State Legislatures Magazine: December 2001

Editor's Note: This article appeared in the December 2001 issue of NCSL's magazine, State Legislatures. To order copies or to subscribe, contact the marketing department at (303) 364-7700.

Stateline

SALMON FUGITIVES
You've seen them at dinner, now look for them on wanted posters. Atlantic salmon-raised in British Columbia fish farms-have escaped and are making their way through the province's streams and rivers, adapting to life on the Pacific Coast-feeding, avoiding predators, locating spawning areas and reproducing. Washington officials are concerned that a similar breakout could occur there, with "foreign" salmon competing with native species. And Washington isn't the only state worried about fish farm escapees. Maryland passed legislation during the 2001 session that places a five-year prohibition on the introduction of any genetically altered species into any state waterway that flows into any other body of water.

THAT'S ME, FOR SURE
With computer scanners, high-quality printers and Web sites that offer do-it-yourself kits, teens are, like, finding it way too easy to make fake IDs with little fear of getting caught. Although offenders can be cited for misuse of a driver's license or use of a fake ID, both misdemeanors, police usually leave prosecution up to the discretion of a bar or store owner. USA Today, quoting police, bartenders and teenagers, reports that licenses in Georgia are among the easiest to forge, along with those in Colorado, Florida, New Jersey and Vermont. Fewer graphic elements make them easier to fake. To combat the problem, states are looking into adding more security features, such as holograms and state seals.

DOWNSIZING IN RHODE ISLAND
Budgets aren't the only things shrinking in the states, so are legislatures-at least in Rhode Island. The General Assembly is working on eliminating a quarter of their legislative seats (from 100 to 75 in the House and 50 to 38 in the Senate) in a downsizing approved by voters in 1994. Rhode Island's downsizing is the largest on a percentage basis since Illinois and Massachusetts each cut their respective House chamber by 33 percent in 1983. Unlike those states and others a decade before, however, Rhode Island is making deep cuts in both legislative chambers. The mapmaking won't be easy, given plenty of competing pressures from communities, citizen groups, political parties and individual lawmakers.

BABES TO GRANNIES
For the second straight decade, Utah has once again claimed its title as the youngest state in the nation. The median age of its population is 27.1 (up from 26.3 in 1990). Nearly a third of the state is under 18. No other state finished with a median age below 30. Utah even has the youngest city-the college town of Provo. South Dakota, on the other hand, has the highest percentage of people 100 or older of any of the other states. Its 247 centenarians give it a rate of 32.72 per 100,000 residents. Next in line were Iowa, Washington, D.C., Nebraska, Rhode Island and North Dakota. Nationwide, there are 50,454 centenarians.

PATRIOTIC LICENSE PLATES
In a show of patriotism following the terrorist attacks, some Michigan cars are now displaying "Proud To Be American" license plates. The design features a blue silhouette of Michigan with an American flag superimposed over it. The Proud To Be American slogan is at the bottom. Michigan already has 22 fundraising license plates-15 for public universities and seven for a variety of causes, such as protecting wildlife habitat and restoring lighthouses. The Proud To Be American plates cost motorists $35; $25 goes to the American Red Cross and $10 goes to the state to cover costs.

HOW CLOSE IS TOO CLOSE?
Some state legislators in Maryland are questioning the relationship between the state medical society and the state medical licensing and disciplinary board. Currently, the state medical society conducts balloting among doctors to identify candidates for the state medical board. Some legislators say the relationship is too cozy and gives the society too much influence over the board. They say the close ties protect physicians against discipline, making the board ineffective. Maryland is one of a few states where the two organizations are so intertwined. In some states, the two value each other as partners in improving patient care, while in others the relationship is considerably more adversarial.

FRAUD ISN'T NEW
The government has recovered $8 for each tax dollar spent fighting health care fraud with the federal False Claims Act, according to a study by New Directions for Policy and funded by Taxpayers Against Fraud. The research found that the $8.7 billion recovered otherwise would have been lost to health care fraud and abuse, a significant portion of it in the Medicare program. The study also found that the threat of liability under the act strongly deters wrongdoing by health care providers, changing the business culture of the health care industry in the process. The act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 and revitalized in 1986.

WINE WARS
Wisconsin bans 46 states from shipping wine directly to consumers there, and it limits to one case the amount of wine that California, Oregon and Washington (states with reciprocal agreements) wineries can ship directly there. And that's making some people mad. The provision hinders consumers from developing a taste for different types of wine and will ultimately hurt distributors, says Bob Wollersheim, president of the Wisconsin Winery Association. He fears the restriction will eventually lead other states to limit how much wine Wisconsin's three wineries can ship to consumers elsewhere. But the Wisconsin Wine Institute contends the measure was needed to equalize the effects of large sales from the Internet and out-of-state catalog sellers.

THINKING THE UNTHINKABLE
U.S. Representative Brian Baird of Washington has introduced a constitutional amendment that would allow governors to appoint U.S. House members to 90-day terms in the event that a quarter of all representatives (109) are killed, disabled, missing or presumed dead in a natural disaster or terrorist attack. He's worried that without such an amendment the government could grind to a halt. The Constitution has been amended 27 times, including the 10 articles of the Bill of Rights. Amendments must be approved by two-thirds of the Congress and ratified by three-quarters of the state legislatures.

FROGS ARE LEAPIN' BACK
Let's hear it for the frogs. They're making a comeback in Michigan where green frogs are thriving and the beleaguered leopard frog may be bouncing back. This should please those concerned about development taking over wildlife habitat. Amphibians in general are good indicators of environmental health, according to Lori Sargent of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources' wildlife division. Ecologists say frogs and toads deserve attention as important food sources for other wildlife and as formidable eaters of insects. A medium-sized toad can eat 3,200 insects a season. That's a lot of potential mosquito bites.

Publications Home Page

Visitor counts for this page.