Date: 11/21/2008
By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press Writer
HOUSTON (AP) _ Three Houston police officers under investigation for allegedly beating the father of Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver have been taken off patrol duty.
The decision was welcomed by Marvin Driver Jr.’s family members, who said they now want the officers fired and brought up on charges.
“We just want justice,” Michael Driver, Marvin Driver’s son, said after a news conference Friday outside his father’s home.
Officers Bacilio Guzman, Gilberto Cruz and M. Marin have been reassigned to administrative duties pending the outcome of an investigation, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt said in a statement Friday.
Hurtt said he made his decision after receiving a preliminary briefing late Thursday.
“We take allegations such as these very seriously and will conduct a thorough investigation into the matter and be transparent in our findings, whatever the conclusion,” Hurtt said.
Houston police spokesman Victor Senties said he did not know how long the investigation would take to complete.
Family members of 56-year-old Marvin Driver claim he was arrested early Monday morning outside his mother’s home, where he also lives, for outstanding traffic warrants. But before arriving at a Houston jail, they say, he was taken to a gas station, where he was beaten by at least two officers and had something forced down his throat.
Marvin Driver’s family initially said he was only able to communicate with them through handwritten notes.
Michael Driver, 26, said his father, who earlier in the week had been in critical condition, was in good condition on Friday and his health was improving.
Doctors have told family members the injuries were the result of blunt force trauma and that he suffered head injuries and has bruises in his abdomen area from being kneed to the stomach, Michael Driver said.
Hurtt said investigators are awaiting medical reports on Marvin Driver to determine what injuries he sustained.
In his statement, Hurtt said that Marvin Driver, after being arrested during a traffic stop at about 1:30 a.m. Monday, was taken to a city jail. At the facility, a doctor found him unresponsive and he was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital.
The Internal Affairs Division of the Houston Police Department is investigating the family’s claims.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Governors pledge to fight global warming together
Date: 11/20/2008
By SAMANTHA YOUNG
Associated Press Writer
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) _ Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, his counterparts in 12 states and regional leaders from four other countries signed a declaration Wednesday pledging to work together to combat global warming, a move Schwarzenegger said will help push heads of state to curb their nations’ greenhouse gas emissions.
The document was signed on the last day of an international climate summit organized by the California governor, who hopes the two-day event will inform U.N. negotiations in Poland next month on a new global climate treaty that is to be completed by the end of next year.
“We have to draw people into the debate,” Schwarzenegger said during an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. “We have no choice. In the end, we are going to destroy the world” if greenhouse gases are not reduced.
The governors and regional leaders in Mexico, Canada, Brazil and Indonesia agreed in the document to develop policy positions on the industries that produce the most greenhouse gases — forestry, agriculture, cement, iron, aluminum, energy and transportation.
Those reports will then be forwarded to the United Nations. The chairman of a state pollution control board in India also signed the declaration.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat and one of four other governors co-hosting the summit, said it is incumbent on states to cut emissions because of the lack of action so far at the federal level.
Republican Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida and Democratic Govs. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Jim Doyle of Wisconsin are the other co-hosts of Schwarzenegger’s conference, titled the Governors’ Global Climate Summit.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has advocated strict reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, said he organized the gathering to show local governments in other countries that emissions can be cut without harming the economy.
Since taking office in 2003, he has entered into partnerships with the governors of seven Western states and four Canadian provinces in an effort to help polluting industries buy credits from other companies that have been able to reduce their emissions.
In a speech to the conference Wednesday, Schwarzenegger said national economies will be harmed if governments fail to cut emissions.
“We can do it with fairness and equity so all our economies will flourish … and no one is being held back,” Schwarzenegger said.
Wisconsin’s governor acknowledged that many governments are financially strapped but said his state must find creative ways to reduce emissions.
“You can’t go the other direction,” Doyle said. “I would hate to see us come out of economic doldrums two years from now and find that we have moved 25 years backwards.”
Such moves will not come without costs, however, said Sabine Miltner, a director at Deutsche Bank.
She said sufficiently reducing emissions will require capital investments of roughly $500 billion a year between 2010 and 2030. Miltner suggested the U.S. and other governments weighing economic stimulus packages invest some of the money in energy efficiency projects, transmission lines for renewable power sources and public transportation systems.
The United Nations has a December 2009 deadline to complete a treaty to succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. That treaty, which expires in 2012, does not include the U.S. or China — the world’s largest emitters.
Other governors who signed the declaration were Bill Ritter of Colorado, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, Martin O’Malley of Maryland, David Paterson of New York, Ted Kulongoski of Oregon, Jon Huntsman of Utah and Christine Gregoire of Washington.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By SAMANTHA YOUNG
Associated Press Writer
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) _ Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, his counterparts in 12 states and regional leaders from four other countries signed a declaration Wednesday pledging to work together to combat global warming, a move Schwarzenegger said will help push heads of state to curb their nations’ greenhouse gas emissions.
The document was signed on the last day of an international climate summit organized by the California governor, who hopes the two-day event will inform U.N. negotiations in Poland next month on a new global climate treaty that is to be completed by the end of next year.
“We have to draw people into the debate,” Schwarzenegger said during an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. “We have no choice. In the end, we are going to destroy the world” if greenhouse gases are not reduced.
The governors and regional leaders in Mexico, Canada, Brazil and Indonesia agreed in the document to develop policy positions on the industries that produce the most greenhouse gases — forestry, agriculture, cement, iron, aluminum, energy and transportation.
Those reports will then be forwarded to the United Nations. The chairman of a state pollution control board in India also signed the declaration.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat and one of four other governors co-hosting the summit, said it is incumbent on states to cut emissions because of the lack of action so far at the federal level.
Republican Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida and Democratic Govs. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Jim Doyle of Wisconsin are the other co-hosts of Schwarzenegger’s conference, titled the Governors’ Global Climate Summit.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has advocated strict reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, said he organized the gathering to show local governments in other countries that emissions can be cut without harming the economy.
Since taking office in 2003, he has entered into partnerships with the governors of seven Western states and four Canadian provinces in an effort to help polluting industries buy credits from other companies that have been able to reduce their emissions.
In a speech to the conference Wednesday, Schwarzenegger said national economies will be harmed if governments fail to cut emissions.
“We can do it with fairness and equity so all our economies will flourish … and no one is being held back,” Schwarzenegger said.
Wisconsin’s governor acknowledged that many governments are financially strapped but said his state must find creative ways to reduce emissions.
“You can’t go the other direction,” Doyle said. “I would hate to see us come out of economic doldrums two years from now and find that we have moved 25 years backwards.”
