May 1857 - "“Get Enough Sleep - We have often heard young men remark that four or five hours sleep was all that the human system required. The habit of going without sufficient sleep is very injurious. Thousands no doubt permanently injure their health this way. We live in a fast age, when everybody seems to be trying to invert the order of nature.” The Mountain Democrat May 30, 1857, p. 1, col. 5"    

1857 - "Spencer F. Baird, first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution published the earliest scientific description of the grizzly bear in California (Ursus horribilis Ord): “Size very large. Tail shorter than ears. Hair coarse, darkest near the base, with light tips…Feet very large; fore claws twice as long as the hinder ones…Region around ears dusky; legs nearly black. Muzzle pale, without a darker dorsal stripe.” U.S. Congress, Senate, Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to Ascertain the Most Practicable and Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi to the Pacific, 1853-1856, 33rd Cong., 2nd sess. Doc. 78, Serial 765, vol. VIII, 219.
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/Exhibits/bearinmind/themes/"    

Studies in the News is a very current compilation of items significant to the Legislature and Governor's Office. It is created weekly by the State Library's Research Bureau to supplement the public policy debate in California’s Capitol. To help share the latest information with state policymakers, these reading lists are now being made accessible through the State Library’s website. This week's list of current articles in various public policy areas is presented below.

Service to State Employees:

• When available, the URL for the full text of each item is provided.

• California State Employees may contact the State Information & Reference Center (916-654-0206; cslsirc@library.ca.gov) with the SITN issue number and the item number [S#].

• All other interested individuals should contact their local library - the items may be available there, or may be borrowed by your local library on your behalf.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE & LAW ENFORCEMENT

GANGS

City of Los Angeles Gang Reduction Strategy. By the Office of Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa. (The Office, Los Angeles, California) April 18, 2007. 41 p.

Full Text at: www.lacity.org/mayor/indexright/mayorindexright243044714_04222007.pdf

[“The Mayor's gang reduction plan won support from the Los Angeles Police Commission, but members also called for a swift evaluation of city-funded prevention programs to weed out those that are not working. The panel was briefed on the plan to flood eight neighborhoods with police officers and workers who would offer social services and jobs as well as gang prevention and intervention help. Commissioners urged [the] Deputy Mayor to act quickly to review the effectiveness of programs aimed at keeping young people out of gangs and getting those who have joined to quit.” Los Angeles Times (April 25, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72701]

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Consumer Privacy and Identity Theft: A Summary of Key Statutes and Guide for Lawmakers. By Saskia Kim, California Senate Office of Research. (The Office, Sacramento, California) March 2007. 137 p.

Full Text at: tinyurl.com/25cakh

[“This report provides an overview of key state and federal laws that relate to consumer privacy and identity theft. Legislators and their staffs may find this summary of statutes particularly helpful as they consider legislative proposals on these issues and respond to constituents’ and press requests for information.... This report is organized by subject matter, and each chapter begins with an overview of the key pertinent issues, followed by applicable state and federal laws.”]

[Request #S72702]

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The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department: 23rd Semiannual Report. By Merrick J. Bobb and others, Police Assessment Resource Center. (Los Angeles County Sheriff, Los Angeles, California) April 2007. 99 p.

Full Text at: lacounty.gov/AR23.pdf

[“The department has improved the way it investigates allegations of deputy misconduct. In most cases, the department investigates complaints thoroughly and objectively. Investigations were inadequate in about one in five cases, faulting sheriff's managers in those cases for failing to interview all pertinent witnesses, writing biased or incomplete reports or improperly documenting investigations. The report also concluded that the department too often agrees to reduce discipline imposed on deputies who violate department policies ranging from the use of force during arrests to unsafe driving of patrol cars and off-duty incidents, such as drunk driving.” Los Angeles Times (May 17, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72703]

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Prison Medical Care System Reform: Plan of Action. By the California Prison Health Care Receivership Corporation. (The Receiver, San Jose, California) May 10, 2007. 50 p.

