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We spend more than twice on health care than any other industrialized nation in the world, yet we don't have universal access and our outcomes are worse. The reason we don't have universal access to quality health care is that too much of our health care spending -- our premiums, co-pays,...
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This week, Maryland became the first state to enact a "living wage" law, HB 430, requiring government contractors to pay their employees a decent wage, in the bill ranging from $8.50 an hour in rural areas to $11.30 an hour in areas of the state with higher costs of living. ...
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The
Washington
State Legislature has sent a domestic partnership bill,whose
lead sponsor was Sen. Ed Murray
of Seattle, to Gov. Christine Gregoire for her signature -- just part of a
new burst of domestic partnership legislation in the states.
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What if we told you that you could save money, energy, and carbon dioxide
emissions just by replacing your light bulbs? Many states are pushing
new policies to encourage or even require the replacement of traditional
wasteful incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) as a
key...
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A new
United
Nations report this week, backed by scientists around the
world, confirms that not only is global warming real, but its effects are
already here and getting worse. And the hard fact is, the United States
consumes
far more energy than any other country, more than China and Russia...
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On April 3rd, Iowa Governor Chet Culver signed into law HF 653, which provides
Iowans with the opportunity to register and vote on Election Day. Governor
Culver
stated,
Here in Iowa , we want to make it as easy as possible for Iowans to be
involved in the democratic process. This bill...
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In a huge win for the states, and more importantly for the environment, the
Supreme Court
ruled
this week that the EPA has the authority to regulate heat-trapping gases in
automobile emissions. 12 states filed the suit to challenge the Bush
Administration's claim that the EPA does not have the ...
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With debt collection for medical bills a lead cause of bankruptcy for families
without health insurance, Families USA, in a
new
brief, highlight a range of policies states have enacted in recent years
to protect the uninsured and underinsured.
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The American Federation of Teachers
released its
annual
report on teachers' salaries-- and with average teacher pay only $47,062
and average beginning pay only $31,753, you have to wonder how we can attract
our best college graduates to the profession. While inflation-adjusted
pay in the private...
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Even as progressives are making major headway in this session on issues
ranging from renewable energy to the minimum wage to voting reform, the
corporate Right, led by the American Legislative Exchange
Council (ALEC) and its associated "research" front groups, is still out
there in the...
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Yesterday, the Maryland Senate
approved
legislation that would grant Maryland's 10 Electoral College votes to the
Presidential candidate receiving the most votes nationally, rather than to the
winner of the state-- a system that would go into effect if enough other
states approve similar...
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This week, an Arkansas bill to ban gay adoption
collapsed in the
House, after passing the state Senate earlier this month. In New
Hampshire, the state House
overwhelmingly
passed a bill affirming the right of gay couples to jointly adopt
children. Earlier this month, the Colorado House
approved a...
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