POLITICS & LEADERSHIP
Split decision on Ten Commandments

GOVERNORS
IA ex-cons regain voting rights
 

The week in session
Bird's eye view
Hot issues
In the Hopper
 
 
 

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) offers retailers the advantage of knowing everything there is to know about items bearing an RFID tag, from origin to purchaser. Which is exactly why some people hate them so much. 
 
 
 

RFID: Big Brother in your pants?

Whether the government should allow your underwear to spy on you may sound like a question for the tinfoil hat  brigade. But today, state lawmakers, Congress, civil  libertarians and big businesses alike are asking that very question. Most aren't wearing tinfoil hats. 

The technology prompting these questions is Radio Frequency Identification tags, or RFID. These tags are a small (usually four inches square, but some as small as a grain of rice) collection of wires and a memory chip that allows the chip wearer to be tracked wirelessly from a range of three inches to 33 feet, depending on the manufacturer. (Active tags with their own power supply have a much longer range.)

They can be affixed, sewn or otherwise incorporated into almost any product on the planet. They are cheap, with prices as low as 20 cents and dropping. The industry's goal is to get the cost below five cents a tag. 

If you need to track anything, RFID tags are a boon. You aim a handheld reader that sends out a signal. Any tag that receives the signal gets enough power from it to send a reply containing the data that is encoded on the chip. 

What is encoded on the chip depends on the application. It could be everything you want to know about the history of a case of Coke, key elements of your medical history or the total chain of ownership of a cow from conception to slaughter.

Retailers and clients can use the tags to keep hyper-accurate track of items in the supply chain. In an era of "just-in-time" inventory, this allows for a streamlined supply pipeline, greatly reducing costs.

Sounds great. So what's the problem? To see the potentially nightmarish future, rent Minority Report. Tom Cruise is on the run with a false identity. He walks into a Gap store and the holographic salesgirl says happily "Good afternoon, Mr. Yakamoto, How did you like that three-pack of tank tops you bought last time you were in?"

"There's not much of a concern about your Campbell's soup can, but there's probably a very big concern about your Calvin Klein sweatshirt or Benetton underwear," says Katherine Albrecht, Founder and Director of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN). "RFID can be read remotely right through the things we rely on to protect our privacy like our backpack, briefcase or clothes. Reading devices in floors, carpeting, doorways give you a hidden frisk down to the size and color of underwear."

"On a pair of shoes, each shoe could carry a RFID tag (with a unique number) sandwiched in the sole. Retailers can already discern information about my shoe size, my activities, my taste, but it doesn't tell them where I go. If you're able to capture that number at the point of sale and link it with Katherine Albrecht, at any time in the future anywhere in the planet [if I was near a scanner], you'd see the unique number and know that I just walked past." 

A lot of those in the $2 billion RFID industry don't see a problem.

"The marketing scenario is completely absurd. Nike is the only one who knows who you are and they're not going to tell anybody," says Mark Roberti, founder and editor of RFID Journal, an online publication that strongly advocates for RFID's many business uses. "The idea that they would sell or share that information is an extremely unlikely scenario. It is ludicrous. The problem with most of the people on the privacy side of the argument is that a lot of their arguments defy business logic."

Of course, some might take issue with any company having their personal information, regardless of the company's willingness to share it with others. But Roberti doesn't think that infrastructure is set up to have salespeople act on a customer's history. And if a company automated its stores à la Minority Report, he believes there would be a consumer backlash. 

Roberti does concede that critics have some valid fears when it comes to RFID being placed in driver's licenses. "The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse makes a good point when they say that even an encrypted RFID tag broadcasts a unique number. Let's say I go to a political rally protesting against the government and some agent scans the RFID tag in my license," says Roberti. "Now I go to the airport and I present my driver's license to get on the plane. Now you say this number belongs to Mark Roberti and we saw the same number at the rally, therefore Mark Roberti opposes the government [and they don't let me on the plane]."

"That's a legitimate concern," says Roberti. "Some people both right and left wing don't trust the government and think that's a bad idea."

Roberti, however, doesn't believe the time is right for legislation. "We're talking about passing a law based on a fantastical scenario dreamt up by people who are concerned about this," he says. "If there is a problem, passing a law makes sense, but if there isn't, why pass a law?"

