12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Registration

1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Agriculture and International Trade Committee Sessions

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Room 006D

Tobacco Settlement Revenue:
Where's the Money, Management and Policy?
Moderator: Senator Thomas Alexander, South Carolina, Vice Chair, NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee
Speaker: Lee Dixon, Group Director, Health Policy Tracking Service
How have the states spent the so-called "windfall" in revenue – new programs, current services or budget shortfalls? What programs are receiving the funds – agriculture, health, education, tobacco prevention or highways? Information will be presented from a national and state perspective on how states are choosing to financially manage and spend tobacco settlement revenue.

2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Room 007B

Who Will Protect Our Nation's Wetlands?
Joint Session with the AFI Environment Committee
Speakers: Howard Bleichfeld, Counsel to the National Wetlands Coalition, Van Ness Feldman;
Ted Rugaiel, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers;
Representative Neal Kedzie, Wisconsin
The decision handed down earlier this year by the U.S. Supreme Court in Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. United States Army Corps of Engineers (SWANCC) will remove 10 percent of our nation's wetlands from federal jurisdiction. With less than half of the states currently regulating isolated wetlands, will this decision and the Corps' recent efforts to reissue the Nation Wide Permit Program open the floodgates to exploitation or will states take the initiative in fostering responsible development?

3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Room 006D

Alternative Agriculture: Not So Alternative Anymore
Moderator: Senator Merton "Cap" Dierks, Nebraska, Vice Chair, NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee
Speakers: Jeff Gain, Blue Ridge Company (Former Chair, Alternative Agricultural Research & Commercialization (AARC) Board);
Leslie McKinnon, Coordinator for Organic Certification, Texas Department of Agriculture
As prices have fallen or stagnated for many traditional agricultural crops, farmers have sought more profitable production alternatives. Technology has facilitated the growth of new niche markets and producers have discovered opportunities in organics, fisheries, commercial deer farming and others. What opportunities are most promising and what role can state legislatures play in fostering their development?

5:00 p.m.
Room 207B

AFI Steering Committee Meeting

6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Marriott River Center Hotel
Conference Rooms 17 & 18

Agriculture and International Trade Committee Reception

7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
Bridge Hall - Street Level

Continental Breakfast
Breakfast available for all Annual Meeting registrants

8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Registration

9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Ancillary Sessions

 Room 214C

Rural America: Challenges and Opportunities
Facilitator: Chuck Fluharty, Chair, Rural Policy Research Institute, University of Missouri-Columbia
Speakers: Marcia Brand, Director of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services;
Senator Merton "Cap" Dierks, Nebraska, Vice Chair, NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee;
John Meyers, Meyers and Associates;
J.B. Penn, U.S. Department of Agriculture
America's rural areas face special problems due to aging populations, lower income levels, and the decline of traditional industries such as agriculture and mining. The problems are magnified by distance and dispersion, which increases the costs of and impedes access to education, health services and transportation infrastructure. This session will explore what state governments can do to enhance the economic and social vitality of rural regions and towns, covering various aspects of economic development, community life and land use. The session will incorporate a facilitated roundtable discussion among attendees.

1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Lila Cockrell Theatre

Opening Plenary Session
Speaker: Stuart Varney, Former Co-Host, CNN's Moneyline

3:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Room 006D

Agriculture and International Trade Committee Business Meeting
Presiding: Representative Bill Friend, Indiana, Chair, NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee
Speaker: Wayne Nelson, President, Communicating for Agriculture
The committee will vote on renewal of two standing NCSL policies: Farm Credit Institutions and the Interstate Shipment of State-Inspected Meat and Poultry. New policy on the National Calcium Initiative, the competition title in the farm bill, enforcement of discrimination prohibitions of the Packers and Stockyards Act and any other pending committee business will also be considered.

5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Park View - 2^nd Level

Welcome Reception

8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Registration

8:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

Agriculture and International Trade Committee Sessions

8:00 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.
Room 207A

Developments in Agricultural Trade Policy Negotiations
Committee Breakfast
Moderator: Senator Merton "Cap" Dierks, Nebraska, Vice Chair, NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee
Speaker: Pat Sheikh, Deputy Administrator for International Trade Policy, Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

8:45 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
Room 207A

Planting the Next Generation of Crops:
Where is The Bottom Line?
Moderator: Representative Bill Friend, Indiana, Chair, NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee
Speakers: Herb Jervis, Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Counsel, Pioneer;
Roger McEowen, Extension Specialist, Agricultural Law and Policy, Kansas State University
Research and development by seed companies and agribusinesses has created a new generation of products, many of which incorporate biotechnology. Who owns this new technology, how will it be used and how should it be paid for? Are pricing decisions impacting international competition? U.S. farmers and consumers have a vested interest in this debate that state legislatures are seeking to resolve.

