August 09, 2007
NCSL Posts 'Tea Party' Footage Online
BOSTON -- The most YouTube-able moment of the conference this week so far has been the "Tea Party" the lawmakers threw at the harbor in protest of REAL ID and other laws they think are unfunded federal mandates. Unfortunately, no footage of this shindig has been posted to YouTube.
But fear not -- NCSL has done the heavy lifting and posted video of the event themselves to their own site. Apparently, I not only missed the event, but I also missed the sunshine. I arrived from Washington on Monday and today's the first day that Mother Nature and I have been on the same page. At least I'm not dealing with brutal D.C. heat -- yet. -- Michael Martinez
Posted by Andrew at 01:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
NCSL Straw Poll Favors Clinton, Romney
BOSTON -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney came out on top here this week in a straw poll of presidential candidates conducted by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Roughly 31 percent of Democrats said they favored Clinton out of the pool of potential nominees for the 2008 race. Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., came in second at 26 percent. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois took home about 20 percent of the votes.
Romney beat the rest of the Republican field by nearly 14 points. Former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, who has not yet made his candidacy official, finished second. Almost 36 percent of the Republicans said they supported Romney.
According to NCSL, more than 500 lawmakers, aides and policy experts participated in the poll. -- Michael Martinez
Posted by Andrew at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
August 08, 2007
Washington Rep Loves 'Star Trek'
BOSTON -- Washington state Rep. Bob Hasegawa invoked his affection for "Star Trek" during the National Conference of State Legislatures' annual conference on Wednesday. "I come out of the closet on that issue," the Democrat announced at the morning business meeting.
In addition to proclaiming his love for the erstwhile television series, he criticized a proposed resolution on building 21st century communications infrastructure. According to Hasegawa, the proposed policy position was too conciliatory to private companies. When put to a vote, the resolution was rejected. -- Michael Martinez
Posted by Andrew at 03:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Landrieu Addresses NCSL
BOSTON -- Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu told the state lawmakers gathered here this morning that he's excited that the National Conference of State Legislatures will be coming to the Pelican State for its annual meeting next summer.
Landrieu reminded the audience that the two-year anniversary of the hurricanes that rocked the Gulf Coast in 2005 is fast approaching. He said that New Orleans has become a "tale of two cities" and that some areas of it have "stood up" while others are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina.
The Democrat added that rebuilding efforts would continue to require an "American response" and he urged the lawmakers to learn from the mistakes that were made at the state, local and federal levels in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
"The moral authority of this country has been compromised by the response that we have had to Katrina and Rita," he said.
I incorrectly noted on Tuesday that Landrieu would be participating in a panel discussion with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. They all addressed the conference separately. For full coverage, check out Technology Daily's PM Edition. -- Michael Martinez
Posted by Andrew at 01:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
NCSL: Sadly, No Red Sox Interviews
BOSTON -- Perhaps my only disappointment with my trip so far has been that the Red Sox, the ultimate source of pride and pain of New Englanders, are out of town. It's not that I haven't ever seen a game in Fenway Park -- I went when I was 15. And as a lifelong D.C. native, I actually grew up detesting the BoSox. But even still, baseball was the first thing on my mind when I was told I would be going to Boston for the conference this year.
There's nothing I would have liked to do more here than ask odd-ball sluggers David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis their opinions on free trade with China, network neutrality or streamlined sales taxes. Pitcher and videogame entrepreneur Curt Schilling may well have already staked out his positions on those issues -- he seems to have an opinion on just about everything, and has the blog to prove it.
He also might even have enjoyed a chance to interact with a reporter from outside the sportswriting universe, because judging from one of his recent posts, he's not very happy with them. The interview invitation's still on the table, Curt! -- Michael Martinez
Posted by Andrew at 08:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
August 07, 2007
On The Floor: NCSL Exhibitors
BOSTON -- What do the American Civil Liberties Union, the Consumer Electronics Association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Point.Click.Drink, Ringling Bros. and Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign have in common?...They've all taken out space on the exhibition floor here at the National Conference of State Legislatures annual meeting.
Regrettably, I didn't make it down to the exhibition hall today before it closed at 4 p.m. I was too busy churning out stories on e-voting and REAL ID for Technology Daily's PM Edition. But I did get a pretty good snapshot of it from through the glass on the second floor walkway. I'll make sure to squeeze in a visit to the floor on Wednesday.
It's already shaping up to be a big day tomorrow with issue sessions on e-health, information technology spending, new media and online sexual predators all on the schedule. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu also will be swinging through for a morning panel discussion.
Another Dunkin' Donuts coffee, please!
Posted by Andrew at 05:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Daily Dose Runs On Dunkin'
BOSTON -- Beantown will no doubt be a busy place this week, with thousands of state lawmakers descending upon it to discuss policy matters running the gamut from broadband access to election integrity. And my engine will be in fifth gear for Technology Daily and Tech Daily Dose until Thursday night -- thanks largely to the high octane powers of Dunkin' Donuts coffee.
But before I dive into today's tech happenings, I'm going to check out a general session with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough. The good folks at the National Conference of State Legislatures are actually pumping Neil Diamond's "America" on the PA system in the main ballroom right now. They've also plugged their blog, The Thicket, a few times on the big-screen monitors. So you know I'm psyched. It's going to be a fun week. -- Michael Martinez
Posted by Andrew at 08:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
August 06, 2007
State Lawmakers Host 'Tea Party'
State legislators reenacted the Boston Tea Party on Sunday as a way to send a message to their counter parts in Washington: quit passing the buck to the states. The event kicked off the National Conference of State Legislatures' annual conference in Beantown.
More than 12 crates were loaded aboard a schooner -- each representing mandates that have not been funded by the federal government. Among them were the so-called Real ID Act; the education law known as No Child Left Behind; and the Help America Vote Act, which requires states to develop voter databases.
"States can ill afford to absorb the costs of federally mandated programs which are taxing state budgets," NCSL President Leticia Van de Putte said in a press release. "Congress must start making the difficult decisions and stop passing the buck to the states."
Technology Daily Staff Writer Michael Martinez is headed to Boston to cover the multi-day meeting, which draws state legislators from all 50 states. He will be covering a portion of the more than 200 policy sessions for the PM Edition and plans to file dispatches to Tech Daily Dose as well. Stay tuned!
Posted by Andrew at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
