Join CPA and national progressive advocacy groups who are members of the State Issues Forum (SIF) at NCSL's annual meeting in Seattle from August 15-20, 2005. Featured policy workshops hosted by SIF include Voting Reform, Stopping TABOR Amendments, and Environmentally Friendly Transit Solutions. CPA and SIF will also host exhibitor booths, 326 and 328, so don't forget to stop by!

The deadline for the 2006 application is September 30, 2005. You may download the application online or contact Quinta Martin at (202) 956-5132 or qmartin@cfpa.org for more information.

A new law in New Hampshire will allow women of any age to obtain emergency contraception without a prescription. It was signed by Gov. John Lynch. The Collaborative Practice for Emergency Contraception (SB 30, sponsored by Sen. Lou d'Allessando) enables pharmacists who have met educational and training standards to provide the drug along with information on its proper usage. Read CPA’s Emergency Contraception policy brief and model legislation.

In the session's final hours, the Vermont House and Senate reached a compromise which will raise the state's minimum wage from $7.00 to $7.25 an hour on January 1, 2006. S 80 also mandates that the rate will increase every year beginning in 2007 to accommodate rising costs-of-living, making Vermont the first state to include a cost-of-living provision in legislation (three other states—Florida, Oregon and Washington—have done so through ballot initiatives). Gov. Jim Douglas is expected to sign the bill, which was sponsored by the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs. Vermont is the seventh state to raise its minimum wage in 2005. Read CPA’s Minimum Wage policy brief and model legislation.

The New Hampshire legislature has passed a law extending unemployment benefits to part-time employees who cannot work due to child care needs. HB 170 was sponsored by Rep. Franklin Bishop. Gov. Lynch will sign the bill. Read CPA’s Unemployment Insurance policy brief.

Nevada passed a bill banning discrimination in hotels, movie theaters, restaurants, schools and other public accommodations. AB 5 was proposed by the Assembly Government Affairs Committee, which is chaired by Asm. David Parks, Nevada's only openly-gay legislator. Gov. Kenny Guinn has not yet announced if he will sign the bill. Read CPA’s GLBT Anti-Discrimination policy brief and model legislation.

Maine's legislature has passed a bill that will allow workers to use their own vacation or sick days to care for immediate family members. Sponsored by Senate President Beth Edmonds, the bill exempts employers with fewer than 15 employees. LD 1044 received approval from the state's Chamber of Commerce. Read CPA’s Sick Leave Protection policy brief and model legislation.

A federal appeals court has upheld Georgia's 2004 law that targeted predatory “rent-a-bank” lenders. SB 157 made the practice of "payday lending" a crime; it also aimed to hold accountable lenders who pay fees to out-of-state banks in return for use of the bank's name on loans, a tactic that lenders used to claim exemption from state usury limits. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law is not preempted by federal rules. In Nevada, Gov. Kenny Guinn signed AB 384, which was sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Betty Buckley. The law aims at the high fees and interest rates by requiring payday lenders to allow consumers who default on loans three additional months to pay them off with interest rates capped at 16 percent. Read CPA’s Payday Lending policy brief and model legislation.

Gov. John Baldacci is expected to sign a bill that makes Maine the first state in the country to require pharmaceutical companies to make the results of clinical trials available to the general public online. Rep. Arthur Lerman sponsored LD 1618, which also includes a provision stating that misleading advertisements are a violation of the Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act. The state attorney general is authorized to sue pharmaceuticals companies that do not comply with the new law.

In 2005, CPA will be one of only 50 organizations to receive contributions from Working Assets! Beginning this month, Working Assets and Shop For Change customers who make long distance calls and wireless calls through Working Assets or use Working Assets credit cards will be able to support CPA and our work. By shopping or calling using Working Assets, you will build the pool of donations given to groups such as CPA. Also, by going online to the 2005 ballot, you can tell Working Assets to direct an increased share of this CPA, or whatever group you prefer. The best part is that you can help us simply by using these services to make purchases you ordinarily would make. More details are available at http://www.workingassets.com. We hope you will be able to take part.

Human trafficking, the transportation of persons for forced labor, sexual exploitation or other illicit activities, is a huge global business. Over one million people are trafficked each year; the victims are most frequently women and children who are deceived by the promises of economic opportunity only to be exploited in the sex trade, the bonded labor market, or through 'forced' marriage. Recently, Washington Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles responded to the issue by passing SB 5127. Read more...

This month's recommended site is the W.K. Kellogg Foundation profile of CPA's flagship leadership program, the Flemming Leadership Institute. The story, entitled "A Network of Visionary Leaders for State Legislators," features a video vignette of the Flemming Fellowship program, interviews with state legislators and CPA staff, and a photo gallery. Flemming provides training to help legislators assess their beliefs, recognize the values they hold in common with others, and understand how these shared values help build policy consensus.