September 1856 - "From September 1856 to October 1860, William Mervine served as Commander of the Pacific Squadron. The Navy has named several ships USS Mervine in his honor. The Squadron also known as the Pacific Station, was part of the United States Navy in the 1800s and early 1900s.... The first American fort in California (and on the west coast) was named Fort Mervine to honor Captain William Mervine. While in command of the USS Savannah during the war with Mexico, he led a detachment of sailors and marines against Monterey July 7, 1846, and took possession and hoisted the American flag over the city. Over the years, the fort was also called Fort Stockton, Fort Halleck and Ord Barracks and was abandoned in 1856."  http://media.montereyinfo.org  

1856 - "In 1856, Isaac Roop and Peter Lassen led a group of disgruntled citizens, who were unhappy over efforts of Plumas County, California officials to levy and collect taxes in this isolated and sparsely populated region [Honey Lake Valley]. At the same time, the settlers were equally unwilling to be considered a part of the territory of Utah, a vast region that included parts of what were to become several western states. Roop, Lassen and their followers opted to form a separate territory which they called Nataqua. This short-lived republic was largely ignored (since the region affected had but a few hundred settlers) and when the territory of Nevada was established, Isaac Roop, was made a governor of the Territory. A few years later surveys of the area established that Susanville was actually a part of the State of California. The county of Lassen was established in 1864. "  http://www.psln.com/pete/history.htm  

Studies in the News is a very current compilation of items significant to the Legislature and Governor's Office. It is created weekly by the State Library's Research Bureau to supplement the public policy debate in California’s Capitol. To help share the latest information with state policymakers, these reading lists are now being made accessible through the State Library’s website. This week's list of current articles in various public policy areas is presented below.

Service to State Employees:

• When available, the URL for the full text of each item is provided.

• California State Employees may contact the State Information & Reference Center (916-654-0206; cslsirc@library.ca.gov) with the SITN issue number and the item number [S#].

• All other interested individuals should contact their local library - the items may be available there, or may be borrowed by your local library on your behalf.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE & LAW ENFORCEMENT

FAMILY VIOLENCE

I Tried to Stop Them: Children's Exposure to Domestic Violence in San Francisco. By J. P. Shields, Education, Training and Research Associates. (The Associates, San Francisco, California) 2006. 37 p.

Full Text at: www.safenetwork.net/documents/Toolkit/Final%20SFPD%20Report%202006.pdf

[" A new report on domestic violence depicts with grim statistics a crime that can occur more than 50 times a day in San Francisco and affect as many as 16,500 children a year. But San Francisco police are documenting only a fraction of the actual number of children exposed to domestic violence, say researchers. The undercount could result in fewer social services and fewer traumatized children being helped, say child welfare advocates." San Francisco Chronicle (September 7, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S64201]

Return to the Table of Contents

Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates. By Doris J. James and Lauren E. Glaze, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice. (The Bureau, Washington, DC) September 2006. 12 p.

Full Text at: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/mhppji.pdf

[“More than half of the nation's jail and prison inmates suffer from mental health problems.... Based on a representative survey of more than 25,000 prisoners nationwide, the report found that mental health problems were associated with an inmate's violence and prior convictions.... Mental health experts called the study disturbing. They said it illustrated a direct relationship between gaps in community mental health care and the large numbers of mentally ill people winding up in the criminal justice system.” Los Angeles Times (September 7, 2006) B3.]

[Request #S64203]

Return to the Table of Contents

The Copley Press, Inc. v. San Diego County Superior Court. California Supreme Court. S128603. August 31, 2006. 59 p.

Full Text at: www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S128603.PDF

[“News media and the public have no right to see the names or records of police officers who appeal their departments' disciplinary actions to a civil service commission. The 6-1 decision said a state law that keeps police and sheriff's department personnel records confidential also applies to proceedings before local commissions that review an officer's firing or suspension. The only exceptions are in civil suits against an officer and criminal cases in which the defendant alleges police abuse, and those who obtain the records are not allowed to disclose them.” San Francisco Chronicle (September 1, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S64204]

Return to the Table of Contents

Alejandro Madrid, et al. v. James Tilton, et al. U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. 90-3094. Special Master's Final Report Re: Status of State of California Corrective Action Plans for Administrative Investigations and Discipline; Recommendations. August 22, 2006. 52 p.

