http://www.progressivestates.org/dispatch Thursday, July 19, 2007Municipal Broadband, Lead Paint, & SCHIPIn Today's Dispatch:
Municipal Broadband Attacked in North Carolina
With the US lagging behind most of the developed world with less Internet access and slower speed connections, it's somewhat outrageous that any state government would block communities from extending broadband access to their citizens-- but North Carolina is now debating HB 1587, which is being promoted by the North Carolina Cable Telecommunications Association to stop local communities from owning and subsidizing access to community-run telecommunications systems.
Across the country, corporate interests a few years ago began lobbying states
to shut down
municipal Internet programs. While a number of states passed the
corporate bills, most refused. However, earlier this year
Wyoming
passed a law to restrict public broadband Internet systems and the
industry has turned its eyes on North Carolina as the next target with
HB
1587. North Carolina organizations like NC PIRG, NC Justice Center, AARP, and NC Counties Association have condemned the bill locally and, at the national level, U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va. has been so appalled at this corporate-backed attempted shutdown of community broadband that he has drafted a federal bill to keep states from putting up barriers to public Internet access. "Broadband is every bit as essential as electricity was when it was emerging 100 years ago," Boucher says. While the North Carolina bill received some initial committee approval, hopefully the rest of the legislature will let the bill die in committee-- and thereby let the option of municipal broadband live.
Did Lead Paint Abatement Lower Crime in the 1990s?
It's a puzzle that has driven heated arguments among social scientists and policymakers. Why did crime rise precipitously in the decades following the 1960s, then fall dramatically in the 1990s?
What sets Nevin's analysis apart from other popular theories, such as Freakonomics, is that his theory is based on identical, decades-long associations between lead poisoning and crime rates in nine countries. In the study, economist Rick Nevin correlates children's exposure to lead with violent behavior later in their lives. In short, Nevin argues that the high level of lead used in U.S. paint and gasoline fumes in the post-World War II period poisoned toddlers and led to increased crime rates when the toddlers became adolescents. The toxicity of lead poisoning is no secret and among the many dangers of lead poisoning is increased aggression, violence, anti-social and delinquent behavior. Lead levels were drastically decreased in New York in the early 1970's through efforts to eliminate it from gasoline and reduction of lead paint and lead emissions from municipal incinerators. Therefore, as the toddlers that weren't poisoned by lead became adolescents in the 1990s, they didn't have the violent tendencies associated with lead poisoning, just as other communities saw lower crime lagging years after lead abatement efforts. Lead Abatement Programs: State programs to eliminate lead have been bolstered by the Lead Contamination Control Act of 1988, which authorized the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to initiate childhood lead poisoning elimination programs. So far, the CDC has funded nearly 60 childhood lead poisoning prevention programs, including Arizona's targeted lead poisoning screening plan. Massachusetts' lead law is the oldest comprehensive state lead law and emphasizes primary prevention of childhood lead poisoning--including requiring property owners to permanently abate lead hazards in any housing unit inhabited by a child under six years old. Still more action is needed. One sad example is New Orleans where, as the Institute for Southern Studies details, 25% of children living in predominately African-American urban neighborhoods suffered from lead poisoning. Yet no broad-based lead abatement program has been included in reconstruction efforts for the city. Legally, lead paint manufacturers are fighting hard against being held liable for the damage their paint has caused. Just last year, three former lead paint makers were found guilty in a suit brought by the state of Rhode Island that claimed lead paint in 240,000 houses in the state created a public nuisance and poisoned thousands of children. The case is being appealed and damages have not yet been awarded but the guilty verdict in and of itself was a huge blow to the lead paint industry. Still, the industry has also won appeals in New Jersey and Missouri, so the need for positive government action is clear, especially with the estimated costs of lead poisoning still estimated at over $43 billion.
Bi-Partisan SCHIP Deal - But Bush Promises Veto
The Senate Finance Committee is poised to approve a bipartisan deal reauthorizing and expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The deal would increase SCHIP funding by $35 billion over the next five years, on top of $25 billion set aside under current spending levels. The increase, would be financed through a 61-cent increase in the tobacco tax, bringing the federal tax to an even $1.00.
