7:30 am - 3:30 pm
Ticonderoga Room
Hyatt Regency Hotel

Pre-Conference Seminar

The Medical Malpractice Insurance Crisis:  How Can States Protect Access to Care in Rural Areas?

Convened by NCSL's Forum for Health Policy Leadership with support from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Office of Rural Health Policy.

7:30 am - 8:30 am
Ticonderoga Room
Hyatt Regency Hotel

Pre-Conference Seminar

Registration and Continental Breakfast
(There is no additional registration fee for this seminar)

8:45 am - 9:00 am
Ticonderoga Room
Hyatt Regency Hotel

Pre-Conference Seminar

Welcome

Speakers

Tim HENDERSON, Program Manager, Forum for Health Policy Leadership, NCSL, District of Columbia
Marcia BRAND, Director, Office of Rural Health Policy, HRSA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, District of Columbia

Ticonderoga Room
Hyatt Regency Hotel

Pre-Conference Seminar

Issues in Medical Malpractice and Overview of State Responses

Speaker

Randy BOVBJERG, The Urban Institute, District of Columbia

Ticonderoga Room
Hyatt Regency Hotel

Pre-Conference Seminar

Rising Malpractice Premiums and Reduced Access to Rural Health Care:  What’s the Evidence?

Speakers

Kathy ALLEN, US General Accounting Office, District of Columbia
Tom BENEDETI, MD, University of Washington Center for Health Workforce Studies, Washington
Wendy CURRAN, Wyoming Medical Society, Wyoming
Roger MECUM, Pennsylvania Medical Society, Pennsylvania

Ticonderoga Room
Hyatt Regency Hotel

Pre-Conference Seminar

Recent Federal Medical Tort Reform Proposals

Speaker

Susan PARNAS FREDERICK, Senior Committee Director, Law & Criminal Justice Committee, NCSL, District of Columbia

Ticonderoga Room
Hyatt Regency Hotel

Pre-Conference Seminar

State Approaches to Reducing Malpractice Premiums:  What’s the Likely Impact on Access to Rural Health?

Speakers

Senator Ray RAWSON, Nevada (invited)
Senator Floyd PROZANSKI, Oregon
J.P. KURISH, Staff, Pennsylvania Senate, Pennsylvania

8:00 am - 12:00 pm

Ancillary groups, task forces, staff sections, or other meetings

Committee Session

Committee Business Meeting and Roundtable

Committee members will be invited to report on conferences or meetings they have attended that may be of interest to the larger membership. The Committee will review and debate state-federal policies.  Time allowing, the Committee will also engage in a roundtable discussion of the agriculture or rural policy issues emerging in their states and other matters that may be surfacing in Washington of interest to the Committee and then begin planning for the 2004 Annual Meeting and the Fall Forum in December.

Presiding

Representative Roger THOMAS, Kentucky and Chair, Agriculture & Rural Development Committee, NCSL

4:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Washington Court Hotel

Opening Plenary Program

Congressional Priorities for 2004 and Beyond

The House Majority Leader, in his first appearance at an NCSL meeting, will offer his perspective on the several major remaining unresolved issues on this year’s congressional agenda.

Presiding

Senator Steve RAUSCHENBERGER, Illinois and Vice President, NCSL

Speaker

Honorable Tom DELAY, Texas and Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives

5:15 pm - 6:15 pm

Washington Court Hotel

Steering Committee

The Steering Committee is comprised of the Overall Standing Committee Officers and the Chair and Staff Chair, or their designee, of each Standing Committee.  Chairs should plan to attend or appoint someone to assure Committee representation.

This meeting will preview committee plans for the Spring Forum, including policy statements that will be considered.  In addition, the meeting will feature presentation of NCSL’s 2004 Restoring the Balance Award to the five U.S. Senators who led the successful effort last year to secure $20 billion in fiscal assistance for the states.  2004 Restoring the Balance recipients are the Honorable Susan Collins, U.S. Senate, Maine; the Honorable Ben Nelson, U.S. Senate, Nebraska; the Honorable Jay Rockefeller, U.S. Senate, West Virginia; the Honorable Gordon Smith, U.S. Senate, Oregon; and the Honorable Olympia Snowe, U.S. Senate, Maine.

Presiding

Speaker

6:15 pm - 7:30 pm

Hyatt Regency Hotel

7:00 am - 6:00 pm

Registration

Plenary Breakfast

Election 2004:  A Look Back and a Look Ahead

The high stakes presidential battle has dominated media and political discussions for almost a year. Mara Liasson and National Public Radio (NPR) have offered insightful coverage of the national campaigns. Hear her analysis of the race and predictions on how it will end.

