Annual Meeting & Exhibition
August 16-20, 2005
Seattle, Washington

Agriculture and Rural Development Standing Committee
Preliminary Agenda

(as of July 19, 2005)

Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday

Monday, August 15
1:00 pm – 5:00 pm	Tour of the Port of Seattle (tentative)
Tuesday, August 16
10:00 am – 5:00 pm	Executive Committee Legislative Staff Coordinating Committee
8:00 am – 5:00 pm	Pre-Conference Seminars Rural Policy Academy – an invitational meeting NCSL Rural Health Forum – an invitational meeting
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm	Standing Committees’ Steering Committee The Steering Committee is comprised of the Steering Committee Officers and the Chair and Staff Chair, or their designee, of each Standing Committee. This meeting will review the Committees’ plans for the Annual Meeting, preview any policies anticipated for debate, and make determinations regarding joint and re-referral of the resolutions.
6:00 pm	Welcome Reception: The Seattle Sports Scene! Seattle boasts two of the finest new stadiums: Qwest Field and Safeco Field. Qwest Field – home of the Seahawks – is set against a background of snowy mountains and the Puget Sound. White you’re waiting for the Mariners to take on the Kansas City Royals at Safeco Field (across the street from Qwest Field), you can enjoy interactive football games, larger-than-life football inflatables and the best slide burgers, foot-long hotdogs and fries in Seattle. Then, there’s reserved seating for NCSL delegates and guests at the Mariners game. Truly an evening to remember.
Wednesday, August 17
7:30 am – 9:00 am	Continental breakfast for all delegates
8:00 am – 5:00 pm	Registration and Bookstore open
8:30 am – 10:00 am	Opening Plenary Bill Gates is Chairman and Chief Software Architect for Microsoft Corporation. Gates started the world’s leading software company in 1975. His vision and leadership have changed the way the world uses computers. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with an endowment of $27 billion, is dedicated to global health and learning. Presiding: Delegate John Hurson, Maryland and President, NCSL Speaker Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Microsoft, Washington
10:00 am – 11:30 am	Federal Lands Management and the States This session will serve as a primer for the Committee on the myriad issues related to federal management or regulations affecting land use – such as the Endangered Species Act, U.S. Forest Service rules, or taxation – and particularly the interplay of these issues and state authority and interests.  During this session, the Committee will discuss and vote on the Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) policy. Presiding: Senator Steve Morris, President of the Senate, Kansas and Chair, Agriculture & Rural Development Committee, NCSL Speaker: Washington Natural Heritage Program, Washington Robin Estes, Associate District Manager, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of Interior, Washington
11:45 am – 1:00 pm	Committee Session and Luncheon Biotechnology:  Future Directions This session will review state and federal regulatory initiatives that legislators should be aware of and understand.  Speakers from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and from the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) will speak about future directions expected from this emerging technology. Presiding: Speakers: Cindy Smith, Animal and Plant Inspection Services, USDA Bob Ehart, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Lunch provided by the Council for Biotechnology Information
1:15 pm – 2:30 pm	Consolidating Community Development Block Grants Joint with the Economic Development, Trade & Cultural Affairs Committee This session will review President Bush’s Strengthening America’s Communities Initiative (SACI) and effects on the Community Development Block Grant program.  Particular consideration will be given to the merits of the consolidation of federal development grants into block grants to states.  In this context, the Committee will also discuss and vote on the expiring Empowerment:  Revitalizing Urban and Distressed Communities policy. Presiding: Representative Sheryl Allen, Utah and Chair, Economic Development, Trade & Cultural Affairs Committee, NCSL Barry Denk, Director, Center for Rural Development, Pennsylvania and Staff Chair, Agriculture & Rural Development Committee, NCSL Speaker: Anna Maria Farias, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grant Programs, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Sigal, Director of Community and Economic Development, Council of State Community Development Agencies Shannon Weinberg, Counsel, U.S. House Government Reform Subcommittee on Federalism and the Census, District of Columbia
