Capitol Comments

Managing the Addicted Offender

By Mary Branham Dusenberry

Prison populations are growing at a time when the fiscal picture in the states is bleak. That growth is cutting into the resources set aside to deal with substance abuse issues.

That creates problems down the line for states, according to speakers at the Interbranch Working Group session, Managing the Addicted Offender, Sunday afternoon. States are taking new approaches to try to deal with the underlying problems for those in the court system because of drug offenses.

“We like any other part of American society have a certain percentage of the population that needs to go away for a very long time because they’re bad people,” said Michael Brown, secretary of Kentucky’s Justice and Public Safety Cabinet.

Cohan Explains the Wall Street Animal

By Mikel Chavers

Bad decisions, greed, almost insane attention to profits and financial innovation gone wrong led to the collapse on Wall Street.

Every Wall Street firm was investing in the latest financial fad—mortgage-backed securities.

The firms would “tie a nice little bow around them and get the credit rating agencies to bless them,” bestselling author William Cohan said at a plenary session Sunday. “Everyone who touched them made money.”

The only problem was, no one paid attention to the high risks of the products.

“It just became a big party … and nobody likes anybody that takes away the punch bowl,” Cohan said.

Stimulus Projects Funded, but Road for Transportation Policy Long

By Mikel Chavers

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey can finally build an $8.7 billion second tunnel under the Hudson River thanks to funding from the 2009 Recovery Act. The existing tunnel is more than 100 years old.

“The impacts will be felt around the country,” said Renee Radcliff Sinclair, the executive director of Congressional and Public Affairs at the Northwest Region of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. And she hopes other stimulus infrastructure projects funded by the Recovery Act will have similar far-reaching effects.

“It has been able to jumpstart this critical project that impacts movement of goods and people,” Sinclair said.

Building Blocks of Health Care Reform

By Mary Branham Dusenberry

Reforming the health care system won’t be easy, speakers at a workshop on the topic said Sunday.
But everybody knows change is coming as Congress considers options at the national level. In fact, some of those changes have been implemented as President Obama signed the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act Feb. 4.

The goal—getting more people insured—is admirable, Joan Gardner, executive director of State Services for Blue Cross Blue Shield, said. But plans for a national exchange, she said, could create problems. A government-run plan would create an uneven playing field between that plan and those provided in the private sector, she said.

But she acknowledged that changes need to be made.

Reducing Detention To Help Juvenile Offenders

By Mary Branham Dusenberry

It doesn’t make sense to take a student who isn’t going to school out of school even more by placing them in detention for truancy.

That’s the view of the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Rand Young, a technical assistance provider with JDAI, shared alternatives to detention for low-risk juvenile offenders during the Public Safety and Justice Workshop Sunday.

Instead of detaining the youth, Young suggested alternative rehabilitation options, including community service work projects, weekend programs, house arrest and electronic monitoring, day and evening reporting centers, and foster and shelter care programs.

International Committee Raises Awareness to Neighbors in Canada, Mexico

By Mikel Chavers

Every state needs to have an eye toward international issues—because when it comes to operating successfully in a global economy, states can no longer afford to stay within their own borders, or even their own countries.

That’s according to speakers at Sunday’s International Committee Meeting.

The Council of State Governments’ international programs have historically focused on borders and trade issues, “but there’s a lot more that affects states in the international community,” said Chris Whatley, director of the Washington, D.C., office.

He believes an eye to international issues is beneficial for state government officials. “Enriching international exposure that will help them go back home and legislate better,” Whatley said.
CSG facilitates various international programs in the regional offices, particularly in the CSG Eastern Regional Conference and CSG-WEST.

Governors Discuss Implications of Recovery Act

Three governors will discuss the potential benefits and drawbacks of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act during a moderated panel session at The Council of State Governments' Spring Conference from 8 to 10 a.m. Monday.

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, the current CSG president, was first elected governor in November 2004, and was re-elected in November 2008.

Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter was first elected governor in November 2006. He previously served three terms in Congress representing Idaho’s first district.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer was first elected governor in November 2004, and was re-elected to a second term in November 2008.

The discussion will be moderated by Matt Miller, the bestselling author of “The Tyranny of Dead Ideas: Letting Go of the Old Ways of Thinking to Unleash A New Prosperity.”

Health Care Data at the Right Time, Right Place

By Mary Branham Dusenberry

There’s value in having the right data at the right time at the right place.

That’s the goal of health information technology, said Brian Russon, a strategist for the Health Solutions Group at Microsoft Corporation.

Russon likened today’s health care system to a barbell, with two groups heavily involved in their health—those who utilize the system due to major illness and those who are healthy and are very proactive in their health. The majority of the population, he said, falls in the middle—those who are not highly engaged in the health care system.

“We’ve got a health care system that hasn’t driven the financial burden down to the consumer,” he said.

But that is likely to change, he said. When that happens, people will become much more engaged in their health care, and they’ll need some way to manage that information. Microsoft has developed Health Vault, a consumer-driven health care management program for just that purpose.

Experts Tout Results-Driven State Government

By Mikel Chavers and Mary Branham Dusenberry

Performance measurement isn’t a fad—it’s here to stay.

That’s according to Saturday’s speakers at The Council of State Governments’ half-day workshop on performance measurement.

“It’s something that clearly has become widely accepted,” said Harry Hatry, director of the Public Management Program at the Urban Institute. “It’s just obvious that you should be concerned about results for citizens.”

After all, all 50 states are doing some form of performance measurement—but they are all doing it in varying degrees, Hatry said.

From measuring how many children have health insurance coverage to measuring how well the state roads are maintained, performance measurement—no matter how complex and daunting the concept sounds—is actually going on in every state already.

Economic Slowdown Hits the States

By Mikel Chavers

“It will come as no surprise to anyone to know that these are very turbulent financial times and almost every state in the country faces some serious financial challenges,” said Maryland State Treasurer Nancy Kopp, co-chair of the Financial Services Working Group.

“If some people would have had a better idea if what a mortgage is and what it does,” Kopp said, perhaps the financial crisis could have been avoided.

After all, experts say the financial crisis began first with the mortgage meltdown and hit some states harder than others. In fact, Arizona is still dealing with the consequences.

Arizona is basically ground zero when it comes to the foreclosure crisis. Arizona is in contention with Nevada for worst-hit by the foreclosure crisis, according to Sen. Carolyn Allen.