Mark your calendar! This December, CPA will hold its 9th annual Summit on the States at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC. Summit details and online registration are available here.

CPA invites you to attend a pre-Summit meeting hosted by Catholics for a Free Choice. "Progressive, Pro-choice and Catholic – An Endangered Species?" will be a facilitated strategy session that includes presentations from Catholic pro-choice members of Congress, national media commentators, experts on Canon Law, national opinion leaders in the choice movement, and pollsters who focus on the intersection of religion and reproductive rights. This half-day strategy session for Catholic Pro-Choice Legislators and their allies will be held on Friday, December 2 from 10:00 - 5:00, at the Capital Hilton Hotel prior to the start of the Summit on the States. Contact Roger Limoges, at (202) 986-6093 or rlimoges@catholicsforchoice.org for more information.

State legislators are leading the fight for a vibrant and inclusive democracy. As a part of our ongoing efforts to empower state leaders to achieve progressive change, CPA has released The Progressive Agenda for Election Reform as a resource to legislators who want to wrest power from special interests and return it to the people. This handbook features policy briefs and model legislation for 11 election reform topics, including Absentee and Early Voting, Election Day Registration, and Voter Identification and Integrity. The Progressive Agenda for Election Reform was made possible by the generous support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Download The Progressive Agenda for Election Reform 2006 or contact Rachel Balick at 202-956-5133 or rbalick@cfpa.org to order a copy.

New York took steps to protect its citizens from identity theft by enacting A 4254, which was sponsored by Asm. James Brennan. The bill requires every commercial enterprise in the state to inform residents directly if a security breach results in unauthorized acquisition of personal data. Security breaches must also be immediately reported to the media. The bill is a response to several recent security breach scandals in New York. Illinois and Tennessee enacted similar laws in 2005.

The newly-formed Sovereign States Drug Consortium aims to pay less for prescription drugs by negotiating with pharmaceutical companies as a purchasing pool. Maine Gov. John Baldacci says that by taking advantage of the best supplemental pharmaceutical rebates, he hopes to save his state's Medicaid program about $1 million per year. Maine and the other states in the consortium—Iowa, Utah and Vermont—will also enjoy savings on administrative costs by using a single nonprofit administrator. States may join the pool, which will also be open to businesses and other private drug purchasers. Read CPA's Prescription Drug Pricing policy brief and model legislation.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed AB 394, which was sponsored by Asm. Roger Niello. The new law makes it easier to remove racist language from property records. Thousands of California's neighborhoods have covenants, conditions and restrictions that use race and religion to discriminate against minorities. Under the new law, a streamlined process will strike such unfair clauses.

Sen. Tony Rand and Rep. Joe Hackney sponsored SB 612/HB 6, which closes a goodwill lobbying loophole, institutes a cooling off period before legislators can become lobbyists, and requires frequent reporting of what lobbyists spend on legislators. The bill also expands regulation of lobbying to the Executive Branch and creates a no-gift registry that allows legislators to voluntarily signal they do not want to receive gifts, meals or other perks from lobbyists or lobbyist principals. Gov. Mike Easley signed the bill into law.

In 2005, CPA is one of only 50 organizations to receive contributions from Working Assets! All year, Working Assets and Shop For Change customers who make long distance calls and wireless calls through Working Assets or use Working Assets credit cards are 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.

Women spend 68 percent more on out-of-pocket health care costs than men. "The absence of prescription contraceptive coverage is largely responsible for this," says AR Representative Lindsley Smith. "Research has shown that almost half of all large group insurance plans do not routinely provide contraceptive drugs and devices." Read more...

As the public and private spheres continue to converge online, it can be difficult to discern fact from opinion on the web. Common Cause's blog, www.commonblog.org, uses news clippings to enhance its opinion columns and offers progressive insight on politics and current events. The blog stands out because of its extensive coverage of municipal, state, and federal actions, and its linkage between issues and campaigns undertaken by Common Cause. These opportunities for activism transform passive online opinion into an effective and informed network.