imported from Japan was an important commodity for the U.S. military, which used its fibers for uniforms, canvas and rope. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, however, America’s supply was cut off. In response, the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched a campaign to encour- age large-scale hemp cultivation, producing a short film in 1942, “Hemp for Victory.”

Sources: North American Industrial Hemp Council, Hemp Industries Association, FarmCollector.com and academia.edu.

must obtain seeds through illicit channels. California, Indiana, Maine and West Virginia have passed commercial hemp bills, although they will remain null and void until Congress differ- of marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington, Oregon entiates hemp from marijuana in the Drug Code. Like Hawaii, officials have decided to pursue their own industrial hemp regu- Nebraska and Utah have passed more narrow legislation that lations. They hope to license industrial hemp growers by next permits research only in specific university settings to gather year’s planting season. important data, such as what species of hemp will grow best in various climates. Wait-and-See Approach Future hemp producers hope this industrial crop will again Other states are taking more cautious approaches. Montana become an important commodity for rural America. Whether it and North Dakota have offered commercial hemp permits for will—or even should—remains an open question for lawmakers. years, yet participation has been negligible due to fears of federal But for now, many will keep a close eye on this budding market interference. Even if farmers are willing to hazard planting, they to see if growers really do hit pay dirt.

Hemp was Kentucky’s biggest cash crop throughout the 19th century, when the state produced as much as 40,000 tons annually. Output declined after the Civil War, however, and in 1938 a federal ban on cannabis sealed its fate.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 56 | FISCAL AFFAIRS Count the Cost Understanding the potential costs and consequences of a bill is a crucial step in the legislative process and a help to avoid any unintended effects.

By Erica Michel and Todd Haggerty ach year, state lawmakers introduce thousands of pieces of legislation to improve constituents’ lives. Although impact a proposed law will have on state revenues or expendi- the bills may tackle issues as varied as education fund- tures or both, for the current and subsequent fiscal year, at a min- ing, tax rates or the business climate, they share one imum. In addition, fiscal notes in some places also must include thing in common. More often than not, if passed, these an estimate of the costs to units of local government and, in a few bills will have a fiscal effect on the state’s budget. instances, the private sector. While the process may vary, legisla- E This leads lawmakers, who also are seeking to improve the tive fiscal offices across the states devote a significant amount of effectiveness and efficiency of government, to ask, “How much time each session to either preparing or reviewing fiscal notes. will this legislation cost or save?” With the fast pace of the legislative process, fiscal analysts Analyzing and understanding the potential costs and conse- often have only one or two weeks, and sometimes less, to com- quences of a bill is a crucial step in the legislative process. And, plete a fiscal note before a vote is taken. The pace and the need in several states, it’s not optional. The price tag for most bills is for accuracy can be demanding. determined by a fiscal note, which gives lawmakers the expected “Preparing fiscal notes is an unglamorous but critically impor- change in expenditures and revenues that will result from the tant job for legislative staff,” says Warren Deschenaux, director legislation. of the Maryland Office of Policy Analysis. “In Maryland, where But legislation may bring about other economic consequences every bill gets a note, six- or seven-day weeks and 10- to 12-hour as well, and lawmakers continue to develop tools to study what days are the norm for the month preceding crossover. Deadlines those may be to avoid any unintended ones. are tight, and the bills keep coming.” Drafting a thorough fiscal note frequently requires input from Fiscal Notes First several state agencies, sponsors of the legislation, and organi- A fiscal note is the most common tool lawmakers use to eval- zations and individuals knowledgeable in the subject matter, so uate the cost of proposed bills, although there is no typical fiscal everyone must move quickly to complete the analysis. note process. The format, content and type of bills that require Fiscal notes are public documents, and lawmakers are not the fiscal notes vary from state to state. In at least 20 states, a fis- only ones who find their analysis useful. Often others, such as cal note must accompany every bill introduced in the legislature. lobbyists or state agencies, use fiscal notes as “evidence” for or Other legislatures require a fiscal note for bills that are expected against a bill. Although fiscal notes are not intended to influence to have a fiscal impact and, in several states, a fiscal note must be the passage of a bill, sometimes they do. Because of this, fiscal requested by a member of the legislature. notes can be a controversial part of the legislative process. A bill with a fiscal impact can increase or reduce expendi- tures, increase or decrease the revenues of an existing tax, change A Dynamic Difference personnel requirements, affect levels of service, impose or shift a Fiscal notes are important tools that help legislators bal- tax to a new base, or change the funding of an existing program. ance the budget, but they have their limitations. They usually Generally speaking, fiscal note analysts evaluate the direct estimate only the direct costs to the state, and do not measure impacts associated with indirect costs or changes in residents’ Todd Haggerty is a former policy specialist, and Erica Michel is a research behavior. In other words, fiscal notes can help legislators analyst with NCSL’s Fiscal Affairs Program. understand the cost a policy change will have on state coffers,

