The Midwestern Office of The Council of State Governments Volume 16, Number 7 • July 2007

Stateline Midwest

8ProfileFeature article on Nebraska Senator Ray Aguilar

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6

3Feature StoryChanging times: CSG study examines 10 trends transforming government, society

54

2Around the RegionState trends in K-12 spending; states dip into future tobacco settlement money

Feature StoryPower of the farm bill: Proposals call for greater emphasis on renewable energy

Stateline Midwest is published monthly by the Midwestern Office of The Council of State Governments. Annual subscription rate: $60. To order, call 1-800-800-1910.

CSG Midwestern Office StaffMichael H. McCabe, Director

Tim Anderson, Publications ManagerCindy Andrews, Assistant Director Ilene K. Grossman, Assistant DirectorLaura Kliewer, Senior Policy

In advance of this year’s presidential primaries and caucuses, several states have decided to move up the date when voters choose their parties’ nominees for president. This “front loading” by states has added to concerns about how nominees are selected and has fueled talk about the need to reform the system. Under one plan, proposed by the National Association of Secretaries of State, a system of four rotating regional primaries would be used to choose the parties’ presidential nominees.

(Please turn to page 7)

Stateline Midwest is published monthly by the Midwestern Office of The Council of State Governments. Annual subscription rate: $60. To order, call 630-925-1922.

CSG Midwestern Office StaffMichael H. McCabe, Director

Laura Kliewer, Senior Policy Analyst Gail Meyer, Office Manager Kathryn Schneider, Policy Analyst/Assistant EditorLaura A. Tomaka, Senior Program Manager Kathy Treland, Administrative AssistantSarah Wochos, Policy Analyst

Tim Anderson, Publications ManagerCindy Calo Andrews, Assistant DirectorStacie Fallon, Policy AnalystIlene K. Grossman, Assistant DirectorJesse Heier, MGA Washington, D.C., DirectorLisa R. Janairo, Senior Policy Analyst

by Tim Anderson (tanderson@csg.org)

For all the traveling that presidential candidates will do in the months ahead, stops in Kansas likely will be few and far between.

“I would at least like to see some candidates in the neighborhood,” Republican Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh says.

But he doesn’t expect it to happen.

As has been the case in previous years, his state will be ignored during the 2008 nomination process. Kansans have gotten used to the cold shoulder — so much so that the state hasn’t even bothered holding a presidential primary since 1992.

“I think the average voter here has kind of written off the nomination process,” Thorn-burgh says. “There’s no use in caring about something you don’t have any control over.”

For Thornburgh and other state election lead-ers, the voter disenfranchisement that exists under the current system is unacceptable. He and others also say the nomination process will be even worse this time around.

Several states whose voters haven’t had a say in recent presidential-nomination cycles have decided to make 2008 different.

This year, several state legislatures and party leaders (including in Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota) either have moved or are expected to move their primaries and caucuses up to early February.

As a result, elections expert Tova Andrea Wang says, the nomination process will ef-fectively end about six months before the party conventions and nine months before the actual vote for president.

This “front-loading” of contests by states, she adds, will have several unwelcome effects on the process.

“For one, only the well-known candidates with a lot of resources can survive,” says Wang, a democracy fellow at The Century Foundation. “The process doesn’t allow other candidates to catch fire among voters and build momentum.”

Between February and the party conventions, Wang adds, the nominees likely will spend more time raising money than discussing and debating key national issues. All the while, too, voter fatigue could set in and adversely impact turnout in November.

Thornburgh worries, too, about the potential for “buyer’s remorse” among voters in both parties.

“Americans can’t decide what kind of ice cream we like for 10 months, let alone a presidential can-didate,” he says. “We’re going to be sick to death of both parties’ nomi-nees by the time November runs around.”

Regional primaries proposedConcerns about limiting voters’ choices of candidates, disenfranchising a large part of the U.S. electorate and lengthening the campaign season have intensified during the current presidential-nomination cycle.

“After this year, I think there will be another round of trying to reform and come up with rules that improve the system for 2012,” Wang says.

But whether anything will get done remains to be seen.

For several years, Thornburgh and his fellow secretaries of state have been pushing for an overhaul of the current system.

They would like it replaced with a rotating regional system of primaries in which different

Primary concern ‘Front loading’ by states adds to unease about nominating process

Inside This Issue

Feature Story REAL ID, real concerns: Opposition in states mounts over federal proposal

Feature Story Protecting patients: Lawmakers seek to limit cases of hospital-acquired infections

MLC Issue BriefsCarbon credit program in North Dakota; wind power capacity in the Midwest

CSG News & EventsRenowned speakers, policy sessions on key regional issues highlight MLC meeting

FirstPersonIllinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross: States can do more to make schools safe

Ron Thornburgh

July 20072Stateline

Per-pupil spending on K-12 education is less than the national average in a majority of Mid-western states, which also tend to rely more heavily on local revenue to fund their elementary and local schools, federal statistics show.

The U.S. Census Bureau released “Public Educa-tion Finances: 2005” in late May.

The report provides comprehensive data on K-12 spending and revenue in all 50 states. Data from past years also are available on the federal agen-cy’s Web site, allowing policymakers, researchers and educators to track fiscal trends in education.

The most recent report, along with statistics from the studies of previous years, can be accessed at www.census.gov/govs/www/school.html.

Here are some of the findings:

• Per-pupil spending in the United States reached $8,701 during the 2004-’05 school year, an increase of 5 percent over the previous year. In the Midwest, per-pupil expenditures are higher

Trends in school finance focus of federal study

than the national average in five states — Illi-nois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

• Between 1995 and 2005, per-pupil spend-ing in this region increased by as much as 82.4 percent (North Dakota) and by as little as 42.0 percent (Michigan). The average U.S. increase over that 10-year period was 58.4 percent. Along with North Dakota, four other states in the Midwest — Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and South Dakota — outpaced the national rise in per-pupil spending.

• The federal government is becoming a more significant revenue source for the nation’s K-12 schools, jumping from 6.6 percent of total revenue in 1995 to 9.1 percent in 2005.

• Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota are three of only five U.S. states where local rev-enue sources make up 60 percent or more of the total revenue for K-12 schools. Conversely, state sources make up 66.6 percent of the total amount going to elementary and secondary education in Michigan, the fourth-highest percentage in the nation.

• Between 1995 and 2005, the state’s percentage share of total revenue for K-12 schools grew in five Midwestern states — Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The lure of money from states’ 1998 settlement with tobacco companies is having significant policy implications this year in two Midwestern states.

In Ohio, lawmakers have agreed to sell future tobacco settlement proceeds, with the sale expected to bring in a lump sum of $5 billion. That revenue will be used to pay for school construction projects and a long-term plan to provide property tax relief to seniors and the disabled.

Under the plan, those two groups of homeowners will not have to pay taxes on the first $25,000 of their home’s value.

Around the RegionRevenue, spending needs grow Strong revenue growth marked the most re-cent fiscal year in many Midwestern states, but a June report warns that budgetary conditions will be tighter for lawmakers in FY 2008.

According to “The Fiscal Survey of States,” done by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers, revenue growth already is showing signs of slowing down in some states. All states, meanwhile, continue to face severe spending pressures — particularly in health care, which now makes up 32 percent of total expenditures.

In FY 2007, state general-fund spending growth was 8.6 percent, approximately two percentage points above the 29-year historical average.

The full report is available at www.nasbo.org.

