<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>SwamplandCategory: State Governments &#124; Swampland &#124; TIME.com</title>
	<atom:link href="http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://swampland.time.com</link>
	<description>Political insight from the Beltway and beyond</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 23 May 2013 20:09:08 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.com/</generator>
<cloud domain='swampland.time.com' port='80' path='/?rsscloud=notify' registerProcedure='' protocol='http-post' />
<image>
		<url>http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/11d9978cfec7d5a71822113fdc067df5?s=96&#038;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png</url>
		<title>SwamplandCategory: State Governments &#124; Swampland &#124; TIME.com</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com</link>
	</image>
	<atom:link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="http://swampland.time.com/osd.xml" title="Swampland" />
	<atom:link rel='hub' href='http://swampland.time.com/?pushpress=hub'/>
		<item>
		<title>States Rush to Ban Employers from Asking for Social Media Passwords</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/09/states-rush-to-ban-employers-from-asking-for-social-media-passwords/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/09/states-rush-to-ban-employers-from-asking-for-social-media-passwords/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:45:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Katy Steinmetz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=92380</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Should your boss ever have access to your Facebook page? What about a prospective boss? Or your school administrator? The current hubbub in state capitals about social media access started when a job-seeker named Robert Collins had an interview with the Maryland Department of Corrections in late 2010. His interviewer, according to testimony Collins later gave before a state House committee, demanded access to his Facebook account and started sifting through his personal messages and photos to make sure Collins didn’t “have any gang affiliation.” Feeling his privacy had been violated, Collins approached his local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU was predictably appalled, and the story of an employer demanding to see behind the social-media curtain started to blow up. The local ACLU’s outcry eventually inspired Maryland’s state lawmakers  to pass the nation’s first ban on employers asking current or prospective employees for such usernames or passwords. After that statute got put on the books last May, six other states followed suit in 2012. And lawmakers in more than 30 states have continued the trend this year, proposing more than 60 related bills during their 2013 sessions. Some bills, like one on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s desk, are tailored to employees and employers. Other bills, like one sent to Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe last week, forbid higher education institutions from asking students for access to their social media accounts. Still others, like one proposed this session in Hawaii, cover both. And some lawmakers have even tackled more indirect practices, such as applicants being asked to “friend” someone from HR or “shoulder surfing” (when the interviewer asks the applicant to poke around on the account while watching over his or her shoulder). Many state legislators, Republican and Democrat, are arguing that better protections need to be in place and clearer lines need to be drawn, particularly for prospective employees. “In this job market, especially, employers clearly have the upper hand,” a sponsor of the New Jersey bill recently said. “Demanding this information is akin to coercion when<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=92380&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/09/states-rush-to-ban-employers-from-asking-for-social-media-passwords/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/facebook.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/facebook.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/facebook.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Mark Zuckerberg during a Facebook press event to introduce &#039;Home&#039; a Facebook app suite that integrates with Android in Menlo Park</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/05bfb17f05eff70efc8061bb1a213e86?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Katy Steinmetz</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>A License to Vote? GOP Lawmakers Push Voter IDs</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/04/a-license-to-vote-gop-lawmakers-push-voter-ids/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/04/a-license-to-vote-gop-lawmakers-push-voter-ids/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:45:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Katy Steinmetz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=92064</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Residents of Virginia and Arkansas may be getting carded at places other than nightclubs come 2014. Both states have passed stricter election laws that require voters to show approved photo ID before they can cast their ballots. On Monday, the Republican-controlled Arkansas legislature overrode a veto from Democratic governor Mike Beebe, who called the law “an expensive solution in search of a problem.” Republican governor Bob McDonnell signed Virginia’s bill into law on March 26. Both laws are part of the “endless partisan cycle of fights over the election rules,” says Rick Hasen, an election law expert and professor at the University of California at Irvine. The classic conservative argument is that such laws are needed to combat voter fraud. The classic liberal retort is that voter fraud is a red herring and such laws are really attempts to suppress voters who lean Democratic—because voting blocs like the young, elderly and minorities disproportionately lack photo ID. Hasen, author of The Voting Wars, says that voter fraud is a small problem but that impersonation voter fraud—the type such laws protect against—is “virtually non-existent.” A more powerful reason that Republicans and Democrats continually engage in these bouts over the rules, he says, is that both sides can use them to excite their bases: GOP supporters get riled up about the prospect of Democrats stealing elections and liberals get fired up about the prospect of Republicans trying to suppress them. Both new laws require the states provide free IDs to voters who lack them. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 11 states currently ask voters to flash photo ID when they show up to the polls. (The NCSL does not yet count Arkansas or Virginia in that tally because the laws aren’t set to go into effect until 2014.) Of those, four are what they dub “strict,” meaning that if voters don’t show their photo ID on the day of the election, they have to take an additional step—like visiting an election official the next day with proper ID—for their vote to be<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=92064&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/04/a-license-to-vote-gop-lawmakers-push-voter-ids/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/vote.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/vote.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/vote.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">An early voter is seen at the Fairfax County Government Center in Fairfax, Virginia</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/05bfb17f05eff70efc8061bb1a213e86?