Full Text at: tinyurl.com/jcfzf

[”The Special Master still wants to investigate his own allegation that the Schwarzenegger administration has stifled prison reform in California by cozying up to the state's correctional officers union.... The report said the California Correctional Peace Officers Association's opening contract proposals with the state 'may negatively impact' remedial plans now taking hold in the correctional system concerning use of force, internal investigations, correctional officer discipline, job assignments and union intrusion into managerial prerogatives." Sacramento Bee (August 23, 2006) A3.]

[Request #S]

Return to the Table of Contents

ECONOMY

CALIFORNIA

Greening the Bottom Line: California Companies Save Money by Reducing Global Warming Pollution. By Travis Madsen and Bernadette Del Chiaro, Environment California Research and Policy Center. (The Center, Los Angeles, California) August 2006. 41 p.

Full Text at: www.environmentcalifornia.org/uploads/EV/eB/EVeBlXD7mRBlOZK_G0m1Tg/August-2006-Greening-Bottom-Line.pdf

["Pioneering businesses across the Golden State are beginning to do their share to cut global warming pollution by being smarter about how they use energy and switching to clean, renewable energy sources. At the same time, they are finding that these strategies improve their competitiveness and help the bottom line — cutting energy costs, reducing exposure to volatile fossil fuel and electricity prices, and attracting environmentally aware customers."]

[Request #S64206]

Return to the Table of Contents

The Active Outdoor Recreation Economy: A $730 Billion Annual Contribution to the U.S. Economy. By the Outdoor Industry Foundation. (The Foundation, Boulder, Colorado) 2006. 20 p.

Full Text at: www.outdoorindustry.org/pdf/FinalOutdoorRecreationReportEC.pdf

["Many people don’t realize that having fun and staying healthy in the outdoors is essential to the continued growth of our economy. In order to thrive, however, this burgeoning, often overlooked industry needs to be recognized, stimulated, and supported. The recreation economy supports nearly 6.5 million jobs across the U.S.; generates $88 billion in annual state and national tax revenue; provides sustainable growth in rural communities; generates $289 billion annually in retail sales and services across the U.S.; and touches over 8 percent of America’s personal consumption expenditures."]

[Request #S64207]

Return to the Table of Contents

Free to Compete? Measuring the Impact of Proposition 209 on Minority Business Enterprises. By Monique W. Morris and others, Discrimination Research Center. (The Center, Berkeley, California) August 2006. 52 p.

Full Text at: www.drcenter.org/studies/FreetoCompete.pdf

["The number of minority road and highway contractors shrank dramatically, and the state-offered awards and bids that went to them plummeted by more than half in the 10 years following Proposition 209's victory at the polls.... By fiscal year 2005, just 8 percent of real dollars spent by Caltrans went to minority-owned contractors. That compares with more than 11 percent in fiscal year 1996." Sacramento Bee (September 14, 2006) D1.]

[Request #S64205]

Return to the Table of Contents

Offshoring: U.S. Semiconductor and Software Industries Increasingly Produce in China and India. By the Government Accountability Office. GAO-06-423. (The Office, Washington, DC) September 2006. 70 p.

Full Text at: www.gao.gov/new.items/d06423.pdf

["Over the past 40 years, the extent and complexity of semiconductor manufacturing and software services offshoring have grown as U.S. firms sought low-cost, high-quality workers in response to commercial competition.... As firms experienced cost savings and observed high-quality work in these offshore locations, they expanded offshoring operations to include more advanced operations, such as software design and systems integration."]

[Request #S64208]

Return to the Table of Contents

2007 Silicon Valley Projections: Tough Challenges - Hopeful Signs. By the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. (The Group, San Jose, California) 2006. 56 p.