Michigan, Ohio decide to sell tobacco payments

K-12 revenue sources for 2004-’05

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Minnesota

North Dakota

Iowa

Nebraska

Michigan

Kansas

Indiana

Ohio

United States

South Dakota

Wisconsin

Illinois

State

16.1%

8.2%

10.5%

8.3%

6.2%

8.5%

6.2%

7.3%

9.1%

16.8%

6.0%

8.7%

Federal

36.9%

46.0%

31.1%

60.1%

69.6%

55.9%

45.9%

42.9%

47.0%

33.4%

50.5%

34.1%

State

47.0%

45.8%

58.5%

31.6%

24.2%

35.7%

47.9%

49.8%

43.9%

49.8%

43.5%

57.2%

Local

Study: Energize efficiency plansMinnesota leads the Midwest in promoting en-ergy efficiency, a policy area that a June study says more and more states are recognizing as critical to their economic and environmental futures.

All 50 states are rated based on policies in eight areas of energy efficiency. Minnesota (ninth) is the only state in this region ranked in the top 10. Two other Midwestern states — Wisconsin (12th) and Iowa (13th) — finished in the top half.

Among the 11 Midwestern states, ratepayer-funded spending on efficiency programs is high-est in Minnesota. That state also is one of only two in the Midwest (Illinois is the other) requir-ing utilities to meet targets for electric and gas energy savings.

In other categories, Indiana is lauded for an emis-sions trading program that promotes the use of combined-heat-and-power systems, while Ohio, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Minnesota get high marks for their building energy codes. Wisconsin is named a “leading state” in the transportation-policy category for requiring its fleet of vehicles to reduce the use of petroleum-based diesel fuel.

The study, done by the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficiency Economy, is available at www.aceee.org.

In Michigan, proceeds from the sale of part of the state’s future tobacco payments helped lead to a bipartisan budget agreement. Faced with an $800 million shortfall for fiscal year 2007, lawmakers decided to securitize up to $400

million in tobacco settlement money.

States have used settlement dollars in a variety of ways, as a 2007 report (www.gao.gov; report GAO-07-534T ) from the U.S. Govern-ment Accountability Office underscores. Some advocacy groups, including the Cam-paign for Tobacco-Free Kids (http://tobaccofreekids.org), have criticized states for not earmarking more money for tobacco-prevention efforts.

Per-pupil spending on K-12 education*

$8,798 (21)

$9,329 (15)

$8,944 (19)

$7,972 (29)$8,282

(23)

$7,706 (32)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

* U.S. rank is in parentheses. Total includes federal, state and local spending for 2004-’05 school year. U.S. average is $8,701 per pupil.

$8,159 (24)

$9,260 (16)

$7,197 (40)

$8,622 (22)

$9,744 (13)

Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office

Allocation of tobacco settlement payments and securitized proceeds

(FY 2000-2005)

Budget shortf

alls, 2

2.9%

Unallocated, 11.9%

Other, 7.8%

General purpose, 7.1%

Infrastructure, 6.0%

Education, 5.5%

Debt s

ervic

e on se

curit

ized fu

nds, 5.4%

Toba

cco

cont

rol, 3

.5%

Health, 30.0%

Source: “The Fiscal Survey of States”

Revenue collections in the Midwest

Exceeding original FY 2007 budget estimates

Meeting original FY 2007 budget estimates

3Stateline

Bill Gates once called it the “decade of velocity.”

For state lawmakers, the first few years of the 21st century have indeed been a period of ac-celerating change in economic, political and technological conditions.

The pace isn’t going to slow down any time soon, a June study by The Council of State Governments says, and how policymakers adapt and respond will go a long way in deter-mining their states’ futures.

“Understanding patterns of change is the first step toward identifying and implementing ef-fective responses,” the CSG report concludes.

With that in mind, the nonpartisan organiza-tion has identified 10 “forces of change” that require states’ attention and action.

Building on previous CSG trends studies, the report focuses on what is driving those forces as well as the challenges and opportunities they present to states.

The study, “Trends in America: 10 Forces of Change States Can’t Ignore,” is available at www.csg.org/pubs/pubs_tia.aspx. Below is a brief look at the 10 forces of change and some key statistical trends associated with them.

1) Demographic Change

Trends — By 2030, seniors will represent almost 20 percent of the total U.S. population.

Between 2010 and 2030, new immigrants and their children will account for all of the growth in the U.S. labor force.

CSG examines 10 forces of change driving policy agendas2) Chasing the American Dream

Trend — Between 1980 and 2004, the share of income going to the top 1 percent of U.S. households increased from 8 percent to 16 percent.

3) Environmental Gluttony

Trends — Under normal conditions, 36 states from all U.S. regions will face water shortages over the next decade.

At current trash disposal rates (4.5 pounds per American per day), the United States has only 20 years of remaining landfill disposal capacity.

4) Health Care: Paying More, Getting Less

Trends — Between 2000 and 2006, health in-surance premiums rose by 87 percent as com-pared to an 18 percent increase in inflation. During that same time period, the percentage of employers offering health insurance fell from 69 percent to 61 percent.

5) Tech Revolution

Trends — A vast majority of households with incomes of $50,000 or more now have com-puters and Internet access. However, among lower-income households (below $25,000), only 41 percent had computers and 30 percent had Internet access in 2003.

6) Economic Transformation

Trends — Between 1998 and 2003, the manu-facturing sector lost more than 3 million jobs — approximately the same number of white-collar jobs that will move overseas by 2015.

The savings rate of American households has turned negative for the first time since the Great Depression.

7) Educating for Outcomes

Trend — U.S. spending at the primary and sec-ondary levels of education exceeds expenditures in other industrialized countries. Yet, in a 40-country assessment of 15-year-old students, the United States ranked behind nine other nations in reading literacy, 16 in science and 23 in math.

8) Critical Infrastructure: Cracks in the Founda-tion

Trends — The poor condition of U.S. roads costs motorists $54 billion a year and contrib-utes to at least 30 percent of highway fatalities.

Each year, about 850 billion gallons of untreat-ed wastewater and storm water are released as combined sewer flow in the United States.

9) America the Safe and Secure?

Trends — The number of new illegal im-migrants entering the country has averaged 850,000 since 2000. Federal money is now being allocated to train state and local law enforcement officials on arresting and detain-ing immigrants — duties that states have not historically performed.

Meanwhile, states are seeing a rise in identity theft and violent crimes.

10) Balance of Power

Trend — Between fiscal years 2003 and 2006, the U.S. Congress shifted an estimated $75 billion in costs to states through unfunded mandates.

?One of the many services provided by the Midwestern Office of The Council of State Governments is its Information Help Line, a research service intended to help lawmakers, legislative staff and state officials from across the region. The CSG Midwest staff is always available to respond to members’ inquiries or research needs regarding various public policy issues. The Question of the Month section highlights an inquiry received by this office. To request assistance through CSG Midwest’s Information Help Line, call 630/925-1922 or use the online form available at www.csgmidwest.org.

Question: What reQuirements do states have for licensing internationally trained nurses? Answer: According to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, all registered nurses and licensed practical or vocational nurses are required to obtain a license from the state where they plan to practice. All states require that nurses pass the NCLEX, the nurse licensure exam developed by the council, although several will allow the Canadian Nurses Association licen-sure exam in place of it. Licenses are issued by state boards of nursing.

States in the Midwest require nurses trained outside the United States to pass one or more additional tests, which measure qualifications and English proficiency, prior to licensing. The Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) offers certificates and proficiency tests that many states require prior to issuing licenses. There are three components to the CGFNS certificate: a review of credentials, including education, course work and licenses; a qualifying exam; and English-proficiency verification.

Michigan and Wisconsin require foreign-trained nurses to obtain only a CGFNS certificate. Indiana requires them to pass the CGFNS exam. In Nebraska, they must pass either that exam or the Canadian nurses exam, while North Dakota requires the CGFNS, except for nurses educated in English-language programs in Canada.

