There is apparently nowhere anyone can go to escape those darned Kardashians. But the California State Assembly is trying to at least limit their negative impact on humanity. As the Los Angeles Times reports, lawmakers last week approved a bill that would impose large fines against homeowners who hold big events without bothering to gather the necessary permits. The inspiration? The 2011 nuptials between Kim Kardashian and NBA baller Kris Humphries, which were held at a private residence in a toney section of Santa Barbara. The event’s 300-plus guests caused major traffic snarls and resulted in the local cops having to spend precious resources to manage the whole affair. The measure moves to the Senate, where it is expected to pass and be sent along to Gov. Jerry Brown. Should it become law, the measure will hopefully last longer than the couple’s 72-day marriage.
TEXAS Gov. Greg Abbot (R) signs SB 709, a bill that overhauls a state law governing contested-case hearings, a process that allows the public to challenge industrial applications for permits at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), such as those allowing wastewater discharges or air pollution emissions. The new law gives the TCEQ sole discretion to determine who is an “affected person” who could ask for a hearing; sets an 180-day time limit for the proceedings (with potential exceptions); narrows the issues the public could argue; and arguably shifts the burden of proof from the company to the public (RAW STORY).
With most jobs, if you don’t show up for work one time you might as well not show up ever again. Not so for lawmakers, who often ditch their duties with no repercussion at all. That could soon change in Maine, where the House and Senate have endorsed a bill that would grant pols four absences without penalty in the first regular session, with salary penalties for each day missed thereafter. The allowance would drop to three unexcused absences in the second session. The measure is now with Gov, Paul LePage, who is expected to sign it into law. The measure passed overwhelmingly in both chambers, with only 18 total no votes combined. Interestingly enough, though, seven lawmakers – six in the House and one Senate – missed the vote.
-- By RICH EHISEN
The TEXAS House gives final approval to HB 21, so-called “right-to-try” legislation that would allow terminally ill patients who have exhausted all other treatment options to access experimental medications not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It goes to Gov. Greg Abbot (R) for consideration (TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO).
VERMONT Gov. Pete Shumlin (D) signs SB 108, which makes permanent a 2013 state law allowing doctors to prescribe terminally ill patients drugs to help them end their own lives. The Green Mountain State is just the third, after WASHINGTON and OREGON, to have a so-called “Death-With-Dignity” statute (BURLINGTON FREE PRESS).
MARYLAND Gov. Larry Hogan (R) allows SB 416, which requires health insurers to offer fertility treatments as a benefit regardless of a person’s sexual orientation, to become law without his signature (WASHINGTON POST, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
NEVADA Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) signs SB 292, which allows licensed health care workers to provide medical services via telemedicine technology and requires insurance policies to cover services provided via that method to the same extent and in the same amount as services provided in person (ELKO DAILY FREE PRESS).
For the second time in 10 months, the administration of FLORIDA Gov. Rick Scott (R) acknowledged it inadvertently released personal data of private citizens, potentially exposing them to identity theft. State officials said they had released the names and Social Security numbers of about 13,000 people who were on waiting lists for services for the developmentally disabled in 2003. A similar incident occurred in February. Officials said the state would provide one year of free identity theft protection to the affected parties (TAMPA BAY TIMES).
OHIO Gov. John Kasich (R) rescinded two executive orders issued by former Gov. Ted Strickland (D) that allowed private sector home health care contractors and in-home child care contractors to collectively bargain their contracts with the state even though they are not public sector employees. Kasich said the orders were originally granted to help those workers obtain affordable health care insurance, which is now available through the Affordable Care Act (COLUMBUS DISPATCH).
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) proposed an 18-month amnesty program allowing people unable to afford to pay large traffic fines to pay half of what they owe and reduce administrative fees from $300 to $50. As the Associated Press reports, the Golden State has come under increasing scrutiny over what critics call a Ferguson, MISSOURI-like system that uses traffic fines as a means of funding everything from court construction to emergency medical air transportation (SACRAMENTO BEE).