Full Text at: www.cprinc.org/docs/court/CPR_PlanOfAction051007.pdf

[“The receiver issued his plan for the next two years, stating that ‘an entirely new and different medical delivery system must be created — from the ground up.’ His plan envisions, among other things: creating a system to measure progress in improving clinical care, reviews of inmate deaths and patient satisfaction; moving toward creating an electronic medical record for every inmate patient; launching a personnel program to recruit, hire, train and retain medical staff; tightening the CDCR's health care budgeting and accounting; developing staff teams to provide inmates with better escort, transportation and access to health care inside and outside the prisons; and assessing how many more medical beds are needed at all 33 prisons.” San Mateo County Times (May 13, 2007)1.]

[Request #S72704]

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California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: Inmate Population Projections Remain Questionable. Letter Report 2007-503. By the California State Auditor. (Bureau of State Audits, Sacramento, California) March 27, 2007. 8 p.

Full Text at: www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2007-503.pdf

[“This letter report presents the results of a follow-up review of a report the bureau issued in September 2005. The department has done little to seek advice from statistical experts to assist it in establishing a statistically valid forecasting methodology. Although the department asserts it has revised its population projection model, it could not provide us with documentation to support the population projections it published in the fall of 2006. Finally, we noted that the department has not begun to update its variable projections using a revised inmate classification database.”]

[Request #S72705]

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DEMOGRAPHY

IMMIGRANTS

Growing Share of Immigrants Choosing Naturalization. By Jeffrey S. Passel, Pew Hispanic Center. (The Center, Washington, DC) March 28, 2007. 39 p.

Full Text at: pewhispanic.org/files/reports/74.pdf

[“Legal immigrants in the United States have opted to become American citizens in historically high numbers in the last decade. The number of naturalized citizens in the United States population in 2005 was 12.8 million, a record high. For the first time, European immigrants are no longer the largest group of those who choose to become citizens. Over the past decade, they were outnumbered by new citizens who came originally from Latin America or Asia.” New York Times (March 29, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72706]

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ECONOMY

CALIFORNIA

The Annual Economic Impact of CalPERS Benefit Payments. AND: The Combined Annual Economic Impacts in California of CalPERS and CalSTRS Retirement Income Benefit Payments. By the Applied Research Center, California State University, Sacramento. Prepared for the California Public Employees Retirement System. (The System, Sacramento, California) April 2007.

[“California's retired schoolteachers, firefighters and other public employees pack a powerful economic punch in the state economy, surpassing the impact of three major University of California campuses combined, the airlines or the oil and gas industry. The report analyzed the economic ripple effect of more than $13.7 billion in pension benefits paid to the retirees every year. It also breaks out CalPERS' impact on the state's 58 counties. On average, each dollar the state and local government agencies have invested with CalPERS has returned $8.55 to the state economy.” Sacramento Bee (April 19, 2007) D3.]

Economic Impact of CalPers Benefits. 154 p.
http://www.calpers.ca.gov/eip-docs/about/press/news/economic-engine/calpers-economic-impacts.pdf

Impact of CalPers and CalStrs Benefits. 10 p.
http://www.calpers.ca.gov/eip-docs/about/press/news/economic-engine/calpers-calstrs-combined-economic-impacts.pdf

[Request #S72707]

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Symbolic Values, Occupational Choice, and Economic Development. By Giacomo Corneo, Free University of Berlin, and Olivier Jeanne, International Monetary Fund. (Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn, Germany) April 2007. 31 p.

["Channeling human resources into the right occupations has historically been a key to economic prosperity. Occupational choices are not only driven by the material rewards associated with the various occupations, but also by the esteem that they confer. We propose a model that sheds light on the interaction between cultural and economic development and identifies circumstances under which value systems matter for long-run growth. It shows the possibility of culturally determined poverty traps and offers a framework for thinking about the transition from traditional to modern values."]

Full text at: ftp://repec.iza.org/RePEc/Discussionpaper/dp2763.pdf

[Request #S72708]

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Richer and Poorer: Income Inequality in Los Angeles. By Jerry Nickelsburg, UCLA Anderson Forecast. (The Forecast, Los Angeles, California) March 2007. 9 p.

