Tour  -- Dell Inc.  (Advance Registration Required)

Michael Dell started his business in a college dorm room with $1,000 and an unprecedented idea - to build relationships directly with customers. Today, Dell Inc. is the world's biggest supplier of personal computers. Legislators and staff are invited to see the Dell model in action at their state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. The tour will begin at the Eastgate Desktop Factory in Lebanon, Tennessee and will continue at the East Coast Fulfillment Center in Nashville.    The tour will depart from the Presidential Portico, located off of the Presidential Lobby.  Only individuals pre-registered for the tour will be able to attend.  To register, contact Jo Anne Bourquard 

The Global Edge: Economic Success in a Competitive World
Opening Plenary

The challenge of economic competition in a global economy cantiny inspire great ideas, make a company great, generate government innovations, and create prosperity. At this session, panelists will explore strategies for success.

Presiding:

• Senator Steven Rauschenberger, Illinois, President, NCSL

Moderator:

• Matthew Kisber, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, Nashville, Tennessee

Speakers:

• James Sasser, Former Ambassador to China, Washington, D.C.

• Fredrick W. Smith, Chairman of the Board, FedEx Corporation, Memphis, Tennessee

• U.S. Representative John Tanner, Union City, Tennessee

Broadband Services for the 21^st Century

High-speed broadband offers the promise of increasing access to the Internet and helping communities attract new businesses.  State legislatures have taken the lead, by offering state subsidies and tax credits, to promote broadband deployment.  Learn about innovative strategies and programs states have used to provide broadband services to all regions of the country and the impact it is having on communities.

Presiding

•  Senator Orville B. Smidt, Chairman, NCSL Communications, Technology and Interstate Commerce Committee
• Dave Larson, Director, Legislative Computer Services, Kansas, Staff Chair, NCSL Communications, Technology and Interstate Commerce Committee

Speakers:

• Representative Phil Montgomery, Wisconsin

• Representative Ruth Ann Palumbo, Kentucky

• Larry Irving, President, Irving Information Group, Washington, DC

• Matt Krupnick, Public Policy Counsel, Dell Inc., Texas

• Fred J. McCallum, Jr., Vice President Regulatory, BellSouth Telecommunications, Georgia

• Bret Perkins, Vice President Government Affairs, Comcast, Pennsylvania

• Dane Snowden, Vice President of External and State  Affairs,Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), Washington, D.C.

• Michael Lazorik, Director, Office of the Chief Technology Office, Business Development/Public Policy, Dell Inc.

Telecommunications Tax Reform: Will It Impact State and Local Revenues?
(joint with Budget and Revenue Committee)

NCSL policy supports reform of the monopoly era taxation of telecommunications services.  Some states have begun to enact reform legislation and legislation will be introduced shortly in Congress that would prohibit state and local taxation of telecommunications services that is not line with taxes on general business services.  What is the impact of reform on state and local revenues?  Can states help mitigate possible local revenue loss?

Moderators:                

• Senator Orville Smidt, South Dakota
• Lisa Wallemeyer, Executive Director, Joint Commission on Technology and Science, Virginia, Staff Vice Chair, Communications, Technology and Interstate Commerce Committee

Speakers:                     

• Scott Mackey, Partner, Kimbell Sherman Ellis, Vermont  
• Deborah Bierbaum, Director, External Tax Policy, AT&T, New Jersey
• Tillman Lay, Of Counsel, Spiegel & McDiarmid, Washington, DC

Sponsor:                      

• Dan Hesse, Chairman and CEO, Embarq Corp., Kansas

Consumers & Wireless Communications

Consumers' contracts with cell phone service providers list charges and other fees for a set period of time and usually includes at least one cell phone.  As more and more consumers have complained about these contracts, some legislatures have begun considering a consumers’ bill of rights.  The session will discuss the issues surrounding cell phone contracts and the effort to preempt all such state laws by Congress.

Presiding:

• Senator Orville Smidt, Chairman, NCSL Communications, Technology and Interstate Commerce Committee
• Lisa Wallmeyer, Executive Director, Joint Commission on Technology and Science, Virginia

Speakers:

• Commissioner Bob Sahr, Chairman, Public Utilities Commission, South Dakota

• Christopher Baker, AARP, Washington, DC
• Dane Snowden, Vice President of External and State  Affairs, Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), Washington, D.C.

Federal Communications Reform: Video Franchising and Municipal Broadband Networks

During the Spring Forum the Committee approved a policy statement on video franchising and a resolution on municipal broadband networks.  Congress continues to move towards approval of legislation to establish national video franchising.  The session will provide an overview of congressional action, what is likely to happen and whether the Committee needs to amend its policy statement or resolution.

