Governing magazine’s Louis Jacobson pays special attention to state legislatures across the country, and he’s out this month with a review of a dozen legislators to watch – six from each party – just in time for the New Year.

Some of the Democratic names may be familiar to you because of the leadership they’ve already shown in 2011 and in recent years:

• Stacey Abrams - Georgia House (D)
  House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, who is the first woman to lead either party in the Georgia General Assembly, earned degrees from Spelman College, Yale Law School and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. She’s a tax attorney and a former deputy city attorney for Atlanta. Despite being in the minority in the Legislature, observers credit her with winning concessions from freshman Republican Gov. Nathan Deal on a revamp of the HOPE scholarship program, a merit-based higher education fund for Georgia residents, and for putting up a strong fight against a GOP tax plan….
  

• Reuven Carlyle - Washington House (D)
  …After a career in the cellphone and software industries, Carlyle won an open seat in 2008 representing a trendy area of Seattle. He has made a point of crossing party lines and taking on figures in his own party. “I believe the people of our district elected me in 2008 to vigorously seek intellectual and moral independence from old-fashioned orthodoxies,” he wrote on his campaign website. “We live in a 21st-century global community and stereotypical positions -- liberal, conservative, Democrat and Republican -- have little bearing on our children’s future…”
  

• Wendy Davis - Texas Senate (D)
  …Sen. Wendy Davis, who represents Fort Worth, used the limited tools available to her to achieve spectacular results. Hours before last year’s session was to end, Davis filibustered a bill that included $4 billion in school cuts. That forced Republican Gov. Rick Perry -- who was on his way to becoming a presidential candidate -- to call a special session. It also turned Davis into “an icon among Democratic activists in Texas,” says Mark P. Jones, a Rice University political scientist….
  

• Ted Lieu - California Senate (D)
  ...Before election to the Senate in 2011, Lieu chaired the Assembly’s Rules, and Banking and Finance committees, where he was a key mover of legislation on such topics as foreclosure prevention, child sex offenders, domestic violence, cyberbullying, sewage spills and health insurance.
  “Ted Lieu is that rare Democratic political figure who combines it all,” says California-based Democratic strategist Garry South. “He’s smart and well educated, articulate, pleasant and professional to deal with, center-left while also being a former JAG and current reserve officer in the Air Force, has a photogenic young family, and is part of the fastest-growing ethnic group in the largest state....
  

• Vincent Sheheen - South Carolina Senate (D)
  Sen. Vincent Sheheen exceeded all expectations in his 2010 race for governor. Running in a strongly Republican state in a strongly Republican year, he lost to Nikki Haley -- who attracted considerable national media attention -- by just four percentage points. An effective legislator, he had sponsored 18 bills that became state law prior to his gubernatorial campaign….
  

• Darrin Williams - Arkansas House (D)
  Rep. Darrin Williams was adopted and raised in Little Rock. He’s a second-termer in a state with a three-term limit for state representatives, so he’s positioned to become a strong contender for speaker -- which would make him the first African-American to hold the position. He has already chaired the House Judiciary Committee, where he won a measure of bipartisan support for legislation….
  

Please read the full column for longer profiles of each legislator. We expect big things from all six of them, in addition to the many accomplishments they've already racked up.

Republicans in state legislatures around the country are rewriting voting laws to make exercising one’s right to cast a ballot more difficult. 

After examining the plethora of bills introduced in statehouses this year that, among other things, would reduce poll hours and require voters to show photo ID, it seems clear that Republicans are trying to make it harder for certain groups to vote. The Advancement Project, an advocacy group of civil rights attorneys, called the push “the largest legislative effort to scale back voting rights in a century.”

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), Republican legislators have introduced bills that would diminish access to the voting booth in over 40 states.* All of these Republican proposals focus on one apparent goal: restrict ballot access and shrink the electorate—often in ways that would decrease Democratic votes.

Many of the proposals are in the form of voter ID legislation, which would require potential voters to present specified forms of identification in order to cast a ballot. Republicans supporting these measures claim they’re necessary to prevent “voter fraud.”