In Iowa, registered-nurse applicants are required to present a CGFNS certificate to validate their credentials and must pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam, unless their native language is English or they were educated in certain English-speaking countries.

Kansas has similar guidelines, but allows applicants to take the TOEFL exam and Test of Spoken English, the CGFNS-authorized English exam, or a similar exam approved by the State Board of Nursing.

Minnesota and South Dakota require internationally trained nurses to submit proof of graduation from a program that the board or a credential evaluation service finds acceptable. South Dakota then authorizes licensing by examination for those who have met the other criteria.

Illinois expects foreign-trained nurses to have a Credential Evaluation Re-port and pass the TOEFL. In Ohio, such nurses must also have all of their course work reviewed by the CGFNS credential evaluation body and prove that they have met the requirements of the commission’s VisaScreen pro-gram (which includes English-language proficiency evaluation) or passed the Test of Spoken English.

Q u e s t i o n o f t h e M o n t hQ u e s t i o n o f t h e M o n t h

July 20074Stateline

“If Michigan can’t control what information goes on [the card], how it’s encoded, and who it’s shared with, it’s no longer our card, no mat-ter what it says across the top,” Opsommer says.

The federal legislation contains a five-year timetable for states to provide REAL ID-compliant licenses and calls for states to begin the transition by May 2008.

Because a number of states already indicated that they will not be able to meet this deadline, the DHS has proposed giving extensions to states that request them. All states choosing to comply with the REAL ID Act would have to complete their transition to the new cards by May 2013.

The DHS requires that REAL ID-compliant licenses include the following elements:

• name and address of the cardholder,

• gender and date of birth,

• signature and document number, and

• digital photograph and machine-readable technology.

Hope for more cooperationEven as states comply with the law, they are not necessarily happy about its provisions.

In Wisconsin, for example, a bill passed by the Legislature requires people applying for licenses or state ID cards to provide proof that they are citizens or have legal presence in the United States (which is required under the federal law). The measure also allows the state to plan for REAL ID.

“Tightening the process to crack down on driv-er’s license fraud is an important goal,” Wiscon-sin Gov. Jim Doyle said upon signing Assembly Bill 69 in March 2006. “However, the REAL ID Act is an enormous, underfunded mandate.”

States are getting some support in Congress, where a number of lawmakers are involved in an effort to repeal REAL ID.

Meanwhile, a number of state leaders would like to see the federal government return to discussions with states about how to make licenses more secure.

“States had started a negotiated rule-making process to make documents more secure [prior to passage of the act],” Opsommer says. “REAL ID halted that and hijacked it in 2005, putting the federal government totally in charge. We might already have this problem solved if that had not happened.”

Whatever the solution, he wants to “make sure that states have a true seat at the table in implementing security standards that are truly effective.”

States raise concerns over implementation of REAL ID

This story is part one in a two-part series of articles on the federal REAL ID Act and its implications for states.

Look for a piece in the August issue of Stateline Midwest that will explore how states are implementing REAL ID or developing other measures to make licenses more secure.

These and other articles are also available on our Web site, www.csgmidwest.org.

A look at REAL IDby Ilene Grossman (igrossman@csg.org)

When the U.S. Congress passed the REAL ID Act in May 2005, its members did so in an effort to ensure the integrity of state driver’s licenses and identification cards.

But some states are refusing to comply with the law, raising questions about whether it ever will be fully implemented.

REAL ID is being debated in many states, but a growing number have already refused to carry it out. Legislatures in eight states — Georgia, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Okla-homa, South Carolina and Washington — have passed bills restricting or prohibiting the execu-tive branch from conforming with the law.

Some states have withheld funding for agen-cies to comply with the law, and others are choosing to delay compliance unless and until certain requirements are met.

Under REAL ID, driver’s licenses would still be issued by states, but would have to meet certain nationwide standards — and would be more difficult to forge. The REAL ID Act also requires that these licenses be connected to a national database linked to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

REAL ID-compliant licenses would be re-quired for activities such as boarding com-mercial aircraft, visiting federal buildings or entering nuclear power plants. Residents of states without REAL ID-com-pliant licenses would need an alternative federally approved document, such as a passport.

State officials have concerns about the law that range from whether the REAL ID would become a de facto national identification card, to privacy concerns about the federal database that would be created, to the lack of federal funds to pay for the act’s various provisions.

States take actionIllinois is one of several states that have passed resolutions documenting concern about REAL ID. The legislature passed House Joint Reso-lution 27 earlier this year, expressing opposi-tion to any part of the act that violates rights guaranteed under the state or U.S. constitu-tions. In particular, the resolution’s sponsors were concerned about privacy rights and how they would be protected in the DHS database.

The legislators identified specific problems with the law, such as the burden placed on state employees to determine whether some-one is in the country legally. They also fear the law jeopardizes the safety of battered women, police officers and others by requiring them to put their principal address on a license. (Some

Rep. Paul Opsommer

states currently allow the use of an alternate ad-dress on the face of a license.)

The National Governors Association estimates that REAL ID will cost states $11 billion.

But the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators believes the total cost will actu-ally be much higher, citing expenses associated with technology upgrades, the need for more staff, and additional training and facilities.

When issuing its notice of proposed rule mak-ing in March, the DHS addressed state con-cerns about the lack of funding by announcing that states would be able to divert 20 percent of their Homeland Security Grant Program funds to implement the law. But some state of-ficials say this simply means they will be short of grant money that they expected to use for other purposes.

Michigan Rep. Paul Opsommer, a Republican from DeWitt, agrees with the premise behind REAL ID but has introduced House Resolution 98, which calls for the repeal of Title II of the act. Title II eliminated a cooperative process between the states and federal government to develop standards for licenses. His resolution calls for a return to negotiated rule making with the states.

Opsommer also has privacy concerns about the shared database that will be maintained by the DHS, and is troubled by the “federalization” of licenses without state partnerships and adequate funding from Wash-ington, D.C.

“[The federal gov-ernment] basically said: ‘You can give us suggestions on what citizen information will be required, how it’s shared, its biometrics, and its encoding. But in the end we’ll make those decisions for you. And by the way, you have to pay for it,’” Opsommer says.

Opsommer sees the REAL ID as a backdoor path toward a national identification card. He and many other officials are concerned that this takes away a traditional state function and replaces it with a federally mandated program that still leaves the states holding the bag on administration and cost.

“If Michigan can’t control what information goes on [the card], how it’s encoded, and

who it’s shared with, it’s no longer our card, no matter what it says across the top.”

Rep. Paul OpsommerMichigan

5Stateline

“You’ll be able to look that up and see what the infection rate is at your local hospital,” Bellock says.

The legislation has passed both chambers and as of early July was awaiting Gov. Rod Blago-jevich’s signature.

The bill was controver-sial, Bellock says, because many hospitals took issue with government intru-sion into how they prac-tice medicine. The Illinois Hospital Association, however, supports the bill.

“When we looked at the number of patients being affected, the cost of care, and the rapid increase in MRSA cases, we found … that this would be a way to rapidly get control of this infectious disease that is now considered an epidemic,” says Pat Merryweather, senior vice president of the association.

The legislature also passed House Joint Resolution 5, which urges the CDC to adopt guidelines for universal screening for MRSA.

Bills that require public reporting of hospital- acquired infections were also introduced this year in Indiana, Kansas, Michigan and Minnesota.

A Minnesota law that takes effect in early 2008 will require all hospitals to develop MRSA control programs.

Fears about ‘over-regulation’While he believes bringing attention to the issue is a positive move, Richards cautions that report-ing mandates aren’t a cure-all.

Data can be skewed because some hospitals treat large numbers of very ill patients who are more likely to experience MRSA infections, he adds.