When the State Department announced that they wanted to put RFID tags in passports, it became easy to envision a terrorist with a handheld scanner gunning for Americans and snatching or killing any he found.

"The State Department received more comments on this issue than any other in Department history. All but a couple were negative. People don't want this," says Bill Scannell, privacy consultant, activist and founder of RFIDkills.com, a decidedly anti-RFID Web site.

Then the concept evolved. Fearing wholesale wireless ransacking of Americans' passports abroad, the State Department revised the proposed design to include metal threads woven into the passport cover that would act like a "Faraday Cage" blocking signals from leaking out unless it was opened. When people still objected, the proposal said that all the data would be encrypted and range would be limited to four inches. 

The Bush administration's RealID program will mandate standards for state issued identification cards such as driver's licenses by 2008. Part of the provision is that RealIDs must have some form of contactless interface. 

The smart money is betting on RFID because optical barcodes can't hold as much data. RFID cards could hold photos, biometric information and more.

But the public is leery of wireless tracking, regardless of format. In February, for instance, elementary school officials in Sutter, CALIFORNIA issued RFID cards to automatically take attendance and otherwise track students on campus. Irate parents and the ACLU immediately complained, citing privacy issues, leading to the system's removal. This and similar incidents have prompted some groups to lobby for RFID legislation.

Lawmakers are getting in on the act, too. Nationally, the highest profile bill is California's SB 682,which passed through the Senate with bipartisan support. The measure would ban state and local governments from including RFID (or other contactless) tags in state-issued documents such as licenses, student or library cards, etc. The government can issue RFID cards if the cards don't broadcast data (like the cardholder's name, address etc.). Instead, they would broadcast a unique encrypted identifier number that can only be read by an authorized machine. The bill would also make it "a serious misdemeanor" for a person to read or attempt to read an identification document without the owner's knowledge.

Senate Bill 682 echoes proposals found in other states -- RHODE ISLAND (HB 5929) and TEXAS (HB 2953) -- that would restrict the use of RFID to track students in public schools. Similarly restrictive bills have failed in SOUTH DAKOTA (HB 1114 & 1136), as did a NEW MEXICO bill (HB 215) that called for the removal of RFID tags at the point of purchase. A MARYLAND bill (HB 354) seeking an RFID taskforce was also voted down, as were bills in three states -- MONTANA (SB 429), NEVADA (AB 264) and MISSOURI (SB 128) -- seeking to force retailers to post signs informing customers about the use of RFID tags have failed. 

Four more states are still wrestling with RFID notification bills: NEW HAMPSHIRE (LSR 64), TENNESSEE (HB 300 and SB 699), MASSACHUSETTS (SB 1459) and NEVADA (AB 264). So far, however, RFID supporters there have managed to stave off regulation.

"In the early phases they didn't go through because lobbyists told lawmakers that it was too early to legislate," says Albrecht. "After they had managed to get a couple of states to reject them on those grounds, then they were able to tell the subsequent states, `oh you don't want to legislate that, it's already been rejected by other states so you don't want to change the trend here.'"

But, Albrecht warns, the political environment surrounding the issue may be about to change.

"Labeling is an absolute minimum. If the industry continues to resist labeling legislation, they're probably going to get something much worse from their perspective," she warns. "Maybe outright bans on certain applications of RFID."

Industry officials say that the new Electronic Product Code RFID specification will allow consumers to kill the tag at the point of sale. 

Albrecht believes that the "kill" code only makes the RFID dormant and another signal could reactivate it. 

"The only option for deactivating your underwear is microwaving it," warns Albrecht. "But there's a good chance it would burst into flames." 
 

-- DON LIPPER

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Bird's eye view

States still thin on obesity legislation

According to the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, childhood obesity has doubled in the United States over the last three decades. The result has been a similar rise among adolescents in weight-related illnesses like Type 2 diabetes and hypertension. State lawmakers have considered many remedies for this problem, most notably limiting the sale of junk food in schools. But according to a recent report from the University of Baltimore, states have not done nearly enough. That study gives each state a letter grade based on its efforts to pass legislation addressing eight specific obesity control measures, from limiting school junk food to expanding health insurance to cover obesity treatment. Only CALIFORNIA received an "A" grade for its efforts, while six states received an "F" grade. The accompanying map shows the grade for each state. The full report can be viewed at http://www.ubalt.edu/experts/obesity/. 
 

