RACSS Newsletter | Fall 2006 RACSS Members Hold Business Meeting in Nashville

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345671823456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123RACSS 4

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123456789012345678901234567890121234567R A C S S 18234567890123456789012345678901212345678901234567890123456789012123456789012345678901234567890121234

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 Newsletter

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 123456789012345678901234567890121234567Fall, 2006 8 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 Chair’s Column: Sharing Resources

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 123456789012345678901234567890121234567Sharing Resources ...... 1 8 by Pat O’Grady, Executive Director 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 Legislative Research Unit, Illinois 123456789012345678901234567890121234567Staff Awards ...... 2 8 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 RACSS Chair 2006-2007 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

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123456789012345678901234567890121234567Business Meeting ...... 3 8

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 123456789012345678901234567890121234567Fall Seminar ...... 4 8 Happy Holidays to all RACSS members. I hope your sessions and elections went 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 well, and you are ready for your next session.

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 123456789012345678901234567890121234567State News...... 8 8 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 Professional Development Seminar 1234567890123456789012345678901212345672007 Seminar ...... 10 8

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 We are beginning to plan for our next professional development seminar, to be 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 123456789012345678901234567890121234567Officers ...... 11 8 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 held in Santa Fe in September of ’07 in conjunction with the librarian and legal

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 123456789012345678901234567890121234567Calendar ...... 12 8 services sections. If you have any ideas for topics or presenters, please send them 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 to me (O’[email protected]), Jeanne Mejeur ([email protected]), or any

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 executive committee member (you’ll find their email addresses and phone

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 numbers on p.11). 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 123456789012345678901234567890121234567RACSS Officers 8 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 New or Improved Products

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345672006-2007 8 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 Please let us know if you have any special product or resource you find particu-

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 larly useful in doing research. In our office, the librarians have developed an LRU

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123456789012345678901234567890121234567Chair: 8 intranet page that lists about 130 or more reputable, dependable internet links, orga-

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 123456789012345678901234567890121234567Pat O’Grady, Illinois 8 nized into 34 subject areas. 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 The subject areas are: agencies, agriculture, appropriations, business, card cata- 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 logs (library), courts, crime, education, elections, environment, gambling, grants, 123456789012345678901234567890121234567Vice-chair: 8 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 health, housing, journals, labor, legal resources, local government, maps, newspa- 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 123456789012345678901234567890121234567E.M. Miller, Jr., Virginia 8 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 pers, organizations, pensions, professional regulation, reference, search engines, sta-

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 tistics, taxation, telephone directories, transportation, weather, welfare, workers’ com-

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123456789012345678901234567890121234567Immediate Past Chair: 8 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 pensation, and zip codes.

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123456789012345678901234567890121234567Jamie Franklin, Kentucky 8 I would assume each of you have some similar list, whether of your own creation

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 or coming from some other authority. We make ours available to each of the caucus 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 123456789012345678901234567890121234567Directors: 8 staffs when new or old staff members attend a briefing on our services and how to use 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 us. We customize it to include some of their favorite links and provide it on a CD so 123456789012345678901234567890121234567Mark Mitchell, Kentucky 8 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 they can share it with those not attending. It is very popular, especially among newer 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 123456789012345678901234567890121234567Kirk Mlinek, Colorado 8 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 staff who might be used to “Googling around” to find sources.

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 123456789012345678901234567890121234567Phil Price, Arkansas 8 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 I will provide it to Jeanne. If you would like a copy, please e-mail her. I hope to

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 123456789012345678901234567890121234567John Rappa, Connecticut 8 have it available on CD at the annual meeting next summer, and again at the Profes- 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 sional Development Seminar. With input from you, I hope it can be improved. 123456789012345678901234567890121234567Dan Schmidt, Wisconsin 8

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123456789012345678901234567890121234567Pepper Sturm, Nevada 8 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 Emerging Topics 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 Very few topics are completely new in the legislative setting, but a few are more 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 eye-catching than others in any given year. I will list some questions we are starting

