State Legislatures Research Articles

Disposal of solid waste from civil construction: a screening proposal for a suitability system and case study in Nepomuceno, Minas Gerais

ABSTRACT Most Brazilian municipalities do not have regulated areas for solid waste disposal in civil construction. Usually, residues are disposed of vacant lots and dumps, posing risks to the population health and the environment. Soils are the primary means for the disposal or recycling of waste, highlighting the importance of well-characterized soils and their respective landscape. This study aimed to establish a land suitability system for solid residues in civil construction and apply such information in a case study in Southeastern Brazil. An unprecedented digital soil map with a resolution of 30 m was created using the random forest classifier algorithm and soil field prospection information. A guide listing favorable soil-landscape attributes that most prevent soil erosion, water bodies or water table contamination was elaborated and discussed. Thus, such information was linked through a suitability system to classify areas with potential for receiving waste on a daily volume basis as follows: large size: >500 m³ day -1 , medium size: >100 m³ day -1 and <300 m³ day -1 , and small size <100 m³ day -1 . Topography and soil depth were the most limiting factors of the areas in the case study. The proposed attributes as criteria for the suitability system complement the current state legislation. A total of 236 ha closer to the urban perimeter connected by roads in good condition were classified as suitable for managing medium- and small-scale daily volume, whose destination might reduce transportation and installation costs in the study area.

A Systematic Analysis of Statewide Reports on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples in the U.S.: What We Know and Where to Go from Here☆

AbstractFor generations, Indigenous communities have been calling attention to a widespread form of victimization known as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP). In response to grassroots efforts across rural communities, there has been a marked increase in legislation at the federal and state levels to address MMIP from 2018 to the present. Federal legislation has provided the most comprehensive and coordinated model of response to MMIP. This study analyzes how the scope and themes of federal legislation addressing MMIP are mirrored in the bills recently enacted by 14 states addressing MMIP. One goal of this study is to identify strengths and limitations within state legislation and provide insight into critical areas of focus for improving state legislative responses to MMIP. Next, we analyze reports from federal MMIP legislation and the 10 states (among the 14 with legislation) that have currently published MMIP reports to date. Our analysis of MMIP reports expands knowledge on (1) how data were collected and interpreted across jurisdictions, and (2) whether states experience MMIP in similar or different ways. Drawing on our comparative analysis of legislation and reports across jurisdictions, we offer data‐driven recommendations for states to consider when addressing MMIP.

The Need to Harmonize the Labor Legislation of Pharmaceutical Workers of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)

The paper is devoted to topical issues of legal regulation of the work of pharmaceutical workers both at the level of international legal acts of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and at the level of national legislation of the member states. These problems include the lack of a uniform integrated approach to the regulation of the work of pharmaceutical workers in international legal acts and its fragmentation. This leads to a decrease in the effectiveness of legal regulation of these categories of subjects of labor law. The situation gives rise to two dialectically interrelated trends at the EAEU level. On the one hand, international legal acts on the drug market of this organization contain norms that regulate the work of pharmaceutical workers. On the other hand, these norms do not cover all aspects of the work of pharmaceutical workers. The solution to this problem is seen in changing the international legal acts of the EAEU on the drug market by stipulating the norms regulating the work of pharmaceutical workers, considered in a single system and in close relationship with pharmaceutical activities. This is possible through the analysis, and in the future, the use of positive legal experience in regulating the labor of pharmaceutical workers in the EAEU countries to develop separate sections of the international legal acts of the EAEU in the field of regulation of the pharmaceutical market (in the form of appendices thereto).

Reconstruction, Racial Terror, and the Electoral College

Abstract: The threats of “fake electors” and of legislatures choosing presidential electors are important in the Trump era. The question of how electors are chosen dates back to the Founding era, but the Electoral College achieved new salience during Reconstruction, when Florida’s Republican legislature called off its presidential vote in 1868. Klan terrorism against African Americans prompted that measure, and when Alabama’s legislature followed suit, it provoked a national backlash. After U. S. Grant’s election, a diverse coalition of congressmen tried to ensure that voters, not state legislatures, would choose presidential electors. The idea was broadly popular. In 1869 the Senate passed a “Sixteenth Amendment” mandating popular elections, but conflict between the two chambers over the Fifteenth Amendment killed it. Despite that outcome, the outcry against legislative selection had enduring consequences. The issue had been settled in the public mind; few ventured to raise it again until the twenty-first century.

Watching the fall of Roe v. Wade: Media exposure relates to U.S. women's alcohol use intentions.