2:45 pm – 3:45 pm	Committee Business Meeting The Committee will discuss and vote on three NCSL state-federal relations policies that are expiring – Beginner Farmer Programs, Crop Insurance, and Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) – and consider any new policies brought before the Committee.  Time allowing, the Committee will review possibilities for an in-depth study of state interests in the 2007 Farm Bill with the Council of State Governments (CSG) and other topics the Committee would like to address in the coming year. Presiding: Senator Steve Morris, President of the Senate, Kansas and Chair, Agriculture & Rural Development Committee, NCSL
4:00 pm – 5:15 pm	Bioenergy Joint with the Energy & Electric Utilities Committee This session will describe new technologies that use organic fuel sources to make biofuels, biopower, and fuel for biorefineries. What incentives are available to state legislatures to promote the development of these facilities and the use of these products in their states? Presiding: Speakers: Mike Pacheco, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Jim Easterly, Principal, Easterly Consulting Jim Werner, Climate Solutions, Washington, DC
5:15 pm – 6:15 pm	Standing Committees’ Steering Committee The Steering Committee is comprised of the Steering Committee Officers and the Chair and Staff Chair, or their designee, of each Standing Committee. The Steering Committee will establish the calendars for the Annual Business Meeting, which will be held Friday, August 20 at 10:15 am.
6:30 am -	States’ Night
Thursday, August 18
7:30 am – 8:30 am	Coffee service for all delegates
7:30 am – 9:00 am	Strengthening Low-Income Families and Neighborhoods Sponsored by the NCSL/Annie E. Casey Partnership on Family Economic Success During this sponsored breakfast, the Annie E. Casey Foundation will facilitate a discussion on its program of “Strengthening Low-Income Families and Neighborhoods.” Presiding: Speaker: Doug Nelson, President, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Maryland
8:45 am – 9:45 am	Land Conservation and Impaired Waterways Joint with the Environment & Natural Resources Committee This session will provide a review of innovative state programs that provide funds to local governments and non-profit organizations to protect agricultural land, open space and watersheds from incompatible development, thereby reducing the threat of non-point source pollution that threatens to impair clean water. Joint session with NCSL Agriculture and Rural Development Committee. Moderator: Representative Dennis Ozment, Minnesota Speakers: Bill Chapman, Washington Wildlife & Recreation Coalition Mike Gearheard, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Kirk Thompson, Director of Environmental Affairs, The Boeing Company
9:45 am – 10:45 am	Committee Session Roundtable with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Presiding: Representative Jeff Kropf, Oregon and Vice Chair, NCSL Agriculture and Rural Development Committee Speaker: Rodney Hood, Associate Administrator, Rural Housing Service, USDA, District of Columbia
10:45 am – 11:30 am	Healthy Forests Initiative Joint with the Environment & Natural Resources Committee Committee members will examine and discuss the balancing act states face in accomplishing forestry management with limited resources, particularly in addressing the problems associated with the annual fire season.  What happens when states are forced to borrow from program areas to maintain their efforts in controlling fires and what role does the federal government play? Presiding: Representative Jackie Dingfelder, Oregon Speaker:
11:45 pm – 1:15 pm	Legislators Luncheon Biomedical Research and Economic Development World-renowned researchers Leroy Hood and Nobel Laureate Lee Hartwell will share the latest trends in biomedical research and the impact this cutting-edge field can have on economic development. Presiding: Senator Leticia Van De Putte, Texas and Vice President, NCSL Speakers: Lee Hartwell, President, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, University of Washington, Washington Leroy Hood, M.D., President, Institute for Systems Biology, Washington
11:45 am – 1:15 pm	Staff Section Luncheons Legal Services Staff Section National Legislative Program Evaluation Society Research and Committee Staff Section
1:30 pm – 3:15 pm	Wine Shipments: U.S. Supreme Court Levels the Playing Field In Spring 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on challenges to state laws that prohibit direct shipment of wine to consumers from out-of-state wineries. Come hear what it will means for states.