Full Text at: www.uclaforecast.com/forecast/forecastDisplay.asp?iForecastID=127&iFileID=1623&iAccess=1&sSearchPage=Y&sSearch=richer%20and%20poorer

["In one sense L.A. bucked the trend in the US once again by having a lowering of inequality of household incomes over the past six years. However the improvement was simply the local economy finishing a long process of adjustment to the earlier shrinking of the manufacturing. We see the Inequality Index merely returns to the trend towards more inequality that L.A. has been following for 36 years, and roughly parallels the trend in the US. And, while we have stepped away from the income inequality levels of Mexico and other developing countries, we are not far very far away from those levels. A failure to respond to the challenge of preparing the next generation of middle class service workers can easily thrust L.A. back to developing country inequality levels."]

[Request #S72709]

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Violent Television Programming and Its Impact on Children: Report. MB Docket No. 04-261. By the Federal Communications Commission. (The Commission, Washington, DC) April 25, 2007. 39 p.

Full Text at: hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-50A1.pdf

[“Federal regulators have concluded that Hollywood's efforts to shield children from violent TV shows have failed. The FCC concluded that violent programming was harmful to children and said Congress could craft limits that wouldn't violate 1st Amendment rights. Specifically, the report said, lawmakers have the authority to give the FCC the power to restrict when broadcasters can air excessive gore and mayhem. Congress can require cable and satellite providers to allow viewers to purchase only the channels they want, giving them the chance to opt out of certain kinds of programming.” Los Angeles Times (April 26, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72710]

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Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children: A Fifth Follow-up Review of Industry Practices in the Motion Picture, Music Recording & Electronic Game Industries: A Report to Congress. By the Federal Trade Commission (The Commission, Washington, DC) April 2007. 138 p.

Full Text at: www.ftc.gov/reports/violence/070412MarketingViolentEChildren.pdf

[“The most comprehensive study since 2000, found that all three industries generally comply with their own voluntary standards regarding the display of ratings and labels. However, entertainment industries continue to market some R-rated movies, M-rated video games, and explicit-content recordings on television shows and Web sites with substantial teen audiences. In addition, while video game retailers have made significant progress in limiting sales of M-rated games to children, movie and music retailers have made only modest progress limiting sales." Federal Trade Commission Press Release (April 12, 2007).]

[Request #S72711]

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EDUCATION

CHARTER SCHOOLS

Charter Schools Indicators. By the Center on Educational Governance, University of Southern California. (The Center, Los Angeles, California) 2007. 24 p.

Full Text at: www.usc.edu/dept/education/cegov/CSI_USC.pdf

[“California charter schools get ‘more bang for the buck’ than traditional public schools and may be improving at a faster clip. Still, the charters continue to trail regular public schools in academic achievement and seem to have a tougher time teaching English to students who are learning it as a second language. Rather than just looking at the results of standardized tests, the study attempted to gauge ‘academic momentum,’ to see if schools are getting better over time, and ‘school productivity,’ to see how their academic achievement relates to the amount of money they spend.” Los Angeles Times (May 4, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72712]

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Similar English Learner Students, Different Results: Why Do Some Schools Do Better? By Trish Williams, and others, EdSource. (EdSource, Mountain View, California) May 2007. 24 p.

Full Text at: www.edsource.org/pdf/SimELreportcomplete.pdf

[“Schools that focus resources on their English-language learners average higher scores on academic achievement tests. Researchers said four practices resulted in higher student performance: hiring good teachers; teaching a curriculum aligned with state standards; closely analyzing assessment data; and setting measurable goals for improving achievement.” Los Angeles Daily News (May 4, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72713]

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Fewer Students, Greater Challenges: Declining Enrollment in California Schools. School Finance Facts. By the California Budget Project. (The Project, Sacramento, California) April 2007. 10 p.

Full Text at: www.cbp.org/pdfs/2007/0704_sff_decliningenrollment.pdf

[“A report shows the Bay Area is leading student enrollment decline, which officials say is pushing more schools to the brink due to a flawed state funding system. Between 1998-99 and 2005-06, Bay Area counties -— particularly Alameda and San Mateo —- [suffered] the steepest losses of enrollment. In the schools they leave behind, ‘districts receive fewer dollars and fixed costs must be spread over fewer students.’" Oakland Tribune (May 2, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72714]

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Leading Lady: Sallie Mae and the Origins of Today's Student Loan Controversy. By Erin Dillon, Education Sector. (The Sector, Washington, DC) May 2007. 18 p.

