What's your state government up to?

[Easy Mac]

Just trying to see who has the most inept state government. Things currently passed or tabled.

Tabled: Making domestic violence against women have more severe penalties.
Passed: Making cock-fighting have more severe penalties.
TO vote: Raising the gas tax by $.07 a gallon.
Passed by House: Making gambling illegal on any ship that docks in South Carolina.
Killed: Giving tax breaks to parents who send their kids to private school (wait... that makes them useful)

[Ryche]

Minnesota

Passed by Senate: A bill to tax those earning over 250K at the highest state income tax bracket in the country, 10.7%
On the table: A bill to allow the state's largest county to impose a .15% sales tax to build a new stadium for the Twins (decent shot at passing)

[amdaily]

I'll look some things up, but I don't think any state government is more inept than Ohio.

[Joe]

Originally Posted by Ryche

Minnesota

Passed by Senate: A bill to tax those earning over 250K at the highest state income tax bracket in the country, 10.7%
On the table: A bill to allow the state's largest county to impose a .15% sales tax to build a new stadium for the Twins (decent shot at passing)

governor also just signed a minimum wage increase

[panerd]

Missouri:

Majority-led legislature is cutting around 100,000 people off of medicaid. Not only the poor, who are obviously stealing benefits by living in prosperity, but also the disabled and working single-parent homes However (part-time) legislators did not vote to reduce their health benefits. The new governor ran his campaign based on his Christian morality. Not sure how Jesus Christ would have felt about this one though.

[MrBug708]

Los Angeles has two smucks running for mayoral office. James Hahn is from a political family and has been very hands off and very ineffective. He's likely to lose to the challenger Antonio Villrogroisa (sp?). He looks as sleazy as Rick Neuheisel. Glad I don't live in the city of LA.

[Ben E Lou]

Welcome to Georgia, where both Republicans AND Democrats seem to hate personal freedom and responsibility.

1. Public Smoking Ban. Huh??? Since when does gubmint need to tell me what is and isn't good for me. Don't give me that "secondhand smoke" stuff, either. Restaurant OWNERS have the right to ban smoking in their establishment. If you don't like to smell smoke, go eat somewhere where the OWNER has made the decision to ban smoking, not the freaking gubmint.

2. 24-hour waiting period on abortions. Abortion should be illegal, but since it isn't, it is NOT the proper function of gubmint to regulate the details of what is legally a doctor-patient decision.

3. Bill requiring retailers to post conspicuous signs explaining the rating system for video games. If a company that sells video games wants to be parent-friendly in this way, then that's their business. If not, the gubmint doesn't need to force them to post this stuff.

I could go on, but I'll stop here...

[clintl]

California - not much of anything. Arnold is getting his ass kicked by nurses and teachers, and the legislature is sitting on its ass.

[Chubby]

New York

Budget was late for 20+ years in a row. Thank you, come again.

Since they actually passed a on0time budget this year, they are doing everything in their power to continue having an "on-time" budget even if it really isn't (but technically being so so they can still get paid)

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by clintl

California - not much of anything. Arnold is getting his ass kicked by nurses and teachers, and the legislature is sitting on its ass.

Serious question here clintl; Is it me or does it seem like whoever becomes Gov. will have a hard time doing anything? Everything just seems so...ineffective. Legislative and Executive branches in Cali

[gstelmack]

North Carolina:

Budget includes income from a lottery that has major opposition in the state. In fact, the Governor has been balancing his budget each year for the last couple by assuming lottery revenues that don't exist.

[clintl]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Serious question here clintl; Is it me or does it seem like whoever becomes Gov. will have a hard time doing anything? Everything just seems so...ineffective. Legislative and Executive branches in Cali

I agree with you, but I think the personalities of the leadership right now are not conducive to working together. I think Arnold's governing style is no longer working. He's backed down to opposition on a number of things recently, and the Legislature's not afraid to call his bluff any more when he makes threats to go straight to the voters. And Arnold doesn't have a new strategy. At least, that's how I see it.

[Scarecrow]

Kansas:

uuuummmmm, something about a school science standard and having to do with evolution.....


Don't really follow politics.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by panerd

Missouri:

Majority-led legislature is cutting around 100,000 people off of medicaid. Not only the poor, who are obviously stealing benefits by living in prosperity, but also the disabled and working single-parent homes However (part-time) legislators did not vote to reduce their health benefits. The new governor ran his campaign based on his Christian morality. Not sure how Jesus Christ would have felt about this one though.

Brilliant. I do find the renewing of their own health benefits sadly ironic.

[digamma]

I'm following CA Senate Bill 357. It would require all ammunition sold in the state to be laser coded. Firing tests done on coded bullets have been remarkably successful at identifying the bullet's code. Law enforcement and the California AG fully support the bill and believe it to be a significant crime-fighting tool. The negative is that coded bullets would be linked to the purchaser's driver's license through a scan at the time of purchase, causing civil liberties' concerns.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by digamma

I'm following CA Senate Bill 357. It would require all ammunition sold in the state to be laser coded. Firing tests done on coded bullets have been remarkably successful at identifying the bullet's code. Law enforcement and the California AG fully support the bill and believe it to be a significant crime-fighting tool. The negative is that coded bullets would be linked to the purchaser's driver's license through a scan at the time of purchase, causing civil liberties' concerns.

How would it be different from tracking a gun purchase?

[Daimyo]

Originally Posted by Scarecrow

Kansas:

uuuummmmm, something about a school science standard and having to do with evolution.....


Don't really follow politics.

and we have a winner!

[Critch]

We're invading Maryland and annexing them. Keep it quiet though, it's going to be a surprise.

(In other words I've no idea, something to do with roads in Northern Virginia probably.)

[Arles]

In Arizona, the citizens voted in mass to pass Proposition 200, which establishes uniform voter registration and voter identification policies designed to minimize the risk of electoral fraud. It states all people registering to vote in the state should be required to demonstrate they are U.S. citizens, and voters who show up at the polls on election day should be asked prove that they are who they claim to be.

Well, since the moment that bill has passed, governor Janet Napolitano has faught it tooth and nail. She even went so far as to veto legislation to implement the voting requirements of Prop. 200, claiming it would violate the federal Help America Vote Act -- in spite of the fact the U.S. Department of Justice has given approval to the voter identification provisions of the law.

[HomerJSimpson]

Well, my boss ran for governor, but my son hurt his campaign when he caught a three-eye fish next to the nuclear powerplant were I work. His campaign people came up with a good idea to try to spin the fishes extra eye as a good thing, but it all fell apart at my home when my boss spit the fish up as he was trying to eat it.

It's a good thing my boss can never remember my name, or he'd probably fire me.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

North Carolina:

Budget includes income from a lottery that has major opposition in the state. In fact, the Governor has been balancing his budget each year for the last couple by assuming lottery revenues that don't exist.

You're forgetting toll funds from I-95....

[CamEdwards]

Originally Posted by digamma

I'm following CA Senate Bill 357. It would require all ammunition sold in the state to be laser coded. Firing tests done on coded bullets have been remarkably successful at identifying the bullet's code. Law enforcement and the California AG fully support the bill and believe it to be a significant crime-fighting tool. The negative is that coded bullets would be linked to the purchaser's driver's license through a scan at the time of purchase, causing civil liberties' concerns.

Don't forget AB352, the "microstamping" bill. Law enforcement doesn't even support this one, but the bill's author is determined to see it passed. It would require all handguns in the state be manufactured with firing pins that would microstamp a unique identifier on each cartridge.

As to SB357, this "bullet serialization" is a sole-source technology (only one company has the technology needed to produce this). The ammunition manufacturers say this bill was written without any input from them as to how this would be practically implemented. They say there is really no way to comply with the law without changing the entire manufacturing process, which means one of two things:

- they comply with the law and the price of bullets skyrockets.

- they don't comply with the law and stop selling ammunition in the state of California.

BTW, there is no exemption for law enforcement, so if the ammunition manufacturers are correct... they could be drastically affected by this.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

As to SB357, this "bullet serialization" is a sole-source technology (only one company has the technology needed to produce this). The ammunition manufacturers say this bill was written without any input from them as to how this would be practically implemented. They say there is really no way to comply with the law without changing the entire manufacturing process, which means one of two things:

- they comply with the law and the price of bullets skyrockets.

- they don't comply with the law and stop selling ammunition in the state of California.

BTW, there is no exemption for law enforcement, so if the ammunition manufacturers are correct... they could be drastically affected by this.

If you believe the California AG's office the cost on a per cartridge basis amounts to less than a penny. Of course, ammunition manufacturers dispute this amount.

[Marmel]

We are actually doing a pretty good job up here in CT since our govenor was impeached/resigned and sent to jail.

1) We passed a law granting civil unions to gays.
2) We executed somebody for the first time in (at least) 45 years in New England....and this was just last night!!!
3) We are fighting against recognizing more indian reservations for the sole purpose of allowing them to build more casinos. We already have 2 mega-complexes.
4) Our corrupt governor still sits in jail.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Scarecrow

Kansas:

uuuummmmm, something about a school science standard and having to do with evolution.....


Don't really follow politics.

From the LJWorld article about it:

"It was an emotional end to hearings that pitted proponents of intelligent design -- an idea that science cannot explain certain complexities of life and that the world is evidence of a master planner -- against scientists who say that evolution is the foundation for science instruction. The intelligent design proponents accused the mainstream scientists of propping up evolution as a religion, while the mainstream scientists accused their critics of trying to open up science classes to teaching about biblical creationism."

School funding problems in that the state legislature approved for 1/10th what it was ruled to by the courts yet says "you can raise more" to the poor counties which can't.

Plaintiff schools have won court rulings that say Kansas doesn't spend enough on schools and the money it does spend is distributed unfairly. They have called for an increase in the $1 billion range, which would probably require a significant tax increase, consolidation of districts, or both. Republicans in the Legislature have approved a $142 million increase and allowed local school districts to increase property taxes to raise hundreds of millions of dollars more.

And then there's the teacher's union leader who embezzled nearly $100K worth of funds.


What really kills me is that during election season, everyone LOVES, and I mean LOVES when politicians say "I'll give more local control to program X". Never thinking that this is codeword for "I want fucking morons at the local level to deal with it because it's too nasty of a problem for me to handle politically".


SI

[Ksyrup]

Some new Florida laws, on a variety of subjects:

-- Declare the orange Florida's official fruit. [DUH!]


-- Require a physician to notify a parent before performing an abortion on an unmarried girl under 18 without previous children, but allows judges to make exceptions. [I swear this is the 18th version of parental notification the state has tried]

-- Make it legal for people to defend themselves on the street by meeting ``force with force'' without fear of prosecution. [We had a thread about this one]

-- Mandate sentences of 25 years to life for criminals convicted of certain sex crimes against children under 12, with lifetime satellite tracking after they are freed. (The Jennifer Lunsford Act, named for a 9-year-old girl allegedly killed by a convicted sex offender) [Lifetime satellite tracking is interesting. I would expect a challenge.]

-- Make it murder to intentionally kill a fetus developed enough so a mother could feel it move if an assailant could have been charged with mother's murder if she died in the same attack. [So we're going to allow the mother to tell us whether the person who killed her fetus should be charged with murder?]

-- Make hazing resulting in serious injury or death a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. (The Chad Meredith Act, named for a University of Miami freshman who drowned in 2001 while trying to swim across a lake during a fraternity initiation.) [Long overdue, IMO]

-- Increase penalties for violent crimes committed on the property of a church or other religious institution. [Whaaa? Is this really necessary?]

-- Allow judges to eliminate or reduce alimony of people who move in with new partners in a "supportive relationship'' even if unmarried. [Yay!]

-- Require the Department of Health to regulate portable toilets. [Anyone need a job?]

-- Let police pull over cars for seat belt violations if passengers under 18 aren't buckled up. [We've discussed this issue here before. I strongly support this. Ticket the bastard parents who let 3 year olds roam around free in the car.]

-- Require drivers in the left lane to move to the right to let faster traffic pass with some exceptions such as when a left-side exit is coming up or weather conditions. [This is going to bring traffic in South Florida to a standstill. I'd hate to be the first cop to give out a ticket for this - it'll either go to a loud-mouthed former NY'er, or a deaf, 4'5" grandma.]

-- Exempt hurricane preparation goods from state and local sales taxes during the first 12 days of June. [Yay!]

-- Exempt clothes priced $50 and less, school supplies priced $10 and less and books from state and local sales taxes during the last nine days of July. [Yay!]

[johneh]

OHIO -
We just plain out have the worst govenor in the country. Luckily in two years he will be history.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by johneh

OHIO -
We just plain out have the worst govenor in the country. Luckily in two years he will be history.

We aren't quite where you guys are but a lot of my Republican friends are even discussing who will replace our moron governor (who is a Republican) in 3 and 1/2 years. Here is a recent national survey of the bottom 10 governor's approval ratings. (http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050510/106315.html?.v=1)...

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41 Alabama Robert Riley 36%
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42 Illinois Rod Blagojevich 36%
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43 Kentucky Ernie Fletcher 36%
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44 Michigan Jennifer Granholm 36%
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45 New York George Pataki 36%
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46 Oregon Ted Kulongoski 36%
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47 Washington Christine Gregoire 34%
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48 Missouri Matt Blunt 33%
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49 Alaska Frank Murkowski 27%
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50 Ohio Bob Taft 19%
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[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Critch

We're invading Maryland and annexing them. Keep it quiet though, it's going to be a surprise.

(In other words I've no idea, something to do with roads in Northern Virginia probably.)

To late if Quik has read this.