July 20, 2004
What You May Have Missed Tuesday
at NCSL's 2004 Annual
Meeting
Tidbits, news filler and other items from NCSL's meeting in
Salt Lake City
SALT LAKE CITY – More than 4,000 delegates started the day
listening to economists and ended the day hearing the Mormon Tabernacle
Choir, as the National Conference of State Legislatures officially opened
its 2004 Annual Meeting on Tuesday.
Here’s a summary of key meeting highlights and some other interesting
items you may have missed.
Key speakers at Tuesday’s sessions included noted economists David
Wyss, the chief economist at Standard and Poors, and John Castellani,
president of The Business Roundtable, who discussed their views on jobs
and the new economy…..Legislative staff got a unique perspective on public
service from noted satirist Christopher Buckley, who was a former
speechwriter for President George H. W. Bush…The final scheduled event of
the day was a reception at the State Capitol, followed by a private
concert by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
Utah Speaker Marty Stephens released NCSL’s annual “State Budget and
Tax Actions” report, pointing out that states have closed more than $235
billion in budget gaps over the last four years, $84 billion in the fiscal
year ending June 30 alone…More than 60 sessions were on the menu for
delegates on Tuesday. Topics included mercury emissions, insurance
regulation, school vouchers, uninsured drivers and “cybersquatters,”
people who own Web addresses that use someone else’s name or product.
Students from across America are having special community service
projects judged this week by state legislators, legislative staff and
other volunteers this week. “We the People: Project Citizen” is an annual
competition where portfolios highlighting student projects that address a
pressing community issue are produced. The levels of achievement by each
school will be announced at the closing session on Friday….22 of an
estimated 35,000 legislative staff were recognized Tuesday as winners of
the 2004 Legislative Staff Achievement Awards, given mostly by the 10
national staff associations affiliated with NCSL….NCSL Staff Chair Max
Arinder, the top position for state legislative staff in the organization,
today passed the gavel to his successor, Jim Greenwalt of Minnesota.
More than 1,600 pastries were consumed in the course of two hours
preceding the day’s opening session….Nearly one-hundred and fifty gallons
of coffee were prepared for the day, with the same amount planned each day
until Friday, the end of the meeting…The Salt Palace, home to the meeting,
is a 300,000 square foot facility…5,000 pedometers are being given away by
Healthy Community Design to encourage more walking….4,500 bottles of water
and 2,500 bottled juices were ordered by Utah Food Services for the
meeting.
The theme of this year’s meeting is “The New Legislative Reality,”
focusing on the changes the state legislative institution is undergoing,
including a focus on forces such as term limits, citizen initiatives,
federal encroachment on states’ rights and responsibilities, as well as
other emerging complex issues.
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