10:15 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Room 207A

International Investment Agreements:
Are Your State Laws Safe from Challenge?
Moderator: Representative Philip Prelli, Connecticut, Vice Chair, NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee
Speakers: Matt Schaefer, Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska College of Law;
Bill Waren, Fellow, Harrison Institute for Public Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Foreign companies have recently used unique provisions in the NAFTA investment chapter to challenge state government actions in California, Mississippi and Massachusetts. Are these challenges the tip of the iceberg under NAFTA and a future Free Trade Area of the Americas where state environmental, labor and other laws may be vulnerable? Or, will the outcome of these challenges reveal a balance between state sovereignty and protection of private property rights?

12:00 p.m.
Room 207B

AFI Steering Committee Meeting

12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Ballroom C1/C2

Legislators Lunch
Speaker: Richard H. Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Electronic Data Systems (EDS)

Ballroom B 

Legislative Staff Lunch
Speaker: Kathleen Hall Jamieson

2:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.

Concurrent Sessions

4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.

Ancillary Sessions

6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Alamodome

Texas Social Event

8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Registration

8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Ballroom C1/C2

Assembly on Federal Issues/Assembly on State Issues Breakfast
Speakers: Roderick Paige, U.S. Secretary of Education;
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas

9:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

Concurrent Sessions

 Room 202A/B

Connecting Rural Areas to New Opportunities
Moderator: Senator Steve Kelly, Minnesota
Speakers: Representative Kevin DeWine, Ohio;
Sharon Strover, Rural Policy Research Institute;
Sam Tessen, Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board
The bounty of information technology is especially important in rural areas, setting the stage for new business growth and connecting residents to telemedicine and distance learning, among other benefits. Yet, telecommunications and other technology infrastructure in rural areas is lagging far behind urban centers. This session will investigate creative ways states can help plan and fund rural connections to new opportunities.

12:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Ballroom C3

National Republican Legislators Association Luncheon

Ballroom C1/C2

Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee Luncheon

1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Lila Cockrell Theatre

Plenary Session
Speaker: Frank Luntz, National Pollster, MSNBC

3:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.

Concurrent Sessions

 Room 206B

The NAFTA Experiment
Moderator: Representative Philip Prelli, Connecticut, Vice Chair, NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee
Speakers: Bill Crosbie, Minister-Counsellor for Economic and Trade Policy, Canadian Embassy;
Javier Mancera, Director of the Trade and NAFTA Office, Embassy of Mexico;
John Melle, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Mexico and NAFTA, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)
Since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the U.S., Mexican and Canadian economies have become intertwined in almost unimaginable ways to create public policy challenges for all levels of government. NAFTA's successes include strong economic growth in many sectors of the three economies and closer cooperation on issues of mutual concern. At the same time, disputes linger over cross-border transportation, the environment and the role of state laws. How can these successes be magnified and challenges overcome as plans for hemispheric free trade take shape?

Evening

State Night Receptions

8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Registration

8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

Concurrent Sessions

 Room 203A/B

The National Calcium Initiative
Breakfast
Moderator: Representative Bill Friend, Indiana, Chair, NCSL Agriculture and International Trade Committee
Speakers: Mark Andon, Principal Scientist, Technology Division, Procter & Gamble Nutrition Science Institute;
Doug DiRienzo, Vice President of Nutrition Research, National Dairy Council;
Trent Jones, Chairman and CEO, Cole Bros. Corporation;
Bob Heaney, Professor of Medicine, Creighton University
Calcium-deficient diets are an epidemic costing billions of dollars per year in treating diseases such as osteoporosis, high blood pressure, obesity, colon cancer, post-partum-depression and polycystic ovary syndrome. These diseases affect all races and generations, but most dramatically affect women, children and minorities. The daily dietary intake of calcium can be easily modified without any significant costs through improved awareness, increased dairy consumption and greater intake of calcium fortified products. State legislators are taking the lead in developing policies that defeat these nutritionally-based diseases as part of a cohesive state-federal strategy to benefit public health and American agriculture.

9:45 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
Lila Cockrell Theatre

Plenary Session
Speaker: Congressman Martin Frost, Texas, Democratic Caucus Chair, U.S. House of Representatives

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Ballroom C3

Plenary Business Meeting

12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Tower View

2002 Colorado Kick-Off Luncheon