December 2005

 

Send us an anonymous news tip..... your privacy will be assured! 

Click Here 

 

Letters to the Editors

Customer Service

Subscription Services

Past editions

November 2005

Election officials in four Midwestern states have reached an agreement aimed partly at making sure people aren't registered to vote in multiple states.

The agreement among secretaries of state in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska calls for the creation of a task force to study ways of cross-checking voter registration rolls in the various states.

The task force also is to study joint training of election officials, testing of election systems and ways to improve election security procedures, as well as the creation of standard rules for international election observers.

The agreement comes less than a month after the U.S. Justice Department sued Missouri claiming the state had failed to take reasonable steps to keep its voter rolls up to date. As a result, the Justice Department claimed, Missouri's voter rolls may include some people who have died or moved and exclude others who should still be eligible to vote.

Des Moines, Iowa -- Population shifts to warmer weather could result in Iowa losing one of its U-S House seats after the 2010 census.

That's according to a Washington-based consultant that specializes in redistricting.

Election Data Services predicts Iowa, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania will lose seats, based on 2004 census population estimates. Arizona, Florida, Texas and Utah would gain seats.

If it happens, it would be the second House seat Iowa has lost since the 1990 census. Officials with the state's Democratic and Republican parties say there has been no discussion yet among their leaders on the implications of losing another congressional seat.

Portland, Oregon -- For the first time since hinting that he might consider a run for re-election, former Oregon governor John Kitzhaber is talking about why he wants to get back into politics.

Kitzhaber was one of Oregon's most popular governors, known for wearing jeans and for his down-to-earth attitude.

He still has not decided whether to run or not, but he did tell KATU News in an exclusive interview that he is seriously considering it and even called the current governor to let him know.

He said the main reason is that he wants to completely revamp the health care system and not just in Oregon.

Carson City, Nevada -- State Sen. Bob Beers, running for governor next year, filed paperwork Monday for a proposed constitutional change to limit government spending and give Nevada voters the final say on state or local government tax increases.

The Tax and Spending Control, or TASC, proposal was filed with the secretary of state. Backers must collect 83,157 signatures, or 10 percent of the voter turnout in the 2004 election, to get the plan on the 2006 ballot. The plan also would need voter approval in 2008.

Asked whether he hoped to bolster his bid for governor by pushing the ballot plan at the same time, Beers said TASC "is more important than who's governor."

While a governor would have at most two four-year terms to try holding down taxes and government spending, "This will permanently take the decision out of the hands of special interests and politicians and put it in the hands of taxpayers," he said.

Beers added that fiscally prudent government entities "will have no problem complying with this. They won't even notice this."

Beers also predicted that voters will understand the proposal. "The polls show it's popular," he said, noting an October survey conducted for the Las Vegas Review-Journal showed 58 percent support for the plan.

Under the Nevada proposal, most state and local governments would need voter approval for any new tax or rate increase, extension of an expiring tax or a tax policy change that would produce a revenue gain.

Any increases in state spending would be limited by the percentage changes in the consumer price index and population growth, unless voters allow spending above that level.

The plan also would return excess revenues to taxpayers if those revenues are higher than the constitutional spending limit and the ceilings of new emergency reserve and budget stabilization funds.

Denver, Colorado -- Lawmakers from Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Arizona convened a regional conference on immigration Monday, saying they need to find solutions to the problems they share.

"I don't think the status quo is defensible or sustainable," said Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver.

He said lawmakers need to study the benefits of illegal immigration as well as the costs.

Texas state Sen. Leticia Van De Putte, a Democrat from San Antonio and president-elect of the National Conference of State Legislatures, said lawmakers need to get past the emotional issues swirling around immigration reform.

"What we see is a lot of the emotional response and not some clear thinking," she told a crowd packed into the Old Supreme Court Chambers at the Colorado Capitol.

Texas was not an official participant in the conference sponsored by NCSL and the Colorado Legislature. Officials from New Mexico were also invited, but did not attend.

Colorado Republicans, who have made immigration reform a key part of their agenda next year, said the forum was put together by Democrats without their input.

The Republican Study Committee of Colorado held its own hearings on immigration Nov. 16. The committee includes 18 of the Legislature's 47 Republicans.

Williston, North Dakota --  Officials from nine school districts argue that North Dakota's Legislature has not provided enough money for schools to achieve the state constitution's education quality standards. The lawsuit, filed in Northwest District Court in Williston, contends the aid provided by the state is unfairly distributed among schools.

