i truly want to thank my partners in the state legislature. through partnership, we accomplished a lot. overall, we passed 323 public acts in 2011, but more important than quantity was quality. thank you so much. [ applause ] working together we passed a financially sound budget. we had to address $1.5 billion deficit that demanded tough decisions, and i appreciate all the shared sacrifices that people made. michigan is just like a family, in tough times we have to find ways to live within our means. working together, though, we stopped the practices of using budget gimmicks or taking short term actions that actually would harm us long-term. [ applause ] even in these difficult times, we made payments toward michigan's long-term liability costs, in addition we made the first deposit to michigan's rainy day fund since 2004. the fund had run down to a balance that would only operate state government for 30 minutes. and the last thing is, this was the last, the fastest budget process in the last 30 years, which was a tremendous help to our local

my friends and the legislature, it is time to be outraged. it is time to create a climate of the private sector in maine where job creators can succeed where maine people can prosper. [applause] [applause] the high cost of business is a common theme. therefore, my legislative agenda will focus on maine job creators. we need more jobs. we need more careers to pull us out of poverty. we need good paying jobs with benefits, security, and good job satisfaction. [applause] [applause] to do this, we'll focus on lowering the cost of energy. creating an educational system that can help us complete globally, boost efforts to strengthen the local economy in each and every maine community. i am convinced that reform to these three areas will improve maine and affect today maine people. energy, energy in the state of maine is one of the largest inhibitors if not the biggest obstacle to creating jobs. maine's high energy costs must be addressed immediately. we must address the issue of high price of electricity and energy in total. if we want economic pro

action in next month's legislature is equally important. to qual -- implement and build out our new health insurance exchange and allow us to move forward by establishing coordinated care organizations across the state, now, there are those, some of them i know and can see out there, who are understandably concerned about if this is going to work out, if and whether we can realize these savings in our budget. so i want to pause again and put this concern into a larger context. and that context is what is going on in our nation's capital regarding our escalating national debt and the implications that has for health care here in the state of oregon. so i assume all of you have a personal credit card. and your credit card has a credit limit. and if you don't pay your bill, your credit limit is reduced or your card is eventually canceled. now, the federal government also has a credit limit and it is called the debt ceiling. it's set by congress and congress has to raise that periodically so we can continue to borrow. if the congress doesn't ra

so it's passed both sides of the legislature. means the bill is on its way out of the state legislature, going to the governor's desk. chris christie, new jersey's republican governor and potential republican vice presidential nominee. now, there's not much speculation about what chris christie is going to do when the gay marriage bill reaches his desk. he's been saying for weeks now that he will veto it immediately. the governor says he prefers that in new jersey, civil rights like these be put up to a popular vote. >> rather than having stalemate and deadlock on this issue, which is inevitably where it will lead, if they pass the legislation and send it to me, because i will not sign it, it will be vetoed, let's let the people of new jersey decide what's right for the state. let's put the question of same-sex marriage on the ballot this fall, in the hands of the people. >> governor christie then went on to explain why he thinks this law passed by the legislature should be vetoed by him and put to a referendum instead. watch. >>

democrats got shellacked nationally and at the state legislatures. they are having a narrow window to push their advantage before 2012 comes along and the environment changes quite a bit. so i think they are seeing this window closing and deciding if this is where we're going this is time to move. >> tell us about the council which has been behind these anti-union efforts. >> it is a top to bottom republican agenda to bust unions. if you bust republican party unions, you are diminishing the democratic base. plus you are making it easier for corporations to pay lower wages and extract more from their workers. so it's sort of a two-for republicans. so this has been -- with the help of alec, and the cross road's group, this has been part of the national agenda. >> and with indiana being the 23rd right-to-work state and the think tanks, it is only a matter of time before this essentially becomes an nation-wide issue? >> i think it will be an nation-wide issue in 2012. dr. king called it one of the great frauds that had been perpetrated on the american pe