1:30 pm – 3:15 pm	Concurrent Sessions Training Track: Power Public Speaking Changing Demographics: What Lies in Store for States? Crime Technology: Science Meets Law and Order Getting into the College of Your Choice Living Within the Limits No Child Left Behind Obesity: an American Epidemic Project Citizen: Preparing Tomorrow’s Citizen’s Today Renewable Energy Technologies and Policies: How Far Can They Take Us? Science and Money: Biomedical Research and Economic Development Social Security Reform: Why Should States Care? Tax and Expenditure Limits: Is Colorado’s Model for Everyone? Technology for Legislators: Manage or Be Managed Time’s Up! States Strengthen Welfare While Waiting for Federal Changes Treatment for Substance Abuse Wine Shipments: U.S. Supreme Court Levels the Playing Field
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm	Relevant Concurrent Session Natural Gas Domestic Supply and Demand Natural gas prices are rising; domestic production is falling. Greater imports are likely.  This session will examine the supply and demand forecast for natural gas and the effects on state policies, and will look at siting liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facilities.
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm	Concurrent Sessions Training Track: The Art of Public Debate Achieving Access to Prescription Drugs: Changing Roles for the States Can Governments Break their Addiction to Discriminatory Taxes Driver Distraction: How Much is Too Much? Helping Children in Immigrant Families Succeed Maintaining Civility and Decorum Medical Liability: Finding Middle Ground Natural Gas Domestic Supply and Demand State-Tribal Relations: Strategies for Cooperation The ABCs of Protecting Financial Consumers The Impending Crisis for Higher Education The Methamphetamine Crisis The Price and Priorities of Government
6:00 pm - 10:00 pm	Washington State Social Event Space Needle
Friday, August 19
8:00 am – 9:00 am	Coffee service for all delegates
8:00 am – 5:00 pm	Registration and Bookstore open
8:30 am – 10:00 am	Plenary Session Health Care Reform and Finance Presiding: Delegate John A. Hurson, Maryland and President, NCSL Speaker: Uwe Reinhardt, James Madison Professor of Political Economy, Princeton University, New Jersey
10:15 am – 12:15 pm	Annual Policy and Business Meeting All legislators and legislative staff will want to attend this centerpiece of the NCSL Annual Meeting. Other annual meeting participants are welcome as observers. The business meeting is the culmination of the conference year. It includes debate of policy resolutions that will guide NCSL's lobbying of the federal government in the coming year, as well as election of NCSL's officers and executive committee and approval of the NCSL budget. Presiding: Delegate John HURSON, Maryland and President, NCSL Representative Joe Hackney, North Carolina and Chair, NCSL Standing Committees
12:15 pm – 2:00 pm	Luncheon Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (unaffiliated legislative group) National Republican Legislators' Association (unaffiliated legislative group) Legislative Staff Luncheon Carr Hagerman brings you the FISH! philosophy, which can bring fun into your workplace, change your perspective, and challenge your world view. He will leave you with the impression that you can change the world, and have some fun while you're at it! Presiding: Speaker: Carr Hagerman, FISH! Philosopher, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2:15 pm – 4:00 pm	Concurrent Sessions Training Track: How to be an Effective Committee Chair Are You Getting Your Money’s Worth from Substance Abuse Programs? Backgrounding America: Who are We Protecting and How? Congress and State Taxes Digital Information Issues for Legislative Agencies Electronic Waste Every Vote Counts Income Already Earned: How to Help Constituents Take Advantage of EITC It Costs WHAT? Uninsured and Uncompensated Care School Choice School Siting: How Far Away Makes Sense? Supporting Low-Income Fathers Who Has your Personal Information and How Safe Is It?
2:15 pm – 4:00 pm	Staff Sections
6:00 pm	States’ Night
Saturday, August 20
8:00 am – 9:00 am	Coffee service for all delegates
8:30 am – 10:00 am	Closing Plenary Presiding: Speaker: Senator Barak Obama, Illinois (invited)
10:15 am – 12 noon	Reception / Luncheon Nashville is Only Twelve Months Away! Come enjoy this promotional event for the 2006 Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, August 15-19, 2006.
12:00 pm	Meetings Adjourn

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Agriculture and Rural Development Standing Committee

Chair

Senator Steve Morris, Kansas

Vice Chairs

Representative Ben Ferry, Utah
Representative Jeff Kropf, Oregon
Senator Todd Staples, Texas

Staff Chair

Barry Denk, Pennsylvania

Staff Vice Chair

Sam Burr, Vermont
Jim Fry, South Dakota

Meeting Information

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• Registration Information
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Four ways to register

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• Mail: NCSL Registration
  P.O. Box 17972
  Denver, CO 80217
• Onsite after August 4

Committee Staff Contacts

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