Such moves will not come without costs, however, said Sabine Miltner, a director at Deutsche Bank.
She said sufficiently reducing emissions will require capital investments of roughly $500 billion a year between 2010 and 2030. Miltner suggested the U.S. and other governments weighing economic stimulus packages invest some of the money in energy efficiency projects, transmission lines for renewable power sources and public transportation systems.
The United Nations has a December 2009 deadline to complete a treaty to succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. That treaty, which expires in 2012, does not include the U.S. or China — the world’s largest emitters.
Other governors who signed the declaration were Bill Ritter of Colorado, Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, Martin O’Malley of Maryland, David Paterson of New York, Ted Kulongoski of Oregon, Jon Huntsman of Utah and Christine Gregoire of Washington.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Wis. woman pleads no contest in corpse case
Date: 11/18/2008
MAUSTON, Wis. (AP) _ A member of a religious sect pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor Monday after being accused of leaving another member’s corpse in her bathroom so the group could collect her Social Security checks.
Tammy Lewis, 36, was fined $350 for obstructing an officer, while prosecution was deferred on the more serious charges against her. She’ll receive mental health treatment and testify against sect leader Alan Bushey at his trial in April, District Attorney Scott Southworth said.
Prosecutors accuse Lewis and Bushey of leaving 90-year-old Magdeline Middlesworth’s body on the toilet in Lewis’ home after she died there in March.
A criminal complaint says Bushey led the Order of the Divine Will sect and told Lewis that God would revive Middlesworth. The decaying body was found in May after Middlesworth’s family expressed concern.
Prosecutors say they believe Bushey and Lewis wanted to go on collecting Middlesworth’s Social Security payments.
The other charges against Lewis, including felonies of hiding a corpse and causing mental harm to a child, will be dismissed in two years if she cooperates and follows other court orders involving her children, Southworth said.
“We view her as a victim as well of Alan Bushey,” Southworth said. “We also understand the power, the mental power, that Alan Bushey was exercising over her, the coercion he was exerting over her.”
Lewis’ attorney, Dan Berkos, said his client turned to Bushey and the sect for support about three years ago, after she separated from her husband.
The attorney said Lewis is “very relieved” her case has been resolved. “She has made some really great progress emotionally and even physically. She is looking forward. She is no longer looking backward at how things should have been different.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
MAUSTON, Wis. (AP) _ A member of a religious sect pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor Monday after being accused of leaving another member’s corpse in her bathroom so the group could collect her Social Security checks.
Tammy Lewis, 36, was fined $350 for obstructing an officer, while prosecution was deferred on the more serious charges against her. She’ll receive mental health treatment and testify against sect leader Alan Bushey at his trial in April, District Attorney Scott Southworth said.
Prosecutors accuse Lewis and Bushey of leaving 90-year-old Magdeline Middlesworth’s body on the toilet in Lewis’ home after she died there in March.
A criminal complaint says Bushey led the Order of the Divine Will sect and told Lewis that God would revive Middlesworth. The decaying body was found in May after Middlesworth’s family expressed concern.
Prosecutors say they believe Bushey and Lewis wanted to go on collecting Middlesworth’s Social Security payments.
The other charges against Lewis, including felonies of hiding a corpse and causing mental harm to a child, will be dismissed in two years if she cooperates and follows other court orders involving her children, Southworth said.
“We view her as a victim as well of Alan Bushey,” Southworth said. “We also understand the power, the mental power, that Alan Bushey was exercising over her, the coercion he was exerting over her.”
Lewis’ attorney, Dan Berkos, said his client turned to Bushey and the sect for support about three years ago, after she separated from her husband.
The attorney said Lewis is “very relieved” her case has been resolved. “She has made some really great progress emotionally and even physically. She is looking forward. She is no longer looking backward at how things should have been different.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
OSHA settlement reached in Wisconsin explosion
Date: 11/14/2008
SPOONER, Wis. (AP) _ The chemical company where an explosion last spring critically burned two workers has reached a settlement with the federal government over workplace safety violations.
Authorities say Cortec Corp. has agreed to pay a $250,000 fine for failing to have a proper safety management system to handle flammable liquid propellants at its aerosol and liquid container filling plant in Spooner.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration originally proposed a $424,000 fine following the March 18 explosion that destroyed a production building.
Authorities say the settlement includes the company’s promise to bring the plant into safety compliance by Dec. 31.
Cortec’s Chief Operating Officer Anna Vignetti did not immediately return a telephone message Friday.
The plant is expected to resume production in January.
___
Information from: Wisconsin Public Radio, http://www.wpr.org
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
SPOONER, Wis. (AP) _ The chemical company where an explosion last spring critically burned two workers has reached a settlement with the federal government over workplace safety violations.
Authorities say Cortec Corp. has agreed to pay a $250,000 fine for failing to have a proper safety management system to handle flammable liquid propellants at its aerosol and liquid container filling plant in Spooner.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration originally proposed a $424,000 fine following the March 18 explosion that destroyed a production building.
Authorities say the settlement includes the company’s promise to bring the plant into safety compliance by Dec. 31.
Cortec’s Chief Operating Officer Anna Vignetti did not immediately return a telephone message Friday.
The plant is expected to resume production in January.
___
Information from: Wisconsin Public Radio, http://www.wpr.org
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Wisconsin court says 1985 killer should be freed
Date: 11/13/2008
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ A Wisconsin man who gunned down a Catholic priest and two others in 1985 should be released from a mental hospital, an appeals court ruled Thursday.
The District 4 Court of Appeals directed state health authorities to prepare to release Bryan Stanley from the Mendota Mental Health Institute with conditions.
The court said state lawyers failed to prove that releasing Stanley, 53, would present a danger to himself or the public. The decision overturns a ruling by a La Crosse County judge who had denied Stanley’s request for release.
Stanley was suffering from psychosis when he walked into St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Onalaska and gunned down the parish priest, a lay minister and a custodian. Angry the priest was allowing girls to give Scripture readings during Mass, the 29-year-old Army washout claimed to be a prophet sent to cleanse the church.
Stanley was found not guilty by reason of mental disease and was committed to Mendota, a state psychiatric hospital in Madison.
In recent years, Stanley has been given greater freedom as his schizophrenia has been managed with medication. He was moved to an unlocked, minimum security unit at Mendota in 2006 and has been allowed to work part-time in the community and take classes at a local technical college.
He also has spent years researching and writing a 280-page book, “The Becoming of Driftless Rivers National Park,” a cultural and natural history of southwestern Wisconsin.