, state legislature to get the kind of incentives you want. local municipalities don't have the tools to provide the incentives. there are a lot of things they can do, permit, but they can't reduce the property tax on their owns. you can't reduce benefits unless you have a 2/3 vote of the people in the area. i think you need to go to the legislature. i would be remiss to say we keep thinking 22 years ago. we still haven't repaired the bridge yet. the bridge will be ready hopefully next year. so 22, 23 years later. >> i would just like to say it is extremely difficult to get people engaged in advance to do the things that need to be done and then there's a lot of people, as you mentioned, that will be visits or what not -- visiting or what not that would have no clue. so i think probably as a strategy maybe the next level of the certain nert training is to actually think about ways of postdisaster immediate communication and engagement with people so they can be brought up to speed about the fact that this structure does exist and there is a se

the legislature is getting ready to consider the next version of the draft business plan proposed by the high-speed rail authority, and will continue to advocate for the investment of high-speed drill funds into a starter segment that we call fast start in the san francisco bay area, in particular on the peninsula corridor between the transbay terminal and this station in san jose. we're talking about the extension into downtown from for thinking and separations along the way. in terms of related topics, there is the advocacy on increase flexibility on project delivery. the idea there is more than one way to deliver projects, and the focus should be on on-time delivery, reduction of risk, on- budget delivery, so that the electric can support revenue- generation measures for transportation, and also for the case of cost reduction and scheduled certainty. we have come as guidance from this body, to continue on the implementation measures related to climate change, and also, as it relates to how climate change or communities may shift the discussion about regional governments into any o

bernie graffnan has a piece that compares courts and legislatures. you know, the courts get involved on an expedited timeframe -- the amount of time, just the amount of time that was spent in california gathering testimony, they should get ph.d.s if they do not have it already for the information they had to gather. when i did hearings for the court, i have done maybe two, and for a state like new york, for aggression con -- for a congressional hearing, they have one. but the court is trying get a plan done in time for the election, whereas the commissions tend to really be trying to you know, gather information that will make for a rational plan according to the criteria that adopt them. and we should say the obvious, not all commissions are created equal and there are places like california, where you have citizen commissions. you have commissions that are the only person you care about is the tie breaker appointed by the state chief justice or something like that. and my view, based on what happened in this cycle and compared it to the last. i was

he's a major figure of course in the state legislature. he goes to the state legislature and he urges a bill to banish thompson from the state for this insult. well, thompson takes to the press, and he writes what can only be a typical american claim of equality against -- this kind of arrogance. and i think it expressed the kind of resentment that's coming out. even in charleston where the structure of the society was much more hierarchical than say in boston, to have that kind of resentment expressed, typical resentment against the snobbery, this arrogance that was expressed by rutledge. outrageous by our standards that he should go to the state legislature and banish the man. but that's the -- i think a sign of an emerging egalitarianism that comes to really sweep the country. the north in particular. it existed everywhere, but in the forth it runs wild and transforms the society. even before the jacksonian era. one of the things that i have learned from all this research i have done is the realization that by the first decade of the 19

then it will be up to you in the legislature. some of you reportedly want to avoid voting on a stadium until after next fall's elections. that would be terribly unfair to the several thousand unemployed minnesotans who could be working on that project this year, and to the vikings. pass the stadium bill this session, please. [ applause ] my third jobs proposal is a jobs now tax credit to encourage businesses to hire unemployed minnesotans, veterans, and recent college graduates. it would reduce taxes to participating businesses while putting still more of our citizens to work. last week the minnesota national guards general richard nash reported that over the 3,000 minnesota guardsmen and women presently serving in kuwait, 22% of them will unemployed when they return home. after all they served our country heroically, 22% of them will not have jobs when they come back. that is shameful. that is why in addition to my jobs now tax credit, expanding the g.i. bill to provide educational benefits to all areas of veterans because unemp

would you rather see the same- sex marriage issue decided in the legislature or through a referendum? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> a georgia pastor is in baltimore to challenge the law on the death penalty. he preached in northwest baltimore yesterday. they strongly believe that human rights and they are challenging the state to repeal the death penalty. we have to wait until wednesday for a decision from the jury in the murder trial against george huguely. closing arguments wrapped up on saturday putting the case into the hands of the jury. deliberations will begin on wednesday. one prosecutor choked up as he recounted the night that yeardley love died. a local defense attorneys said the jury needs to decide whether huguely meant to cause a lot of harm. -- to cause love harm. you can see reports online at wbaltv.com. >> police continue their search for information after a stabbing death. officers responded to lombard street yesterday and they found one man suffering from stab wounds and he later

but now, now that he is governor and now that republicans control both houses of the state legislature, and now thanks to his old buddy with whom he co-sponsored you can't swear in an e-mail bill, now as governor, bob mcdonnell will get his chance, he will decide whether virginia ought to ban contraception, at least hormonal, the kind most women use. thanks to virginia's personhood bill which would ban all abortion in the state and likely the pill as well. before he had republican control of the legislature, the bob mcdonnell administration changed regulations in the state about adoption. the state approving rules last year allow adoption agencies to discriminate against couples for being gay, and for much, much more. the new rules on adoption in virginia brought in under bob mcdonnell, those new rules reserved the right to discriminate against you in adoptions, not just on the basi sexual orientation, age, gender, disability, religion, political beliefs, family status. they changed the rules to say you can be blocked from adopting a child in virginia because you're a registered democr

