As WV's teen pregnancy rate goes up, lawmakers try to develop plan to address the issue
Teen pregnancy has a huge impact on the state's taxpayers, according to Megan Forman of the National Conference of State Legislatures. According to her study, West Virginia taxpayers pay about $67 million in Medicaid and other health care costs, and 25 percent of teen moms go on welfare within three years of their child's birth. "There are most definitely linkages to the state's work force and their lifetime earning potential and state tax revenue," Foreman said. State Journal
Gender gap in Capitol growing
Katie Ziegler, program manager of the National Conference of State Legislatures Women's Legislative Network, said studies and anecdotal evidence show that family and domestic concerns and other barriers have made increasing the number of women in office a challenge across the country. "That is something that I certainly see it as something that is harder to solve," she said. Sacramento Bee
Iowa Secretary of State proposes voter identification plan
If the measure passes, Iowa would join 31 other states that have some type of voter identification requirement, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Fifteen of those states require photo identification or will by the 2012 general election. Quad City Times
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