States Step Ahead on Health Care Reform
Massachusetts has accomplished the improbable: It got Democrats and Republicans to agree on how to provide nearly every resident with health insurance. And it did so without boosting taxes or pushing aside private health plans. Other states – from Vermont to California — are also trying to close the uninsured gap.
Surpluses, Social Issues Mark 2006
Statehouses awash in surpluses ventured into new projects in 2006, from first-in-the-nation preschool for all 3-year-olds in Illinois to a space pad in New Mexico plus advances on such issues as health care, immigration, the minimum wage and global warming that stymied Congress.
Season’s Greetings
Governors spiced up their annual greeting cards with a mix of sacred and secular themes, personalizing holiday messages with family recipes, Bible verses and even some original artwork.
Democrats Score in Statehouses and Governors’ Mansions
For the first time since 1994, Democrats won control of a majority of the nation’s governors’ mansions, wresting away five Republican seats with unofficial results of the Nov. 7 election putting Democrats in charge in 28 states. Democratic gains also vastly outnumbered Republican gains in the nation’s state legislatures, enough to take control of legislative chambers in at least six states — including the New Hampshire House for the first time since at least 1922.
Election ’06 – GOP Edge at Stake
Heading into Election Day, at least a dozen governors’ races and 14 of the most competitive statehouses are still up in the air, as Democrats aim to overturn the edge Republicans gained at the state level in 1994.
Longer Ballots Pose Many Questions
Voters will be confronted with a near-record number of citizen-generated questions at the polling place Nov. 7. The questions range from the politically explosive – such as whether to ban gay marriage and abortion – to the quirky, such as whether to let grocery stores in Massachusetts sell wine.
Historic Election Year in Gov Races
This year’s sweepstakes for 36 governors’ seats is shaping up as one for the history books. Democrats appear poised to reverse 12 years of growing Republican gubernatorial power.
Election Day Stakes in the States
Check out the issues on the ballot in each state, find out who’s running for governor and other state wide offices and see what’s at stake in state legislatures.
In the States, Maximum Activity on Minimum Wages
An interactive look at how this hot issue is playing out across the country
In Statehouses, 2006 is Year of Surpluses, Social Issues
Minimum wage hikes and new rights of self-defense for crime victims have been popular with state lawmakers this year. Also, with a budget climate that’s been the sunniest in six years, lawmakers have splurged on a host of new projects.