Too bad that “voter fraud” isn’t a problem that actually exists. In New Hampshire, investigations conducted since 2004 revealed no cases of voter fraud. In South Carolina, where a voter ID bill that would become among the most stringent in the country is currently under consideration, the state Elections Commission knows of no confirmed cases of voter fraud. An elections supervisor in Florida says “there’s no evidence of a problem, none whatever.” Voter impersonation is the only type of voter fraud addressed by laws requiring presentation of a photo ID to vote, and repeated studies have confirmed this crime to be extremely rare.

Speaking of study results, here are some fun facts about groups included in the 11 percent of Americans without a current government-issued photo ID: 

• 25 percentof African American voting age citizens

• 15 percent of those earning less than $35,000 a year

• 18 percent of those age 65 and above

• 20 percent of young voters 18-29

In sum, GOP legislators may be using baseless allegations of fraud to make voting more difficult for constituencies not known for their reliable GOP vote.

The broad GOP voter discouragement push goes beyond voter ID bills.  Florida provides an example of one of the most restrictive proposals in the country.

Florida House Bill 1355 (and companion Senate Bill 2086) recently passed both GOP-controlled chambers and includes the following provisions: 

• Forces anyone updating his or her name or address on election day to fill out a provisional ballot (which often go uncounted). Since 1973, Florida voters have been able to update name or address without major issues.
• Forces any group running a registration drive to fill out paperwork for every volunteer and paid worker with the state.
• Halves the time that citizens would have to collect signatures to get an initiative on a ballot.
• The senate version of the bill (SB 2086) also reduces the early voting period from two weeks to just one week.

Indeed, reducing the length of early voting periods is a restrictive voting measure Republicans are advocating in several states. In North Carolina, for example, a GOP-sponsored bill would cut the 16-day early voting period by an entire week. 

In both Florida and North Carolina (as well as in almost every other state with early voting) the majority of early voters in 2008 voted for President Obama.  

Another strain of restrictive measures popping up in several states involves hobbling voter registration and mobilization efforts. The North Carolina bill would prevent anyone from engaging in get-out-the-vote efforts outside of his or her own voting precinct. Legislation in Maine would end the long-standing practice of election day voter registration. The Florida bill mentioned above will prompt the League of Women Voters to end their registration efforts in that state.

This apparently concerted effort on the part of Republicans in state legislatures nationwide to effectively suppress voting is as disturbing as it is un-democratic. Additionally, these restrictive measures often are costly and do nothing to balance state budgets and create jobs, which are the top priorities for voters across the country right now.

To be fair, Republican legislators in some states are working to promote voting rights among some groups: hunters and fishers.

*Research compiled by DLCC.

The DLCC is pleased to announce another state legislator listed on TIME’s 40 Under 40 list.

We already highlighted OH Rep. Jay Goyal, CO Sen. Mike Johnston, and ME Speaker Hannah Pingree. Now we’re pleased to present South Carolina state Representative Bakari Sellers (HD 90 – Bamberg).

When he was elected at age 22, Sellers became the youngest member of the South Carolina General Assembly. Active in the fight against child obesity, Sellers graduated from Morehouse College in 2005 and got his law degree at the University of South Carolina in 2008. He just turned 26 in September.

Who is your political hero/inspiration?
My father [civil rights activist Cleveland Sellers]. His search for social justice and equality, as well as his never-ending desire to attain the highest level of education possible, is my number-one inspiration.

What's your go-to political blog?
It's actually a conservative blog in South Carolina. It's called FITSNews. It's not too friendly to my side of the aisle, but it's interesting reading.

If you weren't working in politics, what would you be doing?
I would like to think that I would still be practicing law somewhere.

What's the most overlooked issue facing America these days?
I think it's the issue of my generation, and it's not race any longer: It's the haves versus the have-nots. Until we address that growing divide, whether it be narrowing the socio-economic divide, narrowing the technological gap or just making sure that everyone is healthy, we will continue to not see the progress that we want in the country.

Where do you see yourself professionally in five years?
That's a hard question for me to answer because I truly live day by day ... I do love our lieutenant governor's office. That would be a good window to look out of. And the governor has a nice house. But we'll see.

