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November 2005

December 2005

Portland, Oregon -- The campaign year of 2006 was supposed to belong to the state House of Representatives.

After all, the House has it all: a great spotlight race in the Democrats’ fight to take down House Speaker Karen Minnis, R-Wood Village, plus up to a dozen other compelling contests that could either cement Republican control of the chamber or shift it to the insurgent Democrats.

But then, when not many people were paying attention, things suddenly got very interesting in the state Senate.

The Democrats currently enjoy a comfortable 18-12 cushion in the chamber, but 11 Democratic-held seats are up for re-election this year, compared with just four GOP seats.

That’s almost an exact reversal of the electoral picture in 2004, a situation that the Democrats then took full advantage of landing enough big wins to break the chamber’s previous 15-15 logjam.

Southern US Border -- Violence at the border has risen dramatically during the past couple of years, according to law enforcement officers all along the border.

Crime there is more competitive, more profitable and more violent.

Members of a violent international gang working for drug cartels in Central and South America are planning coordinated attacks along the U.S. border with Mexico, according to a Department of Homeland Security document obtained by the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Southern California).

Detailed inside a Jan. 20 officer safety alert, the plot's ultimate goal is to "begin gaining control of areas, cities and regions within the U.S."

The information comes from the interrogation of a captured member of Mara Savatrucha, or MS-13, a transnational criminal syndicate born from displaced El Salvadoran death squads from the 1980s.

The MS-13 member, who claimed to have smuggled cocaine for the Gulf Cartel, explained a plan to amass MS-13 members in Mexican border towns such as Nuevo Laredo, Acuna, Ojinaga and Juarez. The Gulf Cartel runs its drug smuggling operations from Del Rio, Texas, to south of Matamoros, Mexico.

"After enough members have been pre-positioned along the border, a coordinated attack using firearms was to commence against all law enforcement, to include Border Patrol," the alert states.

Honolulu, Hawaii -- With dozens of competing programs and causes competing for the state's ample revenue surplus, one clearly has risen once again to the top of the Hawaii legislative agenda: education.

Two years ago education took top billing as the Legislature passed a major education reform bill after rejecting a plan by Gov. Linda Lingle to break up the state's single school district.

Last year other issues rose to the top, including the need to address the state's lack of affordable housing and Honolulu's call for mass transit.

Now education is back.

In 2006, fixing the state's crumbling school buildings appears to be leading the causes that have climbed to the top of the Legislature's to-do list as they prepare to dole out a projected $574 million surplus.

Democrats want to allot $150 million. Gov. Linda Lingle has proposed spending $90 million.

~  * ~

According to reports, notorious smuggler Pablo "El Patron" Mercado says he will no longer tolerate the loss of contraband and has ordered smugglers to carry firearms.

Honolulu, Hawaii -- After months of searching Hawaii Democrats finally have someone willing to take on Republican Linda Lingle in the race for governor.

Randy Iwase, a man with experience in both city and state government, has announced his candidacy.

In making the announcement, Iwase acknowledged he faces an uphill climb, but insists he can reach the top of state government through hard work and a strong Democratic message.

Iwase enters the race as an underdog. If he reaches the general election, he will face a governor who will have close to $6 million to finance her campaign.

Party leaders say they support Iwase, "but we're looking forward to supporting any candidate who comes to the table before the July deadline," said Brickwood Galuteria, chair of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.

Iwase served on the Honolulu City Council from 1986 to 1988. He made an unsuccessful run at the mayor's office in 1988, then spent 10 years in the state Senate.

Iwase is currently working as chairman of the state Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board, but says he'll resign from that post within a week or two.

Tucson, Arizona -- Patty Weiss becomes the latest Democrat to formally enter what is shaping up to be one of the most crowded and competitive contests on the November ballot: the race to succeed Rep. Jim Kolbe.

Unlike many of her rivals in Arizona's 8th Congressional District, the 55-year-old Weiss is a familiar figure. A three-decade career as a television newscaster made her a nightly presence in district dens and living rooms.

Others Democrats now in the race include Gabrielle Giffords, a former state lawmaker; Jeff Latas, a pilot and Persian Gulf War veteran; Alex Rodriguez, a member of the Tucson Unified School District governing board; Francine Shacter, a retired federal employee; and Eva Bacal, a public defender and former TUSD board member who ran against Kolbe in 2004.

Republicans, however, are determined to retain a seat that has been in GOP hands since 1984. Their candidates at this point include Mike Hellon, a former chairman of the state Republican Party; Mike Jenkins, an auto shop manager; and Randy Graf, a former state lawmaker who challenged Kolbe in 2004.

Kolbe, 63, unexpectedly announced his intention to retire the day before Thanksgiving. His district embraces much of Tucson and Southeastern Arizona, including Sierra Vista, Tombstone, and Benson.

Denver, Colorado -- House Majority Leader Alice Madden truly hopes that John Hickenlooper gets in the race for governor.

"Without a strong top of the ticket, Democrats will suffer all the way down," she said. Sen. Ken Salazar's 2004 race helped the Democrats take over the House for the first time in 30 years and Hickenlooper would help them keep it by turning voters out.

But if the Denver mayor decides to stay put, Madden herself will probably jump in.

Former Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter has a huge lead over Rep. Gary Lindstrom in the Democratic race so far. But Ritter is anti-abortion and, oddly, has already chosen a fellow Denverite, Barbara O'Brien, as his running mate.

O'Brien supports education vouchers, which may appeal to many Republican and unaffiliated voters, but cuts the team's chances for the party nomination.

If Hickenlooper gets in the race, Madden would likely run for re-election, since the term-limits law allows her two more years in the House.

Olympia, Washington -- Gays soon will have legal standing against discrimination in Washington state.

The state Senate approved a historic gay rights bill on a 25-23 vote sending the measure to a jubilant Gov. Christine Gregoire for signing. It would take effect June 7.

Celebrating gay-rights supporters said they are keenly aware that a ballot box fight is likely in the fall because conservatives and Christian groups are weighing plans for a referendum or initiative that could strike down the law after Gregoire signs it.

The legislation, House Bill 2661, adds sexual orientation to a list of characteristics — such as race, gender and marital status — protected from discrimination in employment, housing and credit.

As the celebrating began at the Capitol, Gregoire stood in the Senate wings and hugged lawmakers. Even as she stepped to the microphones in a packed news conference in the State Reception Room, she took a call to share the news with Washington's U.S. senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.

The vote makes Washington the 17th in the country to outlaw discrimination against a person in jobs, housing or credit based on sexual orientation, according to the national Human Rights Campaign. The state becomes the seventh to include transgender people along with gays, lesbians and bisexuals.

“Referendum, big time,” predicted Sen. Dan Swecker, R-Rochester, one of the Senate's top opponents of gay rights and gay marriage. He regards homosexuality as a sin because of his Christian beliefs.

Swecker reminded his fellow senators that Washington voters have rejected the notion of protecting gays and lesbians before in Initiative 677 in 1997. Opposition groups almost certainly would place the law on the ballot for an up or down vote in November, he said.

Austin, Texas -- The Texas Supreme Court converted a one-horse contest for the state's highest criminal court into a three-way derby Friday, restoring two candidates to the ballot.

The Supreme Court ruled that two candidates who had been disqualified from the race for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals should have received a chance to correct technical flaws in their ballot applications for the March 7 Republican primary.

The third candidate, state Rep. Terry Keel, said the court overstepped the law in its 5-3 vote allowing ballot access for Dallas state District Judge Robert Francis and incumbent Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Charles Holcomb.

"What the majority essentially does is say that the election code has no meaning," he said. "It's not in dispute that both parties violated the election code."

The disqualifications were based on defects in the voter signature pages submitted by the candidates, as required by the election code: Judge Francis failed to list the number of the seat he was running for on 11 pages of his application. That omission was allowed by the state GOP, but Mr. Keel had appealed that decision and won a court order excluding Judge Francis from the ballot.

Judge Holcomb's pages had some duplicates that left him with fewer unique signatures than the law requires. The Republican Party had disallowed his application after a complaint by Mr. Keel, and Judge Holcomb sued to overturn that ruling.

"The ballot is not restricted to those who never make a mistake," wrote Justice Scott Brister. "To the contrary, the Election Code anticipates that candidates will occasionally err and specifically requires party officials to assist them so that no candidate is excluded from the ballot unnecessarily."

Three justices dissented, saying the statutes have no provision for a "do-over."

Olympia, Washington -- The Washington state House has quickly agreed to an amendment in the gay rights bill and sent it to the governor.

Governor Gregoire says she'll sign it.

The bill had passed the House by 23 votes. The crucial vote came in the state Senate where a similar bill failed last year by one vote. This year it passed by two votes.

The amendment required by the House agreement says the legislation does not endorse homosexuality.

The bill bans discrimination against gays and lesbians in housing, jobs and insurance. Sixteen states have passed similar laws. The legislation has been debated in the Washington Legislature for nearly 30 years.

Still pending in the state Supreme Court is a decision on whether gay marriage is constitutional.

Phoenix, Arizona -- The Arizona Supreme Court removed Rep. David Burnell Smith from office making him the first legislator in the nation to be sacked for breaking state public campaign finance laws.

The court delivered the final blow after a nearly yearlong legal battle, affirming lower court rulings that Smith failed to properly appeal an order from the Citizens Clean Elections Commission to leave office.

The Supreme Court also denied Smith’s request for a stay that would have allowed the freshman Republican to continue serving his two-year term, which was just past its midpoint.

“We’re pleased with the decision of the court and we felt all along that we had a good case,” said Andrea Esquer, spokeswoman for the state attorney general’s office, which represented the commission in court.

Smith, a fiery 64-year-old lawyer, argued that he didn’t violate Clean Elections laws and that the commission lacked authority to remove him.

The Court of Appeals ruled earlier this month that the commission indeed was empowered to remove him.

Smith said he would consider taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if the state Supreme Court ruled against him.

The commission, created by voter approval in 1998, is widely seen as a national model for campaign finance reform. It gives state candidates public funding with the intention of removing the influence of special-interest groups.

Last year, the commission found that Smith overspent his limit by about $6,000 during the 2004 Republican primary. It ordered him to forfeit office, refund $34,625 in public funding and pay a $10,000 civil fine.

Denver, Colorado -- Colorado's tax collections are soaring from the explosion of oil and gas production in the state. So are the requests from state lawmakers on how to divvy up the bounty to meet long-simmering needs and wants.

Helping low-income people pay their utility bills, keeping animals off the endangered species lists and granting up-front funds for environmental impact statements on new water projects are but a few of the ideas being batted around the Colorado Legislature this year.

The legislature's Joint Budget Committee - three members each from the House and Senate - is trying to rein in expectations of what can be done with severance taxes, which are expected to total almost $230 million this fiscal year.

Under Colorado law, half of the severance tax revenue, called the "local share," goes to the Department of Local Affairs to disperse back to cities and counties that are heavily impacted by energy development.

The other half is split 50-50 between the Colorado Water Conservation Board for water projects (called the perpetual base account) and the operational account that is administered by the Department of Natural Resources once lawmakers decide how to spend it.

Pierre, South Dakota -- A measure that would have required South Dakota legislative candidates to file campaign finance reports before elections has been rejected on a party-line vote by the Senate State Affairs Committee.

