Arizona
Budget deal trumps bickering
The Arizona Legislature wrapped up a 164-day session June 22, passing a $10 billion budget that helps fund all-day kindergarten at public schools and increases teacher pay, while cutting income taxes by 10 percent and suspending property taxes for three years.
The budget also doubles to $10 million a tax-credit program for companies that provide scholarships to private school students, boosts transportation funding by $307 million, and provides $18 million to enforce state laws against illegal immigration.
Along the way to that budget deal, Governor Janet Napolitano (D) and the Republican-led Legislature found little else to agree on. Napolitano vetoed 43 bills this year, bringing her total to 127 and breaking the record of 115 held by former Democratic Governor Bruce Babbitt.
Ms. Napolitano killed measures that would have strengthened penalties against illegal immigrants and the companies that employ them, restricted abortions, and prohibited the sale of human eggs.
In response, the Legislature approved a series of measures voters will consider in November, including making English the state’s official language, blocking illegal immigrants from receiving punitive damages in lawsuits, and prohibiting communities from enforcing federal immigration policy.
Arizona was one of 14 states this year to adopt a law that expands the right of individuals to use deadly force in self-defense with no duty to retreat and immunity from civil and criminal prosecution.
Ms. Napolitano is up for re-election, as are one-third of the 90 state Senate seats and all 60 House seats.

Arkansas
Holds special session on school finance
Arkansas lawmakers were called into special session April 3-7 by Governor Mike Huckabee (R) to respond to a state Supreme Court ruling that public education was inadequately financed. Besides boosting school funding by $132.5 million, the Legislature also voted to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.25 an hour, effective Oct. 1, and banned smoking in most workplaces, including restaurants.
California
Wraps up trailblazing session
California lawmakers sent Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) dozens of bills before adjourning Aug. 31, including nationally watched measures to make the state the first to order businesses to cap emissions blamed for global warming, to set one of the highest minimum wages in the nation and to outlaw talking on cell phones while driving without hands-free devices.
With an eye on his re-election bid, Schwarzenegger has promised to sign a landmark greenhouse gas reduction plan that has been one of his central environmental goals. The bill calls for the state’s major utilities, refineries and manufacturers to cut emissions blamed for global warming 25 percent by 2020 through a cap-and-trade system.
Schwarzenegger Sept. 13 signed the bill to raise California’s $6.75 minimum wage to $7.50 an hour on Jan. 1, 2007, and then $8 beginning Jan. 1, 2008, putting California in a tie with Massachusetts for the highest rate in the nation in 2008.
Schwarzenegger also is expected to sign legislation offering prescription drug discounts to low-income Medicaid recipients. The legislation was a compromise between two competing prescription drug discount proposals rejected by voters during a special election called by the governor last year.
Schwarzenegger Sept. 13 vetoed a bill that would have created in California the nation’s first publicly financed universal health care system. Another bill passed along party lines by the Democratic-controlled Legislature facing a likely veto is a measure to allow undocumented immigrants to get a driver’s license. Both issues are expected to be fodder in the upcoming election.
Lawmakers also put on the November ballot a bipartisan $37.3 billion public-works bond package. Voters will be asked to approve a four-part measure including: transportation — $19.9 billion; education — $10.4 billion; flood protection — $4.1 billion; and housing — $2.9 billion.
The bond package came after the Legislature passed its first on-time budget in six years on June 30. Schwarzenegger signed the $131 billion budget, which included a $5.5 billion — or 10 percent — boost in education spending, pumped billions of dollars into roads and transit and protected most health and welfare programs from cuts. The budget also set aside $4.9 billion to repay debt and build up reserves.
Bills already signed into law by Schwarzenegger include: a bill prohibiting state agencies from discriminating against gay, lesbian or transgender individuals; a bill protecting college newspapers from censorship; a mandate that adults charged or arrested for a felony give DNA samples; and new incentives for homeowners to buy, and builders to offer, solar-powered energy systems in new homes.
Colorado
Holds special session on illegal immigration
Governor Bill Owens (R) called the Colorado General Assembly to a special session in early July after a state court rejected a proposed ballot initiative to deny non-emergency state-funded social and health services to illegal immigrants.