-- By RICH EHISEN

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Budget & taxes

STATES EMPLOYING QUESTIONABLE MEDICAID TACTICS: The growing practice among states of using consultants to help them maximize their federal Medicaid reimbursements is driving up the cost of the program, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. GAO investigators said consultants, which roughly two-thirds of the states now utilize, often employ "questionable billing practices" to obtain more federal Medicaid dollars, and are actually encouraged to do so by the contingency fee system under which they are increasingly being paid. According to Kathryn G. Allen, director of health care issues for the agency, "As of 2004, 34 states -- up from 10 states in 2002 -- used contingency-fee consultants" to boost their Medicaid reimbursements. William C. Copeland, a consultant for the state of GEORGIA, said the reason states hire Medicaid consultants is because "the program is large, complex and incoherent, and most states cannot afford to hire all the full-time experts they need to unravel the complexities." But another reason is clearly the size of the return states receive on their investment. For instance, in exchange for the $82 million it paid in consultant contingency fees, Georgia obtained an additional $1.5 billion in federal Medicaid reimbursements between 2000 and 2004. Allen said the federal government bears some of the responsibility for the growing trend. "A lack of oversight and clear guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has allowed states to develop new financing methods that generate additional federal costs," she said. The GAO also said that the federal government's practice of negotiating with individual states has led to wide variations in policy from state to state, rather than clear uniform national standards. The comments of U.S. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-IOWA), the chairman of the Finance Committee who requested the GAO study, suggest that things might soon change. Congress and federal Medicaid officials have "an obligation to establish clear-cut ground rules and make sure they're followed," he said. (NEW YORK TIMES) 

BUDGETS IN BRIEF: The PENNSYLVANIA Supreme Court upheld the state's new slot machine law, Act 71, last week. Gambling opponents had challenged the statute, which allows up to 61,000 slot machines at 14 casinos around the state, mainly on the grounds that it violated the state Constitution's single subject requirement. The court ruled, however, that the act's various provisions were unified by a single subject: "the regulation of gambling" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE). * MISSISSIPPI lawmakers convened in special session last Tuesday to consider Gov. Haley Barbour's (R) economic development package, Momentum Mississippi, which did not come up for a vote in the House during the regular session. In a press conference held the day before the session began, Barbour said he expects it to be successful, by which he meant it would "accomplish the ends and do it in a brief time" (ASSOCIATED PRESS, COMMERCIAL APPEAL [MEMPHIS]). * SOUTH CAROLINA's largest religious group -- the Southern Baptists -- have volunteered to help police track down illegal gambling machines in the state. The group will post pictures of illegal machines on its Web site and encourage its 725,000 members and 2,000 churches to report any of the machines they find to a central office in Columbia (ASSOCIATED PRESS, POST AND COURIER [CHARLESTON]). * State tax officials in SOUTH DAKOTA have initiated a crackdown on Coyote State churches for failing to pay use taxes on candles, Bibles, song books and other liturgical items purchased out of state. The Department of Revenue and Regulation says it is merely enforcing a law that has been on the books since 1939 (ARGUS LEADER [SIOUX FALLS]). * A federal court hearing began last week in TENNESSEE that could determine whether 97,000 of the sickest enrollees in TennCare will be allowed to remain in the program. Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) has proposed limiting benefits for a larger number of enrollees, in exchange for reducing the number that would be completely cut from the program from 323,000 to 226,000 (TENNESSEAN [NASHVILLE]). 
 

