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National Legislative Program Evaluation Society
Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
April 13, 2005, Washington, D.C.
The Executive Committee convened at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13, 2005, at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill. Copies of handouts discussed during the meeting are kept on file with the NLPES secretary.
Members present were Priscilla Anderson, Martha Carter, Philip Durgin, Joe Lawhon, Wade Melton, Tim Osterstock, Gerry Schwandt, Kate Wade and Jan Yamane. Also present were Beth Ashcroft (Maine) and Bob Boerner (NCSL). Steve Hendrickson, Ken Levine, and Rakesh Mohan participated via phone. Martha Carter chaired the meeting.
Opening remarks: Martha welcomed Beth Ashcroft, who is the new director of a new legislative performance evaluation agency in Maine. Beth has just begun in her position and the office has not yet hired any staff.
Subcommittee Meetings
The Awards and Communications and Technology subcommittees met from 2:00 to 2:40, and the Annual Meeting, Training, and Nominations/Elections/Membership subcommittees met from 2:45 to 3:30. Subcommittee reports are as follows:
Annual Meeting: Tim reported that planning for the NCSL Annual Meeting, this year in Seattle, Aug. 16-20, is going well. A 2-page handout was included in the meeting packet indicating the planned session topics, times, and presenters.
Awards: Joe reported that the letters have been sent informing agencies of the award criteria and deadlines and judges have been appointed for the various award categories. Award nominations are due by May 20.
Communications and Technology: Phil reported that NCSL has made progress in improving the legislative audit report database. Only legislative audit reports are now included. Rakesh and Priscilla still had difficulty locating some reports from their offices and will work with Bob to identify the problem. The number of “hits” on the NLPES website is somewhat disappointing, and the Committee cautioned against relying too heavily on the website as the primary means of communication.
Nominations/Elections/Membership: Kate reported that at the deadline for nominations, we only had four submissions for the six available positions but that three submissions were received after the deadline. Kate indicated that substantial e-mail discussions had occurred regarding this situation, and as per the NLPES by-laws, the Nominations Committee was recommending, based on various factors, that Leslie McGuire (GA) and Steve Hendrickson (CA) be placed on the ballot to be certified as elected members by the full Committee. A lengthy discussion occurred about the way the Nominating Committee came to this recommendation, including whether the Executive Committee should consider adopting specific criteria for the Nominating Committee to consider when selecting individuals to fill out a slate.
Ultimately, the Executive Committee took two votes. First, Wade moved, and Joe seconded, that Steve fill one of the vacancies on the slate; this motion passed on a voice vote. Second, Kate recommended, on behalf of the Nominating Committee, that the Executive Committee members be sent the two remaining candidates’ statements and that each member vote for a candidate to be placed on the ballot (with votes to be sent directly to Bob). The person who received the most votes would be added to the slate and the Committee would take a second vote (as required by the by-laws) to certify the slate as duly elected members. Wade moved the Nominations Committee’s recommendation, Martha seconded, and the motion passed on a voice vote.
Training: Ken noted that the megaconference idea has apparently lost steam, and Utah is scheduled to hold the 2006 fall training conference. The training committee needs to determine the level of interest WV has in holding a future fall conference and for what year. Phil gave an overview of PA’s progress in planning the 2005 fall conference; no concerns were expressed. Changes to the fee schedule were discussed, but no final decision was made except to allow PA to take a reasonable discount off the full registration fee in recognition of the costs that are inevitably incurred by the host state. The consensus view was that PA should plan on using no more than one-third of the $12,646 Florida surplus, so that a healthy balance could be carried over for future conferences. Additional discussion on the PA conference was deferred until the Thursday morning (April 14) briefing.
New Item
Wade is exploring the possibility of printing the NLPES Newsletter in Florida (out of the OPPAGA budget), which are not being borne by Mississippi. James Barber (Mississippi) would continue to be the Newsletter editor.
Next NLPES Executive Committee Meeting: The Executive Committee will meet next in August at the NCSL Annual Meeting in Seattle.
The meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Philip Durgin, Secretary
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