In response, the Democratic-controlled Legislature agreed with Owens on a package of new laws they called the strongest sanctions in the nation against undocumented residents and business that employ them. In addition, lawmakers voted to put initiatives on the November ballot that would bar employers from deducting the wages of illegal aliens as an expense on state tax forms and give the state the green light to sue the federal government for failing to enforce federal immigration laws.
During their regular 120-day session, which adjourned May 10, Rocky Mountain lawmakers were able to dole out an extra $800 million this year because of a 2005 ballot initiative that suspended the state’s strict tax and spending limits.
The extra money, which otherwise would have gone back to taxpayers, was largely funneled into higher education, public school construction, transportation and health care — areas that had seen the greatest cuts during the most recent economic recession that crimped state budgets across the country.
Legislators also passed bills to penalize “coyotes” who transport illegal immigrants for money and to rein in the state’s power to take private property for commercial development and private toll roads.
Lawmakers also approved a November ballot measure that would give same-sex couples some of the legal rights as married couples. But a bill to extend the statute of limitations for prosecuting sexual abuse cases died after intensive lobbying by the Roman Catholic Church.
Owens, serving his second and final term, signed a smoking ban and struck a deal to reform the state’s pension system for retired public workers.
Connecticut
Lawmakers emphasize jobs, transportation
Job creation, transportation improvements and a new “clean car” label highlighted a legislative session that House and Senate Democrats lavishly praised at its conclusion May 3. But Republicans complained that issues such as rising energy costs, eminent domain and updated sex-offender legislation went unaddressed.
To help make Connecticut business-friendlier, legislators eliminated a 15 percent corporate tax surcharge and offered tax credits for businesses that create at least 50 new jobs or hire “displaced workers” from other firms.
Connecticut hopes to lure Hollywood with a 30 percent tax credit for media production companies that spend at least $50,000, and exempted manufacturing machinery and equipment from local property taxes in a five-year phase-out starting in 2008.
Lawmakers passed a 10-year, $2.3 billion transportation plan to reduce congestion. It includes a bus way between New Britain and Hartford, a commuter rail linking New Haven and Springfield, Mass., and upgrades to branch lines, stations and parking lots.
The $16.1 billion budget includes $246 million to fully underwrite public school teachers’ retirement for the first time in five years, and salts away $175 million in Connecticut’s “rainy day” fund.
Beginning Oct. 1, 2007, cars must have labels detailing the vehicles’ greenhouse gas “scores” based on federal ratings that show how environmentally friendly the vehicles are. The labeling program will be funded through a $5 fee on new car registrations beginning Jan. 1.
Lawmakers also created a panel charged with giving Governor M. Jodi Rell (R) recommendations by Jan. 5 on whether the state should establish a public umbilical cord blood bank. Massachusetts, for example, already has taken steps to set up a statewide network of blood banks that can accept cord blood for use in future treatment or stem cell research.
Eminent domain has been a hot-button issue since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of New London, Conn., to seize private property for economic development. Although lawmakers created an eminent domain ombudsman, sweeping legislation failed.
Delaware
General Assembly defies governor on workers comp
The Delaware General Assembly chose not to take up workers compensation reform, defying Democratic Governor Ruth Ann Minner’s threats to call legislators back for a special session.
Although many in the Assembly agreed something must be done to reduce employers’ workers compensation premiums, among the nation’s highest, lawmakers said they needed more time to study the issue. Minner ultimately rescinded her threat and agreed to Senate requests for more information.
Lawmakers passed a $597.5 million bond bill and a $3.1 billion budget, largest in state history, which included money for many of Minner’s priorities, including Medicaid and other health care, full-day kindergarten, college scholarships and a pay raise for state employees.
The budget also included $176 million for transportation and $140.8 million for school construction.
Some Republican lawmakers threatened to vote against the budget because it included automatic raises for lawmakers, averaging about 5.5 percent. They said they felt the increase, after lawmakers voted themselves a 9 percent boost last year, was excessive and should be addressed separately from the budget. But they backed down after failing to get support from finance committee colleagues.
The state minimum wage of $6.15, $1 more than the federal requirement, will increase 50 cents on Jan. 1 and 50 cents more a year later.