Members of the Republican majority voted to kill the measure, while the Democratic minority supported SB164.

The measure's main sponsor, Sen. Ben Nesselhuf, D-Vermillion, said candidates for statewide elected offices must file campaign finance reports before elections, so it would be fair to make legislative candidates file reports of donations and expenses the week before elections.

"The reason we do that is so that information is available in a timely manner so voters have that information before they go to the polls," Nesselhuf said.

Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, R-Watertown, said he believes legislative candidates eventually should be required to file campaign finance reports before elections, but he said the change should be delayed until candidates can file such reports electronically.

Problems would arise if hundreds of campaign finance reports were filed on paper with the secretary of state's office in the week before an election, Schoenbeck said.

The State Affairs Committee also voted along party lines to kill SB163, which sought to require that political parties file detailed campaign finance reports on receipts and expenses for all funds and subfunds.

Juneau, Alaska -- Despite a constitutional amendment already banning same-sex marriage in Alaska Republican lawmakers say it isn't enough. Now they want a second amendment to prevent the state from providing benefits to the same-sex partners of Alaska state employees.

Nine gay or lesbian government workers and their partners sued the state and the city of Anchorage on the grounds that denying the benefits was a violation of the Alaska Constitution's equal protection clause.

Last October the state Supreme Court agreed and ordered the benefits to commence.

The court said in its written ruling that unmarried opposite-sex couples also are denied benefits, but they - unlike gay couples - have the option to legally marry.

The ruling said that because of the ban on marriage same-sex couples are treated unfairly.

Anchorage is moving to follow the ruling but the state balked.

Earlier this month the state asked the court to delay implementing the ruling for at least a year.

Now Republican lawmakers are pushing for an amendment that would disallow same-sex partner benefits altogether.

Senate Judiciary chairman Ralph Seekins (R-Fairbanks) told the Legislative Council that he has a draft constitutional amendment and that the measure could be introduced by his committee on short order

A constitutional change would require approval by two-thirds of the House and Senate and approval by a majority of voters in November's election.

The proposed amendment has the support of Gov. Frank Murkowski.

Salt Lake City, Utah -- Former vice president Al Gore has attended the premiere of a documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

It's "An Inconvenient Truth," which chronicles his crusade since losing the 2000 presidential election: Educating the masses that global warming is about to toast our ecology and our way of life.

The film centers on the elaborate slideshow presentations Gore conducts around the world for live audiences on the perils of global warming. He presents alarming images of ice-cap meltdowns and graphs linking the rise and fall of atmospheric carbon-dioxide to rising and falling temperatures.

Gore regards the situation as "a true planetary emergency."

He told The Associated Press that he's devoting himself to a strong response to the situation.

Salem, Oregon -- Republican state Sen. Jason Atkinson made it official and filed to run for governor saying that as the state's chief executive he would work to protect children from sexual predators, control illegal immigration and boost the state's economy.

The southern Oregon lawmaker also dismissed comments by "political pundits" who say he can't win the GOP nomination but might be a spoiler in the May primary fight between front-runners Kevin Mannix and Ron Saxton.

The 35-year-old Jacksonville lawmaker, who touts himself as part of a "new generation of Republicans," disclosed his plans to run for governor in August while being interviewed by conservative radio talk show host Lars Larson.

Political analyst Russ Dondero said he's seen no indication that Atkinson is building momentum for a statewide race.

"Atkinson's base is so narrow — southern Oregon and perhaps the Christian right — it's hard to see him being anything but a spoiler for the two heavyweights," said Dondero, who teaches political science at Portland State University.

Any votes Atkinson draws in the May GOP primary likely will come at the expense of Mannix, who was strongly backed by the party's social conservatives in the 2002 Republican primary election, Dondero said.

"That will make the race between Saxton and Mannix a real close one," he said.

Santa Fe, New Mexico -- The Lynn Pierson Compassionate Use Act, New Mexico's medical marijuana bill, passed unanimously out of its first policy committee.

The bill was heard by the Senate Public Affairs Committee shortly after Governor Richardson announced that he would allow it to be considered by the legislature in this year's 30-day session.

Drug Policy Alliance New Mexico and other advocates and patients are working to make sure this bill becomes law. The same bill moved through the legislature successfully in 2005, but was stopped just short of a final vote by a political conflict unrelated to the legislation.

"New Mexicans have tried to pass a medical marijuana bill for thirty years," said Reena Szczepanski, Director of the Drug Policy Alliance New Mexico. "It’s time to get this done so our most vulnerable citizens will have protection under state law."

Portland, Oregon -- Sen. Hillary Clinton's fundraising trip to Portland is under fire from some Democratic veterans who say she is siphoning away money that could go to local candidates.

The group, which includes Jim Rassmann, the Florence veteran who hit the campaign trail with John Kerry in 2004 to speak about how Kerry saved his life in Vietnam, have issued a letter denouncing the former first lady's support for the Iraq war.

"As Oregon veterans and members of military families," the letter says, "we are concerned with your fundraising trip to Oregon on two counts: your strong support for the immoral war in Iraq and your plan to take Oregon donations that are needed elsewhere."

Oregon Democratic Chairman Jim Edmunson acknowledged the veterans' point that the event might divert money that could have gone to local candidates, and said the state party tried without success to arrange a joint fundraiser that would benefit both Clinton and Oregon Democratic candidates.

Clinton's re-election campaign declined a request from The Oregonian to respond to the letter. But a campaign spokeswoman noted that Clinton, who may run for president in 2008, has been one of the nation's biggest fundraisers for other Democratic candidates.

But Vietnam veteran John Calhoun, a Portland Democrat who gathered signatures from 31 fellow veterans and one mother of a veteran for the letter to Clinton, said some Democrats think the New York senator has not really distanced herself from her initial support of the war.

He also said that Clinton doesn't need the money from Oregon for her re-election campaign, which had nearly $14 million in the bank at last report and no strong opponent.

Calhoun and Rassmann were strong Kerry supporters in 2004. But Calhoun said the letter was not aimed at helping Kerry, who has said he may run again in 2008.

Salem, Oregon -- Rep. Derrick Kitts, R-Hillsboro, announced he will run against Congressman David Wu rather than seek re-election to the Oregon Legislature this year.

Kitts said the race will offer voters a clear choice because he differs with the Portland Democrat on many issues, ranging from trade and taxes to immigration and property rights.

"The harder thing is to find something we agree on," he said in an interview. "I think the congressman has time and time again voted wrong for the district."

Kitts, 32, is in his second two-year term in the Oregon House. In the 2005 Legislature, his fellow Republicans selected him as majority whip, which put him in charge of counting and rounding up votes for legislation.

He also was chairman of the House Elections and Rules Committee. His biggest accomplishment was shepherding through a bill that made several changes in campaign-finance disclosure laws.

Republican Everett Curry announced that he will run for Kitts' seat in the state House.

Kitts faces an uphill battle. First elected in 1998, Wu is expected to seek a fifth term in Congress, where returning members are famously difficult to defeat.

Wu has a head start in raising campaign money -- more than $435,000 in the bank as of last fall, according to his latest report filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Kitts said he knows winning the race would be expensive, and he plans to run a million-dollar campaign. "We're anticipating somewhere between $1.2 million and $1.6 million," he said.

Wu has a slight voter registration edge. Of the nearly 410,000 voters in the 1st Congressional District, 38 percent are Democrats, 35 percent are Republicans, and 24 percent are non-affiliated. The district covers the northwest corner of Oregon, including Portland's West Hills, McMinnville, Beaverton and Hillsboro.

Kitts is a Portland State University graduate who has operated a landscaping business and worked as a consultant on various campaigns in Oregon. In recent months, he has been working on a variety of duties for Kevin Mannix's campaign for governor, including strategy and fundraising. He said that work will be scaled back, but he doesn't know whether it will end.

Austin, Texas -- State Sen. Kim Brimer, a Fort Worth Republican who heads the legislative panel that evaluates state agencies, says that he wants a thorough review of the office charged with looking out for Texas' interests in Washington, D.C.

The Office of State-Federal Relations has been under fire from Democrats in recent days because it has hired two lobbyists with ties to indicted Washington operative Jack Abramoff and with U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, who faces money-laundering charges. The lobbyists are each paid $180,000 a year.

Brimer, chairman of the Legislature's Sunset Advisory Commission, would not comment directly on the Democrats' criticism but said he has already begun looking into how the state-federal office is conducting its business.

"We're going to clean it up," Brimer said after his panel's organization meeting in Austin. "But what exactly we are going to do and how we are going to do it is still being studied."

State Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco and chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a letter to Brimer this week that the examination of the State-Federal Relations Office should be expedited and that both lobbyists should be summoned to Austin to testify about the roles they play in Washington.

Dunnam and several Democratic members of the state's congressional delegation have called on Gov. Rick Perry to cancel the state's contracts with Drew Maloney, a former chief of staff for DeLay, and Todd Boulanger, who worked with Abramoff at two Washington law firms with lucrative lobbyist practices.

Since being awarded the state contract, Maloney has contributed $75,000 to several Republican candidates.

Meanwhile, the Austin American-Statesman reports that Boulanger's firm, Cassidy & Associates, was awarded its contract with Texas even though it was not lowest bidder and some of its competitors had met more of the state's selection criteria.

Perry's spokeswoman Kathy Walt told the newspaper that the firm emerged as the favorite after interviews were conducted and references checked.

Olympia, Washington -- Attorney General Rob Mc-Kenna is pushing a bill to keep sex offenders away from schools, playgrounds and other places where kids gather.

McKenna is one of the leading forces in the Legislature’s drive to strengthen sex offender laws.

The new bill gives public or private facilities that host children the ability to kick out offenders who have been convicted of crimes against kids, including rape, incest and molestation.

An earlier version of the bill was not well-received. It would have barred sex offenders from a list of child-friendly areas, such as schools, carnivals and day-care centers. Law enforcement officials feared that approach would have been virtually unenforceable, while creating a false sense of security among parents.

Boise, Idaho -- A constitutional amendment was introduced in the Idaho Legislature today to limit the power of local governments to condemn homes and private property to make way for economic development projects -- like industrial parks, sporting complexes and golf courses.

Republican Representative Lenore Barrett of Challis is the latest lawmaker to introduce legislation to restrict the so-called "eminent domain" authority of cities, counties and other government entities.

Her resolution calls for citizens to vote in November on amending the constitution to ban condemning private property for any project that might stimulate the local economy.

The House Local Government Committee sent the resolution to print this afternoon and hearings on the measure are expected later this session.

Pierre, South Dakota -- Bills regulating the 300 or so quick-loan shops in South Dakota have been introduced in the 2006 Legislature.

South Dakota's lack of an interest rate limit, which was aimed at luring banking companies, has fueled the quick-loan shops. Loans from the establishments typically last up to 30 days and can carry annual interest rates of 400 percent or more.

One bill, sponsored by state Rep. Mary Glenski, D-Sioux Falls, would amend the existing short-term lending law to add the definition of a consumer small loan, a short-term, nonrevolving loan of less $500 that's to be paid in a single installment.

Another bill, introduced Tuesday by Rep. Joni Cutler, R-Sioux Falls, defines a short-term consumer loan as any loan to an individual borrower lasting six months or less.