HAWAII Gov. David Ige (D) confirmed that the Aloha State will transition from using the state-run Hawaii Health Connector to using the federal health benefits exchange (healthcare.gov) for the fall enrollment period. Despite receiving $204.3 million in federal startup funds, the Hawaii Health Connector was not able to meet the ACA's goal of becoming financially self-sustainable by the beginning of this year. The move impacts about 37,000 enrolees (PACIFIC BUSINESS NEWS).
-- Compiled by RICH EHISEN
The CALIFORNIA Assembly approves AB 2175, a bill that requires so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” to provide women with information about reproductive services available elsewhere, including abortion, and to disclose when they lack medical licenses. The measure moves to the Senate (SACRAMENTO BEE).
OREGON Gov. Kate Brown (D) signs HB 2307, legislation that bars the use of so-called “gay conversion therapy,” treatments intended to change a person’s sexual orientation, on minors (CORVALLIS GAZETTE-TIMES).
TENNESSEE Gov. Bill Haslam (R) signs HB 977, which imposes a 48-hour waiting period and mandatory in-person counseling on women seeking an abortion. The measure contains no exceptions for women who are victims of rape or incest (RHREALITYCHECK.COM).
MARYLAND Gov. Larry Hogan (R) allows SB 743, a bill that allows transgender Old Line State residents to change the gender on their birth certificates, to become law without his signature (WASHINGTON POST, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
KANSAS Gov. Sam Brownback (R) signs HB 2155, a bill that clarifies the legality of fantasy sports leagues in the Sunflower State. The measure codifies that fantasy leagues are games of skill and knowledge and not chance (LEGAL SPORTS REPORT).
In the age of social media successful business leaders understand the importance of media monitoring – not only for reputation management but also for sales and development strategy, competitive intelligence and customer retention. "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to destroy it." So said Warren Buffett in what remains his most famous quotation. Today, this sentiment is more vital than ever: a brand is only as good as its reputation and it is critical that you protect what, alongside your people, is your most precious asset.
Performing a simple internet search can provide you with a plethora of examples of negative reviews, comments or chatter on social media that have a lasting impact on the reputation of long-established brands. Think supermarkets and horsemeat, BP and Deepwater Horizon and Epicurious's disastrous Twitter campaign after the Boston Marathon bombings.
Monitoring your business's reputation – in good times and bad – is the most basic building block of a reputation management strategy. Properly implemented, a good reputation management strategy can make the difference between a hiccup and a catastrophe. Monitoring what is being said about your company, brand and competitors can give you an edge when it comes to sales, strategy and development.
Successful business leaders in the age of social media need to be aware of the opportunities a properly implemented reputation management strategy can provide in every area of business operations. Here are the five main reasons why monitoring what is being said about your company, brand and competitors is crucial to managing negative feedback and using the positives to your advantage:
View our infographic for a quick glance at the 5 reasons you need to monitor what's being said about your company, brand and competitors.
Even a tiny amount of negative publicity can quickly balloon into severe reputational damage. You need to have eyes everywhere - social media, blogs, reviews, news, print.
When you employ a proper media monitoring strategy, you will be able to collate what is being said about you or your competitors in the media. The multitude of online media platforms and publications means that this key information may come from reviews, articles, blogs, quotes or syndicated posts that you would not otherwise have seen. Each mention is an opportunity for you to build a relationship with a potential partner, a blogger, a journalist, a reviewer or simply one of your evangelic customers. When you are aware of what is being said in real time – you can also mitigate something negative before it gets out of hand.
It may be easy to overlook the importance of traditional print media in the face of social media. A good media monitoring tool will also allow you to monitor what is being said about your company in newspaper articles, magazine features and industry journals from around the world, as well as across the web.
The best information about your customers comes directly from… your customers! Monitoring what they are saying about your brand's successes gives you a powerful tool when it comes to sales and product development strategies.
Having the right tools will allow you to celebrate or share a brand success with your customers and fan base. This is also a critical part of a communications strategy. By monitoring what is being said about you on the web and social media you will know what to capitalize on and when it will be most effective.
