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The Top 2 List of Top 10 Lists

Ah, January. When a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of legislative agendas. Yes, it's a new year full of new legislative sessions in ...

legis.jpg Ah, January. When a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of legislative agendas.

Yes, it's a new year full of new legislative sessions in the states.

So what are they going to be focused on? Governing and the National Conference of State Legislatures have each come out with our annual Top 10 lists of issues to watch in the states.

We overlap on several issues. It's no surprise to see climate change, health insurance and immigration on both lists. And we each highlighted the REAL ID Act as something states will have to discuss this year.

And even the issues on which we diverge (NCSL says states will target obesity, privacy protections, sex offenders and higher ed; Governing singles out business tax reform, transportation infrastructure, home foreclosure rates and early ed) are all interesting subjects that will certainly be making their way onto lawmakers' agendas this year.

Zach Patton -- Executive Editor. Zach joined GOVERNING as a staff writer in 2004. He received the 2011 Jesse H. Neal Award for Outstanding Journalism
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