Last week, Northwest District Judge David Nelson denied a state motion for summary judgment, which would have dismissed the suit without a trial. The trial is now scheduled to begin Feb. 27.

Whether the state's education funding system is ultimately changed or not, at least supporters of changes will have the chance to prove their case in open court. Supporters of the current system say any changes should come about through the legislative process, but that's been tried and has failed through the years.

Supporters of the lawsuit contend that all they want is children in Edgeley to have the same chance at a quality education as the children in Minot. They seek a uniform education for all students, and the current system doesn't allow that.

Austin, Texas -- Criminal charges against Rep. Tom DeLay hinge on prosecutors' efforts to apply a money laundering law intended to hinder the drug trade to state campaign finances.

DeLay is accused of laundering $190,000 in "dirty" corporate money - corporate money is generally illegal in Texas elections - through his political action committee to the national GOP and back to seven Republican candidates for the state House. The swap was an effort to conceal the source of the money, prosecutors contend.

Houston attorney David Berg, an active Texas Democrat, called the charges "a very odd application of the money laundering statute."

"What the Legislature wanted was to attack drug dealing. There was no intent for the statute to be applied this wide," Berg said.

One count of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to launder money remain the only charges against DeLay after a judge dismissed another conspiracy charge last week.

To get a conviction against DeLay and two associates, Travis County prosecutors will have to prove the men knowingly raised or converted corporate cash with the intent of getting around the state's ban on using such money in campaigns for elective office.

The case against DeLay, Ellis and Colyandro essentially is an alleged campaign finance violation focused on a state law that prohibits corporate money from being used in campaigns for elective office.

Corporate money can be legally raised by a political committee to pay for administrative expenses.

Phoenix, Arizona -- The debate over Arizona's immigration woes will get more aggressive in the coming year as state lawmakers facing re-election campaigns feel pressure to fix problems long thought of as the sole province of the federal government.

Beginning in January, the Legislature will consider proposals to punish employers who hire illegal immigrants, fund a new 50- to 100-person squad of the state police to crack down on border problems and prohibit immigrants from receiving state-funded job training, key lawmakers said.

That's just the start of the proposals legislators will consider.

Republican Rep. Russell Pearce of Mesa, the Legislature's most vocal proponent for restricting immigration, said he will propose buying a $50 million radar to spot illegal border-crossers and a measure to cut off shared state income tax revenue for cities that discourage police officers from inquiring about people's immigration status.

Republican lawmakers said they expect Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano, who enjoys a strong job approval rating as she moves into an election year, to veto some of the new measures as she did after the last session.

If a measure gets vetoed, there's a good chance it might end up on the ballot for a vote of the people, who are frustrated with Arizona's huge health care and education costs for illegal workers and their families.

Juneau, Alaska -- Gov. Frank Murkowski doesn't sound worried about his dismal poll numbers.

The Republican governor's potential challengers have problems as well, if polls are to be believed. The Democratic field is in flux until former Gov. Tony Knowles makes up his mind about whether he is running.

But in the November SurveyUSA poll, Murkowski had just a 26 percent approval rating.

Murkowski's approval ratings have been in the dumps since shortly after he took office in 2002. He has made decisions that angered identifiable pressure groups: cutting out the longevity bonus for many of the elderly, dropping direct state payments to local governments; raising oil taxes. Controversial acts like insisting on buying a state jet probably haven't helped.

Murkowski is well aware of his poll numbers. But he said the state is in good shape and he thinks he does have a strong support base.

"Incidentally, I'm moving up in the polling. I'm ahead of my friend from California, Schwarzenegger," Murkowski said last month.

That was true at the time. Murkowski rose to 46th in the October SurveyUSA poll -- one position above California's movie-star governor. Schwarzenegger has gotten into politically bruising battles with union nurses and teachers.

But Murkowski was back in the 49th position in November.

Huron, South Dakota -- Ron Volesky, Lakota, says he will be the next governor of his state and he has an important agenda to work with tribes.

Volesky, a Democrat and a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, made a run for governor in 2002 but fell short in the primary elections. He was tagged by the state Democratic Party to run for attorney general.

South Dakota is primarily a Republican state, with the Legislature, governor's office and attorney general's office occupied by Republicans. Only four legislators are American Indian, and with the current set districts there will never be more American Indian legislators.

