High Road:  Governors in Showdown with Feds

Governors who support cheaper Canadian prescription drugs are in a showdown with Feds trying to stop trade.  Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) started the first website to offer consumers order forms, and Wisconsin had their site up and running this week. In Idaho, Democrats want to legalize Canadian  drugs, In Rhode Island the State Medical Society backs the plan, and in Oklahoma the counties are buying in.

The FDA has been unable to provide evidence of drugs from Canada hurting American consumers, with leading experts noting that "drugs purchased through the Canadian health care system are every bit as safe as those available in the United States." Check out the Center for American Progress Medicare Page for a special report on reimportation.  Also check out recent stories in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Low Road:  Plan would create eco-terrorism list

Tucked into the Washington state Senate Republicans' budget is an ALEC-induced crackpot idea to create a database of people and call them eco-terrorists.  Conservatives led by ALEC state chair Senator Val Stevens have been extremely active in Washington State with six major ALEC bills already introduced in areas ranging from tort reform to living wage to the environmental terrorism. The Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act has also been introduced in the South Carolina House, and is a direct attack on environmental groups and the civil rights of their members, as well as a clear exploitation of current concerns about global terrorism.  Under this bill, anyone would be considered a terrorist if they participated in a protest of animal or environmental welfare - even if that protest were peaceful.

Trailblazers:  High Road Vehicles in the States

Oregon:  Time to Raise the Corporate Minimum Tax -- Top execs get pay raises while Oregon gets just $10.

Minnesota:  Raising Economic Development Expectations -- A review of events since their first-in-the-nation economic development accountability law finds it is a major factor contributing to an increase in civic engagement.

Minnesota: Bill to Ban Toxic Flame Retardants (PDF) -- The bill would ban certain toxic flame retardants The bill would require phase out of three common types of PBDE flame retardants which are accumulating in the environment, in fish and even in breast milk.  More information at IATP's Food and Health program.

Washington: Senate panel gets bill on recycling computers, TVs -- The proposal requires the Department of Ecology to research electronics recycling and report findings.  Also see the NCEL List of State E-waste Legislation (PDF).

Colorado:  Conservation bill targets utility companies -- Xcel Energy and other utilities would be required to save energy and expand conservation programs

Washington State: Forest Protection Proposed -- A Washington state official wants to end clear-cutting on thousands of acres of state trust lands

New York State:  4 weeks tax-free shopping proposed -- Dropping state levy on clothing, shoe sales less than $500 likely to renew debate over benefit of such a move.

New Jersey: Biggest Budget increase in five years -- Helped by an improving economy, McGreevey is proposing a $26.3 billion budget that would raise spending by more than 9 percent

New Mexico: Study to show effect of limiting growth -- The call to limit new development has gotten louder as the severity of drought-inspired water use restrictions has increased

National:  Restoring the right to Vote -- The case against disenfranchising citizens with felony convictions, Punishing At The Polls, and The Racial History and The Impact of Disenfranchising Laws in United States, Democracy Denied, can both be found at DEMOS.

State News

National:  Fiscal Crisis is Shrinking State Budgets -- One way that state have balanced their budgets during the fiscal crisis is to cut spending dramatically; these actions are causing state government to shrink and are putting important state services at risk.  HTML | 10pp. PDF

Minnesota: State saves money through Internet 'reverse auctions' --It works like EBay, the popular online auction site, only backward, with bidders pushing the price down.

Rhode Island: Budget 2005: 75-cent increase in cigarette tax proposed -- At $6.10 a pack, RI has a higher pack price than any other state.  

National Governors Association:  Governors Ask “Where’s the Jobs?” -- Recent Bush employment projection fell short in "47 of the 50 states."  Gov. Granholm (D-MI) reminded the President that his tax cuts "were not producing new jobs in her state."

Ohio: One in six jobs vanished directly as a result of international trade -- Policy Matters reports that 45,734 Ohio jobs lost between 1995 and October 2003 can be traced to increased imports or relocation of production out of the country.

Kentucky: Protesters say budget threatens needy Kentuckians  -- About 20 people spoke yesterday to protest what they said is inadequate state funding for those who need services in areas including mental health, mental retardation, domestic violence, sexual assault and abuse, housing and basic public health.  Also see Social services proponents protest

High Road Reports

National Priorities Project: States to lose federal funding -- The total amount each state would lose in federal funding under the Bush budget breaks down the cuts into four categories: housing assistance, Title I education assistance, community development and clean water funds. 

Black and Latino students are less likely to finish high school on time than their counterparts anywhere else in the nation, according to a new analysis. Read the full report online (PDF)

This CBPP Report reviews the rapid development of technology that sends phone calls over the Internet and explains why proposed legislation to make the Internet access tax moratorium permanent threatens to eventually eliminate $12 billion in annual state and local telecommunications tax revenues.

NELP's step by step directions for drafting day labor legislation in your city or state covers key issues such as defining the "employer," providing day laborers with adequate wage and hour protections, transportation and safety and health protections, and including model enforcement language. To see NELP’s New Edition of Drafting Day Labor Legislation Click here

It is clear that job growth has been staggeringly low in the current recovery period. For more information about the different measures of employment, see this week's Snapshot from EPI.

ALICE offers high-wage, low-waste, worker-friendly, publicly-accountable state and local policy.  Our website serves as a collaborative clearinghouse for local elected officials, activists, organizations, and issue experts who want a map and a vehicle to take the high road.  If you have innovative policy you like to share with the rest of the country, email it to  National Director Andy Gussert at andy@highroadnow.org