-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK

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Politics & leadership

SPLIT DECISION ON TEN COMMANDMENTS: The U.S. Supreme Court last week handed down decisions in two separate cases regarding the display of the Ten Commandments in government buildings. One of the cases came from KENTUCKY, where two county courthouses had prominently displayed copies of the Ten Commandments, spurring a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union. The other involved a 6-foot granite monument on the grounds of the TEXAS state Capitol building. In the Kentucky case, the justices ruled 5-4 that the Ten Commandments displays violated the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment prohibition against government sponsorship of religion. In the Texas case, the high court ruled in another 5-4 decision -- with one justice, the liberal-leaning Stephen Breyer, having switched sides -- that the Ten Commandments monument, as part of larger historical display that included 17 monuments and 22 historical markers, did not violate the Establishment Clause. Legal experts say rather than settling the long-standing debate over the issue, the rulings have merely opened the door to more litigation. According to court documents, at least 41 states have Ten Commandments displays, located mostly outside city halls and county courthouses. And last week's rulings provide no "bright line" for determining when those displays are historical and when they are overtly religious (although states might find a useful defense in the fact that a number of the monuments were evidently installed to promote the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille film, "The Ten Commandments," starring Charlton Heston.) Matters aren't any less complicated for displays inside government buildings, with the justices having pointed out that unlike the displays of the Decalogue in the Kentucky courthouses, the frieze in the Supreme Court chamber depicting Moses holding the Ten Commandments is not inherently unconstitutional. And with MISSISSIPPI Gov. Haley Barbour (R) having just signed a new law in April allowing religious displays in public buildings starting this month -- and several other states, including FLORIDA, INDIANA, MICHIGAN, OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA and UTAH, considering similar legislation -- the high court may soon find itself very busy. (STATELINE.ORG, NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST) 

KS CONSERVATIVES DERAIL SPECIAL SESSION: KANSAS lawmakers convened in special session on June 22 to determine how to respond to an order from the state Supreme Court to provide more money for public schools. (See COURT RULING SPARKS CONTROVERSY IN KS in June 13 State Net Capitol Journal.) But deliberations were brought to a halt last week when it became clear that the only response some of the more conservative members of the GOP-controlled Legislature were willing to consider was a constitutional amendment limiting the power of the courts. On Friday the 24th, just two days into the session, the Senate passed an amendment (SCR 1603) that would bar the courts from meddling with legislative appropriations. The following Sunday, Democrats and moderate Republicans blocked passage of the measure in the House, and vowed to block any attempt to revive it. "We're vacillating between `no' and `hell no,'" said House Minority Leader Dennis McKinny (D). But the conservatives assumed just as hard a line, House Speaker Doug Mays (R), stating, "Nothing's going to pass until a constitutional amendment does." What has Republicans so fired up is not only their feeling that the Supreme Court has overstepped its constitutional bounds in ordering the Legislature to appropriate more money for education, but that the court is a threat to all of the progress the GOP has made in lowering taxes and cutting spending in the Sunflower State over the last decade. "It's as if elections didn't happen for the past 10 years," said Sen. Tim Huelskamp (R). "People who want high taxes and unlimited spending lost nearly every election, and now the courts are stepping in." Viewing their position from that perspective, conservative holdouts aren't likely to give in, despite a revised government economic forecast indicating that the state will have enough money to meet the court order without having to raise taxes or take some other action that would be particularly unpalatable to them. (ASSOCIATED PRESS, KANSAS CITY STAR, LAWRENCE JOURNAL WORLD) 

