CPA News Releases, Advisories, and Editorials

Year-End Roundup: 2005 Policy Action in the States

In 2005, state legislatures across the nation enacted measures that go far beyond federal policy.

“State legislators are now the leading source of innovation in government,” said Tim McFeeley, Executive Director of the Center for Policy Alternatives, which works on state policy. “They are proposing the nation’s most far-reaching, proactive measures. They are making legislatures a testing ground for the newest political debates. And they are enacting legislation that is defeated, or doesn’t even have a chance to receive a vote, in Washington, D.C.”

Among this year’s highlights:

Minimum wage—While an increase in the $5.15 federal minimum wage was voted down twice in the U.S. Senate, six states (CT, HI, MN, NJ, VT, WI) raised their state minimum wages. Now 17 states covering nearly half of the U.S. population have a rate higher than the federal minimum wage. This issue will be huge in 2006 both in legislatures and on state ballots as referendum questions.

Gay rights—While Members of Congress attacked gay rights, Connecticut became the first state to recognize civil unions for same-sex couples without a court directive. The Massachusetts legislature defeated a constitutional amendment to overturn that state’s same-sex marriages. California’s legislature voted to legalize same-sex marriages, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill. Four states (CT, CO, IL, MD) expanded their hate crimes laws to cover sexual orientation, and fives states (HI, IL, ME, NE, NV) expanded anti-discrimination laws for gays and lesbians.

Emergency contraception—While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled against over-the-counter sale of emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs), New Hampshire became the seventh state to allow pharmacists to disperse ECPs without a prescription. The governors of Massachusetts and New York vetoed similar bills but the Massachusetts veto was overridden. In addition, California enacted legislation and Illinois adopted an Executive Order that prohibits pharmacies from refusing to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception.

Medical marijuana—While the U.S. Attorney General attacked marijuana laws, Oregon and Rhode Island became the 13th and 14th states to legalize medical marijuana.

Energy efficiency—In the wake of skyrocketing fuel costs, Congress only took a small step toward energy efficiency by adopting efficiency standards for appliances that had already been adopted in more than a dozen states. Going much further, Connecticut and Washington adopted both California’s low-emission vehicles standards and landmark “Green Buildings” laws. Perhaps most significantly, Delaware, Illinois, Montana, Texas and Vermont enacted laws mandating the use of renewable energy (like wind power), bringing to 22 the number of states with such laws. The federal government remains far behind on renewable energy.

Identity theft protection—While identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in America, Congress did nothing about it in 2005. In contrast, ten states (CO, CT, IL, ME, NV, NJ, NY, NC, TN, WA) enacted laws that empower customers to control access to their credit files, which blocks identity thieves from being able to open new accounts in a victim’s name.

Electronic recording of interrogations—Following the lead of Illinois in 2003 and Maine in 2004, New Mexico and Wisconsin became the fifth and sixth states to require police to audio or video tape interrogaﾭtions during investigations of serious crimes. The federal government has no similar standards.

Smoke-free workplaces—Georgia, Montana, Vermont and Washington enacted policies to limit or eliminate indoor smoking in 2005. Now nine states (CA, CT, DE, ME, MA, NY, RI, VT, WA) have banned smoking in nearly all workplaces and six other states (FL, GA, ID, MT, ND, UT) have banned smoking in workplaces including restaurants, but exclude bars.

Eminent domain—In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Kelo v. New London, five states (AL, DE, NV, TX, UT) acted to limit eminent domain authority. Before 2005, at least 12 states (AR, FL, ID, IL, KY, ME, MA, MT, NH, SC, WA, WV) had some restrictions on the power of eminent domain.

Prescription drug prices—While Congress sat on the sidelines, seven states (AR, ME, MD, MT, VT, VA, WA) enacted a range of policies to make prescription drugs more accessible and affordable.

For more information, see Progress in the States: A Report on Proactive, Progressive Victories in 2005, at www.stateaction.org/2005victories.pdf as well as CPA News archives at www.cfpa.org/publications/policynews.