By monitoring your social media, you or your company can respond quickly, interact swiftly and protect your reputation online.
Business leaders that are not monitoring their company's reputation often find out that something is not working when it is too late to take any effective action.
If you listen to your audience or consumers during development or early stages of a brand or product launch, you can make changes quickly or save time and money by pulling all the available information together.
Your existing customers will often provide your brand with the best, free publicity. Repeat clients buy your company's product or service because they like and trust it. When they say something good, knowing when to use it to get more attention is a clear advantage.
Attracting new customers will cost your company five times more than keeping an existing one, According to Lee Resource. Retaining existing customers is as critical for sustainable business growth as attracting new ones. Knowing what nurtures your existing clients is a prerequisite for getting noticed by others.
Knowing what is being said about your competitors gives you a clear communications advantage and offers you the opportunity to ensure that your brand stands out. It can help ensure you don't make the same mistakes your competitors have in the past. By monitoring what is being said about your competitors and key news themes related to your field, you will be able to formulate a sales and development strategy that will keep you one step ahead of your competition. Rivalry with a competitor can also be used as a powerful internal motivator and knowing what is being said about the opposition will inform you on how you talk to your staff about the future.
Staying ahead of the competition does not mean simply being aware of their brand, but placing yours in front.
By identifying popular trends in real time, social media can provide a business with a competitive advantage that even half an hour ago would have seemed unattainable. This can also be called 'Newsjacking'. Take Oreo. The popular chocolate and cream biscuit brand displayed an ingenious mixture of traditional ad placement and social media Newsjacking during the 2013 Super Bowl final. When the lights went out due to a power outage, Oreo combined its real-time media monitoring data and its expensive half time advertising slot to show a dark picture, with an Oreo biscuit in the corner, alongside the slogan, 'You can still dunk in the dark'. This was re-tweeted more than 14,000 times in the next two days.
LexisNexis Newsdesk is a media monitoring and analytics solution that allows you to search, analyze and share critical information necessary for making informed, data-driven decisions. It gives decision makers rapid and easily digested data on key news, events and trends that affect a business with comprehensive coverage across media types, languages and countries.
Offering access to both print and web content – ranging from newspapers, websites and broadcast news sources to blogs and other social media channels in a single, easy-to-use interface, LexisNexis Newsdesk improves visibility into the business-critical intelligence you need. The broad range of Web content available allows organizations to monitor what's being said in near real-time – ensuring you can respond to trends with greater agility. LexisNexis Newsdesk also enhances your ability to turn complex data sets into easy-to- digest charts and graphs and to distribute meaningful insights enterprise-wide using alerts and customized newsletters.
p.s. 3 ways you can apply this information right now to better understand news monitoring and analytics
Editor: Rich Ehisen Associate Editor: Korey Clark Contributing Editor: Mary Peck, David Giusti Editorial Advisor: Lou Cannon Correspondents: Richard Cox (CA), Lauren Davis (MA), Steve Karas (CA) and Ben Livingood (PA), Cathy Santsche (CA), Dena Blodgett (CA) Graphic Design: Vanessa Perez Design
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner hates how much money government workers are paid. Hate, hates, hates it! Well, except for when said worker works for him. In that case, all bets are off. As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, Rauner’s largesse there extends to former Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, who is set to soon wrap up a $60,000 contract for serving as Rauner’s chief operating officer. But don’t fret that Lingle may soon be destitute. When that contract concludes, she moves onto Rauner’s full time staff at a tidy salary of $198,000 a year. Or about $81,000 a year more than she made as the Aloha State governor. Lingle is also only one of several Rauner cabinet members making serious coin, topped by education czar Beth Purvis, who is pulling down a nifty $250K.
The CALIFORNIA Assembly approves AB 202, legislation that would make cheerleaders for professional sports teams employees of those franchises. It moves to the Senate (SACRAMENTO BEE). Also in CALIFORNIA, the Assembly approves SB 305, which would bar the state’s worker’s compensation system from discounting a female worker’s claim based on conditions that predominantly affect women, such as pregnancy, *** cancer, menopause, osteoporosis or a psychiatric disability related to those diseases. It moves to the Senate (SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE).
