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COMMITTEE NEWS
Welcome New Standing Labor and Economic Development Committee Officers
Committee staff would like to welcome all new officers to the Labor and Economic Development Standing Committee. Representative Phillip Frye (NC) will serve as the new Committee Chair. The new Vice Chairs are Senator Rosa Franklin (WA), Senator Bill Heath (GA), Senator Gary LeBeau (CT), Representative James Johnson (DE), Representative Julie Fisher (UT), and Representative Brent Yonts (KY). The new Staff Chair will be Gilbert Loredo (TX) and serving as Staff Vice Chairs will be Jill Fike (GA), Jeanne Schmedlen (PA), and Andrea Wilko (UT).
Annual Meeting Handouts and Policies Available Online
Did you miss the 2007 NCSL Annual Meeting in Boston? Go to the Labor and Economic Development Committee Website for links to meeting agenda, speaker handouts as well as audio from some of the sessions.
NCSL Services for Legislative Staff
NCSL provides training, professional growth opportunities and information sharing for legislative staff. NCSL has ten staff sections and two staff networks that sponsor meetings, training and publications. Discover NCSL is a short introduction to NCSL and the staff sections. The staff sections are represented directly in NCSL through the Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee (legislators and staff only page).
Workforce Development Page Added to NCSL Website
Check out the newest addition to the NCSL website featuring the latest on state workforce development efforts.
IN THE NEWS
A turning point for Detroit
September 27, 2007, The Economist
If GM's deal with the UAW is ratified, the Big Three could have a future after all
PERHAPS a bit of drama was just what was needed to bring the long-drawn-out negotiations between General Motors (GM) and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union to a conclusion that both sides could live with. On the morning of September 24th the UAW's 74,000 members at GM began spilling out of the carmaker's factories and grabbing picket signs. Launching a nationwide strike for the first time in 37 years, the union's leader, Ron Gettelfinger, struck a tone more of sorrow than anger. The union had done everything it could to reach a deal, he said, including talking for an unprecedented nine days after the lapse of the old contract. But on the picket lines there was an almost celebratory mood and promises that the strike would last “for as long as it takes”.
High-Tech Licenses to Ease Border Travel
September 13, 2007, National Public Radio
Vermont, Arizona and Washington will soon issue their own international
travel documents, special drivers licenses for land and sea crossings into
Canada and Mexico. These so-called enhanced drivers licenses will be more
secure than regular licenses, and they might prove to be the first step
toward the higher security licenses required by the real ID law.
In N.C., A Second Industrial Revolution
September 3, 2007, The Washington Post
Biotech Surge Shows Manufacturing Still Key to U.S. Economy
PITTSBORO, N.C. -- Until the late 1950s, the low-slung brick building in the center of this minuscule town was home to the Kayser-Roth hosiery mill. Some 400 workers tended to clattering looms, churning out pantyhose.
"It was the best employer in town," said Nancy May, a former worker.
The hosiery mill is gone now, along with much of the Carolina textile industry -- a casualty of the global reordering that has concentrated production in Asia and Latin America. But the old brick building is still here and still making products -- albeit modern varieties that could scarcely have been imagined a half-century ago: Today, the site is occupied by a biotechnology company, Biolex Therapeutics.
RECENT REPORTS
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Economic Development: Formal Monitoring Approaches Needed to Help Ensure Compliance with Restrictions on Funding Employer Relocations
GAO-07-1005 September 10, 2007
Congress imposed restrictions on some federal programs to prevent funding of business relocations. Congress expressed concerns about state and local governments using federal funds to attract jobs to one community at a loss of jobs to another and about compliance with relocation restrictions. This report (1) identifies large federal economic development programs that state and local governments can use as incentives, (2) identifies which programs contain statutory prohibitions on funding relocations, and (3) assesses whether federal agencies had established and implemented procedures to help ensure compliance with prohibitions. To address these objectives, GAO searched federal databases, reviewed relevant statutes and regulations, and conducted limited testing of agency procedures.
U.S. Workers’ Compensation Spending Falls Due to California Changes: NASI Report Tracks Each State’s Workers’ Compensation Trends
U.S. workers’ compensation payments for medical care and cash benefits for workers injured on the job declined in 2005, according to a new study by the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). The drop in payments reflects large declines in California as reforms enacted in 2003 and 2004 took effect. Nationally, workers’ compensation payments fell by 1.4 percent in 2005 to $55.3 billion (made up of $26.2 billion for providers of medical care and $29.1 billion in cash benefits for injured workers). Outside California, workers’ compensation payments grew by 1.7 percent due to rising spending for medical care.
The report, Workers’ Compensation: Benefits, Coverage, and Costs, 2005, presents the only consistent data on workers’ compensation cash and medical payments for each state and for the nation. The report tracks payments per $100 of covered payroll from 2001-2005 to compare trends in each state with national developments. For more information, visit http://www.nasi.org/.
UPCOMING EVENTS
FALL FORUM REGISTRATION BEGINS
The NCSL Fall Forum is scheduled for November 28-30 at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. Committee officers and staff are currently working on a robust and informative agenda for this year's Forum. Other meeting highlights include the Honorable Mary Peters, Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation who is scheduled to speak at the general session on Thrusday. Fall Forum registration and housing information is available online at www.ncsl.org/forum.
TRADE POLICY LEADERSHIP SEMINAR
Plans are underway for the 2007 Trade Policy Leadership Seminar (TPLS), again scheduled as a pre-conference to NCSL's Fall Forum. This year's TPLS, November 27-28 in Phoenix, will be co-convened by NCSL, the National Governors Association (NGA), and the State International Development Organizations (SIDO). For more information visit www.ncsl.org/standcomm/sclaborecon/TPLS2007.htm.
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2007-2008 Officers
Chair
Representative Phillip Frye
North Carolina
Vice Chairs
Senator Rosa Franklin
Washington
Senator Bill Heath
Georgia
Senator Gary LeBeau
Connecticut
Representative Julie Fisher
Utah
Representative James Johnson
Delaware
Representative Brent Yonts
Kentucky
Immediate Past Chair
Representative Steve Conway
Washington
Staff Chair
Gilbert Loredo
Texas
Staff Vice Chairs
Jill Fike
Georgia
Jeanne Schmedlen
Pennsylvania
Andrea Wilko
Utah
Immediate Past Staff Chair
Nelson Fox
Ohio
Committee Staff
Diana Hinton Noel
Senior Policy Specialist
Labor and Economic Development Committee
NCSL - DC
202-624-7779
diana.hitnon@ncsl.org
Jeremy Meadows
Senior Policy Director
Trade and Transportation
NCSL - DC
202-624-8664
jeremy.meadows@ncsl.org
Jeanne Mejeur
Research Manager
Legislative Information Services Program
NCSL - Denver
303-364-7700
jeanne.mejeur@ncsl.org
Robert Strange
Legislative Analyst
State-Federal Relations
NCSL - DC
202-624-8698
robert.strange@ncsl.org
Offices
Headquarters
7700 East First Place
Denver, Colorado 80230
State-Federal Relations
444 North Capitol Street, NW Suite 515
Washington, DC 20001 |
