Education Sessions - July 24 - 25, 2008
Lessons from the Trenches: Turning Around Poor Performing Schools
Listen to prominent school leaders who are beating the odds in major urban districts by providing high-quality education. Learn how to reproduce their success.
Building a Workforce for the Future: The State Role
Developing a vital workforce requires big picture thinking and coordinating stakeholders in education, economic development, fiscal, workforce, commerce and human resources. Identify the legislative actions required to build a workforce to compete in the global economy.
What's Driving College Costs?
Students, parents and legislators are well aware that the cost of going to college is rapidly increasing. Examine what drives tuition and cost increases and effective state policies that help to contain them.
The Sandbox Investment:
The Impact of Pre-K
States have invested $2 billion in expanding preschool in the last three years, but the full impact is still unknown. Learn from expert David Kirp how states can capitalize on what works based on compelling new findings.
The College Board: Getting Into the College of Your Choice
Parents and students will want to attend this excellent workshop on academic preparation and college admissions. Experts answer all your questions about academic planning, financial aid, admissions procedures and more.
Two Decades of School Choice:
What Have We Learned?
States and school districts have been experimenting with school choice for nearly 25 years. As a result, an interesting new dialogue is emerging on how well the choice experiment has worked. Hear diverse perspectives on which choice strategies have been successful in improving student achievement and improving the public school system.
Issue Forums - July 24 - 25, 2008
Issue Forums (Concurrent sessions) are Thursday morning through Friday afternoon. Click on the links to the right for a short description of the different issue forums. >>>
A detailed agenda is coming soon, with information on each day's General session, Committee meetings, Staff Section meetings and volunteer activities - Bookmark this page and check back often!
HOT TOPICS
- Mortgage Boom and Bust
- Climate Change Policy and the Potential Costs of Inaction
- Bridging the Transportation Funding Gap
- Controlling Prison Populations and Price Tags
- Health Care Reform: An Economic Imperative?
- What's Driving College Costs?
- Dealing With Drought: Opportunities for Innovation
- Corporate Taxation: In a Global Economy Can States Do Better?
- Immigrants and Economics: What's the Bottom Line?
- A New Life for Online Government
Children and Families - July 24 - 25, 2008
Hope for the American Dream: Improving the Odds for Poor Children
Millions of children live in poverty, making it hard to finish school, avoid teen pregnancy and resist crime. Learn what states can do to give America's poor children the opportunity to be productive citizens.
Investing in Our Future: The Status of America's Youth
From health to education, from juvenile justice to workforce readiness, how are our kids doing? Find out where we are as a country and learn about promising practices to improve the outlook for the next generation.
Climate Change - July 24 - 25, 2008
Climate Change Policy and the Potential Costs of Inaction
Much of the evolving debate over climate change has focused on the cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but will it cost less to reduce greenhouse gas emissions than to adapt to changes in sea level, increases in extreme weather events, flooding, drought and heat waves? What are the costs for states that have led the way?
Criminal Justice - July 24 - 25, 2008
Models for Change in Juvenile Justice
Research shows that identifying and assisting at-risk children stems crime. Learn how a New Orleans' Early Intervention Program is reducing delinquency through community-based services.
Fighting Crime With DNA
DNA continues to transform criminal justice systems, but tapping its full potential remains a challenge. Discuss both the demand for and costs of DNA and state strategies for harnessing the possibilities.
Controlling Prison Populations and Price Tags
State prison populations are projected to grow by nearly 200,000 inmates and at a cost of $27.5 billion to states by 2011. Learn what legislatures are doing to thwart this destiny by addressing growth in prison budgets.
Energy and Environment - July 24-25
Dealing With Drought: Opportunities for Innovation
Whether it's climate change or just more growth, many states face water shortages that could jeopardize their future economic prosperity and environment. This zero-sum game is forcing policy innovation through incentives to conserve and reallocate water. Learn what strategies show the most promise for meeting a diverse set of new water demands.
