An article from our Meet a Member Series. Meet South Dakota State Senator, Craig Tiezen. 

Maryland is operating under revised guidelines for infrastructure public-private partnerships—known as P3s—thanks to legislation signed last month by Gov. Martin O’Malley. The legislation should allow the state to more easily chase private sector dollars for some major transportation projects and help it keep up with neighboring Virginia, which has become a major player in the P3 industry in recent years. Next month, one of the biggest supporters of the legislation—Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown—will step onto a big stage before a Wall Street audience to proclaim Maryland “open for business.”

Stateline has two interesting articles out related to the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington. The first article, Not So Fast: Tax Revenue Estimates from Legal Marijuana May Not Materialize, takes a look at the projected economic impacts of marijuana legalization, especially in regards to tax policy. Potential tax revenue was one of the selling points of legalization, but it is difficult to estimate the true economic impact of legalized marijuana, in part because marijuana is currently a part of the cash-only economy. “Nobody has any idea (about revenue)," Jeffrey Miron, Harvard economist and analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, told Stateline.  He further hints that the only way to estimate the full impact of marijuana legalization may in fact be through legalization in all 50 states.

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.

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.

Stateline Midwest ~ May 2013

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.

Stateline Midwest ~ May 2013

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.

As state leaders continue their search for better, more efficient ways of doing business, a few strategies have emerged. Several states are putting one strategy into place—using an evidence-based, rigorous cost-benefit model to make policy decisions—thanks to the efforts of The Pew-MacArthur Results First Initiative. The initiative will be discussed during a webinar at 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday, May 28.