MARYLAND Gov. Larry Hogan (R) signs SB 868, which authorizes the state Public Service Commission to establish a statewide regulatory framework for ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft. New rules must require ridesharing services to be licensed by the state, to have adequate insurance and to ensure their drivers have undergone a stringent background check (BALTIMORE BUSINESS JOURNAL). Also in MARYLAND, Gov. Hogan signs HB 235, which allows electric carmaker Tesla to sell cars directly to consumers. The measure limits Tesla to four showrooms in the Old Line State (WALL STREET JOURNAL).
The NEVADA Senate approves AB 175, a bill that would authorize ridesharing services to resume operation in the Silver State. The measure has returned to the Assembly (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET, RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL).
The MISSOURI House gives final approval to HB 116, so-called right-to-work legislation that would bar employers and unions from requiring workers in a place where a union has collectively bargained wages and other benefits to pay dues even if they are not union members. It heads to Gov. Jay Nixon (D), who is expected to veto it (KSMU.ORG [SPRINGFIELD]).
The NORTH CAROLINA Senate approves HB 158, which would bar minors from using indoor tanning beds. It moves to Gov. Pat McCrory (R) for consideration (DAILY JOURNAL [GREENWOOD]).
to sooth the savage ***, or so said 17th Century English playwright William Congreve. But can it also cool the hyper-partisan fires that burn in most statehouses? That’s an open question but the folks in the Vermont Capitol are at least trying. As the Burlington Free Press reports, a bipartisan group of about 25 lawmakers and staffers has formed a group called the Statehouse Singers that performs the House devotional twice per session. Although the legislative schedule can be hectic, they find time to practice during lunch breaks and before or after meetings, with the goal of easing tensions that are often sparked by debating contentious policy issues. Although some of the performers are quite talented, lawmaker Rep. Tony Klein notes that everyone is “very forgiving” of lesser singing voices, which also helps ease tensions caused by their political differences. Let’s give this idea a standing ovation!
Washington gridlock has evidently taken a toll on lobbying at the federal level. After peaking at $3.52 billion in 2010, federal lobbyist spending dropped to $3.24 billion in 2014, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. Lobbyist spending at the state level, meanwhile, has shot up, more than doubling over the last ten years in Arizona, Kansas, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin, and topping $100 million between 2013 and 2014 in at least six states, including California and New York.
“There is a migration right now of government relations activity from Washington to the state and local levels,” said James Hickey, president of the Association of Government Relations Professionals. “There’s a feeling among folks in our industry that if you can’t get progress on issues in Washington, maybe we shouldn’t focus all of our time 100 percent on Washington.”
But some government watchdogs say state ethics laws aren’t keeping up with the surge in lobbying activity.
“There’s almost no enforcement in the lobbyist arena,” said Edwin Bender, executive director of the National Institute on Money in State Politics. “The disclosure is awful, and it’s one of the areas where I think there is a serious need for some sunlight.” (WASHINGTON POST)
Twice in two weeks courts have rejected state pension reform laws. On April 30, Oregon’s Supreme Court ruled that the reductions the state made to cost-of-living adjustments in 2013 were unconstitutional. And last week Illinois’ Supreme Court struck down that state’s landmark pension reform law scaling back public worker benefits to help erase $105 billion in retirement-system debt.
Experts say the Illinois ruling will leave Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) and state lawmakers with little recourse but taking drastic action.
“Our path forward from here is now much more difficult, and every direction will be more painful than the balance we struck [in the pension law that was thrown out],” said Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D), who helped negotiate that law.
Rauner has proposed slashing current employees’ retirement benefits by as much as $2.2 billion in 2016 alone. But that would require passage of a voter referendum clarifying that the public pension benefit protection clause in the state’s Constitution doesn’t apply to future accruals or health insurance. Amending a state constitution is very difficult but may be the only option for states that have been blocked by the courts, according to Frank Shafroth, director of George Mason University’s Center for State and Local Government Leadership.