It would require lenders to disclose "any fee or charge, including the cost of a loan as an annual percentage rate" and any fee or charge that might be applied for delinquency. The terms of loans offered also would have to be displayed in any advertisement for the lender.

Payday lenders say the loans are meant to be repaid quickly, almost like an overdraft account.

Lawmakers said they fear the ability to extend the loan up to four times is what leads to an endless cycle of debt. A weekly $7.50 fee on a $100 loan, by the end of one year, adds up to $350 in fees alone.

Both bills have drawn bipartisan support. State Sen. Bill Napoli, R-Rapid City, a co-sponsor of both, said short-term lending is the most pressing issue for him this session.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota -- A proposed ballot measure introduced in the South Dakota Legislature seeks to limit state taxes and spending.

The proposed amendment to the South Dakota Constitution would limit the growth in tax revenue in any year to the percentage change in the state population plus the inflation rate, or the percentage change in population plus three percent, whichever is less.

If the measure is passed by the House and Senate, it would automatically be listed on the November ballot.

Another proposed constitutional amendment filed in the Legislature seeks a public vote on imposing a state income tax on corporations. The revenue would be used to boost state financial aid to school districts and to increase funding for scholarship programs.

A third proposed constitutional amendment would declare that state policy is to protect the life of unborn children from conception to birth. The proposed amendment says that nothing in the state constitution should be construed to grant any right relating to abortion.

The proposed amendment on protecting unborn children was suggested by a task force that studied abortion last year.

Helena, Montana -- U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., rolled out his first television ad of the campaign, a minute long commercial in which the three-term incumbent seeks to distance himself from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Drawing on Burns' long experience around stockyards, the commercials refer to previous Democratic ads linking him to Abramoff as "just a big bunch of you know what."

"I don't know who Abramoff influenced, but he never influenced me," Burns said in the commercial. The senator does all the talking in the spot.

Burns has received close to $150,000 in campaign contributions from Abramoff, his associates and clients, more than any other lawmaker, according to a Washington Post tally.

A former top aide of Burns has confirmed that a 2001 Abramoff-paid Super Bowl trip the staffer attended is part of an ongoing U.S. Justice Department investigation into lobbyist influence peddling. Burns has since pledged to return the money.

Burns has said his office has never been contacted by the Justice Department, which has thus far declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.

The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Washington Times, all citing anonymous sources, have listed Burns as among those lawmakers under federal investigation for their ties with Abramoff.

Tom Bunnell, Burns' campaign manager, said the ads were running statewide, both on television and radio. He declined to comment further about the ads.

The ad faults previous Democratic ads, which stopped running the end of November and criticize Burns for his links to Abramoff.

Phoenix, Arizona -- Arizona doctors have decided against asking the state's voters this fall to approve constitutional changes to allow new limits on medical malpractice lawsuits.

Arizonans for Access to Health Care, a group formed by the Arizona Medical Association, said it based its decision on indications that medical malpractice claims and suits seemed to decrease slightly in the past year and that Arizona voters weren't likely to approve meaningful changes.

The physicians' decision against seeking a ballot measure followed efforts by a group that works on behalf of lawsuit plaintiffs' attorneys to build a campaign warchest in anticipation of a possible election ballot of medical malpractice.

The lawyer-backed group, Fairness and Accountability in Insurance Reform, recently reported raising nearly $700,000 in contributions from law firms and individual lawyers.

FAIR was expected to propose its own ballot measures on medical malpractice if the doctors decided to launch their own effort to limit lawsuits, and the result would likely produce rival campaigns spending millions of dollars each.

A similar battle last year in Washington state saw spending totaling $15 million by doctors, lawyers and their respective allies in campaigns for and against rival ballot measures on medical malpractice.

Phoenix, Arizona -- A state lawmaker has proposed a ballot measure that would repeal funding for Arizona's public financing of political campaigns, saying the system's rules are enforced unevenly and that candidates are essentially penalized for not using that money for their campaigns.

If it's approved by the Legislature, the proposal by Republican Rep. Rick Murphy of Glendale would appear on the November ballot.

Voters approved the campaign finance system in 1998. It gives participating candidates for state offices public money if they collect a certain number of contributions of at least $5. The system, which is funded mostly by traffic and criminal fine surcharges, has been used in elections in 2000, 2002 and 2004 to provide funding for participating candidates for governor and numerous other state offices.

A judge threw out an initiative in 2004 that would have asked voters to repeal the system, ruling that the initiative violated the Arizona Constitution by posing two separate questions in one measure.

The Citizens Clean Elections Commission, which runs the system, considered an enforcement case against Murphy, who had accepted public funding for his 2004 legislative race. The commission dismissed the case but it's again considering allegations against Murphy.

Commission spokesman Michael Becker said the commission has tried to confront problems with the system.

Last year, the commission concluded Republican Rep. David Burnell Smith of Scottsdale overspent his publicly funded 2004 primary election campaign by at least 10 percent, an amount that triggered a provision in state law to require his ouster. He has asked the Arizona Supreme Court to block his possible ouster.

The Clean Elections system has been criticized for reporting requirements imposed on nonparticipating candidates, a lack of adequate funding for candidates for some statewide offices and inequities in matching funds.

Supporters of the system said public financing is a way of keeping special interests from having too much influence on political races.

Juneau, Alaska -- Gubernatorial candidates were snowing down on Juneau's Centennial Hall as five stopped by for a dinner forum and two potential runners made speeches.

Candidates spoke to members of the Alaska American Labor Federation-Congress of Industrial Workers, and issues relating to jobs became the first battleground of the election, still months away in November.

The meeting was the first gathering of known and potential candidates running for governor this year.

Former Gov. Tony Knowles spoke to the union about his vision for a natural gas pipeline and criticized how the Murkowski administration is handling gas line contract negotiations.

It was one of Knowles' first public speeches since his run for U.S. Senate in 2004. He said he is not sure whether he will throw his hat in the race.

Car rental businessman and former state Rep. Andrew Halcro announced his candidacy to reporters and later participated in the evening with the other four who have already proclaimed their intentions to run.

House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz and Rep. Eric Croft, both from Anchorage, are seeking the Democrat nomination. Republicans in the running are former Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin and Fairbanks businessman and former state Sen. John Binkley.

Halcro said he is running as an independent.

The candidates, speaking 10 minutes each, expressed desires to change or improve a controversial new public employee and teacher pension plan that starts this summer, support for building a gas pipeline that runs only through Alaska and making sure Alaska residents are getting jobs offered in state.

Gov. Frank Murkowski, who has not announced if he will run for reelection, also stopped by to address the union. His staff said Murkowski planned to make an announcement this week, but that has been postponed. Spokeswoman Becky Hultberg added that he continues to focus on the gas pipeline negotiations.

In his speech, Murkowkski said his administration has created 13,600 jobs and several thousand more may be on the way if a gas pipeline is built.

Santa Fe, New Mexico -- New Mexico's laws regulating lobbying of legislators and state officials need tightening according to Gov. Bill Richardson.

However, Richardson doesn't want the issue considered during the current 30-day session of the Legislature.

The governor, in comments at a legislative breakfast reception sponsored by the New Mexico Press Association, said lobbying law changes should be handled in the 2007 legislative session.

Richardson said a focus of this session should be anti-corruption proposals that were developed in the wake of a kickback scandal in the state's treasurer's office.

One proposal endorsed by the governor would prohibit campaign contributions, gifts or anything of value to the treasurer or his staff from a current or prospective contractor with the treasurer's office.

Currently, there is no law in New Mexico that bans or restricts the giving of gifts to legislators or members of the executive branch such as the governor. Legislators are not paid a salary. They receive a daily expense reimbursement when the Legislature meets.

Richardson defended so-called fact-finding trips, such as those for members of his staff and legislators to the Netherlands to tour a uranium enrichment plant.

Louisiana Energy Services, which proposes to build a similar enrichment facility in New Mexico, has spent almost $40,000 since late 2003 for government officials to travel to the Netherlands to inspect an enrichment plant operated by Urenco, a European company.

Several Richardson aides and legislators went on the trips organized by LES.

The governor said he had no objection to a fact-finding trip such as those done by LES "as long as it's disclosed, it's promptly divulged.''

Under state law, lobbyists or their employers must file reports periodically that disclose their political contributions or expenditures to influence a governmental action.

Richardson said he's willing to support efforts to make the Legislature more open to the public through the Internet. Last year, he vetoed $50,000 for buying and installing equipment for a Webcast of the Legislature. Richardson said there wasn't adequate planning for that initiative last year.

A Webcast would allow New Mexicans to use their computers to hear or watch live proceedings of the House and Senate.

The governor's state of the state speech to the Legislature last week was shown live over the Internet and Richardson said it drew considerable interest from the public.

Honolulu, Hawaii -- A dozen House Democrats are joining Gov. Linda Lingle's call to repeal the state's gasoline price cap law, the only one of its kind in the nation.

Their decision sets up an election-year clash with Senate leaders who believe the legislation has enough support to withstand any such challenges.

A proposal sponsored by seven Democrats and co-signed by five others seeks an outright repeal of the law that was first passed in 2002 and revised in each of the following years.

Word of the proposal was welcome news to Republicans.

Although she did not mention it in her State of the State speech Monday, Lingle said afterward she was committed to pursuing a repeal.

If wholesalers charged up to the maximum allowed and dealers added a markup of 16 cents, the cost of regular unleaded is expected to range from $2.80 a gallon on Oahu to $3.17 a gallon on Lanai.

Hawaii's price caps are set using an average of spot wholesale prices in the Gulf Coast, New York and Los Angeles to determine a baseline. Fixed charges are then added to account for oil companies' profit margins and operational costs such as shipping, delivery and storage to different islands.

The resulting price represents the maximum at which wholesale gas can be sold.

Echoing statements made by the governor, Democrats who support the repeal say they believe the gas cap was passed with good intentions, but it has not proven to be effective.

Olympia, Washington -- Washington's attorney general has filed his first lawsuit under the state's new anti-spyware law -- alleging that a New York company's software claiming to rid personal computers of spyware actually deposits a nefarious program instead.

The suit, which was filed against Secure Computer LLC of White Plains, N.Y., alleges that the company's spyware-scanning software falsely labels ordinary Windows system keys as spyware to induce computer users to pay $49.95 for the company's Spyware Cleaner program. That program doesn't actually clean spyware from the PC but rather modifies the computer's security settings, the suit alleges.

"This lawsuit is intended to send a message to spyware perpetrators and to hucksters who market phony products that play on the public fear of spyware," Attorney General Rob McKenna said. He called the alleged tactics, especially the changing of security settings, "quite startling."

The law, which was enacted last year, made it illegal to illicitly install software on someone else's computer to modify settings, collect information or perform other deceptive acts.

Both suits also make claims under anti-spam laws, alleging deceptive practices in e-mails used to promote the product. McKenna's suit names defendants including Paul E. Burke, Secure Computer's president, who didn't return a message left on his phone in New York.

The suit alleges that Secure Computer, Burke and another defendant, Gary T. Preston of Jamaica, N.Y., made more than $100,000 by selling Spyware Cleaner through a network of affiliates. The suit, which also names some of those affiliates, asks the court to enjoin the defendants from deceptive practices and assess financial penalties.

Ben Edelman, an expert who has testified in anti-spyware suits, said he was familiar with Secure Computer and its tactics. He described it as "a deplorable practice" that "takes advantage of users in their moment of weakness." Edelman said there are other companies engaged in similar practices.

