States Are Going Where the Feds Won't Tread: Filling a regulatory void, they're out to tackle Big Business

Convinced that Washington's watchdogs are asleep, a growing number of states have decided to take the lead on consumer-protection issues as diverse as battling corporate polluters and fighting for lower drug prices. Impatient and ambitious, they have been galvanized by the laissez-faire regulatory doctrine of many Washington regulators. With Bush Administration appointees staunch backers of industry deregulation and self-policing, the grassroots rebellion stands to gain momentum - a trend that has Big Business worried. A fertile new target for the rebels: corporate malfeasance.