Presiding:

• Senator Orville Smidt, Chairman, NCSL Communications, Technology and Interstate Commerce Committee
• Dave Larson, Director, Legislative Computer Services, Kansas

Speakers:

• Walter White, Vice President, State and Local Government,  Verizon Communications, Washington, DC  

• Rick Cimerman, Vice President of State Government Affairs, National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Washington, DC

Nexus in the New Economy

The Committee has an existing policy statement on taxation of electronic commerce and it is due to expire at the Annual Meeting.  The policy statement will first be considered at the meeting of the Task Force on State and Local Taxation of Telecommunications and Electronic Commerce on Monday, August 14^th and then sent to the Committee for final consideration.

Committee Business Meeting

Policy statements:

• Nexus in the New Economy: Ensuring a Level Playing Field for All Commerce  
• Video Franchising Reform - State Administration  

Resolutions:

• NCSL Opposes Congressional Efforts to Preempt State Laws with regard to Municipal Broadband Networks
• Support S. 2152, Sales Tax Fairness and Simplification Act
• State Sovereignty to Use Tax Policy for Economic Growth
• A Resolution On Network Neutrality

Co-Presiding:       

• Senator Orville Smidt, South Dakota, Committee Chair
• Dave Larson, Director, Legislative Computer Services, Kansas, Committee Staff Chair

Jack’s World Famous Bar-B-Que Restaurant

E-Bay will be sponsoring a dinner at Jack’s World Famous Bar-B-Que Restaurant for members of the NCSL Communications, Technology and Interstate Commerce Committee and the NCSL Executive Committee on State and Local Taxation of Telecommunications and Electronic Commerce and their spouses. Members should contact Stacy Stella to RSVP (408-376-7122).

Plenary Session

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a world-renowned historian and author who has been reporting on politics and baseball for more than two decades. Her most recent book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, has been #1 on the New York Times Best Seller List and will be released as a feature film by Steven Spielberg late this year, with Liam Neeson as Lincoln.

Copyright and Theft Issues in the Digital Age

New technologies provide the opportunity for new kinds of crimes, especially in the entertainment world.  The latest examples include Internet pirating of music, movies, software and video, theft of Internet and cable services, and surreptitious use of camcorders to videotape movies and performances.   The challenge for state and federal policymakers is to determine if current laws are sufficient to protect rights in a fast moving digital age.   

Moderators:

• Senator Orville Smidt, South Dakota, Committee Chair 
• Jonathan C. Ball, Information Technology Programs, Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst, Utah, Committee Staff Vice Chair

• Veronica A. O'Connell, Senior Director, Government Affairs, Consumer Electronics Association, Virginia
• Angela Miele, Vice President State Government Affairs, Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Washington, DC
• Mitch Bainwol, Chairman and CEO, Recording Industry Association , (RIAA), Washington, DC
• Gigi B. Sohn, President, Public Knowledge, Washington, DC
• Senator Jeff Wentworth, Texas
• Representative Rob Briley, Tennessee

Handouts:

• Speaker Biographies

Nineteen states have changed their sales tax statutes to comply with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement.  By the time of the NCSL Annual Meeting, the Agreement will have been operational for just about a year, and the session will provide a discussion of the successes and problems of rolling out a simplified sales tax system.

Innovations to Combat Identity Theft
CONCURRENT SESSION

Will Tiny Technology Drive the Next Industrial Revolution?
CONCURRENT SESSION

Nanoproducts, smaller than the human eye can see, may be used to detect and prevent disease, fight pollution, produce clean energy and help move the Internet to light speed.  Speakers will explain nanotechnology and explore its potential for transforming society and the workplace.

Moderator:

•  Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula, New Jersey, Committee Vice Chair

Speakers:

• Senator Karin S. Brownlee, Kansas
• Lisa Wallmeyer, Executive Director, Joint Commission on Technology and Science, Virginia
• James B. Roberto, Deputy Director of Science and Technology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee
• Edward M. Cupoli, Head, Nanoeconomics Constellation, College of Nanoscale Science & Engineering, University of Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)
•  E. Clayton Teague, Ph.D., Director, National Nanotechnology Coordination Office, Virginia 

Handouts:

• Speaker Biographies
• Will Tiny Technology Drive the Next Industrial Revolution? - Senator Karin Brownlee's presentation
• Really Small Things - Joint Commission on Technology and Science

•  The National Nanotechnology Initiative: Coordinated Federal R&D to Understand Coordinated Federal R&D to Understand and Control Matter at the Nanoscale - E. Clayton Teague's presentation

•  New York’s Initiative & NanoEconomicsNew York’s Initiative & NanoEconomics - Edward M. Cupoli's presentation

• Nanotechnology: Opportunities and Impacts of a Scientific Revolution - James B. Roberto's presentation
   

7:00 am – 8:15 am
Cheekwood G/H -Level M (Mezzanine)

Twenty states have enacted legislation to modernize the sales tax system for electronic commerce and are reaping the benefits from new revenues without raising any tax rates.  Legislators and legislative staff are invited to this breakfast session to learn how your state can comply with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement in 2007.  Bring your sales tax system into the 21^st century.