Full Text at: www.educationsector.org/usr_doc/SallieMae.pdf

["Sallie Mae has helped millions of students pay for college, students who would not have otherwise been able to cover the cost. But the relentless expansion of Sallie Mae and other lending giants into every part of the student-aid enterprise and into every region of the country combined with an outmatched and often unmotivated federal regulatory bureaucracy, industry political clout that reaches from the halls of Congress to college campuses, and lucrative regulatory loopholes that contribute to student lending’s immense profit potential have created a climate that’s ripe for the questionable marketing tactics and other industry wrongdoing that have emerged in recent months."]

[Request #S72715]

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EMPLOYMENT

COLLEGE GRADUATES

Can California Import Enough College Graduates to Meet Workforce Needs? By Hans P. Johnson and Deborah Reed, Public Policy Institute of California. (The Institute, San Francisco, California) May 2007. 24 p.

Full Text at: www.ppic.org/content/pubs/cacounts/CC_507HJCC.pdf

["The state would need to triple its number of college-educated immigrants to fill a looming shortage of engineers, health professionals and other highly skilled workers. But it is unlikely to attract the additional 160,000 college graduates it will need by 2025, either from foreign countries or other states. Limits on immigration, rising global competition for skilled workers and California's high housing prices will impede the state's ability to meet its future economic demand. Instead, the state should expand opportunities for more Californians to complete college, particularly Latinos and blacks, who have lower college-bound rates than other ethnic groups." Los Angeles Times (May 24, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72716]

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Outsourcing America's Technology and Knowledge Jobs: High-Skill Guest Worker Visas Are Currently Hurting Rather Than Helping Keep Jobs at Home. By Ron Hira, Rochester Institute of Technology. (Economic Policy Institute, Washington, DC) March 28, 2007. 8 p.

Full Text at: www.sharedprosperity.org/bp187/bp187.pdf

["This briefing paper focuses on two key policy mechanisms for high-skill labor mobility and immigration, the H-1B and the L-1 guest worker visas. In practice these programs not only fail to meet their policy goals, they actually work against them. The U.S. Department of Labor recently expressed the practical implications of this fact in a straightforward manner when it stated that 'H-1B workers may be hired even when a qualified U.S. worker wants the job, and a U.S. worker can be displaced from the job in favor of the foreign worker.' The median wage for new H-1Bs is even lower than the salary an entry-level bachelor’s degree graduate would command."]

[Request #S72717]

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Low Salaries for Low Skills: Wages and Skill Levels for H-1B Computer Workers, 2005. By John Miano, Center for Immigration Studies. (The Center, Washington, DC) April 2007. 12 p.

Full Text at: www.cis.org/articles/2007/back407.pdf

["The findings in this report clearly demonstrate that the legal definition of the prevailing wage requirement does not ensure H-1B workers are paid the actual market prevailing wage. Employer prevailing wage claims and reported wages for H-1B workers are significantly less than those for U.S. workers in the same occupation and location. This suggests that, regardless of the program’s original intent, the H-1B program now operates mainly to supply U.S. employers with cheap workers, rather than with essential skilled workers."]

[Request #S72718]

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ENERGY

ENERGY POLICY

Energy Policy Recommendations to the President and the 110th Congress. By the National Commission on Energy Policy. (The Commission, Washington, DC) April 2007. 29 p.

Full Text at: tinyurl.com/2mm2jv

["An influential U.S. panel of energy experts has toughened its recommendations on global warming emissions, aiming for a 15 percent cut in greenhouse gases by 2030. The National Commission on Energy Policy -- a nonpartisan organization that includes representatives from industry, government, labor, environmental activism and academia -- revised a plan first issued in 2004 that was used as the model for some climate change proposals in Congress." JAVNO Global Markets (April 20, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72720]

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State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2007. By Karan Capoor and Philippe Ambrosi, World Bank Institute. (The Institute, Washington, DC) May 2007. 52 p.