According to the attorney general's suit, the defendants marketed the Spyware Cleaner product to computer users through pop-up advertisements and e-mails that told them their machines had been infected with spyware. The pop-up messages, which mimicked the appearance of Microsoft security boxes and used the Redmond company's trademarked font, then asked users to perform a computer scan.

The messages were designed to alarm computer users, with one reading: "Warning -- Your computer may be infected with harmful spyware programs," the suit says. Those consumers who followed through with the scan were then told that they had spyware on their computers.

"Deceived into believing that dangerous spyware is on their computer and there is no time to waste, the user is induced to purchase Spyware Cleaner," the suit says.

Austin, Texas -- Governor Rick Perry and three other governors are on a weeklong tour of Asian and Middle Eastern trouble spots, including visits with Texas troops in Iraqi war zones.

The previously unannounced trip, believed to be the first time a Texas governor has visited an active overseas battlefield, also includes scheduled stops in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Perry is traveling with Govs. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming and Jim Doyle of Wisconsin and, after an overnight stop in Kuwait, flew to Iraq to visit Texas troops in Tikrit and meet with U.S. military officials in Baghdad.

Perry and Huckabee are Republicans; Freudenthal and Doyle are Democrats.

Other governors have made similar trips, a Pentagon spokesman said. In November, the governors of Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi and Georgia toured Iraq, according to news reports.

Grapevine, Texas -- Tobacco smoke spread through the air of Wilhoite’s, a bar and grill restaurant in Grapevine as about 500 people filled the building up to the rafters, waiting in line to meet independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman, who stood behind a table signing posters and other campaign memorabilia for two hours, wearing his signature black cowboy hat and western-style shirt while smoking a cigar.

The event, which was planned by the Denton County Coordinator for Friedman’s campaign, Barbara Haas, hoped to inform people of the petition drive that will occur in two months.

According to Friedman’s press secretary, Laura Stromberg, Friedman declined to talk to members of the media at the meet and greet so he could devote his time to his supporters.

“I thought this place was ‘Kinky-esque’,” she said. “They could hold the capacity of what I thought would show up and it’s a central location.”

In one of the back rooms of the bar, workers for Friedman’s campaign sold buttons, bumper stickers, posters and shirts ranging from $1 to $20, while passing out flyers with a list of some of his views.

Independent candidates like Friedman and state Comptroller and former Republican Carole Strayhorn need 45,539 registered voters to sign a petition in order to get on the ballot in November. Voters cannot sign the petition if they voted in either primary.

Gary Beaver, a member of the Creek tribe, supports Friedman’s plan to reopen casinos on American Indian reservations.

Pierre, South Dakota -- A bill that seeks to ban abortion in South Dakota is being introduced in the state Legislature.

"It would basically be a bill in which abortion would be prohibited," Rep. Roger Hunt, R-Brandon, said Monday. "If a doctor performed an abortion, except to save the life of a mother, there would be a criminal penalty."

Hunt, a leading abortion opponent in the South Dakota Legislature, said the measure will be designed to avoid the problems that led to the failure of a similar bill two years ago.

The 2004 Legislature passed a measure that would have banned nearly all abortions in South Dakota, but Gov. Mike Rounds issued a technical veto of the bill because it would have eliminated existing restrictions while tied up in certain court challenges. The measure died because lawmakers failed to agree on changes Rounds had suggested.

Kate Looby, director of Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls, said Hunt's measure is clearly an effort to get the U.S. Supreme Court to consider overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion in the nation.

The Planned Parenthood clinic in Sioux Falls is the only place where abortions are done in South Dakota.

Hunt said now is a good time to consider a ban on abortion. He said the South Dakota Legislature has been active in restricting abortion in the past decade; Ohio, Indiana and some other states are considering bans on abortion; and the U.S. Supreme Court is getting two new justices.

In addition to the bill seeking to ban abortion, Hunt said he also will sponsor a measure that would require doctors to give women seeking abortions written information about risk factors and complications that can arise.

Abortion rights advocates will back a bill requiring that women be given information about emergency contraceptives when they go to emergency rooms after being raped.

They also will support measures requiring insurance companies to cover contraceptives and providing balanced sex education curriculum that includes information on abstinence, contraception, family communication and the dangers of alcohol and drugs.

Meanwhile, a number of other bills were filed Monday that deal with abortion or contraception.

One measure would require any abortion facility to get an annual state license and undergo inspections by the state Health Department.

Another would bar the distribution of contraceptives to students on public school property and would prohibit public school employees from referring students to abortion services or family planning services.

Yet another would allow doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health care workers to refuse to take part in any health service that violates their consciences.

Meanwhile, a law passed by the 2005 Legislature has been put on temporary hold while it is being challenged in federal court. Opponents argue the measure would undermine private and professional relationships between women and their doctors.

Last year's law would force doctors to inform pregnant women, in writing and in person, at least two hours before abortions that the procedure ends the lives of humans and terminates the constitutional relationship women have with their unborn children. Women also would have to be told that some people die during abortions and the procedure can lead to depression, increased suicide risk and other problems.

Salt Lake City, Utah -- A legislative bill aimed at reducing rough play during an election breezed through its first hurdle Friday as it unanimously passed in committee.

If the bill, known as SB 55, is passed, it will provide political candidates an opportunity to sign a pledge publicly stating they will run a fair campaign, said Republican Senator Al Mansell.

"Basically this pledge says, 'I will not participate in dirty campaigning,' " he said. "You agree, if you choose to sign this, that you won't participate in any of the kinds of things we've seen happen that are fairly underhanded."

An important aspect of the bill is political candidates will not be required to sign the pledge, Mansell said -- it is purely voluntary.

"If somebody chooses not to sign the pledge that is certainly their right," he said. "They don't have any obligation to do this."

The bill also includes provisions requiring political action committees to designate and disclose the names of two officers to the lieutenant governor. Mansell said this measure is to ensure the credibility of the organizations.

Along with requiring more disclosure, the bill also imposes a third-degree felony, and possible prison time, on organizations that provide false information. Mansell said he recognizes the penalty seems severe, but he thinks it is necessary to deter false information.

Honolulu, Hawaii -- Governor Lingle urged the Hawaii Legislature to pass both her own and a Democratic plan for tax relief.

In her fourth State of the State address, Lingle said Hawaii can -- in her words -- "have it all.'' She says it's not necessary to make a choice between tax relief and funding for bold new programs to boost education, housing, environmental protection and energy self-reliance.

She also made proposals for increasing traffic safety and fighting crime, including drug-abuse.

Lingle proposed to give back about half of a projected $574 million revenue surplus with tax relief that could put money in citizen's pockets.

She said her $285 million tax relief package would give back one-thousand, 568 thousand dollars to a family of four earning 50-thousand dollars or less.


Lingle said the savings on state taxes would be enough to pay a year's tuition at a community college with money left over for book, or enough to pay a family's electric bill for a year.

She said the legislative sessions should not be a fight between tax relief or more money for education.

She said that on top of that, there would be enough money to set aside another $100 million for the state's rainy-day fund.

Her proposal includes an increase of more than $132 million for public education on top of the $570 million already appropriated but not yet spent.

Phoenix, Arizona -- Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl is getting some more high profile help in his re-election effort this year against Democratic real estate developer Jim Pederson.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will host a fundraiser for the Republican Kyl in February. This is the latest high-profile national help given in the Kyl-Pederson race. Schwarzenegger will appear with Kyl in the Phoenix area on Feb. 23.

Kyl has already received campaign help from President Bush and former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, a Republican, is chairing Kyl's re-election bid.

Pederson, the former chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, has gotten boosts from U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and former NATO supreme commander and retired U.S. Army general Wesley Clark, as well as from Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

The Pederson-Kyl race is expected to be the most expensive in state history, with both camps reaching out to the private sector. Polls show Kyl leading in the race. Those same surveys show Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano ahead of GOP rivals.

Phoenix, Arizona -- A legislator ruled to have violated campaign spending limits asked the Arizona Supreme Court today to block his possible ouster from office.

A lawyer for Representative David Burnell Smith argues that the Scottsdale Republican should be spared a "needless public humiliation" of being removed from office without the Supreme Court agreeing to resolve multiple issues of constitutional law.

The state's campaign finance commission found that Smith overspent his publicly funded 2004 primary election campaign by more than ten percent, an amount that triggered a provision in state law to require Smith's ouster.

A hearing officer and two lower courts have ruled against Smith. He's now asking the Supreme Court to take his case and block the commission's ouster order in the meantime.

~  * ~

Santa Fe, New Mexico -- Among the issues high on business lobbyists’ agendas are the proposed statewide minimum-wage hike, concern about the possible use of eminent domain to confiscate private property, reducing taxes on small business, help for angel investors, support for economic development and tourism, and money for the proposed commuter rail system.

At the top of the list this session is stopping — or at least slowing down — an increase in the state’s minimum wage from the congressionally mandated level of $5.15 an hour to $7.50 an hour.

A bill proposed by Rep. Ben Luján, D- Santa Fe, would raise the minimum wage statewide to that $7.50 level on Jan. 1, 2007.

Gov. Bill Richardson also wants to raise the minimum wage, but his proposal would phase in the higher wage over time, to $6.50 next January, $7 in 2008 and $7.50 in 2009.

Both Luján and Richardson’s proposals would contain a pre-emption clause that would prohibit local governments other than Santa Fe from setting a higher minimum wage than that of the state wage for the first five years after the measure is enacted.

Tucson, Arizona -- A former long-time Tucson news anchor says she's filed to become the seventh Democratic candidate vying to replace retiring U-S Representative Jim Kolbe.

Patty Weiss, who left N-B-C affiliate KVOA-TV last year, says she faxed her paperwork to the Federal Election Commission.

She plans an official announcement in about 10 days.

Kolbe, a Republican completing his 11th term, announced late last year he won't seek re-election to southern Arizona's Eighth Congressional District seat.

Only two Republicans have entered the race: Randy Graf, who lost to Kolbe in the 2004 primary, and Mike Jenkins, a former Tucson City Council candidate.

Other Democrats who've filed include Eva Bacal, who lost to Kolbe in the 2004 general election; former state Senator Gabrielle Giffords; former Air Force pilot Jeffrey Latas and Tucson Unified School District board member Alex Rodriguez.

St. Louis, Missouri -- A new poll shows Gov. Matt Blunt trailing potential Democratic challenger Attorney General Jay Nixon in the race for governor, based partly on overwhelming opposition to Medicaid cuts that Blunt's administration has championed.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch/KMOV-TV poll found no clear leader in the race for the U.S. Senate between State Auditor Claire McCaskill and incumbent Sen. Jim Talent.

The poll of 800 likely Missouri voters showed strong opposition to Medicaid cuts that eliminated about 300,000 residents from the program. But it indicated high support for increasing the state's tobacco taxes and a proposal to protect embryonic stem cell research in Missouri, if it is allowed by federal law.

Nixon led Blunt 51 percent to 43 percent, outside the 3.5 margin of error. But a sampling of those who support Nixon, who has not officially declared his candidacy, indicated that they chose him largely based on dissatisfaction with Blunt, the Post-Dispatch reported.

"The best news for Matt Blunt is that he's not up for election this year," said Del Ali, whose firm conducted the poll.