Florida
Fails to fix insurance crisis
Faced with a record surplus, Florida legislators handily approved nearly $300 million in tax cuts, but failed to agree on a way to protect consumers from skyrocketing property insurance rates resulting from the state’s eight consecutive hurricanes.
Storm-related property damage totaling some $30 billion forced the state-supported insurance company to hike premiums nearly 200 percent last year. Lawmakers tried unsuccessfully to hammer out a tax proposal that would insulate homeowners from the price spike.
Meanwhile, public outcry over the death of a 14-year-old boy at a juvenile detention center in the state spurred lawmakers to ban military-style camps. Lawmakers also passed a law limiting police use of Taser guns in response to reported deaths from the device.
Because of events during Hurricane Katrina, Florida became one of 10 states to pass a law prohibiting local law enforcement officials from confiscating weapons during emergencies or natural disasters.
While Governor Jeb Bush (R) was unable to get approval for much of his sweeping education reform package in his final session before leaving office, lawmakers did OK a bill requiring high school students to declare a major area of study and attend career counseling classes.
Lawmakers also voted to put three measures before voters in November: a property tax exemption for low-income seniors; a property tax discount for elderly, disabled war veterans, and an eminent domain measure that would prohibit the state from condemning property in order to sell it to a third-party land developer.
Georgia
Cracks down on illegal immigration, protects pharmacists
Republican lawmakers, in their second year as the Statehouse majority, gave Governor Sonny Perdue (R) nearly everything he asked for during the 40-day legislative session, including major education measures to boost teacher pay by 4 percent, reduce class sizes and borrow $442 million to build new schools and buy more buses.
The Legislature, which adjourned March 30, also approved Perdue’s requests to direct 65 percent of all school money into the classroom, limit the state’s eminent domain powers and suspend some taxes on liquid propane and natural gas.
Another new law attempts to crack down on illegal immigration by requiring the state and local government to verify the residency of any adult applying for public assistance and removing tax breaks for businesses caught employing undocumented workers.
In addition, Georgia legislators passed a number of hot-button bills on social issues, including allowing prosecution for killing a fetus at any stage of pregnancy, protecting pharmacists who refuse to fill emergency contraception prescriptions, permitting the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public buildings and letting public schools offer courses on the Bible.
Hawaii
Ends cap on gas prices
Hawaii lifted the nation’s only cap on wholesale gasoline prices May 5, when Governor Linda Lingle (R) signed a bill immediately ending an 8-month program she called “flawed.”
The Legislature enacted the gas cap in September as fuel prices skyrocketed because of supply disruptions caused by two Gulf Coast hurricanes. But the measure did not apply to retail gasoline suppliers, and continued high prices at the pump fueled consumer and political discontent with the law.
“I am pleased that Hawaii consumers will no longer be subject tot he failed experiment to artificially control gas prices,” Lingle said in prepared remarks.
While the gas cap got much attention during the Legislature’s session, which ended May 4, lawmakers also passed measures to increase penalties for identity theft and mandated a 30-year prison sentence for criminals convicted of three violent felonies. Lingle has signed those bills into law, as well as a minimum one-year prison sentence for persons who use a computer to try and lure minors to have sex.
The Legislature also approved a $58 million package to cut income taxes and give some relief to flood victims, increased cigarette taxes by 20 cents a pack, and boosted school construction by nearly $235 million.
Idaho’s
Short-term governor claims property tax victory
The Idaho Legislature, in a one-day special legislative session Aug. 25, approved a proposal by Governor James E. Risch (R) to raise the state sales tax 1 cent in order to cut property taxes by 20 percent. The proposal now must be approved in a statewide vote on Election Day.
The measure would eliminate the portion of the property tax that goes to education, resulting in a $260 million cut. The cut to education would be made up with $50 million from the state surplus and $210 million generated by raising the state sales tax from 5 percent to 6 percent.
Risch, who is running for his old job as lieutenant governor this November, was appointed to serve the remainder of Republican Governor Dirk Kempthorne’s term after he became secretary of the U.S. Interior Department in May.
Idaho lawmakers ended their third-longest legislative session in history April 13 after 93 days of work on sex-offender legislation, new restrictions on both abortion and statehouse lobbying, and a major revamp of Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor, disabled and elderly.
