Stateline Midwest - CSG Midwest

CAPITOL CLIPS
Cameras to target
speeders on roads
near parks, schools
Questions about future
of fracking reaching
Midwest’s capitols
Waivers abandon parts
of No Child Left Behind
in favor of new approach
Indiana legislature will
reduce paper trail by
relying more on iPads
Illinois lawmakers have paved the way for
speed cameras to be used in designated safety
zones in the city of Chicago.
SB 965, passed by the legislature in November,
establishes these zones as being roadways within
one-eighth of a mile of a school or park. An
individual will be ticketed if he or she is caught
by a camera driving more than 5 miles per hour
over the speed limit. The fine is $50 a day for
driving up to 10 mph over the limit and $100
for higher speeds. The cameras will be used between
6 a.m. and 10 p.m., and signs must be
posted at the intersections warning motorists.
According to the Chicago Tribune, a pedestrian
study done by the city of Chicago served
as the impetus for the legislation. Between
2005 and 2009, the study found, there were
861 crashes involving children near schools
around arrival or dismissal times.
Most states in the Midwest do not have laws addressing
the use of speed or red-light cameras.
According to the Governors Highway Safety
Association, Wisconsin is the only state in the
region with a law that expressly prohibits the
use of automated enforcement technologies.
Illinois, on the other hand, already allows local
municipalities to employ red-light cameras. In
Iowa and Ohio, automated enforcement programs
are operating under local ordinance.
With the practice of hyrdaulic fracturing, or
“fracking,” on the rise, state lawmakers are
increasingly being asked to weigh in on a process
that boosts oil and gas production but
also raises environmental concerns.
In North Dakota, the General Assembly has
voiced its support for this method of extracting
more oil and natural gas from the ground.
Earlier this year, lawmakers passed legislation
(HB 1216) designating fracking as “an acceptable
recovery process” and adopted a resolution
(HCR 3008) urging the U.S. Congress to delegate
regulatory responsibility to the states. Then,
during a special legislative session in November,
legislators set aside $1 million for a potential
lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency if it attempts to regulate fracking.
According to The Bismarck Tribune, fracking is
now widely used in parts of North Dakota. It
involves the pressurized injection of water and
chemical additives into a geologic formation.
Environmental concerns center on its potential
impact on drinking water and groundwater;
the EPA is now conducting a major research
study on the issue. Meanwhile, in states such
as Michigan (HB 5150) and Ohio (SB 213),
bills have been introduced over the past few
months to prohibit fracking until research on
the environmental risks can be completed.
Minnesota and Indiana were among the
first 11 U.S. states this fall to formally seek
waivers from key provisions of the No Child
Left Behind Act.
Their applications were filed seven weeks
after the U.S. Department of Education
announced it would provide more flexibility
under the federal law. For example, states
that receive waivers will no longer have to set
targets requiring all students to be proficient
by 2014 and will be given more discretion
over the use of federal education dollars.
In exchange, states must implement federally
approved plans for their K-12 education
systems that include:
• college- and career-readiness standards
and tests;
• evaluation systems for teachers and
principals that measure effectiveness based
in part on student progress;
• new accountability systems for lowperforming
schools and schools with
persistent student achievement gaps.
According to Education Week, every
Midwestern state except Nebraska has
indicated that it will apply for an NCLB waiver
by the spring deadline.
Like other state legislatures, the Indiana
General Assembly uses lots and lots of paper
— an estimated 17 tons every session. For a
single piece of legislation last year (the state’s
budget bill), a total of 133,080 pages were
printed out. That is the equivalent of 16 trees.
In 2012, though, Indiana lawmakers hope to
use a little less paper under a pilot project
that will have them relying more on iPads.
According to the Northwest Indiana Times, two
legislative committees will go “paperless“
next year. Committee reports and documents
will be distributed electronically, via iPads.
Meanwhile, the state will examine ways to
build out the technologies needed to expand
the use of computer tablets as lawmakers
familiarize themselves with the devices.
An Indiana Legislative Service Agency study
found that 18 states have already launched
paperless initiatives. In the Minnesota
Legislature and Wisconsin House, one or more
legislative activities have been converted to
a paperless process. The Kansas and Ohio
legislatures have also taken steps to reduce
the use of paper. The same study estimated
that during Indiana’s 2011 session, $550,000
was spent “moving paper.” This total includes
actual paper and equipment costs as well as
the time that staff devotes to distributing,
filing and retrieving paper documents.
Stateline
Midwest
November 2011
The Council of State Governments
Midwestern Office
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