Full Text at: www.svlg.net/Related%20Docs/SVLG_2007Projections.pdf

["Silicon Valley came in last in an annual ranking of 12 U.S. technology hubs because of the region's notoriously high housing costs, traffic congestion, unemployment rate and other quality-of-life problems.... The nation's top-ranked tech hub is North Carolina's Raleigh-Durham area, which enjoys relatively affordable housing and a thriving job market." Ventura County Star (September 2, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S64209]

Return to the Table of Contents

EDUCATION

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

On the Public-Private School Achievement Debate. By Paul E. Peterson and Elena Llaudet, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. (The School, Cambridge, Massachusetts) August 2006. 53 p.

Full Text at: www.ksg.harvard.edu/pepg/PDF/Papers/PEPG06-02-PetersonLlaudet.pdf

["A study concluded that private schools perform better in 11 of 12 categories when compared with public schools, countering a U.S. Department of Education report last month that suggested parity. [Paul] Peterson and colleague Elena Llaudet 'identified a consistent, statistically significant private school advantage.'" Detroit Free Press (August 3, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S64202]

Return to the Table of Contents

The State of State Standards: 2006. By Chester E. Finn Jr. and others, Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. (The Foundation, Washington, DC) 2006. 121 p.

Full Text at: www.edexcellence.net/doc/StateofStateStandards2006.pdf

["The report outlines ways to move toward national standards.... The federal government could take steps to ensure that state standards and test results could be easily compared with one another and with NAEP. Skeptics of national testing have long noted the influence of politics on proficiency standards.... Some policymakers are tempted to keep standards low so that schools will look successful; others seek to set them high to spur schools to improve." Washington Post (September 3, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S64216]

Return to the Table of Contents

Measuring Up 2006: The National Report Card on Higher Education. AND Measuring Up 2006: The State Report Card on Higher Education: California. By The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. (The Center, Washington, DC) 2006.

["If college costs continue to outpace financial aid, the rising generation won't rise very far, warns a national report card. America's over-35 workforce is the most educated in the world. When it comes to 25- to 34-year-olds, the U.S. has slipped to seventh in college completion..... The rest of the world soon will soar past the U.S. in educational attainment.... Colleges need to return to their old policies for financial aid. Most education grants come directly from colleges, and they are shifting from need-based aid to merit scholarships, which favor students from affluent families... The report card gave most states an 'F' for college affordability, measured by the percentage of family income needed to pay tuition. California, which has bolstered need-based college aid in recent years, was one of the top states with a 'C-minus' for affordability." San Jose Mercury News (September 11, 2006) A1.]

National Report. 32 p.
http://measuringup.highereducation.org/_docs/2006/NationalReport_2006.pdf

California Report. 16 p.
http://measuringup.highereducation.org/_docs/2006/statereports/CA06.pdf

[Request #S64240]

Return to the Table of Contents

Hindu American Foundation, et al. v. California State Board of Education, et al. Sacramento County Superior Court. 06-00386. September 1, 2006. 8 p.

Full Text at: www.saccourt.com/courtrooms/trulings/dept19/sep1d19--06cs00386.doc

["A double-edged ruling by a Sacramento judge has rejected claims that California's 6th-grade textbooks contain anti-Hindu bias and should be recalled, but he found the approval process for all state textbooks 'invalid.' The judge dismissed claims by the Hindu American Foundation that the state's new 6th-grade history and social sciences textbooks paint a derogatory picture of early Hinduism...At the same time, the judge found that the state has been adopting textbooks 'under invalid, underground procedures' and not, as required, under adopted regulations." San Francisco Chronicle (September 6, 2006) B5.]

[Request #S64238]

Return to the Table of Contents

Does School Choice Work? Effects on Student Integration and Achievement. By Julian R. Betts and others, Public Policy Institute of California. (The Institute, San Francisco, California) 2006. 221 p.

Full Text at: www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_806JBR.pdf

["Every year, thousands of parents in San Diego take advantage of programs in the public school system that allow them to hand-pick their child's campus. But as popular as choice programs are, they have little or no effect on test scores..... Where choice programs make the biggest difference is in diversifying school populations to include a mix of ethnicities, races and socioeconomic backgrounds." The San Diego Union-Tribune (August 31, 2006) B1.]

[Request #S64239]

Return to the Table of Contents

EMPLOYMENT

APPRENTICESHIPS

Department of Industrial Relations: Its Division of Apprenticeship Standards Inadequately Oversees Apprenticeship Programs. By California State Auditor, Bureau of State Audits. (The Bureau, Sacramento, California) September 2006. 56 p.

