Session Roundup: HI, VT, NE, FL

Today, we take a look at advances and setbacks in the recently concluded legislative sessions in Hawaii, Vermont, Nebraska, and Florida. Highlights include landmark election reform legislation, solid progress on environmental policy, and more setbacks for anti-immigrant proposals.

We also highlight the continued progress of a precedent-setting health insurance pooling bill in Connecticut and take a look at the most recent research from national policy groups.

Averting Layoffs and Revitalizing the Manufacturing Economy: Lessons from the Great Lakes States

As the country enters into a recession and suffers increasing job losses, the Great Lakes Region is facing a particularly acute crisis. Literally millions of decent-paying manufacturing jobs have disappeared from the region in recent years. How regional political leaders are responding to that crisis provides lessons for state policymakers across the country.

On April 17th, government officials, labor leaders, and policy organization staff came together in Cleveland for the Great Lakes Regional Economic Revitalization Summit to share insights on what their states are doing to avert layoffs and revitalize their economies.

Supreme Court Upholds Indiana Photo ID Law, Undermines Voting Rights

In a blow to voting rights, Indiana's strict voter ID law, which requires government-issued photo identification every time a person votes, has been upheld by the United States Supreme Court.  This deeply disappointing decision will undoubtedly give new momentum to efforts to expand voter ID laws in many states (Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, and possibly Illinois appear likely to pass new voter ID laws in the immediate future).  However, progressive legislators and advocates can take the offense in broadening the debate over the real sources of fraud and intimidation in our elections.

Climate Justice: Promoting Equity in Dealing with Climate Change

Too often, the impact that policies and measures have on low-income and marginalized communities is considered only as an after thought, if at all. Climate change policies are no exception.  

While everyone will be impacted by the effect of climate change, the impacts will be distributed unequally.  For example, temperatures are expected to increase across the country resulting in higher cooling costs, which more greatly affects poorer households.  But the impacts go beyond just increased cooling costs.  Higher temperatures will have a greater effect on those with poorer health and lack of access to hospitals and health care. People of color and low-income communities face more health care disparities, including less routine care and unequal access to quality care.  As a result, these communities will doubly suffer from the effects of climate change.

While there is no doubt that aggressive, comprehensive action must be taken, the impact these policies have on lower-income communities and communities of color must be considered from the beginning, especially in a time of recession when family budgets are most strained.  This Dispatch lays out the issues facing climate change policies and how states can implement smart, equitable changes.

Toxic Toys Update: States Pushing Forward with Bold, Comprehensive Legislation

Since our last Dispatch on toxic toys, several states have moved comprehensive legislation against toxics in children's toys and products.

Washington state passed the nation's toughest regulation, which not only reduces the allowable lead level to 40 parts per million (ppm), but also limits phthalates and cadmium in children's toys and products.  Despite heavy pressure from industry lobbyists, Governor Gregoire signed the bill and stated, "We in Washington are not going to wait to protect our children.  The toys that pose a danger to our children are not welcomed here in Washington State."

Just last week, the Maine legislature passed a toxic toys bill that would continually test toys and products and require the use of safer alternatives when available.  The bill also allows the state to participate in an interstate clearinghouse to share information on toxics and promote safer chemical use. California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont all have comprehensive bills active, while other states still have plans to introduce legislation.  In all, an astounding twenty-nine states introduced some sort of legislation to address the toxic toy problem.

Moreover, several large companies are voluntarily removing toxics for children's toys and products.  On the heels of a draft report from the National Toxicology Program that raised concerns about the safety of bisphenol-A (BPA), Toys "R" Us is dropping baby bottles made with the toxin.  This news follows the Food and Drug Administration's admission that they relied on two studies sponsored by the plastic industry lobby on determining acceptable BPA levels.  Of the two studies used in the FDA's analysis, one has been found to be deeply flawed and the other has not been published, nor have the results of the study been made public. Canada declared BPA a toxic chemical in the last few days and Nalgene, makers of plastic water bottles, is phasing out production of water bottles containing BPA.  

On the phthalates front, retail giants Target and Wal-Mart have begun voluntary efforts to remove phthalates from their products.  They are joined by Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Nike and Apple.  The writing is on the wall.  If Wal-Mart is removing phthalates, there is no reason why states shouldn't ban the toxin and ensure our children are free from exposure to toxic toys and products.

State Session Roundups: MD, WV, IN, GA, KY & ID

As additional sessions finish up around the country, state legislatures have ended up accomplishing radically different amounts in the same sessions.

