Packed agendas for 1994.

• Author: Griffin, Denise
• Position: Legislative priorities in 1994

An annual survey of legislative priorities shows that lawmakers are creating new ways to approach old problems.

The problems of health care, education, state budgets and juvenile crime will command the lion's share of legislative attention in 1994. And while the issues may be predictable, the way lawmakers tackle them is not.

According to NCSL's annual survey of state leaders and committee chairs, Issues Outlook 1994, lawmakers are reassessing how they approach issues and are looking for innovative solutions to knotty problems. Approaching an issue from various perspectives at the same time is a strategy many states will be attempting this session. To address child welfare concerns, for example, lawmakers are examining approaches that include coordination between law enforcement and court officials and integration of education, human services and economic development policies. Health Care, Education and Budgets

With unprecedented changes occurring at the federal level, health care leads all other issues as a top concern for 1994. Medicaid, access, affordability and health-care reform are priority topics for the coming sessions in many states, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and North Carolina.

In Kansas, a commission composed primarily of private individuals is charged with making health-care recommendations to a joint legislative committee for legislation to be introduced in the '94 session. Delaware has a Health Care Commission that is reviewing possible plans and studying the impact of the issue on the state; and Missouri is seeking incentives to expand primary care systems. Approximately half the leaders responding to the survey believe the federal reform package will increase costs in their states; about one-fourth anticipate a decrease. The remainder foresee no change or are unsure what effect federal reforms will have. Where major health-care reforms have already been adopted, as in Minnesota, legislative leaders have special concerns about the effects of federal initiatives.

Although often apprehensive about the impact of federal health-care reforms, most respondents have been pleased with the Clinton administration's outreach to states and to legislatures in particular. "I believe the administration has been open and cooperative with the states given the inherent controversy and number of powerful institutional and special interests involved in the debate," said West Virginia...