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Katy Steinmetz</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Bathroom Battle: States Grapple With Transgender Rights</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/03/29/bathroom-battle-states-grapple-with-transgender-rights/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/03/29/bathroom-battle-states-grapple-with-transgender-rights/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:56:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Katy Steinmetz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=91726</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What do you call it when a person enters a bathroom but the sign outside doesn&#8217;t match the sex listed on his or her birth certificate? Disorderly conduct, according to a bill offered earlier this month by Arizona state Rep. John Kavanagh. But the measure sparked outrage in the LGBT community, which saw discrimination against transgender citizens. Kavanagh responded with a revamped, more limited version, which protects businesses that bar such practices from civil or criminal liability. After a contentious seven-hour hearing on Wednesday dominated by opposition to the proposal, a House panel voted along party lines to approve it. As the Supreme Court considers same-sex marriage, and with gay couples enjoying more rights and protections than ever, pitched debates in state capitals are a reminder that transgender rights remain unclear and controversial. Of the roughly 9 million people in the U.S. who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to a 2011 study, roughly 700,000 say they are transgender. One reason that transgender rights remain murky is because the American public is still coming to understand who they are: a survey released in 2011 showed that 3 in 10 Americans cannot identify what it means to be transgender and dictionary definitions aren’t cut-and-dry. (The Oxford English Dictionary’s rather tortured entry: “a person whose identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional notions of male or female gender, but combines or moves between these.”) Confusion or discomfort about where gender lines are drawn make bathrooms a perennial hot-button, because those are the only places most people are self-segregating based on their gender in an average day. The fight for transgendered rights has lagged behind that of gays and lesbians. But the measures on state dockets aren&#8217;t all a blow to the movement: while activists consider Arizona&#8217;s &#8220;bathroom bill&#8221; a setback, other states are considering expanded protections for the transgendered, who are hopeful their cause may be headed for the kind of mainstream acceptance enjoyed by the gay rights movement. A Democrat-backed California proposal would allow students to take part in sex-segregated school programs based on<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=91726&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/03/29/bathroom-battle-states-grapple-with-transgender-rights/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/ap070823016020.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/ap070823016020.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/ap070823016020.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Transgender Bathroom</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/05bfb17f05eff70efc8061bb1a213e86?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Katy Steinmetz</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Bet on Red! Nevada May Legalize Gambling on Federal Elections</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/03/27/bet-on-red-nevada-may-legalize-gambling-on-federal-elections/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/03/27/bet-on-red-nevada-may-legalize-gambling-on-federal-elections/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:00:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Katy Steinmetz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=91359</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Federal elections in America have long been horse races without legal bookies. Some states outright outlaw putting money on political contests, while others simply omit such gambling from lists of permitted practices. But this week, a Nevada lawmaker proposed a bill that could give citizens the opportunity to gamble on their favorite candidates. “I don’t see why there should be some prohibition, or some moral qualms,” says State Sen. Tick Segerblom, the lawmaker behind SB 418. If passed, the bill would allow wagering on presidential elections and primaries in Nevada, as well as those for seats in the Senate and House of Representatives. Before there was Gallup or Real Clear Politics, newspapers covered races in part by reporting the odds that betting firms put on candidates like Woodrow Wilson, whom bookmakers correctly pegged as the likely winner in 1916. Some states started banning the practice because it was viewed as “unseemly” says David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. “It was seen as people making money off of democracy.” And, he says, it was easy for an opponent to make the argument that inside information would be a great risk. Segerblom says &#8220;the time has come&#8221; for a reversal because gambling is becoming more “socially acceptable,” particularly through efforts to legalize online gaming and expand practices like sports betting. He also sees it as leveling a playing field: during previous elections, people outside the U.S. have placed millions on American presidential contests through outfits such as Ireland-based Intrade, a firm which recently shuttered after an audit discovered financial irregularities. “If they can bet on our election in England,” Segerblom says, “then there’s no reason why we couldn’t bet on our election in the United States.” Segerblom, a Democrat and chair of the state Judiciary Committee, makes a financial argument, too. “Any time people make a bet, Nevada makes money,” he says. However, as Schwartz points out, the additional revenue for this type of betting would likely be the equivalent of adding<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=91359&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/03/27/bet-on-red-nevada-may-legalize-gambling-on-federal-elections/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/155692000-1.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/155692000-1.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/155692000-1.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">US-VOTE-2012-ELECTION-OBAMA</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/05bfb17f05eff70efc8061bb1a213e86?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Katy Steinmetz</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>In the Heartland, Supply-Side is Yellow Brick Road</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/03/14/in-the-heartland-supply-side-is-yellow-brick-road/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/03/14/in-the-heartland-supply-side-is-yellow-brick-road/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:45:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David Von Drehle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=90422</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the statehouses of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri, they’re playing legislative limbo these days: how low can you go, when it comes to cutting income taxes? With its economy humming and unemployment rate low, Oklahoma is on course to cut the state rate to 5 percent or less—a proposal endorsed by the leaders of both House and Senate in Oklahoma City, as well as by Gov. Mary Fallin. A few hours to the north, Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas is pushing for a second round of tax cuts, even though last year’s cut to 4.9 percent has left lawmakers in Topeka staring at a hole in their budget. Brownback would fill the hole by eliminating most tax deductions for individuals—even the normally untouchable home mortgage deduction. Given that many small business owners take their corporate earnings as personal income, these lower rates are intended as bait to lure employers to relocate. So neighboring Missouri is reluctantly following suit. The state Senate in Jefferson City has approved a gradual income tax rate reduction from 6 percent to 5.25 percent, to be paid for partially by increased sales and tobacco taxes.