State Legislatures Research Articles

The case for self-regulation for the digital assets industry

The concept of self-regulation and the use of self-regulatory organisations (SROs) as a feature of legal and regulatory frameworks has been adopted to support effective and efficient capital market development in a number of countries around the world. Most notably, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) set forth through its SRO Consultative Committee a ‘model for effective self-regulation’, the general principles for self-regulation and why self-regulation should be incorporated into regulatory frameworks. Since 2000, this has served as the outline for SRO development. Today, many countries are struggling with the question of how to regulate cryptocurrency and digital assets — including the US. The rapid evolution, high degree of expertise and understanding needed, and decentralised, cross-border nature of digital assets presents unique challenges for regulators. In the wake of the failure of the centralised finance (CeFi) digital asset exchange FTX, this research explores whether an SRO may be suited to the nature of the digital asset industry and how it may provide a strong complement to formal US government regulation. Such a complementary relationship may offer United States regulators and legislators a mechanism for providing a high degree of regulatory coverage which balances the need for consumer protection and market integrity with the need for innovation. In exploring this subject, researchers undertook desk study on the IOSCO Framework for Effective Self-regulation and explored existing and emerging national SROs in the digital asset space. Desk study was coupled with individual one-on-one interviews with global digital asset industry leadership and public roundtable forums. This research concludes that an SRO may serve to provide the US legal and regulatory framework with a high-quality solution to the challenges of legislating and regulating in the ever-changing environment of digital assets.

Editorial

Our ten-year celebration of Fashion, Style & Popular Culture (FSPC) ends with the arrival of new associate editors, editorial board members and innovative scholarship. Editor Joseph H. Hancock, II discusses how various state legislatures targeting gender identity, seeking to block health care for trans kids, and preventing young queer people from joining sports teams, among other issues. Retailers such as Target Corporation have become victims of right-wing conservative protestors who demand the retailer remove their 2023 pride shops in the front of their stores. Fashion is a driving force of gender identity and gender expression. By teaching others on the importance of fashion, style and popular culture in the LGBTQIA community is crucial for new generations to stop hate – this must end.

The costs of “crony capitalism” in regional transmission grid expansion

There is an urgent need to expand regional transmission lines for reliability and clean energy, while also ensuring that new infrastructure investments are cost effective. However, several states have enacted – and some continue to consider – laws that grant incumbent monopoly utilities a right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) to build new electric power transmission lines. Transmission ROFR laws, such as those enacted by several Midwestern states, allow regional grid planners to select new transmission line projects without running competitive solicitations. While incumbent utilities have continued to lobby state legislatures to adopt transmission ROFR laws, the best evidence available shows that ROFR laws are harmful to customer welfare. Customers affected by ROFR laws do not realize the cost savings and other benefits of competition in transmission line selection, including superior cost containment and innovative grid modernization solutions. In addition, uncertainty about the legality of transmission ROFR laws–what the Iowa Supreme Court has called “crony capitalism”--does not promote a stable investment environment for new transmission infrastructure. Instead of enacting and continuing to endorse transmission ROFRs, states would better promote cost-effective grid modernization by encouraging competitive bidding selection processes for new regional transmission lines. Cost-effective transmission planning requires regulators to balance a broad range of factors in permitting and cost recovery for projects. State regulators commonly use such approaches to evaluate the purchase of power generation from competitive sources. Regional transmission line projects could benefit from similar safeguards to protect customers.

The Battleground of State Legislatures

The Battleground of State Legislatures

The Kable Doctrine, State Legislative Power and the Text and Structure of the Constitution

The Kable Doctrine, State Legislative Power and the Text and Structure of the Constitution