The situation is a little different in Oregon, where there is no explicit constitutional pension protection.
“But nevertheless Oregon’s Supreme Court found that COLA reform did violate the contract protection those workers had,” said Keith Brainard, research director for the National Association of State Retirement Officers.
So just as in Illinois, Oregon officials may still have to take their case to voters.
“These governors and legislatures are going to have to go to the people and say it’s not adding up,” said Shafroth. “Something’s got to give here.” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, GOVERNING, LEXISNEXIS STATE NET)
As of May 12 drought was impacting every state in the nation but six, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly measure of drought conditions produced by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s National Drought Mitigation Center and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. California is facing the most severe drought, with nearly half of the state in “D4,” or “exceptional drought,” the highest level designated by the Drought Monitor. But a sizeable part of Nevada is also at that level, and areas of Idaho, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Utah are at D3.
Source: U.S. Drought Monitor
Key:
States with areas designated “D0 Abnormally Dry” to “D1 Moderate Drought”: Montana, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas, Tennessee, Nebraska, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Alaska, Hawaii 29
States with areas designated “D2 Severe Drought” to “D3 Extreme Drought”: Washington, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, Wyoming, South Dakota, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Kansas 13
States with areas designated “D4 Exceptional Drought”: California, Nevada 2
States with no drought: Kentucky, Louisiana, Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Delaware 6
After years of magical thinking about rains that rarely came, California agencies are struggling to combat the state’s prolonged drought through myriad mandates, restrictions and development of alternative sources of water. They have a long way to go.
Responding to a fourth year of drought that some scientists predict could last for decades, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is seeking a 25 percent reduction in water use. “We’ve got to change,” he recently told hundreds of water officials at a conference in Sacramento. But Californians have been so unresponsive to Brown’s appeal that the State Water Resources Board has ordered reductions in urban water use under threat of penalties. Felicia Marcus, president of the board, said the unprecedented action was necessary because California was gripped by “the drought of our lives.”
California is not the only suffering state. The national drought map posted monthly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows severe or extreme drought covering much of Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Utah with pockets in Oklahoma and Texas. The 1,900-mile Rio Grande River that marks the U.S.-Mexico border has in some places slowed to a trickle. Even in Washington, where rainfall is abundant, Gov. Jay Inslee (D) has issued drought proclamations covering 24 of the Evergreen State’s watersheds. Similar drought orders have been issued by governors in Oregon, Nevada and Utah.
The culprit in the Washington drought is reduced snowpack caused by abnormally warm winters. Snowpack functions as a frozen reservoir, accumulating over the winter and melting during spring and summer to provide water for rivers and streams. This year’s snowpack in Washington is the lowest in 64 years. It’s even worse in the high Sierra, a primary water source for California, where the snowpack is at a historic low. When Gov. Brown announced his latest water reduction goals on April 1, he stood in a bare Sierra meadow that normally would be covered by snow.
Media attention has focused on California, much of which is experiencing “exceptional” drought, the worst category. California is home to nearly 39 million people, more than the entire population of Canada, and boasts a $2.2 million economy that would rank seventh in the world if it were a separate nation. The Golden State last year far outpaced rival Texas in job growth and produced half of the nation’s fruits, vegetables and nuts. This output includes water-intensive and profitable crops such as almonds and alfalfa. It takes a gallon of water to grow a single almond.
Less often noted, says California Assembly Minority Leader Kristen Olsen (R), is that it takes eight gallons of water to make a single computer chip. She says that urban and rural areas have a shared stake in the drought, which Olsen calls a “crisis of opportunity” that could spur California to provide more water storage and take other actions it has long neglected while waiting for the rains.
Indeed, with the drought deepening, California seems poised for change. Until last year it was the only western state that did not inventory its ground water. In 2014 the Legislature passed legislation to provide this record. Voters at Brown’s behest then approved a $7.1 billion water bond issue that includes $2.7 billion for water storage projects, eagerly sought by farms in a state that hasn’t built a new reservoir in 35 years.