i'm thinking of his farewell speech when he was leaving the florida legislature.on a note in which he said that he wanted to tell everyone who was sitting there something very important and what he wanted to say was that god is real. and he repeated that phrase. god is real. and it's clearly something that is central to the way he identifies himself. it's clearly something that is central to the way that people perceive him and i think that his faith and his religion will continue to be an absolutely fundamental element of any assessment of marco rubio whether it be for a national ticket as either a vice presidential candidate or even at some point as a presidential candidate or an analysis of him as a political figure in washington that has risen quickly and developed a large following. >> back of the envelope calculation has to do with the idea that he would increase support among latino voters for republican candidate who chose him. what is mr. rubio's support among latino voters like? could he be counted on to bring latino voters on board despite mitt romney's

i want to do it cooperatively with the legislature. where we have joint appointments, but i want the report done this year because we've wasted enough time and i want to do it together. public education is a core mission. we simply cannot fail. we will not fail. we all say it's about the children and the funnel. it is about the children and it is about the future. that's one obligation every person in this room takes seriously. i know we'll accomplish it through you this legislative session. public safety is also a core mission. and we learned the hard way last year that we must anticipate and be prepared for all emergencies. we need a statewide network of emergency responders who are prepared for anything at any time. i don't want to get into a long debate about global warming. whether it's happening or whether it's not. but i can tell you this, 100-year floods happen every two years now. so something is going on. i witnessed firsthand last year the work we need to do in the breakdown in communication transportation and the need for b

which is moving right along through the alabama legislature.labama governor bentley says he knows nothing about the legislation. telling the huffington post "i just read about it this morning" adding he had not studied the legislation and was not prepared to take a position on the bill. get the timing. he hasn't heard about the bill. sunday morning. on sunday night, that same night, according to the montgomery advertiser, the sponsor of the bill in the legislature released a statement backing off. saying he plans to change the bill so women can choose what kind of state-mandated probing they get so it doesn't have to be a vaginal probe. ed a adding he always intended to give women the right to choose, he didn't mean to require vaginal probe ultrasound ts. in true fact, he totally meant to require them. he ment that specifically and i know this because the bill spells it out. it spells out the vanl ial probe requirement. literally the world vaginal is in the bill. it required that women before getting an abortion have an ultrasound "using either

i would urge you to come is a long one legislature is considering this. the other thing that is not directly related but i was fortunate enough to participate in a playhouse conference wednesday based on how we can bring manufacturing back into the state of oregon and in to the united states. it is very interesting how many people are thinking about that. folks make the elevators and manufacturing that separated manufacturing from r&b and transportation costs and other issues and no longer penciling out as well. there's a real opportunity on access to capital but also to be intentional and aggressive about bringing manufacturing offshore back to the united states, particularly the state of oregon. >> good afternoon. a lot of people were concerned about the elliott state forced decision. who has a biting questions -- funding for schools? some people -- 90% of our forests. that law came into effect with the situation rapidly reversed although over a century or so that we lived with this. what would you do to address the problem of funding schools but not at

so you have been in a state legislature and know something about legislating. compare your experience in the state legislature and how things worked compared to congress. are there things that the state does better? are there things that are worse? what can we learn from the states? what would you say about how to fix some of the things that congressman pompeo just talked about. >> a great question. i hate to speak for my colleagues. it's never ending. there is never a solution. it's like well we'll do that tomorrow there is four magic words they learned that i put in my vocabulary for 2012. it's "after the next election." we're going to solve the problem, we'll do that after the next election. we're going to tackle spending. well, we'll do that after the next election. what i see is we tend to put off tomorrow doing the right thing today for fear it would cost us election tomorrow. and that doesn't work that way. that's not what the founders did. and that's what i see is different than the state legislatures. they've got to get something done. and there is a r

