Legislation

About: Legislation is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 62664 publications have been published within this topic receiving 585188 citations. The topic is also known as: law & act.

The poverty of welfare reform

Abstract: Once again, America is getting tough on welfare. Democrats and Republicans at both the national and state levels seem to have agreed that paying public funds to the poor-particularly to single mothers and their children-perpetuates dependency and undermines self-sufficiency and the work ethic. In this book Joel Handler, a national expert on welfare, points out the fallacies in the current proposals for welfare reform, arguing that they merely recycle old remedies that have not worked. He analyzes the prejudice that has historically existed against "the undeserving poor" and shows that the stereotype of the inner-city woman of color who has children in order to stay on welfare is untrue. Most welfare mothers are in the labor market, says Handler; however, the work that is available to them is most often low-wage, part-time employment with no benefits. Efforts to move large numbers of welfare recipients to full-time employment are not likely to be successful, especially since most of the welfare programs for single mothers are at the state and local levels, and these governments are reluctant to spend the extra money needed to institute work or other reform programs. Handler suggests that national reform efforts should focus less on welfare and blaming the victim and more on increasing labor markets and reducing poverty through legislation that promotes, for example, the Earned Income Tax Credit and universal health care benefits. Welfare reform, by itself, does nothing to improve the job market, and unless there are more jobs paying more income, we will have done nothing to lessen poverty or reduce welfare.

Mitigating mountain hazards in Austria – legislation, risk transfer, and awareness building

Abstract: . Embedded in the overall concept of integral risk management, mitigating mountain hazards is pillared by land use regulations, risk transfer, and information. In this paper aspects on legislation related to natural hazards in Austria are summarised, with a particular focus on spatial planning activities and hazard mapping, and possible adaptations focussing on enhanced resilience are outlined. Furthermore, the system of risk transfer is discussed, highlighting the importance of creating incentives for risk-aware behaviour, above all with respect to individual precaution and insurance solutions. Therefore, the issue of creating awareness through information is essential, which is presented subsequently. The study results in recommendations of how administrative units on different federal and local levels could increase the enforcement of regulations related to the minimisation of natural hazard risk. Moreover, the nexus to risk transfer mechanisms is provided, focusing on the current compensation system in Austria and some possible adjustments in order to provide economic incentives for (private) investments in mitigation measures, i.e. local structural protection. These incentives should be supported by delivering information on hazard and risk target-oriented to any stakeholder involved. Therefore, coping strategies have to be adjusted and the interaction between prevention and precaution has to be highlighted. The paper closes with recommendations of how these efforts could be achieved, with a particular focus on the situation in the Republic of Austria.

A land-use classification system for use with remote sensor data

Abstract: New demands on our land resources require more stringent controls and management practices The administration of these controls requires better and more frequent information concerning land use Although new tools became available to aid in acquiring and processing the data, a major lack in uniform techniques for isJ-entifying the land use was a major problem Creation of a more standard form of classification of land use, based on the capabilities inherent in the various forms of remote sensors and other data sources was a necessary step A classification has been created, and published in preliminary form, by the Geological Survey of the United States Department of Interior It is presented as Geological Survey 671, entitled "A Land Use Classification System for Use With RemoteSensor Data" This paper discusses the origin, development, and controlling influences of that classification system The desire for information about land use is not a new phenanenon In fact, the concept of the Cadastral Survey dates back to early mideastern settlement and includes information about land use as a major part of the Cadastral Survey Land use and land capability were associated, even then, in developing a sound basis on which to establish taxation policies What is new is the fact that we, in this country, and several others have used land lavishly, and are now faced with difficult decisions that require more information than we now have readily available The pressure on our land resources stems from a number of sources, but includes at the top of the list increased population and an economic systen that provides the highest profit to those who exploit our best resources first Other new things relevant to the probIen include an awareness at many levels of goverrment of a need for a new approach to management of the land resource Attempts at the local level to control land use through zoning have been less than effective in most areas But there is a genuine reluctance in all parts of the country to undertake regulated zoning at the higher levels of government This is due to the historical precedent of giving zoning powers to the local government units Some notable exceptions are just now starting their long struggle for validation through the court systxms Examples include the new concept of state agencies with New York State's Adirondack Agency and the Coastal Zone legislation now operative in New Jersey, some of the New England states, and along parts of the eastern seaboard Others are the Agricultural Districts legislation of New York State, permitting land owners to create their own areas of land use control, and in some states such as Vermont statewide legislation is being used as a source of land use control All of these examples have at least two things in crnmon First, they seek to control and guide the development and use of the land resource Second, they need, in fact require, a great volume of information about land use to meet their objectives Two new fields of scieqce, apparently completely unrelated to the above situations, now provide opportunities to gain the information needed in solving our land use problems They are