• Maryland made progress on a number of fronts.

• West Virginia made only small incremental gains.

• Indiana focused overwhelmingly on its controversial property tax reform.

• Georgia and Kentucky largely deadlocked in legislative rancor.

• And Idaho accomplished relatively little at all.

Some states accomplished some impressive gains, while others, as this Dispatch will outline, ended in stalemate or gave into special interest pleading and killed important legislation.

Tough Wage Enforcement Law Approved in Iowa Senate

The Iowa Senate on Tuesday approved SF 2416, a bill to sharply increase fines on employers violating Iowa state wage laws, crack down on the practice of misclassifying employees as "independent contractors" to evade those laws, and protect workers reporting violations from retaliation.

As Iowa Assistant Majority Leader Joe Bolkcom, the main sponsor of the Iowa bill, wrote in an editorial published in the Des Moines Register, such an approach is the real solution to the problem of the underground economy, not punitive attacks on undocumented workers:

As families in Iowa struggle to make ends meet, they are justified in feeling threatened when they see what were once good jobs turned into low-wage, sweatshop labor... If Iowa were to ensure that all employers paid a decent wage, the attraction of hiring undocumented immigrants would diminish tremendously. Any hiring of undocumented immigrants would then be due to legitimate shortages in the labor supply, not to employers using those workers to illegally undermine wage standards for the rest of the work force.

The Iowa Senate approach contrasts sharply with the punitive approach against immigrants embodied in a competing proposal approved by the Iowa House this week which would create new state ID requirements for new hires and "employee theft" provisions that would criminalize many immigrant workers.

Voter Registration: Steps States Can Take to Help Voters Register and Keep Them Registered

Maintaining accurate voter rolls and ensuring that all eligible voters who register to vote actually make it onto voting rolls are two of the most important functions of election administration.  If an eligible voter cannot vote because his name doesn't appear on the voter roll used in an election, the problem will not be addressed by the federal guarantee of a provisional ballot.  Such a ballot cannot register a person to vote, it can only preserve a ballot in the case the voter rolls at the precinct are mistaken or the voter needs to return with identification.  If a voter is not registered because they were removed from the rolls, or even due to election official error processing their registration, his or her vote will not be counted.

There are many ways that states can ensure that voters who have made a good faith effort to register, such as individuals who have registered but have been purged from the rolls or those who have moved and may not be aware that they need to re-register, are not disenfranchised.  One method – Election Day Registration – has already been examined in a previous Dispatch.  Today's Dispatch examines some of the reasons why those who have registered or have attempted to register may not be allowed to cast a regular ballot on election day and steps states can take to ameliorate this problem.  

Stopping Profiteering in "Not-for-Profit" Hospitals

It's counter-intuitive, but many US not-for-profit hospitals have bigger profits than their for-profit counterparts. Last week, a Wall Street Journal article discussed the growth of profits in the not-for-profit hospital sector and the welcome attention this is garnering from federal policymakers. As reported, the combined net income of the 50 largest not-for-profit hospitals across the US increased nearly eight-fold from 2001 to 2006 to a staggering $4.27 billion. 77% of the 2,033 not-for-profit hospitals in the US routinely make money, compared with 61% of for-profit hospitals.

In return for their not-for-profit status and $12.6 billion in tax exemptions, these hospitals must provide a "community benefit". Many people assume this means charity care, or free care for the uninsured and indigent, but the term is so loosely defined that some hospitals have been reporting the wages they pay to employees as a community benefit. Another problem is that ostensibly non-profit hospitals have entanglements with for-profit subsidiaries that line the pockets of staff and affiliated professionals affiliated with these supposedly non-profit hospitals.

To shed light on not-for-profit hospitals and the community benefits provided, the IRS will require hospitals to break-down their community benefit contributions starting in 2009. The new reporting standards are welcome, but minimum standards for providing charity care are a must next step.

Extending Rights to Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgender Americans

Even as the "culture wars" supposedly rage, the reality is that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights are making slow and steady progress across the country.  Gays and lesbians now have protection against workplace discrimination in states covering nearly half the U.S. population, rights for same sex partnerships and adoptions have made gains in at least ten states, and laws making violence or bullying against gays, lesbians, bisexual or transgender (GLBT) people a crime are increasingly being enacted. 

While opposition to equality is still strong in many states, as this Dispatch will outline, GLBT rights are making significant advances, from the workplace to the schoolyard to the home.