Provisional order for medical treatment

Safety, like risk, is an extended concept. Just like risk, safety provokes strong emotions and licenses in the exercise of power. But. While risk threatens, safety promises. And in this power to promise what it cannot offer lies a particular danger. Recognizing this danger requires special attention. The legislation of many states assigns to this term criminal legal value that distinguishes them from punishment. Apart from punishment, protective measures are referred to in many ways around the world: "corrective and protective measures", security measures", "other criminal measures of a legal nature", "preventive measures. A summary of the analysis of the rules on protective measures around the world allows us to define them as a set of preventive measures established by criminal law and applied by the competent authorities, to the person considered dangerous due to his mental state or consumption of dangerous substances. When we act in the public space, we have a duty to respect others at least as much as we respect ourselves or to the same extent as we expect to be respected. The description of humanity as a basic element in order to put in rational terms the necessity of awareness of the aspect that the instrumentalization of the other in order to achieve one's own goals represents, mainly, the reduction of the other to the quality of object. Respect is part of our duties towards ourselves and others, what is important from the point of view of our exposure is not so much the respect we have in relation to ourselves, but respect for customers, for users, for other citizens, for the whole community. A review of legislation and psychiatric factors is called for to provide practical guidance and assistance in conducting assessments to defend against persons with mental illness. There is a participation of psychiatrists who routinely conduct assessments of competence and expertise in this complex area. The established approaches and methods will ensure the accuracy of assessing the mental state of the defendant at the time of committing the crime.

ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТЬ ПАРЛАМЕНТСКОЙ АССАМБЛЕИ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ ДОГОВОРА О КОЛЛЕКТИВНОЙ БЕЗОПАСНОСТИ ПО ГАРМОНИЗАЦИИ ЗАКОНОДАТЕЛЬСТВА В СФЕРЕ МИГРАЦИОННОЙ ПОЛИТИКИ И ПРОТИВОДЕЙСТВИЯ НЕЗАКОННОЙ МИГРАЦИИ

A description of the activities of the Parliamentary Assembly of CSTO on migration policy and countering illegal migration from 2010 to 2022 is given. The relevance of the parliamentary dimension of migration policy within the CSTO is confirmed by the situation that develops almost along the entire perimeter of the borders of the CSTO member states. The adopted recommendations on harmonizing the legislation of the CSTO member states in the areas of countering illegal (irregular) migration and human trafficking (2011) are covered; problems of refugees and asylum seekers (2014); creating a positive image of labor migrants (2015); qualifications of acts for various types of human trafficking (2016); pension provision for labor migrants (2016), blocking the channels of international terrorism (2022). The prospects for the rule of law of the CSTO member states in the field of migration security for 2024–2025 are outlined. Recommendations are being developed in the field of combating illegal migration and the Concept of Migration Security of the CSTO member states.

Should the state aid prohibition impact the property tax legislation in EU member states?

Purpose of the article is to present the problem of applying the state aid rules (binding in EU) to the nonharmonized taxes such as property taxes, which differ strongly between Member States. The tax exemption from the real estate tax for the railway infrastructure which was introduced in Poland will be a subject to the investigation of Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). CJEU should answer to the question if the tax exemption from property tax in one Member State may be treated as a prohibited benefit granted to the entrepreneurs, having in mind that the same kind of property may be taxed significantly lower, or even not taxed at all in the other EU Member States. The verdict of CJEU will be important for the Polish entrepreneurs, but also will be significant for the tax policy in the EU. In case of the CJEU judgment declaring that the property tax exemption introduced by Poland constitutes illegal state aid it will be necessary to consider whether countries that do not tax the certain categories of property (or tax them at a very low level) do not grant illegal state aid to their entrepreneurs.

MH advocates ask for legislative policy that treats unhoused Kansans with respect

Mental health advocates are once again brainstorming ways to approach the Kansas state legislature about the state's growing homeless problem, the nonprofit news organization, Kansas Reflector, reported on Sept. 26. Although urban areas have higher unhoused populations — about 1,798 people are homeless on any given night in Kansas City, according to a Kansas City advocacy group — more rural areas have seen rising numbers of homeless people over the past three years or so due to the COVID‐19 pandemic and rising inflation, among other conditions that have forced more residents into the streets. During a meeting last week, Amy Campbell, lobbyist and coordinator for the Kansas Mental Health Coalition, said city officials in smaller areas were looking for ways to appropriately handle the situation. “The fact is that even small towns are now starting to encounter the public nuisance issues associated with having people camp in their parks, or along the highways or roads, or in certain areas of their communities,” Campbell said. Coalition members want to prevent policy like last year's House Bill 2430 from coming up again. In the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers suggested the measure, which would make it illegal to use state or local government property for unauthorized sleeping, camping or long‐term shelters. After widespread backlash from Kansans who had dealt with homelessness and other concerned citizens, the bill was tabled. However, Campbell said she expects some form of legislation to be raised again in the upcoming session. “There is no doubt that the pressure will continue for these issues to be addressed,” Campbell said.