The Supreme Court of the United States' decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in June 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade and ended federal protection of abortion rights. Given the drastic policy changes as a result of the ruling and high exposure to media related to abortion, women opposed to the decision may have experienced distress, which could trigger maladaptive coping strategies, such as alcohol use. The present research examined how consuming abortion-related media in the weeks following the Dobbs decision impacted alcohol use intentions among women of reproductive age residing in the 13 "trigger law" states that immediately restricted abortion access. A sample of 196 women (Mage = 30.52, SD = 6.9) residing in trigger law states answered questions about abortion-related media consumption, views toward the Dobbs ruling, negative affect, and alcohol use intentions. Consuming more abortion-related media predicted higher alcohol use intentions for women who opposed the ruling, but not those who were in favor of abortion restrictions. This timely study provides evidence of how the Dobbs ruling is associated with health ramifications beyond reproduction, yielding insights about how high media exposure to large-scale, distressing events may put those most affected-women of reproductive age in states that enacted new policies restricting abortion access-at risk for alcohol use. Findings highlight an imperative direction for future research as abortion restrictions continue to be spotlighted in U.S. media and state legislatures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Manufactured State Immigration Emergencies as State Vigilantism

President Trump shattered norms when he declared a national emergency at the U.S.–Mexico border to build a border wall. State governors have now followed that lead in taking up what Justice Jackson, dissenting in Korematsu v. United States (1944), called the “loaded weapon” of emergency—doing so, like Trump, in the context of the border. Governors of Texas, Arizona, and Florida have all issued state declarations of emergency based on (1) migration, and (2) the Biden administration’s purported failure to engage in immigration enforcement. These state emergency declarations have not been studied or even identified in legal literature as a state mirror to Trump’s federal declaration, even though they are as norms-shattering as the Trump declaration was both facially and in implementation. In justifying the emergency declarations, the governors have used xenophobia and the logic of self-help from international law. In other words, this is state vigilantism: claiming that because the federal government is not using its power to protect states’ residents, the states are unilaterally exercising it themselves under state emergency authority. This state vigilantism is sweeping, extraordinary, and contrary to the Supremacy Clause—particularly in Texas, which has implemented a parallel system of state immigration enforcement and has deployed National Guard soldiers along the border with instructions to force migrants into Mexico. It is also continuous with the erosion of norms begun with Trump’s border wall “emergency.” In addition to the reforms that scholars suggested following Trump’s declaration, to combat state vigilantism, I propose that the federal government not only focus on Supremacy Clause litigation but also exercise its civil rights enforcement authority and that state legislatures and judges limit the scope of state emergency declarations, to exclude policy disagreements with the federal government.

Prioritizing Gender-Affirming Care for Youth: The Role of Pediatric-Focused Clinicians

Gender-affirming care (GAC) acknowledges the right of each individual to live in the gender that is most authentic to them and to receive nonjudgmental, developmentally appropriate care. For transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) individuals, this care may include transition-related care, such as puberty blockers, gender-affirming hormones, and therapies, including surgery. All youth, including TGD youth, deserve confidential, adolescent-friendly care. However, recent legislation in many states seeks to limit access and/or ban GAC for TGD youth. This article reviews the evidence supporting GAC for adolescents, the risk of denying this care, and recommendations for advocacy from all pediatric-focused clinicians.

Restrictive abortion legislation and adverse mental health during pregnancy and postpartum

PurposeTo determine the impact of abortion legislation on mental health during pregnancy and postpartum and assess whether pregnancy intention mediates associations. MethodsWe quantified associations between restrictive abortion laws and stress, depression symptoms during and after pregnancy, and depression diagnoses after pregnancy using longitudinal data from Nurses’ Health Study 3 in 2010–2017 (4091 participants, 4988 pregnancies) using structural equation models with repeated measures, controlling for sociodemographics, prior depression, state economic and sociopolitical measures (unemployment rate, gender wage gap, Gini index, percentage of state legislatures who are women, Democratic governor). ResultsRestrictive abortion legislation was associated with unintended pregnancies (β = 0.127, p = 0.02). These were, in turn, associated with increased risks of stress and depression symptoms during pregnancy (total indirect effects β = 0.035, p = 0.03; β = 0.029, p = 0.03, respectively, corresponding <1% increase in probability), but not after pregnancy. ConclusionsAbortion restrictions are associated with higher proportions of unintended pregnancies, which are associated with increased risks of stress and depression during pregnancy.

Oncologic drug repository programs in the United States: a review and comparison.

As cancer affects 40% of all Americans during their lifetime, the financial burden of cancer care represents a significant contribution towards the overall cost of health care in the United States. Cancer drug repository programs offer a unique solution for patients who have limited financial ability to access medications while reducing medical waste. We reviewed all state legislation in the United States regarding cancer drug repository programs. Five states have oral anticancer drug (OACD)-specific drug repository programs, while 28 states have generalized drug repository programs. Iowa's statewide, mail-order OACD repository program is the preeminent example of an effective and efficient program, which should be replicated across the country. Many states have passed legislation allowing for drug repository programs but have struggled to translate such legislation into active programs due to lack of funding and management. We offer recommendations across policy, manufacturing, institutional, health care professional, and patient domains in order provide optimal patient care.