John Hancock, a spokesman for the Missouri Republican party, said the poll showed that Blunt's popularity is moving in a positive direction. He said a poll taken nearly three years before an election helps to show the campaign it's headed in the right direction.

In the Senate race, the poll showed 47 percent of those questioned favored McCaskill, while 44 percent picked Talent, with the other 9 percent undecided. The difference between the candidates is not considered statistically significant because it is within the 3.5 percent margin of error.

The poll also found a gender gap, with McCaskill holding an 11-point edge among women and Talent with a five-point edge among men.

About two-thirds of those polled support a ballot proposal to increase the state's tobacco taxes by 80 cents a pack on cigarettes, and triple the tax on other tobacco products. Supporters of the effort say most of the money raised from the tax would be used to increase Medicaid payments to hospitals, doctors and other health-care providers.

About two-third of those polled also supported a proposal to protect embryonic stem cell research, an effort being pushed by various Missouri universities and research institutions. Some members of the Missouri legislature are trying to ban stem cell research, saying some forms of the research require the killing of embryos.

Honolulu, Hawaii -- U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka says he is energized and ready for a campaign challenge from U.S. Rep. Ed Case.

Case shocked establishment Democrats by announcing he would run against Akaka, a 30-year veteran of Congress who has served in the Senate since 1990.

Akaka is 81. Case is 53 and said one of the reasons he is running is to provide Hawaii with a new generation of leaders in Washington.

Akaka said he is not looking to retire.

By announcing for the Senate, Case opens up his congressional seat, setting up a race for his 2nd Congressional District (rural Oahu and neighbor islands) office.

Yesterday, two more Democrats said they would run.

State Sen. Ron Menor, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress 15 years ago, said he would again run.

Menor (D, Mililani), an attorney, is one of the strongest proponents of the state's gas cap legislation.

Denver, Colorado -- Many local Republicans have been looking at Marc Holtzman's campaign for governor with a sense of dread, asking themselves, "Did he really say that?"

Holtzman has been stirring things up with a vow to lead a "grass-roots revolution" against the Republican establishment in his faceoff with U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez for the party's nomination.

Holtzman is insisting that the party has lost its way and points to the growing influence-peddling scandal in Washington as proof.

He has even made it clear he'll try to link Beauprez, who has not been implicated in the scandal, to congressional leaders now under investigation.

Last week Holtzman went even further, attacking Mayor John Hickenlooper, who Democrats are urging to enter the governor's race.

Holtzman said Hickenlooper leads an administration with a "secular, godless undertone" that wanted to replace the words Merry Christmas with Happy Holidays on the Denver City and County Building.

In another swipe at Beauprez, Holtzman described him as "Hickenlooper light."

All of this has deeply upset many Republicans, who fear Holtzman will damage his party by portraying it as corrupt and out of touch.

There is increasing animosity between moderates and conservatives within the Colorado Republican Party, and those divisions grew during the raucous campaign over Referendums C and D last fall.

Holtzman, a leading opponent of the referendums that ease some restraints on state government spending, has been appealing to conservatives by saying they were betrayed by party leaders like Gov. Bill Owens.

Holtzman, a wealthy entrepreneur, has so far been able to raise $1.5 million for his campaign, which will allow him to do extensive television advertising.

Salem, Oregon -- Anti-tax activists have begun a signature-gathering drive to ask Oregon voters this November to clamp a tight new limit on state government spending.

If the measure wins a spot on the ballot, it will touch off what's expected to be a high-spending campaign battle between tax foes who want to restrict government spending and those who say such a limit would put schools and important social services at risk.

Jason Williams of the Taxpayers Association of Oregon says thousands of petition sheets have been mailed to volunteers across the state asking them to help collect signatures for a new spending limit to replace the current one.

Paid signature gatherers might be brought in later to help round up the 100,000-plus signatures needed by the July deadline to qualify the spending limit proposal for the fall ballot, Williams says.

The proposed initiative would limit state spending to the percentage change in inflation plus the percentage change in population growth.

Any override of the limit would require a two-thirds vote from both the House and the Senate and the approval of Oregon voters in a statewide election.

Williams' group is teaming up on the new ballot initiative with FreedomWorks, the well-financed Washington, D.C.-based organization that advocates for lower taxes and smaller government in Oregon and other states.

In 2004, the two groups joined forces in a campaign that referred the Oregon Legislature's $800 million tax increase to the statewide ballot, where it was soundly rejected by voters.

Austin, Texas -- Evidence is mounting that former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed Jr., along with a former leader of the Texas Christian Coalition, may have illegally lobbied Texas state officials on behalf of crooked federal lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his clients.

Three Austin-based reform groups, Common Cause Texas, Public Citizen Texas, and Texans For Public Justice, have urged Travis County prosecutors to investigate whether Reed violated Texas’ lobby-registration laws four years ago.

Correspondence between Abramoff and Reed—the ex-Christian Coalition leader now running for lieutenant governor of Georgia—suggests that Reed lobbied Texas officials on behalf of Abramoff’s Indian gambling clients without registering as a Texas lobbyist. The $5 million in gambling money that Abramoff reportedly paid Reed for his services would make it one of the largest lobby contracts ever made public in Texas.

Reed’s policy work in Texas assumed greater significance this past January 3, when Abramoff pled guilty to three felonies in a plea bargain with federal prosecutors investigating a vast web of political corruption.

Carson City, Nevada -- The Nevada Taxpayers Association announced that it will oppose a California Prop. 13-style initiative to limit property tax increases, saying the plan has numerous problems that could lead to "unintended consequences."

Fred Gibson, chairman of the NTA board of directors, said board members voted overwhelmingly to oppose the Property Tax Restraint Initiative being circulated by conservative state Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno, who's a candidate for Congress this year.

The NTA move follows criticism of Angle's plan by the Nevada Association of Counties and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. The chamber termed it a threat to Nevada's tax structure, and NACO said it would hamstring government services.

During the 2005 Legislature, lawmakers capped property tax increases at 3 percent a year for homeowners and 8 percent for commercial property. Angle's anti-tax plan would result in still lower rates of increase.

The taxpayers association also said it will oppose a property owner "bill of rights" plan dealing with eminent domain issues, along with a proposal to mandate daily physical exercise in K-12 public schools.

The wording of the eminent domain plan makes it "a certainty that there will be unintended consequences which would preclude the construction of major capital projects including roads and highways," the NTA said.

The NTA drew vast amounts of grassroots criticism during the last legislative session when it endorsed Republican Governor Kenny Guinn's massive tax increase. The group has long been considered a lapdog of Nevada's political elite.

"Imagine, a taxpayer group that is anti-taxpayer," one long time political veteran quipped to WesternPR.

Honolulu, Hawaii -- Lawmakers and the governor have drawn battle lines on what to do with the projected $574 million surplus: spending more money to fix schools and other needed programs, or easing the tax bite on residents.

Lawmakers opened the 2006 legislative session presenting their ideas on how to spend the record surplus.

Gov. Linda Lingle will unveil her proposals in her State of the State address. She has proposed returning $300 million of the surplus to residents in some form of tax refund.

Lingle said, "Bottom line, it is great to be able talk about how to spend the surplus as opposed how to face looming deficits."

"I was disappointed that the House didn't talk about tax relief or lessening the burden on people who are facing the high cost of living," Lingle said in a meeting with reporters after the Legislature's opening-day speeches. "I thought it showed an insensitivity to what thousands of people face who are living paycheck to paycheck.

"The surplus belongs to the people of Hawaii, and they have worked hard for us to get to this point and they deserve some substantial tax relief."

Juneau, Alaska -- Two North Pole legislators want to give people more leeway to defend themselves or others from serious crimes such as robbery or rape.

A bill sponsored by the Republicans expands the circumstances during which a person can use deadly force in self-defense.

It's a carbon copy of a bill passed in the Florida Legislature last year. Passage of similar bills across the nation is being encouraged by the National Rifle Association.

Supporters say the legislation gives people more freedom to protect themselves and would act as a deterrent to crime.

Critics say it hands power that should remain with police and courts to the people, and that the measure fosters violence.

Alaska law already allows people to use deadly force in their own homes or when they can prove they could not have escaped their attacker. Senate Bill 200 permits deadly force even if a person could have fled their attacker and protects the person from civil liability.

The measure allows deadly force in self-defense from death, serious physical injury, kidnapping, rape, robbery, carjacking or to protect a child from crimes such as molestation.

Alaska is among 14 states considering the idea, according to a spokesman for The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a Washington, D.C., gun control group that opposes the legislation.

Twin Falls, Idaho -- Some educators are calling a proposed sales tax increase a "pro-school movement", while legislators are saying it's an ineffective way to set tax policy.

A statewide initiative, which is being organized by the Idaho Education Association (IEA), is asking voters to support the initiative in the Nov. 7 general election. The initiative proposes to reinstate the previous sales tax of six percent -- a tax increase that would raise more than $190 million.

Local committees in regions throughout Idaho hope to gather 60,000 signatures that would put the initiative on the ballot, said Peggy Hoy, who is organizing the campaign in Twin Falls.

The initiative is also being supported by the Idaho Parent Teacher Association.

Although most educational agencies in Idaho support an increase in school funding, they disagree on the method. The Idaho Association of School Administrators (IASA) has not taken a stance on the issue.

"We support a 1-cent increase to sales tax to support public schools, but we don't have an official position on the IEA initiative," said Vikki Reynolds, associate director of the Idaho Association of School Administrators.

Reynolds said the IASA has talked informally with the teachers union about school funding. She said that although their goals may be similar, there is no formal agreement about the method of achieving the goal.

Many legislators say they are still waiting to know how the IEA would use the money from the tax increase.

Lafayette, Colorado -- U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez returned to his roots on the second official day of his campaign for governor.

In a garage near the barn that once housed his family’s dairy cows, Beauprez, 57, repeated the speech he gave in Denver the day before when he officially announced his candidacy for a position almost everyone expected him to seek.

“Right here is where it really did start, right here in that barn,” Beauprez said.

His parents, Joseph and Marie, bought dairy cows in 1952 because a drought was hurting the family’s farming business, Beauprez said.

“Turns out those milk cows were good to us,” Beauprez said.

Beauprez and his wife, Claudia, sold the dairy farm and its cows in 1989. The barn still stands, surrounded now by the Indian Hills golf course and its subdivision. With some of the profits from the farm’s sale, the couple in December 1990 bought a majority share of what is now Heritage Bank.

In the GOP primary, Beauprez will face former University of Denver president Marc Holtzman.

Two Democrats, former Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter and state Rep. Gary Lindstrom of Summit County, also are seeking the governor’s seat.

Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican, is prohibited by term limits from seeking re-election.

Phoenix, Arizona -- An appellate court on Thursday upheld a lower court's ruling that a state legislator must forfeit his elected office because of overspending when he ran for office with public funding in 2004.

However, the Court of Appeals put implementation of its ruling on hold for five days to give Rep. David Burnell Smith's time to file a promised appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court.

Smith, a freshman Scottsdale Republican, would be the first legislator removed from office for violating a state's public campaign funding system.

Arizona voters voted in 1998 to create the so-called Clean Elections system, and it has since been used in elections in 2000, 2002 and 2004 to provide funding for participating candidates for governor and numerous other state offices.

