Thread: GOP wave reshapes nation's agenda state by state

GOP wave reshapes nation's agenda state by state




OLUMBUS, Ohio – State by state, Republicans are moving at light speed on a conservative agenda they would have had no hope of achieving before the big election gains of November.

The dividends are apparent after only a few months in office, and they go well beyond the spending cuts forced on states by the fiscal crunch and tea party agitation. Republican governors and state legislators are bringing abortion restrictions into law from Virginia to Arizona, acting swiftly to expand gun rights north and south, pushing polling-station photo ID laws that are anathema to Democrats and taking on public sector unions anywhere they can.

All this as Democrats find themselves cowed or outmaneuvered in statehouses where they once put up a fight. In many states, they are unable to do much except hope that voters will see these actions as an overreach by the Republicans they elected — an accidental revolution to be reversed down the road.

A tug to the right was in the cards ever since voters put the GOP in charge of 25 legislatures and 29 governors' offices in the 2010 elections. That is turning out to be every bit as key to shaping the nation's ideological direction as anything happening in Washington.

A close-up review of the first wave of legislative action by Associated Press statehouse reporters shows the striking degree to which the GOP has been able to break through gridlock and achieve improbable ends. The historic and wildly contentious curbs on public sector bargaining in Wisconsin, quickly followed by similar action in Ohio, were but a signal that the status quo is being challenged on multiple fronts in many places.

The realignment in Florida has produced a law imposing more accountability on teachers, along with 18 proposed abortion restrictions, some bound to become law. Immigration controls are motivating lawmakers far from borders, constitutional amendments against gay marriage are picking up steam, Michigan is shortening the period people can get jobless benefits and Indiana may soon have the broadest school voucher program in the U.S.

At least 20 states are going after public-sector benefits, pay or bargaining rights.

In Virginia, Republicans used a deft legislative maneuver to enact a law that will close the state's 21 abortion clinics. In Missouri, a presidential swing state where Republicans are at their strongest numbers in decades, a tax cut sought by business for 10 years has been given final legislative approval and Democrats are putting up little resistance to Republican priorities they once tied in knots.

"You can't get up on every issue when you're in the minority," said state Sen. Tim Green, a Democrat from St. Louis. "So you pick the ones you're most passionate about."

In North Carolina, where Republicans won control of both legislative levers for the first time since 1870, the party has secured approval in at least one chamber for charter school expansion, limits on damages in medical malpractice suits and a bill that would create separate crimes for the death or injury of a fetus at any stage of development. Republicans have made unexpected progress in giving gun owners more rights to carry concealed pistols. North Carolina is also among nearly a dozen states where an initiative to require photo IDs at polls is getting traction. Democrats and civil libertarians worry photo ID rules would suppress minority and legal immigrant voting.

Conservatives welcome the pace and breadth of it all. "When you have one side that's been put out in the legislative wilderness, there's a lot of pent-up ideas that are going to move quickly," said Dallas Woodhouse, director of Americans for Prosperity in North Carolina.

Even solidly Democratic Vermont is coming up a paler shade of blue as legislators seek cuts in spending on the elderly and disabled after shelving a plan to raise taxes on the rich. The squeeze on state budgets and the shaky economy are forcing lawmakers of both parties to rethink the usual partisan prescriptions.

"In the context of that kind of a fiscal reality, I think agendas become a little bit more polarized and opportunities for finding the kind of adjustments on the margins become less and less," said political scientist Philip Russo of Ohio's Miami University.

In bellwether Ohio, new Republican Gov. John Kasich burst out of the gate with a plan, now law, to hand over job creation functions from the government to a nonprofit corporation whose board he chairs. Bills that would have met quick death under Democratic control have advanced under Republican majorities — none more apparent than the law to curtail the collective bargaining rights of more than 350,000 public workers.

Democrats in Ohio are complaining about "one-party rule" and want buyer's remorse legislation that would help voters recall lawmakers who are doing things they didn't elect them to do. Their chances of getting it are close to zero.

So is a conservative tide sweeping the nation?

If so, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin sees it as a tide that can wash out as fast as it rushed in.