A more useful study may be to measure the number of patients who receive antibiotics in a timely manner after surgery, which is believed to be an important tool in preventing infections.

“There is not any evidence that public report-ing is going to have the intended effect, which is preventing infections,” Richards says.

He also points out that isolation can some-times be detrimental to the health of patients, particularly the elderly, whose health outcomes are often poorer when they are quarantined.

“Be careful about over-regulation,” Richards says.

Richards says the key is to get consumers and providers to work together on finding ways to fix the problem.

Bellock agrees, pointing to increasing infection rates as proof that the time to take action is now.

“It’s out of control,” she says. “This is a pan-demic in the making.”

by Kathryn Schneider (kschneider@csg.org)

Millions of Americans end up in the hospital each year for numerous kinds of conditions, and most trust that while in the care of medi-cal professionals they are in good hands.

But each year, as many as 1.7 million people fall victim to diseases they contract while in the hospital. These hospital-acquired infec-tions account for as many as 99,000 deaths annually, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since the 1970s, the CDC has operated a voluntary, confidential reporting system for hospital-acquired infections, which were con-sidered largely unavoidable until recently, says Dr. Chesley Richards, deputy director of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion in the CDC’s National Center for Preparedness, Detection and Control of Infectious Diseases.

But now, Richards says, it’s a “new world,” and more of these infections may be preventable than once thought. Consumers and lawmak-ers are more aware of the issue, he says, which has led to increased interest in oversight at the state level.

In recent months, a major focus in the media and statehouses alike has been on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. The so-called “super bug” is a virulent strain of the staph bacteria that is resistant to common types of antibiotics, such as penicillin.

MRSA is most prevalent in health care set-tings, such as hospitals and nursing homes, but can also run rampant in any place where people are in close quarters, such as jails.

A small percentage of the population harbors the bacteria without experiencing symptoms, but it can cause serious complications and even turn deadly when it travels inside the human body through catheters, surgical sites and central lines into the bloodstream. Elderly, post-opera-tive and critically ill patients, and others with weakened immune systems, are most likely to contract staph infections such as MRSA.

And rates of this disease are on the rise. In 1974, MRSA accounted for 2 percent of total staph infections; by 2004, the rate had in-

Legislation aims to reduce hospital-acquired infectionscreased to 63 percent, according to the CDC.

As many as 119,000 patients die from a MRSA infection each year, according to a report released in June by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epide-miology. That number is significantly higher than previous estimates, the report states.

Protecting more patientsNearly 11,000 Illinois patients were affected by MRSA last year, and infections have increased 54 percent over the last three years, according to the Illinois Hospital Association.

Though the numbers are surprising, many legislators and members of the public aren’t yet aware of the “epidemic,” says Illinois Rep. Patricia Bellock, who first heard of the disease from a constituent in west-suburban Chicago.

The woman had entered the hospital for routine surgery on her ankle, and almost died three days later after contracting MRSA, Bellock says.

Shocked, Bellock immediately set to work, drafting legislation to help prevent the deadly disease from affecting more patients.

“I helped to educate the entire General As-sembly,” Bellock says. “Most of them didn’t really know what MRSA is.”

Bellock approached legislators individually to explain the disease and how the legislation she helped craft could lessen infection rates.

Hospitals would also have to test all “at-risk” pa-tients for MRSA, such as those in the intensive-care unit, and isolate those who test positive.

The legislation also sets out guidelines for pre-vention measures such as hand washing, which is believed to be one of the best defenses against the spread of the disease.

If Senate Bill 233 becomes law, the Illinois Department of Public Health will be author-ized to publicize the infection rates that hospi-tals are legally required to file with the state.

The MRSA infection rates would become part of the medical facility’s online “hospital report card,” part of a program created several years ago that will be available soon in the state.

Report sheds new light on MRSA infection ratesIn June, the Association for Healthcare Professionals released a national MRSA prevalence study, based on a survey of more than 1,200 U.S. medical facilities. Below are some highlights:

• The overall rate of infection with MRSA was 46.3 per 1,000 patients, or about 4.6 percent of all patients in the hospitals surveyed. Those figures are eight to 11 times greater than previous estimates.

• About 67 percent of patients diagnosed with MRSA in the hospitals surveyed were in medical service wards, not in intensive-care units.

• Today, MRSA accounts for 50 to 70 percent of hospital-acquired S. aureus infections, the most common pathogen found in hospitals.

To read the report, visit www.apic.org.

Rep. Patricia Bellock

July 20076Stateline

by Carolyn Orr (corr@agandruralleaders.org)

In 2002, an energy title was included in a U.S. farm bill for the first time.

Five years later, leaders from the Midwest are hoping the next reauthorization goes even further in tying U.S. agriculture policy to the nation’s renewable-energy goals.

Those hopes are embedded in the farm bill recommendations made by two regional groups of state policymakers: the Midwestern Gover-nors Association and the Midwestern Legislative Conference Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

Both groups say the next reauthorization should provide a road map for the long-term, sustain-able production of domestic renewable fuels. It is an opportunity, they say, that the nation — and this region in particular — should not miss.

New era in farming, new focusThe current energy title in the farm bill contains grants for renewable-energy production, energy-efficiency pilot projects, and the first-ever U.S. government program encouraging the use of biobased products.

Some groups have expressed reservations about expanding this title. For example, some conser-vation groups worry that a greater emphasis on the use of biofuels, particularly cellulosic ethanol, will encourage production on environmentally sensitive lands. Many livestock producer groups, meanwhile, are calling on Congress to mitigate the negative impacts that biofuels are having on their industry (due to rises in the cost of corn).

Despite these and other concerns, though, the potential for biofuels to revitalize rural econo-mies has led the MGA, MLC committee and other groups to make renewable energy a top priority in the next farm bill.

Iowa Republican Sen. David Johnson of Ocheyedan, who served as co-chair of the MLC agriculture committee when it developed the farm bill recommendations, says federal lawmak-

Region’s lawmakers want farm bill to fuel energy advances

ers have plenty of policy options.

According to Johnson, the next farm bill could be used to:

• influence what crops are grown for renewable energy,

• fund the research and investments needed for the biomass sector to become economically competitive, and

• create incentives for technologies that increase the economic viability of biobased products.

Perry Aasness, Minnesota deputy agriculture commissioner and chair of the MGA working group on the farm bill, adds that traditional na-tional agriculture policies can be reshaped as well.

“Commodity and crop insurance programs should be designed to encourage the use of pe-rennial crops for renewable energy,” Aasness says.

According to Aasness, the federal government will need to provide financial and technical as-sistance to farmers producing perennial crops for biofuels, power generation and other biobased products. One idea, he says, is to establish a com-prehensive biofuels transition assistance program that provides investment certainty to farmers.

Encouraging local ownershipFor more biofuels to be produced, more also must be used.

“There must be increased nationwide access to the major markets,” Nebraska Sen. Phil Erdman of Bayard says. “That is going to require energy standards, an increased number of gasoline sta-tions that carry blends, and greater public aware-ness of biofuel alternatives.”

Minnesota Rep. Al Juhnke notes, too, that increased production and use will be most ben-eficial to the rural Midwest if local farmers and rural businesses are involved.

“Local ownership increases the use of local resources and assures that much of the money generated remains in the local economy,” says Juhnke, a Democrat from Willmar and current co-chair of the MLC agriculture committee.

To bolster rural economic development, he says, U.S. agriculture and energy policy should encour-age community-owned operations.

In Minnesota, for example, during the early stages of the ethanol industry’s development, state payments to producers were available only to plants that were cooperatively owned by farmer members, Juhnke says. He hopes a similar policy outlook prevails in the nation’s capital.

