scotlandflag-2.jpgOne more item is itching to get out of my notepad after my trip to NCSL's annual meeting last week. I spoke with Michael Kellet, a representative of Scotland who works out of the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., promoting his homeland and forging links with American policymakers.
I asked him whether there was anything that struck him as strange about state governments in the States compared to Scottish government. He told me that the similarities outnumber the differences.
Both are responsible for many of the same things -- education, transportation, health care, etc. Like many states, Scotland is currently trying to position itself as a leader in promoting renewable fuels.
But the one thing that did strike Kellet as weird is that a state like Tennessee, with a population a few hundred thousand people larger than Scotland, could get by with a part-time legislature. He couldn't imagine Scotland doing the same.
MORE ON THE 13th FLOOR: Notes from the NCSL meeting:
Will the New York Senate Go Democratic?
Plethora of Polk
No Child: The Problem of Defining the Problem