Sitting in the State Room of the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, where she had come for a historical event, Goodwin said declining party loyalty has accelerated shifts in public opinion and swings of the pendulum. She recalled the Democratic statehouse gains of 2008, the year of Barack Obama. "We thought in 2008, many pundits did, that that meant a progressive era was coming in; now everybody's talking about a conservative era in the states and maybe in the nation," she said.

"When one whole party comes in, and they come in having been out before, there's that flush of victory that makes them think this is our time, whether they're Democrats or Republicans, to get through what we want to get through."

In South Carolina, where Republicans are fashioning further restrictions to one of the country's toughest immigration enforcement laws, Democrats have mostly dropped the delaying tactics they once used with relish. The Democratic opposition has essentially vaporized in Tennessee, Kansas and Oklahoma, too.

In Oklahoma, where the GOP controls both chambers and the governor's office for the first time in history, Republicans are making sweeping changes to the state's civil justice system, shoring up the state's pension system by making workers contribute more and work longer, and aiming to eliminate bargaining rights for municipal workers in the state's seven largest cities.

"They're power mad," said Democratic lawmaker Richard Morrissette of Oklahoma City. "They weren't out there campaigning on the idea of consolidating power. They know they have control of the House, the Senate and the governor's office, and they're ramming this stuff through just because they can."

If Republicans are overreaching, it's also true that voters did not elect them to govern like Democrats.

"All this should come as no surprise to people," said New Hampshire GOP lawmaker Gene Chandler. With supermajorities in both chambers, giving them a stronger hand against a Democratic governor, GOP legislators in the state have passed bills to shift more public employee pension costs to workers and opt for spending cuts over tax increases. They've also approved legislation to expand the right to use deadly force in self-defense.

It's not all coming up tulips for the tea party or the social conservatives, however. New Mexico and Utah are among Republican-led states where governors are bypassing the GOP playbook. The tea party movement is in tatters in Colorado and not much better off in Alaska.

In Montana, Republican leaders are struggling to keep their eye on the big picture — cutting spending, developing natural resources — while the swollen GOP freshman class peppers the debate with calls to nullify federal laws, create an armed citizen's militia, legalize spear hunting, force FBI agents to get a sheriff's OK before arresting anyone, and more.

"Stop scaring our constituents and stop letting us look like buffoons," veteran Republican lawmaker Walt McNutt told the aggressive newcomers.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer, not one of the Democrats to roll over, came up with a cattle brand that reads "VETO" and seems itching to use it. "Ain't nobody in the history of Montana has had so many danged ornery critters," he said.

___

Woodward reported from Washington. Associated Press writers contributing to this report were: Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska; Paul Davenport in Phoenix; Brent Kallestad in Tallahassee, Fla.; Thomas Davies in Indianapolis; John D. Hanna in Topeka, Kan.; David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Mo.; Matt Gouras in Helena, Mont.; Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City; Grant Schulte in Lincoln, Neb.; Norma Love in Concord, N.H.; Barry Massey in Santa Fe, N.M.; Sandra Chereb in Carson City, Nev.; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, N.C.; Jay Root in Austin, Texas.; Erik Schelzig in Nashville, Tenn.; Bob Lewis in Richmond, Va.; David Gram in Montpelier, Vt.; and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/18/go ... z1JsaoB7ut

Related Article

A glance at Republican legislative hotspots


Republicans have moved quickly to convert November election gains to legislative advances in the states. A look at some GOP successes, and setbacks, in the first months of the new order:

ALABAMA

Republicans control the Legislature for the first time since 1874 and have moved quickly to squeeze teacher and state-employee groups that have traditionally supported Democrats. Budget cuts that eluded fiscal conservatives before have passed, and state agencies have started layoffs.

ARIZONA

With two-thirds majorities in legislative chambers and a GOP governor, Republicans have passed immigration, abortion and gun rights laws that would not have been possible under Democratic former Gov. Janet Napolitano.

COLORADO

Elections gave Republicans a one-seat majority in the state House but the party has been able to do little with it. Attempts to push an Arizona-style immigration crackdown and to weaken public sector union bargaining fizzled, and the tea party movement is on life support.