would you rather see the same- sex marriage issue decided in the legislature or through a referendum? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> family and friends gathered in parkville up to remember a boy killed in a freak accident over the weekend. friends say michael trulock had been drinking alcohol and caffeine drink with friends before being picked up by his stepfather. he opened the door of is moving car to be sick and that's when he was struck by an oncoming car. >> i have lost the only son i will ever have because they wanted to party. it is release sad. i do not want to see another famine have to go through this. -- i do not want to see another family have to go through this. a deadly stabbing downtown on south calhoun street and lombard. no word all may of prompted that attack. police have made an arrest in a murder. police say maurice white shot and killed erwin whaley on saturday morning. white is being held on first- degree murder. a bail hearing is scheduled for tuesday. >> a firefighter is rec

four to one in the state legislature said requiring i.d. of the polling place is a reasonable request to ensure the accuracy and integrity of our elections. now, unlike what opponents say, which is that, well, this only can prevent impersonation fraud and that, well, sometimes they'll admit it. they'll say it rarely happens. others like "the new york times" say it doesn't happen. that's incorrect. it can also prevent people from voting on fictitious voter registration names or voting in the names of other individuals like people who are dead and we know because of a pew study last week there's almost two million people deceased still on voteer registration roles. it can prevent double voting by people registered in more than one state. i can give you a good example of that and how i was deterred by a voter id law. frankly, it can prevent illegal aliens from registering and voting. there are examples of that that have occurred around the country. when justice john paul stevens, not exactly a conservative justice, in fact, one of the liberal

in part, the letter to the massachusetts legislature reads the undersigned officers of the troops of massachusetts in our own names and in the names of our brethren in the field declare that we highly respect and approve the new constitution of the commonwealth of massachusetts. it goes on with paragraphs of praise and then it predicts we form the most auspicious omens of its free operation and prosperity, and those omens came true. the massachusetts constitution served as probably the most important model to the federal constitution and today is the oldest constitution in the western world. i think in the entire world, for that matter. but the letter from these soldiers turned from praise to plea. the soldiers reminded the legislature that they were still at war and that the liberties promised in the new constitution of 1780s would be meaningless without support for the troops who were fighting for our freedoms. if only the legislatures of the respective states will vigorously carry into immediate effect the resolutions of congress, the enemy will be deprived of their only well-grou

do you think a legislature should be able to restrict people from wearing certain types of clothing, like pajama bottoms, out in public? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com. >> as long as everything that is supposed to be covered is covered, what is the problem? >> maybe we get our bosses to do that? >> 35 degrees on tv hill. a disturbing surprise at for a family. >> a dramatic rescue of a dog. >> a dramatic rescue of a dog. that is denny's new sizzlin' skillets are here for a limited time. so strike while the iron's hot. starting at $4.99. only at denny's. america's diner is always open. >> welcome back. 41 degrees downtown. all this quiet right now. we expected to stay that way until the middle of the day. 28 in parkton. 35 in catonsville. the forecast for today -- the weather should be fine for the middle of the morning. then we will see a mix of rain and snow developing. the temperature should stay above freezing so the roads should not be a big deal. it could be stalling on your way home from work and

two years later the legislature passes a similar bill, again it is vetoed. in 2008 the california supreme court throws out proposition 22 saying that it violated the state constitution. backers of responded with proposition 8, amending the constitution and it passed with a 52 percent majority. the first legal challenges were filed in 2009. >>pam: and new details, prosecutors have filed lewd acts-chest complaints against teachers arrested and accused of lewd acts against children. the loss angeles unified school district board voted unanimously to terminate this teacher who taught at serramonte elementary school. that is the same campus where a veteran third grade teacher is alleged to have committed lewd acts with 23 children. an alameda county sheriff's deputy has pleaded not guilty to rape charges. he is accused of attacking a woman in morocco back in september. so far, no other details have been released. right now, he is on paid administrative leave. a new report shows that a number of registered sex offenders is increasing. >> a registered sex offender

i'm proud of the fact that we were able to work together, the legislature and the governor, democrats, republicans. we came together and found a better way. we protected classroom spending and medicaid, and we did not raise taxes. public officials must never forget that we serve the public. not the other way around. that's why in a time of shared sacrifice i felt it important to lead by example. we eliminated the chefs from the governor's residence. cut salaries there by 55%. it worked out well. chuck even learned how to make more than just baloney sandwiches. and i kept my promise to get rid of the ultimate symbol of waste and excess. we sold the state's luxury jet. we cut waste across state government, cut cell phones, got rid of non-essential state cars, and the governor's office we slashed our budget and reverted over a half a million dollars back into the savings account. cabinet secretary salaries were cut by 10%, and we dramatically reduced the number of political appointees. and together, the governor and the legislature, hammered out a budget compromise that reduced spending