“Missouri is lagging behind,” Kansas City Republican Sen. Will Kraus warned his colleagues. Folks with a sense of history might see this as just the latest twist in a saga of cross-border rivalry and conflict that pre-dates the Civil War. The Kansas City metro area straddles the lines separating Kansas and Missouri, and relocating a business from one state to the other can be as easy as driving a moving van across State Line Road.  In recent years, Kansas has used generous tax incentives to lure such businesses as JPMorgan Retirement Plan Services and the AMC movie theater chain from the Missouri side of the line. The income tax reductions are aimed at smaller fry, the mom-and-pop service providers and the family-owned factories that make up an important share of the mid-American economy. A recent report on economic trends in Oklahoma found, for example, that more than 20percent of the state’s economy consists of<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=90422&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/03/14/in-the-heartland-supply-side-is-yellow-brick-road/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/ap120119114490.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/ap120119114490.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/ap120119114490.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Economist Arthur Laffer</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/509f545dfcf07266c1eb847a42170416?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/yellow-brick-road.jpg?w=320" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">The Wizard Of Oz</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Jailing Lawmakers Who Support Gun Control And Other Odd State Bills</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/22/jailing-lawmakers-who-support-gun-control-and-other-odd-state-bills/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/22/jailing-lawmakers-who-support-gun-control-and-other-odd-state-bills/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:26:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Katy Steinmetz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=88777</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[And now, the latest in our occasional rundowns of some of the more unusual bills that state lawmakers currently have on their dockets. Missouri: A creative attempt at opposing gun control  Firearm-related bills are popping up all over the country like targets at a shooting range. Some would allow school janitors to carry weapons, while others would ban private gun sales. But only in the Show-Me State has a lawmaker proposed a bill that would criminalize the proposal of gun-control bills. The plan from Republican State Rep. Mike Leara &#8220;specifies that any member of the General Assembly who proposes legislation that further restricts an individual&#8217;s right to bear arms will be guilty of a class D felony.&#8221; Leara has told reporters that he&#8217;s not optimistic about passage, but he feels the bill sums up his position on Second Amendment rights. Georgia: Where lewd photoshopping may be a crime After having his head photoshopped onto the body of a porn star, Democratic Rep. Earnest Smith became one of six lawmakers to sponsor a bill that would outlaw the &#8220;electronic imposing of the facial image of a person onto an obscene depiction.&#8221; Smith told the Athens Banner-Herald that he believes &#8220;no one has a right to make fun of anyone,&#8221; even if citizens do have the right to free speech. Of course, Smith&#8217;s interview quickly led someone to create an online contest for who could photoshop the lawmaker&#8217;s face onto the best stuff (sample entries: Jabba the Hutt, cat on hind legs, &#8220;The Creation of Adam&#8221;). Montana: Because meat hit by a car is still meat Montana may soon join the handful of states that have explicitly made it legal to eat certain animals that are killed on highways and byways. Republican Rep. Steve Lavin, a state trooper, has said that he was inspired to craft the bill after seeing &#8220;a ton&#8221; of roadkill go to waste. The proposal, which recently passed the state House of Representatives, explicitly names big game animals&#8211;antelope, deer, elk and moose&#8211;as salvageable eats. It excludes animals such as bears and big horn sheep, which might &#8220;get hit by<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=88777&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/22/jailing-lawmakers-who-support-gun-control-and-other-odd-state-bills/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/missouri-guns.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/missouri-guns.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/missouri-guns.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">National Rifle Association Holds Annual Meeting In St. Louis</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/05bfb17f05eff70efc8061bb1a213e86?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Katy Steinmetz</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mississippi Finally Ratifies the Amendment to Ban Slavery — 148 Years Later</title>
		<link>http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/02/19/mississippi-finally-ratifies-the-amendment-to-ban-slavery-148-years-later/</link>
		<comments>http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/02/19/mississippi-finally-ratifies-the-amendment-to-ban-slavery-148-years-later/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Feb 2013 18:01:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kharunya Paramaguru</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=88504</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=88504&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/02/19/mississippi-finally-ratifies-the-amendment-to-ban-slavery-148-years-later/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/abraham-lincoln.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/abraham-lincoln.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/abraham-lincoln.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">abraham-lincoln</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/65771b2f510d667942a7f3513c6fb002?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">kparamaguru</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Making It Legal to Touch Bear Cubs&#8211;and Other Unusual State Bills</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/15/making-it-legal-to-touch-bear-cubs-and-other-unusual-state-bills/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/15/making-it-legal-to-touch-bear-cubs-and-other-unusual-state-bills/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Feb 2013 17:21:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Katy Steinmetz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=88213</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[And now, the latest rundown of some of the more unusual bills that state lawmakers currently have on their dockets. Michigan: Go on, pet that bear cub.  A Michigan measure would make it legal for people to have contact with bear cubs in the state—so long as the cubs are under 9 months old or weigh under 90 lbs. The amendment to the “Large Carnivore Act,&#8221; introduced by Republican Sen. Tom Casperson, would allow for better photo-ops on the state&#8217;s &#8220;bear ranches,&#8221; businesses that put animals on display for &#8220;education or exhibition purposes.&#8221; Despite some growling from Democrats, the bill passed the Senate this week. And Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has expressed support for people getting up close and personal with baby bears. Nevada: Pay attention, pedestrians!  Most states already ban drivers from texting while they&#8217;re on the road. Now Nevada lawmakers are considering a bill that would make it illegal for pedestrians to text or browse the Web while crossing the street. While the legislation, introduced by Democratic Assemblyman Harvey Munford, specifies &#8220;highways&#8221; as the no-texting zones, Munford has said he wants it to apply to all roads, including those in residential areas. Cities such as Fort Lee, N.J., have passed similar bans against so-called &#8220;dangerous walking.