Erratum: A Formal Model of the Politics of Delegation in a Separation of Powers System

Abstract: in Political scientists have long been interested in conditions under which politicians delegate policy decisions to bureaucratic agencies (Wilson 1887; Landis 1938; Freedman 1981; Ara son, Gellhorn, and Robinson 1982; Fiorina 1982, 1986; McCubbins, Noll, and Weingast 1987, 1989; Moe 1989; Calvert, McCubbins, and Weingast 1989). With a recent focus on divided and unified government, scholars have claimed that bu? reaucratic discretion will be greater when the legislative and executive branches are closely aligned (Epstein and O'Halloran 1994,1996,1999). In these models, given uncertainty over policy and executive control over the agency, the legislature is only willing to delegate decisions to the agency when the executive's preferences are similar to those of the legislature, as under unified government.1 While these results seem intuitive, recent empirical analyses of delegation decisions paint a more complex picture. Epstein and O'Halloran, who initially formalized these results, examine the level of discretion in congres? sional legislation in the postwar years. They do, indeed, find support for greater discretion to executive-controlled agencies under unified govern? ment. However, they also find greater discretion to independent agencies under divided government. "The first two categories, [Executive Office of the President] and cabinet departments, are used relatively more often un? der unified government, while independent agencies and commissions are used more often under divided control" (Epstein and O'Halloran 1999, 154-155). This result is not predicted by present models of delegation, which do not differentiate among agency types. Current empirical work has also focused on the state level to assess whether there is a link between discretion and unified government. For ex? ample, Huber, Shipan, and Pfahler (2001) explore whether state governments restricted Medicaid bureaucrats more substantially under divided

The new Italian IVF legislation.

Abstract: Last February, the Italian Parliament gave final approval to a new Law regulating assisted reproduction technology. The new legislation fell short of the expectations of infertile couples and of all specialists in the field. There are three problems with the new Italian law; they involve social issues, human rights and the application of technology. The present paper focuses on the fact that the new rules infringe upon basic human rights and the proper application of IVF technology, because they mandate procedures that are against the best interest of the woman seeking pregnancy. The main point of controversy is the combination of a mandatory limit of three embryos for transfer, and an obligation to reimplant all produced embryos; cryopreservation of excess embryos is prohibited. Obviously, this decreases the chances of most women to achieve pregnancy, while at the same time it increases the number and complexity of procedures they need to undergo and may expose some to an unacceptable increase in the risk of multiple pregnancy. The new law is inspired by the desire to protect every newly produced embryo; this is a commendable aim, although it is in total opposition to a law passed over 25 years ago that liberalized voluntary termination of first trimester pregnancies. This means that today Italy has a law that protects every early, pre-implantation embryo, and another that allows the 'suppression' of every post-implantation one. From a technical point of view, given the low level of human fecundity, the only way to prevent the 'loss' of even one preimplantation embryo is to simply ban IVF altogether, an option that Italian legislators obviously did not have the courage to opt for. The tragedy is that Italian infertile couples are now confronted with new rules that not only severely limit the ability of physicians to correctly apply IVF technology, but are so confused that, depending on the interpretation, anyone may try to nullify the main ideological premise upon which the entire law has been structured.