Aasness adds: “Focusing on locally controlled biomass production amounts to a win-win sit-uation. It conserves land, creates new markets and reduces this country’s alliance on foreign energy sources.”

Full list of farm bill priorities The MGA and MLC offer several ideas on how the farm bill (particularly the energy and rural development titles) can advance the production and use of biobased fuels and other products.

Recommendations include the following:

• increase access to capital by expanding pro-grams such as the Clean Renewable Energy Bonds initiative;

• allow local governments and cooperatives to provide grants to help pay for biomass, wind and solar energy activities on farms;

• provide tax credits to ensure that small feed-stock producers and rural businesses are partici-pants in the emerging cellulosic biofuel industry;

• establish a grant and loan-guarantee program to help meet the biobased industry’s infra-structure needs (transportation and storage, for example);

• boost research and development funding for advanced biobased technologies; and

• provide more money to the underfunded Re-newable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program and to a grant program for value-added agriculture production.

A proposed 2007 farm bill reauthorization making its way through the U.S. Congress in June would extend and supplement many of the programs authorized in the 2002 legislation — the first-ever farm bill to include an energy title.

The current farm bill proposal includes dramatic increases in the funding commitment for:

• a loan-guarantee program for biorefineries and biofuels production plants,

• the Biodiesel Fuel Education Program,

• the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program and Bioenergy Program, and

• the Biomass Research and Development Initiative.

Several new initiatives also have been introduced in the 2007 proposal. They include a new Forest Bioenergy Research Program and a study to examine the feasibility of constructing a dedicated ethanol pipeline.

Congressional proposal would bolster energy title and funding

Mike Smith compiled this information on the 2007 farm bill proposal. He is a legislative policy analyst for The Council of State Governments in Washington, D.C.

This story is the fourth in a series of

articles examining the 2007 congressional

reauthorization of the farm bill.

Past articles have focused on the political

and global-trade factors impacting the

legislation as well as key regional priorities,

including the conservation title.

These Stateline Midwest articles are

available at www.csgmidwest.org. The

Midwestern Governors Association’s

publication on the farm bill is available at

www.midwestgovernors.org.

Farm bill in focus

Dr. Carolyn Orr is an agricultural and rural policy analyst for the CSG Midwest office.

7Stateline

(Continued from page 1)

parts of the country would be guaranteed to vote first every 16 years.

The National Association of Secretaries of State’s plan would divide the country into four geographic areas: Eastern, Midwestern, South-ern and Western. One regional primary would be held each month between March and June.

“One of the problems with the current system is that states are rushing forward to get the candidates there and to generate money from the campaign,” Thornburgh says.

“The emphasis has become democracy as an economic development tool, not the funda-mental principle of one person, one vote. This [NASS] plan gets back to that principle.

“Every region of the country has the opportu-nity to let its voice be heard, and small states like Kansas aren’t shut out.”

He adds that the regional primary system also would spread out the nomination process more, leaving less lag time between when the parties’ nominee is selected and when the general election is held.

“As it stands now, in 2008, more than half the delegates will be gone before we see how the candidates stand up in different states and regions of the country,” Thornburgh says.

Under the NASS plan, Iowa and New Hamp-shire would retain their early primary and

Reform proposal calls for four rotating regional primariescaucus status. This would allow underfunded, lesser-known candidates to compete through so-called “retail politicking,” as opposed to the costly media-driven campaigns required in larger states.

Other reform plans have been unveiled as well.

Under one proposal, the nomi-nation process would begin with primaries and caucuses in small-population states before moving to larger ones. Another plan would create a regional-primary lottery system, with the order not being determined until Jan. 1 of the presidential year.

Wang says the varying proposals — despite having downsides of their own — would be an improvement over the current system.

“They certainly go in the right direction,” she adds. “They stretch out the process more, and you also have a better shot at having an elec-torate [deciding the parties’ nominees] that is more reflective of the entire country.”

Thornburgh, though, notes that roadblocks stand in the way of reforming the system, with the big-gest one being the need to convince national party leaders. (Mandating a change through legislation would face constitutional challenges.)

“The parties’ job is to win, not to make sure everybody has the chance to vote,” Thorn-burgh says. “The parties know how to win under this particular set of rules.”

In addition, the last thing a party and its cho-sen candidate wants at a national convention is a fight over the nomination process.

“After this election cycle, we have to make a strong push to try and prove to the decision-makers that getting more people involved in the nomination process is to the advantage of their party,” Thornburgh says.

Until then, he says, Kansas and other states will have little or no say in the parties’ nomi-nees or the issues that are focused on during the primary season.

An overhaul of the presidential primary system was endorsed in June by The Council of State Governments’ Governing Board and Executive Committee.

The resolution, passed at CSG’s spring national meeting, singles out the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) regional primaries plan as the preferred alternative.

“The anticipated 2008 state primary election date schedule appears to have been haphazardly arranged ... with little consideration for input from distinctly different regions,” the resolution reads.

The NASS plan, CSG leaders say, will ensure that each state and region has the opportunity to influence presidential primaries.

The election-reform resolution was one of 10 passed by state lawmakers at the CSG meeting. The other resolutions (available in full at www.csg.org/policy/resolutions.aspx) covered a variety of issues — from health insurance for children to rural development. The following is a summary of those resolutions.

• Fund SCHIP — urges the U.S. Congress to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program at higher funding levels in order to continue the financial partnership between states and the federal government.

• Leave Guard powers to governors — opposes federal legislation that would expand the president’s National Guard authority and strip powers from the nation’s governors.

• Block insurance pre-emption — opposes efforts in the nation’s capital to create a separate system of regulation and supervision for insurers who choose to be licensed or chartered at the federal level.

Support for regional presidential primaries among 10 resolutions passed at CSG spring meeting• Expand markets for small meat processors — supports passage of federal legislation that allows for the interstate shipment of state-inspected meats and poultry.

• Help dairy farms — calls for the U.S. Women, Infants and Children food program to use fresh, locally produced milk in order to help the dairy industry in Puerto Rico.

• Revive rural economies — asks federal policymakers to make rural development a top priority in the next U.S. farm bill, with provisions that encourage value-added agriculture, expand new-market opportunities for producers, bolster rural health care and help beginning farmers.

• Improve reporting of milk prices — calls on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide back payments to dairy producers financially hurt by USDA errors in milk price reporting and urges improvements to the current reporting system.

• Expand food program for low-income children — supports the passage of federal legislation that would provide children in low-income areas with the opportunity to receive nutritious meals during periods (summer vacation, for example) when they don’t have access to school lunch or breakfast.

• Bolster state role in trade — urges an enhanced role for states in developing a national trade agenda and negotiating trade agreements.

Along with these 10 resolutions, a statement on transportation policy was passed at the CSG meeting. It urges the U.S. Congress to strengthen the Highway Trust Fund, provide a dedicated funding source for passenger rail and reauthorize funding for Amtrak.

January 2008 — Iowa (caucuses), Jan. 14.

February 2008 — Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and North Dakota, Feb. 5;** and Wisconsin, Feb. 19.

March 2008 — Ohio, March 4.

May 2008 — Indiana, May 6; and Nebraska, May 13.

June 2008 — South Dakota, June 3.

Aug. 25-28, 2008 — Democratic National Convention.

Sept. 1-4, 2008 — Republican National Convention.

Midwest’s presidential nominating calendar*

* Kansas has opted not to have a presidential primary election. Dates for state primaries and caucuses are as of July 2; some states’ dates are still subject to change or final approval.