Department of Justice spokesman Bill Cosh said the state was considering whether to appeal to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. If it doesn’t, the state Department of Health Services will be required to present a plan to a judge for the conditions attached to Stanley’s release.
If approved, he would be released under conditions that would likely include an ankle bracelet so the state can track his whereabouts, staff supervision of his medicine intake and meetings with a case manager and probation agent. That protocol would protect the community, and Stanley would be taken back into custody if he posed a risk, state officials say.
Attorney Tom Hayes, who represented Stanley during his appeal, called on authorities to quickly approve that plan and release his client. Stanley is ready to follow any conditions imposed by the court, said Hayes, who wasn’t sure where Stanley would want to live.
“He’s exhibited an ability to be a pro-social member of any community over the last 15 years,” Hayes said.
Referring to Stanley’s writing, Hayes said, “He’s a very talented person. And now with the proper medication that stabilized his condition, he was able to develop that talent.”
Two doctors — one who treated Stanley at Mendota and another appointed by the court to examine him — both supported his petition for conditional release. They testified that he has a good chance of succeeding in the community as long as he continues taking his medicine.
La Crosse County Judge Ramona Gonzalez had denied Stanley’s petition for release last year, citing instances of him refusing or getting off his medications. She said that created a risk for dangerous behavior that “I am not willing to take … based upon what this crime was all about.”
But appeals court Judge Burnie Bridge, writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, said Gonzalez was mistaken. Testimony showed Stanley had refused to take his medicine for one day in 1993 and that was because it created harsh side effects; since he switched medications 15 years ago, he has never refused.
The evidence was not “clear and convincing” that Stanley would present a danger as required under state law to keep him committed, she wrote.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ A Wisconsin man who gunned down a Catholic priest and two others in 1985 should be released from a mental hospital, an appeals court ruled Thursday.
The District 4 Court of Appeals directed state health authorities to prepare to release Bryan Stanley from the Mendota Mental Health Institute with conditions.
The court said state lawyers failed to prove that releasing Stanley, 53, would present a danger to himself or the public. The decision overturns a ruling by a La Crosse County judge who had denied Stanley’s request for release.
Stanley was suffering from psychosis when he walked into St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Onalaska and gunned down the parish priest, a lay minister and a custodian. Angry the priest was allowing girls to give Scripture readings during Mass, the 29-year-old Army washout claimed to be a prophet sent to cleanse the church.
Stanley was found not guilty by reason of mental disease and was committed to Mendota, a state psychiatric hospital in Madison.
In recent years, Stanley has been given greater freedom as his schizophrenia has been managed with medication. He was moved to an unlocked, minimum security unit at Mendota in 2006 and has been allowed to work part-time in the community and take classes at a local technical college.
He also has spent years researching and writing a 280-page book, “The Becoming of Driftless Rivers National Park,” a cultural and natural history of southwestern Wisconsin.
Department of Justice spokesman Bill Cosh said the state was considering whether to appeal to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. If it doesn’t, the state Department of Health Services will be required to present a plan to a judge for the conditions attached to Stanley’s release.
If approved, he would be released under conditions that would likely include an ankle bracelet so the state can track his whereabouts, staff supervision of his medicine intake and meetings with a case manager and probation agent. That protocol would protect the community, and Stanley would be taken back into custody if he posed a risk, state officials say.
Attorney Tom Hayes, who represented Stanley during his appeal, called on authorities to quickly approve that plan and release his client. Stanley is ready to follow any conditions imposed by the court, said Hayes, who wasn’t sure where Stanley would want to live.
“He’s exhibited an ability to be a pro-social member of any community over the last 15 years,” Hayes said.
Referring to Stanley’s writing, Hayes said, “He’s a very talented person. And now with the proper medication that stabilized his condition, he was able to develop that talent.”
Two doctors — one who treated Stanley at Mendota and another appointed by the court to examine him — both supported his petition for conditional release. They testified that he has a good chance of succeeding in the community as long as he continues taking his medicine.
La Crosse County Judge Ramona Gonzalez had denied Stanley’s petition for release last year, citing instances of him refusing or getting off his medications. She said that created a risk for dangerous behavior that “I am not willing to take … based upon what this crime was all about.”
But appeals court Judge Burnie Bridge, writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, said Gonzalez was mistaken. Testimony showed Stanley had refused to take his medicine for one day in 1993 and that was because it created harsh side effects; since he switched medications 15 years ago, he has never refused.
The evidence was not “clear and convincing” that Stanley would present a danger as required under state law to keep him committed, she wrote.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
About 30 students sickened with norovirus
Date: 11/12/2008
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ As many as 30 students at UW-Madison are sick with the norovirus.
Many of the students live in the Sellery dormitory.
Symptoms of norovirus illness usually include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and some stomach cramping. Those affected can also have a low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and a general sense of tiredness.
Health officials aren’t considering it an outbreak because the virus has been contained.
___
Information from: WISN-TV, http://www.wisn.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ As many as 30 students at UW-Madison are sick with the norovirus.
Many of the students live in the Sellery dormitory.
Symptoms of norovirus illness usually include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and some stomach cramping. Those affected can also have a low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and a general sense of tiredness.
Health officials aren’t considering it an outbreak because the virus has been contained.
___
Information from: WISN-TV, http://www.wisn.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Drifter gets 55 years in Wis. torture-slay case
Date: 11/11/2008
PORTAGE, Wis. (AP) _ A member of a gang of drifters was sentenced Monday to 55 years in prison for helping to kill another woman in the group and torturing the woman’s 11-year-old son.
Candice L. Clark, 24, pleaded no contest to being party to second-degree reckless homicide and guilty to charges including child abuse. She was also sentenced to 45 years of extended supervision and must serve about 47 years before being eligible to apply for early release.
Clark’s attorney did not return a message seeking comment.
Court records list multiple spellings for the defendant’s names, with her first name spelled Candice and Candace and her last name Clark and Clarke.
She was among three drifters charged in the death of 36-year-old Tammie Garlin, whose body was found buried last year behind a Portage home. Garlin’s then-11-year-old son also was found naked, severely beaten and burned in a locked closet.
Investigators believe the gang crisscrossed the country, running financial scams and stealing identities to support themselves.
Police found the group in Portage in June 2007 while looking for Clark’s 2-year-old daughter, whom she had kidnapped from foster parents in Florida.
They found the kidnapped girl there, along with Garlin’s son who was locked in a closet streaked with blood. Garlin’s body was found buried in a shallow backyard grave.