Gay marriage opponents in the Statehouse also garnered the necessary two-thirds approval to place before voters on the November ballot a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage.
Kempthorne had sponsored the health care changes, calling them “the nation’s most significant reform of Medicaid” since program was created in 1965. The Idaho Medicaid Simplification Act streamlines eligibility requirements for health coverage from more than 50 categories to three separate programs: low-income children, people with disabilities and the elderly. It also expands access to early-detection health screening services, such as cancer pre-screening.
Kempthorne also claimed victories for increasing starting salaries for teachers to $30,000 and for winning passage of his $200 million state highway improvement plan, which took two years to pass the Legislature.
Idaho lawmakers approved the first changes to the state’s 32-year-old lobbying law to require tighter registration and reporting of lobbyist activities.
Lawmakers also were among the 14 states this year to adopt a law that expands the right of individuals to use deadly force in self defense without fear of criminal or civil prosecution.
The Republican-dominated Legislature sparked a walkout by Democrats near the end of the session over a proposal to force doctors to warn women of the medical risks of getting an abortion. The proposal, passed and signed by Kempthorne, also stipulates that women be informed of the anatomical and physical characteristics of the fetus about to be aborted.
Illinois
Dems muscle up for fall elections
Democrats who control the Illinois Legislature enacted a $56 billion budget aimed at polishing their election-year resumes – and that of Governor Rod Blagojevich – but it took them a month longer than they had anticipated as closed-door budget negotiations failed to produce an agreement before the scheduled April 7 adjournment date. Instead, lawmakers left Springfield May 4.
Lawmakers expanded preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, provided more scholarship money for college students, and propped up the state’s horse racing industry with taxes on casino gambling.
The budget passed both chambers without a single GOP vote. Republicans objected to how the new programs will be paid for – the Democratic plan skimps on payments to underfunded state pension funds, diverts money already earmarked for specific programs, and further delays paying Medicaid providers. This will be a major battleground for Blagojevich and his GOP challenger, Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka.
Besides the budget, most of the accomplishments fell short of breathtaking. Restaurant patrons may take home open bottles of wine. Local governments have less authority to take property by eminent domain. Contaminated riverfronts will be cleaned up. Students no longer can smoke in dorms. Cigarettes sold in Illinois must be self-extinguishing. Chicago may lease Midway, its No. 2 airport, to private interests. And nursing homes must require criminal background checks for patients and staff.
In April, former Governor George Ryan (R) was convicted of 18 federal counts of corruption-related charges. But the Legislature did little on the ethics front other than crack down on anonymous, computer-generated calls to voters.
The House tried to halt automatic raises for legislators and other elected officials, but unless the Senate agrees after the November elections, a 13.1 pay boost will take effect July 1.

indiana
Daniels pulls out toll road victory
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R) focused his energy during the second legislative session of his term on passing a plan to lease the state-run Indiana Toll Road to foreign investors.
Although most Democrats vehemently opposed the idea, Daniels pushed it through the Republican-controlled Legislature with few votes to spare. The state has agreed to lease the 157-mile-long toll way, which runs from Chicago to the Ohio border, for 75 years to a Spanish-Australian consortium that will pay Indiana $3.8 billion up front. The money will fund new road projects and other transportation infrastructure, which Daniels says will boost the Indiana economy.
Before adjourning March 14, the Legislature also signed off on a property-tax relief bill for homeowners that is expected to cost the state $100 million over the next two years. Lawmakers also legalized fireworks in Indiana, using some of the tax revenue from fireworks’ sales to pay for training for firefighters.
A church-state conflict took center stage as the session opened. The Indiana House convened for the first time since a federal judge barred it from allowing invocations that specifically mention Jesus. Lawmakers instead congregated at the back of the House chamber on session days to pray before official business began.
Abortion also sparked several heated debates. The House passed a proposal that would have instructed pregnant women seeking abortions that life begins at conception and that fetuses could feel pain, but the bill died in the Senate.
Indiana became one of 14 states this year to adopt a law that expands the right of individuals to use deadly force in self-defense with no duty to retreat and immunity from civil and criminal prosecution.