The House is also working on a plan that would increase funding by at least $50 billion with financing from a tobacco tax increase and reduced payments to private insurers under Medicare. Because of the Senate filibuster, the likelihood is greater that Congress will produce a reauthorization package closer to what the Senate produces. Ideological Debate Surrounds SCHIP: Meanwhile, President Bush refuses to take his head out of the line in the sand he has drawn around SCHIP. He proposes a mere $5 billion increase over the next five years in SCHIP outlays, which isn't enough to maintain current levels of coverage. Taking on the right-wing mantra that expanding SCHIP would result in "universal health care on the installment plan," the President promised to veto reauthorization that broadly expands the program beyond its original intent to cover children in families up to 200% of poverty. Bi-Partisan Support: Although many believe DC's difficulty to achieve the very popular goal of covering all children means broader reforms would be that much more difficult, the confluence of state and federal lawmakers supporting SCHIP may build a foundation for universal reform. This may then lead to the federal government coming to the table with meaningful funding and states implement programs ensuring health care for all, as is the model of SCHIP and Medicaid. But, because of the President's obstinance on SCHIP, more significant reform will depend on the 2008 presidential election. Related News: President Bush on health care in America: At a recent speech in Cleveland, President Bush explained his position on SCHIP. He also offered his assessment of access to health care in America: "People have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room." ~President Bush, Cleveland, OH, July 10, 2007 Research RoundupResearch Roundup
According to a new Center on
Budget & Policy Priorities report, new requirements to prove
citizenship to obtain Medicaid coverage are denying medical coverage to white
and African American children at a far higher rate than Hispanic
children. Because low-income individuals must produce a passport or
birth certificate, naturalization document, or similar documentation to prove
they are U.S. citizens when they apply for Medicaid, the program meant to
target undocumented immigrants is instead harming citizens. Addressing the increasing use of vote-by-mail systems by the states, Project Vote has a new report reviewing the literature on the process and recommending best practices for jurisdictions using mail balloting. The California Health Care Foundation highlights trends in Employer Health Insurance Costs-- and the story is grim. The costs of health care insurance are squeezing pay increases for workers, even as the premium contributions by employees continue to rise. In Community Design for Healthy Eating: How Land Use and Transportation Solutions Can Help, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation highlights how poor land use policy often limits access to healthy food and outlines a collaborative strategy between urban agriculture and smart growth movements.
Even the National Petroleum Council, a mouthpiece for the oil
industry, admits that oil supplies need to be bolstered by alternative
fuel sources. In a new 476-page
report, Facing the
Hard Truths About Energy, the industry promotes many of its
self-interested solutions to the energy crisis, but it also suggests policies
to promote carbon emission limits, higher vehicle fuel efficiency, and more
energy-efficient buildings. Please email us leads on good research at research@progressivestates.org ResourcesDid Lead Paint Abatement Lower Crime in the 1990s?
National Center for Healthy Housing, Undestanding International Crime Trends: the Legacy of Preschool Lead Exposure State Legislation Addressing Prevention of Childhood Lead Poisoning Arizona's Childhood Lead Poisoning Targeted Screening Plan Institute for Southern Studies, Gulf Watch: Link between lead exposure and crime has implications post-Katrina Bi-Partisan SCHIP Deal - But Bush Promises Veto
Progressive States Network - In Health Care, 2007 May Be the Year of the Child Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - Administration's Dubious Claims About the Emerging Children's Health Insurance Legislation: Myth and Reality Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report - Tentative Bipartisan Agreement on SCHIP Reauthorization, Expansion Calls for 61-cent Cigarette Tax Increase YouTube - Bush on healthcare: Just go to an emergency room Municipal Broadband Attacked in North Carolina
Opposition Letters to HB 1587 by NC PIRG, NC Justice Center, AARP, and NC Counties Association Independent Weekly, Touch That Dial: What happens when telecom companies write state legislation? Check your wallet Free Press, State Legislation Effecting Community Internet Ballert Herbst Law Group, Community Broadband State Developments Dept. of CorrectionsIn Monday's write-up of the 2007 session in Rhode Island, we regretfully failed to note several vetos by Governor Carcieri which present a different picture of the political environment in the state. The list of legislative advances that died at the Governor's desk is long, including:
Eye on the Right
College campuses have long been a hotbed of political discussion and activism,
often for progressives. But former Marxist turned right-winger
David
Horowitz is on a quest to squelch the supposed liberal bias professors
indoctrinate their students with. 3 Steps Forward1. ID: Greener buildings are gaining ground 2. IL: Negotiators close in on deal to cut electric rates in Illinois Jobs & InternshipsCheck out current opportunities with Progressive States on the Jobs & Internships Page. MastheadThe Stateside Dispatch is written and edited by: SuggestionsPlease shoot me an email at jbacino@progressivestates.org if you have feedback, tips, suggestions, criticisms, or nominations for any of our sidebar features. John Bacino Progressive
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Last year, North Carolina passed a "video franchise" bill on the promise that
this would speed broadband deployment in the state. Instead, local governments
have seen a 27.8 percent drop in cable TV taxes, with little evidence of
expanded broadband offerings at the local level. There were no requirements in
the legislation that cable or telecom companies build out broadband access to
rural or economically depressed areas-- and so the companies haven't. And now
those same companies are
Presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani often
The deal would
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