&#8221; Robert Cianflone / Getty Images Florida: Don&#8217;t you dare dye that bunny. In 2012, Florida lawmakers overturned a long-standing ban on dyeing baby chicks and bunnies, a controversial Easter-related activity. But Democratic Senator Maria Sachs is trying to bring it back. Though the bill would outlaw the artificial coloring of any animal, Sachs specifically lays out protections for Easter favorites: rabbits, baby chickens and ducklings. It would also prohibit the sale of such creatures, unless done for agricultural purposes. North Carolina: Cover up, ladies.  Following women&#8217;s rights rallies in Asheville, at which some ladies got topless, conservative lawmakers want to make it clear that baring breasts amounts to indecent exposure&#8211;and is therefore a felony. It&#8217;s already illegal to flash one&#8217;s private parts in North Carolina. The proposed bill would clarify that &#8220;private parts&#8221; include parts of<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=88213&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/15/making-it-legal-to-touch-bear-cubs-and-other-unusual-state-bills/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/ao6960-001.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/ao6960-001.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/ao6960-001.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Black bear cub</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/05bfb17f05eff70efc8061bb1a213e86?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Katy Steinmetz</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/dyed-bunnies.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Dyed Bunnies</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Making Ayn Rand Required Reading And Other Odd State Bills</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/08/making-ayn-rand-required-reading-and-other-odd-state-bills/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/08/making-ayn-rand-required-reading-and-other-odd-state-bills/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Feb 2013 10:45:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Katy Steinmetz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=87589</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[And now, the latest rundown of some of the more unusual bills that state lawmakers currently have on their dockets. Idaho: Making Ayn Rand required reading Republican State Sen. John Goedde has introduced a bill that would require students to read &#8220;and comprehend&#8221; super-libertarian Ayn Rand&#8217;s Atlas Shrugged before they could graduate from public high schools. Comprehension would be gauged by a state-approved test. Goedde told the Idaho Spokesman-Review that his bill is more symbolic than serious, however, designed to show the State Board of Education that lawmakers have power over what happens in schools. “It was a shot over their bow,&#8221; he said, &#8220;just to let them know that there’s another way to adopt high school graduation requirements.” Indiana: Cursive or keyboards?  In July 2011, a directive from the Indiana Department of Education made teaching cursive optional for public schools. Students were only required to learn printing and typing. But that edict has thrown some traditionalists for a loop, and Republican Sen. Jean Leising has proposed a bill that would make cursive mandatory in elementary schools, public and private. The measure passed in the Senate on Tuesday, 36-13. Ohio: It&#8217;s a bird, it&#8217;s a plane A bill flown by Democratic state Representative Bill Patmon would authorize the creation of a Superman-themed license plate. He is especially anxious to see the bill pass this session, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, because 2013 is the 75th anniversary of the Man of Steel&#8217;s first appearance. The plate would display Superman&#8217;s signature shield and the slogan &#8220;Truth, Justice &#38; the American Way,&#8221; celebrating the two Ohioans who created the character in the Buckeye State during the 1930s. Utah: Where vomiting is a crime, potentially A Utah committee approved a measure this week that would make it a felony to vomit on a law enforcement officer. Technically, a prisoner or detained individual would have to &#8220;propel&#8221; the vomit at the officer&#8217;s face. It is already a felony to propel fecal matter, urine or blood at an officer&#8217;s face. A separate measure, the Salt Lake City Tribune reports, would make it a misdemeanor<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=87589&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/08/making-ayn-rand-required-reading-and-other-odd-state-bills/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><letterbox>1</letterbox><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/images.jpg?w=130</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/images.jpg?w=130" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/images.jpg?w=130" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Atlas Shrugged</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/05bfb17f05eff70efc8061bb1a213e86?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Katy Steinmetz</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Rick Perry Goes Job Rustling, Again</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/05/rick-perry-goes-job-rustling-again/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/05/rick-perry-goes-job-rustling-again/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:20:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Rogers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=87188</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Governor Gov. Rick Perry is airing 30-second radio spots in six California markets inviting businesses to relocate to Texas, according to the Austin American-Statesman. “Building a business is tough, but I hear building a business in California is next to impossible,” says the governor in the radio spot. “This is Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and I have a message for California businesses: come check out Texas. There are plenty of reasons Texas has been named the best state for doing business for eight years running. Visit texaswideopenforbusiness.com, and see why our low taxes, sensible regulations and fair legal system are just the thing to get your business moving to Texas.” The new ad, which you can hear here, was purchased by the Texas Economic Development Division and will last for a week, hitting media markets in San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Inland Empire and San Diego.  Gov. Perry has a history of taking jobs from other states, as TIME’s Massimo Calabresi noted last year: He is a master at the theater of job poaching. During a trip to California last November, Perry crowed that he had stolen 153 businesses from the Golden State in 2010; some 92 companies moved the other way, leaving Perry with a net gain of 61 businesses. And he’s prone to high-visibility gestures. Last October, as Washington State was preparing to vote on an income tax for those earning over $200,000, Perry sent a letter to 90 businesses, including Microsoft, Starbucks and Amazon, telling them, “If Washington doesn’t want your business, Texas does.” Poaching jobs is intertwined with the “Red-State Model” expressed on today’s front page of the Wall Street Journal.  Republicans like Kansas Governor Sam Brownback are attempting to revive their state and party with Perry’s methods for job creation, which netted by far the most jobs in the three years after the recession ended in June 2009. Texas doesn’t have a personal or corporate income tax, and red states want to cut taxes and government to grow.  In Brownback’s State of the State address<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=87188&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/05/rick-perry-goes-job-rustling-again/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