Full Text at: carbonfinance.org/docs/Carbon_Trends_2007-_FINAL_-_May_2.pdf

["The hub of the global carbon market is the European Union's emissions trading scheme, which has so far failed to deliver a steady carbon price while handing huge profits to the utilities which produce energy and emissions. This curious reverse of the widely held 'polluter pays' principle has seen some European airlines begging to join and U.S. utilities flocking to lobby for a similar scheme." Reuters (May 2, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72721]

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ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change: Summary for Policymakers. By Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, World Meteorological Organization. (The Panel, Geneva, Switzerland) May 2007. 35 p.

Full Text at: www.ipcc.ch/SPM040507.pdf

["A United Nations panel released its most comprehensive strategy to avoid the catastrophic effects of global warming, but experts said political and economic realities likely doom it to failure.... Even supporters of the plan were daunted by the speed and scale of action required by the report to stabilize carbon concentrations at slightly above current levels.... Its primary instrument for reducing greenhouse gas concentrations is a system in which governments would place a cap on emissions and charge polluters for every ton of carbon dioxide beyond that point." Los Angeles Times (May 5, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72722]

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A Low-Carbon Fuel Standard for California: Pt. 1, Technical Analysis: Draft. By Alexander E. Farrell, University of California, Berkeley, and Daniel Sperling, University of California, Davis. (California Energy Commission, Sacramento, California) May 7, 2007. 158 p.

Full Text at: www.energy.ca.gov/2007publications/UC-1000-2007-002/UC-1000-2007-002.PDF

[“The implementation report will create a complex, path-breaking method to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions of all fuels sold in the state from the moment of production through final consumption. The plan is expected to displace one-fifth of California's gasoline consumption with lower-carbon fuels and put more than 7 million alternative fuel or hybrid vehicles on the roads.” San Francisco Chronicle (May 18, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72723]

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"Investigative Report: Wastes of War." AND: "Wastes of War: Out in Open ." By Russell Carollo. IN: The Sacramento Bee. April 22-23, 2007. A1.

["Time bombs lurk beneath California, from the Mexican border to the Oregon state line, under hills, valleys and coastlines -- poised to contaminate wells, pollute waterways, jeopardize property values and endanger human lives. Hundreds of locations already have been polluted, and how much more of the state is at risk, no one really knows. What is known is that more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected military sites, the largest number in the country, are spread across California."]

Investigative Report. Various pagings.
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/159101.html

Out in Open. Various pagings.
http://www.sacbee.com/378/story/159491.html

[Request #S72724]

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Squaring the Eminent Domain Circle: A New Approach to Land Assembly Problems. By Amnon Lehavi and Amir N. Licht, Radzyner School of Law. (Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, Massachusetts) January 2007. 6 p.

Full Text at: www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/dl/1188_Squaring%20the%20Eminent%20Domain%20Circle%20A%20New%20Approach%20to%20Land%20Assembly%20Problems%20LL%20Article%20January%202007.pdf

["The U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo decision sparked a fierce debate throughout the United States when it validated the use of eminent domain for purposes of economic development, especially when the confiscated lands are then transferred to private parties that implement the project and enjoy its gains.... Our research proposes a novel solution for 'squaring the eminent domain circle' when large-scale, for-profit projects require the assembly of land from private property owners. Our proposed model would turn the landowners into pro rata shareholders in a development corporation that would acquire unified ownership of the land and the development project."]

[Request #S72725]

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GENERAL GOVERNMENT

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

Transportation Equity in Emergencies: A Review of the Practices of State Departments of Transportation, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, and Transit Agencies in 20 Metropolitan Areas: Final Report. By Milligan & Company, LLC. Prepared for the Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. (The Administration, Washington, DC) May 2007. 60 p.