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1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 to look at. Please let me and Jeanne know if you have research on these topics, or

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National Conference of State Legislatures | Tel: 303.364.7700 | Fax: 303.364.7800 | 7700 East First Place | Denver, CO 80230 Legislative Staff Achievement Award Honorees for 2006

Mary Janicki, Director Office of Legislative Research, Connecticut

The Research and Committee Staff Section is pleased to honor Mary Janicki, Director of the Connecticut Office of Legislative Research as a recipient of the 2006 Legislative Staff Achievement Award in recognition of her exceptional service to the Connecticut General Assembly and her commitment to improving the quality of professional development for legislative staff through her work with RACSS and NCSL. Mary’s career with the Connecticut General Assembly exemplifies a life of public service. She has worked for the legislature since 1982, and has served as Director of the Office of Legislative Research since 2003. Her service to the Connecticut General Assembly has earned her the respect of both members and colleagues. As director, Mary has continually sought to improve and expand the services provided to Connecticut legislators by the Office of Legislative Research. She supports the professional development of her staff and leads by example through her dedicated public service. Mary has tirelessly supported the work of RACSS and NCSL through her activities with staff Mary Janicki sections, standing committees and the Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee. She is the Immedi- ate Past Chair of RACSS and has been an officer and active member of the staff section for many years. She has demonstrated her commitment to professional development for legislative staff by helping to plan and present numerous RACSS programs and seminars. Mary is a graduate of the Legislative Staff Management Institute, class of 1993.

Staff of the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, Utah

The Research and Committee Staff Section is pleased to recognize the staff of the Utah Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel for their collabora- tive effort in producing and publishing “A Citizen’s Guide to Utah State Government”. This ambitious undertaking was success- fully completed as a result of much hard work and cooperation by the staff attor- neys and analysts of the Office of Legis- lative Research and General Counsel. Their effort to provide the citizens of Utah with a comprehensive resource for Staff of the Utah Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel understanding the work and workings of government has been received with overwhelming enthusiasm by legislators, teachers, and university professors. The Citizen’s Guide is the latest accomplishment by an office which has consistently been one of the most innovative and effective legislative support agencies dedicated to supporting the Legislature and the legislative institution. RACSS is pleased to present this well-deserved recognition. The Citizen’s Guide to Utah State Government was edited by Michael Christensen (Editor in Chief), Mary Catherine Perry, M. Gay Taylor, John Q. Cannon, and Cassandra N. Bauman ( Copy Editor). Staff members who contributed to the publication include Phil Dean, Jerry Howe, Robert Rees, Art Hunsaker, Susan Creager Allred, John Fellows, Nina Norton, Eric Weeks, Arek Butler, Ben Christensen, Dee Larsen, Rich North, Esther Chelsea-McCarthy, Bryant Howe, Rebecca Rockwell, Jeanenne Larson, Emily Brown, Patricia Owen, Mark Steinagel, James Wilson, Connie Steffen, Spencer Burton, Mark Andrews, Cathy Dupont, Stewart Smith, Jami Momberger, Shannon Halverson, Brian Allred, Brett Hopper and Joseph Wade.

2 | RACSS Newsletter | Fall 2006 RACSS Members Hold Business Meeting in Nashville

Jamie Franklin, RACSS Chair for 2005- year’s Awards Committee was 2006, presided over the annual RACSS Busi- chaired by Larry Barish, of Wis- ness Meeting during the NCSL Annual Meet- consin, with Karl Aro, of Maryland, ing in Nashville, Tennessee. The Business and Dave Sallach, of New Jersey, Meeting included a buffet luncheon spon- serving as members. sored by LexisNexis. Jamie thanked her fel- The 2006 honorees were low officers for their help during the year and Mary Janicki, director of the Of- reflected on her term as chair, noting that the fice of Legislative Research in most positive thing about it was the interac- Connecticut, and former chair and Jamie Franklin tion she had enjoyed with colleagues from Immediate Past Chair of RACSS, and the staff of the Utah Office around the country. of Legislative Research and General Counsel.