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 FISCAL AFFAIRS | 57

Other Impacts

Lawmakers are interested in how legislation will affect other policy areas as well. Iowa was the first state, in 2008, to require minority impact statements on legislation to create a crime or significantly change an existing crime or penalty, or alter sentencing, parole or probation procedures. Lawmakers passed the leg- islation in response to a report that showed a disproportionate number of Iowa’s inmates (as in most states) were from minority groups. The minority impact statements are designed to help policymakers better understand the potential effects of legislation on Iowa’s minority populations. Colorado, Connecticut and Oregon require racial impact reports, which are similar to Iowa’s. And members of Minnesota’s sentencing commission also regularly draft minority impact reports, although they are not required by law to do so. but generally not what the fiscal impacts may be for individu- As Richard Stavneak, director of the Arizona Joint Legislative als, businesses and other groups. Budget Committee explains, “In Arizona, we believe it is impor- Jonathan Ball, director of the Utah Office of the Legislative tant to recognize the possibility of a dynamic impact, especially Fiscal Analyst says that, “fiscal notes are a budgeting tool, but on large scale tax and expenditure bills. On the other hand, the they are not intended to influence policy.” complexity of dynamic forecasting limits our ability to be very How a piece of legislation may affect the entire state’s econ- precise.” Still, he acknowledges, they include the areas poten- omy, not just its pocketbook, is what dynamic fiscal notes attempt tially affected by the legislation, however imprecise, since the to answer. They involve more in-depth analysis and include addi- value and depth of the fiscal note are enhanced by acknowledg- tional economic factors in the revenue and cost estimate of legisla- ing potential effects that may not necessarily be obvious. tion to predict the indirect economic effects. The core element in a dynamic fiscal note is predicting how One economic factor is how people’s behavior may change as a new policy will change the public’s behavior and how that a result of the legislation. For example, legislation increasing a change will affect the economy and the state’s bottom line—both tax on a specific product may lead people to buy fewer, resulting in the short- and long-term. in lower revenues for the state. Traditionally, fiscal notes have But the data needed to conduct that analysis often may be not included this kind of variable, so may have overestimated the difficult or even impossible to obtain and may not be reliable, increased sales tax revenue the state would receive. Dynamic fis- making long-term projections complicated at best and invalid cal analyses account for these types of changes when estimating at worst. Dynamic forecasting has a greater potential for error, future revenue. They also attempt to incorporate future changes and the assumptions used to predict human behavior can be in the broader economy to analyses. extremely controversial. For example, the effect minimum wage If a state legislature, for example, approves a tax credit for laws have on individuals and businesses is widely debated, and businesses that create a certain number of high-paying jobs, the it is difficult for legislative fiscal staff to predict how changes to additional income tax revenue generated from those jobs will be minimum wage laws might affect the state’s economy. incorporated into calculations. Estimates then can be made about Dynamic models also require more time and staff resources whether the state revenue lost from the tax credit will be off- than static models. This can hamper fiscal staff’s ability to com- set by the increase in personal income tax paid. Dynamic fiscal plete dynamic fiscal notes during busy legislative sessions. “Pre- notes attempt to incorporate these kinds of complicated factors paring dynamic fiscal notes requires access to costly databases,” into estimates. says Ball. “It may take weeks to do, when we have only hours.”