Remember our friend State Sen. Jake Knotts in South Carolina?

He’s not having a great day.

It seems a few South Carolina Republicans have finally taken the appropriate umbrage at Sen. Knotts’ racially charged comments regarding fellow Republican Nikki Haley’s background. Sen. Knotts’ description of Haley, whose parents were Sikh immigrants from India, as a “raghead” compelled Lexington County Republican Committee to pass a resolution last night to censure him. (Knotts and Haley both live in Lexington County.)

Additionally, the chairman of the Greenville County Republican Party, the largest county party in the state, said yesterday that State Sen. Knotts should be expelled from the state party.

From CNN’s Political Ticker:

Greenville County GOP chairman Patrick Haddon, who also serves as First Vice Chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, said he will motion for Knotts' expulsion at the next meeting of the state party's executive committee.

"I cannot sit idly by and watch our Party be torn apart by Senator Jake Knotts' bigotry," Haddon said in a statement. "This is the harshest penalty the Party can impose, and it is more than justified in this situation."

And on top of that, U.S. Representative Joe “You Lie!” Wilson, whose district represents all of Knotts’ home county and who has even appeared in a campaign ad for the State Senator, has issued the following statement:

"As a member of Congress representing the Second District of South Carolina, I was hurt and disgusted to hear Senator Jake Knotts direct such offensive slurs at a community which is very close to me.

"Senator Knotts did not reflect the values of our citizens in his language or in the tone of his remarks and certainly did not reflect mine. Having served as the chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, I know first hand how hurtful his remarks personally were to so many of our fellow citizens.

"I believe Senator Knotts still owes an apology to the people at which the slurs were directed. Our Party must focus on issues like creating jobs and cutting taxes; and providing a positive vision for the future of our state and country."

All of this adds up to a pretty rough Friday for Senator Knotts. Maybe he’ll have a nicer weekend… but he probably shouldn’t count on it.

Republican drama in South Carolina isn’t exactly in short supply. Its latest manifestation comes in the form of Republican State Sen. Jake Knotts’ racially charged statement about President Barack Obama and fellow Republican State Rep. Nikki Haley (of recent alleged extramarital affair infamy).

From Columbia, SC’s WLTX:

Lexington County State Senator Jake Knotts is in a bit of hot water following his controversial remarks on Nikki Haley and President Barack Obama.

Knotts appeared on a Columbia internet talk show and used a racial slur to describe both Haley and Obama.

The program is called "Pub Politics" and on it Knotts said "We already got one raghead in the White House, We don't need a raghead in the Governor's Mansion."

Rep. Haley is an Indian-American and faces a hotly contested gubernatorial primary. Sen. Knotts made the comment after discussing her background.

For what it’s worth, Sen. Knotts has since apologized:

"I still believe Ms. Haley is pretending to be someone she is not, much as Obama did, but I do apologize to both for an unintended slur."

Republicans occasionally like to introduce wacky legislation. That's no secret, and for the most part, we simply don't have the time to cover every ridiculous-never-had-a-chance-to-make-it-to-the-the-floor bill they sponsor.

But this one's too good to ignore.

South Carolina Republican Mike Pitts, a state representative, has introduced a bill that would ban the "the unconstitutional substitution of Federal Reserve Notes for silver and gold coin" in the state:

If the bill were to become law, South Carolina would no longer accept or use anything other than silver and gold coins as a form of payment for any debt, meaning paper money would be out in the Palmetto State.

This is a fight that we as a nation have had before. Unfortunately for Rep. Pitts, it is a fight that his side lost more than a century ago. In cases stretching from 1871 to 1884, the Supreme Court repeatedly ruled that paper dollars issued by the federal government are, in fact, legal tender for all debts, public and private.

Even if constitutionality weren't a hurdle, practicality would be. The worth of gold or silver coins would constantly fluctuate with market values for the precious metals. At best, Pitts would be reintroducing the barter system to South Carolina.

