Tuesday, December 5

Trade Policy Leadership Seminar

8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Rio Center West

Transportation Leaders Meeting

Wednesday, December 6

Trade Policy Leadership Seminar 

Transportation Leaders Meeting 

Tour and Briefing:  AT&T Headquarters

Jointly sponsored with the Connecting America Foundation for State Legislatures (FSL) Partners Project

The tour will be held at the AT&T headquarters and will demonstrate AT&T's Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) service and its efforts in the deployment of broadband over DSL to facilitate IPTV. (Advance registration is required; contact Jo Anne Bourquard, 303-856-1355.)

Financial Services Academy: Financial Safety and Soundness

Although generally concerned that financial firms run properly, the chief concern of financial regulators is to look after financial safety and soundness of the companies they supervise. This session explores financial and operational oversight used by regulators to ensure that insurers are solvent, deposits are safe and debts are secure.

Moderator:

• Senator Ruth Teichman, Kansas, Past Chair

Speaker:

• Dwight R. Larsen, AM, V.P. Bank Value Advisory Services, United Bankers Bank, Bloomington, Minnesota

Break 

This session will explain the policy jurisdiction of the new Communications, Financial Services and Interstate Commerce Committee that was created with the merger of two NCSL Standing Committees, the Financial Services and the Communications, Technology and Interstate Commerce Committees. 

Presiding:

• Assemblyman Upendra Chivikula, New Jersey, Chair

• Senator Orville Smidt, South Dakota, Past Chair

• Senator Ruth Teichman, Kansas, Past Chair

• Lisa Wallmeyer, Virginia, Staff Chair

• Dave Larson, Kansas, Past Staff Chair

Break 

Jointly sponsored with the Connecting America FSL Partners Project

Broadband can deliver a wide range of resources, services, and products to individuals and provide economic benefits to communities. Learn about the many benefits of broadband services, including improved medical care for those in rural or underserved areas and a wide range of educational opportunities and resources.

Moderators: 

• Senator Orville Smidt, South Dakota, Past Chair, Communications, Financial Services and Interstate Commerce Committee
• Senator Carol Fukunaga, Hawaii

Speakers:

• Susan Altgelt, Coordinator, Distance Learning Services, Education Service Center, Region 20, Texas
• Dale C. Alverson, MD, Medical Director, Center for Telehealth and Cybermedicine Research, New Mexico
• Gary Chapman, Director, The 21st Century Project, LBJ School of Public Affairs, Texas
• Susanna Garza, Coordinator, Instructional Technology, Education

Status Report on the Insurance Interstate Compact

Over the summer, the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Compact became operational after surpassing the 26 state threshold. The Compact allows states to develop uniform national product standards for life insurance, annuities, disability income and long-term care insurance products.

Moderator: 

• Senator Ruth Teichman, Kansas, Past Chair, Communications, Financial Services and Interstate Commerce Committee

Speakers:

• Representative Shirley Bowler, Louisiana
• Senator Delores Kelley, Maryland, Vice Chair, Communications, Financial Services & Interstate Commerce Committee
• Birny Birnbaum, Center for Economic Justice, Austin, Texas
• Diane Koken, Commissioner, Department of Insurance, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
• Brenda Nation, Regional Vice President, State Relations, American Council of Life Insurers, Austin, Texas 
  

Handouts:

Representative Bowler's PowerPoint presentation
Commissioner Diane Koken's PowerPoint presentation

Opening General Session - Managing in Crisis
Recently named one of the country's best leaders by U.S. News and World Report and Harvard University, Admiral Allen will discuss the role of the Coast Guard in homeland security and emergency preparedness.
Presiding: Kevin Madigan, Deputy Fiscal Advisor, Senate, Rhode Island
Senator Richard Moore, Massachusetts
Speaker: Admiral Thad W. Allen, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, D.C.

Steering Committee (Standing Committee Officers)

The Steering Committee is comprised of the Overall Standing Committee Officers and the Chair and Staff Chair, or their designee, of each Standing Committee. This meeting will review the Committees’ plans for the Forum and preview any policies anticipated for debate and make determinations regarding joint and re-referral of the resolutions. 