Source: National Association of Secretaries of State

** Feb. 5 is being dubbed “Super-Sized Tuesday” because close to half of the U.S. states are expected to hold primaries or caucuses on that day. According to the National Association of Secretaries of State, the number of states wanting to hold primaries in early February has more than doubled since the last presidential election cycle.

July 20078Stateline

citing polls that show most Nebraskans are eager to see the state go smoke-free.

Dealing with term limitsBecause he will be term-limited out of office in 2008, Aguilar has made the smoking ban and the home health care worker legislation his two top priorities before his time in the Legislature is up.

And Aguilar isn’t the only one whose days as a state senator are numbered in Nebraska; the Unicameral will lose 19 lawmakers to term limits in the next election cycle.

Term limits created an influx of 22 new sena-tors this year, which changed the expectations of less experienced legislators.

“They didn’t have the opportunity to sit on the sidelines and watch and learn,” Aguilar says.

The large turnover is also pushing new legisla-tors into leadership much more quickly, he adds.

“There was historical knowledge in the [legisla-ture] for a long time, and now it’s all going away,” he says. “They could start making the same mistakes others have in the past because there’s no one to say, ‘We’ve been there and done that.’”

The new crop of legislators will be faced with perennial issues such as education and the environment.

Balancing the needs of the state’s varied school districts is a critical part of shaping the state’s education policy, he says. Many fear that stu-dents living in poorer areas of the state don’t have the same access to quality education as students living in wealthy areas.

“We’re trying to fix that,” he says. “It’s a huge issue.”

The Legislature passed a bill this session that brings Omaha-area school districts into a “learning community,” which will share resourc-es and aim to make education more equitable.

Legislators will also be faced with rewriting the interstate compact that governs a water agree-ment with its neighbor to the south, Kansas.

Regardless of what he accomplishes in the next couple of years, though, Aguilar is keeping his sights on the future and is already thinking of ways he can continue to serve his state.

“The time goes fast,” he says of his career in the Legislature.

Nebraska Sen. Ray Aguilar:Legislator works to provide opportunity for immigrants, ex-offenders

by Kathryn Schneider (kschneider@csg.org)

For Nebraska Sen. Ray Aguilar, public service is “all in the family.”

Aguilar has represented the town of Grand Island, where he was born and raised, in the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature for eight years. His wife is the executive director of a local free clinic. And together they have raised nine children in the community to which they are dedicated.

“We do a heck of a lot for our community,” he says. “It’s a way to give back.”

After beginning his career on the City Coun-cil, Aguilar soon took his passion for serving his hometown to the state level.

Support for new NebraskansHis district has a large Hispanic population and a sizable number of immigrants from Su-dan and other countries. Many are employed by a local meatpacking plant.

Because he represents such a diverse district, Aguilar says he feels compelled to help im-prove the lives of the many immigrants who now call his state home.

Two years ago, Aguilar worked on Nebraska’s version of the Dream Act. The measure allows children of undocumented immigrants living in Nebraska to attend public universities at in-state tuition rates.

“Most [universities] charge out-of-state tuition to those students if they want to attend college, which makes it financially prohibitive,” he says.

Students who wish to take advantage of the program must meet certain qualifications, including attending and graduating from high school in Nebraska.

Aguilar is proud to have been part of passing the bill, which was introduced by Sen. DiAnna Schimek and based on federal leg-islation. But he recalls that convincing his colleagues wasn’t easy.

Many questioned why the state should subsi-dize tuition for families who have broken the law by entering the United States illegally.

But Aguilar stresses that often the students were brought to this country at a young age, and that the Dream Act allows more of the state’s students to become productive taxpayers.

“Without this [law], what you’re doing is denying someone the opportunity to better themselves, and punishing them for something their parents did,” he says.

Aguilar also believes in giving individuals who have abused drugs the opportunity to get their lives back on track. A few years ago, his inter-est in addressing methamphetamine abuse led him to be the primary sponsor of legislation that creates a statewide drug court — a part of the justice system designed specifically for people convicted on nonviolent drug charges.

Offenders who go through the drug court sys-tem take part in an 18-month program during which they must pass drug tests, attend classes and counseling, and visit a judge once a week to receive a progress report. If the offender com-pletes the program successfully, the drug charge is expunged from his or her criminal record.

The program, Aguilar says, is important because it allows nonviolent offenders to be rehabilitated — and have a second chance at leading a productive life.

“They have a chance to get out and contribute to society without having two strikes against them,” he says.

The program is such a success, Aguilar adds, that other areas of the justice system, such as the family courts, are considering similar pro-grams to help residents improve their lives.

Improving home health careAs more and more Nebraskans become senior citizens, a critical concern for the state is ensuring they have adequate medical care. One challenge faced by the state is the shortage of qualified home health care workers, Aguilar says.

Many senior citizens and people with disabili-ties are able to stay in their own homes if they are assisted by a trained health care worker, Aguilar says. Home care also avoids costly institutional care paid for by the state.

He introduced legislation this session that would establish a council charged with training and

supervising home health care workers, conducting back-ground checks and ensuring they are paid fair wages.

The Legislature adjourned without passing the meas-ure, but Aguilar has made

it a top priority for next session.

Another health priority Aguilar hopes to ac-complish next year is passing a statewide pub-lic smoking ban. His interest in the issue was first spurred by the fact that many of Nebras-ka’s neighbors have cracked down on public smoking or raised their cigarette taxes.

“We probably need to follow suit,” he says. And passing a ban on smoking in public places seems like a “no-brainer,” he adds.

Aguilar is confident the ban will pass next year,

ProfileProfile

Nebraska Sen. Ray Aguilar

“We do a heck of a lot for our community. It’s a way to give

back.”

“There was historical knowledge in the [legislature] for a long time, and now

it’s all going away.”Sen. Ray Aguilar

Nebraska

9Stateline

by Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross Few issues confronting kindergarten through grade 12 school officials and personnel are as significant as school safety.

Unless our students are in learning environ-ments where they feel safe, they will not be able to achieve their full academic potential.

Tragedies of school vio-lence in communities like Columbine, Colo., are re-minders that school-safe-ty awareness can never be taken for granted. A safe school is foundational to the success of the aca-demic mission.

Dangers detract from learningViolence, theft, drugs, alcohol and weapons create a dangerous and unstable learning envi-ronment for students and teachers.

According to the National Center for Edu-cation Statistics’ publication “Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2006,” survey results showed that in 2005, 25 percent of stu-dents in grades 9-12 reported that drugs were made available to them on school property, and 8 percent of students were threatened or injured with a weapon on school property in the previous 12 months.

Other findings in the report show that:

• 19 percent of students in grades 9-12 report-ed that they had carried a weapon off school property during the previous 30 days, and about 6 percent reported that they had carried a weapon on school property during that time;

• 43 percent of students in grades 9-12 con-sumed at least one drink of alcohol off school property during the previous 30 days, and 4 percent consumed at least one drink on school property during that period; and

• 20 percent of students in grades 9-12 re-ported using marijuana off school property during the past 30 days, and 5 percent report-

Keeping classrooms safe is primary goal of search legislation

Since Columbine, statistics have shown that most schools are prepared to respond to a crisis, but far fewer are prepared to prevent one. This is a critical safety gap that must be filled in order to keep students and school personnel safe.

Better to prevent than reactA focus on prevention strategies is essential as states deliberate laws and policies to keep schools safe. HB 3730 is a reasonable prevention tool in the arena of the school safety debate because it deters unsafe behavior before it becomes a tragic event.

Without a doubt, our greatest challenge today is creating safe schools or restoring schools to tranquil and safe places to learn.

Students and staff have a right to attend schools that are safe, secure and peaceful, where learning is the norm, not the exception.

A preventive tool, such as reasonable searches by experienced teachers, can go a long way toward continuous school safety and secure buildings.