<enclosure url="http://www.texaswideopenforbusiness.com/videos/RickPerry_CA_Radio_Opt1.mp3" length="485588" type="audio/mpeg" />
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/rick-perry.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/rick-perry.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/rick-perry.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">U.S. Republican Presidential candidate and Texas Governor Rick Perry sits down for lunch at The Drive-In Restaurant in Florence, South Carolina</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/509f545dfcf07266c1eb847a42170416?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Down the Manhole: State Officials Grapple with Gender-Neutral Language</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/05/down-the-manhole-state-officials-grapple-with-gender-neutral-language/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/05/down-the-manhole-state-officials-grapple-with-gender-neutral-language/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:53:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Katy Steinmetz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=87168</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sometimes there&#8217;s just no substitute for a man. About half of the states have moved toward using gender-neutral language in their official documents, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. State lawmakers in Alaska have attempted for years to change to their constitution so it contains fewer masculine pronouns, while states like Florida long ago passed directives forcing revisers to go through state laws line by line to purge it of gender bias. In states such as Nevada and New Mexico, lawmakers have proposed bills in recent weeks tackling similar issues. Yet overhauling the code isn&#8217;t as simple as it may sound. A bill on the docket in Olympia, Wash., for example, is full of revised legal language, the result of a line-by-line campaign. The 500-page proposal is the fifth such behemoth making its way toward the Washington state governor&#8217;s desk, and if it passes, the law will mark the end of a long journey toward political correctness. Almost. Governmental editors are finding that some gender-specific words just aren&#8217;t that easy to replace. Basic updates were a breeze, says code reviser Kyle Thiessen, who led the project. Search the code for he and add &#8220;or she.&#8221; Search the code for him and add &#8220;or her.&#8221; Other replacements required slightly more creative solutions: ombudsman became ombuds. Penmanship, perhaps the least offensive gender-biased word known to man or woman, became handwriting. Watchmen became security guards. And freshmen became first-year students, a move that echoes controversial changes by schools such as the University of North Carolina. But Washington state officials balked at some the code revisers&#8217; proposed changes. Military types objected to changing airman, Thiessen says, because to them that word is already a gender-neutral rank and changing the title might cause problems with designating their troops. The Washington code also references behavior unbecoming &#8220;an officer and a gentleman.&#8221; The prospect of changing this to &#8220;an officer and a gentleperson&#8221; did not pass muster. There was no clear alternative to manhole either, Thiessen says. Revisers considered utility hole, but that doesn&#8217;t connote size like manhole does. One might only be able to stick a wire through a &#8220;utility hole,&#8221; he says,<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=87168&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/05/down-the-manhole-state-officials-grapple-with-gender-neutral-language/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/manhole.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/manhole.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/manhole.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">A pedestrian passes a manhole with a logo of Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) near the Japanese prime minister&#039;s official residence in Tokyo</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/05bfb17f05eff70efc8061bb1a213e86?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Katy Steinmetz</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Bills, Bills, Bills: Highlights from the State Capitols</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/01/bills-bills-bills-highlights-from-the-state-capitols/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/01/bills-bills-bills-highlights-from-the-state-capitols/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:36:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Katy Steinmetz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=86792</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Washington, D.C. isn&#8217;t the only city teeming with politicians and proposals. Here are some of the more unusual and divisive bills that state legislators currently have on their dockets. Tennessee: &#8220;The Classroom Protection Act&#8221; State Sen. Stacey Campfield (R) has revived a so-called &#8220;Don&#8217;t Say Gay&#8221; bill that he introduced last session. The measure would prohibit the discussion of homosexuality in grades pre-kindergarten through eighth and require school officials to report &#8220;immediate and urgent safety issues involving human sexuality,&#8221; which has been interpreted as reporting homosexual behavior. “The general assembly recognizes that certain subjects are particularly sensitive,&#8221; the bill reads, &#8220;and are, therefore, best explained and discussed within the home.&#8221; Arizona: &#8220;Relating to sexual offenses&#8221; A House Democrat introduced a bill that would make it a felony to intentionally expose someone to STDs, whether through sex, blood donation or sharing needles. The measure lists specific conditions that would qualify, ranging from chlamydia to HIV. Rep. Lela Alston told a local paper that she was inspired by a constituent who contracted an STD from a man who didn&#8217;t tell her he was infected. Texas: &#8220;Relating to an annual football game&#8221; For nearly a century, Texans watched a yearly matchup between the University of Texas and Texas A&#38;M. A long-standing rivalry came to an end when the Aggies switched conferences in 2012, but after missing the game for one year, a House Democrat has introduced a bill to bring it back: by law, the schools would have to play one non-conference game per season. If either failed to participate, that university would lose state-funded football scholarships. Missouri: &#8220;Active Shooter and Intruder Response Training&#8221; A Missouri bill would require that first graders go through gun safety training, but the proposal is not as extreme as it sounds. The instruction would not be allowed to include firearms and would &#8220;emphasize how students should respond if they encounter a firearm.&#8221; In committee, Republican Sen. Dan Brown showed a sample video, featuring a cartoon eagle who tells children to &#8220;step away from an unsecured gun and immediately report it to<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=86792&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/01/bills-bills-bills-highlights-from-the-state-capitols/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/texas-and-texas-am.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/texas-and-texas-am.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/texas-and-texas-am.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Texas v Texas A&#38;M</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/05bfb17f05eff70efc8061bb1a213e86?