According to a criminal complaint, the boy told detectives the gang had burned him with hot water and whipped him with an extension cord as punishment. Doctors had to amputate several of his fingertips and three of his badly burned toes.
The case spurred an outpouring of sympathy for the boy and forced the Florida Department of Children and Families to assign specific workers to track missing children.
Two other group members were charged in the torture and killing.
Michaela Clerc, 22, is serving 37 years in prison.
Michael Sisk, 26, was found guilty in August of second-degree reckless homicide. He also pleaded guilty or no contest to nine other charges. His sentencing date has not been determined.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
PORTAGE, Wis. (AP) _ A member of a gang of drifters was sentenced Monday to 55 years in prison for helping to kill another woman in the group and torturing the woman’s 11-year-old son.
Candice L. Clark, 24, pleaded no contest to being party to second-degree reckless homicide and guilty to charges including child abuse. She was also sentenced to 45 years of extended supervision and must serve about 47 years before being eligible to apply for early release.
Clark’s attorney did not return a message seeking comment.
Court records list multiple spellings for the defendant’s names, with her first name spelled Candice and Candace and her last name Clark and Clarke.
She was among three drifters charged in the death of 36-year-old Tammie Garlin, whose body was found buried last year behind a Portage home. Garlin’s then-11-year-old son also was found naked, severely beaten and burned in a locked closet.
Investigators believe the gang crisscrossed the country, running financial scams and stealing identities to support themselves.
Police found the group in Portage in June 2007 while looking for Clark’s 2-year-old daughter, whom she had kidnapped from foster parents in Florida.
They found the kidnapped girl there, along with Garlin’s son who was locked in a closet streaked with blood. Garlin’s body was found buried in a shallow backyard grave.
According to a criminal complaint, the boy told detectives the gang had burned him with hot water and whipped him with an extension cord as punishment. Doctors had to amputate several of his fingertips and three of his badly burned toes.
The case spurred an outpouring of sympathy for the boy and forced the Florida Department of Children and Families to assign specific workers to track missing children.
Two other group members were charged in the torture and killing.
Michaela Clerc, 22, is serving 37 years in prison.
Michael Sisk, 26, was found guilty in August of second-degree reckless homicide. He also pleaded guilty or no contest to nine other charges. His sentencing date has not been determined.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Democrats reignite discussion of Wis. smoking ban
Date: 11/9/2008
By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ A statewide smoking ban that went up in smoke in the Legislature last year will likely be reignited when Democrats take control of the Assembly.
Even though opposition to the ban came mostly from the powerful Tavern League lobby, Republican leaders in the Assembly did not actively work on getting the bipartisan bill passed.
But in the past eight months, five more Wisconsin communities and Dane County have passed their own smoking bans, bolstering the argument that a comprehensive state policy is needed.
This fall, the American Cancer Society and other supporters of the ban carefully watched legislative races across the state to get a sense for where candidates stood.
“We feel comfortable saying there’s a majority of votes for this bill to get it passed,” said Eric Schutt, lobbyist for the cancer society’s Wisconsin chapter.
Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of Smoke Free Wisconsin, said she feels good about the new makeup of the Legislature: Democrats now control both chambers. Also, one of the ban’s stiffest opponents, former Tavern League President Roger Breske, left the state Senate earlier this year to become Doyle’s railroad commissioner.
Nearly every legislative candidate was asked about their position on the smoking ban during the campaign, Busalacchi said.
“I’m very comfortable with where people are at,” she said. “This is going to happen.”
The Tavern League, however, hasn’t changed its position. Chief executive Pete Madland said he didn’t think there was any momentum for the idea even though five communities and one county have passed local bans since March. He notes that other communities, including Kenosha, have rejected it.
Tavern League lobbyist Scott Stenger said all the candidates who opposed the ban won Tuesday, while some supporters, including Republican Reps. Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls and J.A. “Doc” Hines of Oxford, lost.
Another smoking ban proponent, Rep. Steve Wieckert, R-Appleton, retired from the Assembly.
Still, Stenger agreed the Legislature is ready to act on a ban. The league is looking for concessions allowing bars to have designated indoor and outdoor smoking areas and time to build them if necessary, he said.
In all, nine Wisconsin communities and Dane County have smoking bans covering all workplaces, including bars and restaurants. Nationwide, 24 states have banned smoking in bars and restaurants, and of those, 17 include all other workplaces as well, according to the American Cancer Society. Seven more states prohibit smoking in restaurants but exempt stand-alone bars.
The Wisconsin proposal supported by Doyle, the Cancer Society and others would ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.
Last year, it ran into trouble with Breske and other state senators, including Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, who wanted to delay its implementation and give bars an exemption of up to three years. Republican leaders in the Assembly never got on board, and the bill died.
Bill sponsor Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, said he’s working on a new version he hopes to introduce early in the session. He said the ban’s start date remains uncertain, but he would like it to take effect as soon as possible and at the same time in all workplaces, including bars.
“I just think that the public awareness and the public support keeps increasing every year,” Risser said, “and I think it’s to the point where it will gel, and we’ll be able to pass it.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ A statewide smoking ban that went up in smoke in the Legislature last year will likely be reignited when Democrats take control of the Assembly.
Even though opposition to the ban came mostly from the powerful Tavern League lobby, Republican leaders in the Assembly did not actively work on getting the bipartisan bill passed.
But in the past eight months, five more Wisconsin communities and Dane County have passed their own smoking bans, bolstering the argument that a comprehensive state policy is needed.
This fall, the American Cancer Society and other supporters of the ban carefully watched legislative races across the state to get a sense for where candidates stood.
“We feel comfortable saying there’s a majority of votes for this bill to get it passed,” said Eric Schutt, lobbyist for the cancer society’s Wisconsin chapter.
Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of Smoke Free Wisconsin, said she feels good about the new makeup of the Legislature: Democrats now control both chambers. Also, one of the ban’s stiffest opponents, former Tavern League President Roger Breske, left the state Senate earlier this year to become Doyle’s railroad commissioner.
Nearly every legislative candidate was asked about their position on the smoking ban during the campaign, Busalacchi said.
“I’m very comfortable with where people are at,” she said. “This is going to happen.”
The Tavern League, however, hasn’t changed its position. Chief executive Pete Madland said he didn’t think there was any momentum for the idea even though five communities and one county have passed local bans since March. He notes that other communities, including Kenosha, have rejected it.
Tavern League lobbyist Scott Stenger said all the candidates who opposed the ban won Tuesday, while some supporters, including Republican Reps. Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls and J.A. “Doc” Hines of Oxford, lost.
