I thought I'd share this with you since the topic of a throw rope came up. It is an excellent idea to have one on board, I have had one immediately available (within arms reach of the helm) since I began boating.
The following link will take you to the form that must be completed before any Coast Guard Auxiliarist can offer his/her boat as a facility or an operational facility (an operational facilitiy is one that actually assists the Coast Guard on missions, such as safety patrols or search and rescue).
I am not violating protocol or security in disclosing this link, it is a blank form listing items required on board boats belonging to members of the Coast Guard Aux.
Certainly these are more safety items that are required on recretational boats, but it is not a bad guideline to use.
You will note that #19 of the non operational use form requires the boat to meet ALL state requirements and #1 of the operational use form requires compliance with all aspects of the non operational use form (including state requirements).
As for the throw bag that has come up in postings, it is required on USGCAux operational vessels under #23 of the operational requirements, it is officially called a "Heaving Line".
http://forms.cgaux.org/archive/a7003f.pdf