Presiding

Speaker

Mara LIASSON, National Political Correspondent, National Public Radio, District of Columbia

Standing Committee Session

Meeting the Challenges of Rural Telecommunications

(Joint with Communications, Technology & Interstate Commerce)

Congress made it clear in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that rural consumers are to receive affordable telecommunications services comparable in both quality and price to urban areas. This session will discuss the role of the FCC in creating regulatory environment that promotes competition and investment in telecommunications infrastructure so that all consumers can benefit from the most advanced technologies at reasonable rates, and the challenges of connecting rural America. State legislators will provide their perspectives on meeting the challenge of connecting Rural America

Presiding

Senator Royal "Mac" MCCRACKEN, South Dakota and Chair, Communications, Technology & Interstate Commerce Committee, NCSL
Assemblyman Greg AGHAZARIAN, California and Vice Chair, Agriculture & Rural Development Committee, NCSL (invited)

Speaker

Jonathan ADELSTEIN, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission

Standing Committee Session

Committee Business Meeting and Roundtable

The Committee will take this time to finish any conversations or debates begun on Thursday afternoon.

Presiding

Representative Roger THOMAS, Kentucky and Chair, Agriculture & Rural Development Committee, NCSL

Box lunches available

Standing Committee Session

Emerging Opportunities in Tourism:  Capitalizing on Agriculture and Culture

(Joint with Economic Development, Trade & Cultural Affairs)

It's not just Disneyland anymore! Visitors are just as likely to go off the beaten path to discover the "real America." As a result, the notion of tourism is changing as communities across the country capitalize on their unique culture, history and geography and highlight those assets in ways that appeal to visitors. This session will examine some new ideas that are shaping the future of tourism.

Presiding

Representative Randy JOHNSON, Florida and Vice Chair, Economic Development, Trade & Cultural Affairs Committee, NCSL (invited)
Representative Clay POPE, Oklahoma and Vice Chair, Agriculture & Rural Development Committee, NCSL

Speakers

Kimber D. CRAINE, Director of Program Initiatives, President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities, District of Columbia
Donna SASSCER, Manager, Agriculture & Seafood Division, Department of Economic & Community Development, St. Mary’s County, Maryland (invited)
Casper TAYLOR, former Speaker of the House, Maryland (invited)

Standing Committee Session

Agricultural Terrorism

Is agriculture more at risk from terrorist acts? Are rural communities easier to vandalize due to their remoteness? Do "eco-terrorists" groups have links outside the US? This session will explore the risk factors associated with terrorists acts against agriculture and natural resource extraction industries (logging, mining) and examine options for states to address these acts.

Presiding

Representative Jeff KROPF, Oregon and Vice Chair, Agriculture & Rural Development Committee, NCSL

Speakers

Jeremy STUMP, Homeland Security Liaison, U.S. Department of Agriculture, District of Columbia
Jerry JAAX, Professor, Kansas State University, Kansas
Keith THOMSON, Agriculture and Trade, Department of Homeland Security, District of Columbia

Standing Committee Session

Rural Transportation

(Joint with Transportation)

With TEA-21 up for reauthorization, much attention has been focused on transportation issues. How do these issues relate to Rural America? This session will survey the state of transportation in rural areas and will highlight some of the current discussions underway, either in the Department of Transportation or the congressional transportation committees, about rural transportation.

Presiding

Representative Ben FERRY, Utah and Vice Chair, Agriculture & Rural Development Committee, NCSL

Transportation Committee Officer

Speakers

Bryna HELFER, Federal Transit Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, District of Columbia (invited)
Jason BOEHLERT, Legislative Director, National Association of Development Organizations, District of Columbia

Steering Committee

Standing Committee Chairs, as members of the Steering Committee, should plan to attend. The Steering Committee will review policy statements reported out of Committee and determine the calendars for the Policy Forum.

6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Congressional Caucas Room, Cannon House Office Building

(Transportation will be provided to and from the reception)

Reception

Capitol Hill Reception

Badges must be worn to this reception in order to facilitate entrance into the Cannon House Office Building.

Plenary Session

Jobs and the World Economy

Panelists will offer a range of perspectives on the complexities of the issues related to jobs and the economy.

Presiding

Speakers

Daniel T. GRISWOLD, Associate Director, Center for Trade Policy Studies, CATO Institute, District of Columbia

U.S. Department of Commerce (invited)

Plenary Session

Policy Forum

During this plenary meeting, Forum delegates will debate and vote on NCSL’s Policy Statements and Resolutions passed out of Committee this Spring Forum.

Presiding

Speakers

Closing Plenary Lunch

Congressional Priorities for 2004 and Beyond

Congressman Hoyer, the second-ranking Democratic leader in the U.S. House, will offer his views on congressional priorities for the waning weeks of the 2004 session.

Presiding

Delegate John HURSON, Maryland and President-Elect, NCSL

Speakers

Honorable Steny HOYER, Maryland and Minority Whip, U.S. House of Representatives

1:30 pm

Meeting Adjourns