But various interest groups soon renewed old quarrels about how to spend the money. The pro-environmentalist Democratic majority in the Legislature blocked proposals to ease the permitting process for new storage facilities. Agricultural groups claim environmentalists put fish ahead of people in allocation of scarce water. Environmentalists respond that seven native species of freshwater fish have vanished in the last three decades and say that another 30 species face extinction.
Agriculture is an easy target since farms use 80 percent of California’s available water. But this oft-quoted statistic applies only to water for human use. If water used to protect the environment is included, the statewide average use is roughly 50 percent environmental, 40 percent agricultural, and 10 percent urban, according to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). Some of the water used by each of these sectors returns to rivers and groundwater basins, and can be used again.
Farmers have fallowed 400,000 acres at the cost of $2 billion and are producing on the rest under difficult conditions. For the second consecutive year, California farms are receiving no water from the federal Central Valley Project and only 20 percent of their allocation from the State Water Project. Farmers have made up much of the loss by pumping ground water, in some places dangerously lowering the water table. The Nature Conservancy says that California has used more than 63 trillion gallons of water from underground aquifers since 2013, creating “a hole in the state’s water bucket…that needs to be fixed.”
Nonetheless, agriculture is highly valued in California, and no one is about to tell farmers what to do. “Having Sacramento or Washington tell farmers what they can grow is a really bad idea,” says Ellen Hanak, director of the PPIC’s water policy center.
Gov. Brown shares this view. “I believe farmers should grow whatever they want,” he told Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton.
Hanak, an economist, favors an improved market system for exchanging water rights, which she says would benefit farmers and urban dwellers alike. Several northern California rice and cotton farmers already sell water rights to agencies in thirsty Southern California, profiting more than they would from growing a crop.
Meanwhile, the urban areas that have been the target of conservation efforts are showing disappointing results. Only 14 of the state’s 412 largest cities and water districts have met the target of reducing water use by 25 percent. Some cities could run out of water within a year or two if the drought persists.
For water-wasteful cities, which include such plush communities as Beverly Hills, the State Water Board has ordered reductions of 36 percent in water consumption with a threat of $10,000-a-day fines for non-compliance. But even cities that have been thrifty in water use will have to cut back at least 8 percent, beginning in June.
A significant court decision has harmed the efforts of cities to reach conservation targets. In April a California appeals court found San Juan Capistrano’s system of water pricing unconstitutional because it charged the biggest users more than the city paid for water. Such tiered systems have been effective in reducing water use. Irvine in Orange County, for instance, has a five-tier system and has cut water use by 25 percent by charging minimal water users 88 cents per unit (748 gallons) while the heaviest users pay $12.60 a unit.
Irvine officials insist their system will pass legal muster because all charges are tied to specific costs, but it’s not clear if the courts will agree. A determination could come on a pending lawsuit against the city of Glendale, which has a similar tiered system.
Meanwhile, coastal water agencies are looking to the sea. California presently has three small desalination plants in operation with another 15 on the drawing boards. The biggest desalination plant in the western hemisphere is due to open this November in Carlsbad near San Diego. This $1 billion project will daily transform 50 million gallons of seawater into drinking water for 112,000 households. In Santa Barbara, a desal plant that opened on a trial basis in 1992 and then was mothballed when so-called “March miracle” rains arrived, is likely to be restarted. In nearby Montecito, water expert Bob Hazard said recently, “There’s no need to give up on our flora and fauna when we have an inexhaustible supply of water in the Pacific Ocean just next door.”
Opponents say that desalination is wasteful of energy and destructive to sea life. It’s also expensive. As a cautionary tale, desalination opponents cite Australia’s experience in the decade-long “Millennium Drought” in which billions of dollars were spent on six massive desalination plants, four of which now stand idle. In a larger scale version of what happened in California in 1992, torrential rains drenched eastern Australia in 2010 soon after the desalination plants were commissioned.