Whether school- or community-based, efforts to create safe school environments must consist of a bold balance in prevention, intervention and enforcement measures with all members of the community.

Going forward, I believe HB 3730 is a significant component of that school safety balance.

House Minority Leader Tom Cross, a Republican from Plainfield, was first elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 1992.

This page is designed to be a forum for legislators and constitutional officers. We accept submissions on a wide range of public policy issues and state initiatives. The opinions expressed on this page do not reflect those of The Council of State Governments or the Midwestern Legislative Conference. Responses to any FirstPerson article are welcome, as are pieces written on other topics. For more information, contact Tim Anderson at 630/925-1922 or tanderson@csg.org.

Submissions welcomeFirstPersonA forum for legislators and constitutional officers

ed using marijuana on school property during that time.

Allowing reasonable searches To reduce the availability of drugs, alcohol and weapons on school property, I introduced House Bill 3730 this year to allow teachers to inspect and search lockers, desks, school bags and the like without notice or consent of the student or a search warrant.

The searches must be done on reasonable suspicion based on a teacher’s professional experience and judgment.

They must also be conducted to ensure that schools and students remain free from the threat of illegal drugs, weapons, and other dangerous substances and materials.

We consider our schools to be safe havens for learning.

Yet weapons, drugs and alcohol continue to make their way into school buildings.

It is paramount that school administrators as well as teachers coordinate their efforts in the fight for school safety, school security and violence prevention.

Successful school-safety strategies have a positive impact on all students in all communities.

Rep. Tom Cross

Percentage of students in grades 9-12 who reported being threatened or injured

with a weapon on school property

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

0

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

Total

Female

Male

200520032001199919971995

0

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

Marijuana

Alcohol

200520032001199919971995

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

Percentage of students in grades 9-12 who reported using alcohol or marijuana

on school property

Illinois House Bill 3730 seeks to make the state’s schools safer by allowing limited searches of students’ lockers, desks and possessions without warrants in order to keep the learning environment free from drugs, weapons and alcohol.

July 200710Stateline

News & EventsNews & Events

The Council of State Governments was founded in 1933 as a national, nonpartisan organization to assist and advance state government. The headquarters office, in Lexington, Kentucky, is responsible for a variety of national programs and services, including research, reference publications, innovations transfer, suggested state legislation and interstate consulting

services. The Midwestern Office supports several groups of state officials, including the Midwestern Governors Association and the Midwestern Legislative Conference, an association of all legislators in 11 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The 12-state MGA includes the governor of Missouri. The Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan are MLC affiliate members.

Registration continues for MLC Annual Meeting in Traverse City

Registration is ongoing for this year’s Midwest-ern Legislative Conference Annual Meeting, to be held Aug. 26-29 in Traverse City, Mich.

Speakers will include renowned innovation ex-pert and author Daniel Pink, who will deliver the

meeting’s keynote address on technology and society. Breakout sessions fol-lowing Pink’s speech will explore privacy concerns in a technological age, K-12 learning in the 21st cen-tury and technology-led economic development.

Later in the meeting, political analysts Juan Williams and Fred Barnes will share their thoughts on U.S. politics and the race for the White House. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Kennedy will close the event with a look at two nation-changing events of the 20th Cen-tury — the Great Depression and World War II — and explore how leaders respond during crises.

Throughout the four-day meeting, attendees will have the chance to take part in an array of policy sessions on key issues such as K-12 education, health care, technology, economic development and the environment.

One session will examine the different fac-tors that contrib-ute to healthy state economies, and what policymakers can do to strengthen the Mid-western states. Break-out sessions will then delve into state efforts to promote healthy

Great Lakes Legislative Caucus Meeting Traverse City, Michigan (August 25, 2007)

62nd Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Legislative Conference Traverse City, Michigan (August 26-29, 2007)

CSG Henry Toll Fellowship Program Lexington, Kentucky (September 29-October 4, 2007)

CSG Annual State Trends and Leadership Forum Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (November 11-14, 2007)

Upcoming Midwestern Legislative Conference and

The Council of State Governments Events

Calendar

communities, foster entrepreneurship and innovation, and develop environmentally compat-ible energy strategies.

In other sessions, leg-islators will hear from experts and share ideas about state efforts in the areas of ethics, vaccinations, financial literacy, early-childhood investment, and the recruitment and retention of a young, skilled workforce.

A professional-development session will look at the role of new media in our everyday lives. Attendees will learn how to use blogs and e-newsletters as tools for gathering information and improving con-stituent outreach.

In addition, CSG Mid-west is looking for legis-lators to host breakfast Table Topic discussions. Table Topics allow legislators to engage in small-group roundtables on specific issues of the facilitator’s choosing. If you would like to be a facilitator, contact Tim Anderson at 630/925-1922 or tanderson@csg.org.

The MLC meeting will take place at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa. The family-friendly event will offer activities for adult and youth guests, and evening social events will include a Motown-themed Family Night on the waterfront and the elegant State Dinner.

For more information, visit www.csgmidwest.org or call 630/925-1922.

David Kennedy

Fred Barnes

Daniel Pink

MLC committee chairs namedState legislators from around the region have been appointed to lead the Midwestern Leg-islative Conference’s policy committees for the 2007-2008 biennium. Below is a list of the committees and their chairs:

• Health and Human Services: Kansas Sen. Vicki Schmidt and North Dakota Sen. John Warner;

• Energy: Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer and Ohio Sen. Bob Schuler;

• Agriculture and Natural Resources: Illinois Rep. Richard Myers and Minnesota Rep. Al Juhnke; and

• Midwest-Canada Relations: Indiana Sen. Joe Zakas and Ontario Speaker Mike Brown (Iowa Sen. Daryl Beall and Manitoba Speaker George Hickes are the vice chairs).

Chairs of the Economic Development, Workforce Development and Labor Com-mittee have not yet been appointed. All five committees will gather during this year’s MLC Annual Meeting to conduct business and hear from speakers in their respective policy areas.

‘Book of the States’ released The 2007 edition of CSG’s annual publication “The Book of the States” has been released.

Published since 1935, “The Book of the States” contains comprehensive information about all 56 U.S. states and territories. The reference material provides comparisons, charts, tables and summaries on topics ranging from home-land security to state budgets. The publication is designed to assist state leaders and scholars.

Keon Chi (kchi@csg.org) is the editor-in-chief of “The Book of the States.”

Story clarificationA June map in Stateline Midwest on trends in state legislators’ salaries reported an increase in North Dakota over the past 30 years.

It should be noted that a constitutional change in 1982 (as approved by North Dakota voters) allowing for a raise in pay (from $5 per day) also eliminated the $60 per day that legislators were receiving in “unvouchered expense allowances.”

Accounting for the elimination of this expense allowance would greatly decrease the per-centage growth in North Dakota’s legislative salaries between 1975 and 2005.

Juan Williams

11Stateline

MLC Is sue Br ie f sA summary of news, legislative updates and information on the topics addressed by the Midwestern Legislative Conference’s

policy committees, which are staffed by the Midwestern Office of The Council of State Governments. Midwestern lawmakers from all 11 states and the provinces of Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan are appointed to serve on these committees.

MLC Issue Br ie f s

North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson says the state’s farmers have been paid more than $2 million for their participation in the carbon credit program this year.

More than 600 North Dakota farmers take part in the program (http://carboncredit.ndfu.org), which requires them to practice no-till cropping or keep their land in grasses or alfalfa in order to reduce the release of carbon dioxide.

The North Dakota Farmers Union works with the Chicago Climate Exchange, the world’s first greenhouse-gas emission registry, reduction and trading system for all six greenhouse gases.