Pitts has no problem with that:

"To me, something I can hold tangible in my hand I can put more value in, especially under the current rate of inflation,” Pitts said. “In the case of total economic collapse, a barter tool is going to be worth a whole lot more value than paper with ink on it."

Luckily, even Pitts doesn't think this bill has any chance at becoming a law:

"I don’t see the intestinal fortitude of this legislative body to test the federal government on Constitutional issues. One that has this much teeth in it I don’t think has the ability to pass."

But of course, that begs another question. Why is he wasting everyone's time?

South Carolina Republicans are now on-record saying they can’t be trusted with power. That’s our interpretation, anyway, of a new proposal by the state’s Republican legislative leaders to make across-the-board budget cuts automatic when times are tough – without any input or on-the-record votes by the legislature:

To deal with future budget shortages, the state's top legislators want across-the-board cuts to come quicker as they propose automatic cuts when revenues fall a certain percentage.

Currently, only a budget oversight board led by Gov. Mark Sanford can decide to cut the state's spending when it gets a report that revenues are 4 percent shy of expectations. Lawmakers want the cuts to come automatically when the state's revenues are 2 percent short.

Even the most uncompromising anti-tax voter should be outraged by this proposal. We elect our leaders to make tough choices, not to run away from them. And the reason we want elected officials making the tough decision to cut services or raise taxes is so we the people can hold them accountable for their actions.

Writing the budget is the most basic responsibility of every legislature in America – the power of the purse. If Republicans really want across-the-board spending cuts, they should at least have the backbone to vote for them, on the record. But South Carolina Republicans are too afraid to do their jobs in tough times, and now they want someone else to do it for them.

Next month, Democratic State Senator Gerald Malloy of South Carolina will be named one of “Katie’s Heroes” for his tireless advocacy of a state DNA registry for violent felons, which passed in 2008, and for his work as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Criminal Justice System Task Force:

John Walsh, host of America’s Most Wanted, will be presenting the award at a luncheon hosted by the family of Katie Sepich, a young woman who was brutally raped and murdered in Aug of 2003, and whose family has established a nonprofit organization called DNA Saves.

(…)DNA Saves feels that Senator Malloy’s contributions to enacting DNA arrestee legislation in South Carolina deserves recognition and appreciation for a law that will benefit many in the succeeding years. In presenting him this award, Katie’s family wants to let Senator Malloy’s constituents know that he is a hero to them as well as to the many victims of violent crime.

“This will be a vital tool for law enforcement and it is essential that we provide our law enforcement with the best tools to keep our citizens safe. This methodology is already used by the Federal Government and should be a logical extension to our State,” said Senator Malloy.

The ceremony will be held on July 22nd as part of the National Conference of State Legislatures conference in Philadelphia. We applaud Senator Malloy for this award and for his ongoing fight to keep South Carolina’s families and children safe.

In this interconnected world of ours, there are few better ways to draw attention to something than to protest its existence. Unfortunately for him and his state, I don't think Republican State Sen. David Thomas of South Carolina understands that.

Earlier this year, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism of his state agreed to participate in an advertising campaign to promote South Carolina to gay European tourists. Similar ads were sponsored by the city governments of Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C.

The advertisements were timed for London’s Gay Pride Week, which ended Saturday. The posters touted the attractions of the state to gay tourists, including its "gay beaches" and its Civil War-era plantations.

Sen. Thomas found out about the ad when he was contacted by the SC blog Palmetto Scoop. He called for an audit of the state's tourism advertising budget and told the blog this:

"South Carolinians will be irate when they learn their hard earned tax dollars are being spent to advertise our state as 'so gay'...This campaign goes against our core values."

A Google search for the phrase, 'Sen. David Thomas "So Gay" ' now returns about 108,000 results. Because of him, copies and text from the advertisement have run alongside coverage from Time and Newsweek, and papers from all over the country and the world.

Maybe that's exactly what Thomas intended, but here's the thing. Prior to this kerfuffle, I had no idea that South Carolina even had gay beaches.

And more importantly, an advertisement designed to improve the state's tourism industry will now have the opposite effect. In tough economic times, you gotta think that's a little foolish.