Developing Our Teaching Praxis Using a Japanese Lesson Study Model Applied to Corequisite Mathematics

In 2003, the Texas State Legislature enacted the Texas Success Initiative (TSI). The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) coordinates the implementation of this mandate at both universities and community colleges across the state. Upon entering a postsecondary institution, non-exempt students are tested using the TSI Assessment (TSIA2), a 2021 revision of the initial TSI Assessment. A student’s scores are used to assist Texas public institutions of higher education in determining if students are prepared for introductory college coursework in the areas of English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) and mathematics. Students can be exempted from the TSIA2 if they meet college readiness standards on the SAT, ACT, or endof- course examinations in math and language arts or successfully complete a Texas high school college preparatory course, which is available to all students enrolled in a public Texas high school.

A thematic content analysis of 2010–2015 state tobacco control legislation in the United States: Bill rationales and priority populations

ObjectiveTobacco use causes numerous types of cancers, heart diseases, and chronic illnesses, and is responsible for nearly 1 in every 5 deaths in the United States (U.S.) annually. This study assessed whether tobacco control laws introduced in state legislatures between 2010 and 2015 provided a rationale for the proposed bill and/or specified priority population groups, and we then examined emerging themes in the text that did so. MethodsUsing LexisNexis® State Net®, we identified tobacco control bills introduced in all states and coded their bill rationales and population category. We then conducted qualitative thematic analysis on a sample of bills with rationales or specified populations. ResultsOf the 2815 tobacco control bills introduced in state legislatures in the analysis period, 422 (15.0%) included a bill rationale, and 1309 (46.5%) specified at least one priority population. Four overarching themes emerged: 1) Addressing tobacco-related health harms and financial costs incurred to society; 2) Protecting the public from tobacco-related harms as a government responsibility; 3) Providing services to priority populations; 4) Exempting or preempting some population groups and localities. ConclusionsRationalizing tobacco control legislation by focusing on both health and cost implications was a key feature of tobacco policy bill text we analyzed; given the history of this approach, it is likely to remain so in the future. Our study may serve as a benchmark for tracking current and future tobacco control legislation to examine whether there is a growth in prioritizing populations experiencing unjust burdens of tobacco use and related disease.

DEVELOPMENT OF LEGAL REGULATION OF VENTURE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN

The article deals with the issues of organizational and legal support for the industrial and innovative development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the adoption by our country of a number of state programs, Concepts, legislation and other documents in this area and their content relating to the issues of innovation and closely related to it, as a growing popularity, venture entrepreneurship. The origin of this high-risk business abroad and the beginning of its operation on the territory of Kazakhstan, as well as its modern legal regulation, contained, due to its difficult, complex specifics, in a number of codes, laws, government decrees, etc. are analyzed. It is noted that, to date, neither domestic investors on behalf of companies or individuals, nor foreign investors today are particularly interested in investing in an innovative economy, in projects related to venture financing. In turn, innovation activity, as a result of venture entrepreneurship, requires an integrated approach to regulation, taking into account its various components (intellectual, financial, scientific, etc.). The state creates conditions for attracting investments, developing venture business, taking a rather balanced approach to financing this business by supporting innovation activities provided by the subjects of the innovation system, including by investing in innovative projects, creating legal entities with foreign participation, creating or participating in investment and venture funds; development of risk investment funds, venture funds and venture financing, etc. The measures taken by the state continue to improve, and the authors of the article formulated some proposals in this direction.

