NCSL Spring Forum 2007
Listen to selected sessions from the meeting, April 19-21 in Washington, D.C.
- Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns
- New York Congressman Charles Rangel
- Should Voters Choose the President or Should They Pick 538 People Who Choose the President?
- Preparing School Leaders for Learning: Stanford University's Linda Darling-Hammond
- Immigrant Health Care: Access and Barriers
- Susan G. Komen for the Cure Presentation
- Pollsters: Kellyanne Conway and Celinda Lake
- Real ID: Richard C. Barth, with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Renewal of the Nation's Farm Bill: The Administration's Perspective
Thursday, April 19, 2007, 4-5 p.m.
As Congress prepares to reauthorize the Farm Bill, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Mike Johanns will address state legislators and staff. Johanns served as Nebraska's 38th governor. His agricultural roots stretch back to childhood days on the family dairy farm.
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Introduction: Kansas Representative Jan Pauls (3:59)
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Q & A (15:39)
Hear highlights on NCSL's blog: Erasing the Stigma of Food Stamps
The New Political Terrain: The Congressional Perspective
Friday, April 20, 2007, 8-9:30 a.m.
The November elections saw the Democrats assume control of Congress for the first time since 1994. They've begun the session with an ambitious policy agenda, which is tempered somewhat by pledges of bipartisanship and a slim majority in the U.S. Senate. Come hear New York Congressman Charles Rangel outline their plans for the year.
- Introduction: Massachusetts Senator Richard Moore (2:46)
- New York Congressman Charles Rangel (16:29)
- Q & A (27:23)
Hear highlights on NCSL's blog: Immigration Reform Is Very Complex
Should Voters Choose the President or Should They Pick 538 People Who Choose the President?
Friday, April 20, 2007, 9:45 am - 10:45 am
Opponents are mounting perhaps the strongest challenge in decades to the electoral college, America's inscrutable mechanism for deciding the "leader of the free world." Is it time to scrap this uniquely American institution or does it serve a vital purpose?
- Introduction: South Dakota Representative Michael Buckingham (2:23)
- Barry Fadem, president of National Popular Vote(14:23)
- John Samples, director of the Center for Representative Government at the Cato Institute (16:51)
Preparing School Leaders for Learning
Friday, April 20, 2007, 12:00 - 2:00 pm
More than ever, states need to develop and implement comprehensive strategies to ensure that leaders have the skills and knowledge required to guide the transformation of schools to meet higher standards and new requirements for progress. One of the nation's top education experts will brief NCSL on what it will take to recruit, develop and support principals.
- Introduction: Arkansas Senator Jim Argue
- M. Christine DeVita, president of The Wallace Foundation
- Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommon professor of education at Stanford University (19:56)
Hear highlights on NCSL's blog: Making Better School Principals
Immigrant Health Care: Access and Barriers
Friday, April 20, 2007, 1:30- 2:30 pm
Learn about federal law governing health access for immigrants and discuss issues facing states as they sort through policy challenges, including citizenship status, language barriers, insured status, and differences in program availability associated with health care for immigrants.
- Introduction: Raul Burciaga, New Mexico (2:16)
- Speakers (49:18)
- Lisa Cacari Stone, Ph.D. a W.K. Scholar in Health Disparities at Harvard School of Public Health
- Emily S. Ihara, Ph.D., M.S.W., assistant professor of social work at George Mason University
Susan G. Komen for the Cure Presentation (22:20)
Saturday, April 21, 2007, 9 a.m.
The Pollster Presentation
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Hear what two expert pollsters have to say about the new Congress and their forecast for the 2008 elections. Kellyanne Conway and Celinda Lake are co-authors of What Women Really Want: How American Women Are Quietly Erasing Political, Racial, Class and Religious Lines to Change the Way We Live.
- Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway (32:27)
- Democratic pollster Celinda Lake (20:40)
Hear highlights on NCSL's blog: Advice From National Pollsters
Implementing Real ID
Saturday, April 21, 2007, 10-10:45 a.m.
The Department of Homeland Security recently issued proposed regulations intended to implement the Real ID law. This is an opportunity to learn about the regulations from the department's perspective and pose questions for the Assistant Secretary.
- Introduction: NCSL President Texas Senator Leticia Van de Putte (3:42)
- Richard C. Barth, assistant secretary for the Office of Policy Development in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (12:10)
- Q & A (45:53)