As we all know, state legislation often affects Americans’ daily lives much more than federal legislation. The key issues that impact us are state-level issues –- e.g., crime and education -- and the specific nature of that impact on our daily lives –- e.g., whether it is a progressive or regressive one –- depends on which political party controls the legislature. One area where we clearly see a difference is in the area of the educational curriculum.

I often use this blog to document nationwide trends and patterns, but today, I would like to take an opportunity to point out some bills that are remarkable because of their uniqueness.

Promoting language study in Washington State

A provocative 2007 story in Stateline conveys the urgency in making sure American students can compete globally.

Last year, the Democratically controlled legislature introduced HB 1517. The bill has 2 key components: (1) it requires the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to assign a full-time staff to serve as world language supervisor and describes the supervisor's duties and (2) subject to funding, it directs the OSPI to allocate grants for pilot projects to enhance world language instruction in elementary and middle schools.

This year, a key foreign-languages bill was HB 2523, which would create the position of world language supervisor in the office of the superintendent of public instruction.

Teaching labor history in Wisconsin

In a political culture where students know more about Hollywood celebrities and sports figures than they do about Samuel Gompers or Howard Zinn, Democrats in the Wisconsin Senate tried to improve students’ historical literacy.

In Wisconsin, SB 108 would require every school district in Wisconsin to teach labor history. This 2007 labor bill passed 19-14 in the Democratic Senate and died in the Republican Assembly. This unique and important bill required that every school board’s instructional program in state, national, and world history include information on the history of organized labor in America and the collective bargaining process.

*For more information – including foreign-language requirements for high-school graduation – check out the state reports on the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages.

We have all seen stories about the persistent problem of unhealthy weight levels in the US, and oftentimes, this news can feel discouraging and overwhelming. In the face of that, the efforts by Democratic legislators nationwide to solve these health problems are impressive.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the big news story on doctors' concerns about high cholesterol problems emerging in children as young as 8 years old -- and how states had already started to pass legislation to address such concerns through improving children's diet and exercise.

Paying attention to the American diet continues to be a key issue and resulted in the governor of California signing landmark legislation on Friday, July 25. This past Saturday's New York Times, recounts the California legislature's passage of a law banning the use of trans fats in restaurants.

According to the story, New York City was the first jurisdiction to ban trans fats and was soon joined by a handful of other cities and counties. But, California is the first state legislature to pass such a law.

The story explains that:

Under the new law, restaurants, bakeries, delicatessens, cafeterias and other businesses classified as “food facilities” will, in the preparation of any foods, have to discontinue use of oils, margarine and shortening containing trans fats.

According to the Sacramento Bee, Assembly Bill 97, sponsored by Democratic Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, was opposed by most Republicans.

What else have Democratic legislatures done in 2008 to improve the health of Americans?

The Democratically-controlled legislature in Colorado passed a measure that will enable 50,000 more Colorado children to be eligible for Medicaid and the state’s health program for kids.

In the Iowa legislature, Democrats passed a bill expanding health insurance for children to achieve a goal of covering all children by 2010. House File 2539 will greatly increase the health of Iowa's children. Read more on this landmark legislation making Iowa the first state in the nation to cover all its children. (Washington State also passed legislation this year to try to cover all children by 2010. See Senate Bill 5093.)

In Maine, the Democratic majorities expanded the Dirigo health care program for the uninsured. Read more on LD 2247 -- "An Act to Continue Maine's Leadership in Covering the Uninsured" -- here. The bill, sponsored by Democratic Representative Hannah Pingree, will provide insurance rate relief to about 40,000 Mainers. Nearly half of Maine's uninsured are under 30, and the bill addresses these young residents.

And, despite a $3 billion budget shortfall, the Democratic majority in the New Jersey legislature pushed forward on health care with 3 important bills. The first bill aims for universal health insurance for New Jersey residents by 2011 by requiring all children to be covered. A second bill expands NJ FamilyCare for poor families. A third bill -- landmark legislation -- provides the most generous paid family leave in the country -- up to 6 weeks a year to care for family members.

When it comes to health care, Democratic state legislators are both addressing newly emerging healthcare issues (such as trans fats and paid family leave) and also improving access and coverage for basic health insurance.

As the research director at the DLCC, I have seen many bills on drivers, cell phones, and text-messaging introduced over the past several years in legislatures nationwide. We have all read news stories about tragic accidents with possible connections to cell-phone use, and we could all share anecdotes about distracted drivers we have seen.

But as laws went into effect at the beginning of this month in California and Washington State, I thought it might be interesting to start to get a big picture of legislation nationwide. (My goal is to start providing legislation overviews like this semi-regularly).

On July 1, 2008, California and Washington State joined three other states (Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York) and the District of Columbia in banning the use of hand-held cell phones while driving.

According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, all of these laws -- except for Washington State’s -- are “primary enforcement” laws (meaning that they can be the sole reason for being pulled over). Also according to the GHSA, only four states (Alaska, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington) ban text-messaging, and 17 states as well as the District of Columbia have laws specifically restricting young drivers. The most interesting figure compiled by the GHSA is that there is not a single state that bans both hand-held and hands-free cell phone use for every driver -- not one.

There is a story in Tuesday’s New York Times about a second California law prohibiting motorists under the age of 18 from using both hand-held and hands-free cell phones. Thirteen other states have similar under-18 laws.

According to a recent story in USA Today, some researchers believe that it is the fact that one speaker (the driver) can see traffic and one (the person on the other end of the phone) cannot that causes a four-fold increase in crashes with injuries (a figure from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety).

Of course, the real question is whether a hands-free requirement really solves the distracted-driver problem. A spokesman for the GHSA argues that it does not.

Although there are still many unanswered questions about what kinds of laws really make drivers more focused and a larger philosophical debate about individual freedoms versus public safety, the popularity of such laws is strong. According to USA Today, Hawaii and Massachusetts are considering new legislation.