Another smoking ban proponent, Rep. Steve Wieckert, R-Appleton, retired from the Assembly.
Still, Stenger agreed the Legislature is ready to act on a ban. The league is looking for concessions allowing bars to have designated indoor and outdoor smoking areas and time to build them if necessary, he said.
In all, nine Wisconsin communities and Dane County have smoking bans covering all workplaces, including bars and restaurants. Nationwide, 24 states have banned smoking in bars and restaurants, and of those, 17 include all other workplaces as well, according to the American Cancer Society. Seven more states prohibit smoking in restaurants but exempt stand-alone bars.
The Wisconsin proposal supported by Doyle, the Cancer Society and others would ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.
Last year, it ran into trouble with Breske and other state senators, including Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, who wanted to delay its implementation and give bars an exemption of up to three years. Republican leaders in the Assembly never got on board, and the bill died.
Bill sponsor Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, said he’s working on a new version he hopes to introduce early in the session. He said the ban’s start date remains uncertain, but he would like it to take effect as soon as possible and at the same time in all workplaces, including bars.
“I just think that the public awareness and the public support keeps increasing every year,” Risser said, “and I think it’s to the point where it will gel, and we’ll be able to pass it.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Nev. cap on medical damage awards draws criticism
Date: 11/1/2008 6:00 AM
By PAUL HARASIM
Las Vegas Review-Journal
LAS VEGAS (AP) _ As 59-year-old Richard Krikalo lumbers through the office of a junkyard he helps manage, he bumps into a desk and clips a wastebasket with his right leg.
Krikalo is almost blind in his right eye and has trouble with depth perception and peripheral vision.
“I go to the buffet and bump into people carrying food,” he growls, shaking his head, his static right eye unable to follow his blinking left one. “It’s embarrassing. The only time I don’t have to worry about bumping into something is when I’m in bed.”
Krikalo blames a doctor for a botched retina reattachment operation in August 2007. But lawyers tell him it’s economically unfeasible to litigate his complicated case, or that time limitations are an issue.
For that, he blames medical malpractice reforms of the 2004 Nevada Legislature.
“With this new malpractice law in place, I can’t even get a lawyer to go after who’s responsible for what happened,” the Las Vegas resident said, displaying rejection letters from attorneys. “There’s hardly any protection for the consumer any more. Now everything is in favor of doctors.”
Krikalo says he hates frivolous lawsuits, but says someone who loses his eyesight in surgery gone awry should be able to find a lawyer to gain compensation for what he’s lost.
Voters overwhelmingly approved Question 3 in 2004. Physicians called it the “Keep Our Doctors In Nevada” initiative.
Doctors love it. They have seen dramatic savings on malpractice insurance.
Insurance companies profit. They don’t have to make large pay outs.
Attorneys hate it. They believe a potentially lucrative part of their business is cut off.
Some lawmakers wonder whether the law should be amended again, to protect the public.
At the heart of the varied positions is a cap of $350,000 on damages for pain and suffering in all cases.
Children, homemakers, seniors and people such as Krikalo who are able to work despite injury have no loss of future earnings to calculate. Essentially, any malpractice awards they win would come out of the $350,000 allocated for pain and suffering, a sum divvied between the attorney and the client.
In the past, juries would sometimes award seven-figure judgments for pain and suffering to grieving parents who lost a child to medical negligence or to an individual whose quality of life had changed because of a physician’s mistake.
Now Nevadans who believe they have claims may receive letters from attorneys similar to one Krikalo received from an attorney in July of this year: “Unfortunately, the ($350,000) limit on damages makes it economically unfeasible to pursue this matter given the complicated nature of the case.”
The reform also cut from two years to one the time limit for filing malpractice claims.
Krikalo bumped against that when he contacted another local attorney.
“It appears that the time to file your case has already expired, or will expire shortly,” the lawyer wrote.
Physicians have seen malpractice insurance costs drop 20 percent to 30 percent since the 2004 reforms. They believe trial lawyers abuse the system and file frivolous claims hoping for settlements or unreasonably large jury awards.
“The morale of physicians is much improved,” said Dr. Jerry Jones, Clark County Medical Association president. “They’re much happier doing medicine now and our doctors are staying in Nevada.”
Dr. Weldon “Don” Havins, who preceded Jones before taking over as president of the Nevada State Board of Osteopathic Medicine this year, said that until Question 3 passed, fast-growing Nevada had trouble attracting new physicians.
Seven new licenses were issued to doctors in Clark County in 2002. Two years later, just the promise of medical tort reform brought a net gain in licensees of 212.
“Since the implementation of the 2004 medical tort reforms, the net gains in Clark County physicians has continued and stabilized,” Havins said.
Havins said a substantial decrease in medical malpractice filings — 337 cases each year in 2002 and 2003 — has been heartening to physicians.
From 2004 to 2007 the number of cases filed ranged from a low of 157 last year to a high of 203 in 2006.
There have been 230 cases already filed this year. But Havins said that probably reflected cases brought after a hepatitis C outbreak in the Las Vegas area.
Only two cases filed in Clark County District Court after the 2004 reforms have gone to a jury. One ended with a $100,000 award; the other, $495,000.
To Havins, the fact that the number of cases filed since 2004 is higher than those filed in the five years prior to the “crisis years” of 2002 and 2003 proves that southern Nevadans still have a solid legal remedy for medical negligence.
“Plaintiffs apparently are not having trouble finding attorneys to take their cases,” he said.
But Jim Crockett, an attorney who quit taking medical malpractice cases, said lawsuits now are usually on behalf of individuals whose future earnings are at stake, including families who lose a breadwinner due to medical negligence.
“My cases were overwhelmingly centered on the wrongful death of children, housewives or senior citizens, who had no economic damages,” he said of his former caseload.
“But for what I had to do to win them, the outcome now isn’t satisfactory for either the client or me,” he said. “If a client gets a little more than $50,000 after four years of stressful litigation, they don’t feel it’s worth it.”
Gerald Gillock, another veteran plaintiff’s attorney, said the reason for the rise in the number of lawsuits, despite a dramatic drop-off in pain and suffering cases, is simple: “There is a lot of medical malpractice out there.”
Janice Moskowitz of the Nevada Division of Insurance said there were six major insurers providing insurance for physicians and surgeons in 2004. Today, there are eight authorized carriers.
The increased competition, Havins said, has helped bring insurance premiums down for doctors, who, according to studies done by Medicare and Medical Economics, spend between 3.2 percent and 3.9 percent of their practice incomes on malpractice insurance.