Iowa
Spotlights video gambling, agency salaries
Iowa residents will likely remember the 2006 session for two main issues: Legislators pulled the plug on the lottery’s Touch Play video gambling machines, located in stores and gas stations across the state. And lawmakers cracked down on executives at a job training agency where top officials granted themselves huge salaries.
But the state’s political leaders said those two issues overshadowed the progress the Legislature made on several other fronts.
“It is true, more people turned out for the public hearing on Touch Play, than turned out for the hearing on establishing statewide education standards. Now that is sad commentary – but that didn’t stop us from requiring more rigor in our classroom,” House Speaker Chris Rants (R) told his chamber before it adjourned.
Governor Tom Vilsack (D), whose wife is a teacher, made it a priority during his last legislative session to boost pay for teachers. He ran into opposition from Republicans who wanted to lower taxes on retirees instead. The disagreement led to an overtime session, but eventually the sides agreed to a budget with scaled-back versions of both plans.
Lawmakers also made it harder for local governments to seize private property through eminent domain, pushed the state toward using ethanol for a quarter of its fuel by 2020 and earmarked $18 million to clean up the state’s waterways.
Kansas
Finally fixes school finance
The Kansas Legislature capped its session by approving an additional $466 million in spending on public schools over the next three years.
The state Supreme Court had ordered lawmakers last year to increase money for schools by at least $400 million or face a mandatory $588 million increase for education. On July 28, the court approved the plan.
In signing the measure in May, Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D) praised the Legislature’s effort to give more money to school districts with high concentrations of low-income students. But she noted that the new law does not give as much taxing authority to school districts as she wanted and does not provide money for all-day kindergarten.
As in many other states, Kansas lawmakers this year approved tougher laws for sex offenders, including a minimum 25-year sentence for first-time offenders if the victim is a child and electronic tracking devices for second-time offenders after their prison time is served. Another new law makes it a felony to maliciously abuse animals.
The Republican-controlled Legislature overrode the governor’s veto to make Kansas the 48th state to allow citizens to carry concealed weapons. Another new law makes Kansas one of 14 states this year to expand the right of individuals to use deadly force in self-defense with no duty to retreat and immunity from civil and criminal prosecution.
New laws also were enacted to limit the state’s ability to take property for economic development and to provide money for low-income grandparents who are raising their grandchildren.
Kentucky:
Fletcher’s troubles, record debt mark session
The May 15 indictment of Governor Ernie Fletcher (R) on misdemeanor charges that his administration hired and fired employees based on political loyalties overshadowed a legislative session that ended a month earlier.
Fletcher and Attorney General Greg Stumbo (D) reached an agreement Aug. 24 to have charges against the governor dismissed, although an investigation of his administration continues. Meanwhile, Republican Lt. Governor Steve Pence announced he would not run on the same ticket as Fletcher in the state’s 2007 gubernatorial election.
Lawmakers passed a budget on time for the first time since 2000, while incurring a record $2 billion debt in bonds. University projects accounted for $714 million of the debt. Most notably, legislators increased funding for the University of Kentucky in hopes of making the school a top-20 research institution. Road improvements amounted to another $350 million of the debt.
The Legislature increased teachers’ salaries by 7 percent, bringing educators’ wages to the same level as those in seven neighboring states, according to John McGary, communications director for Democratic House Speaker Jody Richards. Another new education law requires 11th-graders to take the ACT college-entrance exam.
Lawmakers got tougher with sex offenders, ordering those on the state’s registry to reside at least 1,000 feet from schools and making second offenses punishable by life in prison.
Kentucky also was one of 14 states this year to adopt a law that expands the right of individuals to use deadly force in self-defense with no duty to retreat and immunity from civil and criminal prosecution.
Fletcher used his line-item veto to nix $370 million in projects passed by the Legislature,and, in a controversial move, canceled a provision to have nine new judges elected – instead allowing the governor to appoint those judges.
Louisiana
Works to repair Katrina’s damage
Hurricane Katrina left its mark on both of Louisiana’s legislative sessions, including a special session Feb. 6-17 devoted entirely to storm recovery.
The special session was marred by acrimony and racial tensions, and Governor Kathleen Blanco (D) could point to only one big success: a bill merging southeast Louisiana’s hodgepodge network of levee boards into two boards, one for each bank of the Mississippi.