Full Text at: www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2005-108.pdf

["The division suspended program audits in 2004. Further, it did not follow up on corrective action related to audits it had started. The division has not resolved apprentice complaints in a timely manner. The division has not conducted adequate oversight of the committees' recruitment and apprentice selection procedures to ensure that they promote equality of opportunity in state-approved apprenticeship programs. Consequently, the division cannot determine the extent to which committees comply with their Cal Plans."]

[Request #S64210]

Return to the Table of Contents

Solving the Nursing Shortage Through Higher Wages. By Vicky Lovell, Institute for Women's Policy Research. (The Institute, Washington, DC) 2006. 37 p.

Full Text at: www.iwpr.org/pdf/c363.pdf

["This report looks in detail at trends in nurse employment and wages. The report examines how nurses’ pay and working conditions affect hospitals’ ability to meet their staffing needs. It reviews recent analyses of the nurse workforce, evaluating the policy options offered for solving the nurse shortage. And it offers new data analysis exploring the impact of collective bargaining on nurses’ pay. The report concludes with recommended practices to ensure both an adequate supply of nurses and high-quality patient care through competitive, transparent wage-setting, collective bargaining, and nurse/patient ratio standards."]

[Request #S64211]

Return to the Table of Contents

Reforming Unemployment Insurance for the Twenty-First Century Workforce. By Lori G. Kletzer, University of California, Santa Cruz, and Howard Rosen, Trade Adjustment Assistance Coalition. Discussion Paper 2006-06. (The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC) September 2006.

["The authors propose three broad policies designed to make the unemployment insurance (UI) system more responsive to a twenty-first century economy and labor force. They would strengthen the federal role in UI by setting federal standards regarding program eligibility, benefits, and financing; supplement basic UI with a wage-loss insurance program to assist those who are reemployed at lower wages; and allow self-employed workers, and perhaps others, to contribute to Personal Unemployment Accounts."]

Full Paper. 32 p.
http://www.brookings.edu/views/papers/200609kletzer-rosen.pdf

Policy Brief. 8 p.
http://www.brookings.edu/views/papers/200609kletzer-rosen_pb.pdf

[Request #S64212]

Return to the Table of Contents

ENERGY

GASOLINE AND DIESEL

Spring 2006 Petroleum Fuels Price Spike: Report to the Governor. By Michael Nyberg and others, California Energy Commission. (The Commission, Sacramento, California) August 2006. 94p.

Full Text at: www.energy.ca.gov/2006publications/CEC-600-2006-012/CEC-600-2006-012.PDF

["Free-market forces, not market manipulation, caused California's sharp spike in gasoline prices in spring, a state report concluded. The report blamed circumstances that, together, pushed prices higher: unusually high number of gasoline refineries were closed during the period, gasoline exports to neighboring state rose to a five-year high, congestion at seaports delayed the unloading of gasoline imports and prices of a key chemical component of California's gasoline rose." San Francisco Chronicle (August 16, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S64241]

Return to the Table of Contents

ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES

AGRICULTURE

City of Los Angeles, et al. v. County of Kern, et al. U.S. District Court, Central District of California. Complaint. August 15, 2006. 35 p.

["In a federal lawsuit, Los Angeles challenged a recently passed Kern County law that bars the city from dumping some 250,000 tons of sewage sludge annually on farm fields near Bakersfield.... The ban on sludge is described as 'arbitrary and irrational.'... Although the critics contend that the varying components of sludge may meld into a toxic brew over time, the lawsuit says the environment in Kern County will be all the poorer without the nutrient-laden fertilizer that is spread on the fields." Los Angeles Times (August 16, 2006) B4.]

[Request #S64215]

Return to the Table of Contents

Evaluating the Role of Prices and R&D in Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions. By Terry M. Dinan, Congressional Budget Office. (The Office, Washington, DC) September 2006. 32 p.