Robert Byrd, president of the Independent Nevada Doctor Insurance Exchange, said the medical profession in Nevada no longer has to worry about carriers leaving the state.
“Because of the reforms, Nevada is no longer seen as one of the problem states,” he said. “It’s now seen as a very attractive place to do business.”
Medicus Insurance Co., chief executive Sheldon Davidow said a family practitioner who paid a $25,000 premium before 2004 can pay $14,000 to $18,500 per year today. Davidow’s Texas-based firm entered the Nevada medical malpractice insurance market after Question 3 passed.
He said policies for obstetricians and gynecologists now range from $78,000 to $105,000, he said, well below the $150,000 to $200,000 five or six years ago.
Surgeons who had been paying $100,000 for coverage can now get premiums between $55,000 and $70,000 a year, Davidow said.
Median salaries for general surgeons in the West can be $292,000, according to Salary.Com, compared with $235,000 for OB-GYNs and $158,000 for family practitioners.
Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, chair of the state’s Legislative Committee on Health Care, said lawmakers in 2009 may revisit the medical malpractice legislation in the aftermath of the hepatitis C outbreak.
Health authorities in Las Vegas have identified 114 people who contracted the incurable liver disease while they were patients at two clinics where officials say staff members reused syringes and vials of medicine. Nine cases are linked by DNA evidence to the clinics, wh ile officials say 105 more could have contracted the virus through other means.
More than 120 lawsuits alleging medical negligence, and a class-action claim have been filed by patients who weren’t made ill but claim emotional distress.
“We have to be fair,” Leslie said. “What has happened with the whole hepatitis C tragedy is the best argument why the caps should be revisited. This scandal has really heightened interest in what caps for pain and suffering mean. Doctors are overprotected and the law really does not protect the patients.”
Leslie believes the ability of an individual to pursue a liability lawsuit for improper treatment provides an additional incentive for a doctor to follow good medical practice.
Meanwhile, Gillock said he takes cases knowing there will be little payout, hoping that one day a jury verdict can be appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court.
“I know if we get the right case it will be ruled unconstitutional,” he said.
___
Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal,
“>http://www.lvrj.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By PAUL HARASIM
Las Vegas Review-Journal
LAS VEGAS (AP) _ As 59-year-old Richard Krikalo lumbers through the office of a junkyard he helps manage, he bumps into a desk and clips a wastebasket with his right leg.
Krikalo is almost blind in his right eye and has trouble with depth perception and peripheral vision.
“I go to the buffet and bump into people carrying food,” he growls, shaking his head, his static right eye unable to follow his blinking left one. “It’s embarrassing. The only time I don’t have to worry about bumping into something is when I’m in bed.”
Krikalo blames a doctor for a botched retina reattachment operation in August 2007. But lawyers tell him it’s economically unfeasible to litigate his complicated case, or that time limitations are an issue.
For that, he blames medical malpractice reforms of the 2004 Nevada Legislature.
“With this new malpractice law in place, I can’t even get a lawyer to go after who’s responsible for what happened,” the Las Vegas resident said, displaying rejection letters from attorneys. “There’s hardly any protection for the consumer any more. Now everything is in favor of doctors.”
Krikalo says he hates frivolous lawsuits, but says someone who loses his eyesight in surgery gone awry should be able to find a lawyer to gain compensation for what he’s lost.
Voters overwhelmingly approved Question 3 in 2004. Physicians called it the “Keep Our Doctors In Nevada” initiative.
Doctors love it. They have seen dramatic savings on malpractice insurance.
Insurance companies profit. They don’t have to make large pay outs.
Attorneys hate it. They believe a potentially lucrative part of their business is cut off.
Some lawmakers wonder whether the law should be amended again, to protect the public.
At the heart of the varied positions is a cap of $350,000 on damages for pain and suffering in all cases.
Children, homemakers, seniors and people such as Krikalo who are able to work despite injury have no loss of future earnings to calculate. Essentially, any malpractice awards they win would come out of the $350,000 allocated for pain and suffering, a sum divvied between the attorney and the client.
In the past, juries would sometimes award seven-figure judgments for pain and suffering to grieving parents who lost a child to medical negligence or to an individual whose quality of life had changed because of a physician’s mistake.
Now Nevadans who believe they have claims may receive letters from attorneys similar to one Krikalo received from an attorney in July of this year: “Unfortunately, the ($350,000) limit on damages makes it economically unfeasible to pursue this matter given the complicated nature of the case.”
The reform also cut from two years to one the time limit for filing malpractice claims.
Krikalo bumped against that when he contacted another local attorney.
“It appears that the time to file your case has already expired, or will expire shortly,” the lawyer wrote.
Physicians have seen malpractice insurance costs drop 20 percent to 30 percent since the 2004 reforms. They believe trial lawyers abuse the system and file frivolous claims hoping for settlements or unreasonably large jury awards.
“The morale of physicians is much improved,” said Dr. Jerry Jones, Clark County Medical Association president. “They’re much happier doing medicine now and our doctors are staying in Nevada.”
Dr. Weldon “Don” Havins, who preceded Jones before taking over as president of the Nevada State Board of Osteopathic Medicine this year, said that until Question 3 passed, fast-growing Nevada had trouble attracting new physicians.
Seven new licenses were issued to doctors in Clark County in 2002. Two years later, just the promise of medical tort reform brought a net gain in licensees of 212.
“Since the implementation of the 2004 medical tort reforms, the net gains in Clark County physicians has continued and stabilized,” Havins said.
Havins said a substantial decrease in medical malpractice filings — 337 cases each year in 2002 and 2003 — has been heartening to physicians.
From 2004 to 2007 the number of cases filed ranged from a low of 157 last year to a high of 203 in 2006.
There have been 230 cases already filed this year. But Havins said that probably reflected cases brought after a hepatitis C outbreak in the Las Vegas area.
Only two cases filed in Clark County District Court after the 2004 reforms have gone to a jury. One ended with a $100,000 award; the other, $495,000.
To Havins, the fact that the number of cases filed since 2004 is higher than those filed in the five years prior to the “crisis years” of 2002 and 2003 proves that southern Nevadans still have a solid legal remedy for medical negligence.
“Plaintiffs apparently are not having trouble finding attorneys to take their cases,” he said.
But Jim Crockett, an attorney who quit taking medical malpractice cases, said lawsuits now are usually on behalf of individuals whose future earnings are at stake, including families who lose a breadwinner due to medical negligence.