Elections Fall Seminar The first order of business was consideration of the slate of Jamie invited candidates for the RACSS Executive Committee. The slate was members to attend selected by the RACSS Nominating Committee, chaired by Vice- the RACSS Pro- Chair Pat O’Grady, with Immediate Past Chair Mary Janicki and fessional Devel- Director Mark Mitchell serving as members. opment Seminar The slate included E.M. Miller, Jr., as the candidate for vice- in Burlington, Ver- chair, and Dan Schmidt, Pepper Sturm and Kirk Mlinek as the mont, September candidates for the three director positions. The motion to adopt 13-16, 2006. The the slate of candidates was approved by voice vote of the mem- seminar features a bers present. mix of plenary and concurrent workshop sessions, cov- Bylaws Amendments ering both skills Tennessee State Capitol The next and management order of busi- issues. This year’s planning committee members for the semi- ness was consid- nar were Jamie Franklin, Mary Janicki, Pat O’Grady, John Rappa, eration of Pepper Sturm and Michael Chernick. (See article on the fall amendments to seminar on the following pages.) the RACSS By- laws. The LSCC re- Programs quested that all In addition to the Business Meeting, RACSS held a Dutch ten NCSL staff Treat Dinner for RACSS members at the Market Street Brewery sections create and Pub. About 30 legislative staff attended the event. Special separate rev- thanks goes out to Denise Sims, Director of the Tennessee House enue accounts Research Division, for selecting the restaurant and making the to hold any prof- Inside Opryland arrangements for the Dutch Treat Dinner. its generated by the staff section fall seminars. The bylaws RACSS also presented or co-sponsored eight professional amendments were proposed to set up the revenue account, de- development programs for legislative staff during the Annual termine the purposes for which funds could be used and establish Meeting, including: procedures for access to the funds. The proposed amendments • Exemplary Staff Services were approved by voice vote of the members present. • The Effect of Direct Democracy on State Constitutions • Legislative Staff Diversity Staff Awards • Crafting a Successful Diversity Strategy • Supreme Court Update Next on the agenda was the presentation of the Legislative • Legislative Documents as Public Records: Why? Why Not? Staff Achievement Awards to RACSS honorees for 2006. This • Picking Up the Pieces After Katrina and Rita • Dilemmas That Go Bump in the Night

RACSS Newsletter | Fall 2006 | 3 Vermont Hosts 2006 RACSS Fall Seminar

The 2006 RACSS Professional Development Seminar was held in Burlington, Vermont, September 13-16, 2006. The theme for this year’s seminar was “Innovations and Trends in the Legislative Workplace.” Approximately 85 legislative staff attended the seminar, which featured a mix of plenary and concurrent workshop sessions, covering both skills and management issues. Social events included a tour of the Vermont State House in Montpelier, a reception with Vemont Staff, and a dinner cruise on Lake Champlain, sponsored by Thomson/West. This year’s Planning Committee members for the semi- Interacting at the opening plenary. nar were Jamie Franklin of Kentucky, Mary Janicki of Connecti- cut, Pat O’Grady of Illinois, John Rappa of Connecticut, Pepper Plenary Programs Sturm of Nevada and Michael Chernick of Vermont. A list of plenary programs, concurrent sessions and social Trends in the Legislative Workplace: Exemplary Staff Services events follows. Special thanks to Juan Carlos Ortega of Puerto Speaker: Mary Quaid, Director, House Legislative Services, Louisi- Rico and Bryce Amburgey and Ben Payne of Kentucky for con- ana tributing some great photographs of the meeting. (Jeanne took the fuzzy ones!) Demographic Trends and Their Impact on Public Policy Speaker: Will Sawyer, Lead Coordinator, Center for Rural Studies, University of Vermont, and State Data Center, Vermont

State Fiscal Outlook Speaker: Ron Snell, Division Director, State Services, NCSL Mary Quaid leads the opening plenary Emerging Trends in Technology on Exemplary Staff Speaker: Sharon Crouch Steidel, Director, Information Systems, Services. Virginia House of Delegates Sharpening Your Research Skills Speaker: Dr. Anthony Gierzynski, Associate Professor, Political Science, University of Vermont

The Sex Life of Dragonflies and Legislative Research Speakers: Greg Sanford, Senior State Archivist, Vermont Bill Russell, Chief Legislative Counsel, Legislative Council, Vermont NCSL’s Ron Snell provides an overview of state budgets.

