State

In 2011, governors and conservative legislatures in 4 of 11 states with state-run monopoly spirits sales pushed to shift to private sales at many more outlets, while GA voted on allowing off-premises alcohol sales on Sundays. The study aims: (1) to develop and apply a simulation model that estimates the harms from privatization and the dollar costs to state government and to society, (2) to perform secondary data analyses that validate or correct libertarian analyses of the public health consequences of privatization and answer related questions raised by state legislators, (3) evaluate the role the analysis plays in the decision process about these public health laws, and (4) inject non-partisan input into the policy debate. The evaluation will rely on follow-up telephone calls and e-mails and the team will track the outcomes of the legislative efforts and document how the team's estimates were used in the legislative and public debate. 

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides a basic set of protections for workers who are injured or ill, for new parents, and for workers who need to care for a family member. Family and medical leave access represents an essential element of worker, family, and population health.   While there has been limited quantitative and qualitative analysis of the impact and utilization of the federal FMLA, very little attention is known about the content or outcomes associated with state family and medical leave laws. A data set of these laws is needed to encourage research on state laws, and to inform further policy discussion of their scope and usefulness. The researchers at Columbia University's Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies will quantify and code variables associated with accessibility of leave, types of leave-taking activity, and forms of legal remedy provided to leave-takers. 

This study aims to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of state laws restricting use of electronic devices while driving in reducing fatalities on public roads and examine the interrelationship between distracted driving, alcohol consumption and state law.

The United States suffers from an epidemic of health-care-associated infections (HAIs): 1.7 million annual infections, and 100,000 deaths. Many HAIs are preventable, but hospitals have limited incentives to prevent them. Over 20 states now have laws requiring hospitals to publicly report infection rates, and national reporting is coming. This study will explore whether reporting induces hospitals to reduce actual HAI rates, reported rates, or both; whether infection preventionists and consumers use the reports; compare the effectiveness of different reporting schemes; and assess how public health agency choices in implementing these programs affect their success.