State News
Indiana Leadership Academy Targets Building School Leader Capacity In Low-Performing Schools
The Indiana State Department of Education recently partnered with Marian University to establish a Turnaround Leadership Academy for current principals, teachers and non-educators. The goal of the academy is to develop leaders to turn around the state’s chronically low-performing schools. Participants will focus on five key areas, including:

  • Systems thinking and authentic leadership;
  • Strategies to creating the culture of high performing schools;
  • Teacher performance and student learning; and
  • Statistical analysis for teacher performance and student learning.

The program will last three years, and is funded through a contract with the Indiana Department of Education, Marian University and the Kern Family Foundation.
(Contact: Stephanie Shipton)

New Jersey Proposes Superintendent Pay Cap, Merit Bonuses
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie recently proposed a plan to cap superintendent pay, but offer annual stipends based on performance. The plan aims to bring superintendent salaries, which have risen more than twice the rate of inflation, in-line with district demands. The plan is predicted to save almost $9.8 million. Under the plan, superintendents’ salaries will be capped based on district student enrollment with additional money for superintendents who oversee multiple districts and districts with at least one high school.

The proposed plan would also allow local school boards to award annual merit stipends to superintendents. Boards will base this decision on selected qualitative and quantitative indicators as released by the New Jersey Department of Education.
(Contact: Stephanie Shipton)

New Hampshire Launches Health Care Delivery Pilot Program
New Hampshire Governor John Lynch has announced a five-year pilot program to lower costs and deliver health care efficiently. Under the pilot, health care providers and major insurance companies will be creating accountable care organizations (ACOs). The Accountable Care Organization Pilot Program was developed by the New Hampshire Citizens Health Initiative, with leaders from the health care industry and business. Health care providers at five locations will voluntarily participate in this program.

The ACO model makes one entity, such as a hospital or physician network, responsible for quality patient outcomes. The goal is to incentivize individual providers to coordinate care with physicians, specialists and facilities to promote prevention and disease management. Under the current fee-for-service system, providers are generally incentivized to provide volume instead of quality health outcomes.
(Contact: Caryn Marks)

Illinois to Offer Independent Reviews of Denied Treatments
A new law in Illinois grants patients the ability to receive an independent review when an insurance company denies a recommended medical treatment. The law, signed by Governor Pat Quinn earlier this year, requires all health insurers and HMOs to provide the same opportunity for external reviews as they do for internal appeals.

If a consumer is denied a recommended treatment, an external review can be requested within four months of receiving the notice of denial. The case is then reviewed by an unbiased doctor assigned by an Independent Review Organization and approved by the Illinois Department of Insurance. Reviews must be completed within 72-120 hours with urgent cases or within 20 days of the request under normal circumstances.
(Contact: Erin Lamos)

North Carolina DNA Samples to Include Cyber Crimes
North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue has signed legislation authorizing police to collect DNA samples from anyone arrested for committing certain violent or potentially violent offenses, ranging from cyber-stalking to murder. The state hopes to build a database law enforcement can use to quickly identify or rule out a suspect with the additional samples.

Widely supported by law enforcement and victims’ rights advocates, estimates show that as many as 100 cases could be solved using the additional DNA samples within the first year alone.
(Contact: David Henry)

Delaware Bill Helps Doctors Limit Illegal Prescription Drug Use
Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed into law the Delaware Prescription Monitoring Act, which will create a database of prescription drug information that will be available to doctors. Under the new law, the state’s Office of Controlled Substances is authorized to establish this database, which doctors can use to screen patients before giving out prescriptions. The new law comes in response to the release of the state’s study on prescription drug abuse, which found that between 1998 and 2008 substance abuse treatment admissions for prescription pain medications increased by 400 percent. This increase was linked to “doctor shopping,” where patients receive prescriptions from multiple doctors in the absence of a coordinated data system.
(Contact: David Henry)

Wisconsin Directs TANF Funds to Workers in Transition
Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle announced a $34 million Transitional Job program aimed toward individuals who are either entering or re-entering the workplace and not currently receiving unemployment insurance. The funding will be used to provide the following for workers in transition:

  • Provide immediate income during a six month transition period;
  • Diagnose work readiness; and
  • Encourage longer-term career preparation.