Full Text at: www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/75xx/doc7567/09-18-CarbonEmissions.pdf

["A new report suggests the most cost-effective way [of reducing greenhouse gas emissions] is through a carbon trading system such as California is pioneering. Relying solely on research and development does not appear likely to be consistent with the goal of balancing costs and maximizing benefits or minimizing the costs of curbing greenhouse-gas releases. Global warming is happening because of market failures that fail to account in the price of fossil fuels. A federal policy combination of research and carbon pricing — either by taxing the use of fossil fuels or creating a carbon market for trading in permits to release greenhouse gases — will balance the costs and cut emissions most effectively." Oakland Tribune (September 20, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S64217]

Return to the Table of Contents

Natural Resources Defense Council, et al. v. Kirk Rodgers, Regional Director, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, et al. U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California. CIV S-88-1658. Stipulation of Settlement. AND Memorandum of Understanding between Settling Parties and State of California. September 13, 2006.

["A historic settlement outlining the most ambitious river restoration project in California's thirsty history was filed in federal court, the first major step in an effort to return year-round flows and a long-destroyed salmon run to the Central Valley's once grand San Joaquin River.... The agreement among the federal government, growers and environmental groups will reduce diversions from the river by an average of 15%, releasing enough water from Friant Dam near Fresno to revive a spring chinook salmon run that was completely wiped out after the dam was built in the 1940s." Los Angeles Times (September 14, 2006) 1.]

Summary of the Settlement. 7 p.
http://www.fwua.org/settlement/supplemental/docs/Summary_of_the_Settlement.pdf

[Request #S]

Return to the Table of Contents

GENERAL GOVERNMENT

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

Emergency Preparedness: California's Administration of Federal Grants for Homeland Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness is Hampered by Inefficiencies and Ambiguity. By California State Auditor, Bureau of State Audits. (The Bureau, Sacramento, California) September 12, 2006. 100 p.

Full Text at: www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2005-118.pdf

["A state audit ... warns that California's efforts to prepare for a terrorist attack or natural disaster are being undermined by a morass of red tape.... By the end of June, the state had spent less than half of the $954 million of federal homeland security grants it had been awarded since 2001. That money is supposed to be used to reimburse local governments for equipment purchases, training and other expenses related to disaster preparedness. But the state can be so slow in reimbursing these expenses, that some cities cannot afford to continue participating in the plan." Los Angeles Times (September 14, 2006) B4.]

[Request #S64220]

Return to the Table of Contents

Joint Declaration. By the 24th United States-Mexico Border Governors Conference. (The Conference, Austin, Texas) August 24-25, 2006.

[“California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his counterparts from Texas, Arizona and New Mexico made stopping illegal immigration a central theme at their annual meeting with governors from Mexico's border states. The focus on illegal immigration at a gathering typically dominated by nonconfrontational topics such as boosting trade and cleaning up the environment underscored the increasing desire of American politicians to show they are doing something to address the issue in an election year.” Los Angeles Times (August 25, 2006) A14.]

Declaration. 8p.
http://gov.ca.gov/pdf/press/joint_declaration.pdf

Letter to Congress. 2p.
http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/print-version/press-release/3653/

[Request #S64221]

Return to the Table of Contents

The Limits of Gerrymander: Examining the Impact of Redistricting on Electoral Competition and Legislative Polarization. By Seth Masket, University of Denver, and others. Presented to the American Political Science Association Conference. (Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas) September 2006. 40 p.

Full Text at: tinyurl.com/z2o3x

["Redistricting is often blamed for both declining electoral competition and increasing partisan polarization in the U.S. Congress and most state legislatures. Using election returns and roll call voting collections from Congress and state legislatures, [this paper] examines the extent to which redistricting is actually responsible for these trends. Redistricting has had only a modest impact, if any, on the polarization of legislative districts... Legislatures in states with partisan redistricting schemes are roughly as polarized as those in states with court- or commission-drawn legislative districts."]

[Request #S]

Return to the Table of Contents

Sunshine For California: Shining Light on Corporate Tax Secrecy for Healthier State Budgets, Investments and Markets. By Phineas Baxandall, CALPIRG Education Fund. (CALPIRG, Sacramento, California) Summer 2006. 23 p.