Full Text at: www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FINAL_TCR_Emergency_Response_v2_4-07-edit(3).doc

["The report explores the extent to which selected transit providers, metropolitan planning organizations, and state departments of transportation are identifying and addressing the needs of populations that may be especially vulnerable in the event of a natural or man-made disaster. The report also highlights resources that may help officials in metropolitan regions to better incorporate attention to populations with specific mobility needs into their ongoing emergency preparedness planning activities." TRB Newsletter (May 15, 2007) 1.]

[Request #S72726]

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Global Lottery Privatization: The Equity Potential of Government Lotteries. By Eugene Martin Christiansen, and Sebastian Sinclair, Christiansen Capital Advisors, LLC. (The Advisors, Newfield, Maine) 2001. 8 p.

Full Text at: www.cca-i.com/insight/2001%20Global%20Lottery%20Privatization%20Report.pdf

[“Connecticut’s experience with the Connecticut Lottery Corporation has been largely positive. While not an automatic cure for stagnating lottery sales in all jurisdictions, this experience... suggests that the partial or complete transfer of lottery operations to the private sector holds out the promise of revitalizing an industry that is showing clear signs of maturity.... Perhaps it is time for governments to unlock the enormous latent equity values their lotteries contain and give private sector managers a chance to rekindle public enthusiasm for the ubiquitous products lotteries offer.”]

[Request #S72727]

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Funding the Golden Years in the Golden State. By Grant Boyken, California Research Bureau. Prepared for the Governor’s Public Employee Post-Employment Benefits Commission. CRB 07-005. (The Commission, Sacramento, California) April 2007. 32 p.

Full Text at: www.pebc.ca.gov/images/files/golden%20years.pdf

["Unfunded pension liabilities, rising health care costs, and demographic shifts that are predicted to significantly increase retirement rolls and the average length of retirement have given rise to concerns about how to fund post-employment benefits for retired public employees. Requested by the Public Employee Post-Employment Benefits Commission appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders, this publication provides an overview of key funding issues concerning pension and retiree health benefits among California governments."]

[Request #S72728]

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A Comparative Overview of California Redistricting Reform Proposals in 2007. By Shakari C. Byerly, Center for Governmental Studies. (The Center, Los Angeles, California) May 2007. 14 p.

Full Text at: cgs.org/publications/docs/cal_redist_final_2007.pdf

["The overview outlines the major provisions of the following: 1) Assembly Constitutional Amendment 1, sponsored by Speaker of the California State Assembly Fabian Nuñez and Assembly Elections Committee Chair Curren Price; 2) Senate Constitutional Amendment 9, sponsored by Senator Roy Ashburn; 3) Senate Constitutional Amendment 10, sponsored by Senator Alan Lowenthal; 4) Citizens Fair Districts Act, a ballot initiative currently in circulation, submitted by attorney Barry Fadem on behalf of a coalition of public interest groups; and 5) The ideal redistricting plan developed by CGS and other civic organizations."]

[Request #S72729]

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Changing the Order of Things: Building a Better Budget for California State Government: Version 1.2. Prepared by Fred Silva and Jim Mayer, New California Network. (The Network, Sacramento, California) Spring 2007. 38 p.

Full Text at: www.newcalnet.org/docs/NCN-FR-Handbook-1-2.pdf

["The New California Network consulted with leaders around the state and identified three concepts that had the potential to meaningfully reform how state government spends over $130 billion annually: 1) Performance budgeting, which is being used by many governments, could help California make the most of existing resources; 2) Multiyear financial planning could result in better management of volatile revenue and growing costs; and 3) Reforms in the Legislature’s budget review process could build broader agreement and fortify public understanding."]

[Request #S72738]

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The Impacts of Design-Build on the Public Workforce. By Douglas D. Gransberg, University of Oklahoma, and Keith R. Molenaar, University of Colorado. (Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California) April 2007. 48 p.

Full Text at: www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/keston/pdf/20070413-design-build.pdf

["Design-Build is a method for obtaining construction services where a single organization is retained to provide architecture/engineering and construction services under one contract.... California makes limited use of Design-Build and concerns have been raised that the design-build method of procuring infrastructure construction could result in major staff cutbacks within public agencies in California.... The study arrived at a number of conclusions that can be summarized as follows: Implementing design-build contracting does not shift public professional engineering jobs from state agencies to the private sector."]