“My cases were overwhelmingly centered on the wrongful death of children, housewives or senior citizens, who had no economic damages,” he said of his former caseload.
“But for what I had to do to win them, the outcome now isn’t satisfactory for either the client or me,” he said. “If a client gets a little more than $50,000 after four years of stressful litigation, they don’t feel it’s worth it.”
Gerald Gillock, another veteran plaintiff’s attorney, said the reason for the rise in the number of lawsuits, despite a dramatic drop-off in pain and suffering cases, is simple: “There is a lot of medical malpractice out there.”
Janice Moskowitz of the Nevada Division of Insurance said there were six major insurers providing insurance for physicians and surgeons in 2004. Today, there are eight authorized carriers.
The increased competition, Havins said, has helped bring insurance premiums down for doctors, who, according to studies done by Medicare and Medical Economics, spend between 3.2 percent and 3.9 percent of their practice incomes on malpractice insurance.
Robert Byrd, president of the Independent Nevada Doctor Insurance Exchange, said the medical profession in Nevada no longer has to worry about carriers leaving the state.
“Because of the reforms, Nevada is no longer seen as one of the problem states,” he said. “It’s now seen as a very attractive place to do business.”
Medicus Insurance Co., chief executive Sheldon Davidow said a family practitioner who paid a $25,000 premium before 2004 can pay $14,000 to $18,500 per year today. Davidow’s Texas-based firm entered the Nevada medical malpractice insurance market after Question 3 passed.
He said policies for obstetricians and gynecologists now range from $78,000 to $105,000, he said, well below the $150,000 to $200,000 five or six years ago.
Surgeons who had been paying $100,000 for coverage can now get premiums between $55,000 and $70,000 a year, Davidow said.
Median salaries for general surgeons in the West can be $292,000, according to Salary.Com, compared with $235,000 for OB-GYNs and $158,000 for family practitioners.
Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, chair of the state’s Legislative Committee on Health Care, said lawmakers in 2009 may revisit the medical malpractice legislation in the aftermath of the hepatitis C outbreak.
Health authorities in Las Vegas have identified 114 people who contracted the incurable liver disease while they were patients at two clinics where officials say staff members reused syringes and vials of medicine. Nine cases are linked by DNA evidence to the clinics, wh ile officials say 105 more could have contracted the virus through other means.
More than 120 lawsuits alleging medical negligence, and a class-action claim have been filed by patients who weren’t made ill but claim emotional distress.
“We have to be fair,” Leslie said. “What has happened with the whole hepatitis C tragedy is the best argument why the caps should be revisited. This scandal has really heightened interest in what caps for pain and suffering mean. Doctors are overprotected and the law really does not protect the patients.”
Leslie believes the ability of an individual to pursue a liability lawsuit for improper treatment provides an additional incentive for a doctor to follow good medical practice.
Meanwhile, Gillock said he takes cases knowing there will be little payout, hoping that one day a jury verdict can be appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court.
“I know if we get the right case it will be ruled unconstitutional,” he said.
___
Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal,
“>http://www.lvrj.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Credit crunch squeezes housing finance agencies
Date: 10/30/2008 6:02 PM
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) _ The financial meltdown has come down hard on the nation’s housing finance agencies, which provide tens of thousands of mortgages to first-time poor and moderate-income home buyers.
West Virginia has stopped going to market with bond sales, as has Illinois’ housing development authority. Ohio canceled a long-planned $150 million bond sale after the credit markets froze. Wisconsin suspended its entire loan program.
California temporarily suspended two of its long-term loan programs and removed two other down payment assistance programs.
“The banks are getting all this money and we don’t have access to anything,” said Ken Giebel, spokesman for the California Housing Finance Agency. “The people who were part of the problem, which we weren’t, are getting support and being bailed out and we can’t do our programs.”
At issue is the ability of the housing agencies to borrow the money they need to process mortgages by selling bonds at affordable interest rates. As the financial crisis exploded, it was virtually impossible to sell bonds at all, especially those associated with mortgages. As the markets have opened up, some sales are possible but at higher interest rates, which mean higher costs to taxpayers.
New York’s housing finance agency sold $110 million in bonds a week ago, for example, but at more than a full percentage point higher than earlier this year.
The squeeze on credit is also coming at a time when unemployment is rising and revenue from property, sales and other taxes is falling — in some cases sharply.
State HFAs helped finance 119,920 mortgages in 2006, according to the most recent data. That’s a fraction of the 6-plus million homes sold a year, but represents an important segment of the housing market: first-time homeowners who may not be wealthy but have money for down payments and good credit histories.
The agencies offer only traditional, fixed-interest, long-term mortgages and often require home buyers to undergo counseling about home buying before receiving a loan.
The agencies also play a role alleviating part of the foreclosure problem, since many people taking out loans used them to buy foreclosed properties.
“Now many of those borrowers don’t have capital to purchase those homes,” said Rachel Basye, spokeswoman for the Colorado Housing Finance Authority, where one in three of the agency’s loans this year went to homeowners purchasing foreclosures.
Getting the housing finance agencies back on their feet is crucial to restarting the housing market, said Pat Begg, director of secondary marketing at Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington Bancshares.
“To get the housing market off the ground you’ve got to get the first-time buyer off the fence and back into the market,” Begg said.
One of the biggest problems is trying to sell bonds for housing in a market whose crash originated, at least in part, with the mortgage industry.
“When you see the word mortgage, it’s almost toxic,” said Joseph Knopic, finance director for the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. “Now you have to tell your story — ‘Here’s what we do. We don’t have those kinds of mortgages.'”
The agency issued about $800 million in housing bonds in 2007 compared to about $400 million so far this year. The Pennsylvania agency, which normally processes about 7,000 loans a year, has only done 4,000 so far this year.
In Wisconsin, the state Realtors association says the suspension of the state loan program, while not beneficial, is not the end of the world.
The test will come the longer the program is off line and the longer the overall housing market takes to bounce back.
“But the mortgage market in general, for people who are qualified, have a down payment and good credit history, is still there,” said Joe Murray, government affairs director for the Wisconsin Realtors Association.
State and local governments across the country are having trouble raising capital, the Government Finance Officers Association said in its October newsletter.
This week, the national associations of mayors, counties and local housing finance agencies wrote to Congress and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asking them that to direct the government conservators of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to resume buying tax-exempt single-family and multifamily housing bonds.
In Kansas, the city of Topeka went ahead with a planned sale of $41 million in bonds and notes Oct. 7, only to receive an interest rate 1 percentage point higher than normal. The result: an additional $150,000 annual cost to taxpayers to pay off the debt.