Restorative Justice in Education: A Content Analysis of US State Legislation From 2010 to 2020

This study sought to understand how state-level policies inform and promote the implementation of restorative justice in education (RJE). A content analysis of 60 laws revealed that definitions, structures, and supports varied greatly, causing us to question whether policies support a systematic implementation of RJE and how policies can prevent the misuse of RJE as an alternative system of punishment. We recommend that laws clearly define the paradigm shift underlying RJE, and provide sustained support to promote a realignment of policies and practices with attention to incorporating measures of accountability to larger values surrounding equity and justice.

The bans on teaching CRT and other ‘divisive concepts’ in America’s public schools

ABSTRACT The Arizona state legislature has aimed to pass a series of bills banning those in schools from teaching topics associated with inclusion, social justice, and equity. Since 2020, the legislature has targeted teaching ‘critical race theory’ (CRT), often (mis)using the term to refer to any ideas related to systemic discrimination and racial inequality. The debates on the need to educate children about race and racism are ongoing, and school leaders in Arizona have been cast into the debate on the CRT bans. In this study, I put actor–network theory (ANT) to work to explore how school leaders navigate the uncertainties, contradictions, and controversies of the debate and potential bans. I demonstrate the ways in which ANT is particularly useful in exploring controversies in education leadership and policy that bring to the fore the uncertainties of who is acting, when, with what and whom – for what purposes.

Corporate influenced state preemption and health: A legal mapping analysis of workers’ rights preemption bills in the US south

Work is a structural determinant of health. As local governments have taken the lead on implementing workers' rights policies, state governments have increasingly been using preemption to block local them. These policies would improve work and employment conditions, particularly for Black, Brown, immigrant, and low-wage workers. Thus, preemption of workers' right policies is an important health equity issue. Legal epidemiology methods were used to analyze and quantify worker's rights preemption bills introduced in southern state legislatures between 2009 and 2019. Between 2009 and 2019, over 100 workers' rights preemption bills were introduced in southern state legislatures, and there was significant variation between states. Preemption of local paid leave and minimum wage ordinances were the most common. Textual analysis of the bills revealed that states prioritize the perspectives of employers instead of workers. State labor policies are prioritizing the perspectives of businesses over workers resulting in a labor environment that creates structural advantages for employers and is hostile to the well-being of workers. Preemption is part of the political and social context that is shaping the association between work and health in and is likely re (creating) racial and economic inequities.

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.

Critique of the Provisions of the Russian Civil Code on the Termination of Tenancy Agreements in a Comparative Legal Perspective

Imperatively established by the Russian civil legislation judicial procedure of termination of the residential tenancy agreement by the landlord is criticized in the article. Evaluation of its effectiveness for the formulation of the proposals for the development of the art. 687 of the Russian Civil Code is the purpose of the study. Its objective is comparative analysis of the legal regulation of the termination of the residential tenancy agreement by the landlord under the Russian Civil Code, legislation of 4 republican (Texas, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming) and 4 democratic (Washington, New Mexico, New York, Illinois) American states with taking into account legal regulation of relevant relations in Germany and France. The purpose and the objective of the study determine the predominant use of the method of comparative legal analysis. Two alternative models of reform of the art. 687 of the Russian Civil Code, whose provisions are recognized as a relic of Soviet law, ineffective in a market economy, were offered by the authors. The experience of Germany and France is an argument in favor of so-called regulatory model of reform that allows the unilateral termination of the residential tenancy agreement by the landlord only on the reasons provided by law (not by the agreement). An analysis of the legislation of both republican and democratic American states permits characterizing it as a less restrictive to the principle of freedom of contract, since it allows stating in the agreement the reasons for its unilateral termination by the landlord. However, it excludes the right of the parties of the residential tenancy agreement to provide to the landlord the right of its unmotivated unilateral termination. Unlike legislation of the USA, this right might be provided to the landlord under so-called dispositive model of reform, proposed by the authors as the closest to the actual situation in the Russian market of residential tenancy. It is assumed that the condition for realization of this right must be a notice to the counterparty at least 1 month in advance. Within this model right of unmotivated unilateral termination of the agreement may be provided to the landlord only if the same right is granted to the tenant. One of the advantages of this model is that its implementation will eliminate due to lack of demand the widespread practice of stating in the residential tenancy agreement restricting the legal capacity of citizens and therefore void conditions. It will contribute to the unloading of the Russian judicial system by eliminating disputes over these conditions.

