October 15, 2012

By Jennifer Springer

PIERRE, South Dakota: Governor Dennis Daugaard of South Dakota announced on October 11, 2012 that he would not intervene to stop the scheduled executions of two men, Eric Robert and Donald Moeller.^[1]

Daugaard commented by email from his office in Pierre saying that he had no reason to alter the decision of the courts.^[1] “The death penalty is the law in South Dakota, and I support it. The state has a solemn responsibility to carry out this penalty in the rare cases where it is applied.”^[1]

The governor would have authority to intervene as the final step in a unique sequence of safeguards that apply to capital punishment in South Dakota.^[1] Each case requires a judgment of guilt in court, a separate court proceeding to impose the death sentence, an automatic review by the state Supreme Court and the governor ultimately retains the option to lessen the sentence.^[1]

Daugaard’s announcement came after the state’s two Roman Catholic bishops, the Rev. Paul Swain in Sioux Falls and the Rev. Robert Gruss in Rapid City, urged that the sentences be changed to life imprisonment and that the state repeal its death penalty law.^[1]

Eric Donald Robert, age 50, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 10 p.m. on October 15, 2012 for the killing of prison guard Ronald Johnson during a failed escape attempt at the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls.^[2] Robert was serving an 80-year sentence for a kidnapping conviction when he and another inmate attempted to escape.^[3] Robert pleaded guilty on April 12, 2011 and asked to be put to death, saying he would kill again.^[3] He never appealed his sentence and even tried to bypass a mandatory state review in hopes of expediting his death.^[3]

Donald Moeller, age 60, is scheduled to die during the week of October 28 for the kidnapping, rape and murder of 9-year-old Becky O’Connell in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.^[4]

South Dakota‘s last execution took place in 2007, and that was the first in the state for 60 years.^[3] Only five inmates are currently on death row, including Robert and Moeller.^[3]

Daugaard stated that state law allows him to conduct his own investigation, which he did with the cooperation of Attorney General Marty Jackley, before deciding not to intervene in the scheduled executions.^[4]

September 28, 2012

By Jennifer Springer

HONOLULU, Hawaii: Governor Neil Abercrombie wrote a letter to the newly formed Hawaii public land agency urging it to adopt a plan defining its priorities and scope in an effort to address public criticism.^[1]

On September 21, 2012 Gov. Neil Abercrombie wrote to the corporation’s board saying that adopting a strategic plan would show they are listening to the public’s concerns.^[1] The plan would also make it clear the corporation will comply with the state’s environmental review and other laws.^[1][2]

Critics of the new agency say the Corporation would favor development because of its broad exemption from zoning laws.^[1] The agency was created by the state Legislature in 2011 to allow for private development on state land.^[1][3]

Public Land Development Corporation Board Chairman Kalbert Young responded that the board wants to wait until next month’s meeting before deciding how to proceed.^[1]

September 30, 2012

By Geoff Pallay

RALEIGH, North Carolina: A new poll from a conservative organization in North Carolina shows Republican candidate Pat McCrory in front of Democratic candidate Walter Dalton for the race for Governor of North Carolina.^[1]

Conducted by the National Research Inc, the poll was commissioned by the Civitas Institute and has McCrory at 49 percent while Dalton has 38 percent. Those results are similar to polls by the same organization from earlier in 2012. Barbara Howe (L) received 2 percent while about 9 percent responded undecided. The poll’s margin of error is plus-or-minus 4 percent.

September 30, 2012

By Justin Haas

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah Democratic gubernatorial challenger Peter Cooke attacked Republican Governor Gary Herbert for what he claimed is a lack of transparency and oversight in his administration.^[1]

Cooke went over a list on the Capitol steps which he called the failings and missteps by Governor Herbert, including “mismanagement of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the breach of state health care records, a $13 million payoff to a contractor from the Utah Department of Transportation, the attempted appointment of an EnergySolutions official to the state Radiation Control Board and the appointment to the State Records Committee of a one-time critic of the Utah Government Records Access and Management Act.”^[1]

He said, “A day doesn’t go by where I’m not asked about how this mismanagement continues. That’s why we need a two-party system. We need watchdogs.”^[1]

September 30, 2012

By Phil Sletten

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana: Governor Bobby Jindal’s administration faces a political challenge from the Louisiana State Legislature over unilateral budget cuts pursued by the Jindal’s office. The state legislators are petitioning to call themselves into session, which has never been done under the current state constitution.^[1]

The Jindal administration has pursued substantial cuts to the budget since the legislature passed the law and adjourned. Department heads have been unilaterally closing facilities and cutting funding to services, including health services and hospitals.^[2] State Representative Dee Richard estimated that the administration had made close to $1 billion in budget cuts since the regular legislative session ended. These cuts, according to Richard, were made “without any input from the Legislature.”^[1]

