Massachusetts
Adopts sweeping health care initiative
Massachusetts, already famous for breaking new ground on the gay marriage front, in 2006 adopted historic health care reforms now being eyed by other states.
Governor Mitt Romney (R) signed a requirement in April that all Massachusetts residents purchase health insurance by July 1, 2007. The sweeping measure offers subsidies, and fines employers $295 for each worker not offered coverage, and could be a model for other states.
Lawmakers again turned their attention to gay marriage, but postponed until after Election Day a legislative vote on a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage; the amendment eventually would need the approval of voters. A November 2003 ruling by the state’s highest court found Massachusetts’ Constitution currently gives same-sex couples the right to marry. In May 2004, it became the first state to allow gay weddings.
On budget matters, when Romney signed the state’s $25.2 billion budget measure in July, he criticized lawmakers for using $550 million from “rainy day” funds at the same time Massachusetts is enjoying record-high revenue collections. To curb spending, the governor vetoed $573 million from the budget package, slicing items that Romney labeled “pet projects.” Lawmakers, however, disagreed and overturned the cuts.
The Democratic-dominated Legislature also overrode Romney’s veto of a minimum wage increase, rejecting the governor’s argument that the hike would hurt businesses. Starting Jan. 1, the state’s $6.75 hourly rate will climb to $7.50, reaching $8 in 2008, when Massachusetts will be tied with California for having the nation’s highest minimum wage rate.
Michigan
GOP-led Legislature clashes with Granholm over jobs
Michigan’s Republican-led Legislature clashed repeatedly with Governor Jennifer Granholm (D) in several disputes this year that could serve as a preview to the upcoming general elections.
The Wolverine State has been rocked by massive layoffs at General Motors, Ford and auto-supply producer Delphi. What to do to revive Michigan’s flagging economy has been the most contentious debate of the year.
Republicans favor cutting taxes to lure employers to the state. They scored a major victory by phasing out the 30-year-old Single Business Tax, which brings in $1.9 billion a year to the state treasury. It now will expire in December 2007, instead of December 2009 as originally scheduled.
Granholm twice vetoed repeals of the tax, but she was powerless to stop it after a petition drive forced lawmakers to either eliminate the tax themselves or put the issue to a vote in November. The governor said Republicans should find a way to make up the lost revenue before discarding the tax.
A threatened ballot initiative to raise the state’s minimum wage, a policy change Granholm supported, forced Republicans to pre-empt the move with a minimum wage hike of their own. They decided to hike the minimum wage to $6.95 an hour starting in October.
Michigan 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.
Michigan lawmakers meet year-round but finished the all-important budget for next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. The budget gives a boost to schools and universities.
Minnesota
Lawmakers score with concrete deeds
Minnesota lawmakers started their legislative session in March talking about divisive social issues: immigration, gay marriage and abortion. But their attention turned to brick-and-mortar concerns by the time they adjourned May 21.
Legislators pushed through a $1 billion bonding proposal to build prisons, parks, trails, dams and University of Minnesota classrooms. The Legislature also approved measures to build a $522 million baseball stadium for the Minnesota Twins and a $248 million on-campus football stadium for the University of Minnesota.
The Minnesota Vikings, the third major tenant of the Metrodome, tried to get their own stadium too. Their bid fell short, but they promised to try again next year.
One of the most heated issues before the Legislature was a proposal to amend the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The Republican-controlled House signed off on the measure, but the Democrat-led Senate never brought it up for a floor vote.
Tempers flared when the Senate’s top Democrat, Majority Leader Dean Johnson, told ministers that several Supreme Court justices assured him that the court wouldn’t overturn the state law prohibiting same-sex marriages. Republicans demanded an investigation, but Johnson later recanted his statement and apologized.
Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) stressed the need to crack down on illegal immigration, but his ideas never gained traction in the Senate. A House GOP-led effort to reduce property taxes also sputtered.
mississippi
Picks up the pieces
In its first regular session since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, the Mississippi Legislature continued recovery efforts by rebuilding public utilities, offering grants to homeowners and cracking down on home-repair fraud.