SUSTAINABLE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE OF AMERICAN SOCIAL ENTERPRISES UNDER THE PRESSURE OF NEW TRENDS

With minimal federal regulation, state legislation and precedent in the United States, the institutional environment for social enterprises, the development of social responsibility of business and sustainable corporate governance has generally been formed. It is distinguished by active support for social initiatives of business, a minimum of administrative barriers and interference in matters of their internal management, and the presence of special legal regimes. At the same time, the economic effectiveness of sustainable corporate governance is not known; its principles are also not enshrined at the federal level, but are implemented through the charters of corporations and social entrepreneurship organizations. The type and specifics of sustainable management depend on the type of organization. They are fully implemented in the organizational and legal forms of SPC and BC. The main problem in implementing the principles of sustainable management by the owners and management of social corporations remains the search for a balance between profit and social interests, including an objective assessment of the level of achievement of the latter. This balance is achieved not by the application of corporate law, which varies from state to state, but by the application of the business judgment rule, based on precedent, which implies a high degree of discretion and the difficulty or even impossibility of an objective assessment. Sustainable corporate governance is under increasing pressure from multidirectional non-economic trends leading to socialization, greening and politicization of business to the detriment of its traditional goals. The American federal, decentralized model of legal regulation of social entrepreneurship does not correspond to the development trends of the Russian legal system, where the trends of centralization of regulation dominate. The American legal model of sustainable corporate governance is implemented mainly in large international corporations, which no longer exist in Russia, which significantly reduces the relevance of the experience.

The Scope of Practice of Applied Behavior Analysis in State Licensure Laws.

The scope of applied behavior analysis has historically been defined by behavior analytic publications like Baer et al., Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1, 91, (1968). However, starting in 2009, state legislators began creating licensure laws for behavior analysts that formalized the scope of practice for applied behavior analysis (ABA) within the applicable states. The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to evaluate the degree scope of practice statements found in state licensure laws aligned with the individual components of Baer et al.'s seven dimensions of ABA and the APBA Model Act and (2) to evaluate the consistency of the scope of practice statements across states. Each licensed state law was identified, and the section that outlined the scope of practice was isolated and coded. The results of this study identified varying degrees of alignment with the individual components of Baer et al.'s seven dimensions and the APBA Model Act, as well as inconsistencies in the scope of practice among states with licensure for ABA. The component scores of each content area will be discussed, along with the implications for practice.

What Explains Party Unity? Evidence from U.S. State Legislatures

Party unity is central to studying legislative politics and explaining the organization of legislative chambers, passage of policy, and even electoral outcomes. Its effect has been shown at the subnational, national, and international levels. While party unity has been used to explain many phenomena in legislative politics, there is much less known about the determinants of party unity, especially at the subnational level. We leverage a dataset of party unity in 95 U.S. state legislative chambers from 2002 to 2014, to test the impact of party structures, institutional rules, and contextual factors on the level of party unity. We find that majority status, party seat share, and the other party's unity impact party unity similarly for both parties, but the effect of inter‐party heterogeneity differs by party. These findings offer a new and unique insight to how partisan theories operate differently within state legislative versus Congressional parties.

In Case You Haven't Heard…

Eleventh‐graders at a western Massachusetts high school have created their own lesson in mental health advocacy. An assignment from Pioneer Valley Performing Arts School history teacher Gary Huggett has grown into an effort to convince Massachusetts state legislators to pass a bill establishing a mandatory mental health staffing ratio serving grades K–12, Spectrum News 1 reported. Students in Huggett's civic action class reported seeing themselves and their peers dealing with issues of anxiety and depression, and they are backing a Senate bill that would require Massachusetts schools to employ at least one mental health expert for every 250 enrolled students. “They all had somewhat personal stakes that drew them to the topic, so they thought, ‘What can we do to address mental health awareness in schools that will actually live beyond our little project?’” Huggett said of his students.

