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Governors Criticize Federal Security Aid
by Chloe Albanesius
The federal government is not doing its share to ensure that the nation's most vulnerable states have enough funds to protect their citizens, several Democratic governors said this week during their State of the State addresses.
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano on Monday criticized the federal government for a "long and nearly unbroken record of misunderstanding our region and our state" in terms of homeland security needs.
Congress cut Arizona's homeland security funds by 35 percent last year, she said. "Has the terrorist threat really declined by a third?" she asked. Federal lawmakers "continue to impose policies that may make sense in Washington, D.C., but make little sense here."
Napolitano pushed for increased border security. "If our borders remain undefended, then the next time terrorists enter the country, it may not be by airplane," she said. "It's time for the national government to step in, devote the resources and do its jobs of protecting the border."
Richard Codey, acting governor of New Jersey, also slammed the federal government on homeland security funding during his Tuesday address.
"Mr. President, why can Wyoming receive $30 per capita for homeland security aid while New Jersey receives only $6 per capita?" he asked. "Homeland security funding increased 24 percent this year, but yet funding was cut for Newark, one of only three cities put on Orange Alert this summer."
Codey pointed to the state's vulnerable airports, nuclear plants, oil refineries and ports as potential targets. "This is not just a fight to get our fair share from Washington," he said. "This is a fight to protect our communities from an evil we all know."
To protect the state's schools, officials will create a security checklist and "security experts will visit every school before classes start next fall," Codey said. Federal homeland security officials also will host courses on school security, and "we will publish standards and recommendations on the most effective safety technologies."
Meanwhile, Kansas is well on its way to ensuring that equipment for emergency responders can work across jurisdictions so "police, fire and other emergency personnel ... can talk directly with one another and can coordinate early warnings, searches, rescues and relief efforts," Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said Monday.
And in Alaska, Gov. Frank Murkowski pledged to "pursue technology to stop and arrest those who run red lights."
Governors Encourage High-Tech Investments
Attracting high-tech businesses and profitable research centers should be a top priority in the states, according to other governors who gave their State of the State addresses this week.
Iowa welcomed several, high-tech firms to the state this year, Gov. Tom Vilsack said Tuesday, but he cautioned regulators not to implement policies that will stifle innovation.
"The one constant in this global economy ... is change, [and there is] no better example of that than in the telecommunications area," said Vilsack, a Democrat. "All of the changing technologies suggest to us that we need a new regulatory structure and design, one that moves away from a system that regulates price to one that allows the market to regulate price while we regulate and guarantee service, access and quality."
Vilsack called on the Iowa Utilities Board to "deregulate business lines for telecommunications."
Idaho's Republican governor, Dirk Kempthorne, touted the state's recently launched Office of Science and Technology. "We will open a new Tech Connect office in Magic Valley," he said, noting that he has requested $375,000 in additional funding for the project.
And in Mississippi, Republican Gov. Haley Barbour said Tuesday that the state has not been focusing enough on attracting high-tech businesses.
"Our current incentives are geared almost exclusively to traditional manufacturing and do not encourage high-tech businesses, which are likely to pay higher wages, provide greater investment, and have greater potential to expand," he said. "We must seize the opportunity to attract growing service industries and to build on research and development efforts at our universities by competing with other states for high-technology enterprises."
South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds, meanwhile, on Tuesday highlighted his state's research and education advances. He said new programs include: a doctoral program in nanoscience and nanoengineering at the School of Mines; a joint doctoral program in computational science and statistics at South Dakota State and the University of South Dakota; and a doctoral in geospatial science and engineering at South Dakota State.
Options For Drug Imports Get Executive Attention
Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas last week urged lawmakers to craft bipartisan legislation on importing prescription drugs that "will not undermine" the state's lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The state is requesting that the federal government waive its rule prohibiting the importation of cheap prescription drugs from countries like Canada in order for the state to test a program that, if successful, could serve as an importation model for other states.
The Republican governor acknowledged, however, that "drug importation is at best a short-term fix -- perhaps short-lived -- and will not be a viable option for many Vermonters." The state, therefore, must continue its fight for a national solution, he said.
Kansas' Gov. Sebelius also conceded that "no single program can address the problems of providing first-rate health care to all our citizens." In November, Kansas became the fourth state to join the I-SaveRx Program, an importation plan conceived by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich that provides access to drugs from Canada and Europe.
"I urge the legislature to work with me to make sure that this program lives up to its potential for assisting all Kansans who rely on prescription drugs," she said.
Former New Hampshire Gov. Craig Benson, a Republican, was a vocal supporter of importation. His successor, Democrat John Lynch, called for a "task force on health care to bring together consumers, providers, business leaders, and elected officials to recommend innovative solutions" but did not specifically endorse importation.
Meanwhile, outgoing Washington Gov. Gary Locke, a Democrat, touted the state's importation Web site in his goodbye message. "Since going active on Dec. 1, 2004, the cost comparison feature on the Rx Washington Web site has received more than 6,000 hits," he wrote.
And California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week endorsed legislation, S.B. 19, that sets forth a prescription-drug plan not reliant on Canadian imports.
New York Mayor Eyes Better Crime Technology
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday promised to use "state-of-the-art technologies" to combat crime in 2005.
"We're going to upgrade our crime-fighting technology," Bloomberg, a Republican, said during his State of the City address. "That includes our multiyear modernization of the 911 system and a major upgrade of CompStat, which ... will provide same-day information on emerging crime patterns, and lead to quicker arrests, so that spikes don't become trends."
The city is now at its safest, he said.
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