The measures augment recovery plans engineered during an emergency session called after the August 2005 hurricane. In that session, Governor Haley Barbour (R) relaxed regulations for casino boats — a huge revenue source for the state — and secured a $25 million package of interest-free loans for small businesses.
With less to rebuild than Louisiana, Mississippi lawmakers were able to give raises to state employees and increase tax exemptions for National Guard members. The three-month session ended March 31.
In response to Katrina, Mississippi — along with nine other states in 2006 — passed a law that bans local law enforcement from confiscating weapons during emergencies or national disasters. It 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.
A ban on smoking in government buildings was approved but does not apply to businesses or restaurants. Also, state and local police now can pull over drivers who don’t buckle up.
The Legislature also approved grants of up to $3 million for city and county governments on the coast that have lost at least 25 percent of their tax revenue since Hurricane Katrina struck. But another bill that would have helped Katrina victims died. It would have reduced the sales tax rate for modular homes — sometimes called Katrina cottages — from 7 percent to 3 percent, making it easier for people to buy houses. Mobile homes, which many Katrina victims currently live in, have a 3 percent tax. Barbour said he will call another special session to deal with that issue.
Missouri
Boosts Medicaid spending
A year after Governor Matt Blunt (R) cut 100,000 recipients from the state’s Medicaid rolls, the governor and the GOP-controlled General Assembly passed a budget that added $731 million to the health-care program.
The $20.8 billion state budget also boosts public school funds by $173 million, gives most state employees a 4 percent raise, and adds $405 million for road and bridge construction.
In his second year in office, Blunt also signed bills that: require gasoline sold in the state contain 10 percent ethanol by 2008; provide greater protections and compensation for owners facing property loss through eminent domain; and increase penalties for sexually abusing children.
The General Assembly also passed a bill requiring voters to show a state-issued ID at the polls, which Republicans say will prevent voting fraud. Democrats oppose the law, which is being challenged in court.
Nebraska
Legislature splits Omaha public schools
Nebraska’s unicameral Legislature stirred charges it is re-segregating public schools with its plan to split up Omaha’s school district and agreed, over the governor’s objections, to begin allowing illegal immigrants to pay in-state college tuition rates.
The Omaha schools bill, signed by Governor Dave Heineman (R), will divide the city’s public school system into three racially distinct districts while allowing students in the city and surrounding Douglas and Sarpy counties to attend any of the schools in those jurisdictions.
The law was a response to the Omaha school district’s move to take over several neighboring suburban school districts, a right that existed under an obscure 19th century law, said Heineman’s spokesman, Aaron Sanderford. In a statement to the press before signing the law, Heineman said he was uncomfortable with several provisions, including the breakup of the Omaha school district, but trusted the Legislature’s intent. “It is clear to me that the motivation behind [this] proposal is neither segregation nor separation, but instead the goal of improving student achievement and the responsiveness of schools,” he said.
The Legislature, which concluded its 60-day session on April 14, also made Nebraska the 10th state to allow undocumented immigrants to pay in-state college tuition rates. Heineman had vetoed the bill, but 30 of 49 legislators voted at the last minute to override the governor’s rejection. Undocumented immigrant students must live in the state for three years, graduate from a Nebraska high school and pledge to seek U.S. citizenship to qualify for the lower tuition rate.
New Hampshire
Cracks down on meth ‘cooks’
State lawmakers stiffened penalties for those who “cook” crystal methamphetamine and also on those who sexually abuse children. They also made it easier for college students with life-threatening illnesses to continue to be covered by their parents’ health insurance.
Persons convicted of manufacturing or attempting to manufacture crystal meth face prison sentences of up to 30 years, and fines of up to $500,000. Those who knowingly cause permanent bodily injury to a child can receive a 25-year sentence under a new law that also carries a 35-year sentence for the second-degree murder of a child.
