State Implications of Immigration Bill Become ClearerBy JC Hendrickson | Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 9:02 am The much-anticipated immigration reform bill has started to take shape in Washington, D.C., and states now have a better idea of what to expect. A few weeks ago, Capitol Hill Ideas took a look at the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, known as SCAAP, which is the primary way states are reimbursed for the cost of detaining criminal illegal immigrants. Funding for the program has been in flux for the past several years, and it now appears that immigration overhaul funds SCAAP through 2015. |
Center for the Advancement of Leadership Skills (CALS): Spring 2013 NewsletterBy Lori Moore | Monday, May 13, 2013 at 5:17 pm In the Spring 2013 Newsletter: In Memoriam: Arch Lustberg and Representative Jessica Sibley Upshaw; 2013 Center for the Advancement of Leadership Skills; Leadership: An Ongoing Balancing Act by Art Dykstra; Alumni Accolades; and Upcoming SLC Events. |
Indiana gives its inheritance tax an early end, leaving four states in Midwest with inheritance or estate taxesBy Tim Anderson | Monday, May 13, 2013 at 1:06 pm Indiana lawmakers have decided to hasten the demise of the state’s inheritance tax. |
Illinois becomes early user of new financing model — social impact bondsBy Tim Anderson | Monday, May 13, 2013 at 1:03 pm Illinois has become only the second U.S. state to enter into a unique kind of bond market — one in which “social impact bonds” are bought and sold. |
Pay raise for governor, state legislators mulled in MinnesotaBy Tim Anderson | Monday, May 13, 2013 at 1:01 pm More than a decade has passed since Minnesota legislators and the state’s governor last received a salary increase. That may change since this year, if the Legislature follows through on a pay raise recommended by Minnesota’s 16-member Compensation Council, a mix of state legislators, judges and members of the executive branch. |
New abortion laws in Kansas, North Dakota attract nationwide attentionBy Tim Anderson | Monday, May 13, 2013 at 12:54 pm New abortion laws and restrictions adopted by legislatures in the Midwest have once again attracted national interest. This year, the focus has been on bills signed into law in North Dakota and Kansas. |
Capital Closeup: Conflicts of interest inevitable in legislatures; rules that govern legislator recusal and voting vary from state to stateBy Tim Anderson | Monday, May 13, 2013 at 12:51 pm Legislating is not a full-time job for most of the Midwest’s 1,550 state lawmakers — at least when it comes to pay. In 2012, only legislators in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin were paid salaries above the nation’s per capita income of $42,693. And in Michigan and Ohio, the advent of term limits means state lawmaking is, at most, only a temporary career. Nicholas Kusnetz of the Center for Public Integrity says voters have largely embraced the idea of a “citizen legislature” — individuals from different walks of life gather in the capitol, conduct the state’s business, and then return to their homes and places of employment. It sounds good in theory, Kusnetz says, but he adds that states should do more to address an unavoidable reality: the slew of conflicts of interest that arise when lawmakers rely on outside income. |
Question of the Month: What states permit the use of medical marijuana, and in those states, how is use of the drug regulated?By Ilene Grossman | Monday, May 13, 2013 at 12:25 pm Medical marijuana is now legal in 18 states and the District of Columbia. Only one of those states — Michigan — is in the Midwest, though several bills were introduced in the region this year (see map) to legalize medical marijuana, which is used to relieve severe pain, control nausea and stimulate appetites. |
With new federal dollars, states upgrading region’s intercity passenger rail linesBy Laura Kliewer | Monday, May 13, 2013 at 12:17 pm Four years ago, federal lawmakers made a historic funding commitment to passenger rail — billions of dollars for new equipment and projects to improve intercity and interstate service. The Midwest has received $2.5 billion of the money obligated so far under the High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program (a little more than a quarter of total federal funding) for close to 40 projects. |
Proposed federal legislation calls for nuclear waste from shutdown plants to have new home by 2021By Lisa Janairo | Monday, May 13, 2013 at 12:11 pm Proposed legislation released on April 25 could pave the way toward solving a lingering problem for the nation’s nuclear energy industry — what to do with the waste. |