Richard and other lawmakers are petitioning to start the process of having a special session, and hope to get enough signers in each chamber to call for a vote, start a new 30-day session and address the budget disputes.^[1] Governor Jindal argued that a special session could be costly and is not necessary. When asked, House Speaker Charles Kleckley was also skeptical of the need for a special session.^[2]

The state also projected that it would have a $130 million surplus, putting pressure on lawmakers to return and allocate these new funds. The law as written requires surplus revenue to be used to replenish the “rainy day” fund. This law would require a vote from the full legislature to change.^[3] The state constitution also restricts which activities can received surplus funding, beyond the rainy day fund, to loan and debt servicing, coastal restoration projects, and construction.^[4] Some have argued that this $130 million surplus is reason enough to call a special legislative session, and that the money should go into Medicaid or other areas.^[5]

September 13, 2012

By Jennifer Springer

DOVER, Delaware: Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed into law on September 10, 2012 a new bill creating a formal statewide framework for comprehensive school safety plans.^[1] The bill, Senate Bill 233, the Omnibus School Safety Act, would make Delaware the first state in country with statewide protocol.^[1]

The bill requires the Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security to work with schools, districts and first responders to develop comprehensive, up-to-date safety plans.^[1] Each safety plan will be coordinated with law enforcement agencies, fire departments and other first responders and will comply with the National Incident Management System.^[1] Under existing laws and regulations, school districts are required to adopt emergency preparedness plans, but there is no requirement that such plans be school-specific or coordinated with local first responders.^[2]

“We want our kids to go as far as their potential will take them but, we can’t control everything. For students to learn to the best of their abilities, they need, first and foremost, to be safe. Our goal is to bring comprehensive school safety plans to every public school and district in our state. This law is an important part of an ambitious, multi-year effort to make our schools and the students in our schools safer” Markell said in a press conference on September 10, 2012.

Governor Markell made instituting school safety plans a priority of his administration, announcing it in his State of the State address in 2011 and taking the beginning steps in early 2011 when he proposed a model plan as part of a comprehensive school safety mandate for all Delaware public schools.^[3]

Senator David Sokola (D), sponsor of the measure in the state senate, spoke about the benefits of the bill saying, “Developing a consistent approach to handling emergencies in our schools will help our first responders in dealing with a crisis situation. It also should help give students, parents, teachers and administrators more peace of mind by knowing that people won’t be scrambling to deal with an unexpected crisis situation.”^[1]

The new bill this fiscal year commits $400,000 to create school safety plans for approximately 50 schools.^[1]

August 30, 2012

By Maresa Strano

SALEM, Oregon: Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber (D) first took office in January of 1995 pledging that no executions would occur on his watch. His subsequent failure on two occasions, the last in 1997, to uphold that proclamation left him regretful and determined to recommit to his protest by the time he began his third term in 2011.^[1] So last December, Kitzhaber invoked his clemency power to delay the execution of twice-convicted murderer Gary Haugen. The reprieve would sustain for as long as the governor held office, except that Haugen did not want his life sustained. Haugen decided to reject Kitzhaber’s reprieve, volunteering to die just like the two prisoners who were administered the death penalty during his first term had done. Haugen then launched a legal fight to expedite his execution- his version of protest against the criminal justice system.^[2]

Gov. Kitzhaber was first elected in 1995. He served until 2003, then ran for third term re-election in 2011.

In August, Circuit Court Senior Judge Timothy Alexander in Marion County ruled with Haugen based in part by a precedent from an earlier Oregon Supreme Court case which indicated that as an “act of grace or favor,” clemency power does not extend to obligating acceptance by the recipient. Despite this ruling, Alexander said “In fact I agree with many of the concerns expressed by the governor, and share his hope that the Legislature will be receptive to modifying and improving Oregon laws regarding sentencing for aggravated murder.”^[3]

Kitzhaber believes that Oregon’s death penalty laws are “compromised and inequitable,”^[1] and he favors giving murderers life sentences without possibility for parole. His objective in blocking executions like Haugen’s is to provoke a “public re-evaluation”^[1] about the death penalty that he hopes will lead voters to initiate a ballot measure for its repeal. Oregon voters have outlawed the death penalty twice and legalized it twice, most recently in 1984, when it passed 56-44. The Haugen case has brought the issue back into public focus, along with the subject of gubernatorial authority and its boundaries. According to the Kitzhaber’s lawyers, the state constitution endows the governor with “broad and virtually unfettered” clemency power. The exact language can be found in Article 1, Section 44, and in Article 5, Section 14, both of which address the issue of clemency. The latter section reads: “He shall have power to grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons, after conviction, for all offences [sic] except treason, subject to such regulations as may be provided by law.”^[4] Neither section accounts for the possibility of a reprieve getting rejected.

