Outlook in the States & Localities Conference - 2011

February 1

8:00 am

Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 am

*Opening Session: New Year, New Realities
What’s changed, what hasn’t, and how it matters

*This session will be videotaped, edited and streamed on governing.com

A 20/20 overview by a leading government observer will be followed by on-stage interviews of other  observers and pundits on the state of our union. Within 45 minutes, the audience will have context  for its first set of interactive questions and the day and a half discussions that follow.

Moderator: Jonathan Walters, Executive Editor, GOVERNING

Part I

Ron Elving, Supervising Senior Washington Editor, NPR

Louis Jacobson, Staff Writer, PolitiFact; GOVERNING Contributor

Part II

David Adkins, Executive Director, The Council of State Governments

Dr. Shelley H. Metzenbaum, Associate Director for Performance and Personnel Management, OMB, White House

9:45 am

States of Change: The Administrations and their Priorities
What to watch, how to listen, how to position yourself with new administrations:

Transition teams have been hard at work getting the new administrations staffed and ready for 2011 legislative sessions and beyond. With Inauguration Day behind them, now begins the hard work of addressing the hard reality of governing. In the context of continuing budget stress, what issues and initiatives are likely to take prominence? A panel of members from 2011 transition teams will discuss upcoming priorities, policies and projects.

Moderator: Bill Leighty, Principal, Performance Leadership Group, LLC; former Chief of Staff to Virginia Governor Mark Warner and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine

John Nixon, CPA, State Budget Director, Michigan; former Chief State Budget Officer, Utah

John Thomasian, Director, Center for Best Practices, National Governors Association

Robert B. Ward, Deputy Director, The Rockefeller Institute

11:00 am

Break

11:15 am

Concurrent Sessions

1.  The Legacy Landscape: Pensions, Healthcare, Corrections

This expert panel will discuss budget strategies, legislation and other programs that address critical, high-expense, high-demand, underfunded state obligations.

Moderator: David Osborne, Senior Partner, Public Strategies Group; Author

Stephen Fehr, Project Director and Senior Staff Writer, Stateline, The Pew Charitable Trusts

J. Clark Kelso, Receiver, California Prison Health Care Services

Matt Salo, Director, Health & Human Services Committee, National Governors Association

Eric B. Schnurer, President, Public Works LLC

2.  How States are Connecting Procurement to Results

States are re-negotiating contracts, overhauling their purchasing strategies and trying to stretch every dollar and leverage every contract. Procurement done well makes the most of state and local expenditures and protects taxpayers’ dollars. Speakers will share what’s to come in the next term regarding procurement reform.  

Moderator: John O’Leary, Research Fellow, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School

Kent Allin, Chief Procurement Officer, State of Minnesota

Brad Douglas, Commissioner, Department of Administrative Services, State of Georgia

Hon. Diana S. Urban, Representative, State of Connecticut

3.  Effective State Engagement Strategies

Twenty-six new administrations equals hundreds of challenges and opportunities. Learn from the inside out about state engagement strategies that work.

Moderator: Martina Hone, Founder, Omnivox Strategies

Rick Cimerman, Vice President External & State Affairs, National Cable & Telecommunications Association

Marshall Cohen, Senior Director, State and Local Government Affairs, Nuclear Energy Institute

Nancy A. LeaMond, Executive Vice President, State and National Group, AARP 

12:15 pm

Luncheon & Keynote

*View from the Front Lines:  Hon. Martin O’Malley, Governor, State of Maryland

*This session will be videotaped, edited and streamed on governing.com

2:00 pm

Break

2:15 pm

Concurrent Sessions

1.  The Year Ahead for Health and Human Services

Unemployment, child welfare, innovative social programs, public and private partnerships, federal priorities (including discussion about Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Reauthorization, Child Care Development Block Grant Reauthorization and more), and other state go-forward strategies and funding for the next 18 months will be discussed.

Moderator: Jonathan Walters, Executive Editor, GOVERNING

Uma S. Ahluwalia, Director, Department of Health and Human Services, Montgomery County, Maryland

Robert Doar, Commissioner, Human Resources Administration/Department of Social Services, New York City

David Hansell, Acting Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Dara, Menashi, Knowledge and Information Manager, Child Welfare Strategy Group, Annie E. Casey Foundation

2.  Technology and Transition 2011: What the CIOs are Facing

NASCIO has identified budget, cost control, and leadership change as the most significant business drivers in 2011. Learn about how state CIOs and their teams are mapping out plans for addressing fiscal constraints while trying to build out more innovative delivery service models.

Moderator: Doug Robinson, Executive Director, NASCIO

Adel W. Ebeid, Chief Information Officer, State of New Jersey

J. Stephen Fletcher, Chief Information Officer, State of Utah

3.  State Budgets: Inside and Out

Taxes and spending will be the top governmental and political issues of the coming year. To date, shortfalls have been addressed through spending cuts, drawing on reserves, borrowing, selling state assets, employee furloughs and vacuuming up federal stimulus dollars. The declining availability of federal aid for 2012 will be yet another challenge for states. This session will take an inside look at state budget and tax conversations for 2011.

Moderator: Bill Leighty, Principal, Performance Leadership Group, LLC; former Chief of Staff to Virginia Governor Mark Warner and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine

John Nixon, John E. Nixon, CPA, State Budget Director, Michigan; former Chief State Budget Officer, Utah

Scott D. Pattison, Executive Director, NASBO

Robin Prunty, Managing Director, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services

3:30 pm

Plenary Session: State Legislative Issues and Priorities
What issues will occupy state legislative leaders across the nation in 2011?