[Request #S72730]

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HEALTH

HEALTH INSURANCE

The Uninsured’s Hidden Tax on Health Insurance Premiums in California: How Reliable Is the Evidence? By John F. Cogan and others, Hoover Institution. (The Institution, Stanford, California) May 2007. AND: Estimating the 'Hidden Tax' on Insured Californians Due to the Care Needed and Received by the Uninsured. By Len Nichols and Peter Harbage, New America Foundation. (The Foundation, Sacramento, California) May 2007.

["The New America Foundation, an advocate of expanded health coverage, developed the concept and the phrase last year, contending that in California, health insurance premiums are about 10 percent higher than they should be because hospitals and other health care providers must cover the costs of treating those without insurance.... But there's a fly in the ointment -- a new study by the Hoover Institution that proclaims the New America Foundation calculations to be inflated.... The specific differences between New America Foundation and Hoover are complex -- and New America has issued its own critique of Hoover's methodology -- but if Hoover is correct, it undercuts the most appealing premise of the plans for changing health care and calls into question, therefore, the approaches that the governor and others advocate to offset the 'hidden tax.'" Sacramento Bee (May 29, 2007) 1.]

Hoover Institution report. 18 p.
http://media.hoover.org/documents/P0701_1-18.pdf

New America Foundation report. 5 p.
http://www.newamerica.net/files/052107health_policy_memo.pdf

[Request #S72731]

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Nutrition Standards for Foods in Schools: Leading the Way Toward Healthier Youth. By the Committee on Nutrition Standards for Foods in Schools. (National Academies Press, Washington, DC) 2007.

[“A scientific panel urged the government yesterday to ban soft drinks, sugary snacks and other junk food from schools, saying the typical fare available in vending machines, at snack bars and at class birthday parties is contributing to the growing obesity of America's children. The report said less-nutritious items should be replaced with healthier stuff such as fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products. Federal officials recently proposed raising the nutritional standards for school lunches or breakfasts, but the recommendations issued yesterday are the first national attempt to address the healthfulness of ‘competitive’ school foods -- snacks and drinks that often are sold to raise money for schools. Washington Post (April 26, 2007) A3.]

Executive Summary. 27 p.
http://books.nap.edu/execsumm_pdf/11899.pdf

Report Brief. 8 p.
http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/42/505/Food%20in%20Schools.pdf

[Request #S72732]

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California Women’s Health: 2007. By the California Department of Health Services. (The Department, Sacramento, California) April 2007. 104 p.

Full Text at: www.dhs.ca.gov/director/owh/owh_main/pubs_events/reports/OWHHealthReport07-WEB.pdf

["National statistics provide an overview of women’s health across the nation. It is unclear, however, how accurately these statistics reflect the status of women’s health in California because of its unique population. This report provides a snapshot of women’s health in California so that state and county officials, policy makers, and health advocates can better understand the health status and needs of women in the state.... California is home to 27.9 percent (9.5 million) of the nation’s 34.2 million foreign-born population.... Poverty is a problem for nearly 3 million adults in California; almost 60 percent are women."]

[Request #S72733]

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HOUSING

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Housing Partnerships: The Work of Large-Scale Regional Nonprofits in Affordable Housing. By Neil Mayer and Kenneth Temkin, The Urban Institute Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center. Prepared for the Housing Partnership Network. (The Institute, Washington, DC) March 2007. 89 p.

Full Text at: www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411454_Housing_Partnerships.pdf

["The Housing Partnership Network (HPN) is a peer network comprised of 87 nonprofit organizations involved in affordable housing as developers, lenders, managers, and service providers. HPN and some of its partners sought to improve their knowledge and the knowledge of potential supporters and collaborators about HPN members and their work. Their focus encompassed three elements. (1) productivity: what array of housing units and other real estate developments, financing dollars, housing management services, and services for project residents and other community members do HPs deliver? (2) models of business operation: how do HPN members perform their work, with what common approaches and priorities?, and (3) policy obstacles and issues of its member organizations: what matters of public and private policy are impediments or challenges to HPs’ success and how can they best be changed or accommodated?"]