Ethics Sessions - July 24 - 25, 2008
Using Political Power in the Public Interest
The often ambiguous world of public service is filled with ethical judgments. With a nationally known ethicist, explore the challenges of political power, public scrutiny, and ethical leadership, and how to balance often competing ethical claims and legislative responsibilities.
Fiscal Sessions - July 24 - 25, 2008
Tax Policy and Economic Turbulence
Can tax cuts and business investment incentives create jobs and stabilize pocketbooks? Or are they unaffordable tax expenditures that fail to deliver? Explore the role of tax policy in maintaining a vibrant economy.
How Demographic Changes Affect State Budgets
The rapidly changing American population could soon place massive stress on state budgets, from expanding health care demands for aging baby boomers to the need for more schools for children. Forewarned is forearmed.
Watching the Retirement Dollars
State retirement funds range from billions to hundreds of billions of dollars that, in most states, legislators are not well-equipped to monitor. Hear how state pension commissions and state pension studies strengthen legislators' abilities to meet the responsibility of oversight.
Economic Thunderstorms: Will They Drench State Budgets?
The nation's mortgage crisis has rocked the economy and spawned talk of a national recession. Economist David Wyss of Standard and Poor's will put the economic picture—and what it means for the states—in focus.
Property Taxes Back on the Radar Screen
Legislatures are looking at immediate and longer term solutions to their property tax burdens. Learn how states are targeting property tax relief and making broader structural reforms to the property tax system at a time when regional slowdowns are squeezing wallets and prompting citizen calls for relief.
Corporate Taxation: In a Global Economy Can States Do Better?
Today, revenues from corporate taxes are falling fast and account for less than 5 percent of total state revenue. States spend some 40 cents for every $1 collected. Efforts to close loopholes usually end in litigation, and the consumer always pays in the end. Learn why the corporate tax system is not working and what to do about it.
Health Sessions - July 24 - 25, 2008
A Health Revolution in the Making?
Tech-savvy players such as Revolution Health and Microsoft are transforming health care through easy access to advice and online storage of personal health records. States will want to help shape this transformation. What can they do? What should they do?
Health Care Reform: An Economic Imperative?
Most Americans receive health care coverage through their employer. But business are increasingly concerned about whether they can continue providing it to their existing workforce and retirees. In our global economy, health care costs have a huge impact on the economic competitiveness of businesses. How are they responding to the challenge?
Can We Afford Our Health Care? New Directions and Solutions
America spends an astounding $2.4 trillion to keep us alive, productive and healthy, a number that will rise by $175 billion this year. Some states want to take the lead in "fixing" this system—a daunting task for big- and small-government experts alike.
Immigration Sessions - July 24 - 25, 2008
Immigrants and Economics: What's the Bottom Line?
Hear the pros and cons of foreign workers in the U.S. economy and what it means for state budgets. This interactive forum with leading economists and researchers will help separate fact from fiction. Discuss NCSL's latest report on state actions related to immigrants.
Interstate Commerce - July 24 - 25, 2008
Alcohol Laws Confused: What Hath Granholm Wrought?
The 2005 Granholm Supreme Court case determined that states must treat in-state and out-of-state wineries the same when it comes to direct-to-consumer shipments. A narrow question has widened into a confusing array of state laws, court cases and questions about the role of retailers in direct shipping and the three-tier system in general.
Mortgages Sessions - July 24 - 25, 2008
Mortgage Boom and Bust
With foreclosures climbing and housing markets cooling, homeowners and communities face financial challenges. Borrowers face the loss of their homes and credit problems, lenders face lost revenue, and regulators face questions about their role in failing to protect consumers. Hear how policymakers and industry can work together to address mortgage lending issues
Politics and Election - July 24 - 25, 2008
November Election Preview
Voters will choose winners in more than 5,000 legislative races and decide the fate of more than 100 ballot measures this fall. Do super-charged ballot measures drive turnout? Which party is poised to set legislative agendas in 2009?
