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Featured Publications
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 The Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) has been tracking the issue of crystal methamphetamine production, distribution and use for almost a decade. In 2001, the SLC published a report, Methamphetamine Production and Abuse in Southern States, which examined the rise in popularity of the drug from the early- to mid-1980s and assessed its impacts on Southern states.This 2010 update, an SLC Regional Resource, examines the health, public safety, environmental, sociological and economic effects that crystal methamphetamine continues to have on Southern states. Further, the report demonstrates the advantages of stiffening ephedrine purchasing laws, such as requiring a prescription or a photo ID, or limiting the amount of the product that can be purchased during a certain period of time; examines the use of monitoring systems for tracking ephedrine product purchases; assesses the effectiveness of interstate cooperation and data sharing; and provides information on how states can continue to address the revival of this terrible drug. |
 The more than 360 commercial sea and river ports dotted across every state remain a critical cog in the vast and complex transportation machinery encompassing our nation. Not only do these ports effectively connect the individual states, they are a crucial link between the United States and the rest of the world. In this era of increasing globalization, the decisive roles played by ports as the gateways to both domestic and international trade cannot be overemphasized.This SLC Special Series Report reviews how the renewed focus on export growth and increased international trade dovetails with the ongoing expansion of the Panama Canal. Vessels loaded with cargo traveling through the Panama Canal remain a critical component in overall U.S. trade and, consequently, the ongoing expansion of the Canal will impact, albeit disproportionately, the various U.S. ports from the West Coast to the East Coast to the Gulf Coast. Given these divergent impacts, the particular effects on the SLC ports remain of great interest to policymakers, port officials, corporate/industry executives and interested others in the region. |
 Advocates of landfills long have argued that a comprehensive recycling system is not an economically viable solution to the increases in municipal solid waste created by a growing population. In this regard, the states of the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) of The Council of State Governments (CSG) have demonstrated that this presumption is incorrect and that, even in rural areas with low population densities, the jobs, supply chains and manufacturing facilities created by investment and participation in the recycling industry deliver significant, direct economic rewards. With strategically located primary collection points, community education and relatively few tax incentives, SLC states have promoted economic development and allowed local markets to deliver the goods necessary to supply the thriving recycling manufacturing industry of the South and negate the need to import these commodities from outside sources. This Regional Resource focuses on the economic analyses of recycling, especially in the SLC states, and the viable solutions that Southern states have realized with regard to the recycling of municipal solid waste (MSW) components. Further, by providing a 15-state compendium of the executive agency programs and legislative actions in the Southern region, this report offers a baseline for interstate comparison. |
Regional Resources
Issued periodically throughout the year, SLC's Regional Resources series provides background and status information on a wide array of public policy issues currently being addressed by the Conference's standing committees and by state legislatures across the South. Recent publications in this series have dealt with the U.S. farm bill; No Child Left Behind Act; landfill gas as a fuel source; and aging inmate populations.
Comparative Data Reports
These reports are prepared annually by select SLC states' fiscal research departments. Because the reports track a multitude of revenue sources and appropriations levels in Southern states, they provide a useful tool to legislators and legislative staff alike as they determine their own state spending. The reports are presented each fall and analyze state tax structures and revenue forecasts, adult correctional systems, K-12 educational systems, state transportation programs and Medicaid spending. These reports are prepared under the auspices of the Conference's Fiscal Affairs and Government Operations Committee.
SLC Special Series Reports
Prepared several times annually, these reports are designed to give in-depth treatment to a key issue or governmental problem with which Southern states are grappling. Recent reports in this series include Innovative Programs in Funding State Homeland Security Needs, Doing the Math: Southern State School Finance Systems, and From Blues to Benton to Bluegrass: The Economic Impact of the Arts in SLC States. Earlier Special Series Reports have addressed the implications of the trade relationship between Latin America and the South; telecommunications; redistricting; aging inmate populations; legislative committee structure and staffing patterns; and language diversity in Southern schools.