Smith has said he would take his case to the Arizona Supreme Court and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.

Juneau, Alaska -- A group of legislators and health-care providers is pushing to drastically reduce the reach of the state law governing development of new health care infrastructure.

Supporters would change the certificate of need law, which requires developers of medical facilities to prove that the facilities are needed, to cover only long-term nursing care facilities and residential psychiatric treatment centers.

Lt. Gov. Loren Leman approved petition language Tuesday for an initiative effort to change the certificate of need law. The initiative is similar to one proposed last year and to a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives in 2005.

Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, sponsored the legislation as well as this year's ballot initiative.

"We're trying to protect free enterprise," he said. "If we can have more competition, it's likely we can have lower costs."

The certificate of need legislation was designed to prevent "excessive, unnecessary, or duplicative development of facilities or services," according to the Department of Health and Social Services' Web site.

The DHSS, which administers the certificate of need program, warns that limiting the legislation to nursing care and mental health facilities could actually cause an increase in statewide health care costs rather than the decrease promised by proponents of the new initiative.

The effective gutting of the law could eventually put some hospitals out of business, said Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer and vice-chairman of the House Committee on Health, Education and Social Services.

The initiative is sponsored by Reps. Lynn and Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla, and Paul Fuhs, a lobbyist.

A coalition of independent health-care facility owners, doctors and small business owners swamped by health insurance premiums supports the initiative, Fuhs said. Supporters formed the nonprofit organization Alaskans For Medical Choice and Competition to promote the change.

Austin, Texas -- What the Secretary of State won’t tell you is that voting in the March 7 primary disqualifies you from signing the petition of an independent or third-party candidate who is trying to get listed on the general-election ballot.

This quirk in Texas election law, known as “primary screen-out,” adds barriers to independent candidates’ cumbersome task of collecting more than 45,000 valid signatures in 65 days, and, in cases of a run-off, 30 days. The number of required signatures is set by calculating 1 percent of the vote in the 2002 gubernatorial election. Third parties have 75 days to collect signatures.

“It makes it next to impossible to get ballot access,” says Bev Kennedy, state chairperson of the Texas Reform Party.

“If you don’t have candidates on the ballot, you get zero opportunity to promote your message.”

Phoenix, Arizona -- Two Arizona lawmakers have proposed punishments on businesses that contribute to the state's vast immigration problems by hiring foreign workers who sneak across the border to find jobs.

Even though federal law already outlaws the hiring of illegal immigrants, the lawmakers say the federal government has done a poor job of holding businesses accountable for turning to illicit workers to fill construction, agricultural and service industry jobs.

Among the three employer punishment proposals now in the Arizona Legislature, one would make it a state crime for businesses to knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

Another would require employers to check the employment eligibility of job prospects by running their names through federal databases - systems that are now used on a voluntary basis.

Both bills would carry civil fines of up to $5,000 for each violation.

A third bill would let businesses fire workers who have invalid Social Security numbers and would strip violators of their state-issued business licenses and certifications. It also would give legal workers the right to sue companies that fire them while keeping illegal immigrants on the payroll.

"I'm going after (illegal hirings) because it's wrong," said Republican Rep. Russell Pearce of Mesa, the Legislature's most vocal proponent for restricting immigration, who is sponsoring of one of the bills.

Austin, Texas -- Gov. Rick Perry said he likely will call a special legislative session on school finance in April or May, just before a June 1 court deadline for action.

The Republican governor, who spoke with news reporters at a campaign event for a legislative candidate said he probably won't place private school vouchers on the session agenda. That issue most likely would be addressed in the 2007 regular legislative session, he said.

It's long been expected that Perry would call a special session on school funding after the March 7 party primaries, now that the Texas Supreme Court has found the current education finance system unconstitutional.

"I think everyone realizes that the time frame is most likely April-May,"
Perry said.

Phoenix, Arizona -- More than two-thirds of the money in a $100 million plan that Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano has proposed to confront the state's immigration woes would go toward helping communities improve border security.

She has proposed $50 million in grants for state, local and tribal government agencies to beef up security along the state's international boundary, combat immigrant smuggling and focus on border-related crime.

The governor wants to create an additional $5 million in grants for local and tribal police agencies in Arizona's four border counties to strengthen border security. Another nearly $10 million would go toward efforts to lessen the effects of illegal immigration in border communities. The state police would dole out the grants.

Phoenix, Arizona -- A committee of the Arizona Legislature rejected a request to open an ethics investigation of a lawmaker's use of subpoena power in examining a close primary election.

The Senate's ethics committee voted 3-2 to withdraw a complaint against Republican Sen. Jack Harper of Sun City West that questioned whether he issued subpoenas to get information that provided a weekly newspaper with an exclusive story.

As chairman of a government accountability committee, Harper issued subpoenas to Maricopa County officials, demanding that they turn over ballots and other material from a 2004 legislative race in which a recount reversed the initial outcome.

A recount in the 2004 primary election in Arizona's District 20 led to a discovery of nearly 500 additional votes and changed the outcome. Republican John McComish was declared the primary winner and later won the seat in the general election.

Harper contends there were possible irregularities in how votes were counted.

Democratic Sen. Bill Brotherton, who sought the investigation, said he was concerned about the subpoena because the Phoenix New Times reportedly is paying for a report by an elections expert.

"It could shadow over an investigation if you start letting private parties start funding public investigations," Brotherton said.

Brotherton said the newspaper published a story last week on the report, hours before the report was available to lawmakers.

Harper said he didn't have an agreement with the newspaper to give it first crack at the report.

St. Louis, Missouri -- Gov. Matt Blunt has reinforced his image as a dialing-for-dollars political machine by raising an average of $3,000 a day in campaign donations over the past three months.

The governor's latest campaign report showed him with $1.63 million in the bank - a tally that appears to be a record for a Missouri governor in office only a year.

That money included $910,779 raised since Oct. 1. All told, Blunt has collected almost $2.2 million in donations since taking office a little more than a year ago.

The governor's fundraising was outpaced only by that of the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, the group seeking a ballot measure on the November ballot to protect most stem-cell research. Backers include some universities and research centers.

The group reported raising $1.14 million since Oct. 1, part of $4.4 million it has collected since announcing its effort last fall. But it already has spent $3.8 million, leaving the coalition with only $368,205 in the bank.

The coalition's latest donations included at least $992,000 from the Kansas City-based Stowers Institute or James and Virginia Stowers. The coalition can collect donations of any size, unlike Blunt and other officials or candidates, who can collect individual contributions no larger than $1,200 per election.

Meanwhile, the Committee for a Healthy Future, one of the groups seeking a ballot measure to increase the state's tobacco tax, reported raising $2.5 million - $371,090 of it in the last three months. It reported only $324,315 in the bank.

Blunt's total appears aimed, in part, at discouraging potential challengers - fellow Republicans or Democrats - who might be tempted by the various controversies that have erupted during his first year in office.

The governor raised the money largely through private fundraisers and telephone calls. He also had the help of his campaign fundraising staff, which includes his younger brother, lobbyist Andrew Blunt.

His announced Democratic rival, Attorney General Jay Nixon, filed a report showing that he had raised close to $400,000 since announcing his candidacy late last year. Nixon reported about $532,000 in the bank, but his challenge is three years away.

The Republican most often cited as a potential Blunt rival, state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, appears to be focused on paying off a $200,000 debt to herself, following her 2004 bid for office. She had roughly $130,000, combined, in two campaign bank accounts.

Salt Lake City, Utah -- Lawmakers wasted little time in getting to the debate over eight high-profile bills this session

The proposals include:

• A ban on smoking in private clubs;
• The repeal of the sales tax on food;
• A requirement that teachers tell students;
• More lobbyist reporting requirements for gifts provided to lawmakers;
• An exemption to the public records law for e-mails sent to legislators and public officials;
• The ability to have a loaded gun in a car;
• And two abortion bills - one requiring parental consent when minors seek an abortion. The other would require a doctor to tell a patient who is at least 20 weeks pregnant that a fetus can feel pain during an abortion procedure.

"We wanted to get the big bills out there early," said House Majority Leader Jeff Alexander, who is sponsoring HB101 to increase reporting requirements for lobbyists. "We didn't want people to say we are trying to ram these things through."

Juneau, Alaska -- Facing the possibility that a similar citizen's initiative might make the ballot this fall, lawmakers on Tuesday heard a bill to shorten the legislative session to 90 days.

Legislators are split. If it were a personal choice, most would probably jump at the chance to spend more time at home with family instead of traveling hundreds of miles - or in the case of Unalaska Rep. Carl Moses, 1,200 miles - to spend four months of the year in Juneau.

Opponents say the shorter session would make it easier to stifle initiatives because time runs out on lawmakers.

Waiting in the wings is a ballot initiative to reduce the length of the session. The initiative's main sponsor, Rep. Jay Ramras, R-Fairbanks, said he turned in 45,300 signatures to the Division of Elections for certification. Signatures equaling 10 percent of the turnout of the last election - 31,451 - is needed to put the issue on November's ballot.

Denver, Colorado -- Republican Marc Holtzman is planning a "grass-roots revolution" in his bid for governor, and he appears now in good position to fund it.

Holtzman - widely regarded as the underdog in the increasingly bitter contest for the Republican nomination for governor - has raised more money during the past year than his rival, Rep. Bob Beauprez.

Holtzman's campaign manager, Dick Leggitt, vowed Monday to use that money in a no-holds-barred assault on Beauprez and the party "establishment."

Holtzman raised $1.5 million last year, versus Beauprez's $1.2 million. Of that total, Holtzman raised $383,788 in the fourth quarter of 2005, edging Beauprez's $381,512.

No other candidate for governor has raised as much money at this point in an open race.

Despite Holtzman's deep pockets, Leggitt attributes most of his candidate's fundraising success to rank-and-file Republican anger at the party leadership represented by Beauprez, who has been endorsed by Gov. Bill Owens.

"There are more grass-roots Republicans who want a change at the top than there are party bosses that are the source of Beauprez's oxygen," Leggitt said. "We're trying to start a grass-roots revolution to take the party back."

Beauprez said he won't respond to Holtzman's attacks.

The bitterness within the Republican Party extends back to the fall campaign over Referendums C & D, which Owens championed. Holtzman, who once served in Owens' cabinet as the secretary of technology, took a prominent role in the campaign against the measures.

Santa Fe, New Mexico -- A bill to ban the neurotoxic artificial sweetener Aspartame will be introduced in the New Mexico Legislature, the first legislative ban in the USA on aspartame, by New Mexico State Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino.

New Mexico Governor Richardson believes that states must take back some of the FDA's regulatory power, because "the FDA isn't doing anything," and "isn't doing enough to warn people about the dangers of aspartame."

Richardson has already placed on the "call" (his agenda for the coming 30 day session, a bill to ban Thimerosal, the Mercury Filler used in Vaccines, and a bill to create a New Mexico Nutrition Council, with specific powers to question and challenge FDA approved products, sponsored by the President Pro Tem of the NM Senate, Ben Altamirano.

The FDA has refused to rescind its approval, thus far, so aspartame is found in coffee sweeteners, “diet” beverages, “low-fat” yogurt, “sugarless” gum--- a total of 6000 products consumed by 70% of Americans and 40% of our children.