In June, Governor John Lynch (D) signed “Michelle’s Law” allowing seriously ill college students too sick to maintain full-time student status to continue to receive health-care insurance through their family policy. The law is named for Michelle Morse, a Plymouth State University student diagnosed with colon cancer who remained enrolled so she could keep her student health insurance coverage. She died in November.
The governor this year vetoed bills that would have expanded the circumstances in which people could use deadly force to protect themselves and that would have required photo identification to obtain a ballot. “We should be encouraging people to vote, not discouraging them,” Lynch said when he overturned the Legislature’s photo ID requirement in May.
New Jersey
Has 1st government shutdown
New Jersey’s six-day government shutdown will mean higher sales taxes now but lower property taxes later.
The nation watched the drama as Governor Jon S. Corzine (D), in his first year as governor after quitting the U.S. Senate, shuttered Atlantic City casinos, closed state parks and furloughed 45,000 state employees in early July because he and the Democratic-controlled Legislature could not agree on a budget.
The first government shutdown in state history cost more than a $1 million a day just in lost gambling taxes. The state Constitution requires a balanced budget by July 1; while that deadline has been missed before, it never had triggered a shutdown.
The governor and lawmakers resolved the impasse by agreeing to increase the sales tax by 1 cent, with half earmarked for lowering the highest-in-the-nation property taxes. The higher sales tax became effective July 15.
As part of the $30 billion budget deal, the state also is imposing a sales tax on a new array of goods and services, such as home renovations, landscaping, massages and private investigation services.

new mexico
Approves spaceport
Increased tax revenues from oil and gas production allowed New Mexico lawmakers to approve $762.5 million in extra money for construction projects and to begin financing a commercial spaceport that could launch commercial satellites or one day send tourists rocketing outside Earth’s atmosphere.
Concluding a 30-day session in mid-February, the Democrat-controlled Legislature passed a budget increasing general fund spending 9.4 percent to $5.15 billion for the next fiscal year.
The budget provides more money for school construction, fire departments and free pre-school education for more children.
Lawmakers also passed measures to crack down on production and trafficking of the illegal drug, methamphetamine.
While the Legislature gave a nod to Governor Bill Richardson’s proposal for the spaceport, many of the Democratic governor’s biggest legislative proposals fell by the wayside, including a bill to increase the state’s minimum wage, a $250 million transportation measure and a tax credit for the working poor.
New York
Focuses on creating jobs, curbing crime
Creating jobs, curbing crime and providing tax relief to homeowners and parents were among the highlights of New York’s session.
Organized labor, however, took it on the chin this year as Governor George Pataki (R) vetoed several union-backed measures.
The Legislature, which operates year-round, agreed in June to nearly $1 billion in grants and tax breaks for a computer chip manufacturing plant in Saratoga County that is expected to create thousands of jobs in the northeastern part of the state.
Pataki and lawmakers said the plan by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. to build a $3.2 billion computer chip manufacturing plant is “the largest private investment in New York state history.” Legislators also provided several hundred million dollars for a new convention center in Albany. Democrats control the Assembly, Republicans the Senate.
Lawmakers nearly tripled the size of the state’s DNA database, adding all those convicted of felonies as well as those guilty of 18 key misdemeanors. Earlier, they enacted a law modeled after Florida’s “Jessica’s Law,” requiring 25 years to life for the most violent sexual crimes against children. The legislation is named for Jessica Lunsford, a 9-year-old abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered by a registered sex offender living in her neighborhood in Florida.
The governor vetoed several bills supported by organized labor, including sweeteners for public workers that would have reduced the years-of-service requirements to collect pensions. The governor also rejected a bill that would have made it harder for the state to contract work to private firms rather than hire more state workers.
Pataki in August signed a law making it easier for workers who say they developed illnesses while cleaning up the World Trade Center site on or after the Sept. 11, 2001, to get benefits.