Full Text at: calpirg.org/reports/sunshine.pdf

["Corporate tax avoidance leaves taxpaying households to pick up the tab for funding highways, schools, and other public structures. Much of the indirect costs of aggressive tax avoidance are also borne by investors who are unaware of these risky schemes. And everybody suffers when corporate profitability is determined by opportunities for tax evasion rather than efficiency or innovation.... The report highlights the most common corporate tax abuses and calls for increased transparency in corporate tax returns, particularly with regards to the large gap between the profits companies report to tax authorities and their own shareholders."]

[Request #S64223]

Return to the Table of Contents

Security Analysis of the Diebold AccuVote-TS Voting Machine. By Ariel J. Feldman, Center for Information Technology Policy, Princeton University. (The Center, Princeton, New Jersey) September 2006. 24 p.

Full Text at: itpolicy.princeton.edu/voting/ts-paper.pdf

["Computer scientists have generally been skeptical of voting systems of this type, Direct Recording Electronic (DRE), which are essentially general-purpose computers running specialized election software.... The main findings of the study are: 1) malicious software running on a single voting machine can steal votes with little if any risk of detection; 2) Installing malicious software takes only a minute; 3) AccuVote-TS machines are susceptible to voting-machine viruses; 4) While some of these problems can be eliminated by improving Diebold's software ... changes to election procedures would also be required to ensure security."]

[Request #S64224]

Return to the Table of Contents

California's Exclusive Electorate. By Mark Baldassare, Public Policy Institute of California. (The Institute, San Francisco, California) September 2006. 27 p.

Full Text at: www.ppic.org/content/pubs/atissue/AI_906MBAI.pdf

[“The more the face of California changes, the more the state's electorate stays the same: older white voters, college graduates and homeowners still account for the majority of voters. Seventy-two percent of likely voters are white, 53 percent are college graduates, 77 percent are homeowners and the majority are age 45 and older. If nonvoters made their views known at the ballot box, state policies would dramatically change. For example, a large majority of nonvoters -- 66 percent to 26 percent -- prefer higher taxes with more services to lower taxes with fewer services, based on 23,000 interviews between May 2005 and May 2006.” Sacramento Bee (September 14, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S64230]

Return to the Table of Contents

HEALTH

CANCER

Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer: 1975-2003, Featuring Cancer Among U.S. Hispanic/Latino Populations. By Holly L. Howe and others. IN: Cancer (October 2006)

Full Text at: www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/112777119/HTMLSTARTW

["One life at a time, at a pace so slow that some years it seems negligible, cancer death rates in America are continuing their downward drift, an annual overview by major cancer agencies concluded. The biggest reason for the steady decrease is that fewer people are smoking, although improvements in diagnosis and treatment also help. From 1993 to 2003, men's death rates dropped an average of 1.6 percent a year, and women's rates by half that, 0.8 percent a year." Sacramento Bee (September 7, 2006) A1.]

[Request #S64231]

Return to the Table of Contents

Hospital Planning: What Happened to California's Certificate of Need Program? Charlene Wear Simmons, California Research Bureau, California State Library. CRB 06-009. (The Bureau, Sacramento, California) August 2006. 28 p.

Full Text at: www.library.ca.gov/crb/06/09/06-009.pdf

["For over 30 years, the state and local planning agencies were involved in analyzing and approving the construction and expansion of health care facilities and services, based on a determination of community need. The goals were to ensure access to quality health care and to contain costs by restricting excess hospital capacity.... Whether a Certificate of Need (CON) program is effective depends in part on its statutory and staffing structure. California’s Certification of Need program appears to have suffered from inadequate staffing and lack of data. In addition, there were a number of exceptions to the program that made it difficult to administer, and sanctions for noncompliance were infrequently utilized. Other states... apparently have effective, well-staffed CON programs. Their impact on reducing health care costs has not been demonstrated, however."]

[Request #S64233]

Return to the Table of Contents

"State Plans for Containment of Pandemic Influenza." By Scott D. Holmberg and others. IN: Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 12, no. 9. (September 2006) pp. 1414-1417.

Full Text at: www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no09/pdfs/06-0369.pdf

["This review assesses differences and similarities of the states in planning for pandemic influenza.. Few states explicitly discuss implementing nonpharmaceutical community interventions: voluntary self-isolation (17 states [35%]), school or other institutional closing (18 states [37%]), institutional or household quarantine (15 states [31%]), or contact vaccination or chemoprophylaxis (12 states [25%]). This review indicates the need for central planning for pandemic influenza and for epidemiologic studies regarding containment strategies in the community."]

