Describes Wisconsin's new child support assurance system which includes collection of child support by withholding from income, a percent-of-income standard for support, and a benefit to the child equal to amount paid by noncustodial parent or to an assured child support benefit, whichever is higher. Provides estimates of benefits and costs of…

Examples of the descriptive language used in state legislatures. (Author/MLF)

State open-meetings and records laws, often colloquially termed "sunshine laws," affect public higher education systems in numerous ways. Perhaps most visibly, the laws shape the governance activities of institutional boards and high-level campus leaders. Since their beginnings in the 1970s and 1908s, the laws have become an…

Discusses the filming of seven 30-minute film documentaries on the Nevada Legislature. (Editor)

Discusses Pennsylvania's Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act of 1971. (MB)

Library service has become a concern of government at all levels with each having its specific role to play. This introductory statement to this issue of Library Trends" indicates the major substantive areas of library legislation. (Author/NH)

Current legal notions of insanity and moves to change them show the haziness surrounding the concepts of "mental illness" and "insanity." The American Psychiatric Association's "Statement of the Insanity Defense" and the legislating of mental illness defenses at the state level are analyzed. (SR)

Considers theories of intellectual freedom for library users, focusing on policies and practices which have developed in publicly supported libraries in America in the late twentieth century. Related legislation is discussed, including the First Amendment and Library Bill of Rights. Twenty-six references are cited. (EJS)

Analysis of election results in a 1979 handicapped facility construction bond referendum in Washington state reveals that editorial support and the proportion of college graduates in the population provide the strongest correlations with voter support. Political variables do not correlate significantly with support for this issue. (Author)

Reports on a socioeconomic analysis of voter behavior on California's Proposition 13 and compares those results with voting on Proposition 1, a 1973 initiative in which the voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have limited state taxes and expenditures to a percentage of California's net product. Available from NTA-TIA, 21 East…

Describes what the states of Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, and Illinois are doing to comply with No Child Left Behind Act requirement for reporting adequate yearly progress for students in several subgroups, including students with disabilities, low-income students, ethnic and racial minorities, and English learners. (PKP)

Summarizes 2 state initiatives to address the achievement gap: North Carolina's report by the Advisory Commission on Raising Achievement and Closing Gaps, containing an 11-point strategy, and Kentucky's legislation putting in place 10 specific processes. The North Carolina report is available at www.dpi.state.nc.us.closingthegap; Kentucky's…

The Internet, not unlike previous communication technologies, has been predicted to dramatically change the nature of democracy. The interactive nature of Web sites, in particular, is seen as the basis for a new cyberdemocracy. Although the definition of interactivity is less than precise, an evaluation of state legislature Web sites finds them…

The title of this paper could have been, "Be Careful What You Include in Your Promotion and Tenure File: You Might Be Seeing It Again Two Years After You Are Awarded Tenure." The state open records laws differ from state to state. Faculty need to know that when preparing their promotion and tenure files, years later the files might be subject to…

This paper compares the personal background characteristics and voting behavior of Wisconsin state legislators in two legislative sessions separated by 40 years (1965-1966 and 2005-2006). The study uses cluster analysis to graphically display the differences in the voting patterns of the two sessions, an indicator that can be used in this and…