In Theory vs. In Practice Making Informed Decisions In theory, the benefits of dynamic fiscal notes are clear—they Despite challenges, states continue to explore ways to expand provide a more complete picture of the possible effects of policy the scope of fiscal notes to better predict the long-term effects changes on the economy. In practice, however, most states that of legislation. As terms such as “big data,” “data-based deci- have attempted dynamic fiscal notes—such as California, Colo- sion making” and “data analytics” creep into the vernacular, the rado and New Mexico—have found them to be impractical and demand for a dynamic or cost-benefit analysis on proposed leg- imprecise, given the limitations of dynamic scoring. islation is likely to increase.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 SEE YOU IN

NCSL 2015 Legislative Summit August 3–6, 2015 VOTING: What’s Next? States and counties are leading the way in the never–ending quest to modernize how we vote.

By Katy Owens Hubler

e’ve come a long way since the days of ancient Athens when voters cast “yes” or “no” votes by “Some people prefer to go into a fast-food choosing either a black or a white ball. In the last restaurant and some people prefer to go to couple decades, electronic-voting and optical- scanning machines brought American democracy the drive-through. …Voting should offer the into the digital age. But now most of that aging same options.” — LOS ANGELES COUNTY CLERK DEAN LOGAN Wequipment is starting to break down, leaving election officials and citizens alike wondering, what’s next for voting? The innovators in the field today are counties and states that time in a presidential election year is scary; so is using 17-year- are taking a do-it-yourself approach, building their own systems old equipment. Election administrators are working hard to find and, perhaps, setting a new direction for elections technology. or create the next big election innovation—in time to fully test it in between general elections. Ready for the Next Big Thing Four such efforts stand out. The 2002 Help America Vote Act provided funding for mod- ern voting systems in the wake of the 2000 presidential elections. H1H But “much of that money has been spent,” says Brian Newby, Voting Systems Assessment Project an election commissioner from Johnson County, Kan. “Our Whose perspective matters most when it comes to elections? office, for instance, received nearly 600 voting machines.” These The voters. That’s why Los Angeles County Clerk Dean Logan machines, however, are aging and will soon need to be replaced. began designing a new voting system with them in mind. Called Based on the growth anticipated for Johnson County in the com- the Voting Systems Assessment Project, it began in 2009 with ing years, it would cost around $12 million to do so, he says. focus groups, surveys and assessments to get solid understanding Instead of buying more of the same equipment that’s been on of what voters wanted most. the market for years, Newby is considering using commercial “Some people prefer to go into a fast-food restaurant and off-the-shelf devices such as tablets and iPads. He can even envi- some people prefer to go to the drive-through. Some people like sion voters bringing their own “voting machines”—their smart to buy their movie tickets from a kiosk and other people want to phones, tablets or laptops—to the polling place. stand in line and buy them from a cashier,” says Logan. “Voting For many election administrators, the hitch with creating should offer the same options.” new elections technology is the regulatory system for testing The biggest hurdle in developing the new system was Califor- and certifying new machines. “The role for state legislatures nia’s statutory language on testing and certification. “The regula- in this coming world of new technologies is to empower certi- tory environment that we operated in both at the state and federal fication at the state level,” he says. Not having to certify new level did not allow for the flexibility to innovate and look for machines on the federal level could make innovation more a new voting solution,” says Logan. But last year, the Califor- cost-effective for vendors. The federal standards are voluntary, nia Legislature enacted a bill allowing California’s Secretary of but 35 states mandate at least one element of the federal testing State’s Office to certify voting systems independently, moving and certification program. away from the federal standards and old certification process. It If new equipment hasn’t been developed, distributed and also provided funding for innovative pilot projects like the one given a good run-through, 2020 could be a rocky election year, in Los Angeles. Newby believes. The idea of rolling out new systems for the first The county worked with a design firm to create a prototype of a new voting experience that is more accessible, accurate Katy Owens Hubler tracks election issues for NCSL. and secure than those currently on the market—a system that