The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families has been directed by the governor to create the program. Adults age 21 and older will qualify to access the program for six months while they are in transition, as long as they are not currently receiving unemployment insurance benefits. Employers partnering with the program include local government agencies, corporations, public private partnerships and cooperatives.
(Contact: Jody Grutza)

Maryland Releases Green Economy Recommendations
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s Green Jobs & Industry Taskforce released recommendations to guide the development of the state’s green economy. The report offers over 40 recommendations to state policymakers, including:

  • Creating a new Green Economy Coordinator position within the governor’s office;
  • Requiring energy use information to be collected at the time of sale of a residence or commercial building to encourage the seller to make energy efficiency improvements to the property;
  • Creating an inventory of current green jobs programs including state programs and state-supported community organizations; and
  • Creating a green pre-apprenticeship program through which the state will help subsidize an intern’s wages until a full-time job is attained.

The entire list of recommendations is available in the report. The Green Jobs & Industry Taskforce also identified concrete next steps to help implement the recommendations. These include prioritizing the recommendations, calculating the return on investment for each recommendation, creating an action plan to implement the recommendations and outlining the budgetary and workforce resources necessary. The recommendations requiring legislative approval will then be put into draft legislation for consideration during the 2011 General Assembly session.
(Contact: Erin Andrew)

Illinois Partnership to Address Asian Carp Problem
Illinois is entering into a public-private partnership with a local fishing company and a Chinese meat processor to control invasive Asian Carp and boost economic development. The partnership between Illinois, Beijing Zhuochen Animal Husbandry Company and Big River Fisheries will help address three goals: mitigating a growing environmental concern; creating jobs in Illinois; and increasing exports by selling the Asian Carp to overseas markets, where it is in higher demand. Asian Carp, which have been found in the Illinois River approaching the Great Lakes, could devastate the local fish population and negatively impact the $7 billion-a-year commercial fishing industry in the region.

To help achieve these goals, the Illinois Department of Commerce will invest $2 million in capital funds to help Big River Fisheries retrofit their existing fish-processing facilities to increase capacity and expand staff and shipping operations.It is expected that the expansion of Big River Fisheries will create roughly 180 direct and indirect jobs.The agreement between the parties also includes harvesting and shipping 30 million pounds of Asian Carp to China and other Asian countries by the end of 2011.
(Contact: Andrew Kambour)

California Uses Toll Credits to Fund Highway Projects
The California Transportation Administration received approval from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to use $5.7 billion in “toll credits” in place of state and local matching funds for new transportation projects.This decision will allow California to move forward on construction projects that would otherwise be delayed for a lack of matching funds that are typically required under federally funded projects.The state previously used the $5.7 billion in toll revenues to support local transportation infrastructure projects that did not have a federal funding share.Now, California is allowed to credit that spending towards their share of federally funded projects over the next two years.

Toll credits are earned when the state, a toll authority or a private entity funds a capital transportation investment with toll revenues earned on existing toll facilities. States are permitted to substitute toll credits to meet state matching fund requirements on current federal aid projects. This allows the non- federal share of a state’s transportation project cost to be met through the use of toll credits and provides states will additional project financing flexibility.

To use toll credits, the state must pass an annual maintenance of effort (MOE) test and make a request to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) when a project is put under agreement.
(Contact: Andrew Kambour)

Other News
Colleges and Universities Spending More on Administration, Less on Instruction
According to a recently released report, Trends in College Spending 1998-2008, colleges and universities have increased funding for administrative and infrastructure, while decreasing funding for instruction. Additionally, the report found that colleges and universities have increased tuition based on cost-shifting, not due to rises in spending, and depend on tuition revenues more over time.

