CPA News August 2003

CPA News August 2003

YOU'RE INVITED...

CPA's Summit on the States - December 6-7, 2003 - Capital Hilton, Washington, DC Mark your calendar! This December, CPA will hold its seventh annual Summit on the States at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC. Come hear about the most innovative model policies to advance and improve civil rights, health care, jobs, education and more. The Summit will also include plenty of skill-building and networking opportunities. Questions? Contact Kirsten Lindquist at (202) 956-5134.

PROGRESS ON POLICY...

Illinois, Rhode Island & Vermont Boost Minimum Wage Levels On June 16, VT Gov. James Douglas enacted legislation to hike the state's minimum wage, signing a bill to raise the floor to $6.75 in January 2004 and to $7.00 the following year. Also in the Northeast, the Rhode Island legislature passed a bill to increase the state's minimum wage by 60 cents, to $6.75 an hour, effective January 1, 2004. RI Gov. Donald Carcieri announced on July 22 that he will allow the minimum wage hike to become law without his signature. On May 30, the Illinois legislature provided low-wage workers in the state with a major victory by passing a bill to raise the state's minimum wage by 35 cents an hour in January 2004 and by an additional $1 an hour in January 2005. Employers could pay 50 cents less to workers under 18. If the legislation is signed by the Governor as expected, Illinois will have the highest minimum wage in the Midwest when it reaches $6.50 in 2005. California and Massachusetts still have minimum wage bills pending this session.

Illinois, North Carolina Require Corporate Accountability On June 27, the Illinois legislature sent to the Governor a landmark corporate accountability bill designed to monitor, restrict, and in some cases, recapture state subsidies provided to businesses. HB 235 would create a unified development budget, cataloging all state aid including tax breaks, grants, and loans. The legislation would also mandate extensive disclosure in applications for economic assistance and require annual progress reports from companies that receive tax assistance. North Carolina tackled a small but important slice of the corporate accountability issue when, on May 20, Gov. Mike Easley signed SB 326, which prohibits an accounting maneuver used by some corporations to lower their unemployment insurance (UI) taxes. With the encouragement of accounting firms, these businesses annually transfer employees to newly-created spin-off companies that are subject to lower UI tax rates because they have no history of layoffs. To learn more about corporate accountability, click here to access policy summaries, model legislation and related resources.

California, Illinois & New York Pass Laws to Improve Access to Reproductive Health Care In June, the New York legislature passed measures mandating that hospitals provide sexual assault survivors with information about, and access to, emergency contraceptives. NY's "EC in the ER" bills were sponsored by Sen. Nick Spano and Assm. Susan John (Flemming Fellow-1996). On the opposite coast, CA Gov. Gray Davis signed SB 932, a law allowing the Attorney General to veto the sale or lease of not-for-profit health facilities if the seller or lessee restricts the kinds of medical services that the new operator could provide. Author Sen. Debra Bowen sponsored the bill in response to a study revealing that almost half of the 127 mergers in California involving church-run and secular facilities between 1990-98 resulted in the immediate end of some or all reproductive health services. On July 7, IL Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed a "contraceptive equity" bill requiring insurance companies that pay for prescriptions to also cover prescription contraceptives. To view policy summaries, model legislation and related resources to use to improve women's access to reproductive health, click here.

CPA LEGISLATOR OF THE MONTH...NEW MEXICO REP. MIMI STEWART

New Mexico Representative Mimi Stewart (Flemming Fellow-1996) had a banner year in 2003, winning two major progressive victories: improving unemployment benefits (HB 261) and requiring hospitals to offer emergency contraception to sexual assault survivors (HB 119). Read more...

YOU SHOULD KNOW...

CPA's 2004 Leadership Programs - Apply Now! The deadline is fast approaching for legislators to apply for a 2004 fellowship with CPA's Flemming Leadership Institute or Eleanor Roosevelt Global Leadership Institute. Application materials must be received by October 1, 2003, to be eligible for consideration in the 2004 programs. The Flemming application can be viewed and downloaded here, the Roosevelt application, here. For more information about CPA's leadership institutes, or to receive an application by mail or fax, contact Maura Hutchens at (202) 956-5138.

CPA Publishes Inaugural "Progress in the States" Report CPA recently released Progress in the States: A Report on Proactive, Progressive Victories in 2003, a new report describing 154 proactive, progressive state measures that have become law, or are about to become law, in 2003. Overall, the study demonstrates the vitality and variety of progressive successes in the states. Click here to view the press release, or here to download the report in its entirety.

CPA & SIF Events at the NCSL Annual Meeting - July 22-25, Moscone Center, San Francisco, CACPA staff recently headed to San Francisco for NCSL's annual meeting and met hundreds of progressive lawmakers and advocates. Thanks to many of our readers for stopping by the CPA booth. Congratulations to CO Rep. Tom Plant who won a pair of airline tickets at NCSL, courtesy of Continental Airlines, via a giveaway organized by the State Issues Forum (SIF). Progressive organizations that are members of SIF organized three well-attended workshops at the NCSL meeting: Promoting Women's Reproductive Health, States as Laboratories for Health Care Reform, and From Poverty to Self Sufficiency: Preserving Postsecondary Education for Low-Income Women. To learn more about the State Issues Forum, visit the SIF website here.

CPA Director Speaks at National Association of Commissions for Women Conference "Shaping the Future Together" - July 17, Wilmington, DE Jen Ray, Senior Director of CPA's State Action department, was the featured speaker at a recent workshop held at the 34^th Annual Convention of the National Association of Commissions for Women. During "A Road Map for Impacting State and Federal Legislation," Ray discussed CPA's approach to progressive change, how women's commissions can tap into the resources CPA offers, legislative highlights from the 2003 sessions, and specific legislative models and trends of interest to women's commissions.

Support Progressive Policy? Support CPA! Help CPA continue its work advancing progressive public policy and supporting progressive state legislators. You can make a tax-deductible, secure donation to the Center for Policy Alternatives via Network for Good here.

WEBSITE OF THE MONTH...www.aclu.org

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) mission is to fight civil liberties violations wherever and whenever they occur. Since 9/11, the organization has worked nonstop in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States. ACLU's website is a great resource for state policymakers and activists who want to join in the fight. The site can connect you with any of the organization's state affiliates and provide you with highlights of each state affiliate's work. You can learn more about issues of concern to the ACLU and take advantage of the site's online policy toolkits on issues as hot/varied as access to emergency contraception and school anti-discrimination policies. Don't forget to take a tour of the ACLU Action Center to send action alerts, to obtain training resources, to read about success stories, and sign up for the ACLU enewsletter.

View Previous Editions of our Newsletter:

Do you have a friend who might be interested in receiving CPA News? If so, have them subscribe here