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Federal Action Needed to Support Transportation System
It hurts to pay $60 to fill up my car. And I don’t drive an SUV or any other kind of gas guzzler. So I’m driving less, carpooling and taking public transportation. Other Americans are doing the same. Just this week, oil prices dipped from their record-level highs and the average price of gas is […]
Statehouse Elections 2006: The End of Parity?
All eyes will be on the states this November, when 85 percent of legislative seats and 36 governor’s mansions are up for grabs. Will this be a status quo year in which parity entrenches itself even deeper? Or will it be a dramatic cycle when one party swings big to solidify clear dominance? Today, state […]
REAL ID — Real Questions
In 1903, Missouri became one of the first states to require driver’s licenses. Applicants lined up at their local gas station and paid 25 cents. Tests wouldn’t be required for another 49 years. To get a Washington state driver’s license in 1921, would-be drivers had to show signatures of two people who vouched that […]
This Holiday, 21 States Reaping Tax Rewards From Online Shopping
Americans have become quite predictable when it comes to the year-end holidays. Family and friends gather together, children write letters to Santa, menorahs are lit and placed in the window sills, and bargain hunters flock to the malls in search of that hard-to-find gift. Over the past several years, however, more and more holiday shoppers have […]
The Katrina Conundrum: Balancing the State-Federal Relationship
Most meteorologists will argue that Hurricane Katrina fizzled out somewhere over the Mississippi Valley while Hurricane Rita lingered drenching the Southeast. However, many political meteorologists will argue that Katrina and Rita are still gaining strength as the eyes of the two storms align over Washington, D.C. The double-punch that the Gulf Coast took from Hurricanes […]
A Time for Thanks
Nearly 400 years ago, a group of colonists who had fled their country to gain certain liberties sat down and gave thanks for all they had. Joined by their new neighbors, native Americans now known as the Wampanoag, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Plantation embarked on a three-day celebration of plenty later to become known as […]
The Red, White and Blue States of America
The presidential election of 2000 will not just be remembered as the closest in our nation’s history. Nor will it only be remembered for introducing such terms as the hanging and dimpled chads to our lexicon. I suspect the 2000 presidential election also will long be remembered for popularizing the concept of red states and […]
Olympic Spirit Alive in Statehouses
As the world turns its attention to the 28th Olympiad in Athens this month, state legislatures across the country continue to compete in a public policy Olympics of their own. While the venues may not be as spectacular as the Parthenon or the Acropolis, the public policy challenges going on in the nation’s statehouses can […]