North Carolina
Passes tougher ethics, lobbying laws
The North Carolina General Assembly had one of its most prolific short sessions, approving stronger ethics laws, a higher minimum wage and the country’s first “innocence panel” that will scrutinize felony convictions.
The short session — which occurs in even-numbered years but ran to 80 days, longer than expected — opened under a cloud of ethics allegations. Federal and state investigators currently are looking into possible fund-raising and lobbying violations surrounding the office of Democratic House Speaker Jim Black.
But the session ended with the biggest changes to ethics and lobbying rules in 30 years. Legislators voted overwhelmingly to deny themselves unlimited access to campaign contributions, gifts and other perks from lobbyists, and the University of North Carolina was specifically barred from giving athletic tickets to legislators or officials working for the governor.
The state ethics commission also received more power to investigate claims filed against all three branches of government.
The Assembly passed an $18.9 billion budget that used more than $2 billion in surpluses to partially cut two tax increases passed in 2001 while still increasing funding for other programs, especially education. Lawmakers also approved North Carolina’s first minimum wage increase since 1997, taking the hourly rate from $5.15 to $6.15 on Jan. 1, 2007.
The state strengthened laws against sex offenders. Violent sex offenders and repeat offenders now must wear satellite tracking devices, and it is now a felony for offenders to live within 1,000 feet of a school or child care center.
The Assembly also created the country’s first judicial panel to investigate credible claims of innocence by convicted felons, with the possibility of overturning convictions.
The session was seen as a victory for Democrats, who control the Assembly, but Republicans said the Legislature failed to tackle same-sex marriage or pass strong laws on immigration. The Assembly clarified state laws to ensure that local governments could not take land through eminent domain for economic development, but Republicans would have preferred a constitutional amendment.
Ohio
Session dominated by election-year politics
Ohio legislators kept their eyes on November during their spring session, with Democrats hoping to exploit Republican scandals to break the GOP’s iron grip on state government.
But GOP legislators kept up the pressure — beating back Democratic opposition to pass a law that requires voters present identification at polling places, and defusing an argument that had caused rifts between top state Republicans.
The Republican candidate for governor, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, had placed a high priority on sharply curbing state and local spending. That put him at odds with the party’s legislative leaders and local officials, who considered the constitutional amendment he was seeking too restrictive.
When Republican lawmakers settled on a compromise, Blackwell withdrew the amendment and the Republicans saved some face. The new law requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature before spending limits can be exceeded, and does not impose curbs on local governments.
Another GOP-backed measure requires identification be presented to vote. Although some other states require photo IDs, the new Ohio law allows voters to prove their identities with birth certificates, pay stubs or sworn statements.
Shortly before the House recessed for the summer, Republicans brought up two redistricting reform packages to placed before voters in November. Both needed bipartisan support, but Democrats balked and the measures failed.
Lawmakers were able to find some common ground. They passed a bill banning predatory lending. They sent Governor Bob Taft (R) legislation to address sexual abuse by clergy. And they put a moratorium on eminent domain seizures for non-blighted properties, to give legislators a chance to further study the matter.
Oklahoma
Needed extra time for its budget
With the end of the fiscal year looming, the Oklahoma Legislature held a special session in June to complete a $7.1 billion budget that more than doubles transportation funds, boosts public school teacher salaries by $3,000 a year, and cuts a record $623.7 million in taxes.
Higher education also will get extra money, $130 million, and there will be $150 million in grants to encourage high-tech research in the state.
During the regular legislative session, which adjourned May 26, lawmakers approved a proposal by Governor Brad Henry (D) to offer state help with health insurance coverage to small businesses with 50 employees or fewer. Henry also signed a measure to strengthen child abuse protections, providing more training for court-appointed advocates and giving two additional state agencies authority to act on behalf of children.
The governor vetoed six of more than 340 bills, including one that would have given the Legislature authority to set tuition rates at the state’s public colleges and universities.
Oklahoma 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.
