Stateline Midwest
Stateline Midwest,
published monthly, keeps members of the Midwestern Legislative
Conference up to date on policy issues impacting their states, actions
being taken by the region's 11 state legislatures, and work being done
by the MLC and The Council of State Governments. Each issue of
Stateline Midwest includes in-depth articles covering issues of
importance to Midwestern lawmakers. The newsletter also has sections
devoted to a roundup of news from the region's leading newspapers and
summaries of recent reports examining critical public policy issues.
This publication is provided to
state government officials free of charge. If you are not a
state government official, the annual subscription rate is $60.
Click on the following links to
download recent issues of Stateline Midwest.
June 2009 -- Includes stories on the trend toward stronger state
high school graduation requirements, new home foreclosure laws in
the Midwest, tax credits and incentives to lure the movie industry
to the region, recent changes in the regulation of Great Lakes
invasive species, and a new economic program for Indiana's rural
communities.
May 2009 -- Includes stories on the state of public pension
funds, the status of gay-marriage laws in the Midwest, Iowa's
successful push to be a national leader in wind energy, and a
Michigan legislator's personal story of how organ donation saved his
life -- and made him an advocate for new laws in this health policy
area.
April 2009 -- Includes stories on provisions in the economic
stimulus plan designed to help rural areas, proposals this year in
the Midwest to change state income tax structures, state policy
options with the recent increase in federal dollars for criminal
justice, and new initiatives to help foster care children as they
"age out" of the system.
March 2009 -- Includes stories on new state bonding proposals,
states' and CSG's response to the federal economic stimulus plan,
options to change mental health policy, North Dakota's budget
surplus, and new initiatives in Kansas to improve outcomes and save
money in the state's correctional system.
February 2009 -- Includes
stories on higher education accessibility and accountability, the
future of state unemployment funds, new state laws that require the
use of ignition interlock devices by DUI offenders, and a look at
the year's first State of the State addresses.
January 2009 -- Includes stories on
state efforts to link advances in energy to employment and economic
growth; policies in the Midwest designed to produce and use more
biodiesel; the effects of the economic downturn on state Medicaid
budgets; and new efforts in Iowa to retain the state's young, educated
workforce.
December 2008 -- Includes stories on state efforts to
expand the use of "medical homes," results of the 2008 election and
ballot proposals in the Midwest, the future of early-voting laws,
the state of nuclear-energy policy in Ohio and Illinois, and South
Dakota's 24-7 Sobriety Project.
November 2008 -- Includes stories on Midwestern
states' economic and fiscal conditions entering the 2009 legislative
sessions, the possible impact of pending Supreme Court rulings on
state sovereignty, new initiatives in Indiana to bolster math and
science education, legislation to stop "distracted driving," and
Ohio's statewide effort to assist residents at risk of losing their
homes to foreclosure.
October 2008 -- Includes stories on new state efforts
to address high school dropout problems, a preview of the race for
partisan control of state legislatures in the Midwest, a look at
recently enacted anti-poverty initiatives in the region, attempts to
address the shortage of family care physicians, comparisons of
reimbursements provided to state legislators, and the importance of
inter-branch cooperation in state government.
September 2008 -- Includes stories on a new enhanced driver's
license in Michigan, Kansas' revamped system for paying state
employees, 2008 ballot initiatives in the Midwest, bills to use GPS
in order to protect victims of domestic violence, state efforts to
help Alzheimer's patients and their families, and "evidence-based" health
reforms in Wisconsin.
Recap
of 2008 MLC Annual Meeting -- Includes stories on speeches by Marc Freedman, David Brooks and
Edmund Morris; policy sessions on health care reform and
transportation funding and policy; this year's winners of 2008 CSG
Innovations Awards; and the work done and resolutions passed by the MLC's public policy committees.
July
2008 -- Includes articles on health care reforms in Iowa and Minnesota,
proposed structural changes to the Michigan Legislature, reaction to the reauthorization of the U.S. farm bill,
debate over laws regarding state DNA databases,
state efforts to address workforce shortages and a group of Michigan
legislators working to eliminate hunger.
June
2008 -- Includes articles on corrections reform in Kansas
and Michigan, new education laws in Iowa and Nebraska, the move to
more Medicaid managed care in Ohio and Illinois, ongoing debate in
the region over the direction of family-farm legislation,
legislative efforts to bolster the Michigan and Ohio economies, and
Indiana's revamped property tax system.
May
2008 -- Includes articles on the region's ongoing debate over
coal-fired plants, the tug of war over governors' veto powers,
legislative proposals to change how state Supreme Court judges are
selected, and efforts in South Dakota and Wisconsin to expand and
improve Internet-based K-12 education.
April
2008 -- Includes articles on
a milk labeling dispute that has reached the region's capitols, a
study examining the performance of state government, the impact on
states of federal rule changes to Medicaid, legislation in the
Midwest to help kinship caregivers, a new push to promote "green
buildings," and Kansas' efforts to address a looming drinking-water
crisis.
March
2008 -- Includes articles on school consolidation proposals,
the extent of the fiscal crunch in the Midwest, new
energy-efficiency laws in Illinois and Minnesota, Kansas and
Nebraska reforms of child-protective services, a review of the State
of the State addresses, and details on a pioneering e-waste
recycling law in Minnesota.
February
2008 -- Includes articles on
initiatives to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities in the
Midwest,
questions surrounding the powers of an Illinois legislative oversight committee, an
interstate compact to protect the Great Lakes, state efforts to fight rising foreclosure rates
and
Iowa's approach to controlling livestock odor.
January
2008 -- Includes articles on
Midwestern governors' new greenhouse gas accord and energy platform,
a proposed legislative code of conduct in South Dakota, the regional
impact of allowing state-inspected meat to cross state borders,
proposed changes to adoption laws, Minnesota's ideas to fund and
upgrade the state's transportation infrastructure, and the
importance of local input into proposed federal ID rules.
Archived
Issues (1999-2007)
For more information, contact:
Tim
Anderson
last updated:
June 08, 2009