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Katy Steinmetz</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Illinois is Going Bankrupt</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/18/why-illinois-is-going-bankrupt/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/18/why-illinois-is-going-bankrupt/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jan 2013 10:45:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David Von Drehle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=85163</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s not quite fair to say that Illinois officials are doing nothing to defuse the most threatening pension time bomb in America. Darn close to nothing, that’s fair, which explains why the ratings agencies Fitch and Moody’s have put the state on their negative watch lists. The Land of Lincoln is heading toward yet another downgrade of its battered bond ratings if this near-paralysis keeps up. To say “nothing,” however, ignores Squeezy the Pension Python. Squeezy is the cartoon co-star in a YouTube video featuring Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn. Hoping to raise awareness among voters and put pressure on the legislature, Quinn took to the ether last year to explain why underfunding the state pension system (the deficit is deepening by more than half a million bucks per hour) is not a good idea. When the state has to pay promised pensions even though the coffers are empty, said the governor, other priorities get squeezed—like schools, roads, and law enforcement. Cue the snake. It might be argued that Squeezy is too cute to set off alarm bells among fans of the Chicago Bears. More to the point: awareness of the pension mess is not really the problem in Illinois. Everyone has known for years that the state is a fiscal wreck, with Exhibit A being the smoking crater in the pension fund. Thanks in large part to the rapidly growing slice of state spending that goes to pensions, Illinois has gone ten years without a genuinely balanced budget, and the state was essentially broke even before the Great Recession hit. Now it is roughly 300 days behind in its payments to vendors—despite having tried every accounting trick in the book to hide the red ink. In fact, awareness of the problem inspired the state legislature to raise taxes and deposit some actual money in the pension fund last year, rather than toss in the usual IOUs. (MORE: Why We Need Pension Reform) The problem is … well, there are several problems, the first of which is leadership. Illinois did not<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=85163&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2013/01/18/why-illinois-is-going-bankrupt/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/squeezy-the-pension-python.jpg?w=150</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/squeezy-the-pension-python.jpg?w=150" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/squeezy-the-pension-python.jpg?w=150" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">image: A cartoon snake named &#34;Squeezy the Pension Python&#34; coils around the State Capitol as part of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn&#039;s new online campaign to get Illinoisans excited about pension reform.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/509f545dfcf07266c1eb847a42170416?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">drogers1271</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Punch Turns Political in Michigan Labor Protests</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/12/12/a-punch-turns-political-in-michigan-labor-protests/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/12/12/a-punch-turns-political-in-michigan-labor-protests/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 Dec 2012 21:26:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Altman</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=83362</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Steven Crowder went to Michigan in search of a stereotype. &#8220;I went out here to prove the left for who they truly are, certainly these union thugs,&#8221; Crowder told Fox&#8217;s Sean Hannity Tuesday night, a few hours after he was assaulted on camera outside the Michigan statehouse in Lansing. In a sense, he succeeded. He found union protesters and one of them clocked him in the face a few times. Crowder is a conservative standup comedian and Fox News contributor. He calls himself a social/political commentator, which is a highfalutin label for the level of commentary he offers. (&#8220;Liberalism is a disease,&#8221; his YouTube account explains.) As protests intensified in Lansing after the Michigan legislature&#8217;s passage of a pair of right-to-work bills, he waded into a crowd of angry union workers, asking them basic questions about why they opposed right-to-work legislation, according to the videos posted to the Internet. Crowder was trying to provoke the protesters &#8212; or, failing that, to make them look stupid if they couldn&#8217;t muster an eloquent response. He was trolling a bunch of angry people who had just lost a battle that could cost them a big chunk of their salary. He irritated the wrong guy and got hit in the face. Which isn&#8217;t to say he deserved what happened, as some people told him on Twitter, or that there&#8217;s any excuse for violence. Crowder didn&#8217;t invite the punch or return it. But he certainly got what he wanted, which was evidence for the widespread conservative caricature that union members are thugs. (&#8220;Union thugs&#8221; yields 2.76 million hits on Google.) He got footage of a small group of union workers supporting a stereotype &#8212; yanking down an Americans for Prosperity tent, threatening to shoot people, and so on. Ideologies and the protest movements they give rise to are easy to caricature, and caricatures serve a political purpose. Promoting the stereotype that union members are thuggish is the right&#8217;s way of demonizing a group they ideologically oppose. So when Crowder tells Hannity that he &#8220;never went out<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=83362&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/12/12/a-punch-turns-political-in-michigan-labor-protests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/41a5f1af68b9fd647df540c67f1a464a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Alex Altman</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>In Michigan, A Conservative Governor Takes Careful Aim at Unions</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/12/12/in-michigan-a-conservative-governor-takes-careful-aim-at-unions/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/12/12/in-michigan-a-conservative-governor-takes-careful-aim-at-unions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 Dec 2012 10:45:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Altman</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=83329</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When he ran for governor of Michigan in 2010, Rick Snyder adopted an endearingly dweebish slogan: “One Tough Nerd.” The moniker, which was cooked up by the eccentric Republican adman Fred Davis and still serves as Snyder’s Twitter handle, sought to make a virtue out of the candidate&#8217;s colorless persona. In a state where ineffectual leadership in both the public and private sectors has exacerbated a dizzying economic tailspin, Snyder’s C-suite resume helped him win. Snyder marketed himself as a tough conservative, but not as a confrontational one. He didn’t bow to the widening Republican orthodoxy on issues like high-speed rail or voter ID. While fellow Midwestern governors Scott Walker and John Kasich led assaults on collective-bargaining rights in neighboring Wisconsin and Ohio, Snyder carefully slalomed around the issue, calling it “divisive.