Participants gather for a concurrent program.

4 | RACSS Newsletter | Fall 2006 Concurrent Sessions

Climbing the Career Ladder Speaker: Jim Tamburro, Director of Training, Connecticut Pepper Sturm introduces Knowledge Management for Legislative Agencies Maureen Hammer, Speaker: Maureen Hammer, Knowledge Management Director, Dept. who presented on of Transportation, Virginia knowledge management issues. Hiring and Retaining Qualified Staff Speakers: Karl Aro, Director, Dept. of Legislative Services, Maryland E.M. Miller, Jr., Director, Division of Legislative Services, Virginia Jim Tamburro, Director of Training, Connecticut

Legislative Oversight of State Grants Speaker: Ruth Farrell, Associate Vice President for Sponsored Programs, University of Vermont

The Not-So-Hidden Message: Non-Verbal Communication Speaker: Jayne Bleicher, President, Training Ground, Connecticut

Ruth Farrell leads a session on grant oversight.

Jim Tamburro, Karl Aro and E.M. Miller, Jr. discuss Guests network between sessions. hiring issues.

Jayne Bleicher coaches staff on non-verbal communication.

RACSS Newsletter | Fall 2006 | 5 Participants discuss archiving practices.

Vermont State Archivist Greg Sanford and Chief Counsel Bill Russell talk about preservation and archiving of legislative documents.

Participants enjoy lunch in the State House cafeteria.

Guests arrive at the State House in Montpelier. (Ben Payne)

Jean Thompson and E.M. Miller visit on the The Vermont State House surrounded by State House steps. fall color. (Ben Payne)

6 | RACSS Newsletter | Fall 2006 Our tour guide shares the history of Vermont, in front of the statue of Ethan Allen.

All of us on the State House steps. (Bryce Ambergey)

The Senate Chamber. (Ben Payne)

Phil Price and his wife, Karl Aro and E.M. Miller in the Senate Chamber.

Stephanie Bishop, Juan Carlos Ortega, Patrick Guinan, Diane Thornton and Pepper Sturm in front of the State House. (Juan Carlos Ortega) The State House reception room. (Bryce Amburgey)

The tour included the beautiful grounds surrounding the State House. Sunset over Lake Champlain. (Bryce Amburgey) RACSS Newsletter | Fall 2006 | 7 State News

bly Republicans selected a new minority leader as well–physi- cian R. Garn Mabey, Jr., also of Las Vegas. Senate Leadership remains the same with Senator William J. Raggio (R-Reno) as Majority Leader and Senator Dina Titus (D- Las Vegas) as Senate Minority Leader. The Speaker has also selected a new Chief Clerk, Susan Fur- long-Reil, who was chosen because of her previous experience on the Assembly front desk and most recent experience as an employee of the Legislature’s Research Division. There are 11 new legislators (those with no previous legislative experience), which accounts for about 17 percent of the total. We are in the process of providing orientation sessions to our new members. Under Nevada law, legislators begin serving their term the day after the election, and staff from our legislative Kentucky Capitol Complex service agency met with new members briefly during the week following the election. Kentucky Typically, the Research Division helps coordinate a more for- Few Changes Following the 2006 Elections mal one-day introductory briefing, usually in early December, by Jamie Franklin, Committee Staff Administrator with more in-depth orientation sessions lasting several days Legislative Research Commission, Kentucky planned for January, just weeks prior to the beginning of the Leg- islative Session. National Conference of State Legislature’s Bill In Kentucky all 100 House seats and half of the Senate seats Pound and former state Senator David Landis of Nebraska are (19) were technically on the ballot this election year. The actual scheduled to make presentations. election saw only 17 new members elected to the General As- There are a few challenges for the coming session. Until sembly, all of them in the House of Representatives. recently, a 1979 statute establishing a budget cap had little im- Since the existing parties were able to retain their majority in pact on the budget process. That law provides that the amount of each chamber, there will probably be little change in the leader- Nevada’s State General Fund appropriations in the State budget ship of each. And since the Legislative Research Commission is cannot exceed an amount based upon the 1975-1977 biennium a non-partisan staff, the election will not any real effect on the operations of the agency. There will be an orientation for the new members in mid- December to start preparing them for the upcoming legislative session. The General Assembly next meets in January, and other than formally electing their leaders for the next biennium, this session (our “short” 30-day session) is not expected to bring any major legislative initiatives.