[Request #S72734]

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HUMAN SERVICES

FOSTER CARE

Time for Reform: Support Relatives in Providing Foster Care and Permanent Families for Children. By Pew Charitable Trusts and Generations United. (The Trusts, Washington, DC) 2007. 16 p.

Full Text at: kidsarewaiting.org/reports/files/timeforreform.pdf

["Federal policy currently forces relative caregivers to make a difficult choice: continue to receive room and board as a foster family under state supervision and authority, or become permanent guardians to their kin and potentially lose their financial assistance. Although federal law authorizes that children may leave foster care through reunification, adoption or legal guardianship, federal financial assistance is dedicated only to support foster and adoptive families, not legal guardians. With federally-supported guardianship, thousands of foster children could leave care to lead normal lives with their relatives without the involvement of government agencies. A growing body of research shows that foster children fare well with relatives."]

[Request #S72735]

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System Change Efforts and Their Results, Los Angeles, 2005-2006: Hilton Foundation Project to End Homelessness among People with Serious Mental Illness. By Martha R. Burt, the Urban Institute. (The Institute, Washington, DC) April 2007. 40 p.

Full Text at: www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411449_System_Change.pdf

["In 2004, the Hilton Foundation awarded the Corporation for Supportive Housing a five-year grant of $8 million to promote changes in city, county, and state systems that would reduce homelessness in Los Angeles County, especially among people with serious mental illness.... This report covers developments in the grant's first two years that address the research question: What changes have state and/or local public agencies and homeless assistance providers made that reduce homelessness, increase housing options, develop and improve supportive services, and promote the development and operation of permanent supportive housing units and the services that tenants need to achieve stability?"]

[Request #S72736]

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TRANSPORTATION

DRIVERS

Older Driver Safety: Knowledge Sharing Should Help States Prepare for Increase in Older Driver Population. By the U.S. Government Accountability Office. GAO 07-413 (The Office, Washington, DC) April 2007. 60 p.

Full Text at: www.gao.gov/new.items/d07413.pdf

[“The number of elderly drivers will explode in America over the next two decades. That could pose problems for states concerned about highway safety and will mean more public expenditures to help the aging Boomers stay safe on the roads. General safety issues, such as highway-railroad intersections and roadside hazards, are of greater concern to the states, rather than projects to specifically help elderly drivers. Requiring in-person license renewal for elderly people is associated with lower crash rates, but other methods of assessing the ability of older people to drive do not always reduce fatal crash rates.” Chicago Tribune (April 12, 2007) p. 3.]

[Request #S72737]

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Transportation Review: Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety. By Anne Teigen, National Conference of State Legislatures. (The Conference, Denver, Colorado) April 2007. 8 p.

Full Text at: www.ncsl.org/print/transportation/ped-bikesafety07.pdf

["One pedestrian is killed every 108 minutes and one is injured every 8 minutes. The good news is that the number of pedestrians killed has decreased by 13 percent from the 5,584 pedestrians killed in 1995. In 2005, 782 bicyclists were killed in the United States; 673 of those were not wearing a helmet. State legislatures play a key role in ensuring bicycle and pedestrian safety. Actions by state, local and federal governments have made streets safer for people to bike and walk."]

[Request #S72739]

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[The following studies, reports, and documents have been ordered or requested, but have not yet arrived. Requests may be placed, and copies will be provided when the material arrives.]

ECONOMY

GAMBLING INDUSTRY

Governing Fortune: Casino Gambling in America. By Edward A. Morse and Ernest P. Goss. (University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan) 2007. 344 p.

["Governing Fortune summarizes the legal framework supporting the gaming industry and reviews the costs and benefits of casinos by showing how tax base and job growth vary widely with site-specific factors. The book sets forth an innovative proposal for the licensing of gamblers as a means to balance the liberty interests of individuals against the social costs generated from problem gambling behavior. Morse and Goss offer both regional and sector comparisons of the gaming industry and accessible data about every aspect of the gaming environment, including the impact of gambling on economic and social environments." Note: Governing Fortune.... is available for loan.]

[Request #S72740]

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