&#8221; And no wonder: Michigan, the birthplace of the United Auto Workers and a cradle of organized labor, has an unmatched organized-labor tradition. But now Snyder is at the center of the newest battle in the GOP war against labor unions that has raged across the industrial Midwest in recent years. On Dec. 11, the state passed a pair of sweeping bills designed to cripple unions by barring the requirement that workers pay dues as a condition of employment. The freshman governor signed the controversial bills the evening of Dec. 12, making Michigan the 24th state to adopt so-called &#8220;right-to-work&#8221; laws. (PHOTOS: The State of Michigan: Andrew Cutraro Photographs the Republican Primary) The fight is not entirely one of Snyder&#8217;s choosing. Across the Rust Belt, unions&#8217; clout has been crumbling &#8212; even in Michigan, where a referendum to enshrine collective-bargaining rights in the state&#8217;s constitution was soundly defeated in November. Anti-union forces sensed weakness, and the state&#8217;s Republican-controlled legislature pushed a package of right-to-work bills. According to one new poll, 51% of Michiganders back installation of a right-to-work law, compared to just 41% who oppose it. Even as fellow freshman governors in neighboring states championed anti-union legislation, Snyder has long maintained that such measures were not on his agenda.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=83329&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/12/12/in-michigan-a-conservative-governor-takes-careful-aim-at-unions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/michigan_1212.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/michigan_1212.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/michigan_1212.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Michigan</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/41a5f1af68b9fd647df540c67f1a464a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Alex Altman</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Rick Scott Is Turning Down Obama&#8217;s Medicaid Expansion. Is He Turning Off Florida Voters Too?</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/07/11/rick-scott-is-turning-down-obamas-medicaid-expansion-is-he-turning-off-florida-voters-too/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/07/11/rick-scott-is-turning-down-obamas-medicaid-expansion-is-he-turning-off-florida-voters-too/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:45:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tim Padgett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[affordable care act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[medicaid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[obamacare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[peublicans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rick scott]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=73795</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Florida's governor is determined not to implement the health reform law, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld last month while still letting states opt out of its Medicaid expansion. And he's not alone. At least four other conservative governors, mostly in the South, say their states won’t augment their Medicaid rolls, one of Obamacare’s key provisions for reaching near universal coverage.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=73795&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/07/11/rick-scott-is-turning-down-obamas-medicaid-expansion-is-he-turning-off-florida-voters-too/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/rick_scott_0711.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/rick_scott_0711.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/rick_scott_0711.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Rick Scott</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d5f120a7df02eb9f94ea6635eef48945?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">timtime11</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Emboldened by Walker&#8217;s Recall Win, Florida&#8217;s Rick Scott Goes to War on Voter Registration</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/06/11/emboldened-by-walkers-recall-win-floridas-rick-scott-goes-to-war-on-voter-registration/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/06/11/emboldened-by-walkers-recall-win-floridas-rick-scott-goes-to-war-on-voter-registration/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:00:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tim Padgett</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rick scott]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[voter registration]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=72180</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Department of Justice had given Florida Governor Rick Scott until Wednesday, June 6, to respond to its demand that the state stop a legally questionable purge of its voter rolls that was designed to identify noncitizens and other ineligible voters. Scott made the DOJ wait until that very deadline, but chances are the conservative Republican wasn’t trying to be rude. He may well have been waiting for a political tailwind from the north — from Wisconsin, where another GOP governor, Scott Walker, was facing a recall vote on Tuesday engineered by Democrats angry at his conservative, antiunion policies. If so, Scott got what he hoped for: Walker handily defeated the recall effort. With that conservative momentum behind it, Scott’s administration on Wednesday sent U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s office a defiant rejection of the DOJ voter-roll order. This promises a presidential-election-year showdown between the Obama Administration and the nation’s most important swing state. “Governor Walker’s big win has juiced up the conservative base in this country,” says Florida-based GOP pollster Alex Patton. “Governor Scott had to have gained some confidence from it.” (MORE: The Inscrutable Mr. Scott, America’s Least Popular Governor) The Florida dispute may well be a key test of just how much juice the result in Wisconsin, where the contentious recall became a national issue, can pump into a conservative movement that lately hadn’t seemed as galvanized as it was in 2010. Despite Scott’s pledge to continue the voter-roll purge — which Republicans insist is needed to block voter fraud but which Democrats say is merely a ploy to disenfranchise minority voters in a critical battleground state — Florida’s 67 county-elections supervisors are refusing to cooperate. A big question is whether a resurgent lobbying push by conservatives, especially Tea Partyers, can wear down that resistance. “We’re going to keep the pressure on all over the state,” a Jacksonville Tea Party leader told the Miami Herald. The voter-roll purge is the sort of aggressive challenge to Washington that Scott — a Tea Party favorite elected in 2010 whose<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=72180&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/06/11/emboldened-by-walkers-recall-win-floridas-rick-scott-goes-to-war-on-voter-registration/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/sl_rickscott_0305_blog.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/sl_rickscott_0305_blog.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/sl_rickscott_0305_blog.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">sl_rickscott_0305_blog</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/44310a1af940f994952d1e4db73096cd?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">TIME.com</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Forget Wisconsin. Unions’ Biggest Loss Was in California</title>
		<link>http://ideas.time.com/2012/06/06/forget-wisconsin-the-unions-biggest-loss-was-in-california/</link>