Nevada Impact of 2007 Election on the State Legislature by Pepper Sturm, Chief Deputy Research Director Legislative Counsel Bureau, Nevada

In Nevada, political control of the two chambers remained essentially the same. There were a few changes in leadership in Nevada Capitol (Rich Johnston, Nevada State Photographer) the Assembly. After Speaker of the Assembly Richard D. Perkins chose not to run again, the former Assembly Majority Leader, Barbara E. Buckley (D-Las Vegas), was selected by her caucus to and allowing for that base amount to be increased by population serve as Speaker for the 2007 Legislative Session. The Assem- growth and the rate of inflation in each subsequent biennium.

8 | RACSS Newsletter | Fall 2006 In previous sessions this law had little impact, primarily be- Following the Governor’s address, Assembly Concurrent Reso- cause of Nevada’s explosive population growth since the 1970s. lution No. 3 was passed by both houses. This Concurrent Reso- Now, although State revenues have generally exceeded projec- lution created four bicameral, bipartisan committees to review tions, this restriction has limited the amount available for expen- and formulate proposals that address property tax reform. diture in the budget. The four joint committees are the: The Legislature has options for spending some of this excess (1) Joint Legislative Committee on Public School Funding revenue (on capital construction, for example), but as with most Reform, to make proposals that address public school funding states, the competition for funds is likely to be fierce. and school district expenses; One important issue remains to be resolved. As of early De- (2) Joint Legislative Committee on Government Consolida- cember, Senate leadership had not decided upon the exact struc- tion and Shared Services, charged with recommending proposals ture of the Senate’s nine standing committees. With the margin that address the sharing of services and regionalization of func- at 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats, challenges exist in main- tions at all levels of government; taining the previous committee size (all were 7-member committees), and composition (all had 4 Rs and 3 Ds). Stay tuned!

New Jersey Special Session on Property Taxes by James F. Vari, Lead Fiscal Analyst Office of Legislative Services, New Jersey

On June 6, 2006, New Jersey Senate President Richard J. Codey and Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts announced “an unprecedented special legislative session” that would work throughout the summer and fall with the goal of enacting property tax reforms by the end of this year. The announcement laid out a framework to bring about legislative measurers aimed at reducing the property tax burdens of New Jersey residents. This special session was called because the annual property tax bill for a typical New Jersey resident is over $6,000, twice the national average. New Jersey Senate Chamber The special legislative session began on July 28, when Gov- ernor Jon S. Corzine delivered an address before the joint session (3) Joint Legislative Committee on Public Employee Ben- of the Legislature. efits Reform, to propose legislation that address abuses of the In his address to the Legislature, the Governor noted that the pension system and to control the costs of the State and local total property tax levy in New Jersey is currently $20 billion and entities for public employee retirement, health care and other provides 46 percent of all tax revenues in the State. Without benefits; and changes to the present system, this amount will double to nearly (4) Joint Legislative Committee on Constitutional Reform $40 billion within a decade. and Citizens Property Tax Constitutional Convention, to formu- A goal of the special session is to reduce the property tax as a late proposals that address property tax reform through amend- portion of total State and local taxes. The Governor said that the ments to the Constitution of the State. New Jersey system of property taxes has four major problems. Each joint committee has held approximately 10 committee First, there is an over-reliance on property taxes to fund local meetings since August, not only in the capitol, Trenton, but also government and school costs. Second, municipal and school dis- around the State to help facilitate citizen participation in the tricts have not controlled local spending. Third, there are too reform process. many layers of government delivering too many similar services. The committees are charged with delivering their recom- Fourth, the “fragile foundation” of State finances has prevented mendations and legislation to the floor of the Senate and Assem- the State from increasing aid to local governments and school bly by November 15 with the goal of achieving final legislative districts. action by the end of the year.