Is the Presidential Primary Process Broken?
The process for winnowing the presidential field down to two major party candidates got pushed so far forward in 2008 that Iowa voters went to the polls less than a week after the new year and most states had voted by the end of February. Is there a better way?
State-Federal - July 24 - 25, 2008
REAL ID: Really Moving or Really Stalled?
Is REAL ID really on the move now that there are final rules? Will states comply with these standards for state-issued driver's licenses and ID cards? Review federal action on REAL ID and state reactions to the final rules.
Frontlines of Federalism
State officials often have to struggle with federal laws and regulations when crafting state policy, particularly K-12 education, REAL ID, vehicle emissions and TANF. Learn about state efforts to increase flexibility against federal resistance, and how state and federal strategies can complement but also conflict.
Technology Session - July 24 - 25, 2008
A New Life for Online Government
Web 2.0—a second generation of the Internet—offers new ways to provide services and collaborate with citizens on health, education, public safety and civic life. Explore social networking and other tools being used by Congress, state agencies and others.
Transportation - July 24 - 25, 2008
Bridging the Transportation Funding Gap
By 2015, transportation funds will fall short of needs by an estimated $1 trillion. The Minnesota bridge collapse lends urgency to finding solutions. What are states doing to bridge this funding gap, and how much will the federal government help?
Veteran Session - July 24 - 25, 2008
Welcome Home Soldier: State Strategies
Veterans returning from active duty may face difficulties moving back to civilian life, as some may deal with physical and mental health issues. Hear how states are working to help veterans reintegrate.
New Orleans - July 24 - 25, 2008
Redesigning New Orleans: Lessons on Creating a Thriving Community
Rebuilding New Orleans following the hurricanes offers challenges and opportunities. Learn about land use issues and ideas for creating a thriving and dynamic city. Community design and development policy lessons from New Orleans can help cities across the country.
Investing in Arts and Culture in the Big Easy
New Orleans is a Mecca for art, culture, music and food. In the aftermath of two major hurricanes, the city is in the process of rebuilding its cultural identity. Learn how policymakers are helping the city preserve its heritage while ensuring economic and community vitality through the arts.
Public Private Partnerships: Rebuilding the Workforce in New Orleans
The New Orleans labor market is suffering from a shortage of both skilled and unskilled workers, with an estimated 60,000 job vacancies in the city. Learn how government and businesses are working together to meet New Orleans’ workforce needs.
Eyes of the Storm
In the flood following Hurricane Katrina, photographers from the New Orleans Times-Picayune captured life-changing moments that helped the paper win a Pulitzer Prize. Hear how the photographers found themselves making difficult personal decisions as they covered the evolving tragedy.
Professional Training Track - July 24-25
Employment Law 101
State legislatures have been slow to respond to rapidly changing employment law, sometimes to their detriment. Protect your employees and your legislature by attending this discussion of trends, warnings, key requirements and awareness training with one of the nation's foremost authorities on employment law.
Lessons from America's Business Leaders (That You Can Use)
This session brings to NCSL lessons in leadership and other relevant topics based on real stories, experiences and practices from some of America's leading companies.
Want to Connect? Tell Stories
Great public speakers and communicators know that storytelling is the key to making an effective and lasting connection. Join a master storyteller and learn how to use storytelling skills to enhance your speechmaking and achieve your communication goals.
Move your Message with Technology
Blogging is just the latest techno-craze available to legislators to move their message out to voters. This session will cover the waterfront of technology-based communications options for elected officials (blogs, MySpace, etc.), how they work, and how you can make them work for you.
The Destructive Side of Partisanship
Extreme partisanship can bump up against institutional values, goals and traditions in ways that harm the lawmaking process and foster citizen cynicism. Learn about practices and policies to mitigate negative partisanship and improve legislative decorum, civility and performance.