Many Fortune 500 and other companies have been buying carbon credits for various reasons. Some have subsidiaries in countries that have signed the Kyoto Treaty and must either reduce emissions or buy offsetting credits. Other com-panies buy credits as part of a “good corporate citizen” public-relations campaign, because they are genuinely concerned about cutting emissions, or as an investment in case carbon prices rise.

America’s workforce includes 54 million adults who lack a college degree, and of those, nearly 34 million have no college experience at all, according to a recent report by the Lumina Foundation.

The report highlights the changes needed to in-tegrate those adult workers into the postsecond-ary system. Improving these workers’ skills and educational experience is necessary, not only for individual success, but also for the nation’s com-petitiveness in the technological, global economy.

The report (www.luminafoundation.org/publica-tions/ReturntolearningApril2007.pdf) calls for changes that transform not only educational institutions, students and communities, but also the state and national policies that shape them.

Among its conclusions, the report argues for a rethinking of the short-term labor-market train-ing programs traditionally offered to adults, for creating credentialing pathways using career-related courses and for increasing financial aid options for adult students.

Staff: Laura Tomaka (ltomaka@csg.org)

Economic DEvElopmEnt, WorkforcE DEvElopmEnt & labor committEE

Staff: Carolyn Orr (corr@agandruralleaders.org)

agriculturE & natural rEsourcEs committEE

Staff: Stacie Fallon (sfallon@csg.org)

In 2006, for the second straight year, the United States led the world in increasing wind power capacity. Since 2001, more than 61 percent of the country’s total wind capacity — over 7,300 megawatts — has been installed, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Energy (www.energy.gov/news/5091.htm).

In the U.S., as a percentage of retail electricity sales, wind power accounts for 0.85 percent. Six Midwestern states rank in the top 15 in percent-age of sales.

Iowa leads the region and is second in the na-tion, with wind power accounting for 6 per-cent of sales, followed by North Dakota at 5.1 percent, Minnesota at 3.8 percent, Kansas at 3.1 percent and South Dakota at 1.5 percent.

The report analyzes trends in the marketplace, including wind power prices compared to wholesale electricity prices, project costs, turbine sizes and developer consolidation. It also de-scribes the increasing performance of wind proj-ects, current ownership and financing structures, and trends among major wind power purchasers.

EnErgy committEE

Staff: Kate Schneider (kschneider@csg.org)

A report released by the National Academy for State Health Policy highlights the need to ensure that children receive proper dental care.

According to “Improving Oral Health Care for Young Children,” dental problems are the most common unmet need among children. Nearly 59 percent of children have tooth decay.

Low-income families, minorities, immigrants and residents of rural areas are the least likely to have access to proper oral care, the report states.

Almost 30 percent of children from poor families have untreated cavities, compared to 6 percent of children in middle- and upper-class families.

The report adds that young children with untreated dental problems are more likely to experience pain, difficulty sleeping and trouble adjusting socially, and therefore can be unpre-pared for school.

The report includes recommendations for policy-makers seeking to improve access to dental care for children. The report can be found at www.nashp.org/Files/Improving_Oral_Health.pdf.

Staff: Ilene K. Grossman (igrossman@csg.org)

Two recent actions by the U.S. government are expected to have a major impact on trade and travel between Canada and the United States.

In early June, the State Department announced that it was suspending the passport requirement for U.S. citizens entering the country by air from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean.

The requirement, which took effect in Janu-ary, was suspended until Sept. 30 because of months-long delays in processing passport ap-plications. U.S. citizens will be able to enter the country using a government-issued ID and a proof of application from the State Department.

Also, the Animal and Plant Health Inspec-tion Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it would begin enforcing inspection and user-fee requirements for trucks and rail cars entering the country from Canada. Shipments from Canada had been exempt from these requirements, and after announcing this change, APHIS delayed implementation several times.

miDWEst-canaDa rElations committEEHEaltH & Human sErvicEs committEE

For the latest on key policy issues impacting Midwestern states, turn

to Firstline Midwest. You’ll find the fol-lowing past issues of our policy briefs at

www.csgmidwest.org.

June 2007: Tax Cuts, Reform Proposals Dominate 2007 Sessions in MidwestMay 2007: States Eye New Initiatives to Reform Health SystemsApril 2007: StateS target HigHer ParticiPation rateS in HigHer ed MArch 2007: MidweSt accelerating itS inveStMent in PaSSenger rail

FebruAry 2007: PrograMS target HelP for MidweSt’S rural faMilieS

JAnuAry 2007: PolicyMakerS See great StakeS in Protecting great lakeS DeceMber 2006: State initiativeS tHat ProMote HealtHy lifeStyleS

noveMber 2006: Ballot acceSS lawS in tHe MidweSt under review

october 2006: lawMakerS iMPleMent new Safe-driving MeaSureS

SepteMber 2006: StateS exPand ScoPe of econoMic develoPMent StrategieS

looking for morE ?

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a 2-1 ruling, a state Court of Appeals panel found that the 1996 law provided no basis for creation of the job-ready category or denial of the stipend.

The dissenting judge on the panel said the de-cision rewrites state law and warned that it will “open the welfare floodgates” in Wisconsin.

Ohio adopts plan to aid families With 2,800 children currently on waiting lists to be adopted, Ohio legislators are looking for ways to help prospective parents.

Under Senate Bill 20, signed into law in late May, the state will increase its adoption tax credit from $500 to $1,500. According to The Cincinnati En-quirer, the Senate unanimously passed legislation in June (SB 30) that would provide families with $3,000 in loans to cover adoption-related costs.

Mental illness plan advancesUnder legislation passed by the Illinois General Assembly, family members could involuntarily commit loved ones who are suffering from “mental deterioration” and could be reasonably expected “to engage in dangerous contact.”

The goal of Senate Bill 234 is to provide treat-ment for individuals suffering from serious mental illness before they hurt themselves or others. Some opponents have expressed con-

‘Freeze’ is on in North DakotaNorth Dakota has joined the growing number of states allowing residents to put a “security freeze” on their personal credit files.

Designed to combat identity theft, House Bill 1417 allows North Dakotans to request the freeze by mail, fax or telephone. Attorney Gen-eral Wayne Stenehjem told The Fargo Forum that his state’s law is one of only two in the country (Minnesota’s is the other) that permits residents to make the security-freeze request over the phone. The law took effect in June.

The freeze is available to identity theft victims free of charge. Other residents will pay $5 to the credit reporting agencies. Once frozen, a person’s files cannot be accessed without permission.

Loss for welfare work program A groundbreaking welfare law in Wisconsin is at the center of a legal controversy over when the state can deny assistance to individuals who are ready to work but do not have jobs.

According to the La Crosse Tribune, the dispute revolves around a “job ready” category created by officials for the Wisconsin Works program. Clients in that category can receive some services from the state, but not a monthly W-2 stipend. In

cerns about the vagueness of the bill’s standards for involuntary commitment.

As of late June, Gov. Rod Blagojevich had not yet acted on the legislation.

Michigan leaders OK tax reform “Michigan is open for business.”

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm says this is the message she and legislative leaders are sending with an agreement to overhaul the state’s tax structure. The deal, reached in June, will replace Michigan’s distinctive, much-ma-ligned Single Business Tax — long viewed by critics as a disincentive to investments and job growth in the state.

According to The Detroit News, nearly three-quarters of businesses — particularly large manufacturers, some retailers and small busi-nesses — will get a tax break thanks to cuts in the equipment tax; relief for startup compa-nies; and credits for job creation, research and development. Out-of-state businesses will pay more, as will insurance, real estate, finance and construction companies.

Michigan’s new structure does include a new gross-receipts tax. As of late June, lawmakers were hammering out final details of the agreement.