News & Events

For media inquiries and other press-related questions, please contact the NAAG Press Center at (202) 326-6027.

Press Room

State News Headlines

November 20, 2006

The following headlines are compiled as an internal service for state Attorney General offices only. This list is not exhaustive and is a snapshot of news from around the country compiled through the use of various search engines.

Motorists face new costs for highways

Frustration over traffic gridlock and inadequate gasoline-tax funds are prompting state and local governments to try alternative ways to finance road building. Oregon is charging some motorists a road-user fee based on miles traveled instead of the state gas tax. Georgia is considering replacing its state gas tax with a 1% statewide sales tax dedicated to road and transit projects. New Jersey is looking at converting more freeways into toll roads. Americans spend 3.7 billion hours a year stuck in traffic delays, according to the Texas Transportation Institute's study of 85 metropolitan areas. Yet road and transit projects are languishing across the country because there's not enough money to pay for them. Full Article

Stay Put on 'Light Cigarette' Suit

NEW YORK -- A U.S. appeals court has issued a formal stay in the Schwab "light cigarettes" class-action suit, according to court documents. In an order late Thursday, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a formal stay in the case and agreed to review an appeal brought on behalf of the cigarette makers. The court said it will issue a scheduling order at a later date. In late October, a judge temporarily halted proceedings in the Schwab case against tobacco companies until a hearing could be held to consider a formal stay. Full Article

A New Strategy to Discourage Driving Drunk

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 — The threat of arrest and punishment, for decades the primary tactic against drunken drivers, is no longer working in the struggle to reduce the death toll, officials say, and they are proposing turning to technology — alcohol detection devices in every vehicle — to address the problem. In the first phase of the plan, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, backed by a national association of state highway officials and car manufacturers, will announce here on Monday a campaign to change drunken driving laws in 49 states to require that even first offenders install a device that tests drivers and shuts down the car if it detects alcohol. Full Article

Leslie R. Kershaw
Communications Assistant
Office: (202) 326-6027
Fax: (202) 408-8061
Email: lnelson@naag.org

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