FLORIDA

Conservative advances are under way on abortion, unions and more, with Republicans holding almost all levers of power. Gov. Rick Scott signed a merit-pay law for teachers that also ends tenure for new hires. Many abortion measures have been introduced, some likely to become law, and legislation is moving to force Medicaid recipients into managed care. Legislation would strip unions of their bargaining rights if they fall below a certain level of membership, weaken public sector unions and strengthen Florida's ability to challenge federal decisions.

KANSAS

After major GOP gains, legislators approved new abortion restrictions and are moving for more on that front. Kansans will have to show a photo ID at polls. A bill has passed to shift toward 401(k)-style pensions for teachers and government workers, a plan opposed by unions.

INDIANA

A plan that would introduce the nation's broadest use of school vouchers could be on track for enactment by the Republican governor. Bills banning abortions after 20 weeks and requiring doctors doing abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital are moving; before, Democrats stopped them. This after Republicans regained House control and added Senate seats.

OKLAHOMA

For the first time, Republicans control both chambers of the Legislature and the governor's office. Swift action has followed to reshape the civil justice system, eliminate collective bargaining rights for municipal workers in seven cities and overhaul pensions to make state workers pay more and work longer.

MICHIGAN

Republicans made Michigan the first state to lower the number of weeks the unemployed can get state-level jobless benefits, to 20 weeks from 26 next year. They also enacted laws giving state-appointed officials emergency powers to manage the finances of struggling communities and schools. This means they can toss out union contracts. The party gained control of the state Senate and the governor's office and built their advantage in the House in the November elections.

MINNESOTA

Republicans control both legislative chambers for the first time in 38 years but Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton stands in the way. Both chambers have passed legislation to eliminate racial integration aid for city schools, remove some people from public health care programs, and slash projected spending on local governments, higher education and social services for the disabled and elderly. The GOP is also going after abortion rights and public worker benefits. Republicans can bypass Dayton on some measures by asking voters to approve constitutional amendments next year. They are expected to place a proposed ban on gay marriage before voters.

MISSOURI

Democrats are putting up little resistance to Republican initiatives they once tied in knots. At their lowest numbers in decades, Democrats decided not to hold up a bill that would tighten restrictions on late-term abortions and to let other GOP priorities come to a vote. Republicans beefed up their legislative majorities but still face a Democratic governor.

MONTANA

Huge gains in House elections have set loose a conservative tide stirred by the tea party, social conservatives and libertarians. Republican leaders are struggling to keep the action on core priorities, such as state spending cuts and natural resource development, as some newcomers push to nullify federal laws, create armed citizen militias, allow hunting with spears, force FBI agents to get a sheriff's OK before arresting anyone and link state coffers to gold and silver. Popular Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer says such ideas are "kooky." He threatens to veto a GOP budget that would abandon about $100 million from Washington for programs such as food stamps.

NEVADA

The Republican governor and large GOP minorities in both chambers are standing for deep cuts to education and social programs, and against proposed tax increases. They also want to end collective bargaining in local government and school districts.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Now with supermajorities in both chambers, Republicans have the votes to override vetoes by Democratic Gov. John Lynch if they all stick together or draw some Democratic support. Many conservative fiscal and social initiatives are in motion. Among them: a parental notification abortion bill and right-to-work legislation, both passed by the House. Both chambers have branched out from budget issues, passing bills to expand the right to use deadly force in self-defense.

NEW MEXICO

New Republican Gov. Susana Martinez has not tried to follow her party's playbook on public sector unions, voter identification or more in dealing with state Democratic majorities. And a centerpiece of her agenda, a proposal to stop issuing drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, failed.

NORTH CAROLINA

Republicans took statehouse control for the first time since 1870 and moved fast out of the gate on abortion limits, charter school expansion, medical malpractice limits, expanded gun rights and more. They are pushing legislation to require photo identification to vote in person. But they face a Democratic governor who appears disinclined to let those steps become law, except perhaps the malpractice limits and gun-rights liberalization.