Connecting America FSL Partners Project Business Meeting 
Connecting America project members will discuss project deliverables and plan the agenda for future partners meetings.

Presiding:

• Senator Carol Fukunaga, Hawaii
• Senator Orville B. Smidt, South Dakota
  Project Co-Chairs

6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Regency East

Opening Reception

Thursday, December 7

General Session Breakfast
William Schneider, CNN Political Observer

Cell Tower Siting – “Can You Hear Me Now?!?!”
“Not in my backyard,” is the familiar battle-cry surrounding the placement of cellular towers. As more Americans transition from a land-line to a mobile communications service -- currently there are an estimated 219 million cell phone subscribers in the U.S.—and as cell phones become hand held personal computers, many of these same people complain about the quality of service and connection speed of their cell phones. The debate about where to place towers and how to minimize their impact is once again intensifying.

Moderator: 

• Assemblymember Upendra Chivikula, New Jersey, Chair

Speakers:

• Esme Lombard, Senior Manger, National External Affairs, T-Mobile, New York
• Sheryl Wright, Vice President, State Government Affairs, Sprint-Nextel, Kansas

• Margaret Somereve, President, Texas Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, Texas

Jointly sponsored with the Budget and Revenue Committee
In August, Rhode Island and Vermont, became the twentieth and twenty-first members of the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board. In total, 21 states have joined the Streamlined Agreement since its adoption last October. This session will update for the prospects of additional states joining during the 2007 legislative session and the likelihood of action in the 110th Congress.

Presiding:

• Assemblyman Upendra Chivikula, New Jersey, Chair
• Senator Emmett Hangar, Virginia, Chair

Speakers:

• Delegate John Doyle, West Virginia
• Senator Orville Smidt, South Dakota
• Maureen Riehl, Vice President, National Retail Federation, Washington, DC
• Scott Peterson, Executive Director, Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board, Tennessee
• Deborah Bierbaum, Director of External Taxation, AT&T, New Jersey
• Stephen Kranz, General Counsel, Council on State Taxation, Washington, DC

Plenary Lunch
Speaker Fabian Nunez, California 

Update on Video Franchising
At least eight states have enacted state-level video franchise reform laws, most recently California and New Jersey, and in at least ten other states similar legislation has been introduced. This session will provide an update on state video franchise reform in 2006 and the prospects for reform in the states and at the federal level in 2007. 

Presiding:

• Assemblyman Upendra Chivikula, New Jersey, Chair

Speakers:

• Speaker Fabian Nunez, California
  
  Panel:
• Wayne Fonteix, Regional Vice President, Government Affairs, AT&T, New Jersey
• Paula Hoisington, Video Access Alliance, Florida
• Rick Cimerman, National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Washington, DC
• Chuck Carrathers, Regional General Counsel, Verizon Communications, Texas

Committee Business Meeting 

Steering Committee Meeting
Standing Committee Chairs and Staff Chairs, as members of the Steering Committee, should plan to attend. The Steering Committee will review policy statements reported out of Committees and determine the calendars for the Fall Forum Business Meeting on Friday.

Presiding: 

• Assemblylman Upendra Chivukula, New Jersey, Chair, Communications, Financial Services and Interstate Commerce Committee
• Lisa Wallmeyer, Executive Director, Joint Commission on Technology and Science, Virginia, Staff Chair, Communications, Financial Services and Interstate Commerce Committee

Dinner for Members of the Communications, Financial Services & Interstate Commerce Committee

Tower of the Americas

Sponsored by Sprint-Nextel

All committee members and their guest are invited to attend the dinner. 

Friday, December 8

Special Briefing:  Real ID--An NCSL Town Hall Meeting

Business Meeting:  Debate and Voting on Official Policy Statements and Resolutions

12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Regency West

Closing General Session Lunch

• U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
• Demetrios Papademetriou, President, Migration Policy Institute