Bright ideas win Ford Foundation prizes.

Ten local, state and federal programs -- ranging from health care to criminal justice to education -- received 100,000 grants in October from the Ford Foundation for Innovation in American Government.

For the past dozen years, the Ford Foundation has given away a million dollars a year divided among 10 programs that set a standard for excellence in government. "The American people need to know that their government agencies are developing an incredible track record for tackling some of our toughest problems," says Susan Berresford, foundation president. Since the Innovations awards began, 85 percent of the winning programs have been replicated.

This year's state winners include North Carolina's Structured Sentencing program that ensures that violent criminals serve their full prison sentences and are not eligible for early release because of prison overcrowding. Criminals who pose little or no threat to public safety are diverted to less expensive community-based punishment programs such as residential treatment facilities, probation programs, boot camps or electronically monitored house arrest.

Another winner: Georgia's Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten program that helps prepare students for future academic success by making preschool available to all 4-year-olds in the state at no cost to parents. Concerned about high drop-out rates and increasing teen pregnancies, state officials believe that students with strong preschool experiences have more success in school and are less likely to drop out in later years. The pre-kindergarten program is funded through the state lottery.

In a similar education vein, Kentucky's Recreating Public Education for Results program was honored. The state Department of Education created the model program that helped propel Kentucky's public education system, which ranked among the worst, into one of the best by restructuring schools for results-driven performance. Since the program began in 1990, 92 percent of all Kentucky schools have shown academic improvement and half of all schools reached testing goals.

Pennsylvania's Department of Environment was recognized for its project to clean up and recycle contaminated land for future productive use. The model program (featured in a September 1995 article in State Legislatures) has ensured the cleanup of more than 100 contaminated sites for commercial use, revitalizing abandoned urban sites and preserving undeveloped land, compared to fewer than 10 federal Superfund cleanup projects in the state for the 16 years before the state land recycling program.

On the health care front, the Arkansas ConnectCare program for Medicaid patients was cited. Since ConnectCare began, the state's pool of doctors willing to treat Medicaid patients has swelled to 1,600 from a few hundred, and emergency room use by recipients has fallen 10 percent below the usage of the general population. A University of Arkansas study showed that the program had saved $30 million over an initial 17-month period while markedly raising the satisfaction levels of patients and providers.

RELATED ARTICLE: No Big Surprises in November Elections

In the smattering of off-year legislative elections held in November, voters pretty much said they like things the way they are. Before the voting, Democrats controlled 50 state legislative chambers; Republicans 46. Two were tied. After races for 226 legislative seats in 11 states -- those numbers remain the same.

In New Jersey, Republican kept their majority of 24-16 in the Senate. Democrats picked up one seat in the House, but the GOP still maintains a comfortable 49-31 margin.

The status quo held in Virginia's House of Delegates: Democrats still have 51 seats. Republicans jumped to 48 by picking up two vacancies. The House has one independent. With none of Virginia's Senate seats up this year, and the chamber tied 20-20, interest focused on lieutenant governor's race. John Hager's victory gives the GOP tie-breaking control.

In South Carolina, 23 House and eight Senate seats were up in special elections necessitated by a court mandate to redraw eight black-majority legislative districts. Two black incumbents -- one in the House and one in the Senate -- lost their seats. Control didn't change, however, with Democrats still in the majority in the Senate and Republicans in the House.

A special election in Kentucky gave the GOP a chance to tie the Senate, but Democrats gained the seat and now control 20-18.

As with state legislative chambers, the 1997 voting brought no change in the partisan count of governors. Christine Todd Whitman's narrow victry for a second term in New Jersey and James Gilmore's easy win in Virginia keeps the total at32 Republican governors, 17 Democrats and one independent.

When it came to ballot questions, voters were in a negative mood. Maine voters rejected a compromise logging measure and New Yorkers rejected a call for a constitutional convention. Washington voters defeated measures to control guns, legalize marijuana for medical purposes, ban employment discrimination because of sexual preference and allow individuals to keep their physicians when changing medical plans. In Oregon, voters rejected a legislative proposal to repeal a "right to die" initiative approved in 1994.