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 60 | ELECTIONS would allow people to vote anywhere in the created her own system. County will soon be looking for universities or pri- county. What they came up with is a touch- Dubbed STAR Vote: Security, Transpar- vate firms to develop the software for the system. screen machine that allows voters to sign in ency, Auditability and Reliability, the aim of electronically, mark their ballot and then review this system is to make it is easier for voters H3H or change their selections. The device also has to cast their ballot and provide better security Prime III accessibility features such as an audio ballot to boot. It is an “end-to-end” (or, in elections What if all voters—those with disabilities, option and the ability to adjust the size of the jargon, E2E) verifiable system, which means those who speak English as a second language, text onscreen. Once voters have marked their that citizens can track their votes all the way or those who are illiterate—could vote using the ballot, the machine prints it and the voter places through the process. When voters check in they same equipment as everyone else? That’s the it in a ballot box. Ballots are then tabulated receive a ticket that is used to bring up their premise for Juan Gilbert’s work. A professor at through a different system. specific ballot type on the touch-screen voting Clemson University in South Carolina, Gilbert’s The LA prototype is being refined further as machine. They then make their selections, con- “universal design” concept, Prime III, allows designers develop a tabulation system and look firm them and then receive a printed copy of everyone to vote independently and privately, for better ways to serve remote voters in the state. their ballot with a tear-off receipt to place in a rather than using a separate “accessible” voting Logan hopes that once the new system has been box that also scans it. machine. Voters can cast their ballot by touch, completed and thoroughly tested, other elections To keep costs low, STAR Vote uses commer- voice or by puffing into a microphone and verify jurisdictions will be interested in using the tech- cial-off-the-shelf hardware and software rather the ballot on screen before casting it. Prime III nology. Imitation is the sincerest form of flat- than proprietary software from vendors. This then prints the ballot and places it in the ballot tery—and there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. allows counties to own the system themselves, box. The system marks ballots precisely and saving them from vendor maintenance fees. types in write-in candidate names, so there is no H2H According to DeBeauvoir, these cost Travis ambiguity about what the voter intended. STAR Vote County a quarter of a million dollars a year. Gilbert is also working on a system that When Travis County, Texas, Clerk Dana In addition to Travis County, where Austin allows voters to print or download a QR code DeBeauvoir looked at which voting systems to is located, 10 counties in Texas are interested to a device such as a smart phone or tablet that purchase for her jurisdiction, she wasn’t happy in buying into the development of STAR Vote. could then be uploaded to a Prime III voting with the lack of security features offered so she The design process is now complete, and Travis device. He envisions bumper stickers and cam-

Plan your meeting experience. Browse speakers and session details. Discover Minneapolis.

To download the Legislative Summit app, search NCSL 2014 or visit www.ncsl.org/ summit.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 ELECTIONS | 61 paign materials with QR codes, so if a voter intended to make it easier for voters to submit likes a certain candidate, he can scan the QR H4H their ballot if they unexpectedly aren’t in their code from the campaign materials and come Moving on With Online voting jurisdiction on Election Day. to the polling place with a completed ballot, Alaska is pioneering a system that allows After an application is received and veri- download his choices and review the ballot any registered voter to cast a vote online. fied by election officials, the voter is then before casting it. Gilbert’s study shows it’s 20 The federal Military and Overseas Voters sent an automated email message providing times faster for a voter to use this system than Empowerment Act (MOVE), passed in 2009, a link to a secure site. On the site, the voter come to the polling place without it. requires all states to provide blank absentee enters authentication information (voter ID Gilbert’s third concept is “televoting” for ballots to military personnel and other citi- number, date of birth, driver’s license num- military personnel. It would look something like zens residing abroad in at least one electronic ber or Social Security number) and can then this: A military voter tunes in to a video con- format–email, fax or an online delivery sys- fill out the ballot online or print it out and ference with a poll worker at a typical polling tem. The MOVE Act does not require states mail it back. The voter must also sign another place on Election Day. The voter and the poll to accept these voted ballots electronically, document attesting their identity with a wit- worker can see and talk to each other, allowing but 31 states and the District of Colum- ness present, scan it into a PDF and send it the poll worker to visually authenticate the iden- bia now accept them via fax or as an email back as well. tity of the voter. When the voter is ready to cast attachment, or have enacted legislation to do his ballot, he fills it out and submits it over the so. Alaska is the first state to offer this option The Last Frontier? Internet. The poll worker receives and prints it, to all qualified voters—and permit the return What else might voting look like in the and then holds it up to the camera to allow the of a voted ballot online. future? The sky’s the limit. voter to verify his selections. The ballot is then In order to receive a ballot by electronic But if civilian space travel takes off, Texans, cast just as if the voter had been in the polling transmission, the voter first has to apply. Mili- at least, should have no concerns. Back in 1997, place in person. Opponents are concerned, how- tary and overseas voters can submit an appli- the forward-thinking Texas Legislature passed ever, that with this kind of a system, it would be cation any time, but stateside civilian voters a law permitting astronauts to electronically hard to ensure the secrecy of ballots.Maintain- have to wait until 15 days before an election transmit their ballots from space. Astronaut ing the secrecy of the ballot would be a concern to apply. Since Alaska is a large state with David Wolf did so, and the system has been with this type of system, however. residents who travel frequently, the system is used a few times since. WWW.NCSL.ORG/BOOKSTORE

No. 1 Legislative Guide Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure is the only parliamentary manual designed specifically for state legislatures.