Alarm bells went off earlier this month when California said it might need federal government help with access to short-term credit to cover operating costs for schools, nursing homes and police.
Massachusetts had to twice delay selling $750 million in short-term cash-flow notes to pay state bills because of the poor credit market.
But it eventually sold the notes Oct. 8 at a healthy 2.2 percent rate, giving California confidence the state wouldn’t need a federal leg up.
The state sold $5 billion in short-term notes last week, prompting credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s to lift a negative watch on the state’s general obligation bonds.
HFA executives say some of the government’s recent actions, including the injection of money directly into banks, put the housing finance agencies at further disadvantage.
“We can’t access the capital as favorably as Fannie Mae can,” said Roy Alexander, executive director of the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority.
“They now have an advantage they didn’t have before,” he said. “We would love to be able to go directly to the treasury to get funding for our programs.”
Treasury had no immediate comment.
In Ohio, the housing finance agency temporarily suspended its loan program assisting people with down payments. It also canceled a planned $150 million bond sale rather than to go to market and see it fail.
“That’s another negative — it’s like, ‘Now what?'” said Brad Knapp, president of the Ohio Association of Realtors. “First time home buyers are the spark plug that gets things going for us.”
Ohio’s HFA sold a smaller $72 million package Oct. 29.
“If we can’t issue tax-exempt bonds, that means we don’t have the capital that we need to fund the mortgages,” said Bob Connell, the Ohio agency’s debt management director.
___
On the Net:
National Council of State Housing Agencies: http://www.ncsha.org
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) _ The financial meltdown has come down hard on the nation’s housing finance agencies, which provide tens of thousands of mortgages to first-time poor and moderate-income home buyers.
West Virginia has stopped going to market with bond sales, as has Illinois’ housing development authority. Ohio canceled a long-planned $150 million bond sale after the credit markets froze. Wisconsin suspended its entire loan program.
California temporarily suspended two of its long-term loan programs and removed two other down payment assistance programs.
“The banks are getting all this money and we don’t have access to anything,” said Ken Giebel, spokesman for the California Housing Finance Agency. “The people who were part of the problem, which we weren’t, are getting support and being bailed out and we can’t do our programs.”
At issue is the ability of the housing agencies to borrow the money they need to process mortgages by selling bonds at affordable interest rates. As the financial crisis exploded, it was virtually impossible to sell bonds at all, especially those associated with mortgages. As the markets have opened up, some sales are possible but at higher interest rates, which mean higher costs to taxpayers.
New York’s housing finance agency sold $110 million in bonds a week ago, for example, but at more than a full percentage point higher than earlier this year.
The squeeze on credit is also coming at a time when unemployment is rising and revenue from property, sales and other taxes is falling — in some cases sharply.
State HFAs helped finance 119,920 mortgages in 2006, according to the most recent data. That’s a fraction of the 6-plus million homes sold a year, but represents an important segment of the housing market: first-time homeowners who may not be wealthy but have money for down payments and good credit histories.
The agencies offer only traditional, fixed-interest, long-term mortgages and often require home buyers to undergo counseling about home buying before receiving a loan.
The agencies also play a role alleviating part of the foreclosure problem, since many people taking out loans used them to buy foreclosed properties.
“Now many of those borrowers don’t have capital to purchase those homes,” said Rachel Basye, spokeswoman for the Colorado Housing Finance Authority, where one in three of the agency’s loans this year went to homeowners purchasing foreclosures.
Getting the housing finance agencies back on their feet is crucial to restarting the housing market, said Pat Begg, director of secondary marketing at Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington Bancshares.
“To get the housing market off the ground you’ve got to get the first-time buyer off the fence and back into the market,” Begg said.
One of the biggest problems is trying to sell bonds for housing in a market whose crash originated, at least in part, with the mortgage industry.
“When you see the word mortgage, it’s almost toxic,” said Joseph Knopic, finance director for the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. “Now you have to tell your story — ‘Here’s what we do. We don’t have those kinds of mortgages.'”
The agency issued about $800 million in housing bonds in 2007 compared to about $400 million so far this year. The Pennsylvania agency, which normally processes about 7,000 loans a year, has only done 4,000 so far this year.
In Wisconsin, the state Realtors association says the suspension of the state loan program, while not beneficial, is not the end of the world.
The test will come the longer the program is off line and the longer the overall housing market takes to bounce back.
“But the mortgage market in general, for people who are qualified, have a down payment and good credit history, is still there,” said Joe Murray, government affairs director for the Wisconsin Realtors Association.
State and local governments across the country are having trouble raising capital, the Government Finance Officers Association said in its October newsletter.
This week, the national associations of mayors, counties and local housing finance agencies wrote to Congress and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asking them that to direct the government conservators of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to resume buying tax-exempt single-family and multifamily housing bonds.
In Kansas, the city of Topeka went ahead with a planned sale of $41 million in bonds and notes Oct. 7, only to receive an interest rate 1 percentage point higher than normal. The result: an additional $150,000 annual cost to taxpayers to pay off the debt.
Alarm bells went off earlier this month when California said it might need federal government help with access to short-term credit to cover operating costs for schools, nursing homes and police.
Massachusetts had to twice delay selling $750 million in short-term cash-flow notes to pay state bills because of the poor credit market.
But it eventually sold the notes Oct. 8 at a healthy 2.2 percent rate, giving California confidence the state wouldn’t need a federal leg up.
The state sold $5 billion in short-term notes last week, prompting credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s to lift a negative watch on the state’s general obligation bonds.
HFA executives say some of the government’s recent actions, including the injection of money directly into banks, put the housing finance agencies at further disadvantage.
“We can’t access the capital as favorably as Fannie Mae can,” said Roy Alexander, executive director of the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority.
“They now have an advantage they didn’t have before,” he said. “We would love to be able to go directly to the treasury to get funding for our programs.”
Treasury had no immediate comment.
In Ohio, the housing finance agency temporarily suspended its loan program assisting people with down payments. It also canceled a planned $150 million bond sale rather than to go to market and see it fail.
“That’s another negative — it’s like, ‘Now what?'” said Brad Knapp, president of the Ohio Association of Realtors. “First time home buyers are the spark plug that gets things going for us.”
Ohio’s HFA sold a smaller $72 million package Oct. 29.
“If we can’t issue tax-exempt bonds, that means we don’t have the capital that we need to fund the mortgages,” said Bob Connell, the Ohio agency’s debt management director.
___
On the Net:
National Council of State Housing Agencies: http://www.ncsha.org
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.