Continued on next page

RACSS Newsletter | Fall 2006 | 9 State News, Continued

Nothing may be accomplished with regard to the transportation issue until after the 2007 fall elections and it is feared by some that the conflicts with transportation will roll into other subject matter areas during the 2007 session. Things are not look- ing rosy in River City.

2007 Seminar in Santa Fe!

Mark your calendars for the 2007 RACSS seminar! We’ll be meeting September 9-12, 2007, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Virginia State Capitol The 2007 seminar will be a joint meeting with RACSS, the Legal Services Staff Section (LSSS) and the Legislative Research Virginia Librarians staff Section (LRL). Special Session Doesn’t Solve Transportation Woes RACSS, LSSS and LRL met jointly in 2005 in Chicago and E.M. Miller, Jr., Director found that there is a natural connection between the members of Division of Legislative Services, Virginia the three groups, because of the shared nature of the work of drafters, researchers and librarians. The evaluations from the 2005 joint meeting showed many The Commonwealth of Virginia is unique in many ways, one benefits in meeting together. There were also some good sug- being the fact that neither the State Senate, nor House of Del- gestions for making future joint meetings more effective for egates’ members were up for re-election this year. each of the staff sections. Those suggestions will be incorpo- It was an off election year; it was not, however, an off year of rated for the 2007 meeting. intrigue and debate. Virginia had a Special Session that lasted The biggest change will be in providing more individual from the end of the Regular Session in early March until mid time for each of the staff sections to meet. Preliminary plans call September. The big issue for the Special Session was transporta- for joint plenary programs but then each staff section will have tion. its own track for concurrent workshop sessions. Virginia has two largely populated areas—Northern Virginia, Officers from each of the staff sections will participate on a surrounding Washington, D.C., and Hampton Roads, comprising joint planning committee. A preliminary agenda should be avail- the cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, able in mid-Spring, 2007. If you have suggestions for programs Hampton and Newport News. for the meeting or any suggestions about the seminar, please These populated areas have significant transportation bottle- contact RACSS Chair Pat O’Grady at [email protected] or Jeanne necks with cars sitting on highways for sometimes more than Mejeur at [email protected]. thirty minutes without movement. The Hampton Roads area is divided by bays and rivers that make the cost of bridging and tunnelling even more prohibitive. The Special Session ended with no plan and a House and Senate divided on the methodology for addressing this daunting issue. The Senate preferred the tax route to increasing revenues largely from traditional user fees, while the House of Delegates preferred borrowing and the use of alternative resources such as private roads (tolls) and transportation partnerships. The legislative arena has become rather unpleasant with fig- ure pointing between members of the two houses and the Gover- nor, how has sided with the Senate position on funding, threaten- ing to throw political financial resources to prospective candidates willingly to go up against incumbents who are not willing to raise taxes to fund highway building. New Mexico State Capitol