Integration of the European Single Market Thirty Years After Its Creation

The European single market was launched on 1 st January 1993. Presumably, it is at that time that three fundamental barriers (physical control at the border, various technical requirements, and differing systems of indirect taxation) were formally removed to ensure four treaty-based freedoms: free movement of goods, freedom to provide services, free movement of people and free movement of capital. The EU single market is characteristic in nature due to the scope of legislation governing businesses and consumers, which is largely subject not to unification, rather only harmonisation. Regrettably, this has resulted in EU legislation being (deliberately at times) not always correctly implemented into the national legal system. This leads to market fragmentation and creates barriers, rather than eliminating them. This study aims to identify the relationship between full and correct implementation of EU legislation into the Member States’ legal systems versus progress in European single market integration. Therefore, the evolution of indicators defining how much EU single market legislation in the Member States has been implemented was examined. At the same time, changes in transposition deficit (from 1997 to 2021) and conformity deficit (from 2004 to 2021) for particular Member States were critically analysed. Further, it was analysed how much the single market was integrated from the perspective of goods being the main components of the single European market. To this end, intra-EU trade was analysed as broken down into exports and imports of goods, versus the global trade of individual Member States (including trade with non-EU partners). The outcome of the study shows that both transposition and conformity deficit levels are quite high. In turn, intra-EU trade in goods does not largely correspond to the extent of implementation of EU legislation, which may be caused by growing interest in non-EU partners without compromising EU presence.

Official yet questionable: examining misinformation in U.S. state legislators’ tweets

ABSTRACT We study the roles of elected officials in the dissemination of misinformation on Twitter. This is a particularly salient online population since elected officials serve as primary sources of information for many stakeholders in the public, media, government, and industry. We analyze the content of tweets posted from the accounts of over 3,000 U.S. state lawmakers throughout 2020 and 2021. Specifically, we identify the dissemination of URLs linked to unreliable content. Our starkest finding is that Republicans share more misinformation than do Democrats by an order of magnitude. Additionally, we uncover distinct patterns in the temporal trends of tweets and tweets associated with misinformation across party and state lines. Delving into the content of tweets referencing unreliable URLs reveals discussions of election integrity, abortion, COVID-19 policies, and immigration. Furthermore, consistent with the literature on asymmetric polarization, Republicans exhibit a greater inclination toward engaging in partisan attacks. We also find that state lawmakers often tweet about state-specific topics. These findings enhance our understanding of misinformation, political communication, and state politics.

Disparities in Newborn Hearing Screening Outcomes in the United StatesFrom 2007 to 2017.

Establishing timely language intervention for children who are deaf or hard of hearing is crucial for their cognitive and language development. Newborn hearing screening (NBHS) programs are now commonplace, but disparities in receipt of support may exist. This study seeks to investigate if states with more diverse populations, less educated mothers, fewer resources, and no legislative mandate of screening have lower rates of milestone completion. This is a cross-sectional study. Data describing screening, identification, and intervention rates from individual state NBHS programs were aggregated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007 to 2017. Regression models were fitted to assess associations between these outcomes and state demographic and policy variables. Forest plots from meta-analyses were used to obtain nationwide pooled estimates of the relative risk (RR) of maternal predictors from individual state data. State averages of maternal education level, age, and race/ethnicity were found to be significantly associated with various outcomes. The presence of program funding and legislative state mandate were associated with multiple improved outcomes. Meta-analyses identified increased RRs for most outcomes based on maternal education less than high school, age 19 and below, and non-White race/ethnicity. There is evidence of disparities in access to and timing of screening, identification testing, and intervention by various demographic and policy factors at the state level. More research is needed to further explore these relationships and determine how to address existing disparities in order to provide more equitable care.