		<comments>http://ideas.time.com/2012/06/06/forget-wisconsin-the-unions-biggest-loss-was-in-california/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jun 2012 13:05:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Andrew J. Rotherham</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=72005</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bad news for teachers and other public-sector employees: America is more than ready to cut your pensions and benefits. While most politicos had been focusing this week on the Wisconsin recall, an election 2,100 miles away in San Jose, Calif., may be a bigger harbinger of the kind of austerity voters are developing a taste for.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=72005&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://ideas.time.com/2012/06/06/forget-wisconsin-the-unions-biggest-loss-was-in-california/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/44310a1af940f994952d1e4db73096cd?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">TIME.com</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>ALEC: What It Does and Why Three Major Corporations Cut Ties</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/04/09/alec-what-it-does-and-why-three-major-corporations-cut-ties/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/04/09/alec-what-it-does-and-why-three-major-corporations-cut-ties/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:40:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adam Sorensen</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alec]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coca-cola]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[intuit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kraft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pepsi]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=69091</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When America&#8217;s corporate titans shift their weight, the tremors travel fast. Last week, Coca-Cola, Kraft and accounting-software giant Intuit announced they were ending their membership in a conservative nonprofit group called the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The news sent reporters scrambling to explain what exactly the 39-year-old organization does, why it matters and how its role in spreading laws — governing everything from voter ID requirements to anti-illegal-immigration efforts — came to be a problem for some of America&#8217;s foremost corporate citizens. What may have seemed like an obscure bit of corporate priority shifting quickly became a hot button. By the end of last week, the news had made the front page of social-media hive mind Reddit, whose users enjoy earnest, libertarian-leaning encomiums to open government almost as much as they like posting cat pictures. “It is time for a call to action,” the post began. “ALEC has been exposed.” (MORE: Our Fabulous Future: Corporate America’s Great Tech-Utopia Movies) The high-profile departures from ALEC were not set in motion nor fully explained by just a few days of public scrutiny. For the past four months, liberal advocacy groups, unions and activist investors have been reaching out to major corporations, asking them to further disclose their activity with ALEC or drop membership altogether. Things boiled over last week, but the underlying issues had been simmering for much longer. &#8211; ALEC, a tax-exempt group operating under the 501(c)3 section of the IRS code, bills itself as “a nonpartisan membership association for conservative state lawmakers” interested in “limited government, free markets, federalism and individual liberty.” It convenes policy task forces and drafts model bills that can be introduced in state legislatures nationwide. For a modest membership fee, conservative legislators gain access to the group&#8217;s resources. Think of ALEC&#8217;s prepackaged and prelawyered legislation as Swanson TV dinners: all you need is a majority vote to reheat it, and it&#8217;s ready to serve. The result: similarly flavored bills in statehouses across the country. In many ways, ALEC resembles groups like the National Conference of<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=69091&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/04/09/alec-what-it-does-and-why-three-major-corporations-cut-ties/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/sl_cocacola_0406_blog.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/sl_cocacola_0406_blog.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/sl_cocacola_0406_blog.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">sl_cocacola_0406_blog</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/7666b70a5b0305bd59953f5bca02cce5?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Adam Sorensen</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Beyond Trayvon: How &#8216;Stand Your Ground&#8217; Laws Spread from Florida to Half the U.S.</title>
		<link>http://swampland.time.com/2012/03/28/beyond-trayvon-how-stand-your-ground-laws-spread-from-florida-to-half-the-u-s/</link>
		<comments>http://swampland.time.com/2012/03/28/beyond-trayvon-how-stand-your-ground-laws-spread-from-florida-to-half-the-u-s/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:45:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alex Altman</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[State Governments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[castle doctrine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nra]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stand your ground]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trayvon Martin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://swampland.time.com/?p=68304</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Florida&#8217;s controversial &#8220;Stand Your Ground&#8221; law wasn&#8217;t always so controversial. The law, which gives citizens the right to use deadly force if they &#8220;reasonably believe&#8221; they are in danger, has been the subject of national scrutiny in the wake of Trayvon Martin&#8217;s death. But the statute former Governor Jeb Bush signed in April 2005 enjoyed broad bipartisan support in the Sunshine State legislature. It sailed through the Senate unanimously, 39-0, and faced only token Democratic opposition in the House, where it passed 94-20. The statute&#8217;s success was partly a function of propitious timing. In 2005, Florida had just been racked by post-hurricane looting, including the incident the bill&#8217;s architects cite as their inspiration, in which an elderly man shot and killed a burglar who broke into his RV. The man was left in legal limbo, says Dennis Baxley, the Florida Republican who sponsored the House bill, as authorities wrestled with whether his actions were protected by the so-called Castle Doctrine, a theory derived from English common law that permits property owners to use force to defend themselves in their own homes. &#8220;We wanted citizens to know that if they are attacked, the presumption will be with them, and we will empower them to stop a violent act from occurring,&#8221; Baxley says. By his telling, Stand Your Ground was an effort to codify those protections. (PHOTOS: Trayvon Martin’s Death Sparks National Outrage, Mourning) It was also a new frontier in the NRA&#8217;s crusade to expand Castle Doctrine laws beyond gun-owners homes and into public spaces. Florida has long been friendly territory for the NRA. In 1987, it passed landmark concealed-carry legislation that allowed anyone who met modest criteria earn a permit to tote a concealed weapon. It was this statute, gun-control activists point out, that helped George Zimmerman, the 28-year-man who shot the unarmed Martin, 17, obtain a permit to carry a gun despite a record that includes an arrest for battery on a law-enforcement official in 2005. Florida was ground zero for the NRA&#8217;s quest to enhance the Castle Doctrine. As a<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=swampland.time.com&#038;blog=5284847&#038;post=68304&#038;subd=timeswampland&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://swampland.time.com/2012/03/28/beyond-trayvon-how-stand-your-ground-laws-spread-from-florida-to-half-the-u-s/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>State Governments</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://swampland.time.com/category/domestic-policy-2/state-governments/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/sl_martinnra_0327_blog.jpg?w=200</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/sl_martinnra_0327_blog.jpg?w=200" />
		<media:content url="http://timeswampland.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/sl_martinnra_0327_blog.jpg?w=200" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">sl_martinnra_0327_blog</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/41a5f1af68b9fd647df540c67f1a464a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Alex Altman</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
	</channel>
</rss>