10 | RACSS Newsletter | Fall 2006 RACSS Officers for 2006-2007

The 2006 Slate of Candidates was approved by members at Directors: the RACSS Business Meeting in Nashville, filling all vacancies Mark Mitchell on the RACSS Executive Committee. Legislative Analyst Pat O’Grady of Illinois assumes the office of chair, after serv- Legislative Research Commission, Kentucky ing a one-year term as Vice-chair, in accordance with the RACSS phone: (502) 564-8100 Bylaws. email: [email protected] E.M. Miller, Jr., of Virginia, was elected as vice-chair. E.M. will automatically become chair of RACSS at next year’s Annual Kirk Mlinek Meeting. Director Jamie Franklin, of Kentucky, becomes the Immediate Past Legislative Council, Colorado Chair of RACSS, serving a one-year term on the RACSS Execu- phone: (303) 866-4787 tive Committee. Jamie was also elected to a three-year term on email: [email protected] the NCSL Executive Committee. RACSS is pleased to have her represent the interests of legislative staff, and particularly RACSS Phil Price members, in the governance of NCSL. Committee Staff Administrator Pepper Sturm, of Nevada, and Dan Schmidt, of Wisconsin, Bureau of Legislative Research, Arkansas were elected to second two-year terms as directors on the RACSS phone: (501) 682-1937 Executive Committee. Kirk Mlinek, of Colorado, was elected to email: [email protected] his first term. Their terms will expire at the Annual Meeting in 2008. John Rappa Pepper, Dan and Kirk join John Rappa, of Connecticut, Mark Principal Research Analyst Mitchell, of Kentucky, and Phil Price, of Arkansas, in filling the Office of Legislative Research, Connecticut six director positions on the RACSS Executive Committee. John, phone: (860) 240-8400 Mark and Phil are in the second year of their terms, which will email: [email protected] expire at the Annual Meeting in 2007. Below is contact information for RACSS Officers and mem- Dan Schmidt bers of the Executive Committee. Senior Analyst Chair: Legislative Council, Wisconsin Patrick O’Grady phone: (608) 267-7251 Executive Director email: [email protected] Legislative Research Unit, Illinois phone: (217) 782-6851 Pepper Sturm email: [email protected] Chief Deputy Research Director Legislative Counsel Bureau, Nevada Vice-chair: phone: (775) 684-6825 E.M. Miller, Jr. email: [email protected] Director Division of Legislative Services, Virginia RACSS Secretary: phone: (804) 786-3591 Jeanne Mejeur email: [email protected] Program Director Legislative Information Services Immediate Past Chair: NCSL-Denver Jamie Jo Franklin phone: (303) 364-7700, x1467 Committee Staff Administrator email: [email protected] Legislative Research Commission, Kentucky phone: (502) 564-8100 email: [email protected]

RACSS Newsletter | Fall 2006 | 11 Chair’s Column, continued Calendar particularly good sources on them, that you can share. • What are other states doing on stem-cell research, especially 2007 RACSS Seminar state-funded on fetal stem cells? What are their laws, restric- RACSS, LSSS and LRL Joint Fall Seminar tions, guidelines, policies? September 9-12, 2007 • What are other states doing or contemplating concerning the Santa Fe, New Mexico sale or leasing of state assets such as a tollway, buildings, lottery, etc.? Spring Forum 2007 • Which other states are considering bills to require human April 19-21, 2007 papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination of girls, and what are the Washington, D.C. expected costs, guidelines, benefits? • What requirements do other states apply to the sale of public Fall Forum 2007 bonds to prevent enrichment of government “insiders” or November 26-December 1, 2007 friends in the financial industry? Do the requirements work? Phoenix, Arizona

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I invite comment. If Spring Forum 2008 there is enough interest, perhaps we can make such exhanges April 23-25, 2008 easier and more routine. Washington, D.C.

Pat O’Grady NCSL Annual Meetings RACSS Chair August 3-9, 2007 ...... Boston, MA July 20-27, 2008 ...... New Orleans, LA July 20-25,2009 ...... Philadelphia, PA July 25-Aug. 2, 2010 ...... Louisville, KY

RACSS Newsletter Research and Committee Staff Section National Conference of State Legislatures 7700 East First Place Denver, CO 80230

12 | RACSS Newsletter | Fall 2006