The Delta Project, which published the report, also released a web-based tool for analyzing and comparing college and university spending by state.
(Contact: Stephanie Shipton)

Report Examines Effects of New Health Regulation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released an issue brief that examines the effects of new federal regulations on insurance companies that will take effect on September 23, 2010. These new regulations, required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, will mandate minimum medical loss ratios (MLRs), which are the portion of health insurance premium revenues spent on clinical services and activities that improve health care quality.

Many in the health care industry believe some health insurers will exit certain markets as a result of the new rules. The report identifies warning signs of market destabilization for states to be aware of, including: premium volatility; insurance companies surrendering licenses; and sudden declines in coverage. To manage potential insurance instability, the report also includes the following examples of state strategies to maintain coverage for vulnerable individuals:

  • Extending continuous coverage to individuals stranded by the exit of their insurer;
  • Designating “insurers of last resort;” and
  • Requiring HMOs to offer some form of individual coverage.

(Contact: Caryn Marks)

Report Describes Broadband Availability, Access in the States
According to a report from the Pew Center on the States breaks down information broadband access and availability in each state, including the percent of broadband connections at various speeds and the availability of broadband by state at the county-level. The report’s findings indicate disparities among states.

Currently, only 65 percent of Americans have broadband at home leaving approximately 14 million individuals without access. These individuals are disproportionately lower-income and less educated than those with access to broadband service. The report offers recommendations for states to play a role in mitigating this gap. It also outlines examples of existing state programs that aim to reduce the main barriers to broadband access – cost, literacy, relevance and availability – and areas where states may be particularly important for expanding access, for example, by increasing availability of service, building physical infrastructure, spurring adoption among underserved populations and applying technology to improve delivery of government services.
(Contact: Erin Lamos)

DOE Transportation Energy Data Book Includes New Categories
The US Department of Energy released the 2010 edition of its Transportation Energy Data Book. The Data Book, which has been released annually since 1976, is a comprehensive set of statistics on transportation activity, fuel consumption and vehicle use. The 2010 edition features several new categories, including:

  • A comparison of commuter rail energy intensity (energy per passenger-mile traveled) across 17 metropolitan transit systems;
  • New retail vehicle sales and car and light truck survival and scrap rates; and
  • Federal fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards and targets through 2016.

The Data Book allows for users to track long- and short-term national trends in vehicle use and sales, fuel use and price, household travel, and transportation-related emissions.
(Contact: Greg Dierkers)

Report Finds Common Core State Standards To Be Higher Than Existing State Standards
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute recently released a report comparing the Common Core State Standards, which have been developed by the NGA Center and the Council of Chief State School Officers, with its criteria for high quality academic standards. The Common Core State Standards earned a B+ in English language arts and an A- in mathematics. The report also cautions that high standards alone are not enough to truly see student gains. How the standards are implemented at the state, district and school level is of the utmost importance.
(Contact: Stephanie Shipton)

What's New
NGA Webcast will Highlight State Child Welfare Financing Strategies
The NGA Center will host a webcast, State Child Welfare Financing Strategies, to bring together national and state experts to discuss strategies for flexible child welfare financing within states.The webcast will provide an overview of financing strategies across the country and focus in on the efforts of both Iowa and Massachusetts. In Iowa, the Decategorization Initiative pools state funds, providing them to localities and allowing local boards to create plans to invest these funds to safely reduce the number of children in foster care. In Massachusetts, child welfare funding is a broad appropriation that includes a wide range of family support and permanency services, providing flexibility in spending and reinvestment opportunities.

The State Child Welfare Financing Strategies webcast will be held on Wednesday, August 4, 2010, from 3:00-4:00 p.m. EDT. To view the webcast, go to: http://ww.nga.org/webcast.
(Contact: Jody Grutza)

Twenty-six States and the District of Columbia Have Adopted Common Academic Standards
As of July 21, 2010, 26 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Common Core State Standards. Those states are: Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Wyoming.

The NGA Center and the Council of Chief State School Officers released the Common Core State Standards in June. The standards define the knowledge and skills students should gain in K-12 education to graduate high school fully prepared for college and work.
(Contact: Stephanie Shipton)