Election-Campaign Law

The ?new normal? and the costs of photo ID

By Paul Gronke

This week’s Electionline Weekly does a superb job pulling together the various threads of the fiscal debate over photo ID at the polling place.  As author Sean Greene notes, the costs of implementation are squarely part of the debate in most states, not surprising given widespread fiscal retrenchment.

Particularly helpful in the weekly are citations to “fiscal notes,” defined by the Colorado legislative handbook (sic)  as “the estimated amount of increase or decrease in revenue or expenditure that enactment of the bill. Each bill with fiscal implications must have a fiscal note before being acted upon by a committee of reference.stat(ing) the estimated amount of increase or decrease in revenue or expenditure.”  (Electionline provides a link to a study by NCSL on state fiscal note processes that should be of interest to anyone who studies state and local politics and policy.)

Nice job, Sean.  Now get off to Kazakhstan!

Full post as published by Election Updates on March 18, 2011 (boomark / email).