SINE DIE: At a press conference following the conclusion of his state's 2005 legislative session, ALASKA Gov. Frank Murkowski (R) said he thought the session was a success, and he praised lawmakers for what he considered to be some of their top achievements: increasing funding for education, changing the state's retirement system to create 401(k)-style investment accounts for new employees, and drawing on the revenue windfall that resulted from elevated oil prices last year to provide money for capital construction projects. Some of the lawmakers, themselves, however, didn't view the year in quite the same light. On top of their gripe that the session drug on two weeks longer than scheduled, they complained that too much of the state's oil windfall was already spent; that changes to the retirement system don't do anything to diminish the state's current $5.7 billion in unfunded liability; and that despite the resignation of the state's attorney general earlier this year over alleged ethics violations, they didn't manage to pass ethics reforms (ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS). * CONNECTICUT lawmakers started off the 2005 session strong, with the passage of ethics reforms in the wake of former Gov. John Rowland's ethics scandal. And the General Assembly hit a couple of other high notes as the session progressed, becoming the first legislative body in the nation to allow civil unions for same sex couples and the third to provide funding for stem cell research. But despite those accomplishments, the state's new governor, M. Jodi Rell (R), was irate that lawmakers, despite substantial bi-partisan support,  failed to pass both her transportation improvement initiative and the campaign finance reforms that everyone agreed were critical to curb the abuses that characterized the Rowland years (HARTFORD-WTNH, FAIRFIELD COUNTY WEEKLY). * Despite its closely-divided legislature (a narrow 51-49 Republican majority in the House and an even 25-25 split in the Senate), IOWA managed to get some significant things done this year. Lawmakers provided increased funding for education, from preschools to community colleges; new restrictions on the sale and use of methamphetamine; and the toughest sex offender law in the country, described by Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) as "Two strikes and you're in for life." In addition, the Legislature passed Medicaid reform legislation that could serve as a model for other states, and strengthened Vilsack's economic development program for state-based businesses, the Iowa Values Fund (GLOBE GAZETTE [MASON CITY], RADIO IOWA). * LOUISIANA's 2005 legislative session, which ended June 23, was a rough one for Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D). Although the governor succeeded in obtaining passage of a tax on private and community hospitals to fund care for the poor and uninsured, and to bolster the state's Medicaid program, the session was dominated by the battle over Blanco's proposed $1-per-pack tax increase on cigarettes to pay for teacher raises, which ultimately went down to defeat. And that failure came after resistance to other tax hikes the governor had proposed -- on alcohol and video poker -- forced her to abandon them in favor of the cigarette tax alone. On top of that, after higher oil prices produced a revised state economic forecast that projected the state would take in an additional $360 million in the current and upcoming fiscal years, lawmakers reversed some of Blanco's economic reforms, including major cuts to grant funds she'd derided as "slush funds." Some observers said the governor's difficulties this year were the result of a concerted effort on the part of the Republican minorities in both houses to oppose her agenda, which they called a first for a Capitol where personal and regional alliances have traditionally mattered more than party affiliation. "It's the first time that I can remember that normal, two-party partisan politics had emerged so clearly in this Legislature," said Louisiana State University political science professor Wayne Parent. Whether the partisanship will continue next session -- and 2005 comes to be known as the year partisan politics came to the Pelican State -- won't be known until next year. But with about two-thirds of the Legislature up for re-election in 2007, due to term limits, the chances are pretty good (ASSOCIATED PRESS, TUSCALOOSA NEWS, TIMES-PICAYUNE (NEW ORLEANS). 
 

-- Compiled by KOREY CLARK

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IOWA EX-CONS REGAIN VOTING RIGHTS: Citing "a disproportionate impact on minorities," IOWA Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) will issue an executive order this week that restores voting privileges to as many as 50,000 convicted Hawkeye State felons. The plan offers blanket restoration of voting rights to those that have already completed their sentences, and will routinely re-grant voting privileges to others as their sentences come to a close. The order will also allow former convicts to run for public office. Vilsack's decision to sign Executive Order 42 on Independence Day received praise from prisoner rights advocates, church groups and African-American leaders, but drew immediate fire from Republican Sen. Chuck Larson, who accused Vilsack of "making criminals' rights far more important than victims' rights." Larson also charged that Vilsack's order will relieve felons from paying tens of millions of dollars in fines and restitution to Iowa crime victims. That drew the ire of the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault, which said that while it supports Vilsack's order in general, the organization believes "payment of restitution, fines and other obligations" to crime victims should take precedence over returning voter rights. Vilsack, however, insists felons will still be required to fulfill all financial obligations to their victims. (DES MOINES REGISTER) 

PEOPLE TO GOVS: DON'T CUT MEDICAID! A new poll from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a CALIFORNIA-based non-profit that focuses on health care issues, indicates that Americans overwhelmingly oppose cuts to the federal-state Medicaid program as a way to balance state budgets. Seventy-four percent of those surveyed said they oppose such cuts, while over half vigorously disagree with many of the reforms recently proposed to Congress by the National Governors Association, including charging higher co-pays for office visits and limiting the number of prescription drugs the plan covers. Governors Mark Warner (D) of VIRGINIA and Mike Huckabee (R) of ARKANSAS have also suggested curtailing the ability of elderly people to transfer wealth and assets to family members or trusts in order to qualify for Medicaid coverage. (STATELINE.ORG)