But the Millennium Drought may not be the best model for California. Writing in the journal Science Advances, scientists from NASA, Columbia and Cornell who have examined tree rings that reveal weather data back to the year 1000 suggest that California and other parts of the West could be in the beginning phase of a 35-year mega-drought such as the one that contributed to the extinction of the ancient Pueblo peoples, or Anasazi, of the Colorado Plateau.
At a time we’re struggling to meet short-term conservation goals, a mega-drought is too much for most Californians to comprehend. Better for us to make small contributions by letting lawns go brown and recycling water from our showers. Even modest beginnings are preferable to the magical thinking of waiting for the rains.
The TEXAS Senate approves SB 1697, a bill that allows the state to keep the names of execution drug providers from the public. It moves to the House (TEXAS TRIBUNE).
WASHINGTON Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signs HB 1068, a bill that requires DNA collected in any felony case charged as a violent or sex offense to be preserved through the length of the offender's sentence, including post-prison community custody (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET, TACOMA NEWS TRIBUNE).
At least four governors have signed bills in recent weeks to help prevent suicide among school-age kids. The first came on May 5 when Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) signed HB 198, a measure that requires school personnel to undergo yearly training in suicide awareness and directing schools to develop a policy on suicide prevention. That was followed by similar bill signings last week in Montana, Maryland and Utah. The Montana measure, HB 374, requires state education officials to develop a specific suicide prevention program for teachers and other school staff. Gov. Steve Bullock (D) signed the measure into law on Tuesday. The next day, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) signed HB 947, a bill that requires school counselors to receive specific training in suicide prevention, including how to recognize signs of mental illness and behavioral distress such as depression and substance abuse.
They were preceded a few days earlier by Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R), who on Monday signed five suicide prevention bills, including SB 175, which extends and makes statewide an existing school safety and crisis response line commissioned by the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute and allows the institute to add texting capabilities to its service. At a bill signing ceremony, Herbert told reporters that some of the best tools for preventing young people from taking their own lives was to make sure they have services available to help them through depression and other troubled times and giving them the comfort of knowing it is okay to talk openly about those troubles.
“We shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it, and we should not be ashamed about it, we should not be hesitant to talk about it, depression, hopelessness, despair, which we all at probably at some sort of fashion have in our lives, but we’re able to control it, well others need help,” Herbert said. (ST. GEORGE NEWS, FOX13NOW.COM [SALT LAKE CITY], MONTANA STANDARD [BUTTE], PR NEWSWIRE, NEWS.GNOM.ES)
Last week, laws took effect in Utah that among other things institute gay-rights protections and mandate treatment instead of prison for drug offenders. And tax hikes for transportation and education will take effect in July. But those laws were passed in a state where Republicans hold their second-largest supermajority in the state in eight decades: 24-5 in the Senate and 63-12 in the House.
Even the London newspaper The Economist wondered what’s going on, saying the state was following a “surprising political path.” But Utah Senate President Wayne Niederhauser (R) pointed out that while lawmakers there did act on issues ordinarily supported by liberals, they put a conservative spin on them.
“We did pass gay rights, but we attached religious liberties to it,” he said.
He also said many have the misconception that Utah Republicans are a bunch of extreme right-wingers who don’t believe in regulation or government.
“Republicans are for limited regulations and small government, not no government,” he said. “So when there’s a need out there and it makes sense, the Republican Legislature is going to respond in a conservative way.” (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE)
Last week states received official word from the Obama administration that without Congressional action, federal transportation funding will expire on May 31.
“Unless Congress acts prior to this date, the Federal Highway Administration will be unable to make any new obligations of federal-aid funds to your department’s highway projects,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx wrote in a letter to states. “Unlike last summer’s cash shortfall when states faced the prospect of delayed payments, under a lapse in authorization, reimbursements on all projects will be halted completely, not simply delayed.”
Although Congress is expected to act before the deadline, its action will likely be a short-term extension -- the 33rd in the last six years -- carrying funding through the end of the year. A long-term transportation funding bill still awaits agreement on an alternative funding source to the federal gas tax, which is no longer sufficient to cover the nation’s transportation needs, a source of frustration to state and local governments that need long-term funding for major projects.
