In New Hampshire, the 2009 legislative session begins tomorrow, January 7th.

Lawmakers are expected to submit as many as 800 bills for the legislature to consider, but for chamber leaders crafting the state's next budget will dominate proceedings.

New Hampshire is unique because its lawmakers meet annually but they create a two-year budget in the first year of the session. Public hearings on the state's economic projections for the new budget cycle begin on Jan. 21 for the House Finance Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Marjorie Smith, D-Durham. Gov. Lynch will present his budget to the legislature on Feb. 15.

Even as New Hampshire works to cut as much as $100 million in spending, Democratic Speaker Terie Norelli plans to make dealing with the state's retirement system a priority.

All across the country, state lawmakers are preparing to gavel legislative bodies into session.

In Colorado, the Rocky Mountain News profiles the two Democrats who are set to lead their respective chambers:

In the same grand chambers where the Ku Klux Klan once held sway, two black men will assume the most powerful positions in the Colorado General Assembly.

When the legislature convenes next week for its 2009 session, Peter Groff will again be elected Senate president, while Terrance Carroll will assume the post of speaker of the House.

Colorado is the first legislature in the nation to have two blacks holding the top posts at the same time.

While both men are cognizant of the history they are about to make, each has a policy agenda for 2009.

Groff plans to push for job creation and education reform, while Carroll wants to improve the state's infrastructure.

After a very busy 2008, everyone at the DLCC is taking a little time to spend with friends and families.

I want to take a moment to thank each of you for all that you do for this committee. Our success would be impossible without the support you provide.

Over the next two weeks, I'll try to update this site occasionally, but we'll be back in earnest in January.

Until then, here's to a happy and wonderful holiday season.

Last week, Josh Goodman, one of the writers for Governing Magazine, objected to a piece by NPR where host Scott Simon called Oklahoma "the most Republican state in the Union."

His point was that too often pundits only look at presidential performance when they talk about the nation's political divide.

Backing him up, the good folks at NCSL recently crunched the numbers to determine which legislatures have the most seats dominated by a single party.

There are three states in which Republicans hold more than two-thirds of the total seats: Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming.

Happily for us, there are seven states where Democrats control more than two-thirds of the legislative seats: Rhode Island, Hawaii, Connecticut, West Virginia, Maryland, and Arkansas.

For more triva, check out the whole post.

In state after state, lawmakers are grappling with the economic crisis.

Earlier in the month, in his regular radio address, President-Elect Obama announced his intention to develop a "two-year 'Economic Recovery Plan' that would create 2.5 million jobs patching crumbling infrastructure, modernizing schools and building wind farms, solar panels and fuel-efficient cars." State leaders are hoping that they will receive some portion of that stimulus package to boost local economies.

In Colorado, a committee of lawmakers focused on creating jobs and boosting the state economy is weighing options about what can be done in the face of a worsening national climate. A panel of economists briefing the group told the legislators much the state's job situation will be dictated by circumstances nationwide.

In Indiana, plans to boost education spending are being reevaluated as lawmakers come to terms with the state's economic situation. Revenue in the state is not meeting earlier projections, and the state's obligation to cover increases in Medicaid costs are adding to the concerns. Indiana has a cash reserve of $1.4 billion which could be used to prevent some of the worst cuts.

In Washington state, educators are worried about what the economic slump will mean for state's public colleges and universities. Lawmakers are being told to prepare for a deficit of $5.1 billion, and because funding for many services like K-12 education are mandated by law, many expect that higher education will be asked to absorb some of the harsher cuts.

On Election Day, the Montana House of Representatives finished the night split down the middle, and the Republicans lost control of the chamber. After Democrats selected Bob Bergren to be their leader, Gov. Brian Schweitzer appointed him to serve as Speaker of the House.

Bergren was first elected to the legislature six years ago. Before becoming speaker, he served on the Committees for Rules and Legislative Administration and was the Deputy Democratic Leader in the lower chamber.

Shortly after learning that he would lead the lower chamber in its next session, Bergren said that passing a new, two-year budget would be his top priority. He told reporters that making smart decisions in the face of the national economic crisis was, "vital" and pledged to work across the aisle as he governed.