GOVERNATOR MAY NOT "BE BACK" IN `06: CALIFORNIA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) continues to learn that in politics, what goes up usually must come down. After an initial wave of popularity that saw him garner approval ratings as high as 65 percent, things have turned rocky for the former movie hero (see May 9 2005 State Net Capitol Journal). A series of high-profile clashes with Democrats and unions for teachers, nurses and firefighters have stalled his once seemingly unstoppable momentum, and now a recent California Field poll shows two potential Democratic challengers -- state treasurer Phil Angelides and controller Steve Westly -- have surged ahead of him should he decide to run again in 2006. Schwarzenegger has yet to say if he even intends to seek another term, but Todd Harris, one of the governor's campaign advisors, left no doubt what he thinks about the latest poll numbers. "I am paying about as much attention to these poll numbers as I am to Tom Cruise's lectures about religion, which is to say none," said Harris. (SACRAMENTO BEE)

KENTUCKY AG QUESTIONS FLETCHER HIRING CHANGES: KENTUCKY Attorney General Greg Stumbo (D) has opened a grand jury investigation into changes ordered by Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) to the Bluegrass State's merit system for hiring state workers. That system ranks applicants based on two criteria -- training and experience and how they score on a state personnel test for open positions, with the top five candidates eligible for hire in the order of their ranking. But Fletcher says merit rankings are restrictive and has ordered approximately 132 job categories to be changed to "qualifying" status, which does not require testing and does not rank candidates. That constitutes about 9 percent of the state's 1,446 job categories, roughly 2,000 total jobs. Critics say Fletcher's real motive is to make it easier to fill those jobs with friends, family and political allies ahead of candidates often more qualified to do the work. Stumbo's investigation originally concentrated hiring in the state's Transportation Cabinet, but has now expanded to the Justice Cabinet's Office of Drug Policy and the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet. (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER)

GOVERNORS IN BRIEF: ARIZONA Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) said she does not plan to hand off power to Sect. Of State Jan Brewer (R) while she is vacationing in Europe for two weeks this month. Although the state constitution says gubernatorial powers devolve to the officeholder next in line in the absence of the governor, Napolitano contends that since modern technology allows her to stay in constant contact with state officials, being out of the country does not necessarily constitute "absence" (ARIZONA DAILY STAR [TUCSON]). * A new Quinnipiac University poll indicates that 58 percent of participants believe FLORIDA Gov. Jeb Bush's (R) involvement in the Terry Schiavo case was more about politics than sincere conviction. That same poll also showed that while 49 percent approve of Bush's job performance, 70 percent say he should not run for president in 2008 (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES). * CONNECTICUT Gov. M. Jodi Rell (R) vetoed a bill that would have required the executive branch of the Constitution State government to issue a written impact statement to the legislature before it could lay off state employees if those layoffs would affect more than 5 percent of an agency's staff. Rell called the measure "too far reaching" (HARTFORD COURANT). * MASSACHUSETTS Gov. Mitt Romney (R) proposed requiring all Bay State residents to have some form of health insurance or agree to pay their medical bills out of their own pockets. Uninsured people would face tax penalties and garnishment of their wages for unpaid medical bills (BOSTON GLOBE).  

-- Compiled by RICH EHISEN

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UPCOMING STORIES

Here are some of the stories you will see in the upcoming issues of the 
State Net Capitol Journal: 

Medical marijuana - where to from here?

Eminent Domain - What will states do now?

Tracking the progress of the year's biggest legislative issues

And many more...

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BUSINESS: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that local governments can use the power of eminent domain to legally seize homes and businesses against the will of the owners for the sake of private development. The ruling upholds an earlier CONNECTICUT Supreme Court ruling that will allow a Fort Trumbull neighborhood to be seized in order to make way for a private office complex and deluxe condominiums (ASSOCIATED PRESS). *  RHODE ISLAND Gov. Don Carcieri (R) vetoes legislation that would have eventually raised the Ocean State's minimum wage from $6.75 to $7.40 per hour (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL). * The OREGON Senate endorses a proposal to require all cigarettes sold in the Beaver State to be "fire-safe," meaning they will self-extinguish if not being smoked. It now moves to the House (GAZETTE-TIMES [CORVALLIS]). * A CALIFORNIA Assembly committee kills SB 852, a measure that would have extended a Golden State statute that requires companies to inform customers of any personal electronic data breaches to also cover paper records and data tapes (SACRAMENTO BEE). * FLORIDA Gov. Jeb Bush (R) vetoes SB 1146, which would have required an independent commission to approve any government contract worth more than $1 million if the services the private vendor provides are to be outsourced (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES). 

