May | June 2013




Stated Briefly

NLGA Leads Economic Development Forum in Mexico

The National Lieutenant Governors Association signed a cooperative agreement to work on issues and policy aimed to elevate the economic prosperity and opportunity of the states in both nations during the inaugural Economic Development Forum with the Association of Mexico Secretaries of Economic Development in February.
New Mexico Lt. Gov. John Sanchez, NLGA West Region chair, hosted the meeting. Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, NLGA chair, led the meeting with Colima Economic Development Secretary Juan Gutierrez, chair of Association of Mexico Secretaries of Economic Development. Those in attendance included the Minnesota lieutenant governor, the Arizona secretary of state, and the economic development secretaries of Hidalgo and Cohuila of Mexico.
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez detailed to the group specific efforts her state will engage in to grow trade with Mexico and Mexico Consul Mauricio Ibarra pledged his support to grow the effort.
NLGA is an affiliate of The Council of State Governments. The forum was part of the CSG U.S.-Mexico State Alliance work funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Those attending the Economic Development Forum were, front row, left, Colima Economic Development Secretary Juan Gutierrez, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Yvonne Prettner Solon, and Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Tim Murray; back row, left, Hidalgo Economic Development Secretary Juan Ponton, Coahuila Economic Development Secretary Jose Jardon, New Mexico Lt. Gov. John Sanchez, Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett.
 

Western Legislative Academy Class of 2012

The West’s premier training event for state legislators in their first four years of service took place Nov. 13–16, 2012, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Thirty-seven legislators attended CSG-West’s Western Legislative Academy, studying communications, time management, ethics, leadership and negotiations. Wyoming Sen. Ogden Driskell was elected class president.
For information about how to apply for 2013 Western Legislative Academy—which is scheduled for Nov. 13–16 in Colorado Springs—visit www.csgwest.org. Applications are due April 26.
Photo by Lynn Boutte Photography
 

Study: 1 in 5 Arrests Involve Someone on Probation or Parole

A new Council of State Governments’ Justice Center report released in January revealed the majority of all adult felony and misdemeanor arrests were people who were not currently under supervision.
“The Impact of Probation and Parole Populations on Arrests in Four California Cities” was funded by the Public Safety Performance Project of the Pew Center on the States, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Fund for Nonviolence and the Rosenberg Foundation. The study answers one question that to date has been a matter of speculation among law enforcement and corrections officials: To what extent do people on parole and probation contribute to crime, as measured by arrests?
Other findings revealed that while people under probation and parole supervision accounted for one out of every six arrests for violent crimes, they accounted for one out of every three drug arrests. During a 3.5-year period in which total arrests fell by 18 percent, the number of arrests involving individuals under parole supervision declined by 61 percent and by 26 percent for individuals under probation supervision.
The chiefs of the Los Angeles, Redlands, Sacramento and San Francisco police departments commissioned the analysis in 2010. The 3.5-year timeframe covered in the study, which concluded in June 2011, immediately preceded the implementation of the state's Public Safety Realignment Act, which commenced in October 2011.
 

Utah Hosts Legislative Staff Leaders

Nonpartisan legislative staff leaders from the Western region met at their annual Fall Training Seminar in early October in Park City, Utah. The members of the CSG-West Legislative Service Agency/Research Directors Committee participated in management training and shared best legislative management practices.
Pam Varni, executive director of the Alaska Legislative Affairs Agency, is former chair of the CSG-West Legislative Service Agency/Research Directors Committee. Mike Christensen, director of the Utah Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, is the current chair. Charlotte Carter-Yamauchi, not pictured, will serve as vice chair in 2013–14.