Bergren is a retired firefighter who served as president and vice president of his local union before seeking elected office, and once he becomes speaker, Bergren will become the only firefighter to lead a state legislative chamber. He has served on the executive board of the Montana AFL-CIO since 2001. Before serving in the legislature, Bergren spent two years as a city councilman in his local community.

The 2008 election isn't over just yet.

On November 5th, Democrat Chris Bell finished first in a field of six candidates running for the state senate in the 17th District of Texas. Now he's in a runoff, facing Republican Joan Huffman.

Voters will head back to the polls tomorrow to decide the race.

Bell is a former congressman, who lost his seat due to the Tom Delay-led, mid-cycle redistricting effort in 2003. He ran for governor in 2004 and previously served on the Houston City Council.

If Bell wins tomorrow, Democrats will only need to pick up three seats in 2010 to hold a majority in the chamber.

The DLCC is focused on this race. Check out Burnt Orange Report for ways you can get involved.

Early this fall, months before the federal bank bailout, lawmakers in North Carolina passed legislation creating the Home Foreclosure Prevention Program:

Under the new law, lenders must provide homeowners and the state banking commissioner 45 days' notice before a foreclosure action is filed. The law also allows the banking commissioner to extend any foreclosure-filing notice period by 30 days.

The state uses that window to negotiate with the homeowner and mortgage holder on modifying a loan interest rate and payments.

Only a month into the program, the impact is already apparent:

According to RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosures nationwide, monthly foreclosure filings in North Carolina dropped 27 percent in November compared with a year ago, while filings across the country rose 5 percent.

Gov. Easley has begun to tout the legislation's success, offering it as a model for action nationwide.

Steven Horsford first began to learn how the Nevada Senate worked in 1993 while he was a student intern.

Now, 15 years later, Democrats in the state are in control of the senate for the first time since 1991, and Horsford has been chosen by his Democratic colleagues to serve as the as the chamber’s majority leader.

He is the first African-American ever to be elected to the post, and at just 35, Horsford is also one of the youngest chamber leaders in the country. Majority Leader Horsford was also recently chosen to serve on Board of Directors for the DLCC.

Just after Election Day, Horsford told reporters that finding a way to balance the state budget without cutting essential services would be one of his top priorities. A state commission in charge of budget projections recently reported that Nevada would need to cut spending by as much as $250 million in 2009.

Outside of the legislature, Horsford is president of Nevada Partners -- a nonprofit dedicated to job training and education. He is also the chief operating officer for the Culinary Training Academy which helps workers prepare for jobs in the state’s hospitality industry.

A native of Las Vegas, Horsford is a graduate of University of Nevada, Reno.

Rep. Martin Frost is a guy who knows a thing or two about redistricting. He served in Congress from 1979 to 2005 and was chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

He has an op-ed in today's Politico which outlines the importance the 2010 election:

Whether Democrats can have a longtime majority in Congress will be determined by the outcome of some very intense hand-to-hand combat conducted on a state-by-state basis over the next two years.

In most cases, state legislatures and governors elected in 2010 will determine the outcome of this particular fight.

This fight is part of the reason that this committee exists. Over the next 23 months, those of us who work for DLCC will devote much of our professional lives to winning these races so that Democrats have a seat at the table where the new district lines are drawn.

If you want to understand the stakes, you need look no farther than Frost's home state of Texas:

In 2003, the Republican governor and the GOP Legislature caved in to pressure from then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and replaced a balanced congressional map, drawn by a federal court, with a harshly partisan plan that cost Democrats six seats in Congress and significantly reduced the influence of minority voters in Texas. The plan was approved by the partisan Bush administration Department of Justice.

Over the last four years, Democrats in the Texas have cut the Republican majority in the state house to a single vote, and if we win a runoff for a seat in the state senate later this month, Democrats will only be down three seats in the upper chamber.

The DLCC and our legislative candidates are making progress across the country, but the stakes will only be ratcheted higher in the next election. No one in politics will be spending more time on these races than us, and we'll have plenty more to say about this process as we head into next year.

Stay tuned...