Circular economy as an imperative for sustainable development

The lack of resources in the modern world necessitates the reorganisation of the conventional linear economy into a new, circular model of economic development, and this requirement is even more urgent for a country at war. The purpose of this study was to prove the necessity and possibility of achieving sustainable development goals even in a crisis, using evidence from Ukraine. Using such methods as statistical analysis, comparison, and synthesis, the dynamics of sustainable development in the European Union and Ukraine were investigated. In addition, relevant experts were interviewed via an online survey. The study obtained and analysed statistics on the transition of European countries to clean energy sources, conducted a detailed investigation of the current legislative framework and state institutions of Ukraine related to recycling war waste, strengthening the digitalisation of Ukrainian society, and studied wartime circular recycling measures. Statistics on the factual destruction and pollution of the environment as a result of hostilities and the temporary occupation of some territories were also examined. Furthermore, information was collected and systematised from the management of Ukrainian manufacturing enterprises on the factual implementation of circular economy principles during the war. The analysis of the data obtained led to the conclusion that the crisis only increases the need to save resources. The practical significance of the study lies in proving that there is no alternative to the goals of sustainable development in the future and emphasising Ukraine’s competitive advantages in this area during the post-war reconstruction. These proposals will be useful for private investors who can profitably finance Ukraine’s future recovery in line with the principles of the circular economy

The DEI slide: How colleges and universities are managing the cultural shift

Kentucky and Wisconsin are the most recent states to grapple with proposed bans of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives. While the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents originally voted against the proposed DEI bill, they eventually reached an agreement with state legislators. The UW system was granted $800 million from the state for employee pay raises and construction projects, in exchange for freezing DEI hiring, changing position titles of existing DEI staff to “student success” roles, and eliminating DEI statements from student applications.

The Human Rights of Sex Trafficking Survivors: Trends and Challenges in American Vacatur Laws

For years, survivors of sex trafficking, people compelled by force or circumstance to engage in sex acts, were often wrongly convicted of prostitution and many collateral crimes in the United States. These convictions became a permanent part of survivors’ criminal records, inhibiting their ability to satisfy necessities for a dignified life—finding work and a place to live, or going to school. Since 2010, forty-five state legislatures across the US have sought to solve this problem by passing vacatur laws. These laws allow the survivors of sex trafficking a means to erase certain charges and convictions from their records. The American movement to support the human rights of sex trafficking victims is part of a larger, global non-criminalization movement to support survivors’ human rights. This article surveys the recent and robust diffusion of American vacatur laws, situates them amidst the larger, global non-criminalization movement, and highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of the current US vacatur laws with an eye toward closing the rights gap for sex trafficking survivors. We argue that extant vacatur legislation should be expanded to include all crimes traffickers compel victims to commit, should incorporate trauma-informed means for establishing victimhood, and should be passed at the federal level to ensure complete and uniform protection.

Legislative Watch: State legislative bills

The following bills are being considered or have passed in the state legislature. To express your support or opposition, contact your senator or representative.

Informational lobbying, information asymmetry, and the adoption of the ride-hailing model policy in the U.S. States

AbstractExisting research on lobbying has predominantly focused on its material returns, such as equity returns, stock prices, and government contracts while overlooking its informational impact. This paper addresses this gap by investigating to what extent and under what conditions policymakers assimilate information delivered through corporate lobbying. Drawing on an informational perspective, it proposes that the informational effect of lobbying is moderated by the information asymmetry between policymakers and firms. Focusing on the U.S. ride-hailing industry, this study utilizes a unique dataset on U.S. state legislatures’ adoption of the model policy lobbied by ride-hailing companies. The results reveal that the informational impact of corporate lobbying is highly contingent upon the presence of information asymmetry between policymakers and firms, which can be attributed to policymakers’ resources for independent information gathering, information deliberation through public hearings or media discussions, and countervailing lobbying efforts.

Legislative Effectiveness in the American States

We develop State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES) for state legislators across 97 legislative chambers over recent decades, based on the number of bills that they sponsor, how far those bills move through the lawmaking process, and their substantive importance. We assess the scores through criterion and construct validation and reveal new insights into effective lawmaking across legislators. We then offer two illustrations of the immense opportunities that these scores provide for new scholarship on legislative behavior. First, we demonstrate greater majority-party influence over lawmaking in states featuring ideological polarization and majority-party cohesion, and where there is greater electoral competition for chamber control. Second, we show how institutional design choices—from legislative rules to the scope of professionalization—affect the distributions of policymaking power from state to state.

Arming Teachers: Who Will Bear the Burden?

As state legislatures increasingly turn their gaze to education and school policy, one intervention that is particularly concerning is the proposal to arm civilian school personnel. Under the guise of school safety, these policies suggest that allowing teachers, who often have little if any training, to carry weapons on school grounds may deter a school shooter or allow the teacher to directly confront a shooter. There is currently no empirical evidence to support the effectiveness of arming teachers. Rather, what we know from studies on school discipline, racial bias amongst teachers, efficacy of school resource officers, as well as the growing number of incidents of carelessness with firearms in schools, suggests that arming teachers may have grave consequences, particularly for Black and Brown students who are already disproportionately targeted by school disciplinary practices. This commentary explores the contours of this urgent debate and considers the potential for disparate impact by arming teachers.