Oregon
Holds 6-hour special session
Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski called a one-day special session April 20 to close a $136 million hole in the state human services department’s budget. During the six-hour session — the shortest on record — lawmakers also passed new laws boosting funding for schools, toughening penalties for sexual predators and cracking down on so-called payday loan providers.
Pennsylvania
Cuts property taxes, raises minimum wage
The Republican-controlled Legislature helped Democratic Governor Ed Rendell fulfill a 2002 campaign promise to curb climbing property tax bills, enacting a law in June that will provide bigger property tax rebates to thousands of elderly homeowners.
The property tax cut, the first in Pennsylvania in decades, is expected to lead to relief for other homeowners, once revenue generated from slot-machine gambling hits $400 million.
This was the state’s second recent attempt at property tax relief. In 2004, lawmakers approved a measure allowing school districts to lower property taxes by increasing an earned income tax, but school districts were reluctant. This year’s legislation repeals that law, commonly known as Act 72.
The tax cut was seen by some political observers as an olive branch to residents still angry over the dead-of-night vote last year to boost state legislators’ salaries. Seventeen lawmakers, including the top two state Senate leaders, were ousted May 16 in the biggest state primary upheaval in more than a quarter-century.
Some lawmakers wanted to include language in the $26 billion budget to change the gambling law provision that allows elected officials to invest and own up to 1 percent in slots casinos, as well as a requirement that Pennsylvania-based suppliers be sued unless they agreed to provide machines to casinos. Agreement was reached on neither issue.
In other action, Rendell signed legislation to increase the state’s minimum wage for the first time in nine years. The legislation increases the minimum wage to $6.25 an hour on Jan. 1, 2007, and to $7.15 on July 1, 2007.
Pennsylvania remains the only state without a lobbyist disclosure law spelling out how much businesses, groups and associations can spend to lobby elected state officials. Although the House and Senate each passed a version, lawmakers couldn’t agree on a compromise.
Rhode Island
Creates two-track income tax, cracks down on drunken drivers
Property owners and high-wage earners got their taxes cut, suspected drunken drivers face tougher penalties, and teens under 18 no longer can chat on the cell phone while they drive — all new laws passed by the Rhode Island Legislature.
Also during the session, the Democratic-controlled House and Senate overrode Governor Donald L. Carcieri’s (R) veto of a bill that strips his ability to put nonbinding questions on the ballot, and his rejection of legislation that allows medicinal marijuana.
The $6.7 billion state budget Carcieri signed in June included several tax cuts. It lowered the cap on increases in annual property tax revenue from 5.5 percent to 4 percent by 2013. It also contained a plan that allows the state’s wealthiest residents the choice of a flat 8 percent income tax with no deductions, lowered each year until it reaches 5.5 percent — or the current 9.9 percent, after deductions.
Rhode Island’s minimum wage was increased to $7.10 an hour effective March 1, 2006, and will climb to $7.40 on Jan. 1, 2007.
Lawmakers also addressed the state’s worst-in-the-nation record on fatalities caused by drunken drivers. Rhode Island drivers who refuse to submit to a Breathalyzer test when they are pulled over will have their licenses suspended for a year for the first offense, and with possible jail time for additional offenses.
Lawmakers increased the state-paid life insurance for active members of the Rhode Island National Guard from $250,000 to $400,000, and extended death benefits to domestic partners of police officers, firefighters and correctional officers.
The Legislature also banned sodas and sugary snacks in schools.
South Carolina
Legislators take on governor, property tax, sex offenders
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford (R) found himself at odds with the Republican-controlled Legislature over a $6.6 billion budget he called “an abysmal failure” for not cutting spending.
The governor, up for re-election, went on the road — not to campaign, but to blast the lawmakers. He then took the rare step of vetoing the entire budget, asking for a new, leaner one. Instead, lawmakers overrode his veto just before the session ended June 14.
But the Legislature and the governor can agree, at least, on their top accomplishment: property tax relief. Lawmakers battled over the issue throughout the session and hammered out a last-minute compromise. The state will remove school operating costs from homeowner property taxes — in some cases cutting property taxes in half — and compensate by raising the state sales tax from 5 to 6 cents. The sales tax on groceries will fall from 5 percent to 3 percent.