Hosted by the State Legislative Leaders Foundation

The State Legislative Leaders Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, independent national  organization comprised of an elite group of approximately 350 House Speakers, Senate Presidents, Majority Leaders, Minority Leaders and Pro Tempores.

Moderator: Steve Lakis, President, The State Legislative Leaders Foundation

Hon. Sharon Weston Broome, President Pro Tempore, Louisiana State Senate

Hon. Robert DeLeo, Speaker, Massachusetts House of Representatives

Hon. Dominic Pileggi, Majority Leader, Pennsylvania State Senate

February 2

8:00 am

Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30 am

*The View from Both Ends of Pennsylvania Avenue
Priorities in Congress and the Administration

*This session will be videotaped, edited and streamed on governing.com

Moderator: Zach Patton, Senior Editor, GOVERNING

8:30 am

Spotlight Speaker:  A Congressional Perspective

Norman J. Ornstein, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

9:15 am

Spotlight Speaker:  A White House Perspective

Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

9:45 am

Break

10:00 am

*City Tales Plenary Panel: Local Perspectives

*This session will be videotaped, edited and streamed on governing.com

In response to the morning’s federal perspectives discussion, local leaders discuss life at the local level. What are the most pressing issues facing cities and counties today, and what do they expect from their state and federal partners in governing.

Co-moderators: Peter Harkness, Founder and Publisher Emeritus, GOVERNING and
Christopher Hoene, Center Director, Research & Innovation, National League of Cities

Hon. Vincent C. Gray, Mayor, District of Columbia

Hon. Kip Holden, Mayor, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

11:15 am

Break

11:30 am

Concurrent sessions – focus on the intersection between state and federal
These topics are some of the most important topics where states and the federal government will  intersect and interact – both on funding and on policy.

1.  State-Led Health Reform

On November 18, Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore) and Scott Brown (R-Mass) introduced the “Empowering States to Innovate Act.” This panel will discuss federal efforts and state efforts to implement health reform, and also ways in which some states are pursuing waivers in order to create their own alternative programs for delivering health care.

Moderator: David Osborne, Senior Partner, Public Strategies Group;  Author

John Buntin, Staff Writer, GOVERNING

Matt Salo, Director, Health & Human Services Committee, National Governors Association

Joy Johnson Wilson, Health Policy Director and Senior Federal Affairs Counsel, National Conference of State Legislatures

2.  Race to the Top and Education Reform

Inspired by millions of dollars in federal grants, states have been rethinking education reform and transformation. With $4.35 billion in Race to the Top grants awarded to 11 states and the District of Columbia, what’s next? Reduced state budgets resulting in cuts to education funding may impact a wide variety of reform efforts, including those aimed at teacher quality, creating charter schools, improving test scores and high school graduation rates, and improving low performing schools. What are the plans and priorities for education in the states?

Moderator: Martina Hone, Fairfax County School Board Member

Carmel Martin, Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, U.S. Department of Education

Katherine Tsamasiros, Ed.D., Director, Solutions Design & Engineering, New York City Department of Education

3.  Energy Programs and Progress

How green can we be? What are the states doing in response to a national need for energy independence and innovation? What are the different priorities for the next 12 months? This session will discuss what states are doing with their energy policy and programs.

Moderator: Elizabeth Daigneau, Managing Editor, GOVERNING

Panama Bartholomy, Deputy Director, Energy Efficiency and Renewables Division, California Energy Commission

Thomas Bell, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority

Tom Kaiserski, Program Manager, Energy Promotion & Development Division, State of Montana

4.  Smart Growth: Housing, Urban Development and Livable Communities

This session will discuss plans and strategies for strengthening the sustainability and viability of our cities and regions. Expert speakers will share big city plans and national trends regarding infrastructure, urban planning, economic development and more.

Moderator: Tod Newcombe, Editor, GOVERNING

David Bragdon, Director, Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability, New York City

Feather O. Houstoun, President, William Penn Foundation

5.  Transportation’s Top Issues

The nation’s transportation system is critical to the economy’s health and it is part of the foundation to our quality of life. This session will discuss federal conversations and priorities along with an overview of the big projects, partnerships and grants to watch.

Moderator: Alex Marshall, Senior Fellow, The Regional Plan Association

Randell Iwasaki, Executive Director, Transportation Authority, Contra Costa County; former Director, California Department of Transportation

Blaine D. Leonard, ITS Research Program Manager, Utah Department of Transportation; Past President, American Society of Civil Engineers

Petra Todorovich, Director, America 2050

12:30 pm

Luncheon

1:15 pm

Keynote

*Outlook on the Economy: Economic Prospects and the Impact on State and Local Government
The prospects for returning to structural balance

*This session will be videotaped, edited and streamed on governing.com

Mark Zandi, Chief Economist and Co-founder of Moody's Economy.com

2:00 pm

*The Hovey Harkness Award in Public Service Journalism
Recognizing excellence in political investigative journalism, presented by GOVERNING

*This session will be videotaped, edited and streamed on governing.com

2:15 pm

Old Problems, New Realities – An interactive discussion of what the future holds

Barriers, opportunities, trends, and a facilitated discussion led by GOVERNING’s editorial staff on what  2011 holds for those who do business with government.

3:00 pm

Adjourn

 

• Overview
• Agenda