 Join:

• Senator Steven Rauschenberger, Illinois
  President, National Conference of State Legislatures
• Senator Leticia Van De Putte, Texas
  President-Elect, National Conference of State Legislatures
• Senator Dwight Cook, North Dakota
  President, Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board
• Delegate John Doyle, West Virginia
  Vice President, Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board

E-Legislatures:  Technology & the Policymaking Process
CONCURRENT SESSION

Americans have more access to legislative information than ever before. But growing use of new technologies -- blogging, Internet campaigns, laptops and webcasts in committees, text messaging, cell phones -- places greater demands on legislators and the institution every day.  How can legislators keep up with citizen expectations?  This session will examine technologies to capture the advantages of technology without losing the advantages of face-to-face interaction.  Sponsored by the NCSL E-Democracy Project.

Moderator:

•  Senator Robert Jauch, Wisconsin

 Speakers:

• Laurie Maak, Web Dialogue Developer and Manager, WestEd, San Francisco, California
• Representative Stephen Urquhart, Utah

Handouts:

• Web Dialogues: New Options for Citizen-Lawmaker Engagement - Laurie Maak's presentation

Competition in the Digital Age: Time to Downsize State Public Utility Commissions?
CONCURRENT SESSION

Does the term "telecommunications" any longer have any meaning in an age when the way consumers receive data is no longer is critical?  Can today's battle for telecommunications and technology consumers be neatly categorized as a scramble for discrete Internet, telephony or video users?  Who can protect consumers in the digital age? As state PUCs no longer will be in the business of economic regulation, are they up to protecting consumer rights?  Should states downsize  PUCs?  What agency, if any, is best prepared to protect consumers? 

Speakers:

• Coralette Hannon, Interim National Coordinator, AARP, Washington, DC
• Brian K. Staihr, Ph.D., Director-Policy / Regulatory Economist, Embarq Corporation, Kansas 
• Charles M. Davidson, Directorof the Advanced Communications Law & Policy Institute, New York Law School, New York
• James Lewis, Vice President of State Public Policy, Verizon Communications, California

Join the Tennessee Host Committee at the Tennessee State Capitol and Legislative Plaza for a private concert with country great LeAnn Rimes and an evening of Southern cuisine. The newly renovated Capitol Building and legislative complex will be open for guest tours and will set the stage for this country music sweetheart, LeAnn Rimes.

Members of the Communications, Technology and Interstate Commerce Committee are invited to participate in the discussion about a new partners project on broadband policies and initiatives in the states.  This project provides an opportunity for state legislators, legislative staff and Foundation for State Legislatures Partners to address broadband issues through meetings and through the development of print and online products.

Presiding:                    

• Senator Carol Fukunaga, Hawaii
• Orville Smidt, South Dakota

8:30 am- 10:00 am
Delta Lobby A - Level 2     

Dueling Pollsters: How Americans Will Vote In November
Closing Plenary Session

Presiding:                    

• Representative Donna Stone, Delaware, Vice President, NCSL

Two of the nation's most trusted and respected pollsters look across America's political landscape as the nation approaches the critical mid-term elections. Frank Luntz and Peter Hart provide the perspective of how the major political parties see the 2006 elections unfolding, and what it means for policy issues in the months ahead.

Peter Hart has been one of the country's leading public opinion analysts for more than 27 years. He conducts all public opinion polling for NBC News and The Wall Street Journal. His focus is public policy, cultural and social issues, and strategic consulting for corporations, including Time Warner, Microsoft and Kodak.

Frank Luntz is one of the most honored communications professionals in America today. Named one of the four Top Research Minds by Business Week magazine, he pioneered the Instant Response focus group research technique and won an Emmy Award in 2001 for his 100 Days, 1000 Voices segments on NBC's primary and election night coverage.

Lifetime Achievement Award

• Recognition of John S. Wilder, Tennessee Senate Speaker and Lieutenant Governor