“We want to see something [from Congress],” said Greer Gillis, deputy director of Washington, D.C.’s Department of Transportation. “Without it, a lot of our capital projects come to a halt. We want something more sustainable.” (WASHINGTON POST)
NEW HAMPSHIRE Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) vetoes SB 101, which would have barred state education officials from implementing the Common Core curriculum standards in any Granite State public school (UNION LEADER [MANCHESTER]).
TENNESSEE Gov. Bill Haslam (R) signs HB 1035, which requires state education officials to develop new education standards to replace Common Core standards (U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT).
GEORGIA Gov. Nathan Deal (R) signs HB 3, which makes it a crime punishable by up to a year in prison to entice student athletes to break NCAA rules for money (USA TODAY).
TEXAS Gov. Greg Abbot (R) signs SB 149, which reduces the required number of end-of-course tests Lone Star State high school seniors must pass to graduate from five to three. Students must still pass all of their core classes and obtain a testing waiver from a special graduation committee if they were unable to pass one or two end-of-course exams (DALLAS MORNING NEWS).
MARYLAND Gov. Larry Hogan (R) signs SB 210, which bars public and private college officials from requiring or asking students to hand over access to their social media accounts (STUDENT PRESS LAW CENTER [WASHINGTON DC], LEXISNEXIS
A lot of sports fans hate former Duke hoopster Christian Laettner. His detractors cite his perceived arrogance, etc., but folks in Kentucky have their own special reason to loathe Laettner – the amazing shot he hit to eliminate the Kentucky Wildcats from the 1992 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Laettner is so despised in the Bluegrass State that, as Sports Illustrated reports, James Comer, a candidate in the hotly contested battle for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, referred to his opponent Hal Heiner as “the Christian Laettner of Kentucky politics.” Oh snap! But wait – Laettner got word of the snub and, as he is wont to do, had a reply. On Twitter, Laettner referenced Comer’s jab by asking, “Does that mean he’ll [Heiner] win?” Oh snap back!
Vulnerable incumbents in the U.S. House are bolstering their campaign accounts in anticipation of an impending Supreme Court decision that could force state legislatures to redraw congressional districts in 13 states or more, possibly before elections next year. GOP-led Arizona and Democrat-led California may be the most likely to have to redraw their congressional districts if the plaintiffs in the case, Arizona Republicans, prevail, according to political advisers for both parties. And ironically, Republicans could end up losing more U.S. House seats in California than they pick up in Arizona. But no one expects the court ruling, which should come by July, to cost the GOP control of the U.S. House, where it currently holds a 247-188 majority. (ASSOCIATED PRESS, ABC NEWS)
The Alaska Legislature returned from its special session recess last Tuesday, but with only six representatives and three senators in attendance, no progress was made on the state’s budget or other issues the session was called for last month, and it was quickly gaveled out.
Lawmakers said the session was only a “technical” one, convened to keep them in compliance with a constitutional requirement that they meet a minimum of every three days when in session. And House Speaker Mike Chenault (R) said only the finance committee had work to do right now and that work was being done in Anchorage, with construction going on at the Capitol in Juneau.
“If we were sitting here in Juneau, and the finance committee was meeting, and it was the only committee meeting, everybody would be out running around doing whatever they wanted to do,” he said.
But Gov. Bill Walker (I) wasn’t happy about the lack of movement on the budget, which he said threatened a government shutdown.
“We’re preparing for a government shutdown with $10 billion in the bank,” he said, referring to the balance of the state’s rainy day savings account.
And Walker said meeting every three days shouldn’t be the constitutional requirement lawmakers are focusing on.
“Their obligation is to provide a funded budget for the administration to carry out,” he said. (ALASKA DISPATCH NEWS [ANCHORAGE])
GEORGIA Gov. Nathan Deal (R) signs HB 57, which will allow home and business owners to use third party companies to finance and install solar panels on their property (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION).