Preschool Is for Real

A National Conference
of State Legislatures
Publication
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2015
VOL. 41 NO. 9 | CONTENTS
Executive Director
William T. Pound
Director of
Communications
Karen Hansen
Editor
Julie Lays
Assistant Editor
Kevin Frazzini
NCSL’s national magazine of policy and politics
Contributing Editor
Jane Carroll Andrade
Web Editors
Edward P. Smith
Mark Wolf
FEATURES
DEPARTMENTS
Copy Editor
Leann Stelzer
Advertising Sales
Manager
LeAnn Hoff
(303) 364-7700
Contributors
Daniel Diorio
Pam Greenberg
Heather Morton
Douglas Shinkle
Wendy Underhill
Preschool Is for Real Page 14
BY JULIE POPPE AND ROBYN LIPKOWITZ
Funding is up, as is enrollment, as states continue to
invest in high-quality early childhood education to
help kids succeed.
SHORT TAKES PAGE 4
NCSL news, activities and Summit roundup
STATESTATS PAGE 7
Voting Rights Act Reaches Milestone
Art Director
Bruce Holdeman
NCSL Officers
NEWSMAKERS PAGE 8
A peek at what’s happening under the domes
President
Senator Curt Bramble
President Pro Tempore, Utah
President-Elect
Senator Mike Gronstal
Majority Leader, Iowa
Staff Chair
Karl Aro
Executive Director,
Department of Legislative
Services, Maryland
Denver Office
7700 East First Place
Denver, Colorado 80230
(303) 364-7700
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444 North Capitol Street,
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Website
www.ncsl.org/magazine
State Legislatures
(ISSN 0147-0641), the
national magazine of policy
and politics, is published
monthly by the National
Conference of State
Legislatures except
July/August and October/
November, which are
combined. Postmaster: Send
address changes to: State
Legislatures, 7700 East First
Place, Denver, CO 80230.
© 2015, All Rights Reserved.
Opinions expressed in this
magazine do not necessarily
reflect NCSL policy.
Go to www.ncsl.org/bookstore
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Letters to the editor and
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to reprint may be mailed
to Julie Lays in the Denver
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On the Road Again Page 20
BY KEVIN PULA
States take the wheel on transportation funding as
Congress sputters along.
Birds of a Feather Page 24
BY SUZANNE WEISS
Legislative caucuses bring together likeminded
lawmakers and help create ways to work across the
political divide.
COVER DESIGN BRUCE HOLDEMAN
TRENDS PAGE 10
Felon voting rights, fighting revenge porn, employers
dealing payroll cards and battle on the e-gridiron
STATELINE PAGE 12
News from around the nation—from getting kids
off their phones and into parks to working out new
legislation on drones
TOOLBOX PAGE 28
BY JAMIE RALL
Practice creativity like any other
skill and unleash the problemsolving
genius of your staff.
THE FINAL WORD PAGE 31
NCSL’s new staff chair,
Karl Aro, from Maryland’s
Department of Legislative
Services
ON RECORD PAGE 22
Q&A with Robert
Gates, former defense
secretary, CIA director—
and Eagle Scout
“The states have
become extraordinary
laboratories for
experimentation and
innovation.”
State Legislatures is indexed
in the PAIS Bulletin and
Expanded Academic Index. It
is also available in microform
and electronically through
University Microfilms Inc.
(UMI) at
(800) 521-0600.
STATE LEGISLATURES 3 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2015