Eminent domain also was a hot topic. Lawmakers placed a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot declaring that private property cannot be condemned through eminent domain for private development.
South Carolina also passed a set of harsher sex offender laws, including one that permits the death penalty for repeat child molesters. But detractors almost immediately found a potential loophole — a “mistake-of-age” defense they said that allows adults to claim they thought the child was of age.
Two new weapons bills passed: South Carolina 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; the state also joined nine others in prohibiting local law enforcement from confiscating weapons during a disaster or emergency.
South Carolina, which has the nation’s lowest cigarette tax and is ranked last in smoking prevention, took a small step toward curbing teenage smoking with a law that now makes it illegal for those under 18 to possess tobacco. Punishments include a $25 fine, community service and forced enrollment in a stop-smoking program.
South dakota
Abortion ban puts state in spotlight
South Dakota drew national attention when the Legislature passed a ban on almost all abortions and Governor Mike Rounds (R) signed it into law on March 6.
The abortion ban, suspended by a federal judge from taking effect July 1, sets the stage for a direct challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion. The Legislature created a special account to accept donations to fund the expected legal battle.
But the fate of the ban now is in the hands of South Dakota voters. Opponents of the ban gathered enough signatures to put a measure on the November ballot asking voters to rescind the new law.
State lawmakers also put on the November ballot a proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage.
The Legislature passed a $3.2 billion budget that included a 3 percent across-the-board pay raise for state employees. The budget initially included a $500,000 cut in funding to South Dakota Public Broadcasting, but the money was restored after public outcry.
Lawmakers increased state aid to education by $6.4 million and also provided an additional $2.3 million in emergency relief to cover higher heating costs in K-12 public schools.
South Dakota 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.
Tennessee
Focuses on ethics after high-profile corruption probes
The Tennessee Legislature’s biggest accomplishment might have occurred before the session even took place. Governor Phil Bredesen (D) called a special session in January to deal with ethics reform, a response to last year’s “Tennessee Waltz” sting operation that resulted in five current and former legislators being charged with accepting bribes from agents posing as lobbyists.
The special session yielded a broad ethics reform law that limits cash contributions, prohibits lobbyists from giving to campaigns, and strengthens requirements for lobbyist disclosures. It also sets up an ethics commission covering lobbyists and lawmakers.
Also approved with few changes was Bredesen’s new “Cover Tennessee” plan, which extends basic health insurance and care to those cut off when the TennCare plan was downsized last year. Newly covered are uninsured workers, families with uninsured children, and those with chronic illness.
Tennessee had its first large surplus in a decade, and lawmakers wasted little time spending it. They created about 250 new pre-kindergarten classes, increased lottery scholarships, and gave raises and bonuses to state employees, university employees and teachers.
The Assembly passed dozens of new crime bills, including a controversial first-of-its-kind law requiring beer retailers to check IDs of everyone, regardless of how old they seem. There are harsher punishments for those convicted of child abuse or child rape; statutory rape by an “authority figure”; and for impersonating the parent or guardian of a minor seeking an abortion.

Texas
Overhauls school finance
In a special session, Governor Rick Perry (R) delivered on his promise to revamp the state’s school finance system, pushing through legislative proposals to lower property taxes by $15.7 billion statewide while increasing levies on cigarettes and some business activity.
The Texas Legislature, which meets in regular session during odd-numbered years, passed five bills aimed at overhauling the so-called “Robin Hood” system that redistributed property taxes from wealthy school districts to poorer areas.
In addition to the tax reforms, all Texas public school teachers will get a $2,000 raise, and $260 million will be available to reward excellent teachers with bonuses up to $10,000 each.
The Legislature also approved $1 billion over three years to reform high schools and approved a measure to require that teens take four years of high school math and science courses in order to graduate.