Kitzhaber willl likely appeal to the Oregon Court of Appeals or the Oregon Supreme Court in the near future. According to one of his spokespeople, the office is confident that in the end, “the governor’s authority will be upheld.”^[1]

August 30, 2012

By Justin Haas

TAMPA, Florida Tom Foley has confirmed that he wants a rematch in Connecticut’s gubernatorial race in 2014. Foley was defeated by Governor Dannel P. Malloy by roughly 6,500 votes in the 2010 race for the seat.^[1]

Foley said, “Yes, I plan to, but it’s still early,” on the second night of the Republican National Convention.^[1]

Foley is not the only Republican thought to be seeking the position of governor. Others include state House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, andChris Shays.^[1]

August 28, 2012

By Jennifer Springer

HONOLULU, Hawaii: Governor Neil Abercrombie announced on August 24, 2012 the release of more than $52.5 million for Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) to be used to enhance the areas of connectivity, energy and growth.^[1]

In an August 24, 2012 press release from the Governor’s office, Abercrombie stated ““Each of these projects represents an investment in the future of Hawaii and our ability to be proactive in shaping our future as a state. This includes planning for an underwater fiber optic cable that will move us toward achieving our Hawaiꞌi Broadband Initiative goal of universal access to affordable, high-speed Internet by 2018. For a state as isolated as our own, high-speed Internet can be transformative, connecting families, businesses and institutions; spurring economic development and innovation; and giving current and future generations a competitive edge.”

The approved allocation of the funds include:^[1]

• $43 million for Honolulu International Airport, Interim Car Rental Facility, O’ahu for the construction of a temporary operational area for the five “on-airport” car rental companies
• $3.5 million for Kalaeloa East Energy Corridor, O’ahu for the planning, design and construction of an electrical distribution system and assisting in the development of an above-ground electrical and telecommunications cable lines
• $2.2 million for a Transpacific Cable Project statewide to identify potential transpacific cable landing stations, rank potential sites, support environmental assessments with cable landing developers, and complete pre-engineering studies of selected sites
• $2,135,000 for the Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) Information and Communication Services Division (ICSD) Radio Sites statewide to expand radio communications services
• $1,500,000 for the Pohukaina Street Mixed-Use Transient Oriented Development Project, O’ahu for the planning for the Hawai’i Community Development Authority’s 690 Pohukaina Street Project. It includes a mixed-use high rise condominium, two smaller residential and commercial buildings, a parking structure and civic-commercial center in Kaka’ako and the project will also be a transit-oriented development, designed to maximize access to public transportation and incorporate features to encourage transit ridership
• $248,177 for the Kulani Correctional Facility, Hawai’i Island to be used in planning for the reactivation of the Kulani Correctional Facility

August 28, 2012

By Jennifer Springer

DOVER, Delaware: Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed into law on August 16, 2012 three pieces of legislation that collectively increase transparency and provide greater and more timely information to voters and residents of Delaware.^[1][2]

The three pieces of legislation include House Bill 300, House Bill 310, and Senate Bill 185.^[1] HB 300 and SB 185 go into effect on January 1, 2013.^[1] HB 310 is effective immediately.^[1]

In an August 16, 2012 statement, Governor Jack Markell stated, “These three pieces of legislation, taken together, will make our state government more open, more transparent, and ultimately, more accountable to the people we serve.”^[1]

House Bill 300, also known as the Delaware Elections Disclosure Act, closes a “loophole” with campaign advertisements, and requires prompt reporting of third-party spending on campaign ads and requires greater disclosure from those who spend money in an election.^[1]House Bill 310 increases the penalties for late filing of elections disclosure reports from $50 a month to $50 a day and $50 a day for incomplete campaign finance reports.^[1] Senate Bill 185 requires enhanced disclosure from lobbyists regarding the issues they are lobbying, including all bills, resolutions and regulations.^[1]

House Bill 300 is the first major overhaul of Delaware’s campaign finance laws in more than 20 years.^[1]

House Majority Whip Valerie Longhurst (D) showed support for the new legislation, stating that the new campaign finance laws promote openness and increased transparency in political campaigns^[1]Senate President Pro Tem Anthony DeLuca (D) agreed, stating “It will be easier for citizens to track what lobbyists are doing in Dover, letting the public know who’s invested in the outcome of a bill. Letting citizens know who’s paying for the kinds of negative attack ads that PACS and other outside groups have been able to hide behind in the past, helps them understand which organizations are trying to sway their vote.”^[1]