Aspartame is also in over 500 children's medications; the New Mexico Pharmacy Board is considering a petition to order a ban in order to protect New Mexico's children; the Board awaits an Opinion from the NM Attorney General. In the meantime, the NM Legislature may move rapidly on this issue

Other Attorneys General, particularly Bill Lockyer of California, Eliot Spitzer of New York, and Mike Hatch of Minnesota, comprehend the level of consumer protection necessary to protect health.

Lockyer is suing 9 mega fast food corporations to require labeling every bag of French fries stating: "This product contains a chemical which is known to the state of California to cause cancer." Heating potato starch to 400 degrees turns it to carcinogenic acrylamide.

When New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer on June 1 was informed about our aspartame/FDA efforts, he immediately replied: "the FDA is a joke!"

The New Mexico Bill will be introduced on the Opening Day of the session, and when Governor Richardson officially puts this bill on the agenda, the FDA will immediately move toward rescinding aspartame's approval. Industries should switch to Stevia or Xylitol, both non-toxic natural sweeteners, and they wouldn’t have to lose any profits.

Salt Lake City, Utah -- The Utah Legislature convened for 2006 with legislators facing the largest budget surplus in state history and no solid consensus on what to do with it.

The major issue facing legislators will be what to do with what an estimated $344 million budget surplus.

Gov. Jon Huntsman wants to reduce the income tax rate that most Utahns pay from 7 percent to 5 percent, although some Republican legislators have said they'd like to see a lower rate than that.

The Senate has yet to take a position on how much in tax cuts will be put in this year's budget.

Eliminating the sales tax on food will be discussed. The governor and several legislators have said they would like to eliminate the tax on food, which is considered to affect the poor the most.

The demand for funding state programs will be as great as ever, said House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy. But he challenged House members to spend cautiously.

Honolulu, Hawaii -- Hawaii's 30,000 businesses are in for a big windfall -- a huge cut in payroll taxes for at least the next two years.

In a rare show of election-year unanimity, Democrats and Republicans say they will support efforts during the legislative session to greatly reduce the tax that employers pay into the state's unemployment insurance fund.

A typical Hawaii business with 30 employees could see its payroll tax cut from close to $30,000 a year to $6,000.

The fund is flush with $460 million and with unemployment running at less than 3 percent, businesses have urged legislators to cut the tax or refund part of it.
Hawaii companies are paying the highest unemployment insurance taxes in the nation, even though the state has the lowest jobless rate.

On average, companies pay about $1,000 per employee per year into the fund; that amount would be cut to about $200.

Gov. Linda Lingle and Republicans had pushed to cut the unemployment tax last year, but House Democrats blocked the effort, saying they didn't want to shortchange the fund in the event the unemployment rate increased.

Lingle is proposing to cut the tax 75 percent for three years, which would save businesses an estimated $165 million.

In an effort to show they are even more pro-business than the governor, the Democrats who control the Legislature wanted to do away with the tax for two years, but discovered that federal law requires states to collect a minimum amount.

The Legislature is expected to approve dropping the wage base from $34,000 to $7,000 for two years.

Missoula, Montana -- Firing off one-liners and political jabs, author and comedian Al Franken scattered verbal buckshot at conservative Republicans on Friday while enlisting a little help from some new Montana friends in front of a charged-up audience.

Franken, broadcasting live on Air America radio in front of a packed crowd at the MCT Center for the Performing Arts, laid into former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, President Bush and televangelist Pat Robertson but saved some especially sharp remarks for Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.

“Because of a peculiarity in the Constitution,” said Franken, “Montana has two U.S. senators, just one of them corrupt.”

Though he has not been named in any investigation, Burns has been under intense scrutiny because of his financial ties to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

During the three-hour national broadcast, Franken shared the stage with Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Missoula Mayor John Engen, former U.S. Rep. Pat Williams and legislative lobbyist George Ochenski. All were guests on his show.

Franken was invited to Missoula by the Montana Human Rights Network to deliver a speech at its annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration and fundraiser at the Wilma Theatre.

Phoenix, Arizona -- The money is flowing in the high-priced U.S. Senate race between Democratic real estate executive Jim Pederson and Republican incumbent Jon Kyl.

Kyl raised more than $2.7 million during the fourth quarter, according to his re-election campaign. Overall, Kyl has just under $6.3 million on hand, his campaign announced Monday.

A good chunk of that change came from a business-heavy fundraiser hosted for Kyl by President Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa right after Thanksgiving.

Kyl is a top ally of Bush on Capitol Hill and has said he would welcome future support from the president as well as other administration officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney.

Pederson's campaign will release its fourth quarter fundraising totals in the coming weeks, said spokeswoman Selena Shilad.

The Democratic businessman raised more than $732,000 in the third quarter and had $673,000 cash on hand for that quarter. Pederson has also disclosed in his campaign finance reports that he will pump $800,000 of his own money into securing the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

The Phoenix-area real estate developer is expected to pump substantial sums of his money into the effort to unseat Kyl.

The Pederson-Kyl Senate contest is expected to be the most expensive in state history. Both candidates have strong ties to the business community and are courting support and contributions from the private sector.

Pederson is a top Democratic contributor both nationally and in Arizona. The Valley real estate executive is credited with helping Janet Napolitano's narrow victory in the 2002 governor's race by pumping money into state party efforts.

Pederson has also sought to better Democratic ties to the business community.

Democrats point to campaign contributions to Kyl from corporate interests such as big oil companies and pharmaceutical firms. They contend Kyl is beholding to those business sectors, including opposition to less expensive prescription drug imports.

Kyl is seeking his third term in the U.S. Senate and is well-liked by business groups, thanks to his support for tax cuts, repeal of the federal estate tax and free trade pacts.

Pederson recently announced support for strict lobbying rules including requiring disclosure of lawmaker meetings with lobbyists. That move comes in the wake of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal in Washington that involves a number of Republican and some Democratic lawmakers.

Phoenix, Arizona -- A legislative committee won't open an ethics investigation of a lawmaker's use of subpoena power in examining a close primary election.

The Senate's ethics committee voted 3-to-2 to withdraw a complaint against Republican Senator Jack Harper of Sun City West. The committee questioned whether he issued subpoenas to get information that provided a weekly newspaper with an exclusive story.

As chairman of a government accountability committee, Harper issued subpoenas to Maricopa County officials. He demanded that ballots and other material be turned over from a 2004 legislative race in which a recount reversed the initial outcome.

A recount in the 2004 primary election in Arizona's District 20 led to a discovery of nearly 500 additional votes and changed the outcome. Republican John McComish was declared the primary winner and later won the seat in the general election.

Harper contends there were possible irregularities in how votes were counted.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming -- A 61-year-old retired military scientist from Lander will run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Craig Thomas.

Dale Groutage, a Democrat, plans to hold a news conference in Casper to kick off his campaign.

Groutage is the first person to challenge Thomas, a two-term incumbent from Cody who has amassed nearly $1 million in his re-election coffer.

Groutage is a Rock Springs native who holds three degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming. He spent 34 years designing missile systems and submarines for the U.S. Navy.

Wyoming needs a senator who will fight for affordable health care, protecting Social Security and responsible development of natural resources, he says on his Web page. He is calling for more research and investment in energy technology in Wyoming, particularly in the development of automotive fuel from the state’s vast coal and gas reserves.

“I believe decisions concerning Wyoming’s future require someone who understands complex issues and can make the right choices for the people of our state,” Groutage says on his Web site.

Wyoming Democratic Party Chairman Mike Gierau said Groutage and his wife, Nancy, are “terrific people.” The candidate already has been working hard on his campaign, traveling the state and talking with citizens, Gierau said.

Groutage is “in touch with Wyoming people and Wyoming values, and I think he’s going to be a strong candidate,” Gierau said.

Groutage says Wyoming’s senators have failed in the last 20 years to develop a comprehensive “energy blueprint” for the nation.

Groutage is the second Wyoming Democrat to launch a campaign for U.S. Congress. Teton County Democrat Gary Trauner is running for Wyoming’s lone seat in the House of Representatives, held by six-term GOP incumbent Barbara Cubin.

Groutage has an uphill battle in unseating Thomas, who is chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Parks, Historic Preservation and Recreation and a member of the Finance Committee. Thomas, 72, was re-elected in 2000 with 74 percent of the vote.

Nuevo Laredo, Mexico -- High-pitched rings, spinning lights and the overlapping rise and fall of electronic tones marked the video slot machine room at Juega y Juega.

In an adjoining room of the casino in this border town, Mexican men smoked cigars and drank beer as they eyed betting sheets and a row of televisions airing live broadcasts of horse races, American professional sports and jai alai tournaments on the other side of the world.

The casino is the result of a rare approval of gaming permits by the Mexican government last summer. Dozens of others are on the way, particularly in border cities.

While not well-known to many Texans yet, their expected success could have an impact north of the border, as well. Mexico is the just the latest of Texas' neighbors to bring in government revenue by expanding gambling.

Casinos or video slots in Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and now Mexico form an ever-tightening gaming belt around the Lone Star State. In Arkansas, a vote to add electronic gaming machines to a horse track passed, but it now is under legal challenge.

With Mexico's entry into casino gambling and with at least four facilities planned along the Texas-Mexico border, more than 35 gaming sites are now within 50 miles of the state's boundaries.

In Texas, the most recent gambling debate in the Legislature considered allowing video lottery terminals (electronic slot machines that can be centrally monitored) at licensed horse and dog tracks, but the bill was shot down.

At the new casino in Nuevo Laredo, the parking lot is full of Texas plates, but in Mexican border cities, Texas tags aren't an indication of residence. Sure enough, on a recent night there were no U.S. citizens to be found.

Juega y Juega, or Play and Play, is marketed to the locals. And, at least for now, the casino does not advertise in U.S. media.

Tourism has been lagging in Nuevo Laredo for some time because of violence with an ongoing drug cartel war. However, a second casino near the bridge that opened last week likely will draw Texans.

So how much are Texas gambling dollars worth?

In 2003, Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn's office, together with the Texas Lottery Commission, released a report on VLTs in the state that estimated Texas would have profited more than $700 million immediately, and between $1.5 billion and $1.8 billion by 2007.

A study by the Perryman Group of Waco that same year estimated VLTs would draw Texans to spend $10.9 billion gambling in-state, again resulting in a $1.5 billion cut for the state.

Carson City, Nevada -- Nevada Attorney General George Chanos is under fire for making just seven trips to his Carson City office since starting the job Nov. 1.

With cell phones, e-mail and fax machines, Chanos said he can accomplish his official duties in his hometown of Las Vegas.

When pressed for a record of his visits to Carson City, Chanos said: "I'm not keeping score, and I don't think anyone else should either. This is a petty and immature issue."

But his office provided details of his Carson City trips to the Reno Gazette-Journal the next day. The state pays his travel costs.

Former Gov. Bob Miller criticized Chanos' lack of time in the capital city. The Las Vegas native spent most of the time in Carson City during his tenure as lieutenant governor and governor.

"That's the state capital. That's where state government is," said Miller, a Democrat. "There's a reasonable expectation that elected officers be there."

Chanos, a Republican, was named by Gov. Kenny Guinn to finish the term of Brian Sandoval, who was appointed to the federal bench.

Since Nov. 1, Chanos has averaged one trip every other week to his Carson City office. He has spent less than 60 hours there, and his longest visit was an overnighter in December.