[Request #S64234]

Return to the Table of Contents

Moving Beyond the Tug of War: Improving Medicaid Fiscal Integrity. By Sonya Schwartz, National Academy for State Health Policy, and others. (The Academy, Washington, DC) August 2006. 50 p.

Full Text at: www.nashp.org/Files/Medicaid_Fiscal_Integrity.pdf

[“Disputes over state funding practices have arisen regularly.... There was consensus among participants that clear, fair federal rules would help states comply with federal law, and protect states from hardship that could be caused by waiver negotiations or retrospective disallowances. A variety of possible mechanisms for setting those rules exists, but what is most important is that they be developed and followed.”]

[Request #S64235]

Return to the Table of Contents

Health Care Disconnect: Gaps in Coverage and Care for Minority Adults. By Michelle M. Doty and Alyssa L. Holmgren, The Commonwealth Fund. (The Fund, Washington, DC) August 2006. 12 p.

Full Text at: www.cmwf.org/usr_doc/941_Doty_hlt_care_disconnect_disparities_issue_bri.pdf

["The analysis finds that uninsured rates for Hispanic and African American adults are one- and-a-half to three times greater than the rate for white adults. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of working-age Hispanics and one-third (33%) of African Americans were uninsured at some point during 2005, compared with 20 percent of working-age whites.... Along with expanded insurance coverage, policies promoting continuity in patients’ relationships with health care providers also are needed to reduce disparities in access."]

[Request #S64236]

Return to the Table of Contents

HUMAN SERVICES

ELDERLY

Little Progress in Ensuring Protection for Incapacitated Elderly People. By the Government Accountability Office. GAO-06-1086T. (The Office, Washington, DC) September 7, 2006. 17 p.

Full Text at: www.gao.gov/new.items/d061086t.pdf

["As the number of elderly Americans grows dramatically the need for guardianship arrangements seems likely to rise in response, and ensuring that such arrangements are safe and effective will become increasingly important.... Many people actively involved in guardianship issues continue to look for ways to make improvements."]

[Request #S64225]

Return to the Table of Contents

Rebuilding Families, Reclaiming Lives: State Obligations to Children in Foster Care and Their Incarcerated Parents. By Patricia E. Allard and Lynn D. Lu, Brennan Center for Justice. (The Center, New York, New York) 2006. 68 p.

Full Text at: www.brennancenter.org/programs/cj/Family%20Rights%20Report.pdf

["This report shows a painful unintended consequence of federal law. Far too many children are at risk of being permanently separated from their mothers whose worst crime may be drug addiction.... The report finds that the median sentence imposed by state courts for non-violent drug offenses is 36 months –- too long to prevent a child without substitute care from being permanently removed from an incarcerated parent’s custody under the federal law. Between 1990 and 2000, the number of minor children with an incarcerated mother nearly doubled."]

[Request #S64226]

Return to the Table of Contents

Targeting Poverty: Aim at a Bull's Eye. By Jodie Levin-Epstein and Webb Lyons, Center for Law and Social Policy. (The Center, Washington DC) August 2006. 16 p.

Full Text at: www.clasp.org/publications/targetingpovertytakingaimatabullseye.pdf

["Forty years after the war on poverty and a year after Katrina struck, commitments to tackle poverty are beginning to come back onto political and policy agendas. The report identifies efforts around the nation to set poverty targets -- numerical goals and timelines -- for the reduction or elimination of poverty. For example: In California, a 2006 bill calls for child poverty to be eliminated by 2026; in Connecticut, state law already establishes that child poverty is to be reduced by 50 percent by 2014."]