Be the most effective legislator you can be—it’s easy to understand and use.

Premier Legislative Guide It could be the most important book you buy during your Premier legislative career. Legislative Legislators and Staff receive a special rate Guide of only $60 per copy. That’s a 20% savings!

Order Today!

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 62 | AS THEY SEE IT

“The truth of the matter is, we should not get any type of [compensation] increase while we’re asking people to make sacrifices, while we’re asking agencies to make sacrifices.” —Connecticut Senate Minority Leader Pro Tem Len Fasano (R) to the Connecticut Mirror. STEVE SACK, THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

“Innovative technology drives economic growth in Massachusetts, and this bill makes important investments to allow the state to take full advantage of the opportunities that modern technology offers.” —Massachusetts Senator Karen Spilka (D) in a press release after the Senate passed a bill authorizing spending up $999.2 million on information technology-related projects.

ADAM ZYGLIS, THE BUFFALO NEWS “We’re taking it up 2 ½ years before it expires. Now, I enjoy a good sunset, but we’re like at noon here. So, for “The Port Authority controls and oversees major that reason alone, I’m going to vote no.” infrastructure and transportation facilities and has an annual budget that surpasses that of many states. Yet it —California Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff (R) after the Legislature has operated as if it is exempt from basic government extended a tax exemption for solar projects that was set to expire, or standards.” “sunset,” in 2017. —New Jersey Senator Loretta Weinberg (D) in the New Jersey Record after the Legislature passed a bill applying open records laws to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

“Terry Blair was a legislator who embodied the model of a statesman. He was always polite, always kind, always respectful—therefore, respected and admired by all.” —Ohio House Minority Leader Tracy Maxwell Heard (D) to the Columbus Dispatch after the death of three-term Representative Terry Blair (R). Blair was chairman of the House State and Local Government Committee and served 20 years as a Washington Township trustee in Montgomery County.

“We’re going back to the idea of a citizen legislator where people come, serve their time ... and turn it over to other people and see what they can do.”

—Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) on the unusually high BOB ENGLEHART, THE HARTFORD COURANT turnover in the state’s Assembly. Vos, with just under a decade of service, will soon become one of the most veteran members of the chamber.

STATE LEGISLATURES | JULY/AUGUST 2014 Firearms Background Checks Are Only As Good As The Database.

Did Your State FixNICSSM?

7,789

How the states rank per capita

Passed FixNICSSM legislation in 2013 or 2014 During the past two legislative session, legislators in 14 states passed changes ensuring all prohibiting records are sent to the FBI databases. These legislators acted to help prevent illegal transfers of rearms to those who are prohibited from owning them. They helped FixNICSSM. Will you? fixnics.org Eliminating missing records helps ensure more accurate and complete background checks. Act to FixNICS. For more details, visit FixNICS.org.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation® is the trade association for the rearms industry.

NSSF.ORG

FixNICS_Database.indd 1 7/10/14 4:00 PM Quality Public Services for Strong Communities

On behalf of the 1.6 million members of the American Federation of Teachers, we salute the National Conference of State Legislatures for its four decades of commitment to informed policy-making and good governance.

Across America, public employees perform an astounding array of services that ensure the health and well-being of all citizens. The AFT is working to reclaim the promise of high-quality public services that improve our neighborhoods, protect our communities and provide the foundation for economic vitality.

We’re working with officials and citizens across the nation to restore equity and fairness to tax policies so that every state and community has the resources to support essential services, including the education of our children. Together, we can end the tax dodges that rob the public of the services and infrastructure that keep America’s economy running.

Sensible tax policy is necessary for quality services and strong, vibrant communities. State legislatures must curtail the tax avoidance industry that siphons off billions of dollars every year. When that happens, all citizens—corporate and individual—will shoulder their fair responsibility for the common good.

The AFT represents 1.6 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.