CRIME & PUNISHMENT: The CALIFORNIA Supreme Court rules that current Golden State sentencing guidelines do not grant lower court judges too much power over the defendant or the jury. The ruling rebukes a challenge that could have forced the resentencing of thousands of prisoners (LOS ANGELES TIMES). * The OREGON House endorses a measure that would mandate the posting of the names and pictures of dangerous sex offenders on a state-run Web site. The proposal goes to the Senate (GAZETTE-TIMES [CORVALLIS]). * A NEW JERSEY Assembly committee approves a bill that would require the most dangerous sex offenders to wear a satellite-monitored electronic ankle bracelet 24 hours a day. It moves to the full Assembly (TRENTON TIMES). * TEXAS Gov. Rick Perry (R) signs SB 60, which creates the sentence of life without parole for capital crimes committed in the Lone Star State (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN). 

EDUCATION: Several major national magazines, including Time, Newsweek, People and Sports Illustrated, agree to eliminate tobacco ads in their school library editions nationwide. Tobacco ads are already banned in classroom editions (VIRGINIAN-PILOT [NORFOLK]). * TENNESSEE Gov. Phil Bredesen (D) signs legislation that requires all Volunteer State schools to develop anti-bullying policies by Jan 1 2006. The policy must address bullying both on school grounds and at bus stops or other school events (COMMERCIAL APPEAL [MEMPHIS]). * OREGON Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D) signs SB 755, which requires school districts to make public the disciplinary records of employees convicted of sexually abusing students (STATESMAN JOURNAL [SALEM]). 

ENVIRONMENT: A federal appeals court upholds a district court ruling that bans the use of pesticides near streams in WASHINGTON, OREGON and  CALIFORNIA. The lower court ruled in 2004 that no-spray buffer zones be established near rivers that hold endangered salmon, but the federal Environmental Protection Agency challenged that ruling. The EPA has not said if it will pursue the matter further (SEATTLE TIMES). * The OREGON Senate signs off on a measure that would allow the state to develop "community forest authorities" which would buy parcels of private forestland for conservation purposes. It moves to Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D), who has said he will sign it into law (GAZETTE-TIMES [CORVALLIS]). 

HEALTH & SCIENCE: Citing "serious safety flaws," RHODE ISLAND Gov. Don Carcieri (R) vetoes legislation that legalizes the medical use of marijuana in the Ocean State. The Ocean State Senate immediately overrode Carcieri's veto. The measure now heads to the House for a potential override vote this week (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL). * The DELAWARE House shelves until next year a measure that would have permitted embryonic stem cell research in the First State (NEWS JOURNAL [DOVER]). * MISSOURI Gov. Matt Blunt (R) signs SB 74, which bans all but a trace amount of mercury in any vaccine given to pregnant women or toddlers (JEFFERSON CITY NEWS TRIBUNE). * The PENNSYLVANIA House approves legislation that would require Keystone State personal care homes to run criminal background checks on every person working in the facility. That history would be made available to anyone considering living in the home. It moves to the Senate (PATRIOT-NEWS [HARRISBURG]). 

HOMELAND SECURITY: A CALIFORNIA Senate committee approves legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain a driver's license. Lawmakers passed the measure in spite of a request from the federal Dept. of Homeland security to wait until they establish the requirements for such licenses. It must now clear another committee (SACRAMENTO BEE). 

SOCIAL POLICY: The CALIFORNIA Supreme Court refuses to hear a challenge to the Golden State's domestic partners benefits law. That statute grants domestic partners many of the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. Critics challenged the law, saying it violates the spirit of Proposition 22, which limits marriage to being only between one man and one woman (LOS ANGELES TIMES). 

POTPOURRI: A CALIFORNIA Assembly committee approves SB 861, which would grant local municipalities the right to pass breeding restrictions on some kinds of dogs by mandating that owners of potentially dangerous dogs spay or neuter their pet. The measure was introduced after several recent serious attacks by pit bulls, including one that killed a 12-year-old boy in San Francisco (SACRAMENTO BEE). 
 