[Request #S64227]

Return to the Table of Contents

Testimony of Robert Rector, The Heritage Foundation. Presented to the Ways and Means Committee, U.S. House of Representatives. (The Foundation, Washington, DC) July 16, 2006. Various pagings

Full Text at: www.heritage.org/research/welfare/tst071906a.cfm?renderforprint=1

["At the time of its enactment, liberal groups passionately denounced the welfare reform legislation, predicting that it would result in substantial increases in poverty, hunger, and other social ills. Contrary to these alarming forecasts, welfare reform has been effective in meeting each of its goals; 1) Child poverty has fallen, 2) Decreases in poverty have been greatest among black children, 3) Unprecedented declines in poverty also occurred among children of single mothers, 4) Welfare caseloads were cut in half, 5) Employment of single mothers has surged, and 6)The explosive growth of out-of-wedlock childbearing has come to a near standstill."

[Request #S64228]

Return to the Table of Contents

Welfare Reform at 10: Analyzing Welfare Caseload Fluctuations, 1996–2002. By Michael J. New, Heritage Foundation. (The Foundation, Washington, DC) August 17, 2006. 11 p.

Full Text at: www.heritage.org/research/welfare/upload/CDA_06-07.pdf

["Previous and current research has identified three major factors that appear to affect fluctuations in welfare caseloads: the strength of sanctions, the performance of the economy, and the level of ben­efits.... Overall, the most important finding is that the strength of state sanctioning policies had the largest impact on both caseload declines and caseload lev­els between 1996 and 2002. The other variables that were considered, including the strength of the economy and benefit levels, had some effect on year-to-year caseload levels but played only a minor role in the large decline in welfare caseloads between 1996 and 2002."]

[Request #S64229]

Return to the Table of Contents

TRANSPORTATION

AIRPORTS

Growing Pains: Airport Expansion and Land Use Compatibility Planning in California. By Grant Boyken, California Research Bureau, California State Library. CRB 06-010. (The Bureau, Sacramento, California) September 2006. 143 p.

Full Text at: www.library.ca.gov/crb/06/10/06-010.pdf

[“The results of a report commissioned on the governance structure for airports in California, Phoenix and Portland ‘may point to potential changes’ for San Diego's four-year-old airport agency. The report examines the way San Diego and 14 other localities operate and manage their airports, expansion strategies, and how they approach land-use planning around the airfields. The report offers no explicit recommendations on governance but cites ‘research literature’ that suggests autonomous airport governing bodies – found in San Diego, Burbank, Oakland and Portland – ‘are more effective for airports that play a significant role in regional and national economies.’ They can also be ‘more stable and more adept at long-term planning than more politicized local governance structures.’” San Diego Union-Tribune (September 21, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S64241]

Return to the Table of Contents

Feasibility Study for the Resurrection of the Red Car Trolley Services in the Los Angeles Downtown Area. By IBI Group and others. Prepared for the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles. (The Group, Toronto, Canada) July 2006. 68 p.

Full Text at: www.crala.net/internet-site/Documents/upload/Red%20Trolley%20Feasibility%20Study.pdf

["A new study that will probably reinvigorate a decades-old debate about mass transit in Los Angeles concludes that bringing back streetcars to downtown would spur more development and attract riders.... Reintroduced trolleys have met with success in many other cities. In other cities, 'the streetcars have inspired and promoted economic revival, they have encouraged and attracted tourism, and they have supplemented the existing, everyday public transit services already in operation,' concludes the study." Los Angeles Times (September 5, 2006) 1.]

[Request #S64242]

Return to the Table of Contents

[The following studies, reports, and documents have been ordered or requested, but have not yet arrived. Requests may be placed, and copies will be provided when the material arrives.]

HEALTH

OBESITY

Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: How Do We Measure Up? Edited by Jeffrey P. Koplan and others, Committee on Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity, Institute of Medicine. (National Academies Press, Washington, DC) 2007. 544 p.

["Government, industry, communities, schools, and families have developed many initiatives to respond to the growing problem of childhood obesity, but efforts remain fragmented. Moreover, most of the policies and programs are not being evaluated, making it difficult to identify effective interventions. National leadership on this public health issue is also lacking... The good news is that Americans have begun to recognize that childhood obesity is a serious public health problem, and initiatives to address it are under way."]

Report Brief: 4 p.
http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/36/984/11722_reportbrief.pdf

National Academies Press. 520 p.
http://darwin.nap.edu/books/0309102081/html

[Request #S64131]

Return to the Table of Contents