As they see it.

• Position: Brief Article

"The administration says the law is not an unfunded mandate, but many of us feel that it is. "

--Utah Representative Kory M. Holdaway, in The New York Times, on the No Child Left Behind Act.

"We used bubble gum, Scotch tape and Band-Aids to balance our budget last year. Now it's bursting at the seams because revenue projections were too optimistic. "

--Illinois Representative Monique Davis, chair of the House's General Appropriations Committee, in USA Today.

"States have always enacted laws that are the precursors to federal laws. "

---Tim Hodson, a California State University, Sacramento, political scientist, in the Christian Science Monitor.

"The practical effect is that it excludes the vast majority of the population from even thinking about being able to serve in the Legislature. "

--Nebraska Senator Mike Foley, in an Associated Press article, on the low pay that limits who can serve in the Legislature. The article says one-third of the members are at least 65 years old. Only five are 40 or younger.

"I was expecting it to turn."

--Alaska resident Ray Tsang, in an Associated Press article, who watched as an SUV ran straight into the fence of the governor's official...