 

-- Compiled by RICH EHISEN

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UPCOMING ELECTIONS (06/29/2005 - 07/20/2005)

07/09/2005 Louisiana  Special General
     Senate  006

07/19/2005 Alabama  Special Election
     House  072

07/19/2005 Pennsylvania  Special Election
     House  131

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CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Jeff Kropf has two jobs, and it is unclear at this point which one he considers his top priority. Kropf, a Republican, serves in the OREGON House. He also is a part time employee of KXL Radio, where he hosts a weekend talk show. Last week, reports the Salem Statesman Journal, Kropf was a fill-in for another talk-show host whose gig runs daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. -- a time that often conflicts with Kropf's duties as a legislator. For instance, he missed a key committee vote because he was on the air, earning Kropf an "unexcused absence" from House Speaker Karen Minnis. And why was the Republican speaker so unsympathetic to Kropf's situation? The committee vote was on a bill that represents the speaker's top legislative priority -- and it failed for lack of one -- Kropf's -- vote.

THE BUDDY SYSTEM: On the surface, it sounds like one of those tidy theoretical solutions that work very well on paper but don't pass a real-world smell test. As the Chicago Tribune reports, ILLINOIS lawmakers recently passed a bill that would allow some suburbs to meet affordable-housing requirements if the housing in question is built in a neighboring suburb. In other words, upscale 'burbs such as Barrington could pawn affordable housing off on, say, Skokie. Sound plausible? Yes, until you talk with officials from Skokie. Says the Skokie mayor: "We've met the [affordable housing] target, and I don't know why we would be building affordable housing in our community to benefit communities that haven't done it." Why, indeed.

USE IT, BUT WISELY: When it comes to conservative states, UTAH ranks in the top 10. And when it comes to conservative wish lists, tax cuts supposedly rank in the top three. A myth? Apparently, it is in the Beehive State, reports the Deseret Morning News. According to a recent poll, Utahans want the state to spend a record tax surplus on current state programs -- and not return it in the form of a tax cut. The Utah Tax Commission reported that the state is flush with nearly a $500 million surplus from all accounts for the 2004-2005 fiscal year, but 63 percent of poll respondents said the money should go for roads, schools and health care for the needy -- and not back into their own pockets. Only 29 percent strongly favored a cut.

ARE WE STILL LIVE? Rick Perry likely will ask that question from now on. The TEXAS governor recently found out that the answer could make a world of difference. As the Dallas Morning News reports, Perry sat through a round of one-on-one TV interviews to pump up his education plan but was sparing when it came to details of the proposal, which was not scheduled for release until the day after the interviews. One reporter repeatedly pressed Perry for details, and was repeatedly rebuffed, and so concluded the interview by saying, "Try as I may, governor, I guess I can't win this one." Perry, thinking the ordeal was over, turned away from the camera and, in what sounded like a mocking tone, repeated, "Try as I may, governor, I'm just not going to wait that long -" As though disdain wasn't enough, the governor concluded with, "Adios, mo-fo." Perry subsequently apologized but tried -- less than heroically -- to defuse the remarks by saying they had been directed at a press aide. 

WE COULD DELETE THAT PROVISION. The contract still is in negotiation and one piece of the deal could be reworked, thanks to public grumpiness on the part of a Republican state senator. According to the La Crosse Tribune, a WISCONSIN public-affairs network wants to provide C-Span-like coverage of Badger State government. But Sen. Cathy Stepp objected -- in the media -- when she learned that all 33 state Senate offices would receive new plasma televisions as part of the deal. A spokesman for the Senate majority leader, who is negotiating with WisconsinEye Public Affairs Network, immediately backtracked, saying that the overall contract is still being sorted out. Translation: We've been busted.
 

-- By A.G. BLOCK

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Editor: Rich Ehisen
Associate Editor: Korey Clark
Contributing Editor: A.G. Block
Editorial Advisor: Lou Cannon 
Correspondents: Richard Cox (CA), Steve Karas (CA), 
Bruce McKeeman (CA), Linda Mendenhall (IL), 
Lauren King (MA) and Ben Livingood (PA) 
Design: Richard Hansen, Heather Conway 

Copyright 2005 State Net
ISSN: 1521-8449