legislation
Examples and Resources
Maryland Fair Share Health Care Act
SB 790, known as the “Fair Share Health Care Act,” requires companies with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on health benefits, or pay the balance into a state low-income health insurance fund. Maryland became the first state in the country to set…
Development Agreements Authorized, Washington State law. (1995)
Washington State allows a local government to “enter into a development agreement with a person having ownership or control of real property within its jurisdiction.” A development agreement is a proper exercise of county and city police power and contract authority. A development agreement may…
Washington State, Comprehensive Plans, Mandatory Elements, (1995)
Washington State, the comprehensive plan of a county or city must include, among other items, a plan, scheme, or design for each of the following: (1) an element for the protection of the quality and quantity of ground water and a review of drainage, flooding, and storm water run-off (2) in rural…
Rhode Island Comprehensive Planning and Land Use Act
Rhode Island requires “all municipal land use decisions shall be in conformance with the approved municipal comprehensive plan.” This means that each city and town must conform their zoning regulations to their comprehensive plan, allowing for criteria for the issuance of a special permit. Once…
Vermont’s Land Use and Development Law, ACT 250 (1970)
One of the earliest laws in the nation to coordinate statewide criteria for large-scale development, Act 250 requires developments of more than ten acres to obtain a land use permit from one of the State’s nine Environmental Commissions. Approval depends on meeting conditions that focus on the impacts…
Oregon, Land Use Planning Act of 1973
Considered one of the most effective growth management program in the United States, this law set 19 statewide planning goals and required all cities and counties to prepare comprehensive land use plans to meet those goals. The most innovative of the goals required each city to draw a line around…
Comprehensive Plan, Requiring Periodic Reviews (2005)
Oregon H.B. 3310. Proposed legislation that would require communities to conduct a periodic review of their comprehensive plans and land use regulations. A review could be required if other local governments in the region are affected by one community’s land use decisions. Requires local governments…
New York City Health Care Security Act (2005)
The goal of this law is to “help responsible businesses continue offering health care and expand access to health care for tens of thousands of working New Yorkers and their families, while indirectly saving tax-payers money.” Responding to Wal-Mart’s efforts to open stores in Manhattan, and…
Suffolk County Fair Share for Health Care Act (2005)
This Long Island, New York bill requires large supermarkets, including big box retailers that sell groceries, to contribute $3 in health care costs for each hour their employees work. Without pointing a finger directly at the world’s largest retailer, the legislature stated the proposed law’s…
Large Retail Establishment Tax
In several states, including Maine and Minnesota, lawmakers are considering bills that would place a tax on the revenues of “large retail establishments” like Wal-Mart, which have receipts in excess of $20 million per year, and do not pay their employees at least $22,000 per year (including wages,…