OHIO

Bills that would have met a quick death under Democratic control have advanced under Republican majorities — none more apparent than the new law to curtail the collective bargaining rights of more than 350,000 public workers. In a dramatic turnaround, Republicans won all five statewide offices and regained control of the Legislature. Gov. John Kasich scored his first legislative victory in February with passage of his plan to hand over job creation functions to a nonprofit corporation from the state government. Among several abortion measures in play, a House panel passed a bill that would impose the strictest abortion limit in the nation, outlawing the procedure at the first detectable fetal heartbeat. A bill to require Ohio voters to show a photo ID before casting an in-person ballot whizzed through the House, on to an unclear fate in the Senate.

PENNSYLVANIA

The sweep that gave Republicans control of the executive and legislative branches for the first time in eight years has breathed new life into long-stalled initiatives, chief among them school vouchers and limits sought by business on lawsuits. Gov. Tom Corbett also has shaken the status quo with calls to slash spending for state-supported universities by half and to save $1 billion in support for public schools. Corbett is sticking to his no-new-taxes pledge while finding the state government $4 billion short of balancing its budget.

TENNESSEE

Republicans gained legislative and executive control together for the first time since 1869 and Democratic opposition has vaporized. The GOP is advancing photo ID requirements to vote, tougher immigration enforcement, lawsuit damage caps, limits on teachers' union rights and more.

TEXAS

Republicans are breaking loose a variety of long-bogged conservative initiatives, thanks to their largest majority ever in the House and a strong hand in the Senate. Success is finally expected in enacting a law requiring voters to show photo ID. GOP Gov. Rick Perry put curbs on illegal immigration, strengthened property rights and additional abortion restrictions on a legislative fast track. Still, not all Republicans are on the same page. Competing versions of legislation that would require women to have a sonogram before an abortion have passed but internal GOP wrangling has slowed the process.

UTAH

Despite having almost two dozen more legislators, many supported by the tea party, the majority Republicans have shied away from conservative touchstones on immigration, gun rights and more.

VIRGINIA

Republicans enacted abortion-clinic restrictions so stringent that most of the state's 21 abortion clinics will have to close. Because of a deft maneuver by Republicans who control the House, the legislation bypassed the Democratic-controlled Senate committees where abortion limits usually fail, won approval on the Senate floor on a tie-breaking vote by the Republican lieutenant-governor and was signed into law by GOP Gov. Bob McDonnell, a career-long foe of abortion rights.

WISCONSIN

Republicans have a brimming conservative agenda in motion behind their historic and wildly contentious law curbing union rights in the public sector. A bill to require photo ID at the polls appears to have more chance of becoming law here than in many other states where Republicans are pushing it. Republicans are expected to pass immigration controls similar to Arizona's, and a range of long-established Democratic priorities is imperiled. Legalizing the carrying of concealed weapons is expected to come up. Republican Gov. Scott Walker has proposed ending early release for prisoners for good behavior. He also wants to end mandatory insurance coverage for contraceptives. A two-decade-old law requiring communities to recycle also might be overturned.

___

Associated Press writers who contributed to this report include Errin Haines in Atlanta; Randall Chase, Dover, Del.; Andrew DeMillo, Little Rock, Ark.; David Klepper, Providence, R.I.; Brian Witte, Annapolis, Md.; Ben Neary, Cheyenne Wyo.; Kristen Wyatt, Denver; Evan Berland, Columbia, S.C.; Peter Jackson, Harrisburg, Pa.; Glenn Adams, Augusta, Maine; Paul Queary, Seattle; Martiga Lohn, St. Paul, Minn.; Lawrence Messina, Charleston, W.Va.; Rik Stevens, Albany. N.Y.; Mike Glover, Des Moines, Iowa; Roger D. Alford, Frankfort, Ky.; Phillip Rawls, Montgomery, Ala.; Josh Loftin, Salt Lake City; Ann Sanner, Columbus, Ohio; and Cal Woodward, Washington.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/18/gl ... z1JscseeyR

The dividends are apparent after only a few months in office, and they go well beyond the spending cuts forced on states by the fiscal crunch and tea party agitation. Republican governors and state legislators are bringing abortion restrictions into law from Virginia to Arizona, acting swiftly to expand gun rights north and south, pushing polling-station photo ID laws that are anathema to Democrats and taking on public sector unions anywhere they can.

America need many more!!!