Chanos said family considerations also are keeping him in Las Vegas most of the time.

He said his 8-year-old daughter goes to the same school her mother attended. And both he and his wife have elderly parents in Las Vegas who need care.

"Those considerations eclipse any others," he said. "If choosing between my 8-year-old daughter saying she would like to see more of me and certain political types in northern Nevada who would like to see more of me, I'm going to listen to my daughter."

State law requires the attorney general's office to be in the capital. But no law requires the official to live in the capital.

If elected to a full term in November, Chanos plans to stay in Carson City full-time when the 2007 Legislature is in session.

Honolulu, Hawaii -- A rare state surplus has legislators hoping that the backlog of projects stymied because of previously empty piggy banks will finally get resolved.

But most of them are opposed to a rebate of $100 per taxpayer that’s being rumored as part of Gov. Linda Lingle’s strategy.

Lingle will likely address all of her major recommendations in her State of the State address scheduled for 10 a.m. Jan. 23 before both houses of the Legislature.

Watch for more than flowers, food and friends in the House and Senate chambers. The opening of the Legislature at the State Capitol also signals the start of a critically important state election season.

The 41 Democrats in the 51-member House and the 20 Democrats in the 25-member Senate see the session as a continuation of their majority power, which has stretched unbroken since statehood in 1959.

But all 51 House members and 11 senators are up for election, along with Gov. Linda Lingle.

Democrats will look to the session to continue to drive home the differences between their party and the GOP governor.

Senate President Robert Bunda says it will be critical for the Democrats to hold to a "common agenda."

Key Democratic issues, such as the price cap on the wholesale price of gasoline, are areas that Bunda says the Democrats cannot waiver.

"The majority has said this is going to be policy, in reference to state energy policy," Bunda said.

Gov. Lingle, who campaigned against the gas cap four years ago, is again calling for a repeal of the plan.

Both Republicans and Democrats are predicting that the state Legislature will remain in Democratic hands after the November elections, but how individual legislators compete is at issue.

Juneau Alaska -- Forgive the people of Ketchikan if they're feeling a bit insecure.

The 13,000 residents of the rainy Southeast Alaska town and its outlying areas are sick of being the butt of jokes and ridiculed throughout the nation because of a $328 million project that, under the banner "The Bridge to Nowhere," has become a symbol of wasteful government spending.

Bridge opponents within Alaska abound, most of whom say the state should forget about building new roads and focus instead on improving ferry service. However, many of Ketchikan's residents see the link to the sparsely populated Gravina Island as necessary to grow their economy and connect them to their airport.

The project has been on the backburner for 30 years, and they bristle at being the "nowhere" in that hated moniker now that there's a chance a bridge will finally be built.

The governor says Alaska's national image has been beaten down by distorted views of Ketchikan's Gravina Island bridge project, plus Anchorage's own "nowhere" bridge - the $600 million Knik Arm Crossing - and the annual congressional rejection of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

His idea for a national PR campaign is to beat the drum that Alaska doesn't exist simply to milk federal taxpayers.

Whatever crisis of confidence Alaska's collective psyche has will have to be set aside over the next few months as the fight for the Ketchikan and Anchorage bridges shifts from the nation's capital to Alaska's.

Bowing to mounting pressure, Congress in November removed the earmarks designating more than $452 million in a federal transportation bill for the two bridges, but sent the money to Alaska to decide how to use it.

With Congress washing its hands of the matter, supporters of the bridges may have thought they'd have an easier time convincing the Alaska Legislature of their need. They were wrong.

Despite the governor's support of the projects, legislators are split, and it is they who will ultimately decide where the money goes.

The fate of the bridges won't be clear until a capital budget comes together, which typically happens late in the four-month session.

Alaska is in the midst of a boom year thanks to the high oil prices that its treasury relies on. Surplus estimates are now at $1.2 billion, which the governor proposes to split between education, a natural gas pipeline plan - and transportation projects.

Santa Fe, New Mexico -- Gov. Bill Richardson and legislators convene to decide how to spend millions from the state's oil-and-gas windfall.

With Gov. Bill Richardson and all 70 state House members facing re-election this year and more than $6 billion available to spend on government operations and projects, the Roundhouse promises to become the site of a feeding frenzy when legislators convene for a 30-day session.

Richardson, a Democrat seeking his second four-year term as governor, told reporters to expect a "very dynamic, very productive session."

"The Legislature is used to a fast pace from me," Richardson said last week. "The Legislature itself has become strong. So hang on to your seats."

Tax breaks, pay raises for public employees, pre-kindergarten programs -- a wide variety of ways to spend the state government's windfall from oil-and-gas taxes and royalties already are on the table.

The state expects to take in about $529 million more in general-fund money in the next fiscal year than it plans to spend this year. About $1.4 billion also is available for one-time spending items, the bulk of which are capital projects, such as school buildings, water systems or a proposed Southern New Mexico spaceport.

Democrats control both legislative chambers, outnumbering Republicans in the House 42-28 and holding a 24-18 edge in the Senate.

In addition to his $5.1 billion state budget proposal for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, the governor will ask lawmakers to approve roughly $1.4 billion in capital-outlay projects and other one-time spending items. The Legislative Finance Committee has endorsed a spending plan that is fairly similar to Richardson's.

Richardson has vowed to make 2006 the "Year of the Child" and has proposed a package of initiatives, including providing health insurance to all New Mexican children ages 5 and younger, hiring an additional 200 physical-education teachers and providing $50 million to fund a new endowment for college scholarships.

But a veteran lobbyist has dubbed 2006 the "Year of the Pork," a derisive term for the hundreds of capital-outlay projects lawmakers approve each year -- everything from sewage systems to baseball diamonds.

Denver, Colorado -- Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez officially jumps into the governor's race this week backed by a lengthy list of powerful GOP leaders and $1.3 million in campaign contributions.

With the general election still nearly 10 months off, the race is shaping up to be possibly the most expensive governor's race since campaign-finance rules limited contributions. It's also expected to be one of the nastiest GOP primaries, with plenty of money for mudslinging.

Phoenix, Arizona -- Attorneys are writing checks in anticipation of a possible election battle over medical malpractice lawsuit limits which Arizona doctors may try to put on the November ballot.

The nearly 700-thousand dollars of contributions received by a group working on behalf of plaintiffs' attorneys is just a down payment of the likely total campaign fundraising and spending that would occur if the Arizona Medical Association launches an initiative campaign and lawyers respond with a ballot measure of their own.

Fairness and Accountability in Insurance Reform says it asked attorneys for money because the Arizona Medical Association formed a new group to advocate for medical malpractice changes.

The Arizona Medical Association says Arizonans for Access to Health Care has raised approximately 450-thousand dollars to spend on polling, legal research and other work needed to decide whether to propose amending the Arizona Constitution to allow limits on lawsuit damage awards.

Salt Lake City, Utah -- By the time lawmakers adjourn at midnight March 1, it's likely they — along with GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. — will have changed Utah's tax structure in ways not seen since the Utah state income tax was imposed in the early 1900s.

Utahns will also likely see the largest tax cuts in the state's history.

With a $1 billion surplus on the table for lawmakers to spend on public education, transportation and other state needs as well as tax cuts, Huntsman said he believes the 2006 Legislature "will be an unprecedented session that is made possible by an unprecedented economy."

House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, agrees this will be a unique session.

"This could be a groundbreaking year," Curtis said. "I'm an optimist, and I think we'll get it done — a flat income tax, remove the sales tax from food, most of it," said Curtis.

The changes could well include a flat-rate income tax, removing the sales tax from food, adopting a single-rate sales tax statewide and giving businesses a wide range of tax breaks, a proposal that's being sold as economic development.

A new public opinion poll shows that in general Utahns like the idea of a 5 percent flat-rate personal income tax, pollster Dan Jones & Associates found in a survey conducted for the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV.

Jones found 69 percent said they liked that idea.

Republicans hold two-thirds majorities in both the 75-member House and 29-member Senate. There's a new conservative caucus in the House, made up of members who want to limit state government growth to at least 8 percent — while Huntsman's budget recommendations carries a 14 percent hike in the two main state funds.

~  * ~

Honolulu, Hawaii -- With much of the state's attention focused on gas prices during the past four months, lawmakers and Gov. Linda Lingle have laid out ambitious proposals to reduce Hawaii's dependence on oil.

Lingle unveiled her package of bills and directives aimed at making homes and buildings more energy-efficient, increasing renewable energy sources, developing alternative fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, establishing Hawaii as a leader in hydrogen energy technology and repealing the state's gasoline price cap law in favor of more transparency in gasoline pricing.

She estimated the total price tag at about $11 million, calling it a plan "to end Hawaii's decades-long overdependence on imported oil and to create a secure energy and economic future for the people of Hawaii."

The announcement came a day after legislative Democrats announced their goals for the 2006 session, which included similar bills focused on increasing solar energy systems at schools and other public buildings and increasing tax credits for installation of solar devices on homes and buildings.

The key difference remains the gas price cap.

Lingle's plan, as promised, includes a proposal to repeal the law that pegs Hawaii's gas prices to an average of three mainland markets.

She said she would push to have oil companies provide more pricing data to the Public Utilities Commission, which would allow regulators to determine whether any price gouging is occurring.

Lawmakers have said they support greater transparency in pricing, but they are unlikely to repeal the cap.

Salem, Oregon -- Two lawmakers filed a request seeking to have the Oregon Legislature convene in a special session in February to tackle a $172 million budget gap facing the state’s human services agency.

The budget gap, caused mainly by an unexpected increase in the number of people seeking health care paid by Medicaid funds, could put at risk funding for other programs aiding low-income, elderly and disabled Oregonians.

Citing that threat, state Sen. Vicki Walker and Rep. Bob Ackerman, both Eugene Democrats, filed a request that could lead to lawmakers being brought back to Salem next month to find ways to wipe out the deficit and protect funding for those programs.

Under state law, a special session of the Legislature can be convened by the governor or by lawmakers themselves if a majority of them want one.

The request filed by Walker and Ackerman sets in motion a process in which a “ballot’’ will be sent to each of the 90 legislators asking if they favor holding a special session to deal with the budget shortfall.

If at least half the House and Senate members vote in favor of a special session, one would be held the second week of February, Walker said Thursday night.

Despite the serious nature of the budget gap, there is no consensus among the state’s political leaders on how to proceed in dealing with the problem.

Cheyenne, Wyoming -- The State Legislature convenes in a month for the 2006 budget session, and legislators will be asked to look at a number of bills besides those that deal with the budget.

So far, 63 bills are slated for the House and another 45 have been drafted in the Senate with at least one joint resolution.

Bismarck, North Dakota -- Gov. John Hoeven won't be giving a State of the State speech this year, and will replace it with a publication detailing North Dakota's recent accomplishments, his spokesman said.

For most of North Dakota's history, the governor's State of the State speech was given every two years, during the opening days of the Legislature. Lawmakers have their regular sessions in January of odd-numbered years.

But when Gov. Ed Schafer took office in 1992, he began giving the speech each January. Hoeven, who succeeded Schafer in 2000, has kept the tradition going until now.

Hoeven's spokesman, Don Canton, said the governor decided about three months ago to forgo an off-year speech. Instead, a publication is planned, perhaps for distribution in February, he said.

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