Volesky says he would not only work to put more American Indians in state jobs, but would appoint American Indians to the judiciary.

Volesky proposes a positive change in state government toward American Indian issues, including improvements in race relations, he said. Volesky served for 16 years in the state Legislature and introduced numerous bills regarding racial profiling and economic development, none of which passed.

Honolulu, Hawaii -- Governor Lingle wants to bring back the tax cut bills that foundered last year.

With revenues up for the state Lingle issued an announcement late this summer pushing for a revival of the host of tax relief bills that were tabled last session.

But House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro says the state also needs to look ahead and prepare for less federal money coming to Hawaii as the result of federal cuts.

He says those cuts could include Medicaid, Medicare, public education as well as transportation. Higher fuel costs will also boost construction costs for the state.

Honolulu, Hawaii -- Gov. Linda Lingle returned this week from a transcontinental fundraising and politics trip, including stops in California for a Republican Governors Association meeting and fundraisers in Houston, Philadelphia and New York City.

Packing a campaign checkbook that already boasts $2.4 million, Lingle has concentrated on raising more money for her 2006 re-election campaign.

According to reports filed with the state Campaign Spending Commission, Lingle has held 125 fundraising events in the last four years. Since becoming governor, Lingle has held 17 mainland fundraisers, with ticket prices ranging from $500 to $6,000.

According to Lingle's reports filed with the Campaign Spending Commission, Lingle took in $1.8 million from all donors this year. Of that, she has picked up $475,540, or more than 26 percent, from mainland contributors.

The most money, $290,000, came from California. New York and Washington, D.C., donors were the next most generous, giving a total of $34,000 each.

Olympia, Washington -- Washington's graying government work force expects to get a comfortable pension when retirement rolls around in the next decade, but the state pension system faces a "time bomb" — a $4 billion unfunded liability.

In recent years, lawmakers have financed pensions on the cheap, skipping payments and relying on Wall Street investments to keep the system relatively healthy. It was a painless, if imprudent, way to help balance state and local budgets during the post-9-11 recession that hammered Washington.

Now that the state economy has rebounded and a robust $1.45 billion surplus is projected, Gov. Christine Gregoire and lawmakers have decided to contribute hundreds of millions to chip away at the problem.

Helena, Montana --
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer's school funding proposal would hike annual state funding by $31.2 million next year, an approximate 5 percent increase. He also is proposing another $33.5 million in one-time funds, primarily for building maintenance and jump-starting Indian Education for All, a program to instruct all students on Native American culture.

The money is in response to a Montana Supreme Court ruling that said state funding for schools has been unconstitutionally inadequate.

The coalition of school groups that sued the state have said if Schweitzer’s plan is considered the final solution, it will be back in court, arguing that it falls short of what’s needed.

But, regardless of any future court action, Schweitzer’s plan will be front-and-center at this week’s special session of the Legislature, which must decide whether to approve, reject or modify the governor’s plan. The session begins Wednesday.

Austin, Texas -- Battling the freezing weather, author and humorist Kinky Friedman joined a handful of supporters outside the Texas Secretary of State's office Thursday to celebrate his official filing as an independent candidate for governor in next year's election.

"I'm on my way to the Governor's Mansion," Friedman said.

Because he's running as an independent, he must collect 45,539 signatures from registered voters who do not participate in the Republican or Democratic primaries. He cannot start the petition drive until after the primaries.

Friedman said people all over Texas have embraced his campaign.

Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn has said she will challenge incumbent Gov. Rick Perry in the GOP primary.

Former Houston Congressman Chris Bell plans to seek the Democratic nomination for governor. Former state Supreme Court Justice Bob Gammage said he probably will join Bell in pursuit of the Democratic nomination.

Houston, Texas -- The display of the King James Bible at the Harris County Courthouse isn't the largest of memorials. But its nearly 50-year presence there once again is sparking larger-than-life questions: Should religious symbols have a place in public life? If so, under what conditions?

Arguing before a three-person federal appeals panel, attorneys for Kay Staley, a self-described "humanist," said the Bible display at the civil courthouse in downtown Houston amounts to government endorsement of religion and, as such, violates the First Amendment principle of the separation of church and state.

Attorneys for the state and for Harris County countered that the display is secular in nature and was built as a memorial in 1956 to a Houston philanthropist and man of faith, William Mosher.