When another bill to set up 10 satellite voting centers around Louisiana for displaced New Orleans residents failed, black lawmakers walked out of the session, protesting what they said was the Legislature’s refusal to protect residents’ voting rights. Lawmakers eventually passed the bill under pressure from Blanco.
But in the regular session, lawmakers gave Blanco several major priorities; she, in turn, graded legislators “A+” for their work for the session that ended June 19.
The Legislature reversed its special session position and fulfilled one of Blanco’s key goals — to streamline the government of New Orleans. Lawmakers passed bills to consolidate seven assessors’ offices into one, and combined the civil and criminal court systems.
Lawmakers also found plenty of uses for the $26.7 billion budget, more than one-quarter of which is federal money earmarked for hurricane recovery projects.
The Legislature approved Blanco’s $7.5 billion aid program for those whose homes were destroyed by the hurricanes. Community hospitals will get $120 million for uninsured patients they have cared for since Katrina and Rita. Teachers, school support workers, judges, prosecutors and sheriffs all received pay raises, which Blanco touted as one of the session’s biggest successes.
One of the session’s most contentious issues was a bill Blanco signed requiring that alternative fuels such as ethanol and bio-diesel be sold in the state when fuel production hits specific levels. Critics said the law would boost gas prices, and the Legislature decided the new law would take effect only when the prices of ethanol-blended gas and regular gas are almost equal.
Blanco also signed a near-total ban on abortions, except when necessary to protect the health of the mother. Louisiana already had a “trigger law” on the books that would make abortion illegal in the event the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion.
Bills that failed included: banning cockfighting; making records from the governor’s office available to the public; prohibiting elected officials from accepting free tickets to sporting and cultural events from lobbyists; and raising the state’s minimum wage by $1.
Blanco, who recently increased the minimum wage of state employees by $1, pledged to ask lawmakers next year to reconsider.
Maine
Mandates higher minimum wage, teacher salaries
A legislative session that ended May 24 improved conditions for Maine’s workers. Lawmakers raised the minimum wage to $6.75 an hour (the federal minimum is $5.15) and minimum teacher salaries to $27,000 a year, beginning in October. Those numbers will increase to $7 an hour and $30,000 a year in October 2007.
Prior to the vote, Maine already had a higher minimum wage than the federal mandate with a $6.50 hourly rate. Another measure allows local police and firefighters to keep retirement plans if they become employed by new counties or municipalities.
Maine placed on its Nov. 7 statewide ballot a government spending cap known as the “Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.” Governor John Baldacci (D) opposes a spending cap because he believes it would “dramatically hurt” education, transportation and a range of other state and local services, according to spokesman, Dan Cashman.
To applause from environmental groups, legislators made Maine one of a handful of states to ban the dumping of old computers and television sets. Manufacturers now must establish collection centers for unwanted electronics.
Maryland
Grapples with electricity rate spike
The Maryland General Assembly convened a special session on June 14 to deal with an expected 72 percent jump in residents’ power bills because of expiring price caps in place since the state deregulated the electricity industry.
During the regular 90-day session, which ended April 10, lawmakers had rejected Republican Governor Robert L. Ehrlich’s proposal to phase in the electricity rate increase.
Instead, legislators in the special session passed their own bill, starting with a 15 percent hike this year and extra monthly charge of $2.19 that will be in effect for the next decade. In addition, the Democratic-controlled Legislature gave itself the power to appoint a new Public Service Commission and dismiss the five sitting members of the regulatory board appointed by the governor. Ehrlich nixed the special-session bill, but legislators overrode his veto a few days later. A legal challenge to the law was rejected by a state Circuit Court judge.
But in July, a federal court handed the Legislature a stinging defeat, overturning the nation’s first law to require large employers to pay more employee health benefits. The Legislature had enacted the so-called “Wal-Mart law” over the veto of Ehrlich, who is running for re-election this fall.
In their regular session, lawmakers also raised the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.15 an hour and voted to keep 11 Baltimore schools under